Demi Lovato has handled the life of a celebrity with transparency and grace. We've watched
her blossom from a Disney Channel star into a fearless pop sensation. Check out her totally
stunning transformation from then to now.
Even though today Demi Lovato is wealthy, talented, and famous, things weren't always
easy for her. Rather, her childhood was quite chaotic because of her birth father, Patrick
Lovato. In Simply Complicated, a documentary about her life, the singer revealed,
"My dad was an addict and an alcoholic...He chose that over a family."
A childhood friend of Lovato also observed the star's struggles with her father, and
revealed during the documentary,
"He would tell them he had cancer when he didn't, or he would tell them he's dying tomorrow
when he wasn't."
He also reportedly had a temper when he drank, and he would go into violent rages. Obviously,
behavior like that can have a long-term impact on children. Lovato's parents split up in
1994, and her mother, Dianna, got remarried in 1995.
By age 5, it was clear that Demi Lovato was destined to be in front of a camera. At home
she was modeling and posing for photographs, and she began participating in beauty competitions,
where she discovered that she loved singing. Her sister said in Simply Complicated,
"We started off doing pageants, and I started to realize that Demi was...not human when
it came to her voice."
Meanwhile, Demi's mom revealed,
"She had the nerve to go up in front of the entire school to sing Celine Dion's 'My Heart
Will Go On,' and it was beautiful."
But it was only after countless auditions and rejections that Lovato caught her first
break.
After slogging through a slew of auditions, Demi Lovato finally landed the gig that would
help her break into the entertainment industry, when she was cast on the hit children's television
show Barney & Friends. There, Lovato was able to show off her musical and acting skills
to millions of people around the world. Speaking on Simply Complicated, Demi revealed,
"After I booked Barney, I was constantly working on music and acting. I was taking lessons
any chance that I could."
"Barney was actually very attractive inside the suit."
While it was Barney & Friends that put Demi Lovato on the map, Camp Rock, a Disney Channel
Original Movie, which also starred the Jonas Brothers, gave her mainstream success. Of
the incredible opportunity, Lovato told Access Hollywood in 2008,
"It's still surreal to me. I don't think it's actually hit me because like, last night there
was a bunch of people screaming for me. I felt like screaming myself!"
That was also when Lovato met Phil McIntyre, who was managing the Jonas brothers. Luckily,
he saw Lovato's star potential, and revealed in Simply Complicated,
"Starring in Camp Rock was Demi's big break. It was like overnight she became a household
name."
Basically, it was a dream come true for the singer.
Even though Demi Lovato was killing it in her career, she was enduring some serious
bullying at school. The star told ABC,
"I literally didn't know why they were being so mean to me."
According to the singer, other students tormented her about her body size, calling her fat,
which led her to developing an eating disorder. Lovato also began to self-harm by the age
of 11. She revealed to ABC,
"It was a way of expressing my own shame of myself on my own body."
It's a testament to Lovato's inner strength that she got through such a difficult time
in her life.
After Camp Rock wrapped, Lovato dropped her debut album, Don't Forget, co-written and
co-produced by the Jonas Brothers. The album eventually went gold. Since then, she's consistently
dropped successful albums, all of them showcasing her gorgeous voice and keen songwriting ability.
Additionally, Lovato landed more acting gigs with the Disney Channel. She was cast in the
starring role on her own sitcom, Sonny With a Chance. After that, she reprised her role
in Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam. All the while she was touring in support of her albums and
working constantly. She truly had become a tween pop queen in her own right.
Demi Lovato has been open about her longtime struggles with drugs and alcohol, which she
started using at a young age. Over time, she began to use these substances more and more,
eventually coming to rely on them to get through the day. And it all came to a head during
the tour for Camp Rock 2, as she told ABC News,
"I was performing concerts on an empty stomach. I was losing my voice from purging. I was
self-medicating. I was not taking medication for depression."
Clearly she was not in a good place. Things spiraled to the point where she got violent
with one of her dancers, something which she regrets. Of the incident, the singer told
ABC News,
"I literally was so emotionally whacked out that I took it out on someone that meant a
lot to me."
She promptly quit the tour and checked into her first stint in rehab, where she was diagnosed
with bipolar disorder.
The year 2013 dealt a devastating blow to Demi Lovato when her birth father passed away.
Although the singer had a complicated relationship with her dad due to his addiction and mental
illness issues, she still had a difficult time processing his passing. She explained
on her YouTube channel,
"I was conflicted when he passed because he was abusive. He was mean, but he wanted to
be a good person."
In spite of her pain, Lovato wanted to honor her father's memory and have something good
come of it. To that end, she created the Lovato Treatment Scholarship Program to fund addiction
treatment for individuals who can't afford it. During an interview with ABC News, Lovato
explained,
"I'm helping one person at a time."
No matter what goes on in Demi Lovato's life, one thing is a constant, and that's her success.
For one, she was a judge on the American version of The X Factor alongside Simon Cowell, which
gave her the opportunity to appeal to a new audience. During an interview with Billboard,
Lovato explained,
"I never used to get recognized by adults, and now when I'm at the airport or the grocery
store, the guy behind the register will be like, 'I love you on X Factor.'"
Additionally, on top of continuing to produce critically-acclaimed, big-selling albums,
and going on several successful tours, she received a Grammy nomination in 2017 for Best
Pop Album for Confident. She was also later nominated for a Grammy for her performance
on Christina Aguilera's "Fall In Line."
In the age of Instagram, fame and fortune often comes with haters. It seems like everyone
has an opinion regarding how a woman's body should look, and they don't hesitate to shout
it from the rooftops. That's why it's especially brave that Demi Lovato has been completely
fearless when it comes to body positivity. For one, she's not afraid to post makeup-free
selfies on her Instagram page. And in an even more fearless move, she's posted Instagram
stories showing her cellulite, stretch marks, and lack of a thigh gap for all the world
to see. She told E! News,
"I decided to embrace my flaws and, I don't even like to call them flaws, it's just a
part of who I am, and show the world that I'm imperfect, but that's what makes me beautiful."
"I think I cared too much about what other people would think."
When she's not busy working, chances are you'll find Demi Lovato working up a sweat at the
gym. Specifically, she's been practicing mixed martial arts and jiu jitsu, and loving the
therapeutic benefits. She revealed in her Simply Complicated documentary,
"Working out is a form of meditation to me because I'm not focused on anything in my
head. It can transport you to a totally different place. I'm on a journey to discover what it's
like to be free of all demons."
Fans of the singer were stunned and saddened when news broke that Demi Lovato had overdosed
in July of 2018. The singer was hospitalized in Los Angeles, where she was stabilized and
eventually nursed back to health.
Lovato later opened up about her overdose and the reason she relapsed on The Ellen DeGeneres
Show in March 2020. She explained that her bulimia was spiraling out of control and she
wasn't able to get the help she needed. Lovato said,
"I was stuck in this, like, this unhappy position...I'm six years sober, but I'm miserable. I'm even
more miserable than I was when I was drinking. Why am I sober?"
Unfortunately her team reportedly wasn't showing up for her either, which triggered her core
abandonment issues. After that, Lovato started drinking, and then turned to harder drugs.
Only three months later, Lovato had her overdose.
It would be more than a year after her overdose before Demi Lovato would be ready to make
public appearances again, which is more than understandable. In fact, Lovato's first big
event was the Teen Vogue Summit in Los Angeles in November of 2019, where she urged the crowd
to be gentle with her. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Lovato said at the event,
"What a lot of people don't realize is that I'm actually an extremely sensitive person...I
am human, so be easy on me."
She also added that she was tired of pretending to be strong when she wasn't. However, Lovato
told the crowd that she knows she's overcome a lot, and that she sees someone strong when
she looks in the mirror. The singer explained,
"I genuinely see a fighter. I don't see a championship winner in there, but I see a
fighter."
Finally, Lovato gave the audience some great news when she announced that she had new music
on the way.
"The most successful thing that I've done has been able to beat my addiction."
While the Teen Vogue Summit was Lovato's first public appearance since her overdose, her
first musical performance was at the 2020 Grammy Awards. Before she took to the stage,
Lovato sat down with Zane Lowe for a conversation about everything from her struggles with addiction
to her new music. Lovato also got candid about the song she was slated to perform, something
she'd been planning since a week after her overdose. She revealed to Apple Music,
"I remember being in the hospital and listening to this song...I was finally, like, awake.
And 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.'"
After her emotional performance at the 2020 Grammys, Lovato received a standing ovation.
After the show, she wrote on Instagram,
"What an unbelievable night. So emotional for me."
She also thanked everyone for all of their love and support, and seemed seriously happy
to be back in the spotlight.
In 2020, Demi Lovato not only brought the house down at the Grammy Awards, but she also
sang the national anthem at the Super Bowl. Lovato decided to get a tattoo while preparing
for those two big performances. In a post on her Instagram page in February 2020, the
singer explained,
"I recently went dark on social media in preparation for my Grammy and Super Bowl performances
but while I was off socials I got this incredibly meaningful tattoo done by [Alex Aureo] Getting
tatted by him was an experience I've never had before."
As for how the artist came up with the incredible design, Lovato explained,
"I told him about my life and where I was at in that moment and we created a combination
[of] images that best symbolized the spiritual awakening I was having. Having a fallen angel
being lifted by 3, pure, angelic doves...and the disintegration of her dark wings was representing
the darkness I was shedding."
In March of 2020, the singer dropped the single "I Love Me" with an accompanying video, and
it was a celebration of all things Lovato. Unlike her previous singles "Anyone" and "Sober,"
"I Love Me" is a happy anthem that encourages self-acceptance and loving yourself. As Lovato
tells it, the video for "I Love Me" is super special. In a post on her Instagram page,
she wrote,
"It was important for me to add special Easter eggs that represent certain times and chapters
in my life...This one by far was the most emotional for me to shoot."
The Easter eggs include a nod to the Jonas Brothers, a Camp Rock salute, and a moment
when Lovato passes by a patient being wheeled into an ambulance, which acknowledges her
overdose. But from the way she grins throughout the song, Lovato looks happier than ever,
which is amazing to see.
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