Pop icon Lulu has revealed a decades-long battle with alcoholism, a secret she guarded closely even as she achieved international fame. The singer, born Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie, details her struggles in a forthcoming memoir, shedding light on a coping mechanism developed during a traumatic childhood marked by domestic violence.
The revelation comes as Lulu prepares to release her autobiography,offering a raw and honest account of her life. Her story speaks to the often-hidden struggles of public figures and the lasting impact of childhood trauma, perhaps encouraging others to seek help and confront their own demons. The book promises a deeper understanding of the woman behind the persona, and the price she paid for fame.
Growing up in Glasgow‘s tenements, Marie experienced a turbulent home life. Her father, Eddie, was an alcoholic who physically abused her mother, leaving her with visible injuries. “When they would fight in the house,they would throw things and the noise was hellacious,” she recalls.Neighbors often noticed her mother’s injuries, but were met with denials. “She’d say, ‘Oh, I stood on a brush,’ but my dad had whacked her one,” Lulu recounts.
By age 15, Marie had already learned to conceal her background as her cover of the Isley Brothers’ “Shout” propelled her to stardom. The scrappy girl from Glasgow was transformed into ”Lulu,” a carefully crafted image complete with a “chipmunk smile,” sculpted hair, and bobby socks.
Her manager, Marion Massey, chose the name “Lulu,” a slang term meaning ”a remarkable person,” but the transformation went beyond a simple moniker. Marie was instructed to “flatten out” her Glaswegian accent and suppress her naturally fiery temperament.
“I’d been handed an opportunity to leave the pain and shame of my past behind, so I happily stepped into the character created for me,” Lulu writes. Though, she admits that in embracing this new identity, she lost touch with her authentic self.
“I got mixed up with being a people pleaser,” she says, “but I was just an outline of a person.” The pressure to maintain the ”Lulu” persona,coupled with the unresolved trauma of her childhood,contributed to her reliance on alcohol as a means of coping.
