Demi Lovato brought down the house when she performed a rock medley of her biggest songs at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards on Tuesday, September 12.
Lovato, 31, started her set with an alternative version of her song “Heart Attack” then transitioned to “Sorry Not Sorry” before closing with “Cool for the Summer.” She channeled her inner rock goddess in a skin-tight black vinyl gown and head banged alongside her band.
The show-stopping moment marked the first time Lovato has performed at the VMAs in six years. She last sang at the awards show in 2017, when an animated version of herself belted out “Sorry Not Sorry.”
In addition to taking the stage at the ceremony, Lovato’s song “Swine” — which she surprise-released in June in response to the one-year anniversary of Roe v. Wade being overturned — is nominated in two categories: Best Pop Video and Video for Good. Over the course of a year, profits from the charity single will be donated to the Demi Lovato Foundation’s Reproductive Justice Fund, benefitting NARAL Pro-Choice America, Plan C and the National Network of Abortion Funds.
Later this week, Lovato will release her album Revamped, which reimagines some of her greatest hits — including “Confident,” “Sorry Not Sorry,” “Cool for the Summer” and “Give Your Heart a Break” — as rock songs. She got the idea to remix the tracks after trying to incorporate them into her setlist alongside songs from her more punk-rock-centric 2022 album, Holy Fvck.
“The fans loved it,” she told Rolling Stone in July. “When I got home from tour, I was like, ‘Why don’t I just record those versions and release them?’”
Lovato added that she loved “revisiting these past moments in my career” and she was “really happy” with the way the reimagined tracks turned out.
As for how she thinks her fans will respond to the new project, Lovato is optimistic that they will connect with the music just as much as they originally did. “I think what’s important is that you just listen to it with an open mind and be receptive to the new genre of music that it’s in,” she said. “I think my fans will know and love these songs still.”
The album release comes amid a headline-making professional change for Lovato. News broke in August that she had split from her manager Scooter Braun after four years, with Variety reporting that the decision was mutual and amicable and Lovato was seeking new management.
Braun’s other high-profile clients Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande subsequently parted ways with him. A source told Us Weekly that Bieber’s wife, Hailey Bieber (née Baldwin), “led the charge that led Justin to leave him,” while a second insider said Grande has “outgrown [Braun] and is excited to go in a different direction.”
