Anastacia lied about her age to break into music, then faced a serious diagnosis

Before Anastacia became a star, she had to conceal her age to get through a music-industry door. In 1998, she said she presented herself as 22 when she was actually 30 to enter MTV’s talent show “The Cut,” whose age limit was 29.

The lie followed her for years. “Journalists would ask me when I was born, and I would panic,” she said. She revealed the truth at 40 and described feeling enormous relief.

Her health had already shaped her life. Doctors diagnosed her with Crohn’s disease at 13, leaving a large abdominal scar. Rather than hide it, she made it part of her image. “I loved showing my abs and I was fine with it,” she said. She later also faced supraventricular tachycardia, a condition that disrupts the heart’s rhythm.

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Journalists would ask me when I was born, and I would panic.

In January 2003, during checks before planned breast-reduction surgery, doctors diagnosed her with breast cancer. She put her career on hold, underwent successful surgery and treatment, and returned to music. Her 2004 album “Anastacia” produced “Left Outside Alone,” a global hit associated with people who feel rejected but refuse to give up.

The illness returned in a more aggressive form in 2013. Anastacia cancelled a European tour and chose to undergo a double mastectomy. The account presents her career and health battles as a story of resilience, with scars and diagnoses refusing to define her.

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I loved showing my abs and I was fine with it.