The star had to weigh the difficulties of bringing her family on the road against the emotions of leaving them behind.
Hilary Duff‘s life as a pop star looks a lot different now than it did when she was a teenager. For one, it’s not just her on the road anymore — she also has her husband and four kids to think about.
In her Billboard cover story published Thursday (Nov. 5) for this year’s touring issue, Duff opened up about the considerations she had to make for her family before launching her musical comeback over the past year. After releasing her first album in a decade, Luck … or Something, in February, the former Disney star embarked on an arena tour, marking her first trek in years.
“[We had] a really serious conversation about what our life was going to look like introducing a world tour to our family,” Duff told Billboard‘s Director of Dance/Electronic, Katie Bain, of herself and Matthew Koma, her husband since 2019, adding that she cried “a bunch” at the thought of leaving her kids for an extended period of time.
At the same time, she also felt it was important to do “something that’s part of my soul and the only thing I’ve really known since being a child.”
Her first run of shows through North America, Europe, New Zealand and Australia kicked off in June and ended in late October. Duff brought son Luca, whom she shares with ex Mike Comrie, and her daughters Banks, Mae and Townes with Koma on the road with her, telling Billboard dryly, “It was a really fun summer, and I never want to do it again.”
The kids enjoyed the fun of seeing their mom perform, but Duff acknowledged that being a full-time mom and touring artist — even one with the help of nannies, who traveled with them — could be overwhelming. At the end of the day, “kids want their mom,” the Lizzie McGuire alum explained.
The star now has a break from touring before she heads back out in January next year. Her 2027 dates are set through late fall, with some breaks scheduled intermittently.
Her Billboard cover story comes shortly after the release of her Christmas EP, Holiday Things, her first set of songs since May’s (Mine), a collection of five re-recorded hits from her early catalog. Before that, Luck … or Something debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200, a chart she’s previously topped twice.
