Five facts you may not know about UK's Eurovision entrant Sam Ryder

Photo credit: EBU / Andres Putting

UK's Sam Ryder has got his country believing in Eurovision success again.

The Essex born singer is currently fourth in the odds to take out the Eurovision title with his song 'Space Man' racking up over 4 million streams on Spotify and millions more on YouTube.

Many know Sam for his TikTok success but we wanted to delve deeper into his past and current success to bring you some interesting tidbits about him.

Here are five facts you may not know about UK's Eurovision entrant Sam Ryder

1. Sam had a punk and metal career

Long before TikTok Sam Ryder was part of many bands in the punk rock and metal genre. These included The Morning After (UK), Blessed by a Broken Heart (Canada) and Close Your Eyes (USA).

He told us here at Aussievision about his time in those bands saying,

"The Morning After was just me and my school friends, after that I was kind of like a flea on a dog, I joined so many different bands, the two you mention, I was kind of in there for album, then I got kicked or left!"

But he did learn a great deal, including how to protect his voice, which is particularly handy during Eurovision week. He explained how that experience has helped him:

"There are things I've learned over the years that help me, that's a real blessing from having played in bands, like punk bands and heavy metal bands, where you're fighting the drums every night, like little tricks of the trade that you learn," he said.

2. He has a connection to Australia

Sam's sister lives in Sydney and he has visited the country several times. She recently got married but unfortunately Sam couldn't attend because of his Eurovision commitments.

We hope to see him here on our shores again soon!

3. He recorded an unreleased album in Nashville

After his years in bands, Sam Ryder went solo in the mid 2010s and like many artists, went to the musical heartland of Nashville to find his voice. He told 'The Line of Best Fit' that he spent a month in the city recording an album in a friend's living room with Canadian producer Bryan Wilson.

“I was back and forth to Nashville, trying to weasel my way in, which didn’t work because you need to be a lot better than I was to weasel your way into Nashville. But I tried and I wrote with the people who were at my level, but again, it was good to learn.”

4. There is a nod to Oasis in his song 'Space Man'

After hearing the Britpop influences in 'Space Man' we asked him if that was something intentional and he told us it was certainly a nod to 90s global superstars Oasis during the bridge of the song.

"I wanted to pay a lot of homage to Oasis in that bridge... it's just that little nod to one of the greatest rock 'n' roll bands of our generation."

Watch him talk (and sing) about this in our interview with him here:

5. Australia's Sia helped launch Sam's TikTok career

Sam Ryder has been huge on TikTok over the last few years and that popularity is one of the big reasons he will be on stage in Turin this week.

And it was Australia's own Sia who was one of the instrumental people to help launch his success.

"She kind of kick started this whole moment for me, she was the first person to kind of publicly encourage and support me, sharing a cover I did of one of her song's 'Elastic Heart'."

This is just scratching the surface on the great personality that is Sam Ryder.

We wish him and the UK all the best at Eurovision 2022.

Sam Ryder will compete for the United Kingdom with 'Space Man' in the Eurovision Grand Final on May 14.