Hilary Duff says returning to the stage brought back some difficult memories from her years as a child star.
The actress and singer, who became famous at 14 on Disney Channel’s “Lizzie McGuire,” recently reflected on the experience as she discussed her return to music after more than a decade away. In February, she released “Luck … Or Something,” her first studio album since 2015’s “Breathe In. Breathe Out.” It debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200. She began the “Lucky Me Tour” in June, marking her first major tour in nearly 20 years.
Before the tour, Duff performed for friends and family in Los Angeles in January. She said she was so nervous that her hand shook while she held the microphone. Afterward, her son Luca told her he was proud of her for getting back onstage despite being afraid.
“That stuck with me, because it is scary, and I’m used to being so tough and strong,” Duff said. She added that the entertainment industry can make a person feel they have to push through everything: “I’ve got to handle this, so I just will.”
Stepping onstage again after 20 years, she said, meant figuring out who she was now, how she wanted to move and what parts of her former public persona she wanted to keep. “It was a complicated thing to do, and I had to get over quite a few scars from the past,” she said.
Even during her long break from music, Duff found it hard to leave behind habits formed as a young performer. She described herself as a “Disney dog,” with an ingrained tendency to say yes and keep going.
Making music as an adult has given her more say in her career, she said. “It was wonderful building this on my terms.” Duff was careful to add that she did not feel entirely powerless as a child; she had a voice and made choices, but adults also made many decisions because she was too young to know what she wanted.
She said she still wrestles with what it means to have become famous so young. “I’ve had a great career and I feel really lucky,” she said. “I also am a child star, and that’s a really hard thing to wrestle with as an adult. People don’t survive that.”
Duff added that she feels grateful to have made it through and to be at this point in her life. She said she can now send love to both her adult self and the younger version of herself: “You did it!” and “Hey, we’re still here. Look at what we did.”
The “Lucky Me Tour” began June 21 in West Palm Beach, Florida, and included shows at Madison Square Garden in New York City and the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California. The tour then headed to Europe, Australia and New Zealand. After strong demand, Duff added 32 dates for 2027 across Europe, Latin America and the United States.
Connecting with longtime fans has helped Duff come to terms with some of the lasting effects of childhood fame. At concerts, she makes a point of thanking them for “letting me grow up.”
“I understand fans hold me in this sweet capsule in their heart that holds a time in their life that was tender and uncomplicated,” she said.
But releasing a candid album and hearing listeners relate to it has also been healing, Duff said. It helped her see that fans care about who she is now, not only the person they remember from an earlier time.
