AN ESSEX pop superstar has performed in front of thousands at his biggest headline show to date.
Songwriter and previous Eurovision contestant Sam Ryder headlined Wembley Arena in London, yesterday evening.
It comes after the songwriter performed three pop-up shows today across Essex in August – one in Chelmsford, then another in the town where he was born, Maldon, before finishing up in Culver Square, Colchester.
The Space Man singer had put on the gigs to promote his second studio album Heartland which released on October 17 and went to the number one position in the UK Independent Album Charts.
The Wembley Arena performance came after a string of UK concerts entitled the Road to Wembley tour.
During the performance, the songwriter played songs from his two albums and said to the crowd: “I’ve been waiting my whole life to say this - hello Wembley.”
Sam was accompanied by a string quartet mid-way through the set, before being joined on stage by his childhood guitar teacher, Kelvin Pratt.
Wembley Arena was "a particularly poignant venue for Sam, as the venue of the first gig Sum 41, he ever went to as a teenager", a spokesperson for the artist said.
Speaking on stage, Sam said: “It was the first gig that I ever saw, and it was Sum 41 playing in this very room on the Does This Look Infected tour.
“And just before coming up on this stage today - and by the way, that night changed my life, it taught me what I wanted to do - and before I came out on this stage, the singer from Sum 41, my friend managed to get hold of him somehow, and he sent a video message to firstly say hi to everyone here and also big up for being at that show that long ago, because that night changed my life.
“And I know there’s a bunch of kids here that might be at their first ever show, and I hope that this night is a fraction of what that night meant to me. Bless you, thanks so much everyone.”
Next year, the songwriter will make his West End stage debut, taking on the role of Jesus in Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Jesus Christ Superstar.
It will run from June 20 to September 5, 2026.
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