Tom Grennan touched down in Australia on the weekend to promote his new single and upcoming tour, and while talking to Rolling Stone Australia/NZ about the inspiration behind his new bop revealed that he is newly engaged.
A visibly smitten Grennan has remained tight-lipped about his latest love interest in recent months, often dodging questions from tabloids and refraining from oversharing on social media. But he did let slip (with a cheeky Grennan grin) that his girlfriend is, in fact, now his fiance.
“[The engagement] only happened the other day,” Grennan told Rolling Stone Australia/NZ on Monday. The British singer-songwriter, 26, released his new single “Remind Me” on Friday – a song that he describes as a “catchy summer banger” about the magic of chance re-encounters.
“I wanted to write a song that reminded me of a moment in my life where I realised I had given up something that was really making a difference in my life – in a good way. It’s about re-connecting. It’s that feeling when you’re at the top of the rollercoaster and you’re like: this is the best feeling.
“When I was writing [“Remind Me”], it was about reconnecting with somebody special. Now we’re back together, and I’m in love. She’s amazing, somebody who has changed my life completely. She’s my best mate.”
Despite the mystery woman behind the lyrics, Grennan said “Remind Me” is not a love song but a soundtrack for that warm and fuzzy feeling we get from surprise encounters with people from our past. Which, he acknowledged, is also a perfect soundtrack for the post-pandemic world.
“We are connecting back with people and we are finding each other again,” Grennan said. “I wasn’t thinking about that at the point of writing it, but it definitely feels like that now. I feel like when I was writing it, it was about reconnecting with somebody and saying, ‘oh my God, I’ve really, really missed you’.”
The Brit-nominated chart-topper, who arrived down under for the first time on Sunday, is still recovering after an unprovoked attack last month outside a club in Manhattan, New York. He suffered ear injuries during the robbery, which also left him with complications from a previous jaw fracture that he suffered following another attack about eight years ago.
“I’m doing all right,” he said. “I’ve got a bit of a story but apart from that, I’m happy.
“I mean yeah, it’s triggering, but do you know what? I was never gonna let it affect me. I could have fallen into a hole. I could have let it affect me. But I said to myself, ‘Listen, I’m living a dream. I’m in America, I’m on tour. I’m about to go to Australia’. I’m not gonna let somebody who has no life affect me, or let that negativity creep into me.”
Tom Grennan returns to Australia in September, 2022, to play three shows along the east coast. Image: Supplied.
With ambitions to be “one of the biggest artists in the world”, the breakout star – who The Sun rightly labelled “the ultimate Gen Z rockstar” – hasn’t let his newfound fame interfere with his ascend.
Currently working on new music for his third album, Grennan will return in September to play his first-ever gigs along Australia’s east coast at Max Watts in Melbourne (September, 22nd), Factory Theatre in Sydney (September 24th), and The Triffid in Brisbane (September 25th). Tickets are on sale now.
Greenan – who has clocked more than a billion global streams across his catalogue and sold over 100,000 tickets to his shows – admitted the day following the attack in New York was “hard” on his mental health. But with a UK No. 1 album (2021’s “Evering Road”), two Platinum-selling singles in his homeland, and two Brit Awards nominations under his belt, he has no plans to put the breaks on.
Tom Grennan is, by all accounts, going global.
“What’s changed about me is I’ve grown up,” he said. “But I haven’t let success and so-called fame, or whatever you want to call it, affect me. I’ve got a tight-knit family around me. My [fience] and friends are so supportive. They keep me grounded. I keep myself grounded. I remember exactly where I came from, the hard work that I put in, and the hard work that I’ve still got to put in.
“I’m very lucky to be doing what I’m doing.”
