Nivea revealed she has been diagnosed with leukemia. The R&B veteran discussed her private health battle during a recent appearance on Cadillac Chronicles, where she performed hits such as “Don’t Mess With My Man” and “Complicated.”
When asked about something she’s thankful for, Nivea responded, “I was diagnosed with leukemia earlier this year, and I’m so grateful to God. I’ve been going through treatment and everything has been going great so far and I expect it to continue.”
She went on to explain that it has given her a renewed perspective on life and pushed her to achieve more goals, including in music. “I live in gratitude religiously. I’m just grateful for everything,” she continued. “I’m doing things I want to do. I’m definitely back into my music. I’m going to school for audio engineering. I’ve always wanted to learn how to engineer — mix engineer, in particular.”
According to MedlinePlus, “Leukemia is a type of blood cancer that begins in the bone marrow. Bone marrow is the soft tissue in the center of the bones, where blood cells are produced.” Leukemias are divided into two major types: Acute, which progresses quickly, and Chronic, which progresses more slowly.
Circling back to her music, Nivea released her last single, “Killa,” on her 41st birthday in 2023. It followed her other standalone track “Virginia,” which dropped in early 2022. Meanwhile, her last full-length album, Mirrors, was released in 2019. During her Cadillac Chronicles interview, Nivea cringed at the sound quality of the latter project.
“Mirrors was a mess, chyle. The mix was trash,” she said. “The mix just did not come together… because it was rushed and I was all over the place mentally.” As much as she disliked the sound, the message behind the album still resonates with her. “I’m also still proud of the record because a lot of the songs definitely expressed different things I was going through, which is why on the cover…I’m pretty much naked, and there’s a broken mirror on the floor, so it’s like shattering whatever image I thought of myself, whatever image that was projected… It was like an evolutionary album for me.”
Looking ahead, Nivea’s self-titled debut album turns 25 in February 2027. The album features the Jagged Edge-assisted “Don’t Mess With My Man,” which became her first top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 8.
Watch Nivea’s performance and interview on Cadillac Chronicles here.
