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How Did Alex Warren’s ‘Ordinary’ Become One of the Year’s Most Extraordinary Breakout Stories?
Alex Warren's "Ordinary" has become one of the year's biggest breakout hits. Billboard staffers discuss how it got to No. 1.
1 seemed very possible — having seen some similar trajectories for other big-voiced male ballads in the last year-plus — but while “Lose Control” and “Too Sweet” hit the summit in 2024, “Beautiful Things” never made it, so “Ordinary” wasn’t a lock. Kyle Denis: “Ordinary” largely operates in the same vocal and guitar-driven pop-rock space that’s housed recent Hot 100 chart-toppers like Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control” and Hozier’s “Too Sweet.” With Myles Smith (“Stargazing”), Benson Boone (“Beautiful Things”) and Shaboozey (“Good News”) all earning hits with different takes on the sound, consumers clearly haven’t gotten tired of it yet. Jason Lipshutz: A little over a year after Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control” and Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” became inescapable hits — and pretty much remain so today — a market still exists for brash, soulful sing-alongs from full-throated male pop vocalists.
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