Pop music superstar Demi Lovato, who battled substance abuse and suffered a near-fatal drug overdose, now says she has more control over her life and that she almost had to die to “wake up”. She opens up to correspondent Tracy Smith about her life today, her career and more in a revealing interview for “CBS Sunday Morning”, which will air on March 21.
“I feel good,” Lovato told Smith. “I feel more joy in my life than I ever did because [I’m not] calming or diminishing any part of me. ”
That’s a giant leap for Lovato, who in July 2018 took an overdose of heroin mixed with the powerful sedative fentanyl.
She survived, but narrowly. “The doctors told me that I had five to ten minutes and … like, if no one had found me, then I wouldn’t be here,” Lovato told Smith. “And I am grateful to be sitting here today.”
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She said that when she woke up in the hospital after the overdose she was legally blind and that she is still dealing with hearing loss, tinnitus and blind spots in her vision.
Lovato first spoke to Smith on “Sunday Morning” in 2016, when she talked about her struggles with her health, an eating disorder and substance abuse. Then, too, she said she was grateful to be alive.
Lovato explores her life – the good and the bad – in a new series of documentaries on YouTube, which portrays her as a hugely successful pop star who was basically living under the control of others. Lovato said his overdose came after a prolonged period of unhappiness.
“I didn’t control anything in my life at that time,” Lovato told Smith. “But, yes, I also needed to grow and take control. And this is something I haven’t done until the last two years of my life, which is [why] I am now in control of my finances. Now I’m in control of … the food I eat, how often I work out. ”
Lovato also spoke with Smith about the lasting impact of his overdose on health, his emotional performance at the 2020 Grammy Awards ceremony, his new music and his life today. She also talks about her new way forward, which includes moderate use of alcohol and marijuana.
“I would say that I think the term I identify with best is sober California,” said Lovato, adding that he is not comfortable explaining the parameters of his recovery because it may not work for everyone.
“You know, I’m careful to say that, just as I feel that the method of total abstinence is not a single solution for everyone, I don’t think this moderation journey is a single solution – all solutions for everyone, too.”
To watch the trailer for the documentary “Demi Lovato: Dancing With the Devil” from YouTube Originals, click on the video player below:
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