Tragic Details About Meghan Trainor's Life

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In one of her hit songs, Meghan Trainor famously sang, "If I was you, I'd want to be me, too." And why wouldn't you? Since she burst onto the scene in 2014 with the smash hit "All About That Bass," the artist has seemingly led a charmed life filled with hot hits, a handsome hubby, and two adorable children, not to mention Trainor's stunning net worth. Things aren't always what they seem, however, and a closer look reveals that what you don't know about Meghan Trainor are the tragic details about her life. Although her songs are often anthems of positivity and confidence, the stories that inspired them include mental health struggles and self-esteem issues that have plagued the singer for years. 

Trainor has racked up multiple awards throughout her career and has been described as "prolific" by Epic Records chairman/CEO Antonio "L.A." Reid to Billboard.  "People know that she's a hitmaker and that she's cut from a different cloth. But the depth of her talent runs deeper than most," said Reid, who signed the singer back in 2014. Although her pop power doesn't yet match that of Taylor Swift, Trainor has her own legion of devoted followers who bop along to hits like "No" and "Made You Look." Her message is one of resilience and staying true to yourself in a society that tells you otherwise. But behind her brassy bravado lives a young woman who deals with the same pressures as many of her fans, which is part of what makes the mom of two so relatable. 

To see Meghan Trainor strutting around a stage and singing about her "bass," you'd think the sassy songstress oozed confidence from every pore. Like all good performers, however, it's largely an act. Privately, the Nantucket native has always struggled with body image issues and an insecurity that ran so deep, she would hide behind oversized clothing. "I — every day — wore sweatshirts and sweatpants to cover up my body, 'cause I was so insecure," Trainor told CBS news correspondent Tracy Smith on "Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood." "And it would be summer. And I would go on vacation and I'd be in Trinidad and Tobago, 90-degree weather, and I'd be wearing sweatshirts that said 'Nantucket.'"

Trainor, who explained that she was embarrassed to show her arms, said she balked when her family tried to convince her to wear clothing more appropriate for the warmer months. "I didn't want to show anything, and I was just so insecure and uncomfortable, and I thought, 'All right, if I'm fully covered — I'm good.'" While her songs and the response to them have helped the singer with her struggle, those old issues still rear their ugly heads from time to time. Trainor, who had lost the baby weight from her first pregnancy, recalled the fear of gaining it back when she learned she was expecting again. "Body image is always there, but I'm learning to rewire my brain," she told People in 2023. 

Meghan Trainor has been belting out songs since the age of 6, when she sang with the choir in her local Methodist church. Her father, Gary, played the church organ and taught the high school marching band in their home of Nantucket. The family's love of music led them to form a band, "Island Fusion," made up of Trainor, her dad, her younger brother, and her aunt. They performed in bars around the island and the preteen began to dream of bigger things. However, years of being bullied about her weight made the aspiring pop star think she'd be better off writing and producing songs than performing them. "I always wanted to be a pop star, but that was like saying, 'I want to be a firefighter,'" she told The Standard in 2016. 

The teasing from her peers was only part of the reason for Trainor's self-doubt. The beauty standard marketed by the industry also did a number on her self-esteem. Her idols included pop icons like Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, hyper-sexualized singers baring tight, toned bodies. "When I got into my teens, I became a little more insecure," she confessed. "You get picked on and bullied, and I would think, 'I'll never be a famous pop star, I don't look like these stars do.'" Although she made her dreams come true, that insecurity lives on. As she once told Billboard, "I still don't feel famous." 

Before there was Lizzo and her message of body positivity, there was Meghan Trainor, who encouraged women to love their curves in "All About That Bass." The song, which she wrote in less than an hour, was a career defining moment for the star, as she turned her own insecurities into a message of acceptance that resonated with women everywhere. Well, maybe not all women. For all the fans who credited the song for helping them through their dark times and struggles with self-image, there were those who saw it as skinny shaming. Author Chloe Angyal criticized the song that soared to numer one in 27 countries, as the opposite of feminine empowerment. On Feministing, she penned, "Loving yourself because dudes like what you've got going on is a pretty flimsy form of self-acceptance. In fact, it's not really self-acceptance at all, if it depends on other people thinking you're hot." Writer L.V. Anderson agreed in a blog post on Slate, writing, "While the earworm is ostensibly about body positivity, Trainor disses 'skinny b**ches' and 'stick figure[s]'—suggesting that not all bodies are worthy of pride."

Trainor addressed the controversy and claimed it was not her intent to offend anyone. "I would never shame a skinny person! I don't know who would want to," she said in an interview with Pop Justice, adding, "I just wrote a fun song about loving your booty and loving your body!"

After a successful first tour, Meghan Trainor was all aboard for her second major concert series in 2015 when she suffered a major setback. On the eve of her highly anticipated MTrain tour, the singer took to social media to announce that, due to a vocal cord hemorrhage, the train wouldn't be leaving the station. In a now deleted Instagram post (per E! News), she wrote, "I don't want anyone worrying but I have had a hemorrhage on my vocal chords. Right now the doctors want me on complete vocal rest until they are healed, so I have to postpone my first two shows in Atlantic City and Connecticut." She added, "I have never missed a tour date before, so this is killing me. I love you all very much and want to get healed quickly, so I can show you this amazing tour we've been working on."

Unfortunately for the singer, after a few performances, things went from bad to worse. Trainor was forced to cancel the remainder of the tour and undergo surgery to repair the damage. She once again took to Instagram to share the latest development. In her since deleted post, she told her fans she was "devastated, scared and so sorry," adding, "I am determined to do what it takes to get better and come back around stronger than ever" (via BBC News).

It's hard to imagine that someone who makes a living by performing in front of thousands of people would have a public panic attack, but that's exactly what happened to Meghan Trainor when she went on live television to announce the 2017 Grammy nominees on "CBS This Morning" with Gayle King. "I was announcing the nominees, and I was vibrating. I felt like I was going to pass out on live television. I was like, 'What's happening? I must be dying,'" Trainor told People in 2021. "As soon as they said 'Cut,' I went offstage and was [gasping for air] in front of everyone." The experience was a first for the singer, and it was so traumatic that she cancelled another appearance she had scheduled for later that day. 

According to Mayo Clinic, panic attacks can occur suddenly and are triggered by a variety of factors, including stress. Trainor said that she had been reviewing her overwhelmingly full schedule earlier that day with her assistant, which may explain the onset of her public attack. The singer found support through the show's co-host, Gayle King, who continued to check in on Trainor via e-mail following the incident. "I was so embarrassed and apologized, but she made everything so much better for me," Trainor said, adding, "She's an angel on this earth." 

If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.

When you are a singer, your vocal cords are your instrument and, if that instrument becomes damaged, it can mean the end of your career. That was the fear that filled Meghan Trainor when, just two years after undergoing surgery for a vocal cord hemorrhage, she found herself back in the same situation.  "I was working really hard, and I kept having to cancel tours [to undergo vocal cord surgeries]. I was like, 'This is all I have, this is my life — if I can't sing, I can't work,'" Trainor recalled in an interview with People. The "Title" singer said the months following that second surgery took her panic attacks to an entirely new level and she began having both physical and mental symptoms. "I was in a dark place," Trainor admitted in another People interview. 

One trip to the E.R. for what she thought was an allergic reaction to something she'd eaten turned out to be a lifesaving experience for Trainor, who learned there was something much bigger going on. "My doctors diagnosed me with panic disorder," she told the magazine. "They were like, 'Your chemicals are way imbalanced — we have to get you back to normal.'" At the recommendation of her doctors, Trainor began using therapy and medication to manage her symptoms, along with exercise and acupuncture. She also gave up alcohol because of the potential vocal cord damage it may cause.  

Celebrities have millions of fans, and connecting with each and every one of them on a personal level would be impossible. For pop megastar Meghan Trainor, though, there was one superfan who stood out from the rest. Jalisa Forsyth had been following Trainor since the earliest days of her career and, over time, they became friends. Sadly, the 22-year-old died by suicide in 2019, leaving Trainor heartbroken. She took to Instagram to pay tribute to her friend, sharing several candid photos from happier times. In the accompanying caption, Trainor said she was "devastated." She wrote, "Jalisa was always more than just a fan, she treated me like I was one of her best friends and I felt the same about her ... I will never forget Jalisa and she will forever be a member of the Megatron family."

The "Like I'm Gonna' Lose You" singer went on to express her condolences to Jalisa's family, and she encouraged her fans to "support and look out for each other."  Trainor, who has been open about her own struggles with mental health issues, told fans, "Please know that whatever you're feeling, you are not alone and there are people that can help." She also provided the number to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. 

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org.

Becoming a mom for the first time is exciting, but it can also a little scary. For Meghan Trainor and husband Daryl Sabara of "Spy Kids" fame, welcoming their first son, Riley, was nothing short of traumatic. The "Mother" singer, who was diagnosed with gestational diabetes , gave birth via a planned C-section, but that was the only thing that went according to plan. Just minutes after her son was born, Trainor watched as he was whisked away to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), where he remained for five days. "You know, I didn't have my beautiful moment with my baby. I was, like, hearing myself being sewn up. And so that was depressing and hard to go through," she said in a 2023 interview with NPR. The singer also struggled with body issues again following Riley's birth. "I was covered in a C-section scar crossing over all my stretch marks and I was really struggling to like myself, but also like myself in front of my own husband," she told Billboard.

Trainor opened up about her son's difficult birth in a no-holds-barred book titled "Dear Future Mama: A TMI Guide to Pregnancy, Birth, and New Motherhood from Your Bestie." In her press release, she said, "After feeling so overwhelmed and alone in my first pregnancy, I was inspired to write this book to make sure no other future mama ever felt like that." 

Postpartum depression isn't uncommon for new moms — but post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)? Meghan Trainor dealt with that following the birth of her first son, Riley. In her book "Dear Future Mama," Trainor shared all the gory details of her scheduled C-section, including hearing what she described as a loud instrument that sounded like a "Dremel tool" being used to open her up, along with the smell of burning skin. "It's ... not a good smell, and it will stick with you for a while," she wrote (per People). That, combined with the breathing complications her son experienced that landed him in the NICU, created a very scary situation for the singer that she couldn't shake. "I couldn't go to sleep at night," she told People. "I would be in tears and tell Daryl, 'I'm still on that table, dude. I'm trapped there. I can't remind myself I'm in bed and I'm safe at home.'"  

It's hard enough to get a good night's sleep with a newborn without throwing in nightmares and fear, so Trainor once again reached out to her therapist who diagnosed her with PTSD. "She said, "Right, so this is a form of PTSD and we're going to have to talk through this, and get through this,'" Trainor wrote in an essay for Today aimed at helping other moms. She added, "Being a parent isn't easy — especially not today. And yet, being a mom is my favorite thing in the world."

Meghan Trainor's celebrity and fame might look glamorous from the outside, but the spunky singer is all about keeping it real when it comes to sharing the not-so-pretty parts of her life. She, like many women, has struggled with postpartum issues, not once but twice. After being diagnosed with PTSD following the birth of her first son, Riley, Trainor found herself in a dark place again with her second son, Barry. In an essay for Today, she got candid about the experience. "A month after having my second baby, I hit a breaking point," the pop star revealed. Left alone with the infant, who would not stop crying, an overtired, overstressed Trainor began to have a panic attack. "I didn't feel safe holding the baby, and at the same time I felt like my body was giving up on me." She immediately reached out to her doctor for help. 

Trainor acknowledges that she is fortunate to have a whole team in place to help her through her dark times, and she is aware that not every mother is so lucky. "Having a kid is the hardest thing," she wrote. "When I talk to other moms about it, I'm like, 'Isn't this traumatic and crazy?' And we're expected to walk around like we're fine. That's why I want to share my own experience — to show other moms that they're not alone, and also to encourage them to ask for help and seek support."

After struggling with her weight throughout her life, Meghan Trainor made them look when she showed up to the Billboard Women in Music Awards looking a little less about that bass. Wearing a black dress with a form-fitting bodice and a sheer, high-slit skirt, she was the picture of good health and radiance. But on a night that should have been about her talent and contributions to the music industry, Trainor found herself fielding questions surrounding her obvious weight loss. In an Instagram post, she copped to using Mounjaro in conjunction with diet and exercise to achieve her new look, but she also shared her displeasure with the intense scrutiny. "It's a little disheartening that so many of the questions (and comments) were focused on my body instead of my music, my passion, or the decade of hard work that got me here. This is what it's like to be a woman in the music industry," she wrote in her caption.

Trainor is one of many stars who look different after taking Ozempic and other weight loss drugs like Mounjari, and she is just one of the latest whose weight transformation had tongues wagging. Even those celebrities who claim not to have used medication are still the subject of gossip. Lizzo's weight loss transformation had everyone guessing, and a virtually unrecognizable Christina Aguilera sparked plenty of speculation, too.