Demi Lovato 'awake' in hospital after reported drug overdose

The 25-year-old pop star was rushed to a Los Angeles hospital early Tuesday afternoon, reports say

Demi Lovato has been hospitalized following an apparent drug overdose, reports say.

The 25-year-old singer-songwriter, who is currently on the third leg of her Tell Me You Love Me world tour, was reportedly taken to a Los Angeles hospital after being found unconscious at her home on Tuesday, according to NBC.

A spokesperson told NBC the star was “awake and with her family” and warned that “some of the information being reported is incorrect and they respectfully ask for privacy”.

Lovato has been open about her struggles with substance abuse since late 2010, when she withdrew from a concert tour with the Jonas Brothers and entered a rehabilitation facility. After completing her treatment the following January, Lovato revealed she’d been using cocaine often and had been diagnosed as bipolar. She also said she had struggled with alcoholism and an eating disorder, which she disclosed after spending a year in a sober-living facility.

Lovato is one of the world’s biggest selling artists and has had chart-topping hits such as Give Your Heart a Break, Cool for the Summer, Heart Attack, and Sorry Not Sorry.

Last year, in a YouTube documentary about her life titled Demi Lovato: Simply Complicated, Lovato said: “I was scared because my mom always told me that your heart could just burst if you do it,” referring to an early experience with cocaine.

“But I did it anyways, and I loved it the first time that I did it.” Lovato’s estranged father, who is frequently invoked in Lovato’s music and died in 2013, also grappled with addiction. “I guess I always searched for what he found in drugs and alcohol because it fulfilled him, and he chose that over a family,” she said.

A month ago, Lovato released a new single called Sober. “I’m sorry for the fans I lost who watched me fall again,” she sings. “I wanna be a role model but I’m only human.”

Lovato was next scheduled to perform on Thursday in Atlantic City before traveling to Latin America for the final leg of her 52-date tour. Messages of support from the singer’s friends and contemporaries, including Kesha, Ariana Grande and Lily Allen, poured out on Tuesday afternoon. “It breaks my heart that she is going through this,” wrote Ellen DeGeneres. “She is a light in this world, and I am sending my love to her and her family.”

Lovato got her start alongside Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, and the Jonas Brothers on the Disney Channel, where she starred in the hit TV movie Camp Rock and its sequel. Her debut album Don’t Forget sold more than 500,000 copies, while the follow-up Here We Go Again debuted at No 1 on the Billboard 200.

Her third album, Unbroken, was seen as a transition into adult pop and hip-hop in 2011. In 2017, she was recognized as one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people for her advocacy on behalf of those with mental illness.