"Heart Attack" is a song recorded by American singer

Demi Lovato Demetria Devonne Lovato ( ; born August 20, 1992), known as Demi Lovato, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. After appearing on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004), Lovato rose to prominence for pl ...

. The song was released on February 25, 2013, as the lead single from her fourth studio album ''

Demi Demi is a feminine given name with Greek and Latin roots. It was originally a nickname of Demetria, the feminine form of the masculine name Demetrius, which is itself the Latin and English spelling of the Greek name Demetrios. It is also an Alba ...

'' (2013). The song was produced by

Mitch Allan Mitchell Allan Scherr, known professionally as Mitch Allan, is an American record producer, songwriter, and musician. He has written and produced songs for artists such as Demi Lovato, Third Eye Blind, Miley Cyrus, Carlie Hanson, Jason Derulo, Pi ...

, and

Jason Evigan Jason Gregory Evigan (born June 10, 1983) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. His songwriting credits include co-writing and production of Maroon 5's "Girls Like You" and "What Lovers Do", Madonna's " Ghosttown", ...

of "The Suspex", who co-wrote the song along with Lovato, Sean Douglas,

Nikki Williams Nikki Williams (born 9 November 1988) is a South African singer-songwriter. Early life Williams was born and raised in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. She has two older sisters who live in South Africa and a younger sister, Jade Williams, who mov ...

, and Aaron Phillips. "Heart Attack" is an

electropop Electropop is a hybrid music genre combining elements of electronic and pop genres. Writer Hollin Jones has described it as a variant of synth-pop with heavy emphasis on its electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a re ...

song that employs cardiac motifs to represent the fear of falling in love. It received acclaim from music critics, many of whom complimented its lyrics and Lovato's vocals. The song sold 215,000 copies in the US in its first week, her best sales week for a song download, and peaked at number ten on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming Lovato's second solo top-ten single on the chart. It was later certified quadruple platinum by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA), having sold over two million copies in the United States. "Heart Attack" also performed well internationally, attaining certifications in multiple countries, including Australia, Canada, Denmark, Mexico, Sweden and the United Kingdom. An accompanying music video for "Heart Attack" was directed by

Chris Applebaum Chris Applebaum is a music video director from Los Angeles, California. His videos including Miley Cyrus' '' Party in the U.S.A.'', Usher's ''Dive'', and Demi Lovato's ''Heart Attack''. 30 of his videos have reached #1 on the MTV charts. Apple ...

and was premiered through

Vevo Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, di ...

on April 9, 2013. Lovato has performed the track on several television programs and has also included the song on the setlists of her headlining

The Neon Lights Tour The Neon Lights Tour was the third headlining concert tour by American singer Demi Lovato, in support of her fourth studio album, ''Demi'' (2013). The first leg of tour began in North America on February 9, 2014 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, ...

(2014), The Demi World Tour (2014-2015), her coheadlining The Future Now Tour (2016), and her headlining The Tell Me You Love Me Tour (2018).

Background and release

"Heart Attack" was produced by

and

of "The Suspex", who co-wrote the song along with Lovato, Sean Douglas,

, and Aaron Phillips. Nikki Williams said the song was written two years prior to its release. She explained: "At the time I was going through some relationship stuff, and I was just so depressed, so when I got into the session I thought, 'You know what? I'm gonna pour it all out there, and get it off my chest'". The song was first intended for Williams, but her record label rejected it.

Pia Toscano Pia Toscano (born October 14, 1988) is an American singer. Toscano placed ninth on the tenth season of ''American Idol''. In 2016, she released the EP ''Belong''. Her debut album ''I'm Good'' was released on October 14, 2022. Early life Toscano ...

then recorded the song in 2011 intending it for her debut album with

Interscope Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Musi ...

, but it did not materialize. When Lovato heard the song, she recorded it before altering a few lyrics. In an interview with

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

, Evigan explained: According to him, the first version also contained a

dubstep Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken be ...

breakdown, which was removed for Lovato. He also stated, "Demi has magic to it where she has so much sass in her voice but yet so much power and all those really high notes at the end, she added that on the spot." Williams described the song, said: "It's about me being really scared to fall in love again after being rejected, after feeling so fragile and vulnerable all the time — thinking, I don't know if I can do this ever again!" Lovato told

that the song's lyrics address "falling in love and taking that risk. But, she's terrified and, by 'she,' I mean me. But, I think everyone comes to a point where they feel very vulnerable in falling in love and that's what I'm talking about." A trailer of "Heart Attack" was released on February 12, 2013. The song was originally set to premiere on ''

On Air with Ryan Seacrest ''On Air with Ryan Seacrest'' is a weekday syndicated radio program hosted by Ryan Seacrest. It was launched in 2004 as a drive time show at the same time on Los Angeles Top 40 station 102.7 KIIS-FM as the television show with the same name, ...

'', but leaked online on February 24, 2013, springing

Hollywood Records Hollywood Records is an American record label of the Disney Music Group. The label focuses in pop, rock, alternative, hip hop, and country genres, as well as specializing in mature recordings not suitable for the flagship Walt Disney Records l ...

' marketing department into early action. "I was having an Oscar party at my house when he leakwent down, so I had to excuse myself and have a conference call," said Hollywood Records' head of global marketing Robbie Snow. One day after its leak online, Hollywood Records quickly released the song on

iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

and other streaming services on February 25, 2013. She also released an official Vevo clip of the song the same day, and asked Seacrest to link his

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

followers to the track. Additionally, a lyric video debuted on March 1, 2013. Lovato prompted fans to unlock the video by tweeting song lyrics and the hashtag #UnlockHeartAttack, which became a worldwide trending topic on Twitter.

Composition

"Heart Attack" is an

song, with a length of three minutes and thirty seconds. The song is composed in the

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

F minor F minor is a minor scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature consists of four flats. Its relative major is A-flat major and its parallel major is F major. Its enharmonic equivalent, E-sharp mi ...

and features a moderate

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

of 87

beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ( ...

. Lovato's vocal range spans from the low note of F₃ to the high note of F₅. In the first verses, Lovato sings among a "booming"

beat Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ( ...

: "Never put my love out on the line/ Never said 'yes' to the right guy... When I don't care/ I can play 'em like a Ken doll/ Won't wash my hair/ Then make 'em bounce like a basketball." The song features a

power pop Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, an energetic performance, and ch ...

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

where Lovato sings accompanied by a

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

Critical reception

"Heart Attack" received acclaim from music critics.

Sam Lansky Sam Lansky (born September 23, 1988)Connelly, Sherryl (January 14, 2016)"Time magazine culture editor Sam Lansky reveals his wild days in new memoir 'The Gilded Razor'. ''NEW YORK DAILY NEWS''. Retrieved April 6, 2017. is an American journalist, a ...

Idolator An idolator is a practitioner of idolatry. Idolater or Idolator may also refer to: Books *''Os Idólatras'', 1968 Portuguese novel by Maria Judite de Carvalho Music * Idolator (website), an American music blog * ''Idolator'' (album), third album ...

described the song as "a monster

track with some impressive

Kelly Clarkson Kelly Brianne Clarkson (born April 24, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter, author, and television personality. She rose to fame after winning the first season of ''American Idol'' in 2002, which earned her a record deal with RCA. Her debu ...

-esque wailing, a little drum-and-bass-inspired instrumentation on the chorus and a catchy guitar loop." Ray Rahman of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'' wrote: "the song is a big one, with pounding beats, earnest wailing, and some interesting lyrical choices." Maggie Malach of ''AOL Music'' gave a positive review, stating "Demi's last album had a strong R&B influence, but this song indicates she is going for a dancier vibe!" ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' wrote that Lovato's sequel to "

Give Your Heart a Break "Give Your Heart a Break" is a song recorded by American singer Demi Lovato for her third studio album '' Unbroken'' (2011). It was released on January 23, 2012, by Hollywood Records, as the second and final single from the album. The song was ...

" continues in the vein of her cardiologically-themed singles and "demonstrates her maturing

vocal range Vocal range is the range of pitches that a human voice can phonate. A common application is within the context of singing, where it is used as a defining characteristic for classifying singing voices into voice types. It is also a topic of stud ...

." Robert Copsey from

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...

deemed the song a "rare case of textbook pop that leaves a lasting impression" and gave it four stars out of five. Adam R. Holtz of ''

Plugged In Focus on the Family (FOTF or FotF) is a fundamentalist Protestant organization founded in 1977 in Southern California by James Dobson, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The group is one of a number of evangelical parachurch organizations t ...

'' complimented the lyrical content of the song and its "infectious lilt of Lovato's proven pop vocal chops slathered over an up-to-the-minute EDM sonic foundation." Reviewing the album ''

'', Amy Sciarretto from ''

Artist direct ARTISTdirect is an American online digital media entertainment company. Overview Founded in 1994, it owns several websites, including artistdirect.com and artistdirectinterviews.com. These websites are a group of affiliate websites offering mul ...

'' wrote: "Heart Attack" is easily one of Lovato's best overall, mixing synthy tension and her better-than-most voice, at least when it comes to the teen pop genre. She is a decidedly more capable vocalist than so many of her peers, and she doesn't require the heavy effects, the processing or the studio tricks that they do."

Commercial performance

"Heart Attack" made its chart debut on the

Mainstream Top 40 Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/contemporary hit radio, CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played o ...

chart at number 35. ''Billboard'' predicted the song would debut on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 the following week on March 4, 2013, with an expected sales figure of 200,000 in first-week digital downloads, surpassing Lovato's "

Skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ris ...

" (2011). Having sold 215,000 digital copies in the first week, "Heart Attack" debuted at number 12 on the Hot 100 on the week ending on March 8, 2013, and at the time was the second highest debut sales week of any artist for 2013. Along with the

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

's Hot 100 position, it debuted at number four on the

Digital Songs The Digital Songs or Digital Song Sales chart (previously named Hot Digital Songs) ranks the best-selling digital songs in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published by '' Billboard'' magazine. Although it originally sta ...

chart, number 70 on the Radio Songs chart, and just under the top twenty on the newly implemented

Streaming Songs The Streaming Songs chart is released weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and lists each week's top streamed radio songs, on-demand songs and videos on leading online music services in the United States. The chart represents one of the three component ...

chart. On April 27, 2013, "Heart Attack" became Lovato's third top ten hit in the United States, reaching number 10. In April 2013, "Heart Attack" was

certified gold Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

with sales brimming 500,000 in the space of only four weeks and as of 2014 has sold over 2,000,000 copies in the United States. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, "Heart Attack" debuted at number three, becoming Lovato's highest-charting single at the time in both countries, until "

Solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series * Solo, a 1996 mini-series from Dark Horse Comics Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''S ...

", which reached number one on both charts in 2018. It received a platinum certification in the UK for sales exceeding 600,000 units.

Music videos

The lyric video was released on March 1, 2013. On the video, a series of hashtags were used by her fans on Twitter, with the lyrics of the song. Trevor Kelly, executive director of global digital marketing

Disney Music Group Disney Music Group (DMG) is the music recording arm of Disney Platform Distribution, a division of The Walt Disney Company. It is located at the studio's headquarters in Burbank, California. The division's subsidiaries consist of two owned record ...

, said: "We knew that we wanted to involve Demi's fans in the lyric video, both in terms of how it was discovered and how it looked creatively... That was challenging to execute because the volume of trends she had created over the past year, but we ended up with a clip that was very unique and compelling to watch". Regarding the video, Lovato described it as "fashion based" and thought it was "incredible to incorporate that with the music video". A teaser of the video was released on April 6, 2013. The music video was filmed on March 14, 2013, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

and released on

on April 9, 2013, and garnered over 700 million views to date. It was directed by

Live performances

Lovato first performed the song in

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

on March 2, 2013, as well as on several live shows including ''

The Ellen DeGeneres Show ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' (often shortened to ''Ellen'' or ''The Ellen Show'') is an American daytime television variety comedy talk show that was created and hosted by its namesake Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it was prod ...

'', ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...

'', ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, Los ...

'', ''

Britain's Got Talent ''Britain's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated to ''BGT'') is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloquially ...

'', ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...

'' and at the ''

2013 MuchMusic Video Awards The 2013 MuchMusic Video Awards were held on Sunday June 16, 2013 at the MuchMusic headquarters in Toronto, Canada. Demi Lovato was the first performer announced. Psy served as co-host and a performer. Nominations Winners are shown in bold ty ...

''. On December 31, 2013, Lovato performed it at

ET Canada ''ET Canada'' (previously referred to as ''Entertainment Tonight Canada'') is a Canadian entertainment news television series, using the same format as the American entertainment newsmagazine ''Entertainment Tonight''. ''ET Canada'' is a broadcas ...

's New Year's Eve televised show. Lovato performed the song along with "

" and " Neon Lights" at the

2nd Indonesian Choice Awards The 2nd Indonesian Choice Awards (Official name: NET. 2.0 presents Indonesian Choice Awards 2015) was an entertainment industry award ceremony held on 24 May 2015, at the Indonesia Convention Exhibition in South Tangerang, Banten. The show was hos ...

, on May 24, 2015. She also performed the song on ''

The Late Late Show with James Corden ''The Late Late Show with James Corden'' (also known as ''Late Late'') is an American late-night talk show on CBS. It is the fourth and current iteration of '' The Late Late Show''. Airing in the U.S. from Monday to Friday nights at 12:37:28am ...

'', during the Carpool Karaoke segment, which appeared online on May 16, 2016. Lovato performed the track during her third, fourth, fifth, and sixth headlining concert tours,

, the

Demi World Tour The Demi World Tour was the fourth headlining concert tour and second worldwide tour by American singer Demi Lovato. It was her second tour in support of her fourth studio album ''Demi'' (2013), following The Neon Lights Tour. During most of the ...

, the

Future Now Tour The Future Now Tour was a co-headlining concert tour by American singers Demi Lovato and Nick Jonas. It was Lovato's fifth headlining tour, in support of her fifth studio album '' Confident'' (2015), and Jonas' third concert tour, in support of h ...

, and the

Tell Me You Love Me World Tour The Tell Me You Love Me World Tour was the sixth headlining concert tour and third worldwide tour by American singer Demi Lovato, in support of her sixth studio album '' Tell Me You Love Me'' (2017). The tour began on February 26, 2018, in San Di ...

Awards and nominations

Credits and personnel

Recording and management *Mixed at MixStar Studios (

Virginia Beach Virginia Beach is an independent city located on the southeastern coast of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The population was 459,470 at the 2020 census. Although mostly suburban in character, it is the most populous city ...

) *Mastered at

Sterling Sound Studios Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' ''Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Biography T ...

(

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

) *Published by BMG Platinum Songs/Art In The Fodder Music/Part of the Problem Publishing ( BMI), BMG Platinum Songs/Bad Robot Music (BMI), Philmore Music (

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

), Seven Peaks Music (ASCAP) and Demi Lovato Publishing (ASCAP) Personnel *

– vocals, songwriting *

– songwriting, production *

– songwriting, production * Sean Douglas – songwriting *

– songwriting *Aaron Phillips – songwriting *

Serban Ghenea Șerban Ghenea (born October 13, 1969) is a Grammy award-winning Romanian-Canadian audio engineer and mixer. Early life and education Ghenea was born in Bucharest, Romania in 1969. In 1976 he moved to Montreal with his family. He later attended ...

– mixing *John Hanes – engineering *

Chris Gehringer Chris Gehringer (born May 27, 1962) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered recordings such as Gwen Stefani's '' Love. Angel. Music. Baby.'' (2004), Rihanna's '' Loud'' (2010), Lady Gaga's '' Born This Way'' (2011) and Drake' ...

– mastering Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Demi''.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2013 singles 2013 songs Demi Lovato songs Electropop songs Hollywood Records singles Music videos directed by Chris Applebaum Songs written by Demi Lovato Songs written by Jason Evigan Songs written by Mitch Allan Songs written by Nikki Williams Songs written by Sean Douglas (songwriter) Power pop songs

Background and release

Composition

Critical reception

Commercial performance

Music videos

Live performances

Awards and nominations

Credits and personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

See also

References