The short version you've probably heard: a big guy with face tattoos and a huge voice posted a Michael Jackson cover, went viral, and a few years later had the biggest song in America.
It's true, but it skips about ten years, a manager, a major label, hundreds of unheard songs and a radio campaign. The fuller version below uses only what's been reported.
1. The one-line version
A server at Chili's who had sung in Atlanta bands for years posted a cover in June 2019, signed to Warner Records six months later, then spent about four years writing hundreds of originals before "Lose Control" climbed to No. 1 on the Hot 100 in March 2024.
2. Starting point (verified)
Who: Jaten Dimsdale, from Conyers, Georgia, outside Atlanta, as reported by ArtsATL.
Job: Waiting tables at Chili's in 2019, as reported by The Dallas Morning News.
Music before the covers: He'd played in a long list of Atlanta bands across alternative rock, soul, country and R&B, and was the lead screamer in a metal band, as reported by Pollstar. His future manager, Luke Conway, told Music Business Worldwide he was in about eight bands at once. Rolling Stone reported he also sang in a hair-metal cover band.
The Teddy Swims project: It started in 2019 as a SoundCloud hip-hop project, as reported by Pollstar. That summer he opened for singer Tyler Carter, as reported by ArtsATL.
Audience size before June 2019: Not reported. No outlet we found published his follower or listener counts from before the first cover.
3. Where he got to
"Lose Control," released June 23, 2023, debuted at No. 99 on the Hot 100 and reached No. 1 on the chart dated March 30, 2024, in its 32nd week, as reported by Billboard. Billboard called it the longest run to No. 1 by weeks on the chart for a solo male artist. It was his first Hot 100 entry.
It was the No. 1 song on Billboard's year-end Hot 100 for 2024, as reported by Billboard.
In 2025 it broke the record for most weeks on the Hot 100 at 92 weeks, and later logged a 100th week, as reported by Billboard.
He was nominated for Best New Artist at the 2025 Grammys, as reported by the Recording Academy.
4. Timeline
High school: Football, then theater and choir. Learns guitar, piano and ukulele (Pollstar).
Around age 19: Leaves cosmetology school after his dad tells him to drop out and chase singing, as he told TODAY (via NBC Insider).
2019: Starts Teddy Swims as a SoundCloud hip-hop project. Luke Conway starts managing him after seeing him steal a show as a support act (Music Business Worldwide).
June 2019: Posts a "Rock With You" cover for the 10th anniversary of Michael Jackson's death. About 10,000 views the next morning (NBC Insider).
Mid to late 2019: A cover every Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. Eastern. Fans call it "Teddy Tuesday." Over a million YouTube subscribers in about six months (Music Business Worldwide).
October 2019: His cover of Shania Twain's "You're Still the One" takes off (CBC).
End of 2019: Signs to Warner Records (Pollstar, Music Business Worldwide).
September 2020: Signs with WME for representation, with 1.4 million YouTube subscribers and 168 million total views. A UK tour gets postponed by the pandemic (Pollstar).
2021: Debut EP Unlearning (ArtsATL).
After signing: Two writing sessions a day for three years, 800 to 900 original songs before "Lose Control" (Music Business Worldwide).
June 23, 2023: "Lose Control" comes out. The album's first single, "What More Can I Say," had underperformed, as reported by Rolling Stone.
March 2024: No. 1 on the Hot 100 (Billboard).
5. The moves that mattered
A fixed upload slot. The first cover was a one-off. Conway told Music Business Worldwide the strategy only became clear after it worked. Then came a cover every Tuesday at the same time. Fans named the habit, which is a good sign they were planning around it. That consistency took him past a million subscribers in about six months.
Covers across genres. Michael Jackson, Shania Twain, Lewis Capaldi, Amy Winehouse, Chris Stapleton, H.E.R. Years in bands of every style gave him the reps to pull that off. The range later showed up in "Lose Control," which reached pop, R&B and country audiences, as reported by Variety.
Signing while the momentum was hot. He signed at the end of 2019, about six months after the first cover. Conway said every A&R person was calling. Warner then paired him with established writer-producers. Julian Bunetta produced his early original "Broke" (Pollstar) and later co-wrote and produced "Lose Control" (Variety).
Volume of writing. Conway said Swims did two writing sessions a day for three years straight. That produced 800 to 900 originals before "Lose Control." The hit came out of a four-day writing camp in Palm Springs with Bunetta, producer Ammo and Mikky Ekko, as reported by Variety.
Old-fashioned promotion. "We broke this song the traditional way," Conway told Music Business Worldwide. He described doing every 6 a.m. radio show, every interview and every gig. The song didn't go viral. It climbed for 32 weeks.
6. What the documentary leaves out
Who paid for it: Not disclosed. Before the deal, he was working at Chili's, as reported by The Dallas Morning News. Who paid for the 2019 cover videos and gear was not reported. How costs were split with Warner after the deal is not disclosed.
Label, distribution and publishing deals, with dates: Yes, before the hit. Warner Records signed him at the end of 2019, about three and a half years before "Lose Control" came out. Variety lists the release as Swims Int./Warner Records. Advance size, royalty split and publishing deal: not disclosed.
Team: Yes. Manager Luke Conway was on board before the covers took off (Music Business Worldwide). Booking was with UTA, then WME from September 2020; attorney Joshua Kamen (Pollstar). Producer and co-writer Julian Bunetta from at least 2020 (Pollstar). Guitarist and co-writer Jesse Hampton, a friend since middle school (ArtsATL).
Industry connections or family ties: Partly. No family ties to the industry were reported. Conway had moved to Atlanta to work with an earlier client (Music Business Worldwide), so he arrived with industry experience. ArtsATL reported guidance from will.i.am, timing not reported.
Paid promotion: Not disclosed. A heavy radio push is documented. Its cost and any ad or playlist spend are not reported.
Prior careers or prior bands: Yes. Years of Atlanta bands and cover gigs, cosmetology school, restaurant work.
7. The years nothing worked
Count from his first bands and it's more than ten years. The Dallas Morning News described his overnight success as more than a decade in the making.
Count from the record deal and it's still long. He signed at the end of 2019. "Lose Control" hit No. 1 in March 2024. That's more than four years on a major label, with EPs, an underperforming lead single, and hundreds of unreleased songs in between.
The hardest part was the switch from covers to originals. Conway recalled crowds yelling for Shania Twain at shows. Swims told CBC's Q he was terrified people wouldn't want his own songs, because he kept comparing himself to the classics he'd covered.
8. Luck, named
The first cover was not a plan. It was a tribute he and friends recorded for an anniversary. It happened to land.
Label timing. Conway said Warner's new leadership had just taken over when they were negotiating, so the label was looking for new signings.
Bad luck, too. The pandemic hit right after he signed and postponed his first UK tour.
The right room. "Lose Control" came out of one specific writing camp with one specific set of people, after hundreds of songs that didn't.
Plenty of artists did these same things and never broke out, so read this as a map, not a promise.
9. What you can copy in 2026, and what you can't
You can copy:
A fixed weekly slot that fans can plan around.
Covers that show range, as a way for strangers to find your voice.
Writing in volume and treating most songs as practice.
Playing every show and doing every interview you can get.
You can't easily copy:
A major label budget for four years of sessions and a national radio campaign.
Established hit writers in the room.
A once-in-a-generation voice and ten years of live reps already behind it.
On covers and licensing (US): Audio-only covers on streaming services run under the compulsory mechanical license in Section 115 of the Copyright Act, which covers phonorecords and excludes sound that accompanies audiovisual works. A cover video is different. On YouTube, a cover can earn ad revenue only after the song's publisher claims it through Content ID and chooses to monetize, according to YouTube's help center, and the split depends on the publisher. So a covers channel can grow an audience while earning you little. Check how your distributor handles cover licensing before releasing one on streaming.
Replicability: 3 out of 5. The covers playbook is open to anyone with a phone, but what turned it into a No. 1 was four years of label-funded writing and a traditional radio push.
10. Your version this month
Pick a slot and keep it for four weeks. One cover or live clip every week, same day, same time. Choose one song well outside your usual genre that shows something your originals do. Post it as a short vertical cut and a full version.
Turn cover viewers into original listeners on purpose. For each cover you post, post one of your originals within the same week, and point to it in the caption and the pinned comment. Track which covers send people to your own songs, not just which get views.
Start a writing count. Set a weekly number you can actually hit, even two song starts a week. Keep a list. The point Conway made is that "Lose Control" was one of hundreds.
If you want help planning the slot, tracking which covers lead to your originals, and keeping the writing count going, Musuni can help you run it. It won't write the song for you, and nobody can promise a result.
11. Sources and confidence
Music Business Worldwide, Luke Conway interview (Nov 7, 2024): https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/what-matters-is-that-our-gut-instinct-was-right-and-we-went-with-it/ (High)
Pollstar, "Music & Therapy: How Teddy Swims Found His Voice" (Jan 24, 2025): https://news.pollstar.com/2025/01/24/teddy-swims-how-a-brilliant-multi-genre-phenom-found-his-voice-conquered-the-world/ (High)
Pollstar, "WME Signs Singer/Songwriter Teddy Swims" (Sep 29, 2020): https://news.pollstar.com/2020/09/29/wme-signs-singer-songwriter-teddy-swims-2/ (High)
ArtsATL, "Conyers native Teddy Swims goes from YouTube to the top of the music charts" (May 5, 2022): https://www.artsatl.org/conyers-native-teddy-swims-goes-from-youtube-to-the-top-of-the-music-charts/ (High)
NBC Insider, "Rock With You" cover (Sep 2, 2025): https://www.nbc.com/nbc-insider/teddy-swims-michael-jackson-rock-with-you-cover (Medium)
NBC Insider, his dad's advice, from a TODAY interview (Aug 22, 2025): https://www.nbc.com/nbc-insider/teddy-swims-dad-encouraged-to-become-a-musician (Medium)
Billboard, "Lose Control" hits No. 1 on the Hot 100: https://www.billboard.com/lists/teddy-swims-lose-control-number-one-hot-100/ (High; paywalled, facts confirmed via search excerpts)
Billboard, 2024 year-end Hot 100: https://www.billboard.com/lists/hot-100-year-end-chart-teddy-swims-taylor-swift-republic/ (High; paywalled, confirmed via search excerpts)
Billboard, Hot 100 record at 92 weeks: https://www.billboard.com/lists/teddy-swims-lose-control-breaks-hot-100-record-92-weeks/ (High; paywalled, confirmed via search excerpts)
Billboard, 100th week on the Hot 100: https://www.billboard.com/lists/teddy-swims-lose-control-100-weeks-hot-100 (Medium; headline only)
Variety, "Why Teddy Swims Had to 'Lose Control'" (Dec 5, 2024): https://au.variety.com/2024/music/news/teddy-swims-lose-control-julian-bunetta-18993/ (High)
Rolling Stone, "How Teddy Swims Poured His Pain Into His Hit 'Lose Control'" (Dec 12, 2024): https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/teddy-swims-lose-control-breakdown-interview-1235202040/ (High; read via syndicated copy)
CBC Q, "Teddy Swims was terrified to shift from covers to his own songs" (2025): https://www.cbc.ca/arts/q/teddy-swims-was-terrified-to-shift-from-covers-to-his-own-songs-1.7557224 (Medium; page blocked, confirmed via excerpts and Uproxx)
Uproxx, covers to originals (Jun 11, 2025): https://uproxx.com/music/teddy-swims-covers-original-songs/ (Medium)
The Dallas Morning News, "For Teddy Swims, 'overnight' success was years in the making" (Jul 30, 2025): https://www.dallasnews.com/arts-entertainment/music/2025/07/30/for-teddy-swims-overnight-success-was-years-in-the-making/ (Medium; confirmed via excerpts)
Recording Academy, 2025 Best New Artist nominees: https://www.grammy.com/news/2025-grammys-nominations-best-new-artist/ (High)
17 U.S. Code Section 115 (Cornell LII): https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/115 (High)
YouTube Help, "Monetizing eligible cover videos": https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/3301938?hl=en (High)
Overall confidence: High for chart facts, deal timing and team. Medium for pre-2019 details. Pre-breakout audience size: not reported.
Date checked: 2026-10-03
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