Demi Lovato certainly made a choice — and sang Heart Attack at a heart disease event.
The singer caused quite an upheaval on social media by performing her 2013 hit at an annual American Heart Association event Wednesday. While some attendees at the New York City event may have found the choice distasteful, Lovato has since explained herself.
“She spoke on the mind-heart connection,” a representative for Lovato told Entertainment Weekly on Friday. “It was a sensitive moment intended to champion the women in the room — the very reason why Demi was at the event.”
The event in question, an annual concert for the American Heart Association’s “Go Red for Women” campaign, aims to celebrate a “commitment to investing in women’s heart health,” according to the association’s website. Entertainment Weekly reported Lovato promoted the event on social media Thursday to raise awareness of cardiovascular disease.
The singer herself survived a heart attack in 2018 after a drug overdose.
“I actually don’t think people realise how bad it actually was,” Lovato said in her 2021 “Dancing With the Devil” documentary, per EW. “I had three strokes. I had a heart attack. I suffered brain damage from the strokes. I can’t drive anymore.”
“I’ll have blind spots in my vision so sometimes when I go to pour a glass of water, I’ll totally miss the cup because I can’t see it,” the singer continued. “I’m really lucky to be alive.”
Sources have since told TMZ that the heart association supported and encouraged Lovato’s performance of the song.
Lovato’s song choice, however, was polarizing for some fans.
“she didn’t think this one through,” wrote one user on X, with another commenting: “i [for real] can’t stop laughing..how many ppl did that song choice decision go through before she performed it live??”
Heart Attack hit No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2013 and went five-times platinum.