Following an extensive search, TaP Music the global music management and publishing company behind some of the world’s most successful pop artists, such as Lana Del Rey, Dua Lipa, Ellie Goulding, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Dermot Kennedy, today announce that singer-songwriter Sam Ryder has been selected to represent the United Kingdom at the 66^th Eurovision Song Contest, set to be held in Turin, Italy in May 2022 with the song SPACE MAN.

With over 12 million followers and 100 million likes, Sam is currently the most followed UK music artist on TikTok. The news was exclusively revealed by Scott Mills on Radio 1 Breakfast with Greg James earlier today (Thursday 10 March) with SPACE MAN having previously featured as Tune of the Week on Scott Mills’ Afternoon Show on BBC Radio 1.

As the world went into lockdown in March 2020, Sam uploaded the first of his now infamous covers onto the popular social media platform and his extraordinary vocals quickly caught the attention of celebrity fans including Justin Bieber, Sia and Alicia Keys, who even posted her own video reacting to Sam’s cover of her song ‘If I Ain’t Got You’. As the videos kept coming, so did the fans with his social media standing on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook now standing at well over 17 million followers. Having signed to Parlophone Sam’s star has continued to rise. He co-wrote SPACE MAN with Grammy winning songwriter Amy Wadge (Ed Sheeran, Thinking Out Loud) and Max Wolfgang. The song was produced by TaP managed KOZ (Dua Lipa – Levitating, Physical) and mixed by British-Maltese Dan Grech Marguerat (Lana Del Rey, Halsey, Liam Gallagher.) 

Sam Ryder says: “Having been a fan of Eurovision since I was a kid l I am so honoured to have been presented with the opportunity to sing at an event alongside some of Europe’s most talented creatives, performers and songwriters. I hope to sing my head off in a way the UK can be proud of, and to showcase a song I wrote with my friends last summer makes the whole experience even more special. See you in Turin legends!”

Speaking about the Eurovision Song Contest, TaP Music co-founder Ben Mawson says: “The search has taken many months and has presented us with lots of dilemmas and difficult decision making as to which direction to go in for our act. We had incredible interest from across the music industry, from unsigned talent through to established artists with number 1 albums, however we settled on Sam because of his combination of extraordinary vocals and a wonderful song that references so many classic British musical influences.” 

TaP Music co-founder Ed Millett continues: “The Eurovision Song Contest is truly a cultural phenomenon and an amazing opportunity - with 200 million viewers – for the right performer. As well as Sam having an amazing voice – SPACE MAN is an instant song that we’re confident will really connect. Not to mention he’s also an extremely likeable and engaging character - as evidenced by his TikTok following.”

“As well as the many musical greats who got behind us this year (Dua Lipa, Sir Elton John, Melanie C, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber) – it’s been wonderful to work closely with Suzy, Andrew and Lee at BBC Studios who’ve shared such generous insight and been great to work with.”

Ben continues: “A special thank you also to Scott Mills and Chris Price at Radio1. Scott has been an amazing help, giving up a lot of his time - his passion for supporting us on our journey as well as his love and support for Sam has been greatly appreciated. It’s wonderful that Radio 1 as well as Radio 2 have been involved this year and we look forward to their continued support as we go into the competition.”

Nick Burgess, co-president of Parlophone UK says: “I believe in the credibility of Ben and Ed and their high standards of artistry over the last 10 years of management and most importantly, we have full confidence in Sam's potential to do very well in this incredible competition. He has the voice, the personality, and the song to win the hearts and minds of the Eurovision audience. You don’t get 12 million TikTok followers without an ability to connect to an audience. Ben, Ed and the BBC have been brilliant to work with and have brought a renewed credibility and energy to this year’s competition”

TaP also announce today their plans to donate their entire consultancy fee to MOAS – www.moas.eu  the humanitarian charity designed to bring medical relief and first response services to those impacted by escalating violence and war – with a current focus across Ukraine. MOAS’ work includes deploying multiple Mobile Medical Teams alongside ambulance services and pharmaceutical aid to assist as many people as they can. 

Anna Neville, Global Co-President TaP Music says: “The Eurovision Song Contest is a wonderful moment where a large part of Europe comes together for a fun evening of music and entertainment – music has the power to unify people and it’s not passed any of us by that while we’ve been on this process, such awful and tragic events have continued to unfold in Ukraine. We decided that we would donate our consultancy fee to MOAS – Migrant Offshore Aid Stations – due to the incredible work they do right now in Ukraine and other areas conflicted by war.”