and us, and we knew from the beginning that the collaboration would not be a sprint, but a marathon. When you hear him perform, you can tell that this is somebody who can convey his emotions in a unique way, touching people around the globe.įrank Briegmann, president/CEO, UMG Central Europe and Deutsche Grammophon: We had a lot of excitement among Capitol, Virgin U.K. Lieberberg: The confidence was there - his personality, the way he handled social media. There was magic in the marriage of his voice and the music and the unassuming pop star. Rosa Asciolla, head of artist and label marketing, North America, Spotify: There was a lot of excitement around Lewis. Globally, he was someone that we wanted to take a chance on in 2017. Here’s how one of 2019’s biggest No. 1s came to be. Of course, both Capaldi and Barnett had some help. Lewis did it brilliantly - and very much in 2019 style.” “And it had been a while since a song like this has been as big as this. “The American public always has had a strong connection to heartbreak songs,” says Capitol Music Group chairman/CEO Steve Barnett, who led the effort to launch Capaldi in America (along with Virgin EMI/Vertigo in the United Kingdom and Universal Music Group Central Europe). It wasn’t propelled to viral popularity through a TikTok clip or meme, it boasted no big-name feature, and Capaldi - a ginger-haired 23-year-old with no heartthrob aspirations - was an unknown stateside and, by his own admission, an unlikely pop star.īut to Capaldi’s team, the reason for the song’s success was fairly simple: Its emotional content deeply resonated with a ready and willing audience, thanks in large part to the talent and commitment of the artist himself.
(It also reigned for multiple weeks on Mainstream Top 40, Adult Top 40 and Radio Songs, and it topped Adult Contemporary for one week.) Yet it was by no means an obvious international hit.
“Someone You Loved” - an anthemic ballad about burning heartbreak - hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in late October and held the top spot for another two weeks in November. What Capaldi didn’t realize then was that five months later, he would be pretty famous in the United States, too.