The Return of Demi Lovato: Singer's grand Grammy comeback is an ode to her fighting spirit as a star is reborn
Eighteen months is a long time and it looks like Demi Lovato has been trying her best to channel all her positivity and efforts into delivering the comeback of her since her shocking overdose incident. In the late hours of January 14, the 'Sober' singer announced to her excited fanbase over Instagram that she is going to be a 2020 Grammy performer - a feat that is deemed the utmost prestigious for artists from the industry.
This comes just a year over she had struck the same fandom with widespread concern when she relapsed and overdosed in 2018 - a piece of news that had come out of nowhere because the artist had been clean for so long. But that was two years ago, and as we head into 2020, Demi looks like she has never been better - making her comeback moment all the more iconic.
On July 24, 2018, Demi was found unresponsive in her Hollywood home after an alleged wild night of partying. She was rushed to the Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles and remained in professional care for the next 12 days. Right after she was hospitalized, reports of her having overdosed on heroin began circulating; but that was curbed by a statement from her publicist that shared: "Demi is awake and with her family who want to express thanks to everyone for the love, prayers, and support. Some of the information being reported is incorrect, and they respectfully ask for privacy and not speculation, as her health and recovery is the most important thing right now."
After countless posts, thoughts, and prayers from her fans who made sure to let their support be known through social media when Demi was finally released from the hospital, she got candid about the incident on Instagram. She was noticed overflowing with heartfelt gratitude and uninhibited honesty as she addressed her fans. "I have always been transparent about my journey with addiction. What I’ve learned is that this illness is not something that disappears or fades with time. It is something I must continue to overcome and have not done yet," Demi wrote on August 5, 2018, on her Instagram account.
Her personal message to fans also continued saying: "I want to thank God for keeping me alive, and well… I want to thank my family, my team, and the staff at Cedars-Sinai who have been by my side this entire time. Without them, I wouldn’t be here writing this letter to all of you. I now need time to heal and focus on my sobriety and road to recovery. The love you have all shown me will never be forgotten, and I look forward to the day where I can say I came out on the other side. I will keep fighting."
Demi, a 16-year-veteran in the industry, has clearly stuck to her promise of putting up a good fight. Demi - whose fame kickstarted with Disney shows like 'Sonny with a Chance' and movies like 'Camp Rock' had been struggling with countless issues panning over mental illness, self-harm, eating disorders, and addiction. The Grammy-nominated pop star has also come clean about her use of cocaine, marijuana, and Adderall in the past before her fight for six years of sobriety until the tragic relapse happened. Throughout those six years, while battling these demons, Demi has also gifted her fans with 10 albums, appeared in nine films and over a dozen TV shows, and even headlined 5 tours. But amidst those successful times, Demi's cries for help were, if not active, always prominent.
"The ultimate breaking point would have been when Demi was on tour, and she lashed out at one of her dancers, physically," Demi's mother Dianna De La Garza, Lovato’s wrote in her 2018 autobiography 'Falling with Wings', adding: "That was the defining moment where we all said, as a family: She needs help. She needs serious help, and it doesn’t matter what happens to her career — we need to focus on getting her the help she needs." This led to Demi checking into a rehabilitation facility for three months, getting out of there, and again moving to a sober home shortly after. And that was it for Demi - for the next six years, she fought the brutal fight against addiction every single day until the 2018 mishap happened.
Even after that, we trust Demi to not let this dampen her progress into the radiating aura she has become in the time since. It started with checking into rehab once again and slowly stepping into the murky realms of social media which tried to sabotage her ground with what social media does best: offensive memes about her overdose. But once Demi was back, she was here to glow and shine. Demi's posts started channeling more positive energy - with her talking about celebrating life's 'lessons' and how she was 'grateful to be home in time to vote'. A firm advocate of mental health for years now, Demi decided to focus more on her own after the relapse. "If I feel like the world needs to know something, I will tell them MYSELF ... I am sober and grateful to be alive and taking care of ME," she declared on December 22, 2018.
She signed with music producer Scooter Braun - an association that would later get her on the bad books of Taylor Swift and all she believes in, but Demi was thriving. When haters criticized her for having 'gained some weight', she clapped back significantly, announcing: "I AM MORE THAN MY WEIGHT." Yes, in all caps, to let the world know that she wasn't here to mess around with the stands she has taken and the love she has blossomed for herself. And then, of course, came the big album announcement. "You know what’s great about making an album?" she wrote on her Instagram story on June 25. "You get to say anything you want, be as open and honest as possible and finally tell your side of the story regardless of who might not like it."
The last time we heard a song from Demi, it was called 'Sober' - a track released just days before her terrifying relapse. The lyrics sang: "Mama, I’m so sorry I’m not sober anymore / And daddy please forgive me for the drinks spilled on the floor / And I’m sorry for the fans I lost who watched me fall again / I wanna be a role model, but I’m only human." It concluded: "I’m sorry that I’m here again / I promise I’ll get help / It wasn’t my intention / I’m sorry to myself." But 2019 was a year of growth and progress for the 27-year-old songstress and the timing of this comeback couldn't have been better. The best part? She had called it right after her overdose. Yesterday, Demi announced "I told you the next time you’d hear from me I’d be singing Grammy's" and honestly? Slay!
Demi will be joining fellow artists like Billie Eilish, Lizzo, Ariana Grande, Aerosmith and Gwen Stefani in a duet with Blake Shelton for this year's Grammys, but it won't be her first public appearance since her overdose in 2018. Back in November, Demi attended the Teen Vogue Summit and told editor-in-chief, Lindsay Peoples Wagner, that she was feeling nervous. "I’ve gone through a lot, and this is really my first public thing, so I’m a little nervous. Over the past year, I’ve learned a ton. I feel like I’m more in tune with who I am now, where I’m at today.” Calling the past year 'introspective', she added: “I’ve learned a lot, I’ve been through a lot and I think as time goes on, as we are being faced with challenges in our life, on a daily basis like we all are, we are all human.”
So as Demi takes the stage at The Grammy Awards 2020, hosted by Alicia Keys, it wouldn't be wrong to expect how this could be one of those comebacks nobody forgets in a long, long time. The 2020 Grammys will broadcast live on CBS from the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Sunday, January 26, starting at 8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT.