Teyana Taylor’s return to the recording studio was never a guaranteed chapter in her career. After stepping away from the music industry in 2020, the multihyphenate star found her way back with her 2025 project, Escape Room. In a revealing TIME Women of the Year interview released on Thursday, Feb. 26, Taylor opened up about the disillusionment that led to her departure and the emotional growth that sparked her resurgence.
Reflecting on her decision to retire, the singer and actress was transparent about feeling undervalued by the music business. While peers questioned her move, Taylor was determined to cultivate a legacy beyond the microphone. Her pivot to the screen proved highly successful, culminating in a Golden Globe-winning performance in One Battle After Another. “Everyone thought it was a mistake,” she recalled. “But I knew I was going to be a great actress and, eventually, a great director.”
Her hiatus eventually gave way to a renewed creative spark. Taylor explained that the distance from the industry allowed her to process significant life transitions through songwriting. She noted that she finally had a narrative worth sharing, shaped by the raw experiences of “love, heartbreak, and healing.”
These personal evolutions included her 2023 divorce from Iman Shumpert, with whom she shares two children, and her subsequent relationship with actor Aaron Pierre in 2025. This vulnerability defined Escape Room, which debuted at No. 67 on the Billboard 200 and earned a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Album.
As she looks toward the future, Taylor’s ambitions remain sky-high. She expressed a desire to join the elite ranks of EGOT winners, adding with a wink that if a Tony Award isn’t in the cards, she’ll happily let the “T” in the acronym stand for “Teyana.”
View Taylor’s TIME cover feature below:
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