If the enormous smile plastered across Teddy Swims’ face for the better part of both Coachella 2026 weekends told you anything, the chart-topping singer is happiest when surrounded by great friends. While the Georgia-born powerhouse has scored sold-out shows, Grammy nominations as well as the record for the longest-charting single ever on the Billboard Hot 100, the achievement he seems most proud of is doing all this with a core group of friends by his side.
Swims’ Friday evening set became one of the festival’s earliest big headlines. He brought out Joe Jonas for a duet on the Jonas Brothers’ 2007 single “When You Look Me in the Eyes.” He welcomed Vanessa Carlton to the stage to sing — and accompany him on piano for — her 2002 smash “A Thousand Miles.” And there was legendary Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth, striding out to deliver their ’80s classic “Jump.” By Weekend 2, Roth was back for more and, in a full-circle gesture, Swims returned the favor on the final day of Coachella by popping on stage to perform “Lose Control” alongside fellow soul singer and past collaborator Givēon.
After posting that his first performance marked “the best day of my life” on Instagram, Swims explained over Zoom — smiling from a sunny hangout spot near Coachella Valley — what made it so.
“It just felt like everything was just aligning for us to be able to do that and share space with so many people,” he says. “Me, my pals and my band have been together for our whole lives doing this and hoping to get to this stage. Those things kind of fell into place and it was almost like everything was just working out for our good and it was too good to be true, you know? I was like life is so sweet.”
The Jonas Brothers were meaningful to Teddy long before any of this with the singer seeing their concert when he was just a teenager.
“When I was 15, I went to see Jonas Brothers at Lakewood Amphitheater in Atlanta,” he recalls of his connection with the middle Jo Bro. “Me and my first girlfriend at the time, that was our song. So, him agreeing to do that song with me was like the coolest thing ever. We had met a couple years ago in London. He came to one of our shows and we stayed in touch since. I haven’t met any of the other brothers yet, but Joe has been so sweet, man. He is the coolest dude.”
Vanesa Carlton came into his orbit through an equally unforced chemistry — the two hadn’t even met before rehearsals. Days after the set, she texted him about glowing words he’d shared about her with the media. “I did this press quote about it and said, ‘What an angel, what a wonderful person,’ and how nice she was. She texted me a couple days ago like, ‘Thank you for all those kind words, but I’m not that nice,’” he recalls, laughing. “I was like, ‘Girl!!’”
Roth’s appearance was also accidental yet cosmically timed when they connected as Diamond Dave was rehearsing next to Swims. “We ended up getting so close and talking about all the ’80s war stories on his travel day,” Swims says of the frontman, who returned to join him for Weekend 2 as well. “It was really awesome.”
As fun as it is to have megastars on stage with you, Teddy is also sure to shout out his longtime band in his Instagram captions — Freak Freely, who have a devoted following all their own — and give the same acknowledgment as the famous guests. Surrounding himself with old pals while meeting musicians he admires speaks to his philosophy of friendship.
“I think there’s a balance,” he says. “I’m still so green at this life at 33, but I’m getting into this level of where it’s great to hear from and become close with people that have been doing this at a way bigger level than I have when I’m just walking in, you know? So, it’s been so wonderful to have people like David Lee Roth. Or Thomas Rhett, for instance, has been such a big person in my life, especially having a family now. I mean, he’s got five of them [kids] and he’s still somehow found this balance; it’s great to have that as friends. But I’ve been with my same friends that are in my band my whole life. So, the beautiful thing as this does escalate is your buddies from way before will keep you humble and still call you a punk when you need to hear it. They’re never impressed by anything you do! They’ll still make fun of you and you gotta have that.”
That same pull toward ongoing, authentic connection runs directly into his creative process too.
Released earlier this month, his latest single “Mr. Know It All” arrives with a familiar roster of collaborators in producer-songwriters Ammo, Julian Bunetta and John Ryan, who have been part of Swims’ hits like “Lose Control,” “Bad Dreams” and “The Door,” the latter of which soundtracks Swims’ new White Claw partnership spot.
Working with Ammo, Julian Bunetta and John Ryan is less a professional arrangement than an ongoing friendship for Teddy lean on amid the pressures of rising superstardom.
“I fell so in love with Julian and John,” Teddy says, noting that his first-ever co-writing session was with Bunetta, whose 20-plus years of credits include One Direction, Sabrina Carpenter and Olivia Dean. “Julian has been such a wonderful friend; a hero, mentor and, again, a person that understands the balance of this crazy life and literally helped me keep my head on straight going through this. He’s watched artists do this, guided them through this, and been such a therapist in so many ways too. He asks me what’s going on in my life, helps me put it into words, and cares about me. I’ll never go anywhere else, you know? That’s my dude.”
The track also marks Swims’ first collaboration with British singer-songwriter Ed Drewett, who entered Teddy’s life at a moment of particular turbulence but immediately made himself available. “I came into the session with Ammo, Julian and Ed being like, ‘This might be an aggressive way to meet somebody, but I just gotta lay it all on the table and tell you everything,’” he says of Drewett, whose credits span The Wanted and Little Mix to Jonas Blue and Pabllo Vittar. “He just held space for me immediately — ‘Tell me everything, just dump it.’ It was such an easy thing with him. Ed and I have gotten so close so fast.”
Which brings everything, in its own organic way, to Teddy Swims’ new chapter.
With his sophomore full-length on the way, Swims partnered with White Claw on a year-round live music campaign that includes an intimate “White Claw Sessions” performance in the Hamptons hosted by Teddy, sponsorship of his upcoming arena run, The Ugly Tour, and more. Swims frames the team-up with the hard seltzer brand in terms consistent with everything else he shared at Coachella with his insistence on genuine togetherness.
“I love that White Claw also has this burden for real connection, bringing people together and it feels like we’re so aligned on just how do we keep things intimate and loving, caring about one another and being real connective,” Swims, whose favorite White Claw flavor is Ruby Grapefruit, says of the partnership. “In a space where people are so connected via the ether of the internet, it’s hard to find real connections, real conversations and real feelings. I’d rather intimacy any day of the week…the biggest obstacle with the arena tour is gonna be how do we keep it feeling that intimate? I want to protect that space.”
The question of connection and intimacy appears to color everything Swims is building right now. His upcoming LP preserves his soul and R&B foundation while reaching toward the classic rock and new wave sounds that shaped him growing up, noting influences like Sting and the Police, Phil Collins and Genesis woven into his mix.
“We’ve been creating more in other parts of me that I grew up with,” Teddy shares with his signature warmth. “That kind of world of a little bit of classic ’80s rock influences with some soul. I think we got something special coming.”
Teddy Swims’ Ugly Tour runs this fall from September through November with tickets on sale this Friday, April 24.
