thefader.comLogic, "1-800-273-8255"
Also: 1-800-273-8255 (song) · Logic ft. Alessia Cara and Khalid
“I want you to be alive”
2017 hip-hop single by Logic, named after the US National Suicide Prevention Lifeline number, in which a caller moves from wanting to die to wanting to live. Performances at the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards and 2018 Grammys were staged with the Lifeline and suicide-loss and attempt survivors.
- Years
- 2017–2018
- Country
- United States
- Topic
- Mental healthSuicide prevention
- Asks people to
- Seek help
- Strategy
- Coping narrativeEntertainment educationService linkTestimonial
- Channel
- Entertainment placementRadioSocial (organic)TV
- Audience
- Young adultsYouth
Evidence
ObservationalPositive
Interrupted time series (Niederkrotenthaler et al., BMJ 2021), US 2010-2018: in the 34 days after the three highest-attention events (release, 2017 VMAs, 2018 Grammys) Lifeline received 9,915 excess calls (+6.9%, 95% CI 4.6-9.2%) and suicides were 245 below expected (-5.5%, 95% CI 0.8-10.1%). Association only. The Lifeline itself reported a ~50% call spike after the VMA performance. Safe messaging: the lyrics narrate a suicidal crisis that ends in help-seeking and survival (a coping/Papageno narrative) and the title is the crisis number; no method depiction. No iatrogenic signal found; the BMJ study is the field's main real-world Papageno example.
Sponsor (who paid)
- Logic (recording artist) Industry, creator and performer
- National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (Vibrant Emotional Health) NGO, collaborator on VMA and Grammy performances
Credits (who made it)
- Logic Individual, 2017-2018 source
Related campaigns
- #BeThe1To 2016–now
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline launch 2022–now
Sources
- Niederkrotenthaler T et al. Association of Logic's hip hop song "1-800-273-8255" with Lifeline calls and suicides in the United States: interrupted time series analysis. BMJ 2021;375:e067726 evaluation · 2021 · DOI 10.1136/bmj-2021-067726 · PMID 34903528
- #BeThe1To and Logic (Vibrant Emotional Health) sponsor · 2017
- Calls to suicide prevention hotlines increased by 50 percent after Logic's VMA performance (The Fader) news · 2017
- Rapper Logic's "1-800-273-8255" song may have saved hundreds of lives, study finds (CBS News) news
- Torgerson T et al. Public awareness of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline following the release of a hip-hop song. BMJ Evid Based Med 2021 evaluation · 2021 · DOI 10.1136/bmjebm-2020-111509 · PMID 33514648
Research notes
Not a sponsored campaign in the usual sense: an artist-originated work later amplified with the Lifeline. Kept because it is the best-evaluated Papageno case. Credits checked 2026-10-22 against fetched pages: Logic (Vibrant post, read via Wayback because the live page now returns 404: single released in April 2017; Lifeline call volume up 50% in the hours after the VMA performance). Corrected 2026-10-22: source changed to the Wayback copy. Record label not verified. Evaluation sources added 2026-10-22 (citation snowballing / helpline pass): Torgerson 2021; evidence level and outcome unchanged.
Record cases/logic-1-800-273-8255.json, updated 2026-10-22· Link to this campaign