Tourist Tickets

Born in 1987, Tourist is the stage name of William Phillips, an electronic musician and songwriter. The performer is perhaps best known for his writing work on “Stay With Me”, a track that got to number one in the UK, Canada and Ireland, as a well as number two in the US. In 2015, Tourist gained a Grammy Award for the Song of the Year, alongside his co-writers for the track, James Napier and the song's performer, Sam Smith. In addition to his career as a songsmith, Tourist produces his own music and is a skilled studio operator. As well as remixing tracks by other artists, such as Chvrches, Haim and Christine, and the Queens, Tourist is a DJ.

Tourist's career milestones

Born in Cornwall, Phillips was raised in southeast London along with his three sisters. Enjoying music from an early age, Tourist did not start producing music professionally until 2009. Among his early releases was a remix of “Castles”, a track by Montevideo. That year also saw Tourist's version of “We Are Fine”, originally recorded by the American singer-songwriter and actress Sharon Van Etten.

By 2013, Tourist had begun working with Sam Smith, the artist with whom he would later make his big mark. The first connection between the two was down to another remix by Tourist. Smith's track “Safe With Me” received the Tourist studio treatment, having originally been produced by Two Inch Punch. The song, co-written by Smith and Ben Ashe, was originally put out on the former's debut EP, Nirvana, and had been a minor hit in the UK.

With Tourist working the piano and Napier providing a beat on the drums, “Stay With Me” was written quite quickly by the pair alongside Smith in a studio in Old Street, London. Smith has gone on record as saying that Tourist began playing some piano chords and Napier joined in. Soon the body of the song was written by the trio. In March 2014, the track was played by Zane Lowe on his BBC Radio 1 show for the first time. A huge international hit, the writing credits were later shared with Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne, due to the track's similarity to their earlier song, “I Won't Back Down”.

Along with his work with Smith, Tourist was continuing to release solo material during this period. His first EP, Tourist, came out in 2012, followed by Tonight the ensuing year. A third EP, called Patterns, was unleashed on the public in 2014. Later, Tourist put out some singles from his debut LP. These included “To Have You Back” and “Run”, among others. Tourist's first album, entitled U, came out in 2016.

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