Macy Gray was "miserable" during her early success.
Macy Gray on coping with early success
The 54-year-old soul singer shot to fame with the release of her smash hit debut album 'On How Life Is' back in 1999 but admitted that sudden wealth had turned her into an "a**hole" and that drinking every night had left her feeling "lonely."
She said: "I got really beside myself for a long time. I was suddenly really wealthy, and I had a lot of people wanting to be my friend. was just a real a**hole. I was having a blast, [but] eventually it will make you lonely and miserable, especially if you're drinking every night and doing all kinds of crazy stuff."
The Grammy Award-winning star - whose real name is Natalie Renée McIntyre - went on to explain that it was only when her sophomore album 'The Id' failed to match up to the success of her debut record upon its release in 2001 did she realise that she had to change her ways.
She told PEOPLE: "I think it was just seeing it for myself that I couldn't just do whatever I want and get whatever I want. Figuring all that out took a really long time."
Meanwhile, the 'I Try' hitmaker - who has Aanisah, 27, Tahmel, 26, and Happy, 25, with her ex-husband Tracey Hinds - is gearing up to release her 11th studio album 'The Reset' in May and insists she is "not a fan of dating."
She said: "I'm not a fan of dating, so I figure I'll run into somebody and they'll really light my fire, and then I'll have no choice. Everybody says that you really have to work at [relationships], and as soon as they say work, I'm like, girl, I don't need any more jobs!"
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