Demi Lovato Brings Parkland Shooting Survivors Onstage: ‘They Are Warriors’

Demi Lovato kicked off her Tell Me You Love Me tour in San Diego on Monday night (February 26), and the concert featured an emotional appearance from some very special guests.


Midway by means of the show, Lovato was joined by an audience of students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where, earlier this month, 17 people were killed in a tragic shooting.


“On February 14, one of the worst mass shootings in American history took place. These students were in school that day. Please welcome them to the stage,” Lovato mentioned, before welcoming the students and launching into a piano rendition of her ballad “Warrior.”


Audience members were invited to prepare donations to the CAST Foundation, an agency that’s currently on tour with Lovato to provide mental health services to fans at each of her shows. The cash raised from Monday’s concert will go toward mental health services for the Stoneman Douglas students.


In a interview with CBS, Lovato further explained why she invited the students to her show, saying, “It has nothing to do with politics. It’s about healing. It was how can we help these students heal from what they’ve been through? These students that came here today and shared their stories are so incredibly brave courageous and so they really are warriors in my eyes.”