I’ve met a lot of famous people. From running a country music entertainment page to meeting artists in meet and greets. I feel lucky to have been blessed to be able to talk to so many wonderful people. A lot of the time, I would have very strict rules and timed interactions with celebrities. As an interviewer, you can’t always talk about yourself, and usually, you have management teams listening in on calls anyway.

When my symptoms started to grow more severe, I had to step down from doing interviews, so the only way I was meeting artists was through M&Gs at concerts I would attend.

I still sometimes get nervous when I meet artists, especially artists with whom I have a special connection. I would run through a bajillion questions in my head, days and weeks before meeting singers.

I have tons of questions for interviewing artists, but small talk? Nada.

I attended Hunter Hayes’ Flying Solo Part II Tour back in 2024. I was able to meet Hunter before the show, and he’s just as sweet as you think he would be.

Though I didn’t have time to tell him that I listened to his music from the beginning, and his music has gotten me through really rough times, I did manage to bring up that I struggle with anxiety, and his song Still has always been a really important song for me.

Hunter told me he would try to sing it for me tonight, as it wasn’t on the setlist. Spoiler alert, he did end up singing the song.

Opening up for him on tour was indie pop singer Blu Eyes, who blends soulful melodies and heavy lyrics into her discography. She writes about her experience with chronic illness as well as the mental health struggles she has walked through. From the moment I started listening to Blu Eyes, I connected to her in a way I have never connected to any other artist.

It felt like she was living through the same experiences I was, from dealing with a rare disease, losing friends, and having anxiety.

Just add all her songs to your chronic illness playlist now, I’ll wait…. Welcome back! Let’s head on over to the story again, shall we?

Her song, healing hurts was my anthem for months. I will still put on this song and be shocked at how lyric for lyric I relate to it. You’d Never Know? Let’s not even talk about how I think Blu Eyes is reading my diary. I knew that somehow, somehow I needed to meet her at the concert.

When I was waiting outside the venue to meet Hunter, I thought I saw Blu Eyes walk out of the venue with a couple of people who I assumed to be part of her team. Turns out I was right! I was kicking myself for not saying something. She walked right by me, and I had made a bracelet to give to her in case I did meet her.

Thankfully, about half an hour later, we were still outside when she circled back after getting food. I stopped her, and she was incredibly kind and gracious when I made her a bracelet. She put it on as soon as I gave it to her and thanked me about five times.

After her set, she had mentioned that she was going to be at her merch booth at the back of the venue for anyone who wanted to say hi. I beelined for the merch booth because there was no way I wasn’t going to pass up this opportunity.

We weren’t on a time crunch; I was going to be able to tell her everything, and there wasn’t any loud music playing at the time. I figured that I wouldn’t have to wait in a ginormous line that would make me miss Hunter coming out on stage, either.

Boy, was I wrong. Half, if not all, the venue ran from their seats, and this huge, messy line formed in front of her booth. I wasn’t shocked that Blu Eyes had this enormous fan base. I mean, she’s extremely talented, her lyrics cut like a knife, she’s a Swiftie, and she’s singing about stuff no one else or not many in the industry sing about.

I was somehow one of the first people in line (if I had moved any slower, I would have been at the back of the line and missed Hunter coming out on stage for the first song). Blu Eyes wrapped me in a hug and was handed a postcard from her mom (her parents go on tour with her, which is rad). She signed it for me, and I started to get nervous about telling her about my disease.

I just started word vomiting, but thankfully, I was able to reel myself back in and calmly tell her that I was diagnosed with a rare and chronic disease. I explained to her how her music has made me feel less alone and helped me so much on the hard flare-up days and the normal flare-up days.

I don’t know who got this picture or who even had my phone, but I wish I could have thanked them for this picture because Blu Eyes’ reaction was like no other reaction I’ve ever gotten.

She responded with love, appreciation, and gentleness. It’s hard to relate to people when you have a chronic illness, IYKYK. The pain we feel is incomprehensible. The fatigue that knocks us on our butt? Absolutely life-shattering. The gaslighting, doctor appointments, losing people in our lives, all because of something we can’t control.

When you meet someone (a rare thing) who gets it. Someone who has felt the pain, the fatigue, the loneliness, and all the emotions that come with being sick all your life and for the rest of it? I don’t mean to be cheesy, but it’s like finding family.

Want to tell an artist about your mental illness or chronic sickness? Do it.

It’s not for the attention; I hate the attention I get from illness, so I’ve come to terms with the disease. I can’t make it go away, I can’t do anything to make it better. I can’t pretend it’s not there; it doesn’t even work. I need to talk about it, I need to share about it, and honestly? Maybe, even be proud of it. Why? Because you’re rare, and that’s freaking awesome.

So thank you, Blu Eyes, for making the music no one wants to play on the radio for the sake of someone feeling uncomfortable.

Thanks for talking about the hard, the uncomfortable, but the real.

Thanks for making the chronic illness community feel less alone and feel seen.

I can’t wait to hug you again and talk about everything chronic.