Wes Nelson

Wes Nelson

Plus Special Guests
The Academy, Dublin
Mon 6th May 2024
Doors 7pm | 14+

Wes Nelson’s fast start in the music business would have been hard to predict. With over 1.2 billion global streams, hits in 10 countries and co-signs from a host of respected names in the artist fraternity, the TV-star turned singer-songwriter has truly made his first two years count. Wes Nelson has just announced his headline gig in the Academy, Dublin on Monday 6th May 2024.

Tickets from €25.00 including booking fee

Though he may have only started making music in 2020, it’s been a part of Wes’s life since he was a baby. Drawn towards singing after being bought a bright red plastic karaoke machine as a three-year-old, Wes would summon his family each Friday night to make them watch him sing along to the day’s hits on Top Of The Pops. Too shy to perform to his peers at school and with other interests taking precedence, as a teenager, Wes enjoyed a stint as a semi-professional footballer and an undefeated Muay Thai kickboxer. He doesn’t come from a musical family, but discipline is certainly in his DNA. His uncle is a six-time world champion kickboxer, his Mechanical Engineer dad was a National kickboxer, his brother is a professional footballer for Cardiff City and two of Wes’s cousins are Olympians. “Everyone in my family strives for perfection. Okay, you can never be perfect, but we do our best to get close,” he says. 

As well as a gifted sportsperson who loved singing in the shower, Wes also shone in academia and went onto become a Nuclear System Design Engineer. In 2018, in the middle of his first year at university and with a rising social media presence of 30,000 followers, Wes was approached about being on ITV’s reality dating show sensation Love Island. Thanks to Love Island, his social media following grew exponentially; Wes currently has 1.5 million followers on Instagram and 830,000 followers on TikTok, with brands signing Wes up to front campaigns. As one of the show’s most popular characters, Wes quickly became known for brightening up the villa with his upbeat personality and impromptu singing. When he was approached by The X Factor: Celebrityin 2019.  

“See Nobody” was the very first track that Wes self-recorded and it came together quickly, in less than two hours, with Wes receiving direction over facetime from producer Ayo Beatz. After Wessent the song round to several friends and respected peers the reactions showed him he was onto something. Word spread about the quality of the song after rapper Krept tweeted how surprised he was by the quality of an unnamed Love Islander’s song and talent, and labels started reaching out.  

After a bidding war, EMI Records signed Wes on the strength of “See Nobody” and other unreleased songs. The collaborations with Hardy Caprio – See Nobody (UK platinum single, #3 in the chart), Yxng Bane - Nice To Meet Ya(top 10 in 3 countries, over 100M Spotify streams) and Clean Bandit – Drive (UK top 20, over 100M Spotify streams) followed while Wes continues to work with a host of exciting producers on forthcoming music. “The one consistent throughout my life is a love of singing. I didn’t have the confidence before, but now I realise I’ve got a real shot at this.” 

 “I’ve done a lot in 24 years,” he says. “Music is the only thing that really resonated. This is the one thing I really want to do. This is not a passion project or a whim or a gimmick. I’m in this for the long haul.”

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