Charles Otto Puth Jr. (/puːθ/; born December 2, 1991) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. His initial exposure came through the viral success of his song videos uploaded to YouTube.
After initially signing with eleveneleven after performing on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Puth began contributing to songs and albums for other artists such as Cody Simpson, Livingston Taylor, and Skizzy Mars; as well as creating lite solo material and covers of popular songs. With primary intent on a solo career, Atlantic Records eventually sought the artist and released his debut single, “Marvin Gaye” featuring Meghan Trainor in 2015 to unanimous success.[2] Coinciding with the single came his first feature, “See You Again“, which he co-wrote, co-produced, and performed with Wiz Khalifa for the Furious 7 soundtrack as a tribute to Paul Walker. It peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 for 12 non-consecutive weeks. After the success of “See You Again”, he gained worldwide recognition for multiple subsequent releases, including his next single “One Call Away“. The single reached number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100, and topped charts in New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland, and the United Kingdom.
Puth’s debut studio album, Nine Track Mind, was released in January 2016[3] to negative reviews from critics,[4] and was preceded by the singles “One Call Away” and “We Don’t Talk Anymore“, which peaked at number 12 and number nine, respectively on the US Billboard Hot 100. In 2017, he released two songs, “Attention” and “How Long“, with the former peaking at number five on Billboard Hot 100.[5] Both were included in his second studio album, Voicenotes (2018), which was released to generally positive reviews from critics and peaked at number four on the Billboard 200. In August 2019, Puth released the lead single “I Warned Myself” from his upcoming third studio album.[6]
Contents
- 1Early life
- 2Career
- 3Personal life
- 4Discography
- 5Filmography
- 6Awards and nominations
- 7Concert tours
- 8See also
- 9References
- 10External links
Early life[edit]
Charles Otto Puth Jr. was born December 2, 1991, in Rumson, New Jersey,[7] to Debra, a music teacher[8][9] who also wrote commercials for HBO,[10] and Charles Otto Puth Sr., a builder and real estate agent.[8] His father is Catholic[11] and his mother is Jewish.[12] He has two younger siblings, twins Stephen and Mikaela.[8]
As a two-year-old, Puth’s right eyebrow was permanently scarred in a nearly fatal dog-bite incident.[13]
Puth’s mother introduced him to classical music and began teaching him the piano at age 4.[14] He started studying jazz at age 10[14] and participated in a summer youth jazz ensemble at Count Basie Theatre’s Cool School[9] in Red Bank, New Jersey at 12.[15] He was hired by The Count Basie Theatre to play in a Charlie Brown production.[9] In grade six, he went door to door selling a Christmas album called Have a Merry Charlie Christmas that he had recorded and produced, making $600 in sales.[14][16]
He attended the Holy Cross School, Rumson, and Forrestdale Middle School,[17] before graduating from the Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School in 2010.[18] During his seventh grade to senior years, he attended Manhattan School of Music Pre-College[19] as a jazz piano major and a classical studies minor.[17][20] Puth graduated in 2013 from the Berklee College of Music, where he majored in music production and engineering.[21]
Career[edit]
2009–2014: Career beginnings[edit]
In September 2009, he started his own YouTube channel, entitled Charlies Vlogs, posting comedy videos and acoustic covers.[22] In 2010, Puth released the music video of his first song, “These Are My Sexy Shades”.[23] On December 2010, he released his debut extended play, The Otto Tunes, an independent release.[24] In 2011, he won an online video competition sponsored by Perez Hilton, Can You Sing?, with a version of Adele‘s “Someone like You” which he performed with Emily Luther.[19] In the same year Ellen DeGeneres announced that she had signed Puth and Luther to her label, eleveneleven, after seeing their performance of Adele‘s “Someone like You“.[25] Puth had performed the song on the show.[26] In December 2012 he released a promotional single, “Break Again”, with additional vocals by Emily Luther.[27] The music video was released days later.[28] On January 25, 2012, Puth and Luther performed the song and Lady Antebellum‘s “Need You Now” on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.[29] Puth also performed at an event supporting DKMS Delete Blood Cancer, the world’s largest bone marrow donor center, in October 2012.[30] Puth left eleveneleven in late 2012.
On October 23, 2013, he released his second independent extended play, Ego, to streaming online.[31][32] Puth was credited with the production and writing of songs and jingles for fellow YouTube personalities. He wrote the theme song for Shane Dawson‘s Shane and Friends podcast and skits, the intro jingle for the videos of the Vlogger family the SHAYTARDS, the original theme song for Charles Trippy’s vlog Internet Killed Television, and a song for the tour and movie of YouTube group Our 2nd Life, as well as several singles for Our 2nd Life member Ricky Dillon. In 2014 he released the promotional single “L.U.V.”[33] The music video was directed by Andrew Vallentine[34] In the same year, he co-wrote the song “Celebrate” on Pitbull‘s eighth studio album Globalization.[35]
2015–2016: “See You Again” and Nine Track Mind[edit]
Puth at St. Jean Sur Richelieu Balloon Festival in 2015
In early 2015, Puth signed with Atlantic and his previous records were removed from iTunes.[36] In February 2015, Puth released his debut single “Marvin Gaye“, which features American singer-songwriter Meghan Trainor.[37] The single has been certified 2× Platinum in Australia, topped the charts in New Zealand, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, and peaked at number 21 on the US Billboard Hot 100.[38][39] Puth wrote, co-produced, and was featured on a song with Wiz Khalifa, “See You Again“, a tribute to the late Paul Walker, included in the Furious 7 soundtrack. While Khalifa wrote the rap lyrics, the rest of the song has been credited to Puth. The song peaked at number one on the Hot 100 chart for 12 non-consecutive weeks.[40][41] “See You Again” was nominated for three Grammy Awards: Song of the Year, Best Pop Duo/Group Performance and Best Song Written for Visual Media. It was also shortlisted for the Song of the Year for the BBC Music Awards and was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song at the 73rd Golden Globe Awards.[42] He produced the song “Slow Motion” for Trey Songz and has arranged sessions with Jason Derulo and Lil Wayne.[43]
Puth starred as Meghan Trainor’s love interest in the music video for her song “Dear Future Husband,” released in March 2015. In the video, she meets Puth on an online dating service and he comes to Trainor’s home with a carryout pizza, which succeeds in impressing her.[44] On May 1, 2015, Puth released a five-song extended play, Some Type of Love.[45] In June 2015, he released the promotional single “Nothing but Trouble” with Lil Wayne, from the soundtrack to the documentary 808: The Movie.[46] During 2015, Puth worked on several albums of other artists. He co-wrote and produced the “Broke” and “Pull Up” for Jason Derulo‘s album Everything Is 4,[47] co-wrote “Bombastic” with Bonnie McKee from the album of the same title,[48] and produced “Working Class Heroes (Work)” on CeeLo Green‘s album Heart Blanche.[49]
Pre-orders for Puth’s debut studio album Nine Track Mind began on August 20, 2015, along with the second single “One Call Away“. The song peaked at number 12 in the United States, 26 in the United Kingdom and 4 in Australia.[50] As of February 2016, the song has sold 513,700 copies domestically.[51] Puth released a remix for the song, entitled “One Call Away (Coast to Coast Mix)”, featuring American rappers Tyga and Ty Dolla Sign, country recording artist Brett Eldredge and Mexican singer Sofia Reyes.[52]
Puth in 2016
His debut album, Nine Track Mind, was released on January 29, 2016.[53] The album debuted at number three in the United Kingdom.[54] The album itself peaked at number 6 on the Billboard 200, receiving a score of 37 out of 100 on Metacritic, becoming the 15th worst reviewed album on the site.[4] Puth embarked his debut live concert, Nine Track Mind Tour, in March 2016.[55]
In 2016, Puth was the first musician to sign a deal with Deutsch Music, a subsidiary of Deutsch Inc.[56]
2017–2018: Voicenotes[edit]
On April 21, 2017, Puth released the lead single, “Attention“, from his second studio album, Voicenotes.[57] The singer has stated the album departs lyrically from his debut by avoiding the direction of “love ballads”.[58] The second single from Voicenotes, “How Long“, was released on October 5, 2017.[59]
Puth also collaborated with One Direction‘s Liam Payne on the single “Bedroom Floor“, which he co-produced and provided background vocals for.[60] In 2018, he was featured on G-Eazy‘s single “Sober“.[61]
On January 4, 2018, Puth released the first promotional single “If You Leave Me Now” featuring Boyz II Men.[62] Puth also stated in a tweet that he would be pushing the release date to May 11, 2018, from its original release date of January 19, 2018.[63] Puth embarked on the Voicenotes Tour in 2018, with Hailee Steinfeld as a special guest.[64]
On March 15, 2018, “Done for Me” was released as the third single from Voicenotes. The song features singer Kehlani. On March 25, 2018, Puth released the fourth single “Change” featuring James Taylor.[65] A day earlier, Puth sang the song at the March for Our Lives event in Los Angeles.[66] The album also features the songs “The Way I Am” and “Patient”.
Voicenotes was released on May 11, 2018 to generally positive reviews from critics;[67] it debuted and peaked at number four on the US Billboard 200 with 58,000 album-equivalent units, of which 39,000 were pure album sales.[68]
2019: Upcoming third studio album[edit]
On August 13, 2019, a remix version of the 5 Seconds of Summer song “Easier” with Puth (who also co-wrote and produced the original version) was released.[69] On August 21, 2019, Puth released a single called “I Warned Myself“;[6] another single, “Mother“, was released on September 12 the same year.[70] “Cheating on You” was released as the third single from the upcoming album on October 1, 2019. [71]
Personal life[edit]
Puth was bullied at school. He stated, “They would team up against me so bad and they would kick me in a place that wouldn’t feel fantastic and I would need to throw up and they would then say I was pretending to throw up.”[72]
He has also disclosed on On Air with Ryan Seacrest that he suffered a nervous breakdown. He stated: “[The nervous breakdown happened from] just being overworked and I’m in my head a lot and that, in combination with jet-lag and you know the self realization that I am getting more famous and my privacy goes out the window pretty much every day, it’s just not what I’m used to and I don’t think I’m ever going to be used to it and my therapy is to just put melody to it and sing it.”[73]
Discography[edit]
Main article: Charlie Puth discography
- Nine Track Mind (2016)
- Voicenotes (2018)
Filmography[edit]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Undateable | Himself | Episode: “A New Year’s Resolution Walks Into a Bar” |
| 2016, 2019 | The Voice | Advisor / Mentor assistant | Season 11 Season 16 |
| 2017 | Life in Pieces | Himself | Episode: “Facebook Fish Planner Backstage” |
| 2017 | Drop the Mic | Himself | Episode: “Nicole Scherzinger vs. Lil Rel Howery / Charlie Puth vs. Backstreet Boys“ |
| 2019 | Songland | Himself | Episode: “Charlie Puth” |
| Year | Title | Role | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009–2013 | Charlies Vlogs | Himself | [74][75] |
| 2011 | Can You Sing? | Contestant | [76] |
| 2018 | Sugar | Himself | Episode: “Charlie Puth gives a pop up performance for fan on her 17th birthday”[77] |
Awards and nominations[edit]
| Year | Ceremony | Award | Nominated work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice Music: R&B/Hip-Hop Song | “See You Again“ | Won | [78] |
| Choice Music: TV or Movie Song | |||||
| Choice Music: Collaboration | Nominated | ||||
| MTV Europe Awards | Best Song | [79] | |||
| Best Collaboration | |||||
| American Music Awards | Song of the Year | [80] | |||
| Collaboration of the Year | |||||
| Hollywood Music in Media Awards | Song – Feature Film | Won | [81] | ||
| 2016 | Critics’ Choice Movie Awards | Best Song | [82] | ||
| Golden Globe Award | Best Original Song | Nominated | [83] | ||
| Grammy Awards | Song of the Year | [84] | |||
| Best Pop Duo/Group Performance | |||||
| Best Song Written for Visual Media | |||||
| Nickelodeon Kid’s Choice Awards | Best Collaboration | Won | |||
| Radio Disney Music Awards | Breakout Artist of the Year | Himself | Nominated | ||
| Best Crush Song | “One Call Away“ | ||||
| iHeartRadio Music Awards | Best Collaboration | “See You Again“ | |||
| Best Lyrics | |||||
| Best Song from a Movie | |||||
| Billboard Music Awards | Top New Artist | Himself | [85] | ||
| Top Hot 100 Song | “See You Again“ | Won | |||
| Top Radio Song | Nominated | ||||
| Top Streaming Song (Video) | |||||
| Top Rap Song | Won | ||||
| Top Selling Song | Nominated | ||||
| Teen Choice Awards | Choice Music: Male Artist | Himself | [86] | ||
| Choice Music: Breakout Artist | |||||
| Choice Music Single: Male | “One Call Away” | ||||
| Choice Music: Break-Up Song | “We Don’t Talk Anymore“ | ||||
| MTV Europe Music Awards | Best Push Act | Himself | |||
| Telehit Awards | Male Soloist of the Year | Himself | |||
| Gaon Chart Awards | International Rising Star of the Year | Charlie Puth | Won | ||
| 2017 | MTV Video Music Awards | Best Collaboration | “We Don’t Talk Anymore” (with Selena Gomez) | Nominated | |
| BreakTudo Awards 2017 | Best Artist Male International | Attention | [87][88] | ||
| Telehit Awards | Male Soloist of the Year | Himself | |||
| 2018 | Billboard Music Awards | Top Radio Songs Artist | Himself | ||
| Top Radio Song | “Attention” | ||||
| Teen Choice Awards | Choice Song: Male Artist | ||||
| BreakTudo Awards | International Male Artist | Himself | Nominated | ||
| Album of the Year | “Voicenotes” | ||||
| Summer Tour | “Voicenotes Tour” | ||||
| MBC Plus X Genie Music Awards | Best Pop Artist | Himself | Won | ||
| 2018 | Tudo Information Awards | Male Artist International | Himself | Nominated | [89][90] |
| 2019 | Grammy Awards | Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical | Voicenotes | Nominated | [91] |
Concert tours[edit]
Headlining
Co-headlining
- Jingle Ball Tour 2015 (with various artists) (2015)
- Jingle Ball Tour 2016 (with various artists) (2016)
- Summertime Ball Tour 2017 (with various artists) (2017)
- Jingle Ball Tour 2017 (with various artists) (2017)
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