Charlie Puth Thanked Taylor Swift For Encouraging His Song "Hero"
Sounds like he's about to become a bigger artist.
Charlie Puth is finally embracing his inner tortured poet. A month after Taylor Swift surprisingly name-dropped the singer on The Tortured Poets Department, Puth shared a thank-you note and revealed how the unexpected lyric encouraged him to release an experimental new song. So, it sounds like fans can thank Swift for Puth’s new sound.
On May 21, Puth announced his new single “Hero,” marking his first release as a lead artist in nearly a year. He disclosed that this was “one of the hardest songs I’ve ever had to write,” revealing it’s inspired by seeing someone you love ruining their life and being unable to help them. He also said “Hero” is “very different” from anything he’s released before, and thanked Swift for giving him the push to try out this new direction.
“I’ve never put out a song like this before- it’s very different for me,” Puth wrote. “But I want to thank Taylor Swift for letting me know musically that I just couldn’t keep this on my hard drive any longer.”
The shoutout is, of course, in response to the increased attention Puth has been receiving from Swifties since The Tortured Poets Department dropped. In the album’s title track, Swift sings about a conversation she had about Puth with an ex: “You smoked, then ate seven bars of chocolate / We declared Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist.”
The unexpected lyric caused a small ripple of drama, but for the most part, it seemed to shine a renewed spotlight on Puth’s musicianship. Puth didn’t directly respond to the mention until this thank-you message, although he had hinted at knowing what was going on. A few days after the album released, he reposted Swift’s post promoting it to his Instagram.
He made an even cheekier wink to “The Tortured Poets Department” when previewing “Hero” in a May 7 video, chomping down on a chocolate bar in the middle of showing off how he mixed the track. It may not have been seven whole bars of chocolate, but just one was enough for Swifties to get the message.
