Antoniette Costa Reveals She Underwent Brain Surgery: 'There Was a Risk That I Wouldn't Be Able to Sing Again' (Exclusive)

Antoniette Costa knew something was up very wrong.

“I lost a lot of weight without explanation and didn’t have the energy to do everyday tasks,” Costa, 39, told PEOPLE in a recent interview. “I couldn’t even get on the elliptical for more than three minutes. Plus, I had a ton of anxiety.”

And while there were thoughts of finding an excuse for why the accomplished singer/songwriter felt the way she did, the then 36-year-old decided to go to the doctor instead.

“I actually went to see several doctors, and the third one suspected that something was growing in my brain based on the blood findings that were occurring,” recalls Costa, who left her mark on the music scene in 2006 thanks to her debut album Breakthru. “Two days later, I got an MRI of the brain.”

In that MRI machine, Costa found herself distracted at first, but then inspired by the various sounds the diagnostic machine would make. “I was really worried, so I started focusing on the sounds and creating background vocals in my head,” Costa remembers. – At that time, it served as a distraction.

Antonietta Costa.

Marcus Maddox

Little did the jazz singer know that the distraction would eventually result in the song “Pitupatter,” now featured on her new album of the same name. “There’s a line that people might think is about a guy who says, ‘You drown out every good sound with that big bad mouth,'” she notes. “I was actually talking to a machine.”

However, it is this machine that will collect data that will later determine what Costa is dealing with when it comes to her health. “I was told I had a brain tumor, but that it was small enough to undergo treatment,” she remembers.

For more than a year, it was the treatment that wreaked havoc on Costa’s body, with the Pennsylvania native experiencing everything from weight loss to mental changes to various vision problems. “That’s when I decided to change doctors and healthcare systems,” Costa recalls. “I met with a new neurosurgeon and he informed me that the treatment I was going through was not working.”

Antonietta Costa.

Dave Prokopec

In fact, instead of shrinking, the mass in Costa’s head grew seven times larger than the initial MRI showed. “The doctor told me that there was a misreading of the print and that I was a candidate for surgery,” he recalls quietly. – I was actually a candidate for surgery that whole year.

In July 2023, Costa underwent surgery at NYU Langone with neurosurgeon Dr. Chandra Sen.

“I knew there was a risk that I wouldn’t be able to sing again,” recalls Costa, who remained in intensive care for almost a week after the delicate operation. “When you go into brain surgery, whenever you manipulate that part, you might hit something else.”

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But a few months later, Costa sang again. “I was so focused on the music,” she says. “I was grateful to God and I was determined to fulfill the promise I made to make more music. Even if just one person listened and resonated with my songs, my mission would be complete. I just needed to finish the process. That’s what made me sustained.”

Antonietta Costa.

Emma Craft

As well as the lyrics she co-wrote with Khari Mateen on songs like “Crumbles (Soldiers Cry),” the music video of which is premiering exclusively on PEOPLE. “One of the lines of the song is ‘Hope crumbles at your feet, the spirit is set free,'” she says. “The song really explores the freedom in renouncing the judgment of others.”

This is the way he has to live now, because he looks at life so differently than ever before.

“I will have to have blood tests every six months and an MRI of the brain every year for five to seven years,” she says of the health journey ahead. “But today I feel normal again.”

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Source: HIS Education