As a solo musical artist, Lovato released her debut album Don't Forget on September 23, 2008. The album debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 selling 89,000 copies in the first week. It has since shipped over 500,000 copies earning a Gold certification in the United States. Lovato released her second album, Here We Go Again, on July 21, 2009. The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200, selling 108,000 copies in the first week. Her third studio album, Unbroken, was released on September 20, 2011.
Life and career
Childhood and youth
Lovato was born in Dallas, Texas on August 20, 1992 to Patrick Lovato and Dianna Hart de la Garza. She is of Mexican, Irish, and Italian descent. She has an older sister, Dallas Lovato, and a younger half sister, Madison de la Garza. Her mother was a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader and country music recording artist. Lovato began playing piano at the age of seven. Lovato also began her acting career at the age of seven on the children's television series Barney & Friends as Angela, appearing in seasons seven and eight alongside long time friend Selena Gomez. In an interview with Ellen DeGeneres, Lovato revealed going through painful experiences with bullying in the seventh grade. According to Lovato, the bullying was so bad that one day, in a fit of frustration and distress, she requested her mom give her a home-schooled education. Lovato earned a high school diploma through homeschooling in April 2009. Lovato also stated in an interview with 20/20 in 2011 that she had had a "really unhealthy relationship with food" since age 8 due to bullying experienced as a child, and self-mutilated her wrists to cope with her emotions and depression since age 11. Lovato later became a spokesperson for anti-bullying organization PACER and appeared on America's Next Top Model and CNN to speak out against bullying.
In 2006 Lovato guest starred on Prison Break as Danielle Curtin in the episode "First Down." She also appeared in the second season of the television sitcom Just Jordan as Nicole, in the episode "Slippery When Wet." In January 2007, she landed the role of Charlotte Adams on the Disney Channel Original Short Series, As the Bell Rings, which premiered on August 26, 2007. A few of her original songs, including "Shadow," were featured on the show.
2007–09: Camp Rock, Don't Forget and Sonny with a Chance
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| Lovato with the Jonas Brothers in 2008. They starred in Camp Rock together with were heavily involved in the production of her debut album. |
In the summer of 2007, Lovato auditioned for the Disney Channel television film Camp Rock and the television series Sonny with a Chance in the same day and got both parts. For Camp Rock, she submitted an audition tape and Gary Marsh, Disney's president of entertainment, asked her to sing. She sang Christina Aguilera's "Ain't No Other Man", and Hollywood Records senior vice president Bob Cavallo said that their "jaws just dropped". Lovato received the lead role in Camp Rock, and a record deal with Hollywood Records in early 2008. In Camp Rock she played Mitchie Torres, a fourteen-year-old girl with hopes of becoming a singer. The movie premiered on June 20, 2008 in the United States on the Disney Channel with 8.9 million viewers, making Lovato a household name among young viewers. She provided vocals on four of the songs featured on the Camp Rock soundtrack, including "This Is Me" featuring Joe Jonas. The song peaked at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100. In June and July 2008, Lovato performed at various House of Blues and parks for her Demi Live! Warm Up Tour in preparation for the release of her debut album and the Burnin' Up Tour with the Jonas Brothers. Lovato served as the support act on the Jonas Brothers' Burnin' Up Tour from July through September 2008.
Lovato's debut album, Don't Forget was released in the fall of 2008. The bulk of the album was co-written with the Jonas Brothers, who also produced the album with John Fields. They co-wrote ten songs in a week during the band's headlining Look Me in the Eyes Tour. The album is of the pop-rock genre and is lyrically similar to other teen-pop albums. It peaked at number two on the Billboard 200, selling 89,000 units in its first week of release. It has since sold over 500,000 records in the US. Critics noticed the distinct sound of the Jonas Brothers in the production of the album. Don't Forget spawned three singles, "Get Back", "La La Land" and "Don't Forget", all of which were moderately successful, peaking around the top 40 and 50 on the Billboard Hot 100. The most successful of which was the title track which was one position shy of entering the top 40 songs. Sonny With a Chance premiered on February 8, 2009,[26] Lovato starred as Sonny Munroe, the new cast member of a live sketch comedy show titled So Random!. In June 2009 Lovato co-starred in Princess Protection Program as Princess Rosalinda alongside Selena Gomez on the Disney Channel. The made-for-television movie is the third highest rated Disney Channel Original Movie, premiering on the Disney Channel with 9.8 million viewers.
Lovato joined Disney's Friends for Change, an organization which promotes "environmently-friendly behavior," and appears in its public service announcements to raise awareness for the cause on the Disney Channel. Lovato, Selena Gomez, Miley Cyrus, and the Jonas Brothers recorded "Send It On," a charity single that served as the theme song for the organization in 2009. The song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at #20. Disney's Friends for Change directed all of its proceeds from "Send It On" to environmental charities to the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund. Lovato and Joe Jonas "Make a Wave" in 2010, the second charity single that currently serves as the theme song for Disney's Friends for Change.
2009–10: Here We Go Again, Camp Rock 2 and personal struggles
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| Lovato and her band performing on her 2009 summer tour |
Lovato embarked on the Summer Tour 2009 to promote her second album, Here We Go Again, released in the summer of 2009. The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 with 108,000 records sold in its first week. The album was more inspired by acoustic music, such as John Mayer's songs, than her debut's pop rock-influenced sound. The album received favorable reviews from critics, Billboard called Lovato "a natural talent who could really take flight after outgrowing Disney." Allmusic ranked Here We Go Again as one of the best pop albums of 2009. The album was preceded by the lead single, "Here We Go Again," which was released on June 23, 2009. It reached #15 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album's second single, "Remember December," was released on November 17, 2009 but only managed to reach #6 on Billboard's Bubbling Under Hot 100 (number 106 on the Hot 100).
In September 2009, production began for Camp Rock's sequel, Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam. The Disney Channel Original Movie premiered on September 3, 2010, upon which it gained 8 million viewers. In March 2010, Lovato was one of the many stars featured in a public service announcement for Voto Latino in order to promote the organization's "Be Counted" campaign for the 2010 United States Census. Lovato returned for a second season of Sonny with a Chance and appeared as a guest star in an episode of the medical drama series Grey's Anatomy as a teenage patient named Haley, whose parents brought her in for schizophrenia. In a review of the episode, EW.com praised her performance, stating, "I still believe that even an unbiased observer would conclude that the Disney princess did a fine job acting it up as a suicidal 16-year-old who was admitted after trying to claw her own eyes out." Lovato began dating Joe Jonas, whom she first met while filming the first Camp Rock film. They split up in May. Lovato's South American Tour was her first international headlining tour. The tour commenced on May 23, 2010 in Santiago, Chile and concluded on May 28, 2010 in São Paulo, Brazil.
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| Lovato performing live in September 2010 prior to checking into a treatment facility for physical and emotional issues. |
She later joined the Jonas Brothers Live in Concert tour as a special guest. Lovato dropped out of the tour on October 30, 2010 in order to enter a treatment facility to treat physical and emotional issues. In particular, many media sources immediately reported that Lovato had decided to enter treatment right after punching a Jonas Brothers back-up dancer, Alex Welch, on a flight out of Bogotá, Colombia, allegedly because Lovato believed that Welch had informed tour managers of inappropriate behaviour on Lovato's part the previous night, causing Lovato to be confronted by her managers and her stepfather, Eddie de la Garza. Lovato's camp reached a financial settlement with Welch in late December 2010, with Welch stating that the agreement stipulated for a portion of the settlement to be donated to charity. On January 28, 2011, it was reported that Lovato had completed her inpatient treatment.
Lovato granted her first post-rehab interview to ABC newscaster Robin Roberts, which aired on Good Morning America and 20/20 on April 22, 2011. During the interview, Lovato confirmed reports that her treatment was for bulimia and self-injury, and had taken place at the Timberline Knolls facility in Illinois after the aforementioned confrontation between her and Welch led to an intervention by her family and management team. Her condition came to a head during the tour because Lovato "was performing concerts on an empty stomach...I was losing my voice from purging. I was self-medicating. I was not taking medication for depression, and I literally was so emotionally whacked out that I took it out on someone that meant a lot to me." Lovato expressed regret at her actions towards Welch, stating "I take 100 percent, full responsibility..." In another interview, Lovato added that she had "basically had a nervous breakdown", and was also diagnosed with bipolar disorder during her treatment.
2011–present: Unbroken
Lovato will not return to Sonny with a Chance and will instead focus on her music career, stating that "it's kind of sad for me that a chapter of my life has ended but there couldn't be a better time for me to move on...I don't think going back to Sonny would be healthy for my recovery...Being in front of a camera would make me nervous." To raise awareness about personal issues similar to her own, Lovato became a Contributing Editor to Seventeen magazine. She will discuss her personal issues as a part of a larger campaign called "Love is Louder than the Pressure to Be Perfect", directed towards teen girls.
Lovato's third studio album, Unbroken, was released on September 20, 2011.Lovato began working on the album in July 2010, prior to receiving treatment. She had described it as having a more soulful and R&B inspired sound, citing Keri Hilson and Rihanna as inspirations for the sound. After Lovato's stint in the treatment facility, producer Timbaland expressed interest in working with her. Lovato confirmed in July 2011 that she was working on a duet with the producer. The first single off the album, "Skyscraper", premiered on July 12, 2011. Lovato scored her first top 10 debut on the Billboard 100, as "Skyscraper" debuts at number 10.
Influences
She is a fan of metalcore, such as Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, Abigail Williams, The Devil Wears Prada, and Job for a Cowboy.
Filmography
Films
2008 Camp Rock Mitchie Torres Disney Channel Original Movie
2009 Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience Herself Concert film
Princess Protection Program Princess Rosalinda Disney Channel Original Movie
2010 Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam Mitchie Torres Disney Channel Original Movie
Television
Year Title Role Notes
2002–2003 Barney & Friends Angela Recurring Role
2006 Prison Break Danielle Curtin (1 episode) "First Down"
Split Ends Herself 1 Episode
2007–2008 As the Bell Rings Charlotte Adams Main Role, season 1; Season 3 Guest Appearance, Episode "Charlotte in the Halls"
2008 Just Jordan Nicole (1 Episode) "Slippery When Wet"
Studio DC: Almost Live Herself Second Show
2009–2011 Sonny with a Chance Allison "Sonny" Munroe Lead Role
2010 Grey's Anatomy Hayley (1 Episode) "Shiny Happy People"
WON People's Choice Awards Favorite TV Guest Star
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