“Needless to say, I’ve been down bad,” Jazmine Sullivan wrote in an emotional birthday post sharing her grief.
On April 9, Jazmine Sullivan turned 38. But instead of marking the day with celebration, the Grammy Award-winning artist shared a candid and emotional reflection on the grief that’s been weighing on her heart.
In an Instagram Story posted the day after her birthday, Sullivan opened up to fans—thanking them for their kind messages and revealing the emotional toll she’s been carrying.
“Leading up to my birthday has been incredibly hard as I’ve been thinking [about] my mother and missing her more than words can say,” she wrote, referring to her late mother, Pamela Sullivan, who passed away on July 22, 2023. “Also… I realize I would [have] been holding my 2-month-old son that I never got to meet.”
“So needless to say, I’ve been down bad,” she added.
As she continues to process the loss of both her mother and her child, Sullivan also shared a moment of light—expressing gratitude for a birthday message that she says helped her “release some of the deep pain I’ve been holding in for a while.”
Known for the raw honesty threaded through her lyrics, Sullivan has extended that same vulnerability to social media. In 2024, shortly after her 37th birthday, she opened up about her grief in another heartfelt tribute to her mom on Instagram.
“I miss my mommy! I tried so hard to keep busy for my birthday to distract myself, but I don’t think it works like that. I cried all month. I’ll cry for the rest of my life,” she wrote at the time. “But I’ll also smile, laugh, and dance in between the tears! So thank God for that!”
And just like she thanked God for the slivers of joy in the middle of sorrow, she also took a moment to thank her fans.
“I’m also grateful that so many of you think of me and take the time to write [me]! It’s all so beautiful,” she shared. “Please continue to pray for me as I heal from life’s ass whooping.”
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