Demi Lovato belts out comeback Super Bowl 2020 anthem
In the home of the brave, one of America’s bravest singers took the stage for a powerful kickoff to the 2020 Super Bowl.
Demi Lovato, 27, belted out the national anthem, capping off a year of recovery after her 2018 overdose scare. She delivered the neat rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner” in a chic white pantsuit, similar to the gown she wore at the 2020 Grammys.
Her performance clocked in at one minute and 49 seconds.
The San Francisco 49ers face the Kansas City Chiefs at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami starting at 6:30 p.m. on Fox. Lovato’s performance is just the first of the night, with the hotly anticipated halftime show bringing Shakira and Jennifer Lopez to the same power-packed stage midway through the game. The diva antics got off to an explosive start with fellow songstress Lady Gaga warning the two singers, not to lip sync in a cryptic pregame tweet.
Lovato’s patriotic moment comes just a week after her victorious return to the stage at the 2020 Grammys, following a nearly fatal dose of heroin. In 2018, the singer was rushed from her home in the Hollywood Hills to a Los Angeles-area hospital after paramedics found her unconscious. The night before she allegedly partied with friends for 12 hours straight. She was treated with Narcan, an emergency treatment for narcotics overdoses.
Her brush with death followed an open battle with addiction and a rehab stint. She also had recently ended her relationship with model boyfriend Austin Wilson.
Around the time of her overdose, she released the song “Sober,” in which she revealed she had relapsed after six years of sobriety. Lovato began to weep during a show in Brazil in June 2018 while singing the lyrics, “And I’m sorry for the fans I lost / Who watched me fall again / I want to be a role model, but I’m only human.”
After her hospitalization, Lovato promised fans that the next time they’d hear from her, she’d be singing. That promise, she told Zane Lowe on Beats 1, helped her get through her recovery.
And she made good on her vow, appearing at the award show last Sunday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles wearing a white Christian Siriano gown. As she belted out her new song “Anyone,” tears streamed down her face.
Lovato’s choice of white could be a symbol of recovery. In the AA community, white tokens represent a new beginning, and are given on the first day of sobriety. It’s also given to those who relapse, but find their way back to the program.