Music gets me through the day – it’s there when I need comfort or when life just becomes too unbearable to keep going. That being said, when I’m having a rough day or even a rough week, Demi Lovato is really the only person who can get me through it. She pours her entire life and heart out into her music and I find that to be something most celebrities don’t do so openly these days. Most of the time, pop musicians are just writing about what they think people want to hear, but Demi writes about issues that she feels people need to hear. For that exact reason, Demi is probably the most real celebrity out there which is why she has been my favorite artist since I was about thirteen years old. (Full Disclaimer: I’m nineteen now.)

For starters, I’m really not a pop kind of girl, but Demi is the exception that makes me want to listen to it. In fact, I will listen to her on any occasion and I have seen her perform live about four times now. Like me, she deals with mental illness every single day and has admitted to self-harm and having body image issues. For someone who has struggled with the exact same issues for years and resisted seeking help, she genuinely helped me get through it when she so openly told all of her fans what was going on with her and why they should seek help too if they were going through something similar. I mean, it’s literally in her lyrics that “the mirror can lie” and that “I’m a warrior, I’ve got thicker skin”. She tells her fans what’s going on with her and that if the same thing is going on with them then they should reach out.

Everyone probably remembers when she left the spotlight to enter rehab after her substance abuse and mental illness got too out of hand. She was honest about having done drugs and drinking underage, and she was also honest about her own internal struggles. After months of rehab, becoming completely sober, and getting treated for her mental illness, she got back on her feet and even became a mental health advocate. When I saw her perform her most recent album, Tell Me You Love Me, in Brooklyn, she brought up the stigma around mental illness right before she sang her song, Warrior. First, she announced that it was her 6-year anniversary of being sober, and she thanked the crowd for forgiving her for her past mistakes. She then went on to ask us to help end the stigma by saying, “Everyone has problems. I mean, I’m bipolar, who cares? We’re all human.” That was the first time I ever cried at one of her concerts.

Of course, I don’t personally know Demi, but all of the realness that she pours out into her music, on stage, and other public platforms makes me feel like I do. She even made an entire documentary that she released on YouTube last year detailing every single hardship she submitted herself to before turning her life around and seeking help. Just watching that is an inspiration to anyone, whether they deal with addiction and mental health issues or not. Yes, she writes lyrics about love and relationships just like any other pop star, but what sets her apart from them is that she makes songs to urge her fans to be their best possible selves as well. I’m being completely honest when I say she helped me steer clear of going down a darker path in my early teens, and for that, I thank her for being the one real celebrity fans can always put their trust in.