Demi Lovato

Demi Lovato

Demetria Devonne Lovato (/ləˈvɑːtoʊ/ lə-VAH-toh; born August 20, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and television personality. She began her career in 2002 appearing on the children's television series Barney & Friends, before rising to prominence for portraying Mitchie Torres in the Disney Channel musical television film Camp Rock (2008) and its sequel Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam (2010).

Lovato has released six studio albums: Don't Forget (2008), Here We Go Again (2009), Unbroken (2011), Demi (2013), Confident (2015), and Tell Me You Love Me (2017); all of which debuted in the top five of the Billboard 200. She has earned nine top-20 tracks on the Billboard Hot 100 with "This Is Me", "Here We Go Again", "Send It On", "Skyscraper", "Give Your Heart a Break", "Heart Attack", "Cool for the Summer", "Sorry Not Sorry", and "I Love Me". In total, she has sold over two million albums and 20 million singles in the United States.[8] On television, Lovato has starred as the titular character on Sonny with a Chance (2009–2011), served as a judge and mentor on The X Factor USA in its second and third seasons, and appeared as a recurring character on Glee. Her struggles with several personal issues received significant media attention in the 2010s; in response to which she published the book Staying Strong: 365 Days a Year (2013) and released a YouTube documentary about her life and career, titled Demi Lovato: Simply Complicated (2017).

Lovato is a pop, pop rock, and R&B artist. She has earned numerous awards and nominations, including an MTV Video Music Award, 14 Teen Choice Awards, five People's Choice Awards, and two Latin American Music Awards. She also holds one Guinness World Record and was included on the annual Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world in 2017. Outside the entertainment industry, Lovato is an activist for several social causes.

Life and career

1992–2006: Early life and career beginnings

Lovato was born on August 20, 1992 in Albuquerque, New Mexico[9] to former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader Dianna De La Garza (née Dianna Lee Smith)[10] and engineer and musician Patrick Martin Lovato.[11] She has an older sister named Dallas;[12] a younger maternal half-sister, actress Madison De La Garza;[13] and an older paternal half-sister named Amber, whom she first spoke to when she was 20.[14]

Lovato's parents divorced in mid-1994, shortly after her second birthday.[15] Lovato's father was of Mexican descent, with mostly Spanish and Native American ancestors, and came from a family that has been living in New Mexico for generations; he also had distant Portuguese and Jewish ancestry.[16][17] Her mother is of English and Irish ancestry.[18][19] Through her father, Lovato is a descendant of Civil War Union veteran Francisco Perea and Santa Fe de Nuevo México governor Francisco Xavier Chávez.[20] Lovato claims that through DNA testing she discovered that she is also of 16 percent Scandinavian descent and one percent of African descent.[21]

Lovato was raised in Dallas, Texas.[22][23] She began playing piano at age seven and guitar at ten,[24] when she also began dancing and acting classes.[25] In 2002, she began her career on the children's television series Barney & Friends, portraying the role of Angela.[26] Lovato told Ellen DeGeneres that due to her acting career she was bullied so harshly that she asked for homeschooling,[27] and received her high-school diploma through homeschooling in May 2009, one year early.[28] In 2006, Lovato appeared on Prison Break, and on Just Jordan the following year.[9]

2007–2008: Breakthrough with Camp Rock and Don't Forget

From 2007 to 2008, Lovato played Charlotte Adams on the Disney Channel short series As the Bell Rings.[29] Lovato auditioned for the channel's television film Camp Rock and series Sonny with a Chance during 2007 and got both roles.[30] Lovato played the lead character, aspiring singer Mitchie Torres, in Camp Rock.[31] The film premiered on June 20, 2008, to 8.9 million viewers.[32] Gillian Flynn of Entertainment Weekly wrote that Lovato's acting skills were underwhelming and that she "has the knee-jerk smile of someone who is often told she has a great smile".[33] The film's soundtrack was released three days earlier; however, the music was considered less current than that of High School Musical.[34] It debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200, with 188,000 units sold in its first week of release.[35] Lovato sang four songs on the soundtrack, including "We Rock" and "This Is Me".[36] The latter, Lovato's debut single, debuted at number 11 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and later peaked at number nine, marking her first entry on the chart.[37] That summer, Lovato signed with Hollywood Records and began her Demi Live! Warm Up Tour before the release of her debut studio album,[38] and appeared on the Jonas Brothers' Burnin' Up Tour.[39]

Lovato's debut studio album, Don't Forget, was released on September 23, 2008, and was met with generally positive reviews from critics.[40][41][42] Michael Slezak of Entertainment Weekly said, "Demi Lovato might satisfy her 'tween fans but she won't be winning any rockers over with Don't Forget".[43] The album debuted at number two in the US, with first-week sales of 89,000 copies.[44] Ten of its songs were co-written with the Jonas Brothers.[45]

Don't Forget was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for US sales of over 500,000 copies.[46] Its lead single, "Get Back", was praised for its pop rock style and peaked at number 43 on the Billboard Hot 100, also selling over 560,000 copies in the United States.[47][48][49] The album's second single, "La La Land", was cited for its strong rock elements[50] and peaked at number 52 in the US,[49] and cracked the top 40 in Ireland and the United Kingdom.[51][52] The music video for the song was directed by Brendan Malloy and Tim Wheeler.[53][full citation needed] The third single and title track, "Don't Forget", peaked at number 41 in the US.[54]

2009–2010: Sonny with a Chance and Here We Go Again

In 2009, Lovato recorded "Send It On", a charity single and the theme song for Disney's Friends for Change, with costars the Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez.[55][56] All proceeds from the song were donated to environmental charities supported by the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund.[55] Lovato's Disney Channel sitcom Sonny with a Chance, in which she played Sonny Munroe, the newest cast member of the show-within-a-show So Random!, premiered on February 8.[57] Lovato's acting ability was described by Robert Lloyd of the Los Angeles Times as "very good", and he compared her favorably to Hannah Montana star Miley Cyrus.[58] That June, she starred alongside Selena Gomez in the Disney Channel film Princess Protection Program, in which Lovato portrayed Rosie Gonzalez / Princess Rosalinda. The film, the fourth highest-rated Disney Channel original movie, premiered to 8.5 million viewers.[59]

Lovato's second studio album, Here We Go Again, was released on July 21, 2009;[9] she described its acoustic style as similar to that of John Mayer.[60] The album received favorable reviews from critics who appreciated its enjoyable pop-rock elements, echoing reviews of Don't Forget.[61] Lovato's first number one album, it debuted atop the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 108,000 copies, and was later certified Gold.[62][63] The album's lead single and title track, "Here We Go Again", debuted at number 59 on the Billboard Hot 100, and managed to peak at number 15, becoming Lovato's highest peaking solo single at the time.[64] The song also peaked at number 68 on the Canadian Hot 100 and number 38 in New Zealand.[65][66] "Here We Go Again" was additionally certified Platinum in the US.[63] The album's second and final single, "Remember December" failed to match the success of its predecessor, but peaked at number 80 on the UK Singles Chart. Lovato made her first 40-city national concert tour, Live in Concert, in support of Here We Go Again.[67] The tour, from June 21 to August 21, 2009,[68] had David Archuleta,[68] KSM and Jordan Pruitt as opening acts.[69] Lovato and Archuleta received the Choice Music Tour award at the 2009 Teen Choice Awards.[70]

In 2010, Lovato and Joe Jonas recorded "Make a Wave" as the second charity single for Disney's Friends for Change.[71] In May of that year, Lovato guest-starred as Hayley May, a teenager with schizophrenia, in the sixth-season Grey's Anatomy episode, "Shiny Happy People".[72] Although critics praised her versatility, they were underwhelmed by her acting and felt that her appearance was designed primarily to attract viewers.[73] Later that year, she headlined her first international tour, Demi Lovato: Live in Concert,[74][75] and joined the Jonas Brothers: Live in Concert tour as a guest.[76]

Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam, with Lovato reprising her role as Mitchie Torres, premiered on September 3, 2010.[77][78] Critics were ambivalent about the film's plot, and it has a 40-percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[79] However, Lovato's performance was called "dependably appealing" by Jennifer Armstrong of Entertainment Weekly.[80] The film premiered to eight million viewers, the number-one cable television movie of the year by the number of viewers.[81] Its accompanying soundtrack was released on August 10 with Lovato singing nine songs, including "Can't Back Down" and "Wouldn't Change a Thing".[82] The soundtrack debuted at number three on the Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 41,000 copies.[83] The Jonas Brothers: Live in Concert was reworked to incorporate Lovato and the rest of the film's cast;[84] it began on August 7, two weeks later than planned.[85] The Sonny with a Chance soundtrack was released on October 5; Lovato sang on four tracks, including "Me, Myself and Time".[86] It debuted (and peaked) at number 163 on the Billboard 200, her lowest-selling soundtrack. [87] In November 2010, Lovato announced her departure from Sonny with a Chance, putting her acting career on hiatus and ending the series;[88] she later said that she would return to acting when she felt confident doing so.[89] Her departure led to the actual spin-off series So Random! with the Sonny cast, featuring sketches from the former show-within-a-show. The series was cancelled after one season.