Demi Lovato wants to shift the focus on her back to music.
“I just want people to remember that I’m a singer,” the 27-year-old said Saturday at an event hosted by Teen Vogue. “A lot of the things I’ve been through kind of outshined my successes in the music industry or acting now.
“I just want people to remember that that’s what I want to give to the world so please focus on that and not the other things.”
Those other things include a near-fatal drug overdose last year and ongoing struggles with her body image.
“Whenever I was in the gym over the past couple years, I was doing it to a very unhealthy extreme. I think that’s what led me down a darker path,” Lovato explained.
“I don't always feel positive about my body. Sometimes I do not like what I see. I don't sit there and dwell on it. I also don't lie to myself … I don't have to lie to myself and tell myself I have an amazing body. All I have to say is ‘I'm healthy.’”
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Lovato said she is “dying” to release new music (her last album was 2017’s Tell Me You Love Me) but is being “cautious” about “jumping back into things.”
She explained: “I’ve really decided to take my time with things, so when the time is right to release new music, I will put it out there.”
For now, Lovato is focused on living for herself. "If you're trying to be someone you're not, or you're trying to please other people, it's not going to work out in the long run," she said. "If you want to dye your hair purple, dye your hair purple. If you want to love someone of the same sex, love someone of the same sex. Be yourself and don't be afraid of what people think."