Margo Price details life-changing surgery, pressures for women in country. 'I felt broken from the start'

Reporter's Note: This story explores suicidal thoughts. If you are at risk, please stop here and contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline for support at 988.

On Wednesday, Margo Price published a personal essay on writing platform Substack that details the health issues and decisions that went into her receiving a nose operation.

The country and Americana singer — known for songs "Hurtin' (On the Bottle)," "Change Of Heart" and her collaborations with Willie Nelson — has opened up about her choice to undergo septoplasty and rhinoplasty.

In a vulnerable essay titled "As Plain as the Nose on My Face: Why I Got Septoplasty & Rhinoplasty, And Why I Want To Be Completely Transparent About It," Price explains that she's always felt insecure about her nose, and she's been dealing with painful injuries to it since her birth.

"I have broken my nose on multiple occasions and as a child, I felt broken from the start," she writes.

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Her nose was fractured when she came out of the birth canal, again on the playground, and injured throughout her adolescence and college years.

"During my twenties and throughout the rest of my adult life, I took several inebriated falls that cemented its crooked and distinct appearance," Price writes.

In the midst of her injuries, Price began dealing with serious sinus issues around 2017. At first she blamed the "high pollen count in Nashville," but soon found her health issues more severe than ever before.

She had a deviated septum and nasal blockage; Price would face pain, sinus infections, migraines and breathing problems.

On top of that, she was still the target of online appearance-based hate.

"I was bullied online constantly and every time I did any kind of TV appearance, or said something politically that might not align with my fan base, the trolls would come for me," Price writes. "It was deeply painful. Since my career has taken off, I have often wanted to just disappear from existence."

On March 6, 2024, after struggling with her health and insecurity, Price underwent both cosmetic and reparative surgery.

After the surgery, Price writes, "I gazed into the mirror at my reflection, I didn’t recognize the person staring back at me."

She continues, "What had I done? Who was I without my giant, crooked Barbara Streisand-esque nose? Even though it made me insecure and I hated it, my nose had completely defined who I was for decades, it gave me character and empathy I might not have otherwise had."

The cosmetic elements of her surgery were subtle; Price kept a slight hint of her nose bump.

But in the months following her surgery and during her recovery, Price said she struggled with depression, anxiety, and was even borderline suicidal. She felt shame, cognitive dissonance and even nostalgia for her old nose.

Price writes, "I try not to think too much about my looks in general but of course, being a woman in the country music industry, that’s impossible."

"I’ve heard from some friends that people around town are talking about how I look different. I guess that’s one of the reasons why I’m writing this because I just want to take control of the narrative and also be totally transparent about what I did," Price writes.

"I’m tired of feeling the shame of it all. Women are designed to fail. You’ll be shamed for being ugly, then you’ll be called fake and shamed for having work done. We can’t win. It’s so tiring."

And now, Price says she is singing better than ever before, and breathing better than ever before.

Margo Price calls out mounting mental health crisis in America, addresses young women

Toward the end of the essay, Price writes that American teen girls are in the midst of a mounting mental health crisis and that the CDC reports an unprecedented rise in suicidal behavior.

Nearly one third of U.S. teen girls seriously considered attempting suicide in 2021, Price writes.

Price notes that body image issues and self-hatred can create a big toll on one's mental health.

"I want to tell little girls growing up today that it’s okay to be yourself," she writes. "It’s okay to have a unique look. It’s normal to have stretch marks and cellulite and acne and hairy skin and scars! Beauty fades and it’s what’s inside that really matters."

Price concludes her essay by saying she has once again returned to her music and poetry to help her "climb out of the dark."

"Right now, I’m busy pouring my heart and soul into my music and focusing on my art," she writes.

"Music has always been the thing that has saved me and helped me process my feelings and I don’t know where I’d be today without it."

To learn more about Price's essay, visit margoprice.substack.com.

Audrey Gibbs is a music reporter at The Tennessean. You can reach her at agibbs@tennessean.com.