"How did nobody listen to this song and think, 'Let's help this girl,'" the singer recalls of recording her new song, 'Anyone.'
Demi Lovato is ready to share her story.
The 27-year-old singer will make her long-awaited musical comeback on Sunday when she takes the stage inside Los Angeles' Staples Center for the 2020 GRAMMY Awards. In anticipation of the special night, Lovato was interviewed for New Music Daily With Zane Lowe on Apple Music's Beats 1, where she opened up about the moments leading up to her July 2018 overdose. She revealed she'll be singing a new song titled "Anyone" at the annual awards show, which she recorded in Montana just four days before the frightening incident.
"I feel really excited and I'm ready. I feel like I've been waiting for this moment for so long. It's going to be hard not to go on stage and just, like, word vomit everything," she explained. "I just want to go up there and tell my story. And I have three minutes to do so. So, I'm just going to do the best that I can. It's only telling a fraction of my story, but it's still a little bit, and it's enough to kind of show the world where I've been."
"This song was written and recorded actually very shortly before everything happened ... I almost listen back and hear these lyrics as a cry for help," she continued. "You listen back to it and you kind of think, 'How did nobody listen to this song and think, Let's help this girl.' I even think that I was recording it in a state of mind where I felt like I was OK, but clearly I wasn't."
Lovato said that listening to the lyrics to "Anyone" now, she wishes she could "go back in time" and "help" that version of herself.
"I was singing this song and I didn't even realize that the lyrics were so heavy and emotional until after the fact," she explained. "About a week after I had been in the hospital and I was finally awake, I just remember hearing back the songs I had just recorded and thinking, 'If there's ever a moment where I get to come back from this, I want to sing this song.'"
"A part of me was looking towards the future because that's what I do. When I'm struggling or when I'm going through a rough time, I look towards the future for hope and to change my perspective on things," she added. "I always stop and think, 'OK, why is God putting me through this?' Sometimes it doesn't make sense in that moment. But like the song, I recorded it, went through everything and then it made sense later."
Lovato continued on, revealing that music has been "a huge coping mechanism" for her throughout her life, but especially within the past few years.
"It's been very therapeutic for me, but there's only so much that music can do before you have to take responsibility and you have to take the initiative to get the help that you need," she shared.
While "Anyone" will touch on how Lovato was feeling at what she refers to as the "rock bottom" of her life -- "never once did I ever think that I was going to end up where I did" -- she revealed that a second song coming out in 2020 will tell even more of her story.
"I'm in the process of becoming more and more ready as time goes by. I think it's taken me a long time to be able to even get this far, which is performing a song that's so vulnerable to me on a stage in front of all my peers and coworkers and even people that I look up to," she admitted. "That's kind of nerve-wracking to think about. But at the same time, I'm grateful that I have this opportunity to sit here and talk to you and tell a little bit of my story."
"I think as time goes on, I'm going to tell more and more about it," she added. "With the next song that I have coming out, I think I tell more of the story. With ['Anyone'] it just kind of tells you a little bit about where I was right before and right afterwards."
Flash forward to today, Lovato is moving forward and staying positive with the support of her family, friends and loyal fans. She also credits her newfound happiness to therapy and paying less attention to what people are saying on social media. As she gears up for Sunday's GRAMMYs and Super Bowl LIV the following weekend in Miami (where she'll sing the national anthem), Lovato is already scheduling activities to fight the post-show blues.
"Something that I've dealt with in the past is, like, having these really incredible experiences like the GRAMMYs or tour or concerts or things like that. And I have to be aware of like, 'OK, I'm going to crash because my adrenaline is going to go all weekend, and then I'm going to have this performance. Whether it goes great or not, my adrenaline is going to come crashing down come Monday morning,'" she explained. "I've talked to my team about this, like, 'Hey, we should be cautious.' Like, 'I might crash on Monday. Let's take precautions so maybe I do more meditating on Monday,' or whatever it is. 'Maybe I have more therapy or support.'"
"Then obviously the Super Bowl will happen too, and that'll be really exciting," she continued. "But it's important to plan ahead so that come Monday after the GRAMMYs, I'm not sitting there, like, twiddling my thumbs like, 'OK, what am I doing with my life now? Where do I get this from? How can I beat that high?' Just be prepared."
Earlier this week, a source told ET that Lovato's comeback at the GRAMMYs and Super Bowl is "just the start," as she and her new manager, Scooter Braun, have "big plans this year."
"Demi will be releasing new music this year, and it will be extremely raw but very real. The album will be like a rebirth for Demi," the source teased. "She's spent a lot of time in the studio last year writing and recording and is ready to share her journey with the world. Demi is nervous to be sharing such intimate details, but also knows her story can save lives."
Hear more in the video below.
RELATED CONTENT:
Music
