Taylor Swift seems to have inspired fellow pop star Charlie Puth to release what he has described as “one of the hardest songs” he’s ever written after Swift gave him a shout-out on her latest album, The Tortured Poets Department.
The Eras artist caused a frenzy among fans when a leaked lyric showed her praising Puth on the title track, as she sings: “We declared Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist.”
Puth, known for hits including “Attention” and “We Don’t Talk Anymore”, shared the news of his new single with fans on Instagram on Tuesday (21 May).
“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,” he wrote.
“It’s one of the hardest songs I’ve ever had to write, but I wrote it hoping that you’ve gone through something similar in your life, and that it can fill in the BLANK for you like it did for me.
“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. I’ve never put out a song like this before- 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.”
He added: “‘HERO’ is yours on 24 May and this is the single artwork. Thank you to all of my fans... you’ll never know how much you mean to me.”
Puth also shared the artwork for the song, which was shot by photographer Maddy Rotman. It shows him reclining in a lawn chair surrounded by roses, shielding his eyes from the sun.
Swift released her 11th studio album on 19 April, going on to shatter a number of records across streaming and physical sales.
A number of songs on the album, including the title track, are widely believed to be about her brief fling with The 1975 frontman Matty Healy, as well as exploring her heartbreak following the end of her six-year relationship with British actor Joe Alwyn.
Upon the album’s release, Swift wrote a message to fans: “This period of the author’s life is now over, the chapter closed and boarded up. There is nothing to avenge, no scores to settle once wounds have healed. And upon further reflection, a good number of them turned out to be self-inflicted.
“This writer is of the firm belief that our tears become holy in the form of ink on a page. Once we have spoken our saddest story, we can be free of it”.
The Independent’s Helen Brown gave the album five stars, praising Swift’s storytelling power. “In keeping with the literary (if ungrammatical) album title, Swift is on her most piercingly polysyllabic form here,” she wrote.
The artist is bringing her hugely anticipated Eras Tour to the UK and Ireland from 7 June, performing shows at stadiums in cities including Edinburgh, Liverpool, Cardiff, Dublin and London.
