A New York Minute with Alex Sampson

Why? Because of a viral TikTok video wherein an audience member yelled, “YOU LOOK LIKE MY BROTHER, AND I’M INTO IT!” to which Sampson responded accordingly, with both perplexity and mild amusement. At the time of writing, the video, which sent him and his team into a frenzy, has over 41 million views.

Amidst it all, he’s on tour, traversing the country in a 15-passenger van and making unsuccessful attempts at sightseeing due to the lack of time. While it is his first headline run, he is used to the conditions, having spent much of 2025 on the road opening for powerhouse vocalist Jamie Miller, whom Sampson praised as “the best singer I’ve ever heard, BY FAR.” When asked how he’s holding up, he smiles.

“Mental health, good! Physical health, not so much,” he said definitively. “I haven’t been to the gym as much as I would have liked to. We’ve been pretty jam-packed, so there hasn’t been much time. I should be eating better, but it’s hard when we’re stopping at gas stations. Or, when you get to the hotel at 1 a.m., and all you want is Taco Bell. It’s a rough life out here.”

This time around, on top of returning to cities he “felt the most love” from on the Miller tour, he’s upped the planning of his wardrobe by “literally rolling entire outfits into pants.” He has also monitored and improved his overall performance by studying tape from his last go-around.

“I would watch videos back of me onstage, and I would A) Listen to how I sang certain songs, because, sometimes, I like to change melodies if it’s easier to sing or if I’m feelin’ frisky, and B) Sometimes I’d watch it back and be like, ‘Ew, why did I do that?’,” he described. “And, I would see myself doing certain ‘dances—I can’t dance, so I don’t know why I call them dance moves—but, to be honest, I kind of just go up there and wing it.”

His setlist is a healthy mix of old favourites, such as the pop bangers “BLIND” and “Play Pretend.” There’s also plenty of new material, including main set closer “Thank You For Loving Me.”

He also talks of “Not Even Gone”; “When we were writing ’Not Even Gone,’ I had just gotten off the road with Jamie,” he said on the ultra-dynamic tune. “Being in a session after being on the road for so long, my perspective had shifted. I was thinking, ‘How would this sound live?’ or ‘Ooh, this would be a great part for the fans to sing,’ and I had never thought of that while writing. That’s why that ending happened. I was like, ‘What if we just went in a completely different direction and instead of a bridge, we just do a huge build-up and a breakdown?’ It’s my favourite part of the set.”

As his cover of choice, he flips between Harry Styles’ “Aperture” and Olivia Dean’s “Man I Need,” the latter a fair play following his impressive cover of Sabrina Carpenter’s “Taste,” done in its original key, throughout shows in 2025.

“I want to do what is unexpected of me,” he explained. “I think people would expect me to go out onstage and do a cover of ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ or ‘Steal My Girl,’ but if I go out there doing Olivia Dean or Adele, it’s going to be a ‘WHOA!’ moment, and that’s what I want. I wanted to replicate what I did with ‘Taste’ because everyone loved it, so I thought, ‘What’s the equivalent of that right now?’ and the answer is ‘Man I Need.’ It’s the biggest song in the world. My drummer came up with a different arrangement, because I don’t want to go out there and just do THE song.”

Of course, the story of the moment is that of “Pretty Baby” and the wild moment that led to its flux. “Nine days ago from this recording, I posted that video, and it has gone ballistic,” he said. “I’ve just started to take over everyone’s For You page, and I don’t know why. Everyone has been like, ‘Release a live version!’ ‘Release a live version WITH THE LAUGH!’” Finally, in Toronto, a live version was recorded and is now available on streaming. “Of all the songs I would have expected to blow up, ‘Pretty Baby’ is the top one,” he added, with a knowing smirk.

He continued, baffled by the numbers and by creators' continued use on TikTok, “It had its biggest streaming day ever yesterday, with over 200,000 organic streams,” he said. “It didn’t do anywhere CLOSE to that when I was on AGT, so it’s insane. I’ve never been busier on social media in my life. It’s a team effort with my label adding fuel to the fire, but I’m constantly on my phone, posting all the time, replying to people, promoting the song and tour, every day.”

According to Sampson, the song is being used in 200+ new videos per day, each with its own intention. “It’s people posting videos of their significant other saying, ‘This is my pretty baby,’ or people being like, ‘Where did this guy come from?? He’s all over my For You page, but I’m NOT complaining!,” he said. “It’s people making thirst trap edits or people saying I look like the cowboy from Hannah Montana [Presumably Lucas Till, Cyrus’ love interest from The Hannah Montana Movie]. It’s a million different things, but the main thing is that they’re making videos to the song. As long as they’re making videos with it, they can do whatever they want.”

Though “Pretty Baby” may be the talk of the town at the moment, Sampson has a new project in the works. Both “There She Goes” and “Not Even Gone” are to be included, as will be the reflective single “Growing Pains.” “I spent about four to five months in the studio figuring out the sound of this project, and what I wanted to say,” he said. “I would say they all complement each other. They don’t sound alike, but they DO in the best way. I don’t want to make music that sounds like the same song over and over again. It’s with a lot of the same producers and writers, and I think my voice ties it all together.”

Sampson is on tour through March 22nd. Tickets are available here. Stream the live version of “Pretty Baby" here.