Entertainment
Lola Young says she’s ready to “put a stamp on music” following breakout success
British singer-songwriter Lola Young says she’s the “happiest [she’s] ever been ever” after years of mental health struggles that nearly derailed her promising career.
At 24 years old, Young may appear to be an overnight sensation after her breakout hit “Messy” went viral online and topped charts around the world, but she has been writing songs since age 11. Her recent debut at Coachella left her stunned by the massive audience response.
“I felt a bit confused to be honest,” Young told “CBS Mornings” about her April performance. “It was absolutely bonkers. Just the amount of people that were standing there screaming. It was like, ‘For me, like, what?’ Do you know what I mean?”
Building a path to success
Young’s path to success began with a difficult childhood that pushed her musical dreams forward.
“I went through a lot. I had a difficult, in some ways, a difficult upbringing,” she said. “I had this kind of urge, this like burning desire to escape in any way, shape or form I could.”
Music became her outlet and source of achievement. Her career took a pivotal turn at 16 when she performed at the Bedford Pub in 2017, where manager Nick Shymansky, who had previously managed Amy Winehouse, was in attendance. The encounter changed both their lives.
“I walked into the room just when you went on stage, and I was like, ‘Who is this?'” Shymansky said. “I was completely seduced by Lola’s talent and character.”
For Young, the connection with Shymansky was immediate and profound. “I just didn’t want anyone else. I met with so many managers and I was like, ‘Nah,'” she said. “He understood me in a way I’ve never been understood by any person.”
Young draws inspiration from legendary artists like Joni Mitchell, whose album “Blue” made a lasting impact when she first heard it when she was a teenager.
“I remember hearing ‘A Case of You’ and I just don’t know why, but I just cried. And I thought, if I can do that to somebody then I’ve done, then I think I’ve done something,” she said.
Her dedication to music runs deep. “I’m very serious about it. Yeah. I sometimes wish that it was just a bit less deep for me. But it is not,” she admitted.
Leaving her mark on music
Despite her artistic success, Young faced severe personal struggles in recent years. “I was in a really bad place. I didn’t want to be here. Didn’t care about myself. Didn’t care about anything,” she shared about a period of mental health challenges that lasted several years.
The turning point came just over a year ago. She says she’s now the happiest she’s ever been.
Young admits finishing songs can be stressful and when they’re finally complete it’s “like a weight being lifted.” Personally, she finds being on stage performing the most thrilling part of her job.
Even as she enjoys newfound fame, Young remains vulnerable to criticism, admitting she sometimes cried over negative comments but is learning to manage the toll of public scrutiny.
“Today, I’m like absolutely not,” said Young, referring to letting social media remarks get under her skin.
When it comes to her future, Young says she plans to leave a mark.
“I want to put a stamp on music because all the best, all the people that I love or the best artists that I love have done that,” she said.
Netflix is kicking off January with a packed lineup of new movies and TV series, featuring mystery dramas, romantic comedies, action thrillers, and major returning hits.
The month begins on January 1 with Run Away, the latest Harlan Coben adaptation. The eight-episode series stars James Nesbitt as a father searching for his missing daughter and is adapted by Danny Brocklehurst. The cast includes Minnie Driver, Ruth Jones, Alfred Enoch, and Lucian Msamati.
Rom-com fans can look forward to People We Meet on Vacation on January 9. Based on Emily Henry’s novel, the film stars Emily Bader and Tom Blyth as longtime friends who reconnect during a trip abroad.
Netflix’s biggest movie of the month arrives January 16 with The Rip, an action thriller starring Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. The film follows Miami cops whose trust collapses after finding a massive stash of cash.
The month ends with Bridgerton season 4, Part 1, debuting January 29. The season focuses on Benedict Bridgerton and includes eight episodes split into two parts.
Netflix is also adding dozens of movies, including Dune, 12 Years a Slave, Free Solo, District 9, and Erin Brockovich.
Check out the complete list below:
January 1
Dr. Seuss’s Red Fish, Blue Fish: Season 2
Love from 9 to 5 (MX)
My Korean Boyfriend (BR)
Run Away (GB)
Time Flies (AR)
12 Years a Slave
30 Minutes or Less
Becky
Brüno
Colombiana
Conan the Destroyer
Dawn of the Dead
Despicable Me
Despicable Me 2
District 9
Dune
Erin Brockovich
Falling Skies: Seasons 1-5
Forever My Girl
Free Solo
Ghostbusters: Answer the Call
Green Room
Harry and the Hendersons
Hellboy
Johnny Mnemonic
Just Go With It
Lone Survivor
Man on Fire
Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life
My Girl
Only the Brave
Pitch Perfect
Priscilla
Twins
Wild Things
January 2
Found: Seasons 1-2
Land of Sin (SE)
January 3
The Following: Seasons 1-3
January 5
Monday Night Raw: 2026
January 6
Pokémon Horizons: Season 3 – Rising Hope Part 1 (JP)
January 7
11.22.63: Season 1
Marcello Hernández: American Boy
Unlocked: A Jail Experiment: Season 2
January 8
HIS & HERS
Love Is Blind: Germany: Season 2 (DE)
January 9
Alpha Males: Season 4 (ES)
People We Meet on Vacation
Prodigal Son: Seasons 1-2
Stone Cold Fox
January 12
Monday Night Raw: 2026
January 13
The Boyfriend: Season 2 (JP)
January 14
The Queen of Flow: Season 3 (CO)
Veronica Mars: Seasons 1-3
January 15
Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials (GB)
Bone Lake
Love Through a Prism (JP)
The Upshaws: Part 7
To Love, To Lose (TR)
January 16
Can This Love Be Translated? (KR)
No Tail to Tell (KR)
Southland: Seasons 1-5
The Rip
January 19
Monday Night Raw: 2026
Sandokan: Season 1
January 20
Just a Dash: Seasons 1-3
Rizzoli & Isles: Seasons 1-7
Star Search
WWE: Unreal: Season 2
January 21
Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart (GB)
January 22
Cosmic Princess Kaguya! (JP)
Finding Her Edge
January 23
Skyscraper Live
The Big Fake (IT)
January 26
Monday Night Raw: 2026
My Sesame Street Friends: My Sesame Music
January 27
Mike Epps: Delusional
Take That
January 29
Bridgerton: Season 4 Part 1
- Pakistan, China iron-clad, all-weather partners: FO spox.
- Taiwan is an inalienable part of China, says Tahir Andrabi.
- China completed “Justice Mission 2025” drills near Taiwan.
Islamabad on Friday reiterated its firm support for Beijing on the Taiwan issue, reaffirming its commitment to the One-China principle.
Responding to media queries regarding recent developments in the Taiwan Strait, Foreign Office Spokesperson Tahir Hussain Andrabi said that Pakistan and China are iron-clad friends and all-weather strategic cooperative partners.
The statement came amid the rising tension between China and Taiwan, following the former’s military exercise.
In his statement, the Foreign Office spokesperson said that Pakistan consistently supports China on all matters concerning its core national interests, including Taiwan.
“We (Pakistan) reiterate our consistent support to China on all matters of its core interests, including Taiwan,” he added.
“We will continue to adhere to the One-China principle and regard Taiwan as an inalienable part of China.”
China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, and it has not ruled out using force to take it under Chinese control.
Beijing announced late on Wednesday the completion of the drills, saying its military would remain on high alert and continue to strengthen its combat-readiness.
The exercises named “Justice Mission 2025” saw China fire dozens of rockets and deploy a large number of warships and aircraft near the island.
—With additional input from Reuters
CRANS MONTANA: Teenagers Eleonore and Elisa started the year with a frantic search for friends who have been missing since a deadly fire tore through a bar in a neighbouring Swiss town.
“Are they OK? Are they just at the hospital?” one of the 17-year-olds says.
They have not heard from them since a blaze tore through a New Year’s celebration in the luxury resort town of Crans Montana, turning what should have been a night of revelry into a globe-spanning tragedy.
Police estimate around 40 people have been killed and about 115 injured, many of them young visitors to the Swiss Alps.
Officials have started the arduous process of identifying the victims, but with some of the bodies badly burned, police warned the process could take days or even weeks.
Relatives and friends have been scrambling to find their loved ones, with many circulating photos on social media.
“We tried to reach them; some of their locations are still showing here,” said one of the teenagers from Valais, nodding at the bar now shielded by opaque white tarpaulins and behind a wall of temporary barriers.
“We took loads of photos [and] we put them on Instagram, Facebook, every social network possible to try to find them,” Eleonore said.
“But there’s nothing. No response. We called the parents. Nothing. Even the parents don’t know,” she added.
They managed to get news that one friend was in a coma in a hospital in the city of Lausanne.
More than 30 victims were taken to hospitals with specialised burns units in Zurich and Lausanne, and six were taken to Geneva, according to a Swiss news agency.
There is no official estimate of the missing or headcount from Le Constellation bar that night.
Italy’s ambassador Gian Lorenzo Cornado told AFP that five of the injured have not yet been identified.
A few hundred metres from the remnants of the burned bar, the nearby convention centre has been turned into a crisis unit.
Away from the press and guarded by police, families of the victims are received and offered assistance by authorities, diplomats and chaplains.
Swiss President Guy Parmelin said the support on offer would be “long-lasting”.
Nathan, a 19-year-old who was in the bar just before it caught fire, told AFP he keeps expecting to wake up from the “nightmare”.
“It feels like… I’m going to wake up tomorrow and get all my loved ones back who sadly died in this incident,” he said.
“Normally a new year is full of happiness, but unfortunately, this has happened.”
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