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Charlie Puth feared he was ‘over’

Charlie Puth thought his career “as a touring artist” was “over”.

The ‘Loser’ singer is preparing to embark on an eight-date tour of intimate venues in the US later this month before playing four shows in Europe and he admitted he and his team booked theatres for the concerts because he had no idea if he was still popular.

He said: “I put this tour together with my team kind of not knowing where I stood as — I’ll say what no artist will ever say — I did not know where I stood as a touring artist.

“I thought at one point my career as a touring artist was over. I had no idea. It had been like a couple years since I had something on [the] Billboard [charts]. Like, where did I stand as a touring artist?”

Charlie and his team opted for the small tour to test the waters and were thrilled to find it “sold out immediately”.

Another tour is being scheduled for next year and the 30-year-old star admitted it won’t be as intimate.

Speaking on the ‘Billboard Pop Shop’ podcast, he said “[I’m taking it as an opportunity to realise I’m not really going to be able to play these small rooms anymore – and I’m fortunate enough to say that. But one of the best things about playing these small rooms is that you can connect to your fans, like I connect to my fans on TikTok.”

The ‘Light Switch’ singer also admitted he was warned against making his ‘Loser’ music video, in which he plays dueling characters in a clip with no clear storyline, so he’s been delighted by the response to the Wild West-themed promo.

He laughed: “Truly, the video makes no sense at all. I just wanted to make it.

“There is no story. I don’t preface anything as to why the two are dueling or battling.

“The song, it makes zero sense [in the context of the video]. But you know what? Several famous directors have reached out to my creative director and said ‘I didn’t know Charlie acted!’ So maybe I did a good job.

“I was told that I should never make a video like that.

“Because I have to be the cool artist. I gotta make a video where I’m singing to a girl. That video is inspired by movies like ‘Airplane!’ and [its star] Leslie Nielsen. He was one of my favourite actors.”