Jade Holland opens up about her battle with depression

A Queensland country music star has told of the dark descent triggered when she thought her career was over.

Queensland country music star Jade Holland knows about depression, and the importance of talking – and singing – about it.

At age 21, seemingly with the world at her feet through a lucrative recording contract in the UK, the Kuranda-raised performer was spectacularly let down, sending her into a year of isolation and “unhealthy” habits.

After packing up her life – quitting her day job in administration, her relationship, and everything else she thought mattered – Holland arrived at Townsville Airport only to be told her tickets to Brisbane and on to London were fakes.

“This was my dream since I was 11, and it came crashing down,” said Holland, now 31 and with two No.1 Australian country music hits, two albums, 14 stints at the Tamworth Country Music Festival, and tours to Afghanistan, Israel and Iraq to entertain our troops.

“I shut myself away for an entire year, gave up music and didn’t hum a single tune; I was drinking a bit and not living a life at all.”

Queensland Country Music star Jade Holland. Picture Lachie Millard

The catalyst for seeking professional help was her father, Mark Holland, the “rock of our family who never really showed a lot of emotion”.

“He sat me down and said something needed to change, then he revealed that 10 years earlier, he had turned to a psychologist to help him face his own demons,” she recounted.

“I burst into tears.”

Holland, who now lives in Hervey Bay, has co-written a new song, Fight For It, produced in Nashville and with backing vocals by local Tyrone Noonan.

“It’s to inspire people to fight for the ones they love, the ones they lost and for themselves,” she said.

The song will be released on October 8, and on streaming services from September 27. Holland said she didn’t hesitate when invited to be ambassador for the Mental Awareness Foundation, which has its 11th annual fundraising walk on October 10.

“Everyone knows someone affected by suicide, and I want people to know that there can be a way out,” she said.

For more information and to register for Walk For Mental Awareness, visit the official site