It took Hilary Duff a decade to release new music — and she had a clear reason for her return to the industry.
“It was always going to happen. There’s no way that [music] was not going to be part of my story,” Duff, 38, said on the Wednesday, November 5, episode of the “Therapuss” podcast. “Living with the person that I live with, who’s my husband [musician Matthew Koma], and just being 10 years removed from music and being 38 and just arriving where I am in my life.”
She continued, “I just felt like I am ready to fill in the blanks and share with people and connect with them on the level of now. I’ve had a 25-plus-year career and, obviously, it’s taken a lot of twists and turns and ups and downs.”
The former Disney Channel star released her first album in 2002 and her last in 2015. In the years since Duff’s hiatus from making music, she focused on her acting career with starring roles on Younger and How I Met Your Father while also prioritizing her family. (Duff and Koma, 38, share three daughters, while the pop star is also mom of son Luca from a previous marriage.)
Duff released her first single in 10 years, “Mature,” on Thursday, November 6, and she hopes her new recordings can deeply relate to her fans’ lives.
“I have this crazy connection with fans that I’ve known since I was 9 [and] 10 years old, and I just want to connect with them again now,” she told podcast host Jake Shane. “I think we have gone through a lot of the same things, whether that’s complicated relationships, anxiety, raising kids, divorces, trying to find yourself in adult [or] family drama.”
Without offering specific details, Duff explained that she “finally felt safe enough” to share her experiences.
“[I felt] comfortable in my own family to step outside and open that part of myself up again,” she said. “[I also] was comfortable to say now and really not know what the capacity looks like of, like, ’OK, I used to tour arenas and I did all these big giant things when I was younger and now it might look a little bit different, and that’s OK.’”
While Duff has only put out “Mature” so far, she is open to hitting the road down the line.
“All I can say is that I am very excited to see people’s faces again very soon. I’ve missed them and I’ve missed performing,” Duff told Vogue earlier this week when asked about going on tour again. “It’s been really fun to rediscover this part of myself again, layered within the person I’ve become. I’m so excited to share this song with everyone, and there’s a lot to come. I’ve been working really hard, and I think 2026 is gonna be a fun victory lap.”
Without disclosing even more, Duff is clearly grateful that her legions of fans are still rallying around her.
“It’s been a really emotional past few weeks. I operate from a place of, ‘Does anybody still care about me? Does anybody even remember that I used to make music?’” the “Come Clean” singer told the outlet. “That’s the barefoot Texas girl in me that still feels like I have to fake it till I make it. We’re coming up on the 25th anniversary of Lizzie McGuire, and I have the honor and joy of meaning so much to so many people in a very specific time in their life. That’s always really kind to hear people say, but sometimes it strikes a little bit of a nerve because I have so much more to say. I’m ready to reintroduce myself.”
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