Study Reveals Logic’s Hit ‘1-800-273-8255’ Helped Save Hundreds Of Lives
Analysis released by The BMJ, a weekly medical trade journal reveals that rapper Logic’s suicide prevention hit, “1-800-273-8255” is linked to an increase in calls for help.
The analysis showed the suicide prevention hotline, which is also the title of Logic’s 2017 hit, received nearly 10,000 calls and resulted in a 5.5 percent drop in suicide rates in youth (between ages 10 and 19 years old).
"Celebrities but also non-celebrities can have an important role in suicide prevention if they communicate about how they have coped with crisis situations and suicidal ideation," Thomas Niederkrotenthaker, Associate professor at the Austria's Medical University of Vienna and the study’s author, wrote.
The study’s results were achieved throughout three different time periods, including the month after the song’s release, following his MTV Awards performance, and after his Grammy Awards set in 2018.
"To know that my music was actually affecting people's lives, truly, that's what inspired me to make the song," Logic told CNN. "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 says the track was inspired by his own anxiety and spoke with GQ about it. During the interview, he credits his fans who have shared their own experiences with him and how his music helped get them through very tough times.
"The thing about it, though, is that I never made my music to inspire anyone but myself. I made my music to pull myself out of a dark place," the Maryland rapper told the Magazine. "Every lyric I ever wrote, I was always talking to an audience of one."
Logic accepted his first Grammy honors – Song of the Year and Best Music Video – at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards as a result of the song’s success. It is currently 7x platinum-certified by the RIAA.