After an incredible year, Selena Gomez is looking forward to her next journey. The celebrated songstress, 28, spoke candidly with our sister publication, Rolling Stone, about moving forward, and closing a chapter that included dealing with her relationship and breakup with Justin Bieber. “I wanted people to take away that this was a journey and that it was completely closed,” she told the outlet.
“I don’t want people to see me as just sad and hurt. I didn’t want that anymore. I wanted people to know that I experienced something real, and that part of me is over.” Selena’s 2020 album, Rare, was likely her most vulnerable yet. Released on January 10, 2020, a number of Selena’s songs revealed the intimate details of how she came to terms with the end of her romance with Justin after an on-again, off-again relationship that lasted roughly eight years. During that time, the two went through highly-publicized breakups and reunions, only to finally split in 2018. Justin has since married wife Hailey Baldwin.
Selena did confess that her team was “kind of nervous about it, because they didn’t want to take away from either song.” But the singer knew her music better than anyone, standing firmly by her decision. “I knew from the get-go that ‘Lose You to Love Me’ was going to be the bigger song, because I just felt it in my heart.”
“From that point on, I focused on creating more songs that were lyrically about transformation and vulnerability and heartbreak,” she explained. “It felt like [the material] was really, really strong, and I was very happy about it. I think that becoming more involved than I ever have been [in the making of the album] helped me gain confidence and empowered me completely. I took control over what I was going to say, what I was going to do.”