The 18-year-old makes “everyone” stop

After Ally Sherlock lost her mother at only nine years old, she went to her father with a question he was definitely not ready for.

– I asked my father, “Shall we go and play in the street?”

In Ireland they call itStreet singing». There are many people who ‘wander’ the streets of Dublin – they’re even made up Oscar winning movie about it, but very few street musicians are Only nine years.

Papa Mark replied no anyway.

– I finally made him slide. “If you learn 20 songs,” he said, “I’ll take you.”

Two months later, Ally and Mark made the two-and-a-half-hour drive from Cork in the far south of Ireland to the capital, Dublin.

Bystanders were cleared and stopped.

Now Allie Sherlock is speaking to TV 2 about everything that’s happened since his first appearance nine years ago. It’s not trivialities that I experienced.

– I don’t know why I had the idea of ​​”work” in my head, but I’ve always loved playing and singing in front of family, so I guess I just wanted to take it a step further, Sherlock says to TV 2.

The stars embrace him

Traditionally, it was impossible for an artist to establish themselves in the music industry without a record label and a professional manager behind them.

Ally Sherlock has neither. She built her career on her own, playing on Grafton Street in Dublin. The key to success has been Father Mark, who shoots videos and posts them on social media.

At just 11 years old, Ally Sherlock went viral with Ed Sheeran’s “Supermarket Flowers,” which is about the loss of her mother: “You were an angel in the shape of my mother.”.

“So sad that this girl knows what she’s singing about,” says one comment below the video on YouTube. Another writes: “Can someone tell me why I’m crying?”

With great titles like: “11-year-old sings better than Ed Sheeran” And “Cover of Ed Sheeran’s 11-Year-Old Song Stop Traffic”the video went viral in the British media.

Allie was flown to Los Angeles as a guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, where she also performed Adele’s “Million Years Ago.” By then, One Direction’s Ryan Tedder invited her to borrow his studio.

after two years Justin Bieber shared one of her videos.

Say no to the record companies

I got into the record companies several years ago. Rather than relinquish ownership of her development, Ally chose to refuse.

– I always trusted my father and his judgments, and he explained to me why it was better to say no, you say.

He argued that she was too young to commit to long-term agreements, and suggested that she might risk exposure too forcefully or exploitation in other ways because she was so young.

– There were many times that I said “But Dad, I just want to sign.” They will make me famous! “, as any normal 13-14-year-old would say.

However, she listened to her father’s arguments and said, “You are right.”

The big record companies were more important than ever. Now, like Allie, you can post everything to YouTube and TikTok and go viral, and you can release music yourself on Spotify, Ulrikke Brandstorp manager Christoffer Gunnestad says on TV2.

– Ulrikke and I are somewhat of the same way of thinking. We run our own record company. We are responsible for everything ourselves. We’ve also been in dialogue with major record labels, but concluded that it just didn’t feel right for them, says Gunnestad.

Brandstorp and Gunnestad are of the opinion that large record companies usually have more aggregation space than they get as an independent label, but that there are also some obvious disadvantages to them.

– You will soon become one of many in a large stable. Then you rely on the record company to not only believe in you, but also show that they believe in you in terms of finances and resources.

exceeded a billion

Allie Sherlock is doing just fine without it: it’s now hit 1 billion views on YouTube. Yes, you read that correctly: a billion.

– It’s completely wild, says Gunnestad.

Ally Sherlock still says no to the record companies.

– We received opportunities from all the major record labels in the US, UK and Europe, but were turned down, says Sherlock.

Something I’m very happy about, she adds.

She is close to six million subscribers Youtube. Additionally, she has 3.5 million followers Facebook2.2 million days Instagram and 400,000 days Tik Tok.

– You already have more YouTube followers than the population of Norway…

“It’s absolutely crazy,” says Sherlock, shaking his head.

Huge income potential

Communications expert Hans-Petter Nygård-Hansen is very impressed with what the girl from Ireland has achieved on her own.

– Allie Sherlock has managed to build a very small media empire, spreading across multiple social media platforms, including over 80,000 monthly listeners on Spotifyas Nygård Hansen tells TV2.

He estimates that she already has millions in income from her music, but points out that there is also huge income potential outside of music.

– As an 18-year-old influencer with millions of followers, you can probably get paid well for “influencer marketing” tasks, says Nygård-Hansen.

He conceives of everything from beauty products, shoes and clothes to his own clothing collections in so-called “collaborations” with well-known fashion houses and clothing chains.

Although Nygaard Hansen thinks there is respect for building such a big name alone, he is unsure if he will stand on his own two feet in the long run.

Bullying and serious talk

Ally Sherlock told TV 2 that her father did indeed have a serious talk with her.

The huge amount of positive attention, from both celebrities and fans, trips to Los Angeles and performances in large concert halls, went to her head a few years ago.

– I went through a kind of phase, yeah, where I got a really big ego. Sherlock says there were actually two phases.

You laugh when you think about this again.

It was hard not to have it, with everything I’ve been through. But my father taught me that I am worth nothing more than others. He said I had to stop this kind of behaviour. I’m done with it, now I think I’m pretty down to earth.

At the same time, there was also a great deal of interest in the school – and it wasn’t positive either.

Sherlock was bullied so badly that she dropped out of school.

– A lot of people really began to treat me maliciously, and at the same time I became more and more interested in music. So my dad thought it was a good idea to take me out of school and homeschool me. In retrospect, I think it was the best thing, says Sherlock.

Protected by my father

The 18-year-old does not want to discuss his mother’s death in this interview. However, she is more than happy to talk about her father, Mark.

Honestly, I wouldn’t be where I am today without my dad. It’s a 2.5 hour drive from Cork to Dublin and it drives me every weekend. Filming and posting videos. Even the things he hates the most, like coming to Los Angeles, he approves of it.

The fact that it was just them, father and daughter, for the past nine years led them to develop a very close relationship. Although it can boil sometimes.

– We argue all the time, Ally says and laughs.

– but he also protects me from a lot. Not just comments on social media, but some people sent me some really crazy videos. I won’t get into what, but really wild stuff.

Play for Queen Elizabeth

Fortunately, some of the inquiries are also of the kind kind.

Last year, Ally and her father were approached by a man while she was “working” in Grafton Street and asked if she would be performing during “Queen’s Jubilee”Celebrating the 70th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s accession to the throne.

They fail to take the man seriously.

– I just answered “Yeah, sure” and Dad said “Send us an email,” says Sherlock.

They have received an email. It turns out that the man was the head of the National Lottery and the investigation is serious. A few weeks later, Ally Sherlock was on stage at the AO Arena in Manchester, in front of 10,000 people, and sang during Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee.

– It’s the biggest thing I’ve ever done, so I was a little nervous.

Take another step this summer

Allie will take the next big step this summer.

She celebrated her 18th birthday in April with the release of the album “Allie”, which consists of 11 cover songs. She is currently in the process of finishing her first self-titled album.

– I haven’t set a date for this, but I imagine in a couple of months.

It was a long process.

– I have been writing music for a long time, but I was not very confident in myself at first and was very nervous about playing my own songs on the street. Sherlock says: I have become more confident over the years.