Charlie Puth answers Taylor Swift praise with new song, 'Hero'

After taking a beat to properly digest Taylor Swift name-dropping him with praise on her latest album, The Tortured Poets Department, Charlie Puth has officially entered the chat — because no, just sharing a pic of her on his IG story doesn't count.

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After alluding to the shout-out, by noting how, “These last couple weeks have been really crazy for obvious reasons,” in a video post, Charlie expressed, “I wanted to share something with you.”

Writing in text over a clip of him playing the never before heard track, Charlie said, “This is a song I wrote about my friend called ‘Hero.’"

Sharing he woke up and chose courage by deciding to share the track he initially had reservations about releasing due to its vulnerability, Charlie’s wording has led many to believe his change of heart was heavily encouraged by Swift celebrating his artistry on the title track of her 11th album.

Keeping his “Hero” friend’s identity private, Puth went on to say, “Sometimes I get a little nervous being overly honest in my music which is why this was sitting on my hard drive for awhile. 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.”

See Puth’s tease for his upcoming single “Hero” below.