Anitta says she created her new album while in hospital ‘for months’, thinking she ‘was going to die’

Anitta performed as part of the Citi Today Concert Series in New York on Friday.

As well as taking the stage, the 31-year-old Brazilian singer – who performed with Madonna in Rio de Janeiro – also gave an interview as the outlet’s digital cover star in May and opened up about her past health struggles .

In 2022, the hit singer was hospitalized for months as she battled an unknown illness that eventually went away.

The mysterious condition left her unable to walk and she admitted she thought she was “going to die” during the ordeal.

“I was in very, very poor health,” she recalls. “I got very sick and was so physically ill that I couldn’t work – and I hadn’t stopped working for so many years.”

She noted that the experience “was a big wake-up call” as she realized she “physically couldn’t do a lot of the things I loved doing because of my health.”

“I had to take time to take care of myself,” she said.

While working to improve her health, she felt inspired by music.

“I wasted so much of my life trying to achieve my goals and please people and be successful,” she told Today.

The singer, born Larissa de Macedo Machado, said the illness “changed (my) whole mentality, and that’s why I made this album.”

Anitta said: “I made Funk Generation in the hospital. I was like, I want an album like this – in case I die, I’m going to leave an album that I’m proud of.

And that’s exactly what she did.

“I’m really proud of this album, and I didn’t make it thinking about flows and algorithms and numbers. I just thought I was having fun and loving what I was doing,” she said.

In July 2022, the superstar took to Twitter, now X, to share a photo of herself in a hospital bed giving a thumbs up.

She explained: “I came straight back from the tour to the hospital to start preparations for an operation which I’m going to do as soon as my body is ready for it.”

In a follow-up tweet, she added: “The surgery was already scheduled before the tour started. “I have something called ENDOMETRIOSIS (very common in millions of women around the world but not as spoken as it should be). I’m fine, I’m very well looked after and I’ll keep everyone updated. Lots of love.’

She told Today: “After my health problems, I started taking better care of my spirituality. I follow the Yoruba religion and I had to embark on this path. I dove into myself and whatever makes me feel peace.