INTERVIEW: 3 Facts You Need To Know About Calum Scott
By Nicole Mastrogiannis
August 30, 2016
Over the last year, pop singer/songwriter Calum Scott has really kick-started his music career thanks to his amazing Robyn cover of "Dancing On My Own." Calum auditioned for "Britain's Got Talent" with the song last year, and the video went viral, racking up over 70 million views on YouTube, and receiving a standing ovation from the show's judges -- which included Simon Cowell. The 27-year-old from Kingston Upon Hill, England then released that cover to teh world, and it wound up in the top 5 on Billboard Charts in the UK, Ireland and Scotland. Now, Calum is working on making his own music, having recently been signed to Capitol Records.
We recently got to know a little more about Calum when he stopped by iHeartRadio HQ for an exclusive interview. During the chat, he opened up about the moment he knew he wanted to pursue music as a career, his favorite kind of music, and more.
On his cover of Robyn's hit single "Dancing On My Own"
"I sang it for my audition at 'Britain's Got Talent,' last year, and it it just went viral. It got me the golden buzzer by Simon Cowell, and took me through to the to the semi-finals. And I won that, came sick from the show and then worked hard afterwards. I released the song in March, independently, sold 250,000 copies. It got the attention of America, and I came over to America for the first time in my life to talk with Capitol Records, who I signed my deal with."
[Buy "Dancing On My Own" on iTunes]
Get to know more about Calum Scott below!
3 Things You Need To Know About Calum Scott
1. He can thank his sister and a night a karaoke for kick starting his interest in pursuing music as a career.
"I've always loved music. I studied music at school. When I got to college I was kind of like, I just want to have some money and go out and buy a car and go on holidays. So I kind of left music at college. I still always loved listening to it, but I didn't go back to it until about four years into my job when I realized that it actually wasn't as fun as I thought it would be. Working the day job. I was working in human resources as a recruitment officer. My sister has always sung since she's been young, and she had some music equipment in the house, and I thought she was out, so I tried singing on it, and she wasn't out. She was just listening and behind the door. So she took it upon herself to put me into a local karaoke competition. And basically forced me to go on this stage and sing. As soon as I came off that stage, I just wanted to be on it more. So it started for me about six years ago, and I've just been working hard ever since."
2. He's a sensitive guy.
"I'm a sensitive guy. For my music you can expect heart felt, emotional, real music. People who know me if they heard me about going to the club and getting wasted they be like what what you doing? Cause its just not in my personality. So I'm a sensitive guy. So that's what the kind of stuff you expect from my music."
3. He loves a good ballad.
"I love a ballad. I'm not going to lie. I do love a ballad. So ballads take quite a precedent in the record, but also it's heart felt. Sincere. I'm a normal guy, I have got very humble beginnings. So yeah so so it just a accumulation of being sensitive, loving ballads, and being genuine I guess."
Photos: Rachel Kaplan for iHeartRadio