Ready to heal. Demi Lovato is using her “Dancing With the Devil” music video to relive the painful aftermath of her 2018 overdose.
Good Morning America debuted a clip from the video during the Thursday, April 1, episode, in which the Disney Channel alum, 28, sings from a hospital bed. In the snippet, she lies seemingly unconscious as what appears to be her family gathering around her. She later screams as doctors attempt to restrain her. The full video for the single — which was codirected by Lovato and Michael D. Ratner and produced through his OBB Media company — will premiere on Thursday at 11:45 p.m. ET.
EXCLUSIVE: First look at the music video for @ddlovato‘s “Dancing with the Devil.”#DemiOnGMA#DemiDWTDhttps://t.co/YmG10K5lAH pic.twitter.com/YnnxtdcZI0
— Good Morning America (@GMA) April 1, 2021
Lovato shared new details of the July 2018 overdose that left her hospitalized in her docuseries, Demi Lovato: Dancing With the Devil, which premiered on YouTube in March. She suffered three strokes, a heart attack and pneumonia and was “legally blind” when she woke up. “My little sister was at my bedside. I was so blind that I couldn’t see who she was even though she was standing next to me,” she recalled. “I asked her, I was like, ‘Who are you?’ She just started sobbing.”
The singer also revealed that she is not entirely sober now because it “doesn’t work” for her. Instead, she “has been smoking weed and drinking in moderation.”
“Telling myself that I can never have a drink or smoke marijuana, I feel like that’s setting myself up for failure because I am such a black and white thinker. I had it drilled into my head for so many years that one drink was equivalent to a crack pipe,” she explained. “I don’t want people to hear that and think they can just go out and try having a drink or smoking a joint. It isn’t for everybody. Recovery isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. You shouldn’t be forced to be sober if you’re not ready. You shouldn’t get sober for other people.”
Lovato divulged in a March interview with CBS Sunday Morning just how close she was to dying during the 2018 incident. “The doctors told me that I had five to 10 minutes,” she said. “Like, if no one had found me, then I wouldn’t be here. And I’m grateful that I’m sitting here today.”
As for how she is doing now, the Grammy nominee is in a better place. “I feel good,” she noted. “I feel more joy in my life than I’ve ever felt because [I’m not] quieting or diminishing any part of myself.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
