By MARIA SHERMAN AP Music Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — The musician Lil Nas X posted a moving video update to his Instagram on Wednesday morning. In the nearly three-minute clip, the artist — born Montero Lamar Hill — shared that he “has been in rehab for a few months,” and since then, has returned home to both Atlanta, where he is from and his family lives, and Los Angeles, where he resides.
The update comes in response to an event last summer in which the musician was charged with attacking Los Angeles police officers.
In April, a judge allowed the 27-year-old to enter a mental health diversion program intended to lead to the charges being dismissed. The musician was eligible for the program because the court found that the encounter involving police was the result of his since-diagnosed bipolar disorder and appeared to be an aberration compared with his usual behavior.
In Wednesday’s video, Lil Nas X publicly discussed his mental health diagnosis. “I have a therapist now and a psychiatrist, which has been really helpful. When I got my bipolar disorder diagnosis, I feel like I had known for the past few years, but I didn’t want to admit to it ’cause I didn’t want to have to take medication and, I don’t know, have people think different of me.”
“I’m doing much better,” he continued after joking that he’s “living life on extreme hard mode.”
“I’m feeling better. I’m creating freely. And there’s less fear in my heart,” he said.
Bipolar disorder is a mental illness that causes dramatic shifts in mood, energy, activity levels and concentration. These range from periods of extremely elated, irritable or energized behavior — known as manic episodes — to very sad, indifferent or hopeless periods, known as depressive episodes.
“I’ve been doing music for seven years now,” Lil Nas X said in switching gears near the end of the clip. “I wanted to let you guys know there is new music on the way.”
Then he addressed his fans directly. “I love you and all I want to do is continue to try to make you proud and make myself proud.”
The arrest and treatment plan
Lil Nas X was arrested and briefly taken to a hospital for a suspected overdose in August after Los Angeles police say he charged at officers responding to a report of a naked man walking on a busy boulevard.
Authorities allege the musician was walking naked down a street in LA’s San Fernando Valley and charged at police officers who were responding to calls about him. A criminal complaint says three officers were hurt. Photos and video apparently shot before the police confrontation showed Lil Nas X walking in the street in only white briefs and white boots.
After spending three days in jail, he was released on $75,000 bail on the condition that he attend drug treatment. He pleaded not guilty in a court appearance to three counts of battery with injury on a police officer and one count of resisting an executive officer.
In his first public comments shortly thereafter, the artist posted a video to Instagram, saying “these last four days have been terrifying.”
But he added with a laugh, speaking of himself, that “Your girl is going to be OK. She’s going to be alright.”
Then two months ago, Judge Alan Schneider allowed Lil Nas X to enter the mental health diversion program. If he sticks to his treatment program and obeys all laws for two years, the four felony counts against him will be dismissed.
A history-making artist
The Atlanta-raised artist is best known for 2018’s country and hip-hop merging “Old Town Road,” which spent a record 19 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and won him two Grammys. It is one of the most popular singles of all time, and in 2019 broke the Billboard record set by Mariah Carey’s “One Sweet Day” for most weeks at No. 1.
Known for his genre-bending, innovating sounds and style, Lil Nas X’s first full studio album, 2021’s “Montero,” went to No. 2 on the Billboard album chart and was nominated for a Grammy for album of the year. Other hits have included “Industry Baby” and “Montero (Call Me by Your Name).”
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AP entertainment writer Andrew Dalton contributed to this report from Los Angeles.