Rise to the Spotlight
At just 12 years old in 2017, Allie Sherlock became an internet sensation when her cover of Ed Sheeran’s “Supermarket Flowers” went viral. Allie, a now teenage girl from Cork City, Ireland, quickly gained fans from all over the world. Currently, the video has over 13 million views on her YouTube, and keeps attracting more views and comments from fans all over the world.
In the same year, she performed at the Miss Universe Ireland pageant, and went on to audition for “Britain’s Got Talent,” proceeding to the second round before elimination. Her viral video busking on the streets of Dublin caught the attention of Ellen DeGeneres, and secured her an invitation for an appearance, performance and interview on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show”. Since then, Allie has amassed a large following on social media, with over 5.67 million subscribers and over a billion views of all her videos on YouTube, and more than 2.2 million followers on Instagram.
Born in April 2005 in Cork City, Ireland, Allie Sherlock was always destined to be a singer. As a child, she enjoyed singing at home, and would beg her father to take her out busking. When she was just nine years old Allie lost her mother, and during her saddest moments, she used music to cope with the loss. In the same year, she set up a YouTube channel, and began busking on the streets of Dublin when her father gave in after years of Allie begging to showcase her musical prowess on the streets of her city. Finally, under her father’s watch, with her signature mellow and soulful voice, Allie pulled large crowds who surrounded her as she performed.
In her performances, Allie played her guitar to the tunes of popular music from various artists. She particularly favored Ed Sheeran with covers of “Perfect,” “Shape of You,” “Castle on the Hill,” and “Happier” and other popular hits by the famously reclusive English artist. Naturally, one of his hits launched her voice to the world when, three years later, the now famous viral video of Allie performing “Supermarket Flowers” catapulted her to fame beyond the streets of Dublin. She went from singing for the few passers-by who stopped to listen to her sing along the streets, to working with well-established artists, securing a five-year deal with a record label, and being pursued by several record labels for when her current deal expires. So where is Allie Sherlock now?
Performances and Events
Allie Sherlock ow headlines and performs in shows and events in and out of Ireland; since 2017, she’s performed in concerts across Europe as part of her record deal with Ryan Tedder. In 2019, Allie opened for Gavin James at the Cork Opera House, and in January the following year, Allie performed a set of covers at the 2020 Channel Aid-Live Concert at Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Germany, including Adele’s “Million Years Ago” and Amy Winehouse’s “Back to Black”.
In the same year, Allie performed in Paris, France as one of the opening acts in One Republic’s European tour, which took her to Germany, Italy, and Utrecht in the Netherlands. She crowned her first European tour with a performance in front of an amazing audience at The Palladium in London. In addition to performing in various European cities, Allie staged several performances at home in Dublin.
In 2020, Allie was set to perform at The Olympia Theater and was excited at the prospect of filling out the venue. She had several other appearances and performances scheduled when the pandemic hit in 2020. Unable to stage her regular busking sessions in Dublin and Cork and perform elsewhere due to the travel restrictions and bans on concerts and other gatherings, Allie swapped her regular streets for her living room and streamed her performances live to fans from all over the world. In a single session, over 120,000 people were watching her perform live from her living room, which earned her more followers on YouTube and Instagram.
After two long years of performing virtually from her house in Dublin throughout the pandemic, Allie resumed live performances, both individually, and as one of the opening acts for One Republic. In 2022, Allie performed in the UK at the National Lottery’s Big Jubilee Street Party, held at the AO Arena in Manchester, featuring in the event which was held in honor of the now late Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee, alongside a stellar lineup consisting of Becky Hill, Lady Blackbird, Heather Small, Ella Henderson, and Calum Scott.
The rising star then went home and performed Prince’s “Purple Rain” and Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” alongside The 3 Busketeers at the INEC in Killarney, Ireland – Allie termed the event as the biggest performance of her life at the time, which has attracted over a million views on her YouTube channel.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=616447402885738
In September, Allie performed at a leading international racing festival in Ireland. The singing sensation was one of the two headliners at the Longines Irish Champions Weekend festival, performing at the Curragh Racecourse on the second day of the championships.
When she isn’t performing at festivals and events, Allie still stages live street concerts in Dublin on weekends. She’s also cultivated a large group of loyal subscribers who follow her live performances from all over the world; her most recent live concert has over 85,000 views on YouTube, while her most recent busking session, a cover of Frank Sinatra’s “Fly me to the Moon” attracted over 205,000 views in just two days after she posted it on YouTube.
Allie has some performances lined up for 2023. According to the promoters of summer Forest Fest, Allie will join the Proclaimers, The Primitives, Alabama 3 and other established and upcoming artists in her country to perform at the Irish festival in July, alongside the legendary Irish singer and songwriter Paul Brady.
Record Deals
In 2018, a year after she went viral, Allie was elated to sign a five-year contract through 2023 with Ryan Tedder’s Patriot Records, the label that produced her idol, Adele’s 21 album, alongside other major albums such as Paul McCartney’s “Egypt Station,” One Republic’s “Native,” Ariana Grande’s “My Everything,” and Maroon 5’s “Overexposed.” Tedder is OneRepublic’s lead vocalist, and as part of her deal, she’s worked with Ryan Tedder and OneRepublic for over four years now, appearing in individual performances with Ryan, and group performances with the band across several European cities between 2018 and 2020 and again in 2022 as the entertainment industry recovered from the effects of Covid-19.
With her contract coming to an end, several record labels have approached Allie with offers to sign her when she turns 18 in 2023, including Sony, Disney, Atlantic, Polydor and Atlantic. Allie appreciates having several options to pick from, and is taking her time to hear the offers before deciding to which label she will entrust her musical future. The most important thing for her as she considers the options is picking the right label-which will enable her to build the best team for herself, and allow her to put out music that tells her personal story.
Busking in Dublin and Cork
Although she is now famous and has worked with several well-established artists, booked solo and band performances in venues in and beyond Ireland, and performed alongside OneRepublic internationally, Allie Sherlock hasn’t abandoned busking. She often performs covers along the streets of Dublin, and continues to pull crowds with the mellowness, strength and emotion in her voice.
Based on the views, likes, and comments her performances gather on her YouTube, Allie has cultivated a loyal fan base both on the streets of Dublin and on YouTube, where she live-streams her street concerts. Recently, she brought crowds to tears with emotional performances of Adele’s “A Million Years Ago”, and “I Drink Wine” in two performances.
THIS SONG WILL MAKE YOU CRY @beegees I Started a Joke
FULL VIDEO ON MY YOUTUBE 💗 https://t.co/GAXqsJZZXK— Allie Sherlock (@alliesherlock) November 3, 2020
Allie’s most recent busking sessions are attracting more views as she gains new fans from all over the world. One of her recent performances of the beloved Irish Ballad “Grace the Dubliners” gained over 155,000 views on YouTube in just two days. Her performance of Elton John’s “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” in a busking session in Dublin a month ago has over 540,000 views on YouTube. In early 2023, she staged a live busking session in which she performed Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s “Shallow,” which gained over a million views in just two weeks.
Through busking, Allie’s popularity has grown beyond YouTube to Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. As her popularity soars beyond her country, she has maintained a significant following in her native Ireland according to TikTok, which named her a Hitmaker after becoming the third-most viewed artist on the platform in 2022.
Albums
Allie’s fans know her for the soul and emotion she puts into her covers. However, many people may not know that she writes and records her own music as well, and has released two albums and an extended playlist – her first album named “Allie Sherlock,” which she released in 2017, an EP entitled “A Part of Me,” which was released in 2020, and a second album of acoustic Christmas songs which she released in December, 2022, featuring eight timeless Christmas songs – “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” “Santa Baby,” “Last Christmas,” “Mistletoe,” “It’s The Most Wonderful Time of Year,” “Holly Jolly Christmas,” and “Fairytale of New York.”
Allie’s 2017 album “Allie Sherlock” is a tribute to the type of music that made her famous. It features 10 renditions of some of the popular songs she performed during her busking sessions and posted to her YouTube before she became an instant internet sensation in 2017. Naturally, Ed Sheeran’s “Supermarket Flowers” is one of the ten songs that make up the album alongside two other songs by the English artist- “Perfect” and “Happier”. The album also features Adele’s “Million Years Ago,” Sam Smith’s “Too Good at Goodbyes,” Labrinth’s “Beneath Your Beautiful,” James Bay’s “Let it Go,” Florida Georgia Line’s “H.O.L.Y.” and Alessia Cara’s “Scars to your Beautiful.”
Original Music and the Future
Allie was writing original music for an album when Covid-19 hit. She used the first few months of lockdown to finish her second album and released the aforementioned EP “A Part of Me” in the summer of 2020. The extended playlist features six original songs; “Power Over Me,” “Locked Inside,” When We Were Young,” “Hero,” “Eternity,” and Can’t Breathe.” Each song she writes tells a different story about a defining moment in Allie’s life. For instance, she wrote “Locked Inside” to share how she felt about the pandemic, and wrote another original, “The Night Before”, about the death of her mother.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CmPBykTIlpL/
Since releasing the extended playlist in 2020, Allie has continued to produce more original music, with songs such as “These Wounds,” “Fine by Me,” “This is Goodbye,” and “Eternity” receiving hundreds of thousands of views, earning positive reception within her fan base, and attracting new fans. Allie has performed her original music in Ireland and the UK.
Although the initial hype she got from her cover of “Supermarket Flowers” has since died down, Allie has made strides in her music, amassed a large fan base, and is destined to make her mark in the music industry in Europe and beyond.
