Warren Zeiders has a whiteboard in his house where he writes himself daily reminders. But there's one that always stays: a quote that reads, "Nothing changes if nothing changes."
That sentiment couldn't be more fitting for the 25-year-old, whose life has changed drastically over the last few years. After an injury derailed his plans to pursue a career in lacrosse, Zeiders pivoted to music in 2021, and immediately made waves with the viral single "Ride the Lightning." Just three years later, he's one of country music's most unique new male voices, who has already scored a No. 1 hit and headlined multiple sold-out tours.
"I'm a firm believer, in three years of doing this, that this is what I was put here on this Earth to do," Zeiders tells GRAMMY.com. "I couldn't envision myself doing anything else. It's so funny how things have a way of working out."
What's perhaps even more remarkable about Zeiders' country music success story is that he had never even written a song prior to 2021. Stats aside, it's undeniable that he's a star — from the compelling grit of his voice and his candidly emotional lyrics, to his onstage swagger. Music clearly comes naturally, because Zeiders has already released his second album.
Relapse, the follow-up to 2023's Pretty Little Poison, offers a deeper look into Zeiders' artistry, from the racing, pop-tinged title track, to the impassioned ballad "High Desert Road," to the harrowing confessional "Devil I Know." It further proves he's equally unafraid to be raw in his storytelling and to push his vocal ability, both attributes that have helped him break through in the booming country music scene.
Just four days after Relapse arrived, Zeiders hit the road with Jelly Roll on The Beautifully Broken Tour. The Pennsylvania-born singer will serve as direct support on the two-month trek, which will hit arenas around the United States including New York's famed Madison Square Garden — adding more huge milestones to his already stacked resume.
"It does nothing but motivate me and want me to push that much harder," Zeiders says of the tour. And with The Relapse Tour already set for the spring of 2025, he's ready for things to only keep getting bigger. "I'm a personality that always likes to be growing, expanding and trying new things. So we'll see what the future holds."
Ahead of releasing Relapse, Zeiders reflected on his major achievements over the past year. Below, hear from the budding star himself about landing a No. 1 hit with "Pretty Little Poison," winning his first award and more.
I think a lot of people forget I was an athlete my whole life. I was playing lacrosse for 12 years. That was my livelihood, that was my passion, that was everything to me. Obviously I love music and I love what I get to do, but music wasn't a lifetime goal when I was a little kid. It wasn't until COVID had hit where I started posting videos on social media, and things started to kind of snowball.
I firmly believe that the good Lord always did have music on my heart, because I always loved to sing and play guitar, but it was just nothing that I ever thought was worth pursuing. That all to be said, I think I did have a healthy chip on my shoulder [about my first album]. I did want to solidify myself [as] not a flash in the pan, not just a dude who had a viral moment on social media. I took that and kind of just ran with it, and was like, I know the gift that I believe that the good Lord gave me, and my fan base is growing, and people are showing up to these shows.
So when it came to making my debut record, I really did take my time on that. I was very selective with the songs, and [tried] to make my first cohesive body of work. It was one of the most stressful times of my life, because I was so hard on myself — and always have been, whether it was in sports or now doing this — but I really did want to prove it to myself, and want to prove it to the people that were already believing in me.
When that album finally came out, I felt so much relief for a moment. [I also know] that now is the time to continuously push the record and let people know it's out. But it's made me grow so much in my artistry and have more faith in myself.
I actually got really, really sick when my album dropped. The following day, I was like, deathly sick signing thousands of records for fans. I wasn't contagious, but it was just a fun story to look back on. It's God's sense of humor, just letting you know you're still alive.
I remember posting it for the first time on Instagram. I can vividly remember the clip; it was of me in the vocal booth singing. That song, I must have sang over 100-plus times [in the booth]. I was beating myself up so much to the point of, like, I'm not believing the person singing this song right now. I was having to get myself back into that headspace [of] when I wrote it.
I took that clip and threw it up on social media. It got a decent amount of views, but it was nothing crazy. It wasn't until almost a week later, when I posted another video of me in the studio, sitting with my engineer at the time, in the studio, listening back. And I remember texting my manager, being like, "Um, this thing's going uber viral right now," and he was like, "I think we got one."
We were seeing the thing unfold before its release, and then when it came out, through the streaming numbers and the interactions on social media, we knew that we had something special. I had faith in it from the beginning, and seeing what it was doing performance-wise, on the streaming side, I was like, This is a great piece of art to take to country radio… It'll be my first kind of splash into the scene. And lo and behold, 34 weeks on the charts, and it's a No. 1 — a pretty fast climb.
The night it officially went No. 1, I had my dad out on the road, which was super cool. We were playing a place called Emo's in Austin, Texas. I vividly remember popping off a bottle of champagne after the show and giving a speech, and then we went across the street and played a couple rounds of pool. [And] my momma surprised me when I got home that weekend. She made me breakfast and had number one balloons and everything.
Shout out to my CEO, Aaron Bay-Schuck, over at Warner L.A. When we first met, he was like, "You get about one victory lap for each win." I'm a firm believer in that, just from my athletic background. It's one thing to soak the win in for a second, but the reality is, the job's never done. As a guy who has been doing it for a short term, but I plan to be for a long time, and I have very high goals for myself — that is, stepping into arenas and stadiums one day myself. It's gonna take time, a lot of effort, but the job's never done.
It wasn't that I was nervous, it was just a new experience, and it was trusting in my ability and trusting in my gift and being like, This is another day in the office. The song was officially already No. 1, and that gives you a little bit more confidence when you're singing it for the first time on live television.
I was actually supposed to play "Kimmel" the year prior, but the writer's strike had occurred. Once they got back on the air, it lined up almost a year to year to the date, of me finally getting onto Jimmy Kimmel. Rather than playing it on live television when the song had recently just come out, ["Pretty Little Poison" was a] No. 1 song, and [had] hundreds of millions of streams, and [it was] double platinum.
Unfortunately, Jimmy wasn't there by the time we got in to record. And we waited as long as we could to hopefully see if he was going to be back, but, you know, I can relate — we all have our busy schedules. We had to catch a flight. We were flying back to Nashville, and me and some of the guys on my team, we got to watch [the performance] on our Southwest flight. It was super cool.
Winning His First Award, The CMT Music Award For Breakthrough Male Video
Two days prior, I did some interviews, and they were like, "How are you feeling about your first nomination?" I was like, "I'm excited to accept my award on Sunday night." The only moment of doubt I had was when it finally came down to the nominees for my [category]. I was like, Man, you're up against great competition here. Those few moments were up, and they said my name. And I was like, Okay, that's right.
My mom, dad and sister were all at the CMT Awards — mom and sister were, like, 10 rows behind us, but me and my dad were in the seats with all the artists. My dad has always been my best friend and my biggest supporter, and I attest a lot of my success to how he and my mom raised me — my work ethic, my drive and my faith, and how I view life and what I want to achieve.
That being said, I did get emotional when I accepted my award. I stood up and gave [my dad] a really big hug, and I could already see him tearing up. And when I went to take the stage, I was like, Just make sure you give thanks to God, and keep it short and sweet. I want to make sure I thank the fans a lot. And it was second nature to say something about my dad.
I have a wall dedicated for "Pretty Little Poison" plaques, and then I have some mantles in my kitchen/living room space. I've got the CMT award next to my first vinyl of the Pretty Little Poison album, my Opry sign from when I played it for the first time, my letter that I wrote to my fans when the Pretty Little Poison album dropped. Just a lot of cool, fun stuff. It's the inner athlete of me. [Laughs.]
I was [still] learning my voice. Your voice is a muscle. [Singing is] my daily grind of working out — the time and the energy, and just putting in the hours of work. My voice had developed so much from posting videos on social media to then going out and singing night after night. You're constantly growing and figuring yourself out.
The same applies to the writing mentality. The more you do it, the more you know what you want to say. It's been a lot of fun, and I've really gotten a good grasp on what I wanted to say on that first record, and now, this new one.
I like to say there's a lot of different facets to [my] artistry. I'm really excited about this album, but there are definitely other things in the works for the near future. So let's just say what's coming out in August is a great sampler — some tastes and flavors of what's to come.
Obviously, there's music in this new [album that's] a reincarnation of Pretty Little Poison, lyrically and musically. But then there's stuff that's acoustic driven, like "Addictions," [which is] meant for you to soak in the words that I'm saying. But then there is stuff like "Relapse" that fits more into that modern — I don't even know if I want to say pop, but it's a different side of me.
I've been very hands-on with my producers on this music. And whether somebody likes this song or doesn't like this song, they can find something in this project that they like. It's gonna keep the fan base that's already pre-existing and it's going to bring in a new side too, which I'm really excited for.
Hitting The Road With Jelly Roll
Here's what I'll say: it won't be new to me in numbers. What'll be new to me is the atmosphere.
I've been doing the whole headlining thing since I started hitting the road, minus, obviously, festivals and stuff like that. But these will be the biggest arenas I've stepped into, and being direct support for Jelly Roll, who is having an iconic year, I think it just was a match made in heaven for us to come together and hit the road.
The rooms are getting bigger, but it just gives you that much more of a taste to be like, Let's go put on a hell of a show. Before you know it, you keep working your ass off, and we'll be playing these places and headlining them ourselves.
I've gotten a chance to talk to Jelly Roll and his bandmates quite a bit, and they're just good people. I'm sure there'll be a bunch of fun going on behind backstage and in the parking lots — I guess he's bringing a portable gym, ice baths and saunas. And I'm like, "Dude, you're speaking my love language." So I'm sure there'll be a lot of stories to tell — and not tell.