Charlie Puth is seemingly proving to fans that he should be a “bigger artist.”
Puth, 32, took to TikTok on Friday, May 3, to debut his new single, “Hero.”
“These last couple weeks have been really crazy for obvious reasons, but I wanted to share something with you,” he captioned his post. “This is a song I wrote about my friend called ‘Hero.’ Sometimes I get a little nervous being overly honest in my music, which is why this was sitting on my hard drive for a while.”
Puth continued, “But I think someone out there was giving me a sign that I needed to release it. So … I declare ‘Hero’ will be out everywhere on May 24th as the first single of my new album. Thank you for your support … you know who you are.”
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When Taylor Swift released her 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, on April 19, fans were surprised that Puth was name-dropped. (Days after the record came out, Puth reposted one of Swift’s photos from the recording studio onto his Instagram Story.)
“We smoked and ate seven bars of chocolate / We declared Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist,” Swift, 35 sings on the title track referring to an unnamed partner, which fans presume to be her ex Matty Healy. (Healy, 35, notably tweeted praise for Puth back in 2018.)
@charlieputh Thank you
Swift’s fans flooded Puth’s TikTok comments with their theories that his caption aligns with the TTPD lyrics.
“We declared Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist. Couldn’t agree more,” one fan wrote as another added, “You should be a bigger artist!!”
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Other Swifties pointed out that Puth’s use of “you know who you are” is considered an “iconic reference.” When Swift briefly dated Healy, fans thought they saw the pair mouthing those same words to one another — along with “I love you” — during their respective concerts.
Swift was touring her Eras shows across North America during her brief fling with Healy in spring 2023. The 1975 frontman attended multiple concerts in the U.S. before he and Swift went their separate ways that May.
Swift has since moved on with NFL star Travis Kelce, while Healy has recently been dating Gabbriette Bechtel. The Grammy winner did give Healy a heads-up about the TTPD tracks mined from their connection.
“Matty still thinks very highly of Taylor but we were all nervous about what she might have said on the album,” a source exclusively told Us Weekly last month, noting Healy “couldn’t be happier” with how Swift portrayed him.
Swift dated Healy following her breakup with Joe Alwyn, whom she dated for six years. Alwyn, 33, also presumably inspired TTPD songs, as did Kelce, 34.
