On Friday, June 5, Lizzo launched her new album Bitch. It’s not doing so nicely.
In its first 24 hours of launch, Bitch garnered simply 633,914 streams on Spotify. That’s a far cry from the heights of Lizzo’s earlier two albums, 2022’s Particular and 2019’s Cuz I Love You, which debuted at No. 2 and No. 6 on the Billboard 200 respectively.
Within the first half of the 2020s, Lizzo’s cultural presence was plain. Her single Reality Hurts went massively viral, launching her into the highlight. Between 2020 and 2023, she received 4 Grammys and even an Emmy for her actuality competitors Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Massive Grrrls.
However within the years since, Lizzo’s foothold in popular culture appears to have slipped. And in response to the singer, a widespread shift within the music trade is in charge.
“I used to be a radio darling”: Lizzo says streaming is at fault
After Bitch’s underwhelming debut, some social media customers questioned why the tide appears to have turned towards Lizzo.
“Lizzo not having a fanbase is so bizarre to me when this girl was actually promoting out arenas not even 2 years in the past,” one user wrote in a viral put up. “Like, the place did these folks go?”
Although loads of different customers had theories (together with a lack of evolution in her sound, an online obsession with dunking on the singer, and easily the fickle finger of the music industry), Lizzo herself chimed in on the discourse together with her personal clarification for the decline in her fanbase.
“I really can reply this: The trade modified a lot within the final 3 yrs,” Lizzo wrote. “Streaming changed radio & I used to be a radio darling. That’s how my followers found my music.”
Lizzo added that “the very apparent & public assault on my profession modified issues” as nicely, probably referring to the lawsuit filed towards her in 2023 by three former backup dancers, who accused Lizzo of harassment, discrimination, and assault, amongst different claims. Lizzo has denied the allegations, and the lawsuit is ongoing.
Nonetheless, Lizzo wrote that she’s “out right here doing my best possible and u can’t knock a bitch for that.”
In a separate put up, Lizzo wrote that she’s “by no means been a stream queen… however I ALWAYS been a HITMAKER.” She additionally responded directly to Bitch’s first-day streaming numbers, thanking her followers and writing, “I’m so happy with us LIZZBIANS!”
Is radio actually lifeless?
Even after Lizzo’s clarification, social media customers weren’t bought. Although it’s true that for music consumption, streaming continues to realize recognition, many customers identified that the transition predated Lizzo’s lack of recognition. As early as 2021, streaming had surpassed radio as the most typical means People listened to music, largely pushed by Gen Z’s listening habits.
And although streaming could also be standard, radio stays essentially the most listened-to platform throughout all ad-supported audio for American adults, with Nielsen even noting as of June 2026 that radio’s share of day by day listening time has elevated quarter over quarter.
The place Lizzo’s evaluation is right is that she’s getting much less radio airplay than she used to. Although her earlier singles “About Rattling Time,” “Reality Hurts,” and “Good As Hell” all spent weeks topping Billboard’s Radio Songs chart, none of her releases since 2023 have appeared on the chart in any respect, together with any of the tracks from Bitch. Even when radio is alive and nicely, Lizzo’s time as a “radio darling” could also be behind her.
