It was while Demi Lovato was on a flight to Peru in October 2010 that her personal life came crashing down to earth. At the time, the singer and actress was on tour with the Jonas Brothers when one of her backup dancers, Alex Welch, reportedly informed tour managers of Lovato’s partying antics during a night out. A confrontation ensued, ending with Lovato throwing a punch at Welch, who then went public with photos of her black eye.
There’s been no such incident on Lovato’s latest tour (which makes a stop at the Izod Center on Friday), but the consequences of that punch are still apparent. Even now, Lovato doesn’t shy away from painful personal details from her past — which include a stint in rehab, an eating disorder and cutting, to name a few — but it’s not to win sympathy. “I wanted to be honest so I could take the stigma out of these issues and say that having a daughter that cuts isn’t as abnormal as you think,” the Texas-born singer tells The Post. “These girls aren’t trying to commit suicide, but someone needs to stop them before they do.”
Lovato insists that her policy of personal honesty is paying off. “I meet people all the time who are crying and thanking me for talking about my issues because I saved their life or I saved their daughter’s life. That’s more rewarding for me than hearing people saying, ‘Oh, you’re so sexy.’ ”
Not only has she cleaned up her private life, Lovato is making a deliberate attempt to make sure her professional life is similarly scandal-free. Unlike many Disney-bred child stars (ahem, Miley Cyrus), the 21-year-old is avoiding racy music and oversexed performances as a way of ushering in adulthood.
It’s a decision that’s working wonders. Not only was last year’s self-titled fourth album well received, Lovato has also become a Disney sweetheart again thanks to her performance of the Oscar-nominated song “Let It Go” on the “Frozen” soundtrack, which has spawned dozens of covers and YouTube parodies.
The song focuses on the isolation felt by the main character Elsa, the Snow Queen who is voiced by Broadway darling Idina Menzel. Menzel’s original film version has remained the most popular — and she will perform it at Sunday’s Oscar ceremony, where it is nominated for Best Original Song — but songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez chose Lovato to perform the radio version because of her own personal problems.
“At first I just concentrated on nailing the vocal and I didn’t pay too much attention to the lyrics,” says Lovato. “But now that I’ve started singing it often, I can definitely feel some empathy towards the lyrics. They have a deeper meaning to me.”
It will certainly be the sing-along moment during her Izod date, and you can expect the modest, family-friendly image to be a continuing theme in Lovato’s life. With “X Factor” recently canceled and her services as judge no longer needed, she’s set to dive back into her solo career, and a fifth album is planned for later this year.
“I didn’t have anybody to look up to when I was younger except Kelly Clarkson and Hayley Williams from Paramore,” she says. “There wasn’t anyone else who actually wore clothes in the pop industry! I want to be that for somebody. I curse like a sailor, but other than that I’d say I am a pretty good role model.”