It has been a difficult few years for Demi Lovato. The singer, songwriter, and actress has been extremely open and honest with her struggles with addiction, body image, and self-esteem, so when she took the stage at The Grammys on Sunday, it was truly an emotional moment.
In July of 2018, Demi was hospitalized following an overdose.
After a years-long struggle with addiction, Demi had celebrated six years of sobriety just five months earlier. However, a month prior, Demi had released the song “Sober,” which implied that she had gone through a relapse.
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Since then, Demi has not had a public performance or released a single.
Demi made it clear on Instagram in December that this was about to change when she shared a post that simply read, “The next time you hear from me, I’ll be singing.”
Demi was then announced as a performer at the 2020 Grammy Awards.
In an interview with Zane Lowe , Demi revealed that the song she would be performing, “Anyone,” was written just four days before her overdose, and said, “I listen back to these lyrics and I hear it as a cry for help.”
When Demi took the stage on Sunday, it was an emotionally charged performance.
When speaking about the song, Demi had said, “I was recording it in a state of mind where I felt like I was OK, but clearly I wasn’t. I even listen back to it and I’m like, ‘Gosh, I wish I could go back in time and help that version of myself.'”
When the performance began, Demi became immediately overcome with emotion.
Demi choked up during the first line of the song and had to take a second to compose herself. She then had her backup musicians restart the song as the crowd began to cheer for her.
On her second try, Demi powered through the emotional song, although it was clear it took a toll on her to perform.
Demi was crying throughout the song, although she didn’t miss a note in the powerful performance. One fan on Twitter wrote , “This was more than a performance. This was a demonstration of the pain and suffering someone going through a relapse goes through.”
“This was Demi Lovato telling us what she was trying to tell the world, and no one was listening.”
Selena Gomez, who has been a friend of Demi’s since they were children, shared a touching message to her old friend on Instagram, writing, “Thank you for your courage and your bravery.”
