Mahalia Burkmar’s story is more than a tale of musical triumph—it’s a testament to resilience, self-exploration, and the power of honest confession.

From a childhood marked by painful experiences to international stardom, Mahalia’s journey is layered with moments of vulnerability, growth, and unwavering determination.

Now that I am sober, I take back what I said.

You are all I what you did. Yeah, you know I love you, but baby, you’re so jealous of me.

If you want a position, these are my pick up the pace.

I’ve totally been seeking validation from white men because of my childhood and because the only men that made me feel ugly were white men when I was a kid.

What does it cost to win Mobos, earn a Grammy nod, and sell out three continents? When the deepest wound takes years of therapy just to realize I was born perfect and I still am. And it’s like why change perfection?

Early Life: Music in Her Blood

Mahalia Burkmar was born on May 1st, 1998, in Siston, a small working-class town in Charwood, Leicester.

Her home was steeped in music—her father was British Irish, and her mother, Jamaican-born Debian Curry, was the first vocalist of the English band Color Box in 1982.

Music filled the walls of their house even before Mahalia could walk.

She was one of only two brown-skinned girls at her school, often facing cruel taunts.

Boys rubbed her skin to see if the color would come off, and others called her ugly.

She was the brown girl with a developing body, noticed by older boys before she was ready.

Mahalia went through puberty early and felt freaked out by the changes.

Instead of falling apart publicly, she retreated inward. While other kids played outside, she sought refuge in the music room, surrounded by guitar, piano, and songs.

Her parents had quietly built her a sanctuary.

She wrote her first song at eight, played her first open mic at eleven or twelve, and by thirteen, signed a record deal with Asylum Records.

At fourteen, she released her debut EP, Headspace.

The Rise: Early Success and Hidden Struggles

Not long after, Mahalia met Ed Sheeran and eventually became his support act, duetting with him on “Gold Rush.”

She supported both Sheeran and Emily Sande on their 2014 UK tours and sang on the title track of Rudimental’s UK number one album, We the Generation, in 2015.

To outsiders, it looked like the start of something extraordinary.

But inside, cracks were forming. Around 2016, at seventeen, while living in her mother’s basement, Mahalia was ready to quit.

The deals, the pressure, older men in suits dictating her image—it was overwhelming.

She transferred to Birmingham Ormiston Academy, finally surrounded by girls who looked like her.

There, she walked into a ballet class that would change her life.

The Ballet Teacher’s Words: A Wound That Lasted

At fifteen, Mahalia loved ballet and was good at it.

She told her ballet teacher, who responded, “Honey, you can’t do ballet if you look like that.”

Mahalia didn’t understand at first, but the teacher clarified: she needed to lose weight, and her body—her breasts—would never work for ballet.

The teacher suggested smoking as a way to lose weight.

Mahalia started smoking twenty cigarettes a day at fifteen, a habit she didn’t break until her early twenties.

Smoking ruined her voice and left her with an addiction she continues to struggle with.

The shame, the starving, the smoke—it rearranged something in her. By sixteen, she sought validation from white men, a pattern rooted in her childhood.

Relationships and Revelations

Mahalia’s relationships, especially with white men, were shaped by her early experiences.

She admitted, “I’ve totally been seeking validation from white men because of my childhood.”

At seventeen, she faced heartbreak, found out a friend was pregnant, and moved through London and Leicester, experiencing her first serious relationship and heartbreak.

She made her acting debut in the British film Brotherhood in 2016.

In 2017, Mahalia performed “Sober” in front of a Colors camera—a stripped, honest session that became her global breakthrough.

In 2018, YouTube ranked her number one on their “ones to watch” list.

Her album “Love and Compromise” dropped in late 2019, inspired in part by an Eartha Kitt interview her mother had shown her.

The Pandemic and Its Aftermath

In 2020, Mahalia won Best Female Act and Best R&B/Soul Act at the MOBO Awards. But three months after her album’s release, the pandemic hit, and everything stopped.

She didn’t create for a year and lost mutual friends in the fallout.

The comment sections obsessed over her body, strange messages from men, concern trolling from women, and threads debating her size—all quietly building under a woman already doing the work to stay standing.

Therapy and Healing

Therapy changed Mahalia. She began to unravel the layers of addiction, self-worth tied to male attention, and patterns she had never named.

As the UK reopened, she met songwriter Ben Hart, and within two years, they moved in together.

By July 2023, she was confirmed in a relationship.

The “lover girl era,” sparked by a breakup in 2025, marked the most self-directed chapter of her life.

Achievements and Advocacy

In 2021, Mahalia released “Jealous” with Rico Nasty and earned her first Grammy nomination for Best R&B Performance for her feature on Jacob Collier’s “All I Need.”

She appeared on Forbes 30 Under 30, and her album “IRL,” released July 14th, 2023, charted across Europe.

She toured three continents, performed at the Commonwealth Games, and opened for Adele at British Summertime in Hyde Park.

Mahalia has been a clear voice on the broken economics of being a signed British R&B artist, explaining the debt artists accrue under major labels.

In March 2025, she partnered with Amnesty International UK to tackle online misogyny, became brand ambassador for Puma and Pandora, and released “Lovergirl,” a seven-track EP written across the UK, Jamaica, and Saint Vincent.

Embracing Herself

Mahalia booked a consultation with a surgeon, ready to change her body.

Her mother intervened, reminding her that changing one thing would lead to wanting to change another.

Mahalia went braless on her next tour and learned to love her body, seeing her breasts as beacons of love, reminders of overcoming something problematic and scary.

She revived “Mahalia Presents” in East London, curating nights of talent and live music.

Within two years, it expanded to New York, Bristol, and Manchester.

Mahalia is now single and in the most self-directed chapter of her life, with a net worth of $1.25 million as of 2025.

The girl who hid in the music room, who smoked her voice away at fifteen, who spent years seeking validation, has become a woman who no longer asks permission to exist.

After four years of therapy and a confession she almost couldn’t say aloud, Mahalia decided she was done asking for approval.

That is exactly right—and exactly why she stays.