The New Lizzo Album Is Bombing – Why?

I remember hearing "About Damn Time" by Lizzo for the first time during the summer of 2022. What an absolute banger - it was funky, good bass line, upbeat, good hook - it was the song of the summer.

Lizzo was seemingly everywhere - arena tours, Grammy awards, flute solos, pop culture news headlines, Lizzo was a household name. Let's fast-forward to 2026.

Her new album entitled "Bitch" just dropped on June 5th and nobody seemed to notice. I've worked in pop radio since 2011 and I didn't even know she released a new song!

The numbers are abysmal - she sold an embarrassing 2,649 copies its first week and pulled in under 2.7 million streams. Week 2? Only 650 copies sold and under 900,000 streams! Her album "Special" ('About Damn Time' is on this album) in 2022 sold 39,000 copies in its first week - just for comparison. -tmz.com

The New Lizzo Album Is Bombing - Why?

So what's going on here? I think it's the unlikability factor.

Remember the 2023 lawsuit that some backup dancers filed against her claiming she was abusive to work for? That's still going on. Lizzo refuses to settle. This hit hard in the media and she lost some fans.

Then there's the weight loss.

Lizzo was all about body positivity, she was big on the "healthy at any weight" thing. She was unapologetically fat - and her fans loved it. Then she lost weight - just like Adele and Meghan Trainor. Meghan Trainor is going through the same loss in album sales and ticket sales as well - she just cancelled her tour and blamed it on "focusing on her family".

Adele, after some initial backlash, rebounded. I think just because she is THAT talented. The cream always rises to the top.

The music industry and listener habits.

Lizzo herself is pointing the finger at the music industry. She went on X and said "streaming replaced radio, and I was a radio darling. That's how my fans discovered my music." That's actually a fair point, and something anyone in radio like myself can appreciate. But radio still attracts millions of people everyday.

So- what do you think? Are the Lizzo years over?