Demi Lovato has commanded our collective attention in recent weeks with her Instagram posts, articles on her Instagram posts, her upcoming tour, and her edgy new album ‘Holy Fvck’ released on August 19 through Island Records. In this SPIN exclusive, Lovato gets boldly vulnerable, opening up with unflinching honesty about her new album, her fractured relationship with childhood stardom, and her struggles with substance abuse. For her SPIN cover, she strikes a smoldering gaze shadowed with a devilish red image tint. Here, Lovato oozes Punk chic with a severe razor-cut mullet, a nose ring, a neck tattoo, and a leather jacket.

The superstar entertainer has come a long way from her wholesome recurring roles on the children’s television series ‘Barney & Friends’, in the film franchise ‘Camp Rock’, and her starring role in the Disney Channel sitcom: Sonny with a Chance.

“I’ll always look at child stardom, at what I went through, as something traumatic for me”, Lovato said to SPIN. “No child should ever be in the limelight. It’s too much pressure. There’s an absence of childhood that you never get to experience. It makes things confusing because you develop problems from that experience, whether it’s addiction or trust issues, or financial stress. It follows you into adulthood.”

In 2008, Lovato signed with Hollywood Records. Since then, she’s rocketed to the top of the Billboard charts, sold 24 million records, and earned numerous accolades and awards including an MTV Video Music Award, 14 Teen Choice Awards, five People’s Choice Awards, two Latin American Music Awards, and a Guinness World Record. Parallel to her music career, Lovato has maintained a busy schedule as an actress appearing as recurring characters on the musical comedy Glee and on the sitcom ‘Will & Grace’, among appearances in other film and TV shows. She’s also an activist and has been boldly vulnerable and outspoken about her struggles with an eating disorder and substance abuse.

“I’ve been a kind of musical chameleon over the past few years”, Lovato told SPIN of her previous records. “I’ve tried on different things, made music of different genres, but this is the one that clicks for me. This is the one that I love the most. It’s where my future lies.”

Lovato’s eighth studio album is a full-circle moment for the singer—a way to reclaim the past and rewrite her story with one key difference: this time, she wouldn’t be explaining herself or hoping for absolution; this time, she was determined to deliver herself. The album’s hard candy lead single, ‘Skin of My Teeth’, was released on June 10, 2022, and Lovato commenced the ‘Holy Fvck Tour’ on August 13.

Lovato reveals her true self with SPIN, joining the lineup of iconic modern artists who have recently graced the covers of the magazine, including Paris Jackson, The Black Keys, YungBlud, Machine Gun Kelly, Denzel Curry, Kehlani, and many more.