Alex Warren

Alexander Warren Hughes was born in Carlsbad, California. His father died from kidney cancer when Warren was nine, and his father had encouraged his interest in music by giving him a Fender guitar and introducing him to artists including Coldplay, Linkin Park, and Train.

Warren has described his childhood as difficult. At 18, his mother kicked him out of the house, after which he was homeless and often slept in friends' cars. He has two sisters and one brother, and was raised Catholic.

Warren began making YouTube videos at 10 and started posting skateboarding content to Instagram in May 2015. His early videos included vlogs, stunts, skateboarding, and first-person prank material. He later built a large audience on TikTok and Instagram using the hashtag #WarHeads.

In November 2019, Warren co-founded the Los Angeles-based TikTok collective the Hype House and came up with its name. He also hosted AwesomenessTV's YouTube reality competition series Next Influencer in 2020 and appeared in Netflix's Hype House, which premiered in 2022. He left the collective that year, and later created the podcast Locked in with Alex Warren.

Warren independently released his debut single, "One More I Love You," in June 2021. He began writing the song at 13 about his father's death. After releasing additional independent tracks, he signed with Atlantic Records in August 2022 and issued "Headlights" as his first single through the label.

His 2024 extended play You'll Be Alright, Kid (Chapter 1) included "Burning Down," which became his first Billboard Hot 100 entry. In February 2025, he released "Ordinary," which reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and charts in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The song spent six consecutive weeks at number one in the United States and 12 consecutive weeks at number one in the United Kingdom.

The 21-track album You'll Be Alright, Kid expanded on the earlier project with songs about grief, healing, resilience, and optimism. Its collaborations included Jelly Roll on "Bloodline" and Rosé on "On My Mind," while a remix of "Burning Down" featured Joe Jonas. Warren won MTV's Best New Artist award in 2025 and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 2026.

Warren has spoken openly about anxiety and depression, including the depression he experienced after his mother's death in 2021. He has described songwriting and music as forms of therapy that helped him process grief, childhood trauma, and the effects of his upbringing.

Raised Catholic, Warren now identifies as a Christian. Biblical references and worship music have influenced his songwriting, although he has said that his music is not exclusively within the Christian genre. His faith and relationship with God appear in songs including "Ordinary" and "Save You a Seat."

Warren met Kouvr Annon on Snapchat in 2018 while he was homeless and living in his car. Annon moved from Hawaii to California a few months later to live with him, and the two were both members of the Hype House.

The couple became engaged in 2022 and married in Escondido, California, on June 22, 2024. Annon has inspired several of Warren's songs, including "Carry You Home," "Ordinary," "Everything," and "The Outside," and appeared in the music video for "Ordinary."