Sarah McLachlan Calls Her ASPCA Commercial ‘Painful’ Even Though It Helped Raise $30 Million in 1 Year

Sarah McLachlan is reminiscing astir her ASPCA commercial.

In an question and reply published connected Thursday, June 26 pinch Rolling Stone, nan three-time Grammy victor reflected connected nan emotional ASPCA commercial that she starred in, which featured her 1997 ballad "Angel."

McLachlan, 57, said that location was a scope of 25-year-old fans she now has, while nan tear-jerker of an advertisement exposed her to "a full world of fans who are 80 plus." "The late-night tv thing," she clarified.

"A friend of excavation was connected nan [ASPCA] committee and said, 'Hey, do you want to do this commercial? We’ve ne'er done this earlier pinch a personage aliases personification known.' I emotion animals, and we thought it mightiness beryllium a cool point to do, truthful I did it," McLachlan said of really nan gig came to be.

She added: "And successful a year, it raised $30 cardinal aliases thing for illustration that."

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Despite its monolithic occurrence successful raising money for nan American Society for nan Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, she recovered it difficult to watch. "But nan euphony and nan visuals … it’s painful," she admitted. "I couldn’t watch it. It was conscionable like, 'Oh, God is awful.' "

"But it worked for illustration a basking damn," McLachlan quipped.

The commercial, arsenic galore whitethorn recall, features a montage of animal clips group to nan melancholy ballad. McLachlan asks viewers "to beryllium an angel for a helpless animal" and make a monthly donation. The visuals and ballad tug astatine viewers' heartstrings, making nan affectional advertisement memorable.

The Canadian singer-songwriter besides said that nan commercialized didn't bespeak who she is arsenic a "super-happy, super-optimistic person."

"That showed maine arsenic this benignant of quiet, sad personification pinch each my puppies and kittens. I’ll ne'er hide nan head saying, 'I conscionable request a small much [makes a sad face] from you,' " said McLachlan.

Years later, successful 2023, she was capable to wink astatine nan commercialized pinch different ads, astir notably a Super Bowl commercialized pinch Busch Light.

"When I sewage nan opportunity to return nan piss retired of it, pinch nan Audi commercialized and nan Super Bowl [Busch Light] commercial, that was conscionable gleeful for me," she concluded.

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McLachlan is releasing her first caller medium successful 9 years, titled Better Broken. She called signaling it "such a joyful process." In 2024, she embarked connected nan 30th day circuit for her 1993 medium Fumbling Towards Ecstasy.

"I haven't been connected circuit since 2016. So I thought, it was a really important grounds for me, and I conscionable thought it would beryllium really nosy to get up location and play nan full thing," she told PEOPLE successful 2023 up of her North American trek.

In 2015, she reflected connected nan advertisements, calling them "brutal."

“I can’t watch them!” she told nan video blog, Makers. “It conscionable kills me," she added, while besides acknowledging really successful nan PSA was.

Added McLachlan: "I sewage a full caller assemblage retired of it. I committedness I’d beryllium astatine Target successful Missouri astatine 10 p.m. getting disconnected nan circuit autobus and I’d beryllium going down nan aisle and these 2 small aged ladies would beryllium like, ‘Are you that canine lady? I emotion that song!’ Daily. Daily this would happen."

Better Broken, which will beryllium released connected Sept. 19, is disposable for preorder.