The Late Jerry Garcia & His Grateful Dead Band Mates Named MusiCares’ 2025 Persons of the Year

Posted on October 23, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

The late Jerry Garcia is getting a special posthumous honor…

The half-Spanish American singer/songwriter/guitarist and his Grateful Dead band mates have been named as the 2025 Persons of the Year by MusiCares, with the band’s original members due to be feted at the organization’s annual gala concert and dinner on January 31, two days prior to the Grammys.

The honor will effectively kick off what may turn out to be a yearlong celebration of the 60th anniversary of the group’s founding. As always, the fundraiser for this charitable arm of the Recording Academy will culminate in a series of all-star performances covering the honoree’s catalog.

The evening will take place in its usual location in a vast ballroom at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

In the 33-year history of MusiCares events, this marks only the third time that a superstar group has been selected for the honor instead of an individual. The previous bands chosen were Fleetwood Mac in 2018 and Aerosmith in 2020.

It’s the first time that someone no longer among the living will be officially celebrated as part of the tribute. Garcia, who died in 1995 at the age of 53, will get his posthumous due during the evening, along with the four living Dead members from the original lineup — Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh and Bobby Weir.

The four musicians have played in spinoff groups since Garcia’s passing, with Weir and Hart continuing to be active as mainstays of Dead & Company.

That outfit officially retired from touring after a 2023 outing, but went on to play a ravenously well-received residency at Sphere in Las Vegas from May through August of this year.

Fans are hoping for a return engagement or some other live commemoration in the coming year to help mark the 60th anniversary of the Grateful Dead.

Don Was, who just served as musical director of last week’s Robbie Robertson tribute at the Kia Forum, will take up MD duties again for this event. Returning as producers are Lewis & Clark, a live event broadcast outfit made up of Joe Lewis and R.A. Clark.

Laura Segura, executive director of MusiCares, said in a statement that the Dead’s legacy “transcends music, having built a community of fans and collaborators that embody the spirit of connection and support, something that is deeply aligned with MusiCares’ mission.

The band’s passion for the arts and philanthropy, along with their enduring commitment to social causes, has made a lasting impact that goes beyond the stage. It is a privilege to celebrate their contributions to both music and humanity.”

The Dead will be following in the footsteps of MusiCares’ 2024 honoree, Jon Bon Jovi, and a three-decade-long list of previous recipients that includes Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Barbra Streisand, Joni Mitchell, Dolly Parton, Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, Aretha Franklin, Bono, Elton John, Quincy Jones, Billy Joel, Sting, Stevie Wonder, Neil Young and Paul Simon.

Hart, Kreutzmann, Lesh and Weir collectively issued a statement that said in part, “We are deeply honored to be recognized as MusiCares Persons of the Year. This honor is truly a testament to the legacy of the music, which has always been bigger than us — it’s about the connection between us, the crew, and all those who’ve been on this long strange trip. It’s not just about what we create, but about making sure the people behind it, behind us every night, the ones who quietly make it all happen, get the support they need to keep going, no matter what life throws at them. We’re grateful to stand with MusiCares and hope everyone continues to support this vital mission to ensure music thrives in perpetuity.”

MusiCares cited the group’s charitable efforts as one reason for their selection, noting how “Garcia’s involvement with the Rex Foundation, Hart’s work in music therapy and brain health, Weir’s advocacy for addressing climate change and combating poverty, Kreutzmann’s ocean conservation efforts, and Lesh’s Unbroken Chain Foundation underscore the band’s commitment to making a difference beyond the stage.”

MusiCares’ mission is to offer musicians in need a network of preventive, emergency and recovery programs.

Amazon Releases Trailer for Sebastian Chacon’s New Series “Daisy Jones & The Six”

Posted on January 26, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Sebastian Chacon is jonesing…

Amazon has released the trailer for its upcoming Prime Video series Daisy Jones & The Six, starring the 29-year-old Latino actor.

Based on the novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid, the series brings the band to life led by Riley Keough as the titular character.

In 1977, Daisy Jones & The Six were on top of the world. Fronted by two charismatic lead singers — Daisy Jones (Keough) and Billy Dunne (Sam Claflin) — the band had risen from obscurity to fame. And then, after a sold-out show at Chicago’s Soldier Field, they called it quits. Now, decades later, the band members finally agree to reveal the truth. This is the story of how an iconic band imploded at the height of its powers.

The trailer features clips of the band performing and writing music together, also hinting at the rocky relationship between Daisy and Billy.

The trailer also includes the band performing their hit single from the book, “Regret Me.”

The song is part of the fictional album Aurora, which has also been brought to life and will be released when the series debuts on March 3. Prime Video has shared that track list.

Grammy-winning songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist Blake Mills led the production on Aurora with co-writing credits from Marcus Mumford, Phoebe Bridgers and Jackson Browne.

Tony Berg also provided additional production, and the album features instrumentalists from Rilo Kiley, the Who, Nine Inch Nails, Pearl Jam, David Bowie, Elton John, Jeff Beck and the Wallflowers.

In addition to Keough, claflin and Chacon, who portrays Warren Rojas, Daisy Jones & The Six also stars Camila Morrone as Camila Dunne, Will Harrison as Graham Dunne, Suki Waterhouse as Karen Sirko, Josh Whitehouse as Eddie Roundtree, Nabiyah Be as Simone Jackson, and Tom Wright as Teddy Price, with a special guest appearance by Timothy Olyphant as Rod Reyes.

From Amazon Studios and Hello Sunshine, Daisy Jones & The Six is executive produced by Reese Witherspoon and Lauren Neustadter for Hello Sunshine and Brad Mendelsohn for Circle of Confusion.

James Ponsoldt directed the first five episodes and serves as an executive producer. Nzingha Stewart directed four of the remaining episodes, and Graham directed one.

Here’s the full tracklist for Aurora:
“Aurora”
“Let Me Down Easy”
“Kill You to Try”
“Two Against Three”
“Look at Us Now (Honeycomb)”
“Regret Me”
“You Were Gone”
“More Fun to Miss”
“Please”
“The River”
“No Words”

Daddy Yankee’s “La Ultima Vuelta World Tour” Becomes Biggest-Ever Tour of His Career

Posted on December 28, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Daddy Yankee has ended his touring career with a bang…

The 45-year-old Puerto Rican reggaeton superstar has played the final shows of his farewell tour, ending at Miami’s FTX Arena on Thursday, December 22.

According to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, La Ultima Vuelta World Tour wrapped with $197.8 million and 1.9 million tickets sold over 83 shows in 2022. That makes it the biggest tour of his career, by a long shot.

The tour kicked off at Denver’s Ball Arena on July 25, and played 33 shows until finishing its first leg at Madison Square Garden. The U.S. and Canada run earned $61.6 million and sold 376,000 tickets before venturing to Latin America.

There, Daddy Yankee hit 22 Spanish-speaking markets and earned $112.7 million and sold 1.383 million tickets.

He then closed the tour with 12 additional American shows, adding $23.4 million and 143,000 tickets to the final count.

With something of a home-field (or language) advantage, Latin American shows averaged $3 million and 36,000 tickets in mostly stadiums, compared to $1.9 million and 12,000 tickets in mostly domestic arenas.

Daddy Yankee’s geographical divide is in contrast with that of the year’s other major Latin tour from Bad Bunny. With more significant crossover success in recent years, Bad Bunny paced a similar 40,000-plus attendance in both territories but earned nearly three times more per show in the U.S. and Canada because of more elastic ticket scaling.

Bad Bunny and Daddy Yankee played a major role in lifting promoter Cardenas Marketing Network to No. 3 on the year-end Top Promoters ranking. After the final show in Miami, Henry Cardenas reflected to Billboard via email on the impact of Daddy Yankee’s final tour and touring career that started on day one.

“It was an unforgettable tour for me and for the entire CMN team. Having produced the farewell tour of the icon and influencer of an entire generation is one of the greatest accomplishments that our company has achieved. In 2005 we were the producers of his first tour, Barrio Fino, and today we say goodbye to him in La Ultima Vuelta. I thank Raymond and Mireddys for giving us the opportunity to be part of this dream that is now a reality and for allowing us to be direct witnesses of their great legacy.”

The La Ultima Vuelta World Tour was 2022’s second-biggest tour in Latin America, besting Bad Bunny’s $80 million-plus total, but falling short of Coldplay’s $127.9 million from two separate legs of Music of the Spheres Tour.

Still, Daddy Yankee’s nearly $2 million average in the states on a robust 45-date routing made for a gargantuan global total. Excluding Latin American dates, La Ultima Vuelta World Tour represents a leap of more than 100% from his previous nightly best. All shows considered, he’s up by 162%.

Regardless of geography or genre, Daddy Yankee finished at No. 13 on the year-end Top Tours chart, ranking artists on their concert business between November 1, 2021-October 31, 2022.

On Billboard’s monthly Top Tours chart, he’s climbed from No. 22 in July to No. 9 to No. 5 and, for October and November, to No. 3 (December’s ranking will publish next month).

Further, in the calendar year of 2022, Daddy Yankee has the sixth-highest grossing tour worldwide, behind Bad Bunny, Elton John, Coldplay, Ed Sheeran and Harry Styles.

And even beyond his year-end achievements, La Ultima Vuelta World Tour finishes as the second-highest grossing Latin tour in Boxscore history, sandwiched between Bad Bunny’s World’s Hottest Tour ($314.1 million) and El Ultimo Tour Del Mundo ($116.8 million).

Bad Bunny Becomes First Latin Act to Lead Billboard’s Year-End Top Tours Chart

Posted on December 3, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Bad Bunny is officially this year’s tour de force…

The 28-year-old Puerto Rican superstar has finished as the year’s top touring act (No. 1 on Top Tours) with total gross of $373.5 million from 1.8 million tickets across 65 shows.

Bad Bunny is the first Latin act, and first act who doesn’t perform in English, to finish atop Billboard’s year-end Top Tours chart. Beyond the historic nature of his win for genre and language, he is the only artist to mount separate $100-million tours in the same year.

Further, while Boxscore charts often favor older acts with deeper histories on the road, like 2020 and 2021 champs Elton John and The Rolling Stones, Bad Bunny’s win this year is a testament to the growing power of contemporary stadium acts.

In fact, he is just the third artist to simultaneously crown the year-end Top Tours and overall Top Artists charts, following Taylor Swift in 2015 and One Direction in 2014.

Bad Bunny’s year in touring breaks down into several parts. First, he played two hometown stadium shows at San Juan’s Hiram Bithorn Stadium, earning $6.5 million on December 10-11, 2021.

That was followed by El Ultimo Tour Del Mundo, an arena run named after his 2020 album that broke ground as the first all-Spanish-language set to top the weekly Billboard 200 chart.

On that trek, he earned $116.8 million from 35 shows, enough to set a record for the highest-grossing Latin tour in Boxscore history.

That tour broke local records in Inglewood, Calif., Miami, Houston, Seattle, and more, setting the stage for an even bigger fall in 2022.

After releasing Un Verano Sin Ti and spending most the summer at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, Bad Bunny played three Puerto Rico shows for a $4 million gross, and then properly embarked on World’s Hottest Tour, living up to its name at each stop.

The trek leveled Bad Bunny to stadiums and took in $232.5 million in North America, plus another $13.8 million from its first four Latin American shows. After setting arena records throughout the U.S. in the spring, he set revenue records in 12 of the 15 domestic markets he played in the fall.

While Daddy Yankee’s La Ultima Vuelta World Tour quickly stole Bunny’s all-time Latin tour record from earlier this year, World’s Hottest Tour re-sets the pace as the first pan-American stadium tour of its size.

All of that combines to $373.5 million during the twelve-month tracking period, amounting to a record-setting, historic No. 1 finish, eclipsing Elton John and Ed Sheeran at Nos. 2-3, each of whom was a previous year-end victor.

These men lead the most eye-popping Top Tours chart ever. Five acts grossed more than $200 million, beating the previous high of four in 2018, and 16 acts generated more than $100 million in ticket sales, nearly doubling the previous high of nine in 2017 and 2018.

Billboard’s Year-End Boxscore charts are based on figures reported to Billboard Boxscore for engagements that played between November 1, 2021-October 31, 2022.

Howie Dorough & His Fellow Backstreet Boys’ “Last Christmas” Cover Hits No. 1 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary Radio Airplay Chart

Posted on November 30, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a Christmas season to remember for Howie Dorough…

The 49-year-old half-Puerto Rican singer and his Backstreet Boys band mates have dashed to No. 1 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary Radio Airplay chart dated December 3, reflecting plays in the Nov. 21-27 tracking week, according to Luminate.

The Backstreet Boys notche their third Adult Contemporary No. 1 and first since its pop classic “I Want It That Way” reigned for 10 weeks beginning in July 1999.

The act first led with “I’ll Never Break Your Heart” for seven weeks starting in October 1998.

Backstreet Boys’ triumphant return to the AC summit grants them the record for the longest break between No. 1s among groups: a week shy of exactly 23 years since the last frame on top for “I Want It That Way.”

Among all acts, only Elton John has waited longer between time at No. 1 (23 years, 11 months and a week between “Something About the Way You Look Tonight” in 1998 and “Merry Christmas,” with Ed Sheeran, last holiday season).

Among groups, Backstreet Boys pass the Eagles (a week short of 20 years between “Best of My Love” in 1975 and “Love Will Keep Us Alive” in 1995).

Backstreet Boys’ update of “Last Christmas” is from their first holiday LP, A Very Backstreet Christmas, which launched at No. 1 on the Top Holiday Albums chart in October. Another song from the set, “Christmas in New York,” rises to a new No. 19 AC high.

Released in 1984, Wham!’s “Last Christmas” — written and produced by George Michael — re-enters the all-genre, multi-metric Billboard Hot 100 at No. 23. The song hit the top 10 for the first time in the 2020 holiday season and reached a No. 7 best last season. On the Holiday 100, the carol ranks at No. 6 as the survey returns.

With the original receiving strong airplay, and streams, each holiday season – Wham’s version ranks at No. 5 on the December 3-dated Holiday Airplay list with 19.8 million audience impressions – charted covers of “Last Christmas” have been rare, although all by high-profile acts.

Bad Bunny Has September’s Highest Grossing Tour with “World’s Hottest Tour”

Posted on October 27, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Bad Bunny is back on top…

For the fourth time this year, the 28-year-old Puerto Rican superstar tops Billboard’s monthly Boxscore ranking with the highest grossing tour of September.

In February, he became the first Latin act to top the list since the monthly tally began in February 2019.

In March, he scored the highest monthly total for an arena tour since the charts launched. In August, when he bulked up to stadiums, he claimed the title for the largest monthly sum for a solo act.

With his September victory, Bad Bunny is running out of records to rewrite. Over 11 shows from September 1 to 30, World’s Hottest Tour earned $123.7 million and sold over 500,000 tickets, according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore. That’s the highest one-month gross since the charts premiered, bypassing The Rolling Stones’ August 2019 haul of $95 million to become the first act to earn more than $100 million in a single month.

Bad Bunny’s September run included three markets each in Texas (Houston, San Antonio and Arlington) and California (Oakland, San Diego and Inglewood), plus two shows in Las Vegas and one in Phoenix. His September 30-October 1 double-header at Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium was the obvious highlight, earning $31.1 million from 99,816 tickets sold, even though half of that sum will count toward the October rankings.

Bad Bunny’s September (and one October) shows brings the North American total for World’s Hottest Tour to $232.5 million, aided by local records in four out of every five venues it played.

Further, his latest victory puts him in elite company, tying Elton John for the most months atop Top Tours. Each act has crowned four monthly editions – John three times in 2019 and once in 2020, and Bad Bunny all in 2022. Even more impressive for Bunny, he’s undefeated.

He claimed top honors in February and March, when El Ultimo Tour Del Mundo began, took much of the spring and summer off, and returned in August, when he regained the top spot (and again in September). He played a trio of shows in April and July, but if Bad Bunny was properly on tour in 2022, he’s been No. 1 on Top Tours.

Lin-Manuel Miranda Tops Billboard’s Hot 100 Songwriters Chart for First Time in His Career

Posted on January 11, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a songwriting first for Lin-Manuel Miranda.

The 41-year-old Puerto Rican multi-hyphenate tops Billboard’s Hot 100 Songwriters chart dated January 15, reigning as the top songwriter in the U.S. for the first time due to his work on six songs on the latest Billboard Hot 100, all from the new smash Disney animated film Encanto.

Leading his haul is “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” which soars from No. 50 to No. 5 on the Hot 100, becoming just the fifth song from a Disney animated film to reach the top five.

It follows Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle’s “A Whole New World” from Aladdin (No. 1, one week, 1993); Elton John’s “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” from The Lion King (No. 4, 1994); Vanessa Williams’ “Colors of the Wind” from Pocahontas (No. 4, 1994); and Idina Menzel’s “Let It Go” from Frozen (No. 5, 2014).

The song also earns the Emmy, Grammy and Tony winner, among Miranda’s numerous other career honors, his first top 10 on the Hot 100 as a songwriter (or in any capacity).

Here’s a look at all six of Miranda’s writing credits on the current Hot 100. Notably, he is the only credited writer on all six entries.

Rank, Artist Billing, Title
No. 5 (new high), Carolina Gaitán, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero, Stephanie Beatriz & Encanto Cast, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno”
No. 14 (new high), Jessica Darrow, “Surface Pressure”
No. 62 (debut), Stephanie Beatriz, Olga Merediz & Encanto Cast, “The Family Madrigal”
No. 67 (debut), Diane Guerrero & Stephanie Beatriz, “What Else Can I Do?”
No. 82 (debut), Stephanie Beatriz, “Waiting on a Miracle”
No. 83 (debut), Sebastian Yatra, “Dos Oruguitas”

As four of the songs above debut on the latest Hot 100, Miranda has now written 13 Hot 100-charting hits. Prior to Encanto, he penned four Hot 100 entries from the Disney film Moana, two charity singles and a mash-up.

Here are all seven of Miranda’s Hot 100-charting songs, as a writer, outside of Encanto (ranked by peak position):

Peak Position, Artist Billing, Title (co-songwriters in addition to Lin-Manuel Miranda), Peak Year
No. 20, Lin-Manuel Miranda feat. Artists for Puerto Rico, “Almost Like Praying” (Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim), 2017
No. 41, Auli’i Cravalho, “How Far I’ll Go,” 2017
No. 49, Lin-Manuel Miranda & Ben Platt, “Found / Tonight” (Benj Pasek, Justin Paul), 2018
No. 56, Alessia Cara, “How Far I’ll Go,” 2017
No. 65, Dwayne Johnson, “You’re Welcome,” 2017
No. 72, Jennifer Lopez & Lin-Manuel Miranda, “Love Make the World Go Round” (Mike Molina, Melody Hernandez, John Mitchell, Nelson Kyle, Marcus Lomax, Jordan K. Johnson, Stefan Johnson, Jennifer Lopez), 2016
No. 93, Opetaia Foa’i & Lin-Manuel Miranda, “We Know the Way” (Opetaia Foa’i), 2016

The soundtracks for Miranda’s projects also have successful histories on Billboard‘s charts, with Encanto surging to No. 1 on the latest Billboard 200, up 76% to 72,000 equivalent album units in the tracking week ending January 6, according to MRC Data.

Additionally, Miranda ties at No. 3 on the latest Hot 100 Producers chart with collaborator Mike Elizondo, as the pair co-produced all six Hot 100-charting Encanto hits.

The weekly Hot 100 Songwriters and Hot 100 Producers charts are based on total points accrued by a songwriter and producer, respectively, for each attributed song that appears on the Hot 100; plus, genre-based songwriter and producer charts follow the same methodology based on corresponding “Hot”-named genre charts. As with Billboard’s yearly recaps, multiple writers or producers split points for each song equally (and the dividing of points will lead to occasional ties on rankings).

Kid Cudi Volunteers to Collaborate with Lil Nas X

Posted on September 2, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Kid Cudi is stepping in for a Lil project…

The 37-year-old half-Mexican American rapper, singer, and actor has volunteered to collaborate with Lil Nas X.

On Wednesday (Sept. 1), Lil Nas X revealed the star-studded track list for his highly anticipated debut album Montero, which will feature collaborations with Megan Thee Stallion, Elton John, Jack Harlow, Doja Cat and Miley Cyrus.

When one Twitter user called out the lack of Black male guest artists, LNX responded in his defense on Twitter, “Maybe a lot of them just don’t wanna work with me.”

Durand Bernarr, Breland and more Black male artists eagerly flooded his replies to assure him this wasn’t the case, and it looks like Cudder has his back, too. The Man on the Moon rapper reshared Lil Nas X’s explanation and wrote back to him, “N—a ill work w u and frolic in rose gardens w u singin about my pain,” while referencing the Garden of Eden-esque, SpongeBob SquarePants-inspired painting that’s being used as the album artwork.

“U heard it here first everybody,” Lil Nas X wrote, “Kid cudi x lil nas for montero deluxe.”

Montero is set to be released on September 17. It remains unclear if and when a deluxe version of the LP will be released.

https://twitter.com/LilNasX/status/1433197945369759746

Nathy Peluso to Perform at This Year’s Montreux Jazz Festival

Posted on June 3, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Nathy Peluso is jazzed about her next gig…

The 26-year-old Argentine singer, songwriter and producer will perform at the 2021 edition of Montreux Jazz Festival, slated to roll out across 16 days next month in Switzerland.

Set to take place from July 2-17, Montreux Jazz Festival this year debuts a new stage, Scene Du Lac, on the banks of Lake Geneva.

In addition to Peluso, the lineup includes Woodkid, Inhaler, the Paradox project of Jeff Mills and Tony Allen, and many more.

Rag’n’Bone Man and Arlo Parks, and Detroit techno legend Jeff Mills are among the headliners booked for the event.

The festival, one of Europe’s best-known and longest-running live music events, was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic.

In April of this year, organizers announced plans for the festival’s return, with a limited capacity and its new stage.

Montreux Jazz Festival was established in 1967 by the late jazz connoisseur Claude Nobs. Over time, the event has hosted performances by many of the greats of contemporary music, from Prince to David Bowie, Nina Simone, Quincy Jones, Marvin Gaye, Elton John and others.

Tickets for this year’s fest go on sale from June 8 via the Montreux Jazz Festival website.

Demi Lovato Releases Teaser for Her YouTube Originals Docuseries “Dancing With the Devil”

Posted on February 17, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Demi Lovato opens up about her near fatal overdose…

The 28-year-old half-Mexican American singer/actress has premiered the trailer to her upcoming docuseries, Dancing With the Devil.

The nearly three-minute clip from the YouTube Originals series, which explores her near fatal overdose in July 2018, features the star honestly discussing substance abuse, with Lovato at one point admitting, “I don’t know why I’m sober anymore.”

Elton John and Christina Aguilera also appear to discuss the difficulties of fame at a young age and her recovery, while the “Commander in Chief” singer’s family and friends explain how good she is at hiding her struggles. The interviews with her nearest and dearest are interspersed with a smiling and seemingly happy Lovato, before cutting to images of her partying one month before her OD.

“I snapped,” Lovato says in the trailer, which offers a first listen of her original song also titled “Dancing with the Devil.” After her family and friends recount their fears for her life as she fought to stay alive in the hospital, Lovato explains that she had three strokes and a heart attack. But now, she’s ready to take control of her future.

“I’ve had a lot of lives — like my cat, you know? I’m on my ninth life,” she says. “I’m ready to get back to doing what I love, which is making music.”

After premiering the teaser, Lovato discussed the documentary and the lingering effects of her overdose with reporters, including how the strokes and heart attack impacted her. “I was left with brain damage and I still deal with the effects of that today,” she shared. “I don’t drive a car because of blind spots in my vision. … I had a lot of trouble reading.”

Though Lovato says she’s still dealing with the repercussions, she’s grateful for them and wouldn’t change a thing. “They’re still there to remind me what could happen if I ever get into a dark place again. I’m grateful for those reminders,” she said. “It was a painful journey, and I look back and sometimes — I get sad when I think about the pain I had to endure, but I don’t regret anything. I’m so proud of the person I am today.”

The singer also shared that the reason she wanted to be as honest and open as she is in Dancing With the Devil is she wanted to set the record straight and clear up any rumors. “I wanted to reveal it all for my fans and say this is who I am and this is where I am today,” she said. “If it helps you, then I hope that it can. That was ultimately my purpose in putting this out.”

While the teaser focuses on the near-fatal overdose, Lovato told reporters that there’s more to the four-part series. “It’s not just about my journey. I touch on so many topics in this documentary that’s not just about substances … past traumas that I’ve dealt with but have never spoken about,” she said. “Waking up in 2018, I realized there is still so much work I have to do on myself. … It’s about self-acceptance, it’s about not conforming to what other people think you should conform to. You are who you are.”

Dancing With the Devil is set to open the SXSW film festival, which is happening March 16-20. The four-part docuseries premieres on YouTube March 23.

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