Demi Lovato swept millions of people off their feet this past Sunday, Jan. 26, while performing at the 2020 Grammy’s. Her step back into music debuted her newest single “Anyone,” a powerful and emotional piano ballad which has already risen to the #1 spot on iTunes music charts.
The performance began in tears, as Lovato’s first attempt to sing shortly ended, having to restart and quickly get back on her feet. This appearance is the singer’s first time on stage in almost two years and was a perfect place for a new start.
In a Beats 1 interview with Zane Lowe, Lovato opened up about the fact that she wrote this song just days before her drug overdose in July 2018. She conveys the message that she felt like she had no one there for her and as if everything she did was pointless.
“A hundred million stories and a hundred million songs / I feel stupid when I sing, nobody's listening to me… / I talk to shooting stars, but they always get it wrong / I feel stupid when I pray, so, why am I praying anyway?” Lovato belts.
Many people can feel the artist’s pain in these lyrics and relate to them greatly, which shows that no one is truly alone in their struggles.
Throughout the entire song, you can hear the raw emotion in Lovato’s voice, which sends chills through your body with every listen. Her ability to sing continuous belts is incredibly impressive, especially while simultaneously trying to keep her composure.
The way she builds her voice’s tone up from the verse to the pre-chorus to the chorus is beautiful and brings even more feeling to the tune.
As her performance comes to a close, you can see the happiness on Lovato’s face, taking such pride in herself for her bravery and ability to share such a personal story with the world.
While celebrities struggle with privacy regardless and face unwanted criticism often, she was finally able to speak her truth on her own terms.
“I recorded the song and I didn’t spend a lot of time perfecting it - just because it isn’t one of those songs that I feel like if you were to hear anything like doubles, or if it’s over produced or anything like that, it would take away from the emotion of the song. So I wanted to keep it very raw, and we did - and then as time went on, we realized how magical [it was] capturing that vocal of that song," says Lovato.
While this song may have not been ‘perfected’ in her idea of the word, it is sure close to perfect - and even better live than it is recorded. I think this is something that everyone needs to see to show how badly people can be hurting without anyone around them knowing.
Whether you were previously a fan of Demi Lovato or not, this is undoubtedly worth the watch, and there is no way that you will not be wooed by this excellent release. “Anyone" is said to be the artist’s first single off of her upcoming seventh studio album, and it definitely has me excited to hear more of what she has in store.
I would give this new song and beautiful performance 5 out of 5 Swoops.
