In 2024, Demi Lovato played a set at the Red Dress Collection Concert for the American Heart Association. The annual concert promotes awareness of cardiovascular disease in women and raises funds for medical innovation in the field. But one of the songs she performed raised eyebrows instead.
Singing her 2013 single “Heart Attack” at a fundraising concert for heart disease caused some backlash online, naturally. But in a March 2026 appearance on the Elvis Duran Show, Lovato set the record straight about why that made the setlist.
“They asked me to sing that,” she said. “I flagged it beforehand and was like, ‘Isn’t this, like, not the vibe?’ They were like, ‘No, they wanna hear it.’ I was like, ‘OK?’”
Lovato continued, “And then of course people online are like, ‘Why did she sing that?’ Y’all, it wasn’t me! I flagged it!”
Demi Lovato Recalls Backlash to Performing ‘Heart Attack’ at an American Heart Association Benefit Concert
In hindsight, performing a song with lyrics like “If I ever did that, I think I’d have a heart attack” at a benefit concert for the American Heart Association is pretty funny. Like, ironic funny. At the time, however, many people online didn’t seem to think so.
Instead, it seemed in poor taste, maybe even derogatory. Viewers probably found it embarrassing for Demi Lovato, as if she chose the setlist thinking it would tie into the theme. A sort of “Read the room, Demi” moment for those watching from home.
“I think ‘Heart Attack’ should have been left off that list, considering there was a roomful of people who have had heart attacks,” one person said on TikTok at the time.
However, the reality of the situation is a lot less sinister and a whole lot funnier. During the concert, Demi Lovato also prefaced the song with her new personal connections to it. In 2021, Lovato revealed that she’d had a heart attack and three strokes during a near-fatal overdose in 2018. This event led to lasting health issues that Lovato has still had to work around, such as scheduling more downtime into her tours. But she’s since reclaimed “Heart Attack” as a reminder of her own experiences.
“While my next song is about the intense feelings that come with falling in love as well as heartbreak, opening yourself up, taking risks, and not being afraid to do it again,” she said at the concert. “This song has many parallels for me—my journey and a reminder for all of us in the room just how strong the mind-heart-body connection truly is.”
Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for The American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women Red Dress Collection Concert
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