Remember that TikToker who went viral for his “Probably because I am CG5” video last year?
He is currently on an international tour and will stop at The Sinclair in Cambridge on Friday night, July 26.
CG5, whose real name is Charlie Green, said fans should expect “something very different from traditional shows and concerts” when they see him live.
“There’s a character in the whole show that shows up throughout,” the musician told MassLive. “It’s got a story to it with a beginning and an end, and everything is connected in that way.”
With that in mind, Green wants people to know that his music career has been just as prosperous as his recent popularity on social media.
“Before this sound even became a thing, I had already had a big YouTube and streaming background,” the 25-year-old musician said.
Musician CG5, who went viral for his “Probably because I am CG5” last year, is bringing his tour to The Sinclair in Cambridge on Friday, July 26.Lori Gutman
Green is known to millions as the creator behind the viral TikTok that has racked up more than 39 million views since it was posted on Feb. 27, 2023.
The video was inspired by Green’s collaboration with his friend and fellow musician LeGrand, who released his song “Give a Little” featuring Green in January 2023.
As a means for promoting the song, LeGrand made his own TikTok using the audio from “Give a Little” and mentioned how people thought he and Green sounded very similar.
Once Green saw the video, which has gotten more than 5 million views since it was posted on Jan. 20, 2023, he decided to keep the momentum going by making his own video.
“I decided to do my own version of it, but a little bit more jokingly, where it said, ‘Everybody told me that I sound like CG5. Probably because I am CG5,’” Green recalled. “And it had blown up out of nowhere.”
The audio from the video has been used by top content creators and celebrities, such as Jojo Siwa and Trisha Paytas, in more than 74,000 TikToks to date.
The video also increased streams for “Give a Little,” which was the original plan. The song has more than 14 million streams on Spotify as of Wednesday, July 24.
This wasn’t the first time Green blew up on social media. Back in 2019, he wrote the song “Absolutely Anything” with OR3O that sparked the viral “I used to be so beautiful” trend.
Both trends have helped Green’s career grow, but this time around more people have discovered his music because the name CG5 is visibly attached to the more recent trend.
“People may not have known who that person was, but now the name CG5 is imprinted into their minds,” Green said.
Musician CG5, who went viral for his “Probably because I am CG5” last year, is bringing his tour to The Sinclair in Cambridge on Friday, July 26.Mikey L’Heureux
Green got his artist name because he is the fifth generation of Charles Green in his family (a.k.a. Charles Green V). The 25-year-old said he was exposed to ‘80s music “right out of the womb” and “grew up with that engraved into my mind.”
Born in Washington but raised in several states, including Missouri, Virginia, Arizona and Minnesota, Green started singing around 3 and started producing music on his computer at 5.
“I just fell in love with creating music right then and there,” the musician said.
Green developed a strong YouTube following around when he was 18 and working at a Chick-fil-A. Once he saw that he could make money from music, Green realized he “didn’t have to ever work another job again in my life.”
The singer, songwriter and music producer has since garnered more than 500 million Spotify streams as well as more than 7.6 million subscribers and 2.2 billion views on YouTube.
Green, who was diagnosed with autism at 22, credits his success to his developmental difference. He said being neurodivergent helps him “stand out from the crowd” and “connect with those that are also neurodivergent.”
Whether it’s his collaboration with Grammy-winning artists like iLL Wayno or making his next viral video, Green just hopes his music connects with people on a deeper level.
“I think that my audience that I’ve been able to gain consists of a lot of those people that don’t really feel like they fit in very much,” he said. “It’s nice to be able to help those people feel less alone.”
Those still looking for tickets to CG5’s show can find them online.
