R&B icon Nivea undergoing treatment for leukemia

R&B singer Nivea is battling leukemia at age 44.

The voice behind hit tracks Don’t Mess With My Man and Laundromat announced the diagnosis during a recent episode of The Cadillac Chronicles and is now undergoing treatment. 

Nivea struck an optimistic tone as she described how the illness has actually inspired her to pursue opportunities she had put on the back burner – such as education and returning to music.

‘I’m so grateful to God. [I’ve] been going through treatment and everything is going great so far, and I expect it to continue. Amen, amen, amen!’ she shared.

‘Very grateful for life, you know. It’s so cliche to say, you know, you don’t know the time nor the hour, but it’s true, and it just helped me put a lot of things in perspective.’

R&B singer Nivea, 44, has revealed she is being treated for leukemia after being diagnosed with the cancer earlier this year

The singer went on: ‘I live in graтιтude like religiously, and I’m just grateful for everything, like I’m doing things I wanna do, I’m definitely back into my music, and I’m going to school for audio engineering.

‘I’ve always wanted to learn how to engineer and mixing engineer in particular, but in general, just doing all the things, honey, loving on my children, and just being grateful and taking every opportunity that comes my way.’

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The Daily Mail has contacted Nivea for comment but has not immediately heard back. 

Indeed, Nivea has not let the diagnosis slow her down. 

She’s been throwing herself into music – having done multiple performances across the nation this summer.

A mother of four, Nivea has 20-year-old twin sons London Nash and Christian Nash and daughter Navy Talia Nash, 21, with her ex-husband The-Dream as well as son Neal Carter, 16, with ex Lil Wayne. 

She rose to fame in the early 2000s, releasing her debut album Nivea in 2002, which featured the hits Don’t Mess with My Man, Laundromat and Don’t Mess with the Radio. 

Reflecting on her rise in 2018, she said on the BET Digital Original Series, Finding: ‘It was a bit overwhelming, but I worked for the opportunity.’

‘I sacrificed my childhood with a manager that didn’t even complete the 9th grade, that did a lot of negative things to me, but also changed my life at the same time.’

She has now released a total of four albums, most recently Mirrors in 2019. 

The mother of four rose to fame in the early 2000s, releasing her debut album Nivea in 2002, which featured hits Don’t Mess with My Man, Laundromat and Don’t Mess with the Radio 

Nivea, pictured 2025, said the diagnosis has inspired her to pursue an education and return to music 

According to the Mayo Clinic, leukemia is a type of cancer of the blood which affects bone marrow and the body’s lymphatic system.

There are many different forms of leukemia which can affect both adults and children. 

‘Leukemia usually involves the white blood cells,’ an explanation of the disease states on the Mayo Clinic website.

‘Your white blood cells are potent infection fighters — they normally grow and divide in an orderly way, as your body needs them. But in people with leukemia, the bone marrow produces an excessive amount of abnormal white blood cells, which don’t function properly.’