Greta Touring With Extreme Back Pain

For three years, the young Hamburg singer Greta suffered from a herniated disc and could barely sit. In an interview with George V Magazine, she tells how she nevertheless managed to launch her music career and tour with Clueso and Cro.

George V Magazine: Greta, I’ve reached you in Denmark; you’ve just been surfing. Knowing your story over the last five years, this is nothing short of a miracle. How does it feel to experience this first pain-free summer in ages?

Greta: For the first time in five years, I’m truly positive that the healing will be long-lasting. I went surfing the last two days—the first time since my surgery five months ago. I had no pain, and all without medication. For me, a completely ordinary day today is a really good day. I have a completely new sense of gratitude for things that others take for granted.

You were 21, at the beginning of your career. An age when you feel invincible. What happened the moment your body first said “stop”?

It was a morning like any other. I simply wanted to get up, roll out of bed on my side. But I couldn’t. A sharp pain shot from my back down to my foot. When a nerve is so severely affected, it’s not just back pain. It’s excruciating nerve pain that takes over my entire leg.

And how did the doctors react? A young, athletic woman with such complaints – was it taken seriously?

Not at all. I was constantly told, “You’re too young for a herniated disc. Take it easy, you’re just overexerting yourself.” Only an MRI brought certainty. But even after that, I kept hearing, “It’ll go away on its own, you’re young.” I tried every conservative therapy, went to rehab with people three times my age. But nothing helped. It was exhausting. This constant pain eventually takes a massive toll on your mental health. You withdraw completely socially because you can’t sit anymore. For the last few years, I’ve practically been lying down, because that was the only halfway tolerable position.

A life between aspiring pop star and, as you say, “a case for care” – how is that even possible? 

I had this insane inner drive; I desperately wanted to live my dream. The music gave me the dopamine I needed to endure the pain. My album isn’t called “Sun and Pain” for nothing. But it also tore me apart. Losing trust in your own body is one of the worst experiences imaginable.

Looking back, was there a moment that was the most frightening for you today?

There was this phase two years ago when I started playing live. I posted a video on TikTok that went viral. You can see me lying across the back seat of a car while my friends sat in the front. I couldn’t endure the hour-long drive to the airport in Spain any other way. I even stood for two hours in the back of the airplane cabin because sitting was impossible. Once, for a gig in Frankfurt, I had to lie down on extreme painkillers—Tilidine, Pregabalin, the whole shebang—on the train there. I played that gig, but I wasn’t really myself. I just didn’t want to accept how restricted my life was.

Who protected you from your own ambition during this phase – who said: “Greta, this far and no further”?

My mother. She was actually traveling the world, living in Thailand and India. But when I was so unwell, she came back. She made the decision for me, a decision I would never have made myself. She said, “You’re going to make a clean break. You’re going to get better.” I didn’t want to admit defeat, but at some point, your body leaves you no choice. At the beginning of this year, I reached a point where I couldn’t do anything anymore. After my first solo tour in December, I was in bed for three weeks, questioning my entire life.

Finally, the operation took place. A procedure that many your age shy away from. 

It was an emergency. I was at the pre-operative consultation with the head surgeon, having walked there on crutches. While I was sitting in front of him, I had an uncontrollable muscle spasm in my back and almost collapsed. He looked at me and said, “Okay, I’ll see what I can do in three days.” He moved me up and operated. Afterward, he came to me and said, “Oh my God, the herniation was much more extensive than we could see on the MRI.” At that moment, I was just incredibly happy that someone had finally taken me seriously.

You’re a young woman in a tough business. Has this experience with chronic pain made you more resilient for the battles you have to fight in the music industry anyway – keyword: gender pay gap? 

Absolutely. I’m learning right now that you have to stay extremely true to yourself in this business. Two worlds collide: economic interests and creativity. These are often almost mutually exclusive. As a young woman, you’re constantly facing resistance anyway. But once you’ve learned to deal with a body that lets you down, the conservative structures of the industry don’t shake you so easily anymore. I have clear rules now, even in my personal life. It’s not for nothing that my merch says: I don’t date rappers . You have to look out for yourself.

What message would you like to give to other people who might be at a similar point of despair as you were a year ago?

There’s a line in my new song “Zen”: “I’m finally happy and I don’t have to pretend anymore.” That’s how I feel. Pain is something you can easily get lost in. You feel powerless when even doctors can’t help you. But there is a way back. Today I know: if your health isn’t good, nothing else is. I’m grateful for this newfound lightness and now I simply want to let more sunshine in than pain.