Macklemore offered Demi Lovato some strong words of encouragement because -- as the rapper said at his concert while dedicating a track to her -- he's been there before.
Macklemore was performing at Xfinity Center in Massachusetts Tuesday night when he dedicated "Otherside" to Demi following news she'd been hospitalized for an overdose. The 2009 track touches on drug addiction and what it's like to fall into a seemingly hopeless downward spiral.
Macklemore -- who went to rehab at 25 -- called addiction a disease "that ties us addicts together." He called Demi his "sister in recovery" and added he knows what it's like to slip. The Seattle rapper not only dedicated the track to Demi, but to anyone else struggling with addiction.
TMZ broke the story ... paramedics found Demi unconscious after she OD'd at her Hollywood Hills home Tuesday. Demi had been struggling with drugs for weeks before she OD'd.