She grew up in a home where her mother had to choose every word carefully to avoid being beaten, and she too faced pushing, shoving, and frightening confrontations with her father. In that chaos, music became her refuge — the one place where pain turned into power. Today, she is celebrated as the “Voice of a Generation,” with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Born in Staten Island in 1980, she spent her early years moving from place to place because of her father’s military career. Money was tight, stability was rare, and her father’s abuse cast a long shadow over the family. Her mother recalled moments when her daughter was struck simply for making noise. For the young girl, music became a lifeline: “Music was my only real escape,” she later said.
