Demi Lovato

Demetria Devonne Lovato (/ləˈvɑːtoʊ/ lə-VAH-toh; born August 20, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. After appearing on the children's television series Barney & Friends (2002–2004), Lovato rose to prominence for playing Mitchie Torres in the musical television film Camp Rock (2008) and its sequel Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam (2010); the former film's soundtrack contained "This Is Me", Lovato's debut single and duet with Joe Jonas, which peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100.

After signing with Hollywood Records, Lovato released their pop rock debut album, Don't Forget (2008), which debuted at number two on the Billboard 200. Its follow-up, Here We Go Again (2009), debuted at number one in the U.S., while its title track reached number 15 on the Hot 100. Lovato's third studio album, Unbroken (2011), experimented with pop and R&B and spawned the U.S. platinum-certified single "Skyscraper". They released their eponymous fourth album in 2013, which debuted at number three on the Billboard 200, and contained the top-ten international hit "Heart Attack". Lovato's fifth and sixth albums, Confident (2015) and Tell Me You Love Me (2017), infused soul and mature themes; they earned a Grammy Award nomination for Confident, while "Sorry Not Sorry", the lead single from Tell Me You Love Me, became their highest-charting single in the U.S., reaching number six. After a hiatus, Lovato released their seventh album, Dancing with the Devil... the Art of Starting Over (2021), which reached number two on the Billboard 200.

Lovato in 2020

On television, Lovato has starred as the titular character on the sitcom Sonny with a Chance (2009–2011), served as a judge on the music competition series The X Factor USA for its second and third seasons, and appeared as a recurring character on the musical comedy Glee (2013–2014) and the sitcom Will & Grace (2020). They also starred in the television drama film Princess Protection Program (2009), the animated comedy film Smurfs: The Lost Village (2017), and the musical comedy Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020).

Lovato has sold over 24 million records in the United States and has also received numerous accolades, including an MTV Video Music Award, 14 Teen Choice Awards, five People's Choice Awards, two Latin American Music Awards, a Guinness World Record, and was included on the Time 100 annual list in 2017. An activist for several social causes, Lovato's struggles with an eating disorder and substance abuse have received considerable media attention, in response to which they published the self-help memoir Staying Strong: 365 Days a Year (2013) and released the documentaries Demi Lovato: Simply Complicated (2017) and Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil (2021).

Early life and career beginnings

Demetria Devonne Lovato was born on August 20, 1992, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader Dianna De La Garza (née Lee Smith) and engineer and musician Patrick Martin Lovato. Lovato has an older full sister named Dallas; a younger maternal half-sister, actress Madison De La Garza; and an older paternal half-sister, Amber, whom they first spoke to when they were twenty years old.

In mid-1994, shortly after Lovato's second birthday, their parents divorced. Their father was of Mexican descent, with mostly Spanish and Native American ancestors, and came from a family that had been living in New Mexico for generations; he also had distant Portuguese and Jewish ancestry. Their mother is of English and Irish descent. Patrick was a descendant of Civil War Union veteran Francisco Perea and Santa Fe de Nuevo México governor Francisco Xavier Chávez. Lovato had no interest in forging a relationship with Patrick after their parents divorced. They have been vocal about their abusive and strained relationship with him and once stated, "He was mean, but he wanted to be a good person. And he wanted to have his family, and when my mom married my stepdad, he still had this huge heart where he said, 'I'm so glad that [he's] taking care of you and doing the job that I wish I could do'."[20][21] After Patrick died of cancer on June 22, 2013, Lovato said that he had been mentally ill, and they created the Lovato Treatment Scholarship Program in his honor.

Lovato was brought up in Dallas, Texas. They began playing the piano at age seven and guitar at ten,[26] when they began dancing and acting classes. In 2002, Lovato began their acting career on the children's television series Barney & Friends, portraying the role of Angela. They appeared on Prison Break in 2006 and on Just Jordan the following year. Due to their acting career, Lovato was bullied and consequently requested homeschooling, through which they eventually received their high-school diploma.