Demi Lovato’s Performance at the Grammys Was a Powerful Return to the Stage
TW: Discussion of suicidal thoughts, overdosing
Yesterday at the Grammys, singer and former Disney star Demi Lovato returned to the stage for the first time since her hospitalization for a drug overdose a year and a half ago. She returned singing her latest single “Anyone.” The single is up online, but the live performance was perfect and moving, a true example of her skill as a singer plus the lyrics perfect highlight the pain she must have gone through.
As a rule of thumb, despite using stan language, I try not to get emotionally attached to celebrities, because they are human and make mistakes. Still, I have a deep love for Demi Lovato as a performer and so when I heard the news of her overdose last year, it rocked me. Since she has been recovering, I’ve been waiting for this moment to come and she certainly owned it, but listening to “Anyone” makes me hope that the people around her are listening.
Lovato said in an interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music’s Beats 1., that in retrospect the song was a cry for help, as the song was recorded four days before her overdose.
“At the time when I was recording it, I almost listened back and heard these lyrics as a cry for help. And you kind of listen back to it and you kind of think, how did nobody listen to this song and think, ‘Let’s help this girl.’ You know what I’m saying? Because, and I even think that I was recording it in a state of mind where I felt like I was okay, but clearly I wasn’t,” she revealed. “And I even listened back to it and I’m like, ‘Gosh, I wish I could go back in time and help that version of myself.’ I feel like I was in denial, but then a part of me definitely knew what I was singing for. I was singing this song and I didn’t even realize that the lyrics were so heavy and emotional until after the fact.”
With the lyrics the song has, such as “Anyone, please send me anyone / Lord, is there anyone? / I need someone” and Lovato’s history, I found myself hoping that the people on her team did try to get her some help or at least make moves in that direction, even though the lyrics and events following indicate otherwise.
A lot of times when suicide attempts or overdoses or relapses happen people, are shocked and say that there were no real signs. When it comes to Demi Lovato, there were signs and history. I know for myself, I have often reached out and not had people listen, so I would just implore anyone who was moved by the song to try and be that person if you have the mental spoons for it. There are people who do want to be helped and just need someone who is emotionally willing and able to be there.
Anyone.
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
1-800-273-8255
(image: screengrab)
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