Raven-Symoné is opening up about why she walked away from her music career.
In an interview on the Sorry We're Cyrus podcast with Tish and Brandi Cyrus, the former That’s So Raven star — who recorded songs for both projects — was asked whether she ever wanted to continue making music at that time.
“Oh my goodness, yes, I definitely did,” said Raven-Symoné at the 2:51 mark in the video linked above. “But what happened was that the mandatory outfit was a bathing suit, and I'm not going to get in one.”
She continued, “I just felt there was a time in music where it was like, the more naked you are on stage the better it is, and I'm not going to do that. So, I said no. Also, I had some back and forth with the record label that I was with. Somebody literally said to my mother, ‘She's so fat. How can she do so long on stage?’ And I'm like, ‘Wow, cool beans.’ So, we're just gonna leave this and go on tour somewhere else.”
Raven reflected that her singing career “never took off” like other Disney Channel stars’ because she “didn’t have the machine behind me to push through” — something she described as “a blessing and a curse.”
She also noted she had been signed to Hollywood Records, the same record label that represented many Disney Channel stars, including Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, and Jonas Brothers. However, Raven described the experience as deeply negative.
"Honey, I go to therapy for that," she told Tish, who replied that both she and Miley Cyrus had also sought therapy for their experiences with the label. "Oh, it was a mess," Raven added.
Raven-Symoné first got her big break on The Cosby Show before releasing her debut album Here’s to New Dreams in 1993, at just 7 years old. Six years later, she independently released another album, Undeniable.
In 2003, she released The Cheetah Girls soundtrack. The following year, she released the That’s So Raven soundtrack album and a studio album This Is My Time under Hollywood Records. In 2006, Raven-Symoné dropped two more soundtrack albums, That’s So Raven Too! and The Cheetah Girls 2.
Raven-Symoné’s self-titled fourth studio album was released in 2008, marking her final album under Hollywood Records. She released a Stripped Down EP in 2020.