Sam Ryder

Ryder was born in Essex, England. He made his debut as a singer in the band The Morning After, which he co-founded. In 2010, he became a member, and later the leadsinger, of the band Blessed By A Broken Heart. The band split up in 2013. With the American rock band Close Your Eyes he released an album. 

In 2016, Ryder decided to start a solo career. He recorded an album in Nashville with producer Bryan Wilson. However, the album was never released. Ryder went to Hawaii, running a vegan café there.

His real breakthrough came when, due to COVID-19, there was a lockdown. In this first lockdown Ryder started to post covers of songs on TikTok. That cought the attention of artists like Justin Bieber, Sia, Elton John and Alicia Keys. He became the most-followed artist from the UK on TikTok. It resulted in a record contract. An EP, “The sun’s gonna Rise” was released, followed by a tour. “The sun’s gonna rise” was streamed no less than a 100 million times.

Sam Ryder was chosen by the BBC to represent the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest of 2022. He became 2nd in the contest.