Charlie Puth moonlighted as music manager

Marvin Gaye singer Charlie Puth used to pretend to be his own manager to try and score a record deal.

The 24-year-old was a relatively unknown singer-songwriter until earlier this year (15), when he co-wrote the song See You Again for the Furious 7 soundtrack as a tribute to late actor Paul Walker. Prior to dominating the pop charts, Charlie studied jazz at Berklee College of Music in Boston. It was there that he stumbled upon a career in pop.

"During my time there I would skip class and go to New York City to wait outside the big executive record stores," he told Hunger magazine. "I would pretend to be my own manager and call them (adopts deeper voice) 'Charlie Puth is here to see you and he has this great record for you…'

"I got into some rooms, yeah, and they'd be like, 'Where's your manager?' I'd have to say, 'OK, listen, I'm sorry but it's just me, listen to my track!' but anyway they still weren't biting and I had to keep hustling back and forth."

His hustling led him to publishing group Miles Beard, and he was able to write See You Again and summertime smash hit Marvin Gaye (which features Meghan Trainor).

See You Again, which features Wiz Khalifa, instantly connected with audiences and was a touching tribute to Fast & Furious actor Paul, who died in a car crash in 2013.

"I like to think of it this way – when I was writing it, I was in a little room and now when I play in giant stadiums every single person knows the lyrics, so the before and after of that is in itself pretty mind-blowing," Charlie said of the song.