'I'm in one of the top-selling female groups of all time, suffering with depression,' the 37-year-old singer confesses, adding that her depression got worse 'to the point where I was suicidal.'
- October 19, 2017
AceShowbiz -
Michelle Williams (II) is opening up about her struggles with depression since she was a teenager. While guest co-hosting "The Talk" on Wednesday, October 18, the 37-year-old songstress revealed she was suicidal at the height of her Destiny's Child fame.
"I'm in one of the top-selling female groups of all time, suffering with depression," Williams confessed on the show. "When I disclosed it to our manager [Mathew Knowles] at the time, bless his heart, he was like, 'You all just signed a multi-million dollar deal. You're about to go on tour. What do you have to be depressed about?' " she recalled Beyonce Knowles' dad telling her at the time.
"So I was like, 'Oh, maybe I'm just tired,' " the "Stand Up for Love" singer continued. However, her depression only continued to get worse "to the point where I was suicidal ... and wanted out" from the group.
Williams added that she had struggled with depression since she was 13 years old, but didn't realize what she was suffering from until she was in her 30s. "I think at the age of 25, had I had a name to what I was feeling at the time, I would have disclosed that 'I've been suffering from depression,' " she said.
After the episode of "The Talk" aired on Wednesday, Williams took to her Twitter account to thank the show for "being a safe place" to discuss her story. "Thank you @TheTalkCBS for being a safe place to talk about #depression #mentalhealthawareness!!" she wrote, before telling her fans, "Don't be afraid to reach out for help!"
Thank you @TheTalkCBS for being a safe place to talk about #depression #mentalhealthawareness!! Don’t be afraid to reach out for help!
— Michelle Williams (@RealMichelleW) October 18, 2017
Williams joined Destiny's Child in 2000, forming a trio with Beyonce and Kelly Rowland. In 2001, they released "Independent Woman [Import CD #1]" which topped the charts for 11 weeks. In May that year, their album "Survivor" debuted at No. 1. The R'n'B group was one of best-selling female groups of all time with over 60 million records.
