At the Peak of Her Success, Ashe Disappeared. Now, She's Ready Discuss Why She Did It (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Ashe.Photo:Luke Rogers

Luke Rogers

It was the first of February in 2023 when Ashe decided she was done.“It was sheer terror to make that decision,” Ashe, 31, tells PEOPLE ofcanceling all of her shows for the year. “I was so nervous that it was going to be construed as being ungrateful for all of this.”The Nashville-based artist otherwise known as Ashlyn Willson had just come out of what she once called “the biggest season of her life and career” thanks to the crazy success of breakout song “Moral of the Story” and albumsAshlynin 2021 andRaein 2022. But despite all the attention and praise she was receiving professionally, Ashe said she personally was left feeling burnt out and exhausted.“There was hatred and insecurity,” she says of the feelings she felt at the time. “I couldn’t tell the world that everything was awesome, because it wasn’t.“Whatwasawesome was the relief Ashe says she found as she walked further and further away from the spotlight towards a calmness and serenity that her soul was craving. “I sat in that silence for six months,” she says. “I led a completely isolated, domestic, very quiet life. I barely called anybody.“And it was during that time that Ashe began to question if she was ever going to do music again. “I sort of was like, ‘Well, that was a really great run and I’m so grateful for that, but maybe now life is headed in a new season or a new direction,'” Ashe remembers.Ashe.Luke RogersBut the love she’s had for music since the age of 19 began to come back when Ashe was invited to attend a writing session with fellow singer/songwriterSuki Waterhouse. “I showed up to the session and it was just the most incredible feeling in the world,” Ashe remembers. “I realized that Idolove this still.“The healing then began through words and songs that now find themselves on Ashe’s forthcoming albumWillson, featuring the unforgettable cut “I Wanna Love You (But I Don’t).““My therapist had me do this exercise pretty early on into the whole disappearing act where I actually wrote letters from Ashlyn to Ashe the artist,” she remembers of the beginnings of the song that she ended up finishing alongside fellow songwriters Collin Pastore and Jake Finch. “I wrote out this letter and it was so savage and mean. I had no idea I was holding all this resentment and anger. And then I similarly wrote [a letter] from Ashe to Ashlyn. I had no idea what was under the surface until I put pen to paper.“It was at that moment that Ashe’s creative floodgates began to open.“All of these things that I had only been processing with my therapist and my journal for the first time was coming through in the music, which is where I’m able to figure out my life the best,” Ashe explains. “It was an incredible healing experience and really scary too, because I knew I was going to say stuff that I had never shared with people before.“Ashe.Luke RogersSome of that ‘stuff’ came to the surface on the self-titled song “Ashe.““I never thought that one would see the light of day,” Ashe admits. “It was all just me processing. I feel like our best versions of ourselves is when we get to tap back into who we were as little girls, so free, before all the puberty and the insecurity and the pressures from the world.“Now, as Ashe finds herself tiptoeing back into the spotlight, she says she is going to be very careful this time around when it comes to her mental game. “I’m using all the tools that I put in my toolbox while I was gone,” she says. “I still have to really pull those out every day. Every time I post a photo of myself or anything, I have to remember who I am.“And who she is a person who loves music.“Making music and writing songs is such a part of my DNA and what has always brought me so much joy,” says Ashe, who recently got engaged to musician John Canada in Sea Island, Georgia. “What a sad thing it would be to let that go because you didn’t work on yourself, and you didn’t sort of give yourself time.”

It was the first of February in 2023 when Ashe decided she was done.

“It was sheer terror to make that decision,” Ashe, 31, tells PEOPLE ofcanceling all of her shows for the year. “I was so nervous that it was going to be construed as being ungrateful for all of this.”

The Nashville-based artist otherwise known as Ashlyn Willson had just come out of what she once called “the biggest season of her life and career” thanks to the crazy success of breakout song “Moral of the Story” and albumsAshlynin 2021 andRaein 2022. But despite all the attention and praise she was receiving professionally, Ashe said she personally was left feeling burnt out and exhausted.

“There was hatred and insecurity,” she says of the feelings she felt at the time. “I couldn’t tell the world that everything was awesome, because it wasn’t.”

Whatwasawesome was the relief Ashe says she found as she walked further and further away from the spotlight towards a calmness and serenity that her soul was craving. “I sat in that silence for six months,” she says. “I led a completely isolated, domestic, very quiet life. I barely called anybody.”

And it was during that time that Ashe began to question if she was ever going to do music again. “I sort of was like, ‘Well, that was a really great run and I’m so grateful for that, but maybe now life is headed in a new season or a new direction,'” Ashe remembers.

Ashe.Luke Rogers

But the love she’s had for music since the age of 19 began to come back when Ashe was invited to attend a writing session with fellow singer/songwriterSuki Waterhouse. “I showed up to the session and it was just the most incredible feeling in the world,” Ashe remembers. “I realized that Idolove this still.”

The healing then began through words and songs that now find themselves on Ashe’s forthcoming albumWillson, featuring the unforgettable cut “I Wanna Love You (But I Don’t).”

“My therapist had me do this exercise pretty early on into the whole disappearing act where I actually wrote letters from Ashlyn to Ashe the artist,” she remembers of the beginnings of the song that she ended up finishing alongside fellow songwriters Collin Pastore and Jake Finch. “I wrote out this letter and it was so savage and mean. I had no idea I was holding all this resentment and anger. And then I similarly wrote [a letter] from Ashe to Ashlyn. I had no idea what was under the surface until I put pen to paper.”

It was at that moment that Ashe’s creative floodgates began to open.

“All of these things that I had only been processing with my therapist and my journal for the first time was coming through in the music, which is where I’m able to figure out my life the best,” Ashe explains. “It was an incredible healing experience and really scary too, because I knew I was going to say stuff that I had never shared with people before.”

Some of that ‘stuff’ came to the surface on the self-titled song “Ashe.”

“I never thought that one would see the light of day,” Ashe admits. “It was all just me processing. I feel like our best versions of ourselves is when we get to tap back into who we were as little girls, so free, before all the puberty and the insecurity and the pressures from the world.”

Now, as Ashe finds herself tiptoeing back into the spotlight, she says she is going to be very careful this time around when it comes to her mental game. “I’m using all the tools that I put in my toolbox while I was gone,” she says. “I still have to really pull those out every day. Every time I post a photo of myself or anything, I have to remember who I am.”

And who she is a person who loves music.

“Making music and writing songs is such a part of my DNA and what has always brought me so much joy,” says Ashe, who recently got engaged to musician John Canada in Sea Island, Georgia. “What a sad thing it would be to let that go because you didn’t work on yourself, and you didn’t sort of give yourself time.”

source: people.com