Charlie Puth is back with a poignant new single titled “Hero,” released today. The song, which Puth describes as a deeply personal reflection on the pain of watching someone you love make self-destructive choices, is a powerful preview of his upcoming album.
“My new song ‘Hero’ is about when you see someone you love hurting themselves, ruining the things in their life that are good, but you just can’t save them,” Puth shared earlier this week, along with the song’s cover art — a warm-hued photo of him lounging in a rose garden. “I’m very excited to share my next album with you, especially this song because it’s a great representation of what’s to come.”
The inspiration for releasing “Hero” came from none other than Taylor Swift. Puth revealed that Swift’s shout-out on her album The Tortured Poets Department played a significant role in his decision. “I’ve never put out a song like this before,” he wrote. “It’s very different for me, but I want to thank @taylorswift for letting me know musically that I just couldn’t keep this on my hard drive any longer.”
Swift’s Billboard 200-topping album featured the lyric, “We declared Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist,” which Puth took as a sign to release his new track. A few weeks after the album’s release, he teased “Hero” on TikTok, writing, “These last couple weeks have been really crazy for obvious reasons, but I wanted to share something with you.”
Puth continued, “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. 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.”
“Hero” follows Puth’s recent singles “Lose My Breath” with Stray Kids, “Lipstick,” and “That’s Not How This Works” with Dan + Shay and Sabrina Carpenter. His last album, Charlie, released in 2022, peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard 200.
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