New Study Finds That Logic's "1-800-273-8255" Song Actually Saved Lives
The US National Suicide Prevention Lifeline received almost 10,000 additional calls.
A study published in the BMJ reveals that Logic, Alessia Cara and Khalid’s 2017 hit “1-800-273-8255” actually saved lives.
The study showed that during the 34-day period after the song’s release on April 27, 2017 and Logic’s live performances of the track during the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards and the 2018 GRAMMY Awards, the US National Suicide Prevention Lifeline received an additional 9,915 calls, which translated to an increase of 6.9% over the expected number. A comparable model also demonstrated that there was a reduction of 245 suicides, or 5.5% below the expected number.
Set in the United States between the period of January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2018, the study considered the entire US population as participants and measured the daily calls to the US National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and suicide data before and after the song’s release. Meanwhile, researchers utilized Twitter data to estimate the amount and duration of attention “1-800-273-8255” received.
“Celebrities but also noncelebrities can have an important role in suicide prevention if they communicate about how they have coped with crisis situations and suicidal ideation,” said study author Thomas Niederkrotenthaler, an associate professor in the department of social and preventive medicine at the Medical University of Vienna, Austria, told CNN in an email.
“To know that my music was actually affecting people’s lives, truly, that’s what inspired me to make the song,” Logic added. “We did it from a really warm place in our hearts to try to help people. And the fact that it actually did, that blows my mind,” Logic said.
Elsewhere in music, FKA twigs and The Weeknd are set to release a new collaborative track this week.
