English singer-songwriter Tom Grennan concludes his UK and Ireland tour with a gig in Belfast at the Limelight on Sunday 28th October.
The Bedford native exploded onto the scene in 2016 when he featured as the lead vocalist on Chase and Status’ single ‘When It All Goes Wrong’. It featured as the ‘Hottest Record’ on Annie Mac’s Radio 1 Show and Grennan was invited to Radio 1 to perform in the Live Lounge.
From there he went on to release his debut EP ‘Something In The Water’ in October 2016 and his debut album ‘Lighting Matches’ in July of this year.
Whilst it may seem unfathomable now Grennan could have been in the spotlight for pursuing a very different career. As a teenager he was a promising footballer, having spells at Luton, Northampton, Stevenage and Aston Villa before he was released and ended up working in Costa. He told Music Week: “I was close to playing over in the States but something was telling me not to and obviously it was the music”.
He had a horrific incident aged just 18, when he was set upon by a group of strangers who assaulted him and left him with metal plates in his jaw. The incident saw him become reclusive, and saw him turn to writing his feelings down for comfort during a dark period of his life. It was these feelings which would shape the lyrics for many of his future hits.
After moving to London to study acting at university he began singing thanks to his friends. They pushed him into performing after impressing them with a rendition of ‘Seaside’ by Krooks at a house party. He then started gigging around the city with his acoustic guitar and was eventually picked up by Insanity Records whom he signed a deal with.
Fast forward to 2018 and Grennan is now a musical sensation. His combination of gritty vocals and deep lyrics have helped him to create a distinctive indie, guitar fuelled pop sound which has propelled him to the forefront of the British music scene.
His breakthrough solo single ‘Found What I’ve Been Looking For’ features on the game FIFA 18 as well as being the Sky Sports theme tune for ‘Super Sunday’. He followed up the success of that with the release of the stunning singles ‘Sober’ and ‘Barbed Wire’ before seeing his album peak at number 5 in the Official Charts.
He’s played a number of high profile shows this year also, most notably TRNSMT festival in July as well as featuring at the F1 Trafalgar Square live show in London.
His intimate show at the Limelight promises to be special one and you can still buy your tickets now from ticketmaster.com for just £17.