Conon Gray has always been a good musician

Photo courtesy of Lucy Films/Wikimedia Commons

Pop artist Conan Gray just released a new album titled Wishbone (2025) on Aug. 15, 2025. This album has gained an insane amount of traction, especially after he sang one of its most popular songs at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMA), and videos of the performance went viral on social media. 

The song he performed was titled “Vodka Cranberry,” which was actually released before the album on Jul. 11, 2025, along with another popular song, “This Song.” Currently, “Vodka Cranberry” is climbing in listens, currently standing at almost 45,000,000. The two songs and their music videos tell the story of an ill-fated gay summer romance. 

This storyline is portrayed in his on-stage performance in the format of what fans are calling “gay Romeo and Juliet.” His co-star in the performance is actor Corey Fogelmanis, who many may know from My Life with the Walter Boys (2023-2025), or his previous role in Girl Meets World (2014-2017). While the two stars have denied an off-screen romance, the chemistry on stage was impactful. 

A quick Google search of the performance will also pull up a clip of Conan Gray hitting an insanely high note during “Vodka Cranberry.” A meme has even been created about the high note because of the intense reaction from both Frankie and Joan Grande, Ariana Grande's close family members, with many fans realizing that Ariana Grande followed him after this performance. 

Conon Gray is quickly becoming very popular, with many media sources calling him the next mainstream male pop boy. But, this is not something new! I have been a long-time Conan Gray fan, and he has released incredible albums and singles that have been overlooked for far too long.

His first complete Spotify album, Kid Krow (2020), was released on Mar. 20, 2020. Like many others, this was a very different point in my life, as the COVID-19 pandemic had begun and life was beginning to flip upside down. At the time, his song “Heather” became very trendy across social media.

One of the song’s iconic lines in particular  became a TikTok trend: “Why would you ever kiss me? I’m not even half as pretty, you gave her your sweater, it’s just polyester, but you like her better, I wish I were Heather.” The song’s popularity is clear, standing at almost 457,000,000 listens on Spotify today. 

Even with this iconic song, many are just now realizing his impressive talent not only in his songwriting abilities, but also in his incredible voice and stage presence in concert. While I have not had the opportunity to see him live, videos of his concerts are captivating and engaging. 

Another of my favorite underrated songs off his album Kid Krow (2020) is called “The Story,” based on his personal experience with life before he started getting recognized for his music. The first-person perspective and slow tempo create the perfect atmosphere for the sad story. 

I could dissect almost every single one of his songs and talk about how impactful they are, whether they be very serious songs about love and heartbreak or silly little songs about something as simple as having a good day. 

With all this said, Conan Gray is not an emerging artist; he has been putting in the work for years and years, even before the release of his 2020 album. He has been an incredible pop star for many years, and it is about time that he gets recognized for his hard work.