Demi Lovato sets record straight on viral ‘Heart Attack’ performance

Demi Lovato set the record straight on her viral “Heart Attack” performance at an American Heart Association event — and insists it wasn’t her idea to sing the hit song.

“I want to say they asked me to sing that. Because I flagged that beforehand and was like ‘Um, isn’t this like not the vibe?’” the musician recalled on the “Elvis Duran Show” Thursday, referring to the organization.

Lovato said the AHA told her that fans would “want to hear” the 2013 track, so she reluctantly agreed.

“And then of course people online are like, ‘Why did she sing that?” she continued. “I’m like y’all it wasn’t me, I flagged it!”

The pop star infamously performed the song at AHA’s annual Go Red for Women Red Dress Collection Concert in 2024, which aims to raise awareness about cardiovascular disease.

Fans immediately thought the song choice was odd considering Lovato suffered from three strokes and a heart attack herself during a near-fatal overdose in 2018.

“Well that’s a bit dark, don’t you think?” one X user asked fellow fans soon after the performance. “She didn’t think this one through,” a second critic added.

However, an insider told Page Six at the time that performing “Heart Attack” was a strategic move encouraged by the AHA, just as Lovato claimed in her recent interview.

“Following Demi’s heart attack and near-death experience, for a few years, Demi thought she would not be able to sing ‘Heart Attack,’” the source explained adding that she was able to “reclaim” the song with the performance.

The Grammy-nominated artist also prefaced the song with a meaningful speech to the audience.

“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, 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,” she said on stage.

Our insider also noted that none of the audience members seemed offended by the song choice during her performance.