Sia Furler shares her battles with being a big star

SIA Furler has opened up about her depths of depression and a battle with alcohol and drugs, in a startlingly candid interview.

SIA Furler has opened up about her depths of depression and a battle with alcohol and drugs, in a startlingly candid interview with the New York Times magazine.

ARIA-award winning Furler, who has risen to the top of the US music world in collaborations with Rihanna, Beyonce, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, has revealed how close she came to being smothered by fame.

“It’s horrible. I just wanted to have a private life,” said Los Angeles-based Furler, 38.

“Once, as my friend was telling me they had cancer, someone came up and asked, in the middle of the conversation, if they could take a photograph with me.”

The pressures of fame became too much for the shy Furler, who became addicted to antidepressants and painkillers, including Xanax and OxyContin, while touring across the US.

It all came to a head in 2010, when Furler, sitting alone in her US apartment with a concoction of drugs, seriously contemplated taking her own life.

She even wrote a suicide note, but a timely phone call from a friend prompted a rethink and she then underwent a 12-step program to help her become sober. She also decided to step away from her solo career — which had produced five successful albums — and turn her hand to songwriting for some of the world’s biggest artists.

Among her songs are chart-toppers such as Rihanna’s Diamonds, Flo Rida’s Wild Ones and David Guetta’s Titanium. Furler is moving back into the limelight with her first album since 2010, titled 1000 Forms of Fear, which will be released in June.

Australian singer Sia Furler.