From the depths of despair, Libianca created a song that changed her life

you doing?’, the first thing they’re going to say is, ‘I’m fine’. It’s an automatic response.

“And I think what People is doing is breaking that [spell] and helping people to be more vulnerable and say, ‘I’m not doing well. I really need a hug from you right now’.

The reaction has been overwhelming.

One fan commented under People’s YouTube video: “As I’m going through my fourth panic attack of the day.... This song just makes me feel like I am not the only one.”

“This song has been my best friend for the past few weeks,” wrote another, who said Libianca’s music had comforted her after losing a child.

The comments page is full of similar stories. Encouragingly, it’s also full of strangers offering support and consolation.

“I couldn’t be more proud,” says Libianca, “because it’s really helping people get the support they need.

“And it helped me as well, because my friends didn’t know that’s how I was feeling when I recorded that song.”

Near death experience

The message has resonated globally. People is at number three in India, number five in

New Zealand and number one in Nigeria.

For Libianca, it’s the culmination of more than 10 years as a musician, and a vindication after a stint on the US version of The Voice in 2021.

Libianca chose country star Blake Shelton as her mentor on The Voice US

She was born Libianca Kenzonkinboum Fonji in St Paul, Minnesota, but left the US for Cameroon when she was four. Her mother was “going through some issues with immigration”, she explains, and decided to leave before being deported.

Settling in Bamenda, she started singing around the age of six, exercising her vocals “in church, in the boarding school, in chapel”.

“Music was a huge part of everything.”

The family moved back to Minnesota when she was a teenager and, although she harboured musical dreams, her parents encouraged her to pursue medicine and become a registered nurse.

“I can’t blame them,” she laughs. “Parents work so hard to come to this country and give us opportunities, and music is a big risk.”

Even so, her mother paid for voice lessons and guitar tuition, while her father briefly acted as her manager.

To keep them happy, she took a number of jobs while writing in her spare time.

The worst experience was in a nursing home where, while taking residents out for a swim day, she was accidentally pushed underwater, lost her footing and almost drowned.

“Luckily, somebody saw me and jumped into the pool to pull me out,” she recalls.