From Chipotle To The WWE, Alex Warren Is Omnipresent — Even If He Admits He’s ‘The Most Average White Dude You Could Ever Think Of’

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When Alex Warren’s breakthrough hit, “Ordinary,” notched a sixth week astatine No. 1 connected the Billboard Hot 100 successful mid-July, it drew a absorption from 1 of the astir celebrated musicians successful the world. “Suppressor connected the 1 spot,” Drake posted connected Instagram aft the opus kept his ain single, “What Did I Miss?,” retired of the apical position.

Days later, Warren became the archetypal creator to premiere an medium astatine Chipotle Mexican Grill, debuting his caller set, You’ll Be Alright, Kid, crossed astir 4,000 locations of the fast-casual concatenation (and receiving a paper that lets him devour escaped determination for life). Then, astatine the extremity of the month, the WWE utilized “Ordinary” to soundtrack its video tribute to Hulk Hogan pursuing the wrestler’s death.

“The past six months of my beingness person been truly weird,” Warren says, talking from his Nashville location successful aboriginal September earlier helium returns to his sold-out tour.

That’s a large understatement coming from the 25-year-old Chatsworth, Calif., native, who has dominated vigor and integer work providers for months with the uncynical ode to a profoundly transformative emotion that helium released successful February. Written for his wife, societal media influencer Kouvr Annon, the swelling, burly way — deliberation Hozier crossed with Imagine Dragons — spent 10 nonconsecutive weeks astatine No. 1 connected the Hot 100, a feat achieved by lone 4% of chart-toppers successful the chart’s 67-year history. In the United Kingdom, it spent 13 nonconsecutive weeks astatine No. 1 connected the Official Singles Chart, the longest tally for a solo U.S. antheral creator since 1955.

The song’s popularity has made the Atlantic Records creator a popular prima — and a contender for respective Grammy nominations, including champion caller artist. “It’s surreal. I haven’t caught up with it yet,” Warren says of the commotion surrounding him and the song. “I don’t look similar a popular star. I deliberation I look like, literally, the astir mean achromatic dude you could ever deliberation of. If you locomotion into a Buc-ee’s astatine 3 a.m., there’s 4 dudes who look conscionable similar me. When I get done touring and I instrumentality a period oregon truthful off, I deliberation I’m going to person a time of reckoning wherever I conscionable commencement bawling my eyes out, going, ‘What is life?’ ”

Billboard besides crowned “Ordinary” the Song of the Summer, with the tune topping the 20-position play illustration each 14 weeks during the season.

“I genuinely americium conscionable arsenic shocked arsenic everyone else,” helium says of scoring the Song of the Summer. But astatine the aforesaid time, helium understands the hit’s resonance. “I deliberation each azygous twelvemonth there’s ever that wedding opus oregon emotion song. I deliberation ‘Ordinary,’ sonically, has been this breathtaking storytelling record. It’s a opus astir emotion and emotion is sidesplitting it close now.” With its references to beatified h2o and angels, its spiritual elements person besides broadened its appeal. “I deliberation being capable to spot however it’s perceived successful truthful galore lights possibly answers the question of however it’s the opus of the summer,” Warren reasons. (Though the way pulls successful elements of worship music, “I’m a Christian, but I’m not a Christian artist,” helium stresses. Despite his emotion for artists similar Brandon Lake and Forrest Frank, helium has nary plans to marque a modern Christian album.)