Sam Ryder says almost drowning in a surfing accident inspired him to make it in music

Sam Ryder has opened up about the impact a surfing accident had on his life.

The accident happened when the Eurovision runner-up was on holiday in Hawaii four years ago, and led him to re-evaluate his life, pushing him to put more effort into his music career.

• READ MORE: Sam Ryder – ‘There’s Nothing But Space, Man!’ review: the year’s feel-good breakthrough act 

Speaking to BBC, Ryder said: “I was surfing in Hawaii and my board snapped. Then I got hit by a wave and I very nearly drowned. It pushed me down so far into the water. And the turbulence of the water, the power, is incredible. Fighting against it, you feel like you’ve been hit by a bus.”

He had to spend a week in bed to recover from the accident, during which he realised that he had to dedicate himself to his “true purpose”.

“Obviously, the golden rule in surfing is ‘never underestimate the sea’, but until it goes wrong, you can’t fathom it,” he conitnued. “You’re like, ‘I am insignificant in this body of water’. But that day was important to me because I wanted to be very good at surfing and ride the big waves – but [the accident] put me back on my true purpose.

“I was like, ‘You can’t do the thing you love most, which is music and singing, if you’re at the bottom of the sea’.”

When he recovered, he set up a vegan cafe with his girlfriend and became a wedding singer to make some extra cash.

“I remember the first time I did one [wedding], I was singing Whitney Houston and I had my eyes closed, and in my head I was telling myself, ‘I’m smashing this song’,” he recalled to the BBC. “Then it ended, and I opened my eyes and no-one even realised I’d started the song, let alone finished it. It took me aback, like, ‘Did I do something wrong?’

“But I quickly realised, of course, no-one cares about you. They’re there for their family. You’re there to provide the atmosphere. And that was crucial because, at that point, I stopped linking music with the perception of my friends and I started doing it from my heart.”

Ryder also discussed during the interview his debut album, ‘There’s Nothing But Space, Man!’, which came out yesterday (December 9). “I wanted to focus on the tenets of hope and faith and how to retain those things,” he explained. “I’ve been making music since I was 13 years old, and it was always foot on the gas, full belief, full faith – even though I was absolutely bombarded with failure.

“You start asking yourself, ‘What’s gonna happen? Maybe I’m finished?’ All these stupid thoughts that I know we all have. But now sitting here, looking back, I’m thinking, ‘Wow, you should have been so excited.’ I had no idea what was around the corner. And therein lies the lesson, I suppose. To remain hopeful over a long period of time.”

Ryder will be playing a special New Year’s Eve show on BBC One after the channel shows London’s first ever New Year’s Eve fireworks display since before the pandemic.

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