Fiesta Black on Beating Alcoholism and Depression

COMEBACK –

Jan. 14, 2022 – In 2020, I thought I knew what needed to be fixed, but I didn’t,” she tells Drum.

”I needed to experience a few hardships for me to know who I truly am and my full potential.”

When the lockdown started in 2020, Fiesta found herself in trouble and could not afford to maintain her lifestyle and pursue her music.

“So I decided to go back home, where there is no judgment,” she says.

At first, she was afraid to go back home and face the problems and she feared being judged by neighbours for failing once again. “But I needed to be home to face my demons,” she says.

“I packed my bags from where I was staying and moved back to Orange Farm with my mom and my siblings. My mom was not working at the time, but two weeks ago, she got a job, a great start to the year. But somehow, we survived, and I was happy.”

While at home, she learned a few things about herself.Fiesta realized that at the height of her career, she had fallen into depression.

“I thought it was because of fame, but I later realised that it was not fame, it was several issues which I had bottled up and they were making me act out,” she says.

“I was rebellious and started drinking a lot, thinking it’s because of the early fame but it was all depression. Moving back home helped her to introspect.

“I got time to sit back, relax and reflect. I realized that it’s been there a long time, and because I have a strong character, I bottled things up. It took the fame for me to realized that I have problems with things that I needed to face.”

Fiesta says healing has been a “long and painful journey, filled with tears. But it’s time for me to get up and remember my gift.”

In the healing process, she realized she had an alcohol problem. “I have not completely cut out drinking, but I don’t consume alcohol the way I used to,” she says.

“I was drinking myself to death. Drinking almost every day and once I started, I couldn’t stop. I needed more and more. I was not able to go on stage without having a drink. Booze gave me courage, so I thought. But I was ruining my life,” she says.