She's had more than enough to deal with compared to most 21-year-olds and three years ago life looked pretty bleak for Demi Lovato.
So it's hardly surprising that she is looking on turning 21 as a huge achievement, because she thought she might not have made it this far.
The pop star and X Factor USA judge reaches the milestone birthday on August 20th and views it as a huge turning point for her.
Speaking to Cosmopolitan, she said: "I look at birthdays as celebrating another year of life," she explained. "You've made it another year. An entire year. Some people don't make it to 21."
She suffered from bulimia, had a nervous breakdown, was disagnosed with bi-polar and self-medicated with drugs and alcohol.
She also recently lost her estranged father when he died from lung cancer last month at the age of 54.
But now, as she approaches adulthood, Demi says she wants to be a star that her young fans can look up to and admire.
She explained: "Sorry, but those rockers in the '80s were the furthest thing from rock stars.
"They were so insecure and so lonely that they had to do these things to get them through the day. If you're spending your entire early 20s chasing the next party, what are you running away from?
"That's not a badass. What's a badass is when you can sit through your problems and feel emotions when you don't want to have them.
"There have been nights where I've had to sit on my hands, because I want to act out, because I physically can't sit still in the pain I'm dealing with, from looking back and being bullied or other things that happened.
"And now, as hard as it may be, I will do that. That's what makes me a badass. Being a badass is handling your s**t."
Demi returns to The X Factor along with Paulina Rubio, Simon Cowell and Kelly Rowland this autumn.
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