‘I kept saying I was 22 for three years’: Yemi Alade opens up about depression

Nigerian singer and songwriter Yemi Alade has opened up about her personal struggles, revealing how she fell into depression at some point.

The 36-year-old disclosed this during an interview with Nigerian filmmaker and TV host Chude Jideonwo, which he posted on his Instagram page on Thursday night.

She described the period as one of the darkest moments of her life.

The Ondo-born artiste also admitted that she once struggled to accept her real age.

The “Johnny” hitmaker noted: “There was a time someone asked me my age and I realised I kept saying for three years that I’m 22. Then I realised I was 25. I took out my phone and I did the mathematics. Whatever year that was, I did it from 1989. I was depressed for a few days.

“My mind was also not considering that years had passed, and I was so invested in my world. I had secluded myself and only focused on music. Now and then I would travel to see my mum, maybe twice a year or something.”

Mental health

Additionally, the “Mamapiano” crooner revealed that the period also took a toll on her mental health.

“But it was mental that for three years I didn’t know my right age because I was lost in the source. And so when that dawned on me, what about when I saw my first grey hair? It was the same thing. The time had passed”, said the songstress.

The actress last made headlines in November 2024 when she accused Cool FM Nigeria and Clout Africa FM of blocklisting her for declining an invitation to their event.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that she revealed that in December 2023, Cool FM had invited her to perform at their end-of-year event, but she failed to honour the invitation.

Yemi Alade explained that she later contacted the stations to apologise but received a cold response.

She added that she had been unaware that Cool FM and Clout Nigeria management had taken offence over the incident.

She claimed this led to her music being blocked on both platforms for almost a year.

Yemi Alade further expressed her shock that her entire music catalogue had been removed from the stations’ playlists, effectively preventing her past or present songs from being aired.