Charli XCX reflects on career start, work kept her from visiting father

Charli XCX has revealed that she was unable to visit her father during his battle with cancer due to her extensive travel commitments for work. 

Th singer made this confession in The Heroes Issue of British GQ, as she reflected on the tumultuous beginnings of her career.

Charlotte Aitchison, known professionally as she, recorded her first album at the age of 14 and was signed to Asylum Records by 18.

Thrust into the music industry, she worked tirelessly to establish her career. 

Charli admitted, "I was travelling constantly for two years. My dad got cancer and recovered during that time, and I didn't see him because I was just travelling."

She described her life at 21 as "crazy," saying, "You can go full throttle: party, drink, be an idiot, and still feel fine. 

You can go to shoots kind of drunk but not really show it. You can do it all."

Charli credits her "mental" and "eccentric" father, Jon, a Scottish show-booker for a music venue near their home in Stevenage, 

Hertfordshire, for her vibrant personality. Raised by Jon and her mother Shameera, a former nurse of Gujarati Indian descent, she reflected on her upbringing and the challenges of growing up mixed race.

"I always felt like a loser," she said. "My school was full of blonde white girls, and I was this half-Indian girl with frizzy hair and different interests. 

That always made me feel a little bit rejected. I thought if I made music, people would think I was interesting. Deep down, one of my biggest fears was being boring."