Susan Carol won a Grammy. A year later, she was homeless. But she’s ‘not giving up’

Many singers have experienced homelessness at some point in their lives. Shania Twain stayed in a shelter as a child. Lizzo couch-surfed or slept in studios while trying to break through. Ed Sheeran famously slept under bridges during his busking years.

For those artists, homelessness came before their big break. For Susan Carol, it felt like it came afterwards.

A year or so after winning a Grammy, the American singer was living in her car.

“Everything can be so secure and so built up, and then it can just crumble in a minute,” she tells Big Issue. “And you can have a Grammy, you can be signed to a label, all the things, but it’s like life will happen.”

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In 2024, Carol clinched one of music’s most prestigious awards, winning Best Traditional R&B Performance for her feature on PJ Morton’s track “Good Morning.” It was her first time attending the Grammys – and her first win. She felt like everything was about to “take off.”

“I’m still in awe about the Grammy,” she says. “I still can’t believe it.”

But not long after the ceremony, her personal life unravelled. Carol was forced to move out of her home in Los Angeles after a friendship with her housemate broke down. The security she thought she had built disappeared almost overnight. Since February last year, she has been living in her car and moving in and out of hostels.

“It’s not that I thought a Grammy would bring all these things. But now I know the reality of what it is. It’s an accolade, it’s a credit. It’s like something to add to your title,” Carol reflects.

“But it’s not going to make you really rich, and now you’re set for life. Like, it’s just like, the beginning of another uphill battle, part of the journey, you know? Because that was a great thing. But it also was the start of the hardest season of my life.”

Despite the instability, Carol continued to work, rehearse and perform wherever she could – often preparing for shows in her car or a storage unit.

For months, she told almost no one what she was going through. But in November, she finally decided to share her situation publicly, posting a video online for her followers.

“Most of the days that I was in it [the car] I wasn’t sad. Or it was like, maybe the three days in that, like, that third day, I would be. On that day [that I posted the video] it was raining. I had nowhere to go. I hadn’t showered in days. It just really hit me hard.”

In the video – since watched more than 300,000 times – she tells viewers to “keep going” no matter “what they’re going through”.

“It’s hard, and I feel defeated sometimes,” she said. “I feel like giving up, but I know I can’t.”

It struck a nerve. Messages of support flooded in from fans and fellow artists, alongside financial help that allowed her to book short stays in hotels and regain some breathing room.

“I did not expect that,” she says. “It wasn’t for a charitable thing. It was literally just like, yeah, here’s where I’m at. I didn’t even expect for people to be that generous.

“[It was] just, like, such a beautiful testament to humanity and compassion.” 

One unexpected outcome of the video was an invitation from a London venue – Soul Mama in Stratford, owned by long-time friend of the Big Issue Yolanda Brown.

Having seen her story online, Brown reached out, saying Soul Mama wanted to host her and give her a platform to share her music in the city. It will be Carol’s first-ever headline show in the UK – and her first time visiting London.

While she is still living in and out of her car for now, Carol says she hopes that will soon change.

“Once I was in the car, in the homelessness, it was just like I found a new strength that I didn’t know I had, or a new resolve that just to keep going.”

“No matter how hard it gets just don’t give up. Always believe in yourself and in your gifts, and know that what is for you is for you.”

You can buy tickets to A Night With Susan Carolhere.

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