1-800-273-8255 is a popular song performed by the rapper Logic featuring guest vocals by Alessia Cara and Khalid.
The subject of the song is suicide; the song title is the toll-free number of the United States National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.[1] The video features a young black man struggling with his sexual identity and plans to end his life but ultimately calls the Lifeline instead. The song reached #3 on the Billboard charts.
A study by the British Medical Journal determined that on three notable occasions when the song was played -- the three weeks following the song's release, its performance at the 2017 MTV Music Video Awards, and its performance at the 2018 Grammy Awards -- it correlated with increased calls to the hotline (and visits to the associated website) and reduced suicides in general.[2]
References
- ↑ "8255", on a telephone, spells out "TALK". Although the shorter "988" is now the official number for the organization, the 800 number in the song is still monitored.
- ↑ https://www.bmj.com/content/375/bmj-2021-067726