Alex Warren was inspired by the singer who made it ‘normal to write about dead people’

Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” just set a new record for the most weeks collectively spent at #1 on the Billboard charts. Between that, his current sold-out tour and multiple awards, there’s no doubt Alex is a bona fide pop star. But he said when he started his music career, he didn’t think that was even possible — until a certain Scottish singer started having some success.

“I always thought you had to be, like, super good-looking to be in thus space, or you had to … [be] something that girls needed to gawk over,” Alex told ABC Audio. “I thought boys just writing sad songs wasn’t really a thing.”

But then Lewis Capaldi hit #1 with his heart-wrenching, Grammy-nominated hit “Someone You Loved,” which was inspired by the death of his grandmother.

“Lewis Capaldi made it a normal thing to have an amazing, angelic voice without looking like you’re the America’s Next Top Model,” Alex said.

“For me, growing up, I’ve never been that super-hot, good-looking dude. I’ve always just been a guy who makes jokes, like the class clown, who also has some emotional issues,” he added. “And I think that was really cool that Lewis made that a normal, cool thing.”

But Alex says Lewis’ success also made him feel like it was OK for him to write songs about the loss of his parents.

As Alex puts it, “He made it normal to write about dead people and losing someone, I guess.”