Derek Hough Debuts his Song “Hold On”
Dancing With the Stars alum Derek Hough has recently spoken about a cause that is dear to his heart, men’s health. It’s obvious why he would be passionate about something like this, he is a male, but what you didn’t know is that his passion runs deeper.
Hough spoke to EW about the Movember Foundation and how they provide support and resources for all things men’s health. Hough specifically spoke about the importance of suicide prevention, which sparked him to write “hold on.”
“I saw firsthand what it did to family, friends, and people around them,” he says. “It got me so curious about psychology and how someone could get to that point where they feel like this is the only option,” Hough told EW. “Being an artist, I have different palettes and different paintbrushes, if you will, and whether it be choreographing or writing a book or writing a song or writing lyrics and singing melodies, for me it’s about telling a story and evoking emotion.”
Hough wrote this song five years ago to help a friend who was struggling. He decided to release the track to the public after the death of Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington.
Suicide is the 10th leading cause for death in the United States with an average of 120 suicides a day. Statistically, men are 3.5 times more likely to die from suicide than women. These statistics are heartbreaking.
“One of Movember’s primary missions is to make sure male suicide prevent becomes a global priority and their hope is to bring it down by 25 percent by 2030,” said Hough. This inspired him to partner with Movember for “Hold On” which you can listen to here.
“[Men are] carrying this burden, carrying this weight, carrying this sort of shame of the depression and thoughts and feeling the traditional masculine mindset where they can’t talk about their emotions… I just want to encourage men out there to talk,” Hough says. “It’s not something we should shy away from.”
Visit the Movember Foundation website to learn more.
sources: EW.com, us.movember.com, afsp.org
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When Beth “grows up” she wants to see her creations appear on the screen and stage. In her free time, Beth blogs about her love of craft beer and writes screenplays. She received her bachelors in journalism from Youngstown State and received her masters in communication from The University of Akron. She is honored to be a part of the FanFest family.
