The Used frontman Bert McCracken was featured on a new version of Demi Lovato‘s 2011 song ‘Give Your Heart a Break.’
The updated recording is featured on Lovato’s new album ‘REVAMPED,’ which features rock versions of songs from the pop star’s discography. Bert McCracken talked about this collaboration in a recent interview with Rock Sound. He said:
“She hit me up, and wanted me on the thing, and I was more than excited. It’s like, yeah, I’ll do it, Demi Lovato, yeah. And I love the song. I’ve loved the song before. I’m a huge pop guy, from the time I was eight years old. So, great song. I was honored to have the pleasure of being able to get on there and sing with her. Her voice is so ripping; it’s so insane. So yeah, just to be a part of it, I was so excited, yeah. I’ve said it many times: I don’t think there’s anything she can’t sing. It’s unbelievable the talent she has.”
Bert Was Bitter About Artists Making Re-recorded Albums
As happy as Bert McCracken is to be on Demi Lovato’s re-recorded new album, he takes pride in never having done anything like that with his own band. In an interview with Kerrang! in May, Bert expressed that they never made re-recorded albums like Lovato did, but stayed true to their emo roots. He said:
“It’s cool that a lot of people are getting their bands back together, making new records, or re-recording old ones. But we’ve been an emo band for the last 23 years. We never stopped. We never broke up. We never went anywhere. I could be bitter about that, but music is music, man.”
Demi Lovato shared her feelings about the re-recorded album with a statement on social media platform X. She stated:
“Breathing new life into the songs that played such a huge role in my career has allowed me to feel so much closer to my music than ever before. Creating this project has been incredibly fun and allowed me to express my passion for rock music in a new way, and I feel so much closer to my older music because of it. I can’t wait for everyone to hear more!”
Bert’s Recent Struggles
Bert’s last two years working on their new album ‘Toxic Positivity’ has been tough. In this time period, Bert was already mentally exhausted. He stopped the antidepressants he was using and fought to overcome another habit. In the interview this May, he recalled:
“It was a rollercoaster. There were a few ups and a lot of downs. Each time we were in the studio, it felt like there was always some sort of prescient, pressing thing going on. During the first session, I was detoxing off an antidepressant, which is very hard to do. In the second one, I was coming off a year-long battle with (medicinal) Valium. The slow climb back to reality was really hard for me. We did a tour with ‘Coheed And Cambria’ at the end of summer 2021 and I think I spent more time in the foetal position in the back of the bus than anywhere else during that run. And where a lot of people anticipated that when the pandemic was over they’d feel completely different, for most they didn’t.”
You can watch the full interview below, where McCracken talks about his collaboration with Demi Lovato.
