Charlie Puth
Charlie Puth is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame following his 2016 single “See You Again,” featuring Wiz Khalifa. His debut studio album Voicenotes was released in 2017, peaking at number five on the Billboard 200 chart. In 2018 he collaborated with Maroon 5 on “Girls Like You.”
Early life
Charles Otto Puth Jr. was born December 2,1991, in Rumson,New Jersey, to Debra,a music teacher.
As a two-year- old, his right eyebrow was permanently scarified in a near fatal dog bite incident. His mother introduced him to Classical Music and began teaching him the Piano at age 4. At age 5 he began taking lessons from Ms. Laura Kowalski. She taught him to play the violin and keyboard instruments. By age 7, he had begun playing in local bands. In 1992, he moved to Atlanta, Georgia where he continued his musical studies under Mr. Robert A. Lammi. While attending high school, he played bass guitar in a band called “The Blackout”. During this period, he also studied jazz improvisation under Dr. George Mrazek. After graduating from high school, he enrolled at Kennesaw State University majoring in Jazz Performance. There he met his future wife, Erin, whom he married in 2008. They now live together in Atlanta, Georgia.
In 2009, he graduated from Kennesaw State University, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Jazz Studies.
During college, he performed with several groups including the “Jazz Band”, “KSU Jazz Orchestra”, “Carnival of Souls”, “Tropicana”, “Lazy Bones”, “The Blackout”, “The Wreckers”, and “The Rhythm Kings”. He also worked as a substitute teacher while studying at Kennesaw State.
His career took off in 2010 when he joined the band “The Hounds”.
He toured extensively throughout North America, Europe, Asia, Australia and South Africa. He recorded 3 albums with The Hounds. Their debut album “Ain’t Gonna Let You Get Away With This” was released in 2011. Their second album “Worthless” was released in 2013. The third album “Hound Dog” was released in 2016. In late 2012, he left The Hounds to pursue a solo career.
In August 2013, he formed his own group, “The Charles Otto Puth Quartet” featuring himself as lead vocalist, guitarist, pianist and composer. On October 31st, 2013, he released his first EP titled “I’m Not Your Man” independently.
Career
In 2009, Puth began uploading videos to his personal YouTube account. He uploaded comedic sketches, parodies, and cover versions of popular songs. In 2011, Puth launched his own record label, called Charli Records, releasing an EP titled Ego.
On August 25, 2012, Puth announced via Twitter that he had signed a publishing deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing. Later that same month, he released his debut single, “Thinking About You”, featuring American singer Skylar Grey.
The following year, Puth released his second single, “I’m Your Boyfriend”. In April 2013, Puth released his third single, “Boy Problems”. His fourth single, “What If I Don’t”, was released in May 2013. “What If I Don’t” peaked at number 11 on Billboard’s US Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart.
On February 14, 2014, Puth released the lead single from his upcoming debut album, “Call Me Maybe”. On June 3, Puth released his fifth single, “Carry Out”. On July 17, he released his sixth single, “We Can Work it Out”. On November 18, he released his seventh single, “Happy Holidays”.
His eighth single, “Birthday Sex”, was released on December 30, 2014. On January 7, 2015, Puth released his ninth single, “Teenage Dream”. On January 13, Puth released his
2015–2016: “See You Again” and Nine Track Mind
In January 2016, Puth uploaded a cover version of Wiz Khalifa’s hit song “See You Again”. He had been inspired by the film Furious 7, which features several scenes set in Tokyo. Puth performed the song live for the first time during a concert held at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan.
On April 21, 2016, Puth released his second EP, Nine Track Mind, featuring nine tracks including his covers of songs such as “I Took A Pill In Ibiza” by David Guetta featuring Sam Martin, “Hey Mama” by Justin Bieber, “Lonely Together” by Jason Derulo, “All About That Bass” by Meek Mill featuring Drake, and “Moves Like Jagger” by Maroon 5 featuring Christina Aguilera.
The album debuted atop the US Billboard 200 chart, selling over 102,000 copies in its first week.
2017–2018: Voicenotes
On April 21, 2017, American hip hop recording artist Pharrell Williams released the lead single “Attention” from his second studio album, titled Voicenotes. The song was produced by frequent collaborator Mark Ronson, and it reached number five on the US Billboard Hot 100. In doing so, he became the fifth rapper in history to reach the peak position twice. He also became the first person to achieve this feat since Drake did it three times. The song received positive reviews from music critics, many of whom complimented the production and noted similarities to songs by Frank Ocean and Kanye West. It was eventually certified platinum by Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
The following week, on May 4, 2017, Puth announced via Twitter that he would release another single off Voicenotes called “Done For Me”. This track was produced by DJ Mustard and features guest vocals from American singer Kehlani. On March 15, 2018 Puth released the third single “Change” featuring American musician James Taylor.
In November 2017, Puth performed “Attention” live at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards.
In January 2018, Puth revealed that he planned to collaborate with British singer Adele on a new project entitled Love Yourself: Her.
Voicenotes was released on February 23, 2018. The album debuted atop the US Billboard 200, selling 154,000 copies in its opening week, making it Puth’s best sales week ever in the United States. As of June 2019, the album has sold 852,000 copies in the United States according to Nielsen Music.
“2017–2018”
On March 15, 2018, Puth announced that he would release the fourth single “Change”.