Sam Ryder

Sam Ryder found fame as the UK's quirky Eurovision Song Contest entry for 2022, winning the jury vote and finishing in second place with his song "Space Man," becoming the highest-scoring UK Eurovision entrant to date. Born in Maldon, Essex, England on June 25, 1989, the UK singer, songwriter, and guitarist began working as a session musician in 2009 and co-founded the band The Morning After, with whom he issued two full-length albums. Following The Morning After's demise, he worked with a handful of other groups, including Blessed by a Broken Heart and Close Your Eyes, recording one studio album with the group titled Line in the Sand. After parting ways with Close Your Eyes in 2014 he spent the next few years honing his musical skills, working as a busker and playing at weddings before travelling to Nashville, Tennessee to record an as-yet-to-be-released album with producer Bryan Wilson in Nashville, Tennessee. In March 2020, he decided to try his luck on TikTok and achieved viral fame for his talked-about covers, notably his stripped-back, emotive rendition of N-Trance's 1990 ravey mega-hit "Set You Free." Before he knew it, he had been crowned the most-followed UK artist on the platform. This online exposure led to a recording contract with Parlophone in 2021 and he released his debut EP, The Sun's Gonna Rise, that September. In March 2022, Sam Ryder was announced as the UK representative for the Eurovision Song Contest, where he performed a song he had written during the COVID-19 pandemic, "Space Man." At the Eurovision final in Turin, Italy, he finished in second place with 466 points, winning the jury vote and giving the UK its best result since 1998. "Space Man" subsequently soared to Number 2 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the highest-charting UK Eurovision entry since Gina G's "Ooh Aah... Just a Little Bit" in 1996. In June 2022, he performed at the Queen's Platinum Jubilee concert, Platinum Party at the Palace, and announced the release of a forthcoming collaboration with David Guetta. His highly awaited studio debut, There's Nothing but Space, Man!, appeared later that year and shot straight to the top of the Official UK Albums Chart, becoming the first debut album by a male solo artist to debut at Number 1 since Sam Fender's Hypersonic Missiles (2019).

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