“Every day I try to cry a little.”

During his appearance at the MTV Awards last September, Teddy was nominated for four awards, including Best New Artist.

In the episode, the combined forces of Chappelle Roan and Sabrina Carpenter denied a Moonman the trophy — but the singer walked away with something more valuable.

“I didn’t realize until two weeks later, but my partner and I got pregnant that night,” he said.

“We’re going into June and things are going really well. I think we will.”

Domestic bliss isn’t a quality fans might associate with Teddy’s core.

His breakthrough single Lose Control and hit album I Tried Everything But Therapy are rooted in job loss, addiction and heartbreak.

They escape a toxic, mutually destructive relationship. He also described it as a “truly mutually supportive lifestyle” that went from “bender to bender” as both sides “exacerbated each other’s embarrassment”.

“I saved my life when I showed you the door,” he sings on a recent single.

But that was just one chapter in the story of 32-year-old Georgia native Jaton Dimmesdale.

This Friday, I Tried Everything But The Cure released Part 2, a second album that explains what happened next.

“I’ve learned that love doesn’t have to be about highs and lows – fighting and pulling teeth to stay together,” he says.

“The first album was a lot of turmoil, and there wasn’t a lot of closure. So I wanted to come back and say, ‘Here I am on the other side, and I’m doing better.’

“As a listener, I want to hear there’s a way out.”

His new partner is singer-songwriter Raiche Wright, who he met when she came to one of his shows “Two Thanksgivings Ago” — and whose new album is in a confused kind of excitement.

“Are you something from a dream or something I made up?“You’re the Real One” raves over the smooth R&B groove.

Later, if you change your mind on an acoustic guitar ballad, he croons, “i love you i love you” A quiet sincerity is rarely found in the pop record.

Musically, the album paints from the same palette as before – a 1960s soul label where dusty piano grooves and cheesy guitar lines are given a modern pop sheen and a pinch of rock and roll swagger.

But it’s not all hearts and flowers. The Soul of Black and White pleads for patience, inspired by Dimmesdale and his co-starring prejudices mixed with black and white heritage.

“I see people look disgusted because we’re different colors—especially down south,” he says.

But it’s okay to be happy in love with someone who’s a different color, or a different size or shape, or the same gender.

“Why do you hate him on top of that? It’s backwards.”

Dimmesdale learned about acceptance the hard way. Born in Conyers, on the east side of Atlanta, his grandfather was a Pentecostal preacher with a worldview, and family life was difficult to navigate.

His parents divorced when he was three, and both remarried, but their new relationship was troubled. His live-in mother, Dinsdale, married an alcoholic who left suddenly when he was 18 and never spoke to his family again.

His father, whom he saw on weekends, was married to a woman with serious mental health problems, including schizophrenia, and spent long periods in hospital. His father had single-handedly raised the Dimmesdale step-siblings.

“He worked 18 hours a day, and he still did his homework and still got to practice, alone,” he says.

“I can’t say enough about how amazing that guy really is.”

Dumsdale was a late bloomer when it came to music. He was a dedicated football player as a child until a friend convinced him to audition for a school production of Damn Yankees.

The musical created a love affair with song. He researched vocal techniques on YouTube, engrossed in the performances of Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson and Aretha Franklin.

After graduation, he began playing in local metal bands, sometimes going by the stage name “Main” for someone from an Internet forum-speak. Teddy, on the other hand, is a childhood nickname based on the speaker.

But it was a cover of Shania Twain’s country ballad It’s Still You that got him his big break.

It has been viewed 197 million times on YouTube. One of those audiences was a Warner Bros. Records talent scout who signed Dimmesdale to record on Christmas Eve 2019.

He’s shared his musical career with professional writers such as Julianne Bunetta (Sabrina Carpenter, One Direction) and Miki Eko (Rihanna, Drake) – but still plays in his high school band, Freak Philly.

Three EPs and hundreds of sessions later, they wrote Lose Control and Dinsdale immediately “knew it was going to change my life”.

He was right. With 2.2 billion global streams, it’s one of the most successful songs in recent chart history – but finding an audience took time.

There was no viral moment or tiktok trend associated with loose control. Instead, Dumsdale “did it the old-fashioned way.”

“We attended and did every interview possible,” he says. “We went to the office and the radio station and arrested each one of us individually. We stopped everyone on the street in a car.”

He believes the personal touch beats everything, hands down.

“People love to see their friend win, so if you go out there and make time for them, it goes more than a playlist that comes up on your desk or a little file in your email, ‘Hey, can you? Push this song?’

“And it’s the old way of making a record, before it was released.”

Embarrassingly, he says the song made him a millionaire (“So I can’t be too mad at this girl, can I?”) but he’s learning that making money means spending money.

“A million dollars goes fast,” he says. “One time they toured 66 people, all gear and all lights, out the door as fast as they could.

“Twenty bucks is still what 20 bucks means to me, but the amount that goes in and out is a scary thing to see sometimes.”

As we speak, he’s in rehearsals in Pennsylvania ahead of his first European arena tour, which includes two nights at Wembley this March.

The stage has just been built for the first time, and he is eager to familiarize himself with all the ramps and video walls. The music… not so much.

“I wouldn’t say I’m sick of the songs, but we’ve been playing them non-stop for two weeks,” he says. “I can’t wait for people to sing along, so I can love with them again.”

If you’ve ever been to a Teddy show, you know he puts his heart on the line.

are there. Countless videos while crying He does some things that I never knewa song about abandonment and sadness. For the next tour, he’s playing again and again with a new tear-jerker Northern Lights that delves deeper into heartbreak.

It will be a mess – but Dimmesdale insists it’s a good thing.

“I try to cry a little every day,” he says. “Exit is just pain.

“And it’s a constant reminder that no matter what you’re going through, there’s happiness on the other side.”

With his beard and tattooed face, you might not expect such emotional intelligence – but Dimmesdale’s model of masculinity isn’t afraid to share his feelings.

“I am my father’s son,” he says. “He’s a passionate guy. He tells you he loves you, he tells you he’s proud of you. Man, I’m still sitting on the couch watching TV with my arms around you.”

“He is the most beautiful and humble man I have ever met. Second only to Jesus Christ.”

So the obvious question is: is dad excited to be a grandpa?

“He’s doing backflips,” laughs the singer.

“I’m afraid to be like a grandmother, because I want my children to think that I’m good.”