At the end of 2019, Charlie Puth heard the words no artist ever wants to hear: "your music sucked this year." Even worse, they came from Elton John.

Puth had released a trio of one-off singles throughout the year, and his third album — the follow-up to his acclaimed 2017 set, Voicenotes — was in progress. But after John's comment, the New Jersey native shifted gears and took full ownership of the music he was making — and now, he's arguably bigger than he's ever been. 

Charlie, Puth's new-and-improved third album, arrived Oct. 7. To say it was a highly anticipated release would be an understatement, specifically in TikTok terms. He teased the track list on the viral video-sharing app two weeks before the album's arrival, and as of press time, that video has 47 million views. 

Puth utilized TikTok as a marketing tool for Charlie, but in a way that, as he puts it, "[fans] feel like they wrote the music with me." The singer/producer began letting fans in on his creation process with lead single "Light Switch," in which he cleverly flips the sound of an actual light switch into a romantic metaphor and, more impressively, a catchy beat. That video immediately took off, and Puth began teasing other Charlie tracks as they came together, garnering millions of views on each one. 

TikTok and Elton John are two huge pieces of the Charlie puzzle, but certainly not the only ones. As Puth suggests, the album is simply a musical mirror — one that shows he's the happiest he's ever been.

"I don't really think you could assign any particular genre to this album because it's almost chaotic, like my mind is," he explains. "I just tried to make the soundtrack of my own mind." 

Puth broke down all of the inspirations behind his third album, and explained why calling Charlie his "most personal album" isn't as cliché as it may sound.

Elton John

He was the wake-up call [that let me know] that I just had to produce the music. It has to be me producing the album.

It's not like I'm opposed to working with other producers. I worked with two other producers when I made "Stay" for [The Kid] LAROI and [Justin] Bieber. But for my music specifically at this point in time, it just made sense. 

The last two albums of mine lacked a bit of cohesion. So it was really important that I handled all the instrumentation this time around. I just involved too many people in those couple of songs [in 2019], so I scrapped the project and really tapped into what I was going through and feeling. I put my feelings first.

His Busy Mind

I don't really like talking to people about my problems — I like to try and solve them myself. I believe that I have it within me to figure things out with the help of music. I almost called this album Conversations With Myself for that reason. At the end of the day, I was like, I should just name the songs after myself, because they're my personality to an absolute T.

Like on "When You're Sad I'm Sad," there's these strings and this piano. It's so melodramatic, and it's just like, "Oh, dude, go take a walk." That's very indicative of my personality. And then "Light Switch" [is too, with] the quirkiness of the lyric.

I'm not trying to be the cool guy anymore. I'm trying to show my personality off. So "Light Switch" is that, in a way. It's almost theatrical. I'm very, you know, pizzazz and jazz hands and just hyper — like, I'm drinking three cups of coffee at all times. 

"I Don't Think That I Like Her," it's almost like [a] 2022 "Penny Lane." My love of jazz and very rich-sounding, David Foster-like chord progressions are present in that song — and lyrical angst.

I'm basically saying that I'm dramatic and musical. [Laughs.] I'm a theater kid that turned into a pop singer.

The TikTok Community

I was going through two different types of breakups [when I began writing Charlie]: I had left my original label, [which] felt like a little bit of a breakup business-wise. And romantically, [I was] going through a breakup. Those two things had nothing to do with each other, yet felt so similar — manipulation, and feeling like you constantly need to be in a state of proving yourself.

In a very boring, long-winded explanation, I [since] resigned to my original label. [But at the time], I thought I lost my key person at the label that I would run everything by. I had a little bit of a freak-out thinking I don't know what is good anymore, but I actually had it within me the entire time. That's what I discovered on this album, and kind of why I turned to TikTok — for approval, almost. 

I really do live for people's reactions. And what better place to get those reactions than playing music in a live setting? But, you know, [during] the pandemic, we didn't have any live concerts. So I turned to the internet for a new way of performing. [I thought,] This could be an interesting way to have people overly acquainted with the music before it comes out, then they feel like they wrote the music with me.

I used to think I had to act like Prince and not let anybody into my musical world. I flipped the script and let millions of people into my process. That felt exciting to me. Humans are the best recipe for me making a song, and people just happen to be in the mass at one place right now. 

When I made "Light Switch," which was the first single off the album, it was so different than records like "Attention" and "One Call Away," that I was still in a state of is this good? So I turned to the internet, and I got a resounding thumbs up by getting, like, 10 million unique plays in one evening. I got a foam finger the size of Dodger Stadium telling me that I could proceed to make that song. 

It's not like everything has to have this grandiose reaction for me to have the ability to put it on my album. That's the wrong mentality — any artist should just put out whatever they're feeling. But it's just worked for me.

Mundane Noises

Another thing that people can take away from listening to this album is that anything can be made into music. Like, the sprinkler that I'm looking at right now that's watering a little portion of dead grass on my lawn, I know that it's making a pitch. I can't hear it right now, but I'm looking at it thinking, What would the instrument be that would be most similar to that sprinkler? That's how my mind works — that's been happening since I was 8 years old — and that's what I did throughout this entire album.

There's a song called "When You're Sad I'm Sad," which is about not being able to leave something that you've become so dependent on. There's a lyric in the second verse that goes, "I can hear the tears in your eyes when you say 'please come and get me.'" I received a call from someone one time where — you know when you can tell that someone's upset about something over [the] phone? When humans cry, there isn't an audible sound that comes out of your eyes, and I just made a mental note of that. When I had the "here" and "tears" rhyme, I just made the entire song — I reverse engineered it. 

The Music He Grew Up With

I was influenced by the feelings that me and my friends got when we listened to albums. I remembered the first time my friend played "…Baby One More Time" by Britney Spears in 1999. I was in his basement trading Pokémon cards, and my musical mind wasn't all the way there yet, but I just remember that feeling of warmth and shock — I had never heard anything like it before. 

I always remember that feeling of hearing something for the first time — like when I heard "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga for the first time. Those types of feelings I tried to capture, and I wanted to make my own songs that someone else could listen to and have a similar reaction to.

Simply Having Fun

I found myself through chord changes. I discovered who I was by going to Conway Studios in Hollywood, and documenting the process for millions of people to see. I was putting up a wall before, and now there's no wall. I'm having the most fun I've ever had.

I've always felt like I needed to fill a void. Like, we've got to have the uptempo record or we have to make sure we have a mid-tempo song — I had those little things in the back of my head. I never really put myself first [on previous albums]. This is the first time I'm putting myself first. 

I don't really think about music in terms of success. I think of it in terms of "How many people can I affect with my message?" That's what I meant when I said I feel like I'm the "biggest I've ever been" — not from my own ego, but I have more of a reach. 

I've hit my most successful peak so far by being myself. If you're truly just yourself, you can be your most successful you.

Oversharing

Everyone has a unique story, and I want [people] to hear one of my songs and be like, "I've never been able to explain this feeling, but Charlie described it perfectly with a little melody attached to it." 

I want people to take this album as a whole and know the two different types of so-called breakups that I went through, and know that I am not impervious to normal feelings. I'm just like everyone — I just happen to play the piano and make songs about my feelings.

I aspire to be an artist that can surprise-drop an album like Beyoncé or Taylor [Swift] or Drake, where every song hasn't been heard and everyone is eagerly [waiting] — like the anticipation for Rihanna to follow up her 2016 album. But, you know, I started with wanting people to be excited about two songs. Maybe they'll be excited about a surprise drop from me one day, but for now I'll overshare.

15 Must-Hear New Albums Out This Month: Taylor Swift, Lil Baby, Carly Rae Jepsen, Red Hot Chili Peppers, M.I.A. & More

As expected, much buzz followed the release of Taylor Swift's 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, on April 19. Fans and critics alike have devoured the sprawling double album’s 31 tracks, unpacking her reflections from "a fleeting and fatalistic moment in time" in search of Easter eggs, their new favorite lyrics and references to famous faces (both within the pop supernova’s closely guarded orbit and the historical record). 

Shoutouts abound in The Tortured Poets Department: Charlie Puth gets his much-deserved (and Taylor-approved) flowers on the title track, while 1920s screen siren Clara Bow, the ancient Greek prophetess Cassandra and Peter Pan each get a song titled after them. Post Malone and  Florence + the Machine’s Florence Welch each tap in for memorable duets. Relationships old (Joe Alwyn), new (Travis Kelce) and somewhere in between (1975’s Matty Healy) are alluded to without naming names, as is, possibly, the singer’s reputation-era feud with Kim Kardashian. 

Swift casts a wide net on The Tortured Poets Department, encompassing popular music, literature, mythology and beyond, but it's far from the first time the 14-time GRAMMY winner has worn her influences on her sleeve. While you digest TTPD, consider these 10 figures who have influenced the poet of the hour — from Stevie Nicks and Patti Smith to Emily Dickinson, William Wordsworth, Arya Stark and more.

Stevie Nicks

If Taylor Swift is the chairman of The Tortured Poets Department, Stevie Nicks may as well be considered its poet laureate emeritus. The mystical Fleetwood Mac frontwoman earns an important mention on side A closer "Clara Bow," in which Swift ties an invisible string from herself to a pre-Rumours Nicks ("In ‘75, the hair and lips/ Crowd goes wild at her fingertips"), and all the way back to the 1920s It Girl of the song’s title.

For her part, Nicks seems to approve of her place in Swift’s cultural lineage, considering she penned the poem found inside physical copies of The Tortured Poets Department. "He was in love with her/ Or at least she thought so," the Priestess of Rock and Roll wrote in part, before signing off, "For T — and me…"

Swift’s relationship with Nicks dates back to the 2010 GRAMMYs, when the pair performed a medley of "Rhiannon" and "You Belong With Me" before the then-country upstart took home her first Album Of The Year win for 2009’s Fearless. More recently, the "Edge of Seventeen" singer publicly credited Swift’s Midnights cut "You’re On Your Own, Kid" for helping her through the 2022 death of Fleetwood Mac bandmate Christine McVie.

Patti Smith

Swift may see herself as more "modern idiot" than modern-day Patti Smith, but that didn’t stop the superstar from name-dropping the icon synonymous with the Hotel Chelsea and punk scene of ‘70s New York on a key track on The Tortured Poets Department. Swift rather self-deprecatingly compares herself to the celebrated Just Kids memoirist (and 2023 Songwriters Hall of Fame nominee) on the double album’s synth-drenched title track, and it’s easy to see how Smith’s lifelong fusion of rock and poetry influenced the younger singer’s dactylic approach to her new album. 

Smith seemed to appreciate the shout-out on "The Tortured Poets Department" as well. "This is saying I was moved to be mentioned in the company of the great Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. Thank you Taylor," she wrote on Instagram alongside a photo of herself reading Thomas’ 1940 poetry collection Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog.

Emily Dickinson

When it comes to iconic poets, Swift has also taken a page or two over her career from Emily Dickinson. While the great 19th century poet hasn’t come up explicitly in Swift’s work, she did reference her poetic forebear (and actual sixth cousin, three times removed!) in her speech while accepting the award for Songwriter-Artist of the Decade at the 2022 Nashville Songwriter Awards.

"I’ve never talked about this publicly before, because, well, it’s dorky. But I also have, in my mind, secretly, established genre categories for lyrics I write. Three of them, to be exact. They are affectionately titled Quill Lyrics, Fountain Pen Lyrics and Glitter Gel Pen Lyrics," Swift told the audience before going on to explain, "If my lyrics sound like a letter written by Emily Dickinson’s great-grandmother while sewing a lace curtain, that’s me writing in the Quill genre," she went on to explain.

Even before this glimpse into Swift’s writing process, Easter eggs had been laid pointing to her familial connection to Dickinson. For example, she announced her ninth album evermore on December 10, 2020, which would have been the late poet’s 190th birthday. Another clue that has Swifties convinced? Dickinson’s use of the word "forevermore" in her 1858 poem "One Sister Have I in Our House," which Swift also cleverly breaks apart in Evermore’s Bon Iver-assisted title track ("And I couldn’t be sure/ I had a feeling so peculiar/ That this pain would be for/ Evermore").

The Lake Poets

Swift first put her growing affinity for poetry on display during her folklore era with "the lakes." On the elegiac bonus track, the singer draws a parallel with the Lake Poets of the 19th century, wishing she could escape to "the lakes where all the poets went to die" with her beloved muse in tow. In between fantasizing about "those Windermere peaks" and pining for "auroras and sad prose," she even manages to land a not-so-subtle jab at nemesis Scooter Braun ("I’ve come too far to watch some name-dropping sleaze/ Tell me what are my words worth") that doubles as clever wordplay on the last name of Lake Poet School members William and Dorothy Wordsworth.

Swift revealed more about why she connected to the Lake Poets in her 2020 Disney+ documentary folklore: the long pond studio sessions. "There was a poet district, these artists that moved there. And they were kind of heckled for it and made fun of for it as being these eccentrics and these kind of odd artists who decided that they just wanted to live there," she explained to her trusted producer Jack Antonoff. "So ‘the lakes,’ it kind of is the overarching theme of the whole album: of trying to escape, having something you wanna protect, trying to protect your own sanity and saying, ‘Look, they did this hundreds of years ago. I’m not the first person who’s felt this way.’"

Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney and Swift have publicly praised one another’s work for years, leading to the 2020 Rolling Stone cover they posed for together for the special Musicians on Musicians issue. The younger singer even counts Sir Paul’s daughter Stella McCartney as a close friend and collaborator (Stella designed a capsule collection for Swift’s 2019 studio set Lover and earned a shout-out of her own on album cut "London Boy").

However, Swift took her relationship with the Beatles founder and his family a step further when it was rumored she based Midnights deep cut "Sweet Nothing" on McCartney’s decades-long romance with late wife Linda. While the speculation has never been outright confirmed, it appears Swift’s lyrics in the lilting love song ("On the way home, I wrote a poem/ You say, ‘What a mind’/ This happens all the time") were partially inspired by a strikingly similar quote McCartney once gave about his relationship with Linda, who passed away in 1998. To add to the mystique, the Midnights singer even reportedly liked a tweet from 2022 espousing the theory.  

The admiration between the duo seems to go both ways as well, with the former Beatle admitting in a 2018 BBC profile that the track "Who Cares" from his album Egypt Station was inspired by Swift’s close relationship with her fans.

The Chicks

From her days as a country music ingénue to her ascendance as the reigning mastermind of pop, Swift has credited the Chicks as a seminal influence in her songwriting and career trajectory. (Need examples? Look anywhere from early singles like "Picture to Burn" and "Should’ve Said No" to Evermore’s Haim-assisted murder ballad "no body, no crime" and her own Lover-era collab with the band, "Soon You’ll Get Better.") 

In a 2020 Billboard cover story tied to the Chicks’ eighth album Gaslighter, Swift acknowledged just how much impact the trio made on her growing up. "Early in my life, these three women showed me that female artists can play their own instruments while also putting on a flamboyant spectacle of a live show," she said at the time. "They taught me that creativity, eccentricity, unapologetic boldness and kitsch can all go together authentically. Most importantly, they showed an entire generation of girls that female rage can be a bonding experience between us all the very second we first heard Natalie Maines bellow ‘that Earl had to DIE.’"

"Game of Thrones"

When reputation dropped in 2017, Swift was on a self-imposed media blackout, which meant no cover stories or dishy sit-down interviews on late-night TV during the album’s roll-out. Instead, the singer let reputation speak for itself, and fans were largely left to draw their own conclusions about their queen’s wildly anticipated comeback album. Two years later, though, Swift revealed the dark, vengeful, romantic body of work was largely inspired by "Game of Thrones."

"These songs were half based on what I was going through, but seeing them through a 'Game of Thrones' filter," she told Entertainment Weekly in 2019. "My entire outlook on storytelling has been shaped by ["GoT"] — the ability to foreshadow stories, to meticulously craft cryptic story lines. So, I found ways to get more cryptic with information and still be able to share messages with the fans. I aspire to be one one-millionth of the kind of hint dropper the makers of 'Game of Thrones' have been."

Joni Mitchell

Swift has long made her admiration of Joni Mitchell known, dating back to her 2012 album Red, which took a cue from the folk pioneer’s landmark 1971 LP Blue for its chromatic title. In an interview around the time of Red’s release, the country-pop titan gushed over Blue’s impact on her, telling Rhapsody, "[Mitchell] wrote it about her deepest pains and most haunting demons. Songs like ‘River,’ which is just about her regrets and doubts of herself — I think this album is my favorite because it explores somebody’s soul so deeply."

Back in 2015, TIME declared the "Blank Space" singer a "disciple of Mitchell in ways both obvious and subtle" — from her reflective songwriting to the complete ownership over her creative process, and nearly 10 years later, Swift was still showing her appreciation for Mitchell after the latter’s triumphant and emotional appearance on the GRAMMY stage to perform "Both Sides Now" on the very same night Taylor took home her historic fourth GRAMMY for Album Of The Year for Midnights.

Fall Out Boy & Paramore

When releasing the re-recording of her third album Speak Now in 2023, Swift cited two unexpectedly emo acts as inspirations to her early songwriting: Fall Out Boy and Paramore. 

"Since Speak Now was all about my songwriting, I decided to go to the artists who I feel influenced me most powerfully as a lyricist at that time and ask them to sing on the album," she wrote in an Instagram post revealing the back cover and complete tracklist for Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), which included Fall Out Boy collaboration "Electric Touch" and "Castles Crumbling" featuring Paramore frontwoman Hayley Williams.

Tim McGraw

For one of Swift’s original career inspirations, we have to go all the way back to the very first single she ever released. "Tim McGraw" was not only as the lead single off the 16-year-old self-titled 2006 debut album, but it also paid reverent homage to one of the greatest living legends in the history of country music. 

In retrospect, it was an incredibly gutsy risk for a then-unknown Swift to come raring out of the gate with a song named after a country superstar. But the gamble clearly paid off in spades, considering that now, when an entire generation of music fans hear "Tim McGraw," they think of Taylor Swift.

Taylor Swift's 'The Tortured Poets Department' Is A Post-Mortem Autopsy In Song: 5 Takeaways From Her New Album

Updated Friday Oct. 13, 2023 to include info about Kendrick Lamar's most recent GRAMMY wins, as of the 2023 GRAMMYs.

A GRAMMY veteran these days, Kendrick Lamar has won 17 GRAMMYs and has received 47 GRAMMY nominations overall. A sizable chunk of his trophies came from the 58th annual GRAMMY Awards in 2016, when he walked away with five — including his first-ever win in the Best Rap Album category.

This installment of GRAMMY Rewind turns back the clock to 2016, revisiting Lamar's acceptance speech upon winning Best Rap Album for To Pimp A Butterfly. Though Lamar was alone on stage, he made it clear that he wouldn't be at the top of his game without the help of a broad support system. 

"First off, all glory to God, that's for sure," he said, kicking off a speech that went on to thank his parents, who he described as his "those who gave me the responsibility of knowing, of accepting the good with the bad."

Looking for more GRAMMYs news? The 2024 GRAMMY nominations are here!

He also extended his love and gratitude to his fiancée, Whitney Alford, and shouted out his Top Dawg Entertainment labelmates. Lamar specifically praised Top Dawg's CEO, Anthony Tiffith, for finding and developing raw talent that might not otherwise get the chance to pursue their musical dreams.

"We'd never forget that: Taking these kids out of the projects, out of Compton, and putting them right here on this stage, to be the best that they can be," Lamar — a Compton native himself — continued, leading into an impassioned conclusion spotlighting some of the cornerstone rap albums that came before To Pimp a Butterfly.

"Hip-hop. Ice Cube. This is for hip-hop," he said. "This is for Snoop Dogg, Doggystyle. This is for Illmatic, this is for Nas. We will live forever. Believe that."

To Pimp a Butterfly singles "Alright" and "These Walls" earned Lamar three more GRAMMYs that night, the former winning Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song and the latter taking Best Rap/Sung Collaboration (the song features Bilal, Anna Wise and Thundercat). He also won Best Music Video for the remix of Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood." 

Lamar has since won Best Rap Album two more times, taking home the golden gramophone in 2018 for his blockbuster LP DAMN., and in 2023 for his bold fifth album, Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers.

Watch Lamar's full acceptance speech above, and check back at GRAMMY.com every Friday for more GRAMMY Rewind episodes. 

10 Essential Facts To Know About GRAMMY-Winning Rapper J. Cole

For some, it might come as a surprise that an up-and-coming artist would announce their debut album is their last. But for JVKE, it's a sign of the times.

Born Jacob Lawson, JVKE is a pioneering musician exploring how music is majorly shifting with social media. Though he originally worked behind the scenes as a songwriter, penning hits for Jason Derulo and EXO, the 22-year-old singer stepped into the spotlight after exploding on TikTok in 2020.

JVKE grew up in a musical family in Rhode Island, spending time with his music teacher mother, singing at church with his brother, and taking piano, drum and guitar lessons. When he was 19, his breakout song "Upside Down" quite literally turned his life upside down. Massively popular TikTokers like Charli D'Amelio and Loren Gray used the song in their videos, transforming JVKE's quarantine into a productive period of musical creativity.

Soon, labels were knocking at his door after seeing his viral success — but JVKE decided to remain independent through AWAL, wanting to be in charge of his own creative vision. He views collections of music as ever-changing and experiential, which is why he announced that his first album, 2022's This Is What ____ Feels Like (Vol. 1–4), will also be his last. He'll continue releasing music in new and innovative ways, beyond the boundaries of albums.

JVKE's track "golden hour" sounded off as his next big hit in 2022, peaking at No. 10 on Billboard's Hot 100 as his debut album cracked the top 50 on the Billboard 200. The love song unites twinkling piano and soaring vocals, and it encapsulates a singular, raw feeling of radiance. The track's resonant depth demonstrates JVKE's ability to push the limits of music — and with a combined following of nearly 13 million, it's no wonder his fan base continues only to grow.

"I'm just so passionate about creating and writing music — if I could be anywhere all day long, I would be in the studio," JVKE tells GRAMMY.com. "Now I'm realizing that people actually are open to hearing my creative ideas."

Though his studio feels like home, the singer is currently embracing his calling to the stage. While traveling for his first headlining tour, JVKE reflected on his biggest career highlights with GRAMMY.com, from first going viral to performing with Alicia Keys.

On Going Viral on TikTok, Embracing Out-Of-The-Box Creativity

@jvke @jvke ♬ All TikTok Mashup (JVKE - Upside Down) - JVKE

I remember seeing ["Upside Down"] starting to go viral… I saw that [Charli D'Amelio] had used the sound. That's when I knew that the song was just getting started. And it already had a million uses, which was insane for TikTok at that time, and then eventually went on to get 15 million videos created to the sound. That was kind of when I knew TikTok is powerful. I realized that I should start releasing my own music, because I realized I could promote it there.

I was always pitching to other artists trying to fit their mold, but I realized that the best form of creativity could come when I just release what I want to release. I found that people resonate the most when I released my own music versus trying to pitch for other people. Things kind of shifted once I realized that people actually liked my creative music, rather than me just trying to fit a mold. I started trying new ideas and not trying to box myself in.

I think no one can ever really predict virality for sure. But when it happens, you know, you have to be ready to just make the most of the moment.

On Releasing His Debut Album, Staying Independent And Listening To Fans

When "Upside Down" first happened, I was definitely approached by a lot of labels… then eventually, the viral moment started to die down a bit. I realized the success that I'm having right now can be kind of short-lived. But if I just take the reins and take responsibility for getting my music out there, then at the end of the day, I'm the only one that I can rely on. So there's a bit more pressure there, which I think is good for an artist. Sometimes artists will sign to a major label, get a big check, and then they become kind of lax. I'm in it for the music. That's the centerpiece.

I think things are changing way faster than people want to admit. It leaves us in a really cool spot, because we can pioneer some new ideas, but with that, obviously comes a lot of risks, because the safe place to do what everyone else has been doing. I'm very much looking ahead to what the future is going to look like and trying to think of creative ways to adapt.

I found a lot of success with… giving the fans more content to consume by just putting it out, even when it's not finished, and just being okay with being vulnerable and not having this perfect, put-together idea. But I think that's the fun of it. I think that people enjoy being a part of the process.

On His "Pinch Me" Moment: Collaborating With Charlie Puth

@charlieputh This all happened because of Tik Tok. Everyone go stream Upside Down by @jvke featuring myself ;) hi @bellapoarch ♬ All TikTok Mashup (JVKE - Upside Down) - JVKE

I have been a big Charlie Puth fan for a while now. And right when "Upside Down" happened, that was kind of my first moment where I was no longer behind the scenes, but I was actually able to be the artist and just kind of be in the moment.

It was crazy, because Charlie had connected with my team, and he had heard the song all over TikTok. And he was like, "Yo, I'd love to do a remix and just hop on the song with you." And then I ended up going to his house, we made some TikToks. We went pretty viral together — like 30, 40 million views on different videos, and just us, playing the song. And that's the sort of moment where it's just like, pinch myself like, is this actually happening?

He actually asked me to go on tour with him, but it unfortunately conflicted with my current tour dates so I couldn't go. But yeah, honestly, he's kind of been a role model to me in different ways, even just him being open to the changes in the music industry. There's so many changes happening right now, and he's one artist who's really embraced them, and embraced the up-and-coming culture around TikTok and all that. I always hoped to be like that; he inspires me to always be open to new ideas.

On Playing With Alicia Keys In Front Of His Childhood Teacher

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A post shared by JVKE (@itsjvke)

That was a bucket list moment for me. Being a pianist myself, having grown up hearing Alicia Keys songs, I've always been a huge fan of her and all of her songs, her amazing songwriting and involving the piano.

She had reached out because her son had shown her "golden hour." He was like, "Check this out, mom. You're gonna love this song, trust me." She heard it, and luckily, she really loved it. She called me up and she's like, "Hey, I have this winter performance for my new Christmas album. And I was wondering if you'd want to perform 'golden hour' with me, and we can mash it up into one of my songs." And I was like, "Are you kidding me? Absolutely. I'll be there."

I got to invite some of my friends, my family and my childhood music teacher. It was really such an emotional moment. I had a hard time holding it together. Honestly, it was that feeling of just being starstruck — it's like, I don't even know what to do right now. I'm on stage, looking at Alicia Keys while we play the piano together. Are you kidding me? It was crazy.

On Tackling His First Headlining National Tour

@jvke

thank you.

♬ original sound - JVKE

You never really know what it feels like to have people singing your songs until you feel that it's like, wait, this is actually connecting with people. And they actually take the time to sing along and listen to all the lyrics. It's just like, the craziest feeling. So I love knowing that I'm connecting with people on such a personal level… I love being on the road, being on tour. It's so fun.

For the kids who come, we usually find all the short kids and we bring them to the front in the little area, so that they can see the show right in front. For me, that's such a sick thing, because this is likely their first show they've ever been to. And for me to get that moment with them is just the coolest thing ever.

The whole music experience isn't complete without that touring element — being able to perform it and let all of my crazy ideas kind of have visuals attached to them. I'm all about just the full submersion of experience. There's no better place to do that than on a tour.

On Celebrating With His Loved Ones

@jvke

‘golden hour’ is out everywhere. ty guys for streaming ily

♬ golden hour - JVKE

Before I dropped out of college to just write music full-time, to make some money, I was teaching piano lessons to a lot of younger kids and different things. It was really sad, when "Upside Down" blew up and I moved out to LA for a few months. I remember having to text all my old piano students and tell them that I couldn't teach piano lessons anymore.

But I got to film this TikTok with one of my old students, and we posted it and it did really well. That's one of those moments where it's sad to let go of the past… but it's also the sweetest thing, because it all kind of comes together, and we get to all celebrate together. Those sentimental moments are one of the most important things to me. Even beyond the recognition, it doesn't really connect unless you enjoy it with the people you love.

Recently having moved out and going all over the place all the time, there's always a piece of me that's wanting to go back home and just hang out. [My mom and I] had so many musical experiences together [when I was] growing up. Now, she's probably going to be joining me on tour for a few days. She's always been excited for all the things that have been happening. Even though I'm living out my dreams, I feel like we're living them out together.

Inside Charlie Puth's New Album 'Charlie': How Elton John, TikTok & A Busy Mind Helped Create His Proudest Work Yet

Just after Charlie Puth wrapped his North American tour on July 11, the pop hitmaker treated 150 fans to the ultimate fan experience: brunch with a side of Puth.

Part of The GRAMMY Museum's Sunday Brunch With… series, the event — a fundraiser for the organization's GRAMMY In The Schools program that was sponsored by City National Bank and Porsche — invited fans to enjoy a three-course brunch followed by an intimate 45-minute acoustic set from Puth. 

From the stage at his friend (and 17-time GRAMMY Award-winning mixer) Manny Marroquin's restaurant, VERSE LA in Toluca Lake, California, Puth told stories about his days at Berklee College Of Music and his journey to stardom. He also let attendees in on his songwriting process, performing some of his most beloved tracks in the process. 

For those who weren't able to make it to the sold-out event, here are six takeaways from Sunday Brunch With Charlie Puth.

He May Just Become A Music Teacher In The Future

Early on in the show, Puth made a point of shouting out one of his old Berklee professors from the stage. Turns out it was Prince Charles Alexander, a multi-GRAMMY Award winning mixer and engineer who has worked with Mary J. Blige, Destiny's Child, P. Diddy, Usher, and Aretha Franklin. 

Puth said he'd often pop into Alexander's office to run ideas by him, with Alexander offering up tips in return. Puth told the crowd he still thinks about Alexander's advice when he's making his own records all these years later, and shouted out not just his professor but all music educators, saying that he's a firm believer in the value of music in our schools. He even joked that he'd like to become a music teacher himself "if this whole music thing doesn't work out."

One Of His Songs Was Inspired By A Rainy Walk…

When Puth wrote "How Long" back in 2017, it was on a long walk. He was strutting around the town wondering why there weren't more tracks written at a perfect walking tempo when it started to rain. The sound of his feet combined with the wet concrete and suddenly, he told the crowd, "it was like the chords fell out of the sky." 

Puth then kicked into a smooth and resonant performance of the song — which sounded excellent on whatever sound system Marroquin installed in his restaurant — prompting one attendee to shout out in glee, "ooh, you better sing!"

…And Another Was Inspired By Ed Sheeran

Puth says he started writing "We Don't Talk Anymore" when he was on the road in Osaka, Japan. He'd fallen in love with the percussive guitar on Ed Sheeran's song "Bloodstream" and wanted to use that same sort of tone on his own track. 

Puth says he also wanted to write what he called "the worldliest sounding record," or "a record that would take me around the world." Given that "We Don't Talk Anymore" hit the top 10 in 20 different countries and the video has more than three billion views on YouTube to date, it's fair to say he did just that.

He Likes To Use "Light Switch" To Inspire Up-And-Coming Musicians

When the freshly signed Puth was first in LA in the early 2010s, a producer suggested they take his newly recorded tracks to a club, where they'd play them for the crowd and see what hit. It was a novel idea for Puth at the time, but something he's adapted a bit for the modern age, when he throws bits of songs and ideas up on his TikTok, hoping to see what flies. 

That's exactly how his 2022 hit "Light Switch" came to be: The simple percussive sound that you hear when you turn the lights on and off. 

In videos he's posted on TikTok, he's tried to show fans that, like that song, music can come from anywhere. "You don't need a multi-million dollar recording studio to make a record," he told the crowd, reminding everyone that Soulja Boy's "Crank That" was self-produced on the rapper's home computer before breaking big on social media. 

Anyone, Puth said, can make and release their own music, even if they're not currently in possession of the dream recording set-up. It's just about passion and perseverance, and a desire to make something new.

He Likes To Blend Classical Riffs With Perfect Pop Melodies

When Puth started to write "Attention," it was with a little classical riff he was fooling around with on the piano. He decided to take the classical bars and throw them into a pop song, reminding the room that it's not all that uncommon. For instance, he said, Toni Wine and Carole Bayer Sager's "A Groovy Kind Of Love" contains the Rondo from Muzio Clementi's Sonatina, Opus 36, No. 5. In Puth's view, classical music and pop can live in perfect harmony, feeding off each other and building toward something even bigger than the sum of their parts.

He's Proof Of The Power Of Being Yourself

In 2012, at the height of "weight for the drop" style EDM hits, Puth felt discouraged as he was trying to break into music himself. As he recalled, he'd moved home to his parents house and was laser focused on the pop charts, tailoring his songs to whatever was No. 1 at the moment — but they were all getting turned down by labels. Finally, he said, an A&R person gave him a piece of advice, saying, essentially, "We've heard all this before. We want to hear something from you." 

That's how, on his way to record a dance track at some studio in LA, Puth decided to lay down a piano ballad instead. He says it was like "See You Again" fell into his lap and attributes its success to the fact that he wasn't trying to be anyone but himself. 

"See You Again changed my life," he told the brunch crowd, noting that he'll be proud and lucky if he gets to perform it for the rest of his life. As he played it live, the whole room joyfully sang along — hinting that Puth may have crafted a lifelong hit.

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