How ‘Lose Control’ singer Teddy Swims survived drowning in a ‘toxic’ relationship — and became pop’s breakout star
As one of the biggest breakouts in pop 👍this year, Teddy Swims has ridden the wave of his soul-crushing smash all the way to No. 2 on the .
And it’s taken a triumvirate of music’s mightiest — Beyoncé, Kanye West and Ariana Grande — to keep the 🐻singer-songwriter born Jaten Collin Dimsdale from hitting the to♌p spot the past three weeks.
“Everybody keeps getting in the way,” Swims told The Post over Zoom from his Sherman Oaks, Calif., home. 🗹“They’re not trying to let the new kid have it, you know what I mean?”
Still, nothing can sink Swims after the slowꦯ-building success of the first single from hi💃s debut album, “I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy (Part 1),” which was released last September.
“It’s h🎃onestly an honor,” he said. “Like, none of these people ha🔥ve ever been in my way before, so it’s great to be in the conversation.
“I’m 🌠sure at some point … Kanye had to have said, like, ‘Who the hell is Teddy Swims?’ ” he added with a laugh. “And that makes me happy.”
But although Ye and many other industry biggies — as well as discerning mus🍨ic fans all over the map — may just be discoveri🌜ng Swims, the soulful Georgia troubadour is no overnight sensation: In fact, after making his debut in 2019, he released his first EP, in 2021.
“Well, you know, as they say … it takes 10 years to build an overnight success,” said Swims. “I’ve been in bands my whole life try🌳ing to make something happen. So I definitely feel justified.”
And now, at 31, he’s in a “more mature” place where he won’t lose control with his newfound fame. “As impatient aﷺs I was two years ago, I bet I would have just spun out [of control],” said Swims. “You know, I probably would have just threw it all away into my liver or something.”
Swims has also benefited from the k💖ind of artist development at his label Warner Records that doesn’t always happen with today’s Tik𒆙Tok signees.
“Some people just write a good song in a bedroom, and they get swallowed up and spit out,” he said. “These labels are signing these kids, and if they don’t get a second hit, t💮hey’re just done.”
However, Swims himself used social media to showcase his powerful pipes on YouTube by posting covers of everything from Michael Jackson’s “Rock with You” to Bonnie Raitt’s to Shania Twain’s🌊
“I was able to kind of show all the things that influenced me and inspired me,” said the Atlanta native, who grew up on such classic soul men as Ray Charles, Al Green and Otis Redding, his “No. 1 of all time.”
Now it’s Swims who is inspiring range- and run-testing▨ covers of “Lose Contr𒀰ol.”
“It’s the s♉wꦆeetest thing in the world to me to see people absolutely murder it too, man,” he said. “They just absolutely kill it.”
But the story behind “Lose Control” — based on a “toxic” relationship in which “we were kind of codependent on each other” — isn’t so sweet.&nb🔥sp;
“The substance of our relationship kindꦐ of was the substances we were abusing at the time,” said꧅ Swims. “And so we kind of were just living this awful lifestyle. And … we were both pulling each other back and forth in this world.”
Making “I’ve Tried Eve✨rything But Therapy (Part 1)” helped to heal both his heart and his mental health🤡.
“I was going through quite a breakup at the time, and I think music has been some sort of therapy for me in my life,” Swims said. “I hadn’t tried therapy, and … I think there’s some generational idea or mindset about therapy that’s like, ‘Oh, I don’t need therapy or I don’t need a shrink. I’m not crazy.’ ”
And while Swims is hopingꦆ to open up the mental-health conversation, he has already connected☂ with fans who can relate to the raw vulnerability coming from someone who is not your typical pop pinup.
“I should not be at the cool kids’ table,” he said. “I’m an insecure, neurotic, little chunky scared old man up there. And I think that’s what kꩲind of helps nowadays because people can see that, and they’re like, ‘Man, if that guy can do it … then, like, truly anybody can do it.’ ”
Now, as the rising star is working on “Part 2,” he remains grounded by his longtime band members — including guitarist Jesse Hampton, his “best pal” since middle school — who knew him before he became . (“Teddy” is a childhood nickname, while “Swims” is an acronym for ”someone who isn’t me sometimes.”)
And they’ll have his back singಞing “Lose Control” for years t🐓o come.
൲“It is kind of nuts,” said Swims. “I’m truly grateful for it.”
But, he quipped, “20 years from now, you’re going to be sick of that song tha༒t you’re going to be singing forever.”
