Alex Warren exclusively tells PEOPLE that he "truly thought my career was over" after experiencing technical difficulties during his performance at the 2026 Grammys
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While singing his hit song "Ordinary" at the Grammys, the singer was seen fumbling with his ear piece and even falling a beat behind due to issues with his in-ear devices
"I was really surprised by so many people coming up to me that day," Warren says, noting that the incident did help him find a "newfound sense of community"
Alex Warrenwasn't feeling hopeful while experiencing technological malfunctions during his2026 Grammysperformance.
Over a month after heexperienced technical difficultiesduring his performance of "Ordinary" at the Grammys, the Best New Artist nominee tells PEOPLE that he "truly thought my career was over."
"I was really surprised by so many people coming up to me that day," Warren says atVanity Fair's 2026 Vanities Party. "I think when you're in these settings, and there's all these important people, you kind of just think ... I walk into that room, and I think everyone hates me for some reason."
While the incident ultimately gave the musician a "newfound sense of community," Warren toldAlex Cooperduring a March 11 episode of herCall Her Daddypodcast that thedifficulties surrounding his Grammys debut were absolutely "horrifying."
Indeed, he appeared to be having trouble with his in-ear device as he made his way through the crowd during his performance and, at one point, seemed to fall about half a beat behind before tugging the earpiece out completely.
"We rehearsed it all week," Warren said, noting that everything went "perfect" while practicing. "And to this day, I don't know exactly what happened."
"They're like, '30 seconds,' and I said, "I can't hear anything. I can't hear myself," and the guy's like, 'It's live TV, 25 seconds,' and I go, 'Guys, something's wrong,' " he continued. "Something gets blasted into left ear, and right ear I hear nothing, and I go, 'Guys, I can't hear.' "
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Although crew members did their best to fix the issue by changing the volume, nothing seemed to work.
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"I start singing, and all I'm hearing is what's from the other room — like, a crowd mic is on or something," Warren recalled. "Once I start getting into the hallway, there's this hallway in the performance, I get the left ear blasting again, and so it's just the left ear."
"There's no mix to it, so all I'm hearing is my voice super loud," he added of the mono audio that was playing in his ears. "I get down to the steps, and then immediately I start hearing echoing on the right ear, so I take it out, and then that made it worse — stupidly."
Once Warren reached the stage, his in-ear devices started working correctly again. However, theformer Hype House member's rocky start to the performance was being watched live by millions of viewers.
"I'm supposed to be like, 'Hey guys, I'm at the Grammys. This is cool,' and instead you will see pure horror in my eyes," Warren said. "I just wanted to get over it, and once I got over it, and once we were at the top — come on. I'm terrified of heights."
"I was holding back tears 'cause I looked to my left and right and everyone's like, 'You did so good,' and everyone's screaming," he added. "I was like, 'Wow, this is really, really emotional.' "
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