R&B singer Nivea has publicly revealed that she is battling leukemia. The disclosure came during a recent drive-around interview in Atlanta with CadillacChroniclesTV, where host Mr. Brian Freeman asked the singer what she was thankful for.
According to Billboard, the 44-year-old mother of four responded by breaking the news directly. "Well, first of all, I was diagnosed with leukemia earlier this year, and I'm so grateful to God," she said. "I've been going through treatment, and everything is going great, so far. And I expect it to continue. Amen, amen, amen. Very grateful for life. It's so cliché to say you don't know the time nor the hour, but it's true and it just helped me put a lot of things in perspective, and I live in gratitude, like, religiously, and I'm just grateful for everything."
Nivea did not specify which form of leukemia she is fighting.
Despite the diagnosis, she has continued to work. She performed several songs during the interview, including classic hits and a new track from an upcoming project. She also told Freeman that she has returned to music and is currently enrolled in audio engineering school.
"I'm doing things I wanna do," she said. "I'm definitely back into my music, and I'm going to school for audio engineering. I've always wanted to learn how to engineer, and mixing engineering in particular."
She added that the experience has shifted how she approaches daily life. She described trying to be more present, to focus on her children, and to take every opportunity that comes her way.
Nivea is a Grammy-nominated artist known for her work in R&B during the early 2000s. Her diagnosis is the latest in a series of health challenges that prominent artists have spoken about publicly in recent years.
