About Me
It’s a rare occasion where an artist seems to arrive fully-formed – Irish singer-songwriter Allie Sherlock is one such star. She was introduced to the world when she was just 12 years old, having shot to viral fame first through busking on the streets of Ireland, then as one of the most memorable guests on the Ellen DeGeneres Show. Just a few years later, this thrilling young talent is about to assert herself as a true original, one whose phenomenal voice has already captured the hearts of millions.
Allie was a musician from the start, that much was certain. “I grew up loving music – I was always the kid singing around the house all of the time, driving everyone mad,” she says with a grin. She learned to play the piano, then the guitar, taking influence from artists such as Adele, Lewis Capaldi and Sam Smith, who combine their powerhouse vocals with a candid and relatable style of songwriting. Her own voice is key, along with the impressive control she exercises as she goes from huge, earth-shattering belts to a tender, affecting murmur.
Raised in Cork, Ireland, she suffered tragedy at a young age when her mum passed away, when Allie was just nine years old. When she also became a victim of cruel bullying from her classmates, she left school to be homeschooled and persuaded her father to let her start busking around Cork and on Grafton Street in Dublin, attracting massive crowds and millions of views from the clips she uploaded to YouTube and to her huge following on social media.
It was the song she dedicated to her mother – Ed Sheeran’s “Supermarket Flowers” – while busking on the streets of Dublin that went viral and subsequently caught the attention of TV producers in the US. Many will remember seeing an extraordinarily confident-seeming girl (note the grin of acknowledgement to Ellen as she begins) perform a stunning rendition of Adele’s “A Million Years Ago” over deft picking on her guitar.
What fans might not know is how, in the build-up to that TV appearance, there was a minor kerfuffle online as the media claimed Allie had “turned down” the opportunity. “The producers had been asking us for a while, and me and my dad were talking about whether I should do it a lot, but we didn’t really have a clear answer of whether or not I was properly invited,” Allie explains. “Then suddenly it was in the paper – ‘the girl who turned down The Ellen Show’.”
She received a call from Ryan Tedder – One Republic star and the man behind some of the biggest hit songs of the past two decades – who offered to fly her and her father out to Los Angeles. “Ryan said it would be a good thing for me to go on Ellen so we went for it,” the musician, now 19, says. “He’s an absolute gentleman and a genius as well, I really enjoy working with him.”
Allie admits she couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous as she stood on stage and began performing. “But looking over to Ellen in that moment felt so surreal, it didn’t feel like I was actually there. It was more like I was singing while watching her on my TV screen.” The cover she performed was her own arrangement: “I love Adele, but with every song I do, I always try to switch it up a bit and make it my own.” By the time she returned to Dublin, the crowds for her busking performances had swelled, and Allie was ready for the next chapter in her story.
Her debut single, “How Love Works”, was released last year to a rapturous reception. Over tender piano notes, she sings first in a husky murmur as if observing a scene while it unfolds: “It's another Friday/ And I ain't got nothing to wear/ The guy I really like/ Is getting with some drunk girl over there.” Written with pop star and songwriter Ella Henderson, and songwriter/producer Ollie Green, it was inspired by Allie’s feelings of disillusionment and isolation when it came to teenage romance.
“I’d been at a party and felt bothered that everyone else seemed to have boyfriends or girlfriends,” she said. “That phrase, ‘I’m the queen of catching feelings,’” popped into my head and I sang it to the guys at the studio – they loved it.”
Allie possesses a clear talent for tapping into the angst and confusion so many teenagers go through. This is no more evident than on her new single “Ex Friend”, a fantastic kiss-off to someone who stabbed her in the back. “Long story short, I liked this guy and my friend (at the time) went after him and broke the girl code,” Allie says with a laugh. “I guess we were sort of frenemies – there was definitely something passive-aggressive about the relationship!”
She sings in her affecting lilt over smooth strums of an acoustic guitar and angelic backing harmonies: “What a way to turn a best friend to an ex-friend, it was me and you/ You know this ain’t the West End, stop your acting, I can see right through/ ‘Cos I told you that he’d caught my eye, but you had to go and stay the night/ And turn a best friend to an ex-friend, won’t be missing you.”
It’s an irrepressible hit, and one that’s certain to go down a storm when she heads back out on the road – having already sold out headline shows across the UK and Ireland and supported acts such as OneRepublic, Picture This and Gavin James. Allie is ready to start her career on her own terms, with authentic, heartfelt songs that shine a light on the incredible artist she is.
