Since the release of his debut single in 2015, Charlie Puth has become one of the rising stars in music. What was his first song?
Charlie Puth’s first studio single was “Marvin Gaye”, released in February 2015. The song was a collaboration with Meghan Trainor. He had previously released several songs independently online but “Marvin Gaye” announced Puth as a global star, reaching number one in the UK, Ireland and New Zealand.
For more on Charlie Puth’s rise to fame and his first song, read on.
Charlie Puth
Charles Otto Puth Jr was born in Rumson, New Jersey on December 2, 1991. His father, Charles Puth Sr, was a real estate agent and builder, while his mother, Debra, worked as a music teacher and contributed to HBO commercials.
He also has twin younger siblings, brother Stephen and sister Mikaela. His father was Catholic and his mother was Jewish.
When he was just two years old, Puth’s face was bitten by a dog, severely injuring him and leaving his right eyebrow with a recognizable scar.
Unsurprisingly given his mother’s professional, Puth was introduced to classical music as a four-year-old, learning to play the piano. He expanded into genres as he grew older, transitioning to jazz at ten.
At twelve, he joined a youth jazz ensemble at Count Basie’s Theatre’s Cool School in New Jersey and performed in a production based on the “Peanuts” comic strips.
While he was still in the sixth grade, Puth recorded his own Christmas album, “Have a Merry Charlie Christmas”, and made $600 in door-to-door sales. In a sense, this could be considered his first professional album.
While in his final years of high school, Puth attended the Manhattan School of Music Pre-College, majoring in jazz piano and minoring in classical studies. He graduated from the Berklee College of Music in 2013, majoring in music production and engineering.
Internet Fame
Puth started a YouTube channel, “Charlie’s Vlogs”, in 2009 where he presented comedy shorts and acoustic covers of songs. He uploaded a video for his song “These Are My Sexy Shades” in 2010, making it his first song released online. He released his debut EP, “The Otto Tunes”, later that year.
Together with Emily Luther, Puth won an online video competition performing “Someone like You” by Adele. The duo performed on “Ellen” and Ellen DeGeneres was so impressed that she signed both Puth and Luther to eleveneleven, her record label.
The pair continued to collaborate through 2011 and 2012 but Puth had left the label by the end of the year.
Puth continued to work independently, releasing “Ego”, his second online EP, and created numerous theme songs and jingles for other YouTube personalities. In 2014 he co-wrote Pitbull’s song “Celebrate”.
A Fresh Start
In 2015, Puth signed a deal with Atlantic Records, and his existing music was removed from iTunes, essentially giving him a clean slate as an artist. His debut studio single, “Marvin Gaye”, was released in February and featured Meghan Trainor.
The song appeared on his third EP and first released by a studio, “Some Type of Love” and later on his first studio album, “Nine Track Mind”.
After Puth had already begun working on the song, he met Meghan Trainor at a party and they agreed that it should be a duet, with Trainor asking to collaborate with Puth. It marked a departure for Trainor as her first release that she did not have a hand in writing.
Puth has claimed that the doo-wop song was intended to give an impression of what traditional Motown soul might sound like if made today. It includes several references to classic soul songs and artists, including Marvin Gaye.
The song reached the number one spot in the charts of the UK, Ireland, and New Zealand and rose as high as number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States.