You’ve probably seen the name d4vd (pronounced "David") floating around TikTok or on a Spotify editorial playlist. Maybe you know him as the kid who blew up with "Romantic Homicide." Or perhaps you’ve seen the much darker headlines from late 2025 regarding a legal investigation that completely halted his momentum. But if you look back at the "d4vd 15 year old" era, the story is actually a lot more practical—and weirdly accidental—than the typical "aspiring star" narrative.
Honestly, he wasn't even trying to be a singer.
David Anthony Burke was a 15-year-old kid in Houston, homeschooled and obsessed with Fortnite. He wasn't spending his days in vocal lessons or trying to get signed. He was a "grinder." He spent his time making gaming montages for his YouTube channel, which had a decent following of about 50,000 subscribers. The problem? Every time he uploaded a video with a popular song, he got hit with a copyright strike.
The Closet, the iPhone, and the Copyright Problem
Most kids would just switch to royalty-free "lo-fi beats to study to" and call it a day. d4vd didn't. His mom actually gave him the idea: "Just make your own music."
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It sounds like a movie trope, but he literally started recording in his sister’s walk-in closet. He didn't have a studio. He didn't have a $1,000 mic. He had an iPhone and a free app called BandLab.
Think about that for a second. One of the biggest alternative hits of the decade started because a teenager wanted to avoid a YouTube strike. He spent his early days at 15 and 16 just experimenting with sounds to keep his gaming channel alive. He grew up on gospel music, but through the internet, he found indie rock and R&B. He started blending those together in a way that felt raw because, well, it was literally recorded among hanging clothes.
Why "Romantic Homicide" Changed Everything
By the time 2022 rolled around, d4vd was 17, but the foundation was laid during those "15-year-old" gaming sessions. When he dropped "Romantic Homicide," it wasn't a polished pop song. It was moody. It was "bedroom pop" in the most literal sense.
The song peaked at No. 33 on the Billboard Hot 100.
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Suddenly, the "Fortnite kid" was being called the voice of Gen Z. He signed to Darkroom/Interscope—the same label home as Billie Eilish—before he even graduated high school. People were shocked that a teenager could write lyrics like "In the back of my mind, I'm killed you" without actually having lived through some massive, tragic heartbreak. In interviews, he’s admitted he just writes stories. He treats songwriting like he’s writing a script for a movie or an anime.
The 2025 Controversy and the Shift in Narrative
It's impossible to talk about d4vd today without acknowledging the massive shift in his public image. In September 2025, his career hit a wall. Authorities found the remains of a 15-year-old girl, Celeste Rivas, in a vehicle registered to him.
The news sent shockwaves through the industry.
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The tour was canceled. Interscope pulled his marketing. 100 Thieves, the gaming brand he had joined as a content creator, went quiet. While his legal team stated he was cooperating fully, the internet did what it does best: it started digging. Fans pointed to lyrics from his older songs and even unreleased demos where he mentioned a "Celeste."
It’s a bizarre and tragic turn of events for an artist whose entire "origin story" was built on the innocence of a homeschooled kid playing video games.
What You Should Actually Know
If you're looking at the d4vd 15 year old timeline, here’s the reality of how he built that early "supernova" success:
- Technology over Talent: He didn't wait for a producer. He used BandLab on a phone. If you're an aspiring creator, the "d4vd method" is proof that your gear matters less than your vibe.
- Gaming as a Gateway: He didn't find his audience through open mics. He found them through the gaming community. This is a massive shift in how "celebs" are made now.
- Genre is Dead: He listens to everything from Arctic Monkeys to Dragon Ball Z soundtracks. That’s why his music sounds like a messy, beautiful mix of everything.
The legacy of d4vd is currently in limbo as the 2025 investigation continues. Whether he’s remembered as a brilliant young innovator or something much more sinister depends on the outcome of that case. But for a brief moment in the early 2020s, he was the blueprint for how a 15-year-old with an iPhone could accidentally take over the world.
To really understand the shift in his sound, you should listen to his debut EP Petals to Thorns and compare it to his 2025 album Withered. You can see the progression from "closet recordings" to high-budget production, even if the "homespun" feel remained his trademark until the very end.