Met Him Last Night
by Demi Lovato (featuring Ariana Grande)

Album: Dancing with the Devil... the Art of Starting Over (2021)
Charted: 44 61
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Here, Ariana Grande joins Demi Lovato to croon a dark tale of a fateful encounter with a dangerous guy. During the chorus, the two powerhouse vocalists croon in unison:

    I've seen the devil, yeah, I met him last night
    One conversation, now he's spendin' the night
    I think I Iove him, though I know it ain't right
  • Lovato recorded "Met Him Last Night" for her Dancing with the Devil... the Art of Starting Over album. The record details her struggles with addiction, near-fatal drug overdose in July 2018, and her ensuing recovery journey. Lovato told Apple Music this song about a hookup with a man who isn't good for her represents a time during her recovery when she was "slipping up."
  • Although Demi Lovato and Ariana Grande are friends and both are managed by Scooter Braun, this is the first time they've worked together. Lovato told Apple Music that after she'd given her pal an early preview of her "Dancing With The Devil" single, Grande went away and penned this tune for her. When she played it for Lovato, she knew she had to include it on the album, even though it was due to drop a few weeks later.
  • Lovato told Sirius XM's The Morning Mashup, Grande originally suggested she should just sing background on the track, telling her she'll be a "mystery, harmony lady." But Lovato insisted to her, "I feel like the world would love to hear us together."
  • Grande wrote the song with:

    Hawaiian producer Xavier "Xavi" Herrera and Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Albert Stanaj, who also co-penned her "34+35" single.

    Los Angeles-based producer Tommy "TBHits" Brown, who has worked with Grande since her 2013 debut, Yours Truly. He has contributed towards many of her hit singles including "Thank U Next" and "7 Rings."
  • Grande's regular violinist, Peter Lee Johnson, performs the strings on the track.
  • Xavi is part of Tommy Brown's Champagne Therapy Music Group collective, which he explained to Genius has a "whoever is there to work on the record, works" vibe.

    For this song, the Hawaiian beatmaker's contribution came about when he was in the kitchen and Brown asked him, "Hey Xavi, you tryna put drums on this real quick?" Xavi put on his headphones and "knocked them out in 10 minutes right there on the countertop."

    Though Grande loved the song, it never made her Positions album. "There are so many demos at the house that never get released," Xavi said, so he thought nothing of it, but when he received the paperwork from Demi Lovato's people, its omission from Positions started making sense.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Director Mark Pellington ("Jeremy," "Best Of You")

Director Mark Pellington ("Jeremy," "Best Of You")Song Writing

Director Mark Pellington on Pearl Jam's "Jeremy," and music videos he made for U2, Jon Bon Jovi and Imagine Dragons.

Gene Simmons of Kiss

Gene Simmons of KissSongwriter Interviews

The Kiss rocker covers a lot of ground in this interview, including why there are no Kiss collaborations, and why the Rock Hall has "become a sham."

Charlie Daniels

Charlie DanielsSongwriter Interviews

Charlie discusses the songs that made him a Southern Rock icon, and settles the Devil vs. Johnny argument once and for all.

Dave Pirner of Soul Asylum

Dave Pirner of Soul AsylumSongwriter Interviews

Dave explains how the video appropriated the meaning of "Runaway Train," and what he thought of getting parodied by Weird Al.

Carol Kaye

Carol KayeSongwriter Interviews

A top session musician, Carol played on hundreds of hits by The Beach Boys, The Monkees, Frank Sinatra and many others.

Kevin Godley

Kevin GodleySongwriter Interviews

Kevin Godley talks about directing classic videos for The Police, U2 and Duran Duran, and discusses song and videos he made with 10cc and Godley & Creme.