Demi Lovato helped her friends make a memory they will never forget, in front of an audience of cheering fans, and it was perfect.
Over the weekend, while in Los Angeles on her “Tell Me You Love Me” tour, Lovato said she would need help from the audience with her next song. Then on came Rayvon Owen, an American Idol top four finalist, whom she greeted with a hug.
After introducing Owen to the crowd, she asked him who he came with, and noted that his boyfriend, activist and filmmaker Shane Bitney Crone was nowhere in sight.
“Shane, where you at?” Owen asked, before Crone came floating up from a trap door on stage, sending Owen to the floor with shock. He finally was able to pick himself up and join Crone who took his hand, and told him, “I thought that I could never love again.”
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Crone lost his partner, Tom Bridegroom, who hosted MTV’s The X Effect, to an accidental fall. Bridegroom’s family was not accepting, and kept Crone from attending his funeral, threatening him with violence. The video he made about his experience went viral, which led to the feature-length documentary Bridegroom.
“But I really fell in love with everything about you,” Crone told Owen, telling him he inspires him every day.
“For too long, we lived in fear and shame, trying to hide from who we are,” he continued. “So I want to take this moment, in front of our friends, in front of thousands of people, and I want to proudly say that I love you, and I want to take care of you for the rest of my life.”
He then dropped to one knee and asked Owen to marry him. And he said yes.
Lovato then launched into her song “Yes,” while photos of the couple were displayed on a screen behind her.
Crone said that while he was struggling with mental illness and depression he felt hopeless, especially in regards to love, but that Lovato’s music kept him going, making the moment that much more special.
“I’m still in tears,” Owen wrote on Twitter. “Last night was hands down the happiest night of my life.”
