Kevin Winter/Getty ImagesOne of the most touching moments of this year’s MTV VMAs was when Alessia Cara, Khalid and Logic all teamed up to perform their suicide awareness song “1-800-273-8255,” while surrounded by attempt survivors, and those who’d lost loved ones to suicide. But amazingly, Khalid says he’d never actually met Alessia until after the three performed together on stage that night.
As Khalid tells Billboard, he and Logic became friendly at the beginning of this year, and played each other their respective albums — his American Teen and Logic’s Everybody. But Alessia recorded her part on the single separately, so they’d never gotten a chance to meet.
“She was just as nice as I expected her to be,” Khalid tells Billboard.
Thanks to that performance, “1-800-273-8255,” is now a top-five hit. “I hoped that it would help other people, [but] I didn’t expect it to go top 10,” says Khalid.
“It’s kind of overwhelming, because it allows me to realize that, while this is the beginning for me, I do have a top-10 song with artists like Alessia Cara and Logic, who are amazing and use their platform to benefit others.”
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