Ray Hawthorne brings the mid 2000s pop punk vibe with new single ‘Sidelines’

Pop punk / alt hit maker Ray Hawthorne is back with his first new song of 2026 ‘Sidelines’. Sounding like it could be a pop punk hit straight out of a 2003 movie the song will instantly connect with fans and end up stuck in your head.

Never one to miss a chance for a little chaos and nostalgia, Ray Hawthorne shares:

“When I was a kid my mom wouldn’t let me buy CD’s with parental advisory labels on them. No cursing music for me. But I NEEDED it in my life. The forbidden fruit. The rebellion. Fred Durst and such. So this lead to some interesting work arounds. For those of you that don’t know (or weren’t born yet), Offspring’s Americana CD didn’t have a parental advisory sticker on it. Which was pretty fly. So I was able to trick my mom into buying it for me. I made it through about two weeks listening to Americana in secret before I got ballsy. One fateful day I played the album for my cousin while my mom was getting ready for work in the next room. Bad move. The Offspring left my life that afternoon, and Americana was almost immediately given to one of my mom’s coworkers. Sometimes I like to wonder where that CD is today. Does she still have it? Did it become a family heirloom? Is it gathering dust at a goodwill store in New Jersey? Did it get passed down and inspire some other kid to fight the system with three chords and a dream? We’ll never know. But what I do know is that I just put out a new song. It’s called Sidelines. I hope some kid breaks his parent’s rules to listen to it. That’s the dream.”

Renowned for his work in North Kingsley, the acclaimed project alongside Shavo Odadjianof System of a Down, Hawthorne initially captured hearts as the Heartbreak Hero with his inaugural solo release “Heartbreak Feels Good in a Place Like This“. Building on his solo work, his debut record “Ray Hawthorne Sucks” further cemented his status as a bold new voice in pop punk, quickly amassing a devoted following and over 18 million streams across all streaming platforms for his magnetic charm and razor-sharp wit.