William Singe is now a multi-million dollar man after leaving The Collective to go solo in America

But reinventing himself as a YouTube sensation with inventive covers from his suburban bedroom has scored him a lucrative American label deal reportedly worth more than $2 million after a bidding war.

The 23-year-old from Sydney’s northern beaches has been signed to RCA Records for five years after his first audition on X Factor got him to the boot camp stage.

His next audition in 2012 resulted in Singe being enlisted with Trent Bell, Julian De Vizio, Zach Russell and Jayden Sierra to form the boy band The Collective.

They went on to finish in third place and were signed to Sony Music, with their debut single Surrender peaking in the top 10 and featuring a rap written by Singe.

After their next six singles failed to breach the top 30, a frustrated Singe quit the group in late 2014 to follow his dreams of a solo career.
 

“It was an emotional process leaving the group. I was so naive to think once you sign, it’s all good and you are a superstar,” he said from New York.
“The naivete wore off. I had become great friends with those guys so it was a hard thing to do.”
Singe decided to use social media to relaunch his career and show off his talents as a singer, musician and producer.

He picked dozens of popular songs including The Weeknd’s Earned It, Ed Sheeran’s Thinking Out Loud, Sam Smith’s Lay Me Down, Calvin Harris’s How Deep Is Your Love and TLC’s No Scrubs and reinvented them as R & B jams.

His fanbase of Facebook and YouTube followers grew steadily but when he wrapped his stunning falsetto around a slow and sexy remake of Drake’s Hotline Bling in September last year, Singe became a viral superstar.

That version soared to the top of Spotify’s US viral chart, has had more than 12 million views and put him on the radar of high profile champions including One Direction’s Liam Payne and T-Pain as well as a raft of American talent scouts looking for the next big thing.

William Singe, Hotline Bling
 

 

Producers were also impressed with his deconstruction of hits from Adele, Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber and Fetty Wap and reinterpretations with R & B melodies and hip hop beats.

“A lot of artists are blind to how to use these crucial social media platforms — you don’t have to put all your faith on other people, you can do it yourself,” he said.

“I wanted to present an original take on these songs and people gravitated to my covers.

“I think people connected with this guy in his bedroom producing a whole instrumental from scratch and singing over the top of it.

“There are a lot of singers but they weren’t doing it the way I was, taking an Adele song and putting a hip hop beat behind it to make it a different song.”

The next test was to get in front of audiences.

He organised The Introduction tour of Australia, America and Europe this year to meet his online fans and impressed even the most sceptical of critics with his distinctive voice, musicianship and onstage presence.

While playing sold out gigs throughout the US, Singe and his manager were fielding emails from interested labels.

 

“I was coming straight out of (the X Factor/Sony) contract, so I was a little wary of going back into negotiations with major labels. This time I asked the questions I needed to ask,” he said.

“I appreciated my experience before because I learned so much, a lot of lessons that led me to where I am right now.”

But Singe’s work ethic and dogged determination are also a major factor in him arriving in America as an exciting new artist.

He put out at least a cover a week, often on little sleep, as he figured out his productions and then filmed them.

And while he has a significant following of admiring female fans, most of the comments about his work on social media praise his talent rather than his funky hairstyle, tatts or image.

“Of course you love (screaming girls) but I think it is about the music and people latching on to a normal guy singing and playing music in his bedroom,’ he said.

Williams Singe, 679

Singe is aware his deal with RCA, the home of Alicia Keys, G-Eazy, Miley Cyrus, Justin Timberlake, Pink and fellow Australians Betty Who, Peking Duk and Grace is in fact, a very big deal.

His reportedly $2 million plus contract would make him the biggest new Australian artist signing by an American label.

“It’s not about money; all of that goes back into my work. But this is a huge thing for an Australian artist to achieve and I would love for it to open the door for more Australians,” he said.

“It is doable; I’m just a normal kid from the northern beaches. You just have to be willing to put that extra hour in every day.”

He will spend several weeks recording in studios in London, LA and New York before heading home for national tour with a new single to unveil.

Singe will also take that homecoming opportunity to celebrate with his family and apologise to his mum Sue McGrath for how he revealed his big news to her recently.

“I rang her and said ‘We’ve got some bad news; we have passed on the deal.’ Mum said how terrible that was and then I told her we were heading to New York to sign and she started crying. She’s my biggest fan and I know how much she wanted this for me.”

Singe kicks off his Australia tour at Capitol, Perth, September 29, Adelaide Uni on September 30, 170 Russell, Melbourne, October 2, Max Watts, Brisbane, October 5 and Metro Theatre, Sydney, October 6.

Originally published as X Factor finalist wins mega US deal