Thomas Alexander Walker (born 17 December 1991) is a British singer-songwriter. He was trained at the stage school

London College of Creative Media London College of Creative Media (LCCM) is a private college of higher education in South London offering undergraduate degrees in music, writing, and music management; a postgraduate degree in creative entrepreneurship; and shorter courses in m ...

, and was given a contract soon after. He rose to fame after the release of his single " Leave a Light On", which peaked at number 7 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in June 2018.

Early life

Walker was born in

Kilsyth Kilsyth (; Scottish Gaelic ''Cill Saidhe'') is a town and civil parish in North Lanarkshire, roughly halfway between Glasgow and Stirling in Scotland. The estimated population is 9,860. The town is famous for the Battle of Kilsyth and the relig ...

, near

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, but at the age of three his family moved to the

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

town of

Knutsford Knutsford () is a market town in the borough of Cheshire East, in Cheshire, England. Knutsford is south-west of Manchester, north-west of Macclesfield and 12.5 miles (20 km) south-east of Warrington. The population at the 2011 Census wa ...

. He described his upbringing as being in a 'Glaswegian house' as his parents were Glaswegian sounding. He speaks with a Scottish accent when with family or in Scotland. His favourite artists while growing up included

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post-war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago b ...

and

Paolo Nutini Paolo Giovanni Nutini (born 9 January 1987) is a Scottish singer, songwriter and musician from Paisley, Renfrewshire, Paisley. Nutini's debut album, ''These Streets'' (2006), peaked at number three on the UK Albums Chart. Its follow-up, ''Sunny ...

Career

In 2014, prior to fame, Walker graduated from

2017–2019: ''What a Time to Be Alive'' and collaborations

In 2017, Walker released " Just You and I", which was picked as

Elvis Duran Elvis Duran (born Barry Brian Cope; August 5, 1964) is an American radio personality. He is the host of the daily morning radio program ''Elvis Duran and the Morning Show'' in New York on Z100 and in syndication on Premiere Networks. Before h ...

's Artist of the Month appearing on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

's ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 A ...

'' show with

Kathie Lee Gifford Kathryn Lee Gifford (née Epstein; born August 16, 1953) is an American television presenter, singer, songwriter, actress and author. From 1985 to 2000, she and Regis Philbin hosted the talk show ''Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee''. Gifford is a ...

where he performed the song. His follow-up single was "Blessings", the title track from his debut EP ''Blessings''. On 13 June 2017, Walker released the single "Heartland", which was co-written and produced by

Naughty Boy Shahid Khan ( ur, شاهد خان; born 1 January 1981), better known by his stage name Naughty Boy, is a British DJ, record producer, songwriter and musician. In 2012, Khan signed a three–year publishing deal with Sony ATV, as well as a rec ...

. On 22 August 2017, the single was added to the BBC Radio 1 playlist. Later in 2017, Walker was named as one of the new additions to the

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

Brit List. Walker has played support slots for artists such as

George Ezra George Ezra Barnett (born 7 June 1993) is an English singer, songwriter and guitarist. After releasing two EPs, '' Did You Hear the Rain?'' (2013) and '' Cassy O (2014), Ezra rose to prominence with the release of his hit single, "Budapest", ...

, Gallant and

Jake Bugg Jake Bugg (born Jake Edwin Charles Kennedy on 28 February 1994) is an English singer-songwriter. His self-titled debut album, ''Jake Bugg'', some of which was co-written with songwriter Iain Archer, was released in October 2012 and reached numb ...

. On 28 September, Walker began his US tour, in Connecticut, supporting

The Script The Script are an Irish rock band formed in 2001 in Dublin, consisting of lead vocalist and keyboardist Danny O'Donoghue, lead guitarist Mark Sheehan, and drummer Glen Power. The band moved to London after signing to Sony Label Group imprint ...

. On 13 October 2017, Walker released his single " Leave a Light On" on

Relentless Records Relentless Records is a British boutique and independent record label currently headed by co-founder Shabs Jobanputra. Originally known for UK garage singles such as Artful Dodger's " Re-Rewind" and B-15 Project's " Girls Like Us", Relentles ...

. The single was co-written and produced by

Steve Mac Steve McCutcheon (born 15 January 1972), known professionally as Steve Mac, is a British record producer, songwriter and musician. A multi-award-winning producer, he is one of the most prolific songwriters and record producers in modern British ...

. The music video for "Leave a Light On" was produced by Charles Mehling, and filmed in Croatia. It impacted numerous international charts and was included in his debut studio album ''

What a Time to Be Alive ''What a Time to Be Alive'' is a collaborative commercial mixtape by Canadian rapper Drake and American rapper Future. It was released on September 20, 2015, by Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records, Republic Records, Epic Records, A1 R ...

''. In 2019, Walker won the Best Breakthrough Act at the

2019 Brit Awards Brit Awards 2019 was the 39th edition of the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music show, the Brit Awards. It was held on 20 February 2019 at The O2 Arena in London, with Jack Whitehall as the host for the second year running. Archite ...

. His song "Leave the Light On" was also nominated for "Best British Single".

2020–present: Second studio album

In November 2019, Walker confirmed he had begun working on his second studio album. Following this, in early 2020, ''What a Time to Be Alive'' achieved

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...

accreditation by the

British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with th ...

for sales of over 300,000 units in the UK. As part of "Royal Carols: Together at Christmas", Tom Walker performed "For Those Who Can't Be Here" with

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge Catherine, Princess of Wales, (born Catherine Elizabeth Middleton; 9 January 1982) is a member of the British royal family. She is married to William, Prince of Wales, heir apparent to the British throne, making Catherine the likely next ...

playing piano.

Personal life

Walker is a supporter of football club

Manchester United F.C. Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd), or simply United, is a professional football club based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. The club competes in the Premier League, ...

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Guest appearances

Songwriting credits

Notes

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Tom 1991 births Living people Scottish male singer-songwriters People from Knutsford People from Kilsyth Relentless Records artists 21st-century Scottish singers 21st-century British male singers