With reporting by Gaby Wilson

When MTV News spoke to Charlie Puth on the Grammy Awards red carpet on Monday night, he was slightly dumbfounded to even be there. “It’s crazy,” he told us, adding that it’s “unusual” to be attending his first Grammys with three nominations under his belt.

To a certain degree, he’s right... but when you’ve had as massive a breakout year as Puth, it’s only natural that his accomplishments be recognized alongside the industry’s heavyweights. And so, Puth -- outfitted in a suave, all-black suit -- arrived on the red carpet with a very special woman on his arm: his mom, Debra.

“I always told my mom -- who’s actually here with me today, she’s my date, cue the 'awws!' -- that I would always bring her to the Grammys,” Puth told us. “She’s so excited to be here. She always told me she wanted me to write the number-one song.”

Puth and Wiz Khalifa’s “See You Again” -- the Furious 7 soundtrack collab honoring the late Paul Walker -- spent 12 weeks at No. 1 and earned them three Grammy noms: Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. It’s Puth’s most successful song to date, though he also boasts collaborations with pop leading ladies Meghan Trainor and Selena Gomez.

Make no mistake, though: The 24-year-old is perfectly capable of making hits on his own, something he proved with his debut album, Nine Track Mind. Beginning in March, Puth will begin a sold-out tour behind the album in North America and Europe, and he told us he’s psyched to hit the road and meet his fans.

“That’s wild,” he said about the tour. “I started out as a songwriter and I was like, ‘OK. I have a popular song.’ But I never intended to be like, an artist. And now I’m so excited to be an artist. And with that comes a sold-out tour? It sold out in like an hour! Wild.”

Even though Puth ended the night Grammy-less on Monday, it’s a solid bet he’ll be back at the show in years to come. Maybe Debra will, too -- even if she hates the camera.