Sam Ryder gig at Wembley Arena was dream come true, says teacher

A guitar teacher who taught pop star Sam Ryder to play said it was a “dream come true” to perform at Wembley Arena with his former student.

Ryder, originally from Maldon in Essex, invited Kelvin Pratt to join him on stage before thousands of fans at the west London venue.

Mr Pratt, who taught Ryder, 36, when he was about 13, accompanied the star playing a guitar solo on his song Go Steady.

“It’s always every musician’s dream to stand on a big stage and do the big stuff,” said 66-year-old Mr Pratt, speaking to the BBC.

“I’m a musician of many, many years and played out at gigs, but to play at Wembley you have to be incredibly good or incredibly lucky, and I think I am in the latter of that.”

Mr Pratt, who also lived in Maldon before moving to Canterbury 10 years ago, said he fell in love with rock ‘n’ roll after watching Bill Haley on TV, and first picked up the guitar at the age of 10.

Ryder came to prominence during the Covid-19 pandemic after his lockdown singing videos caught the eyes of millions on TikTok.

He went on to represent the UK at Eurovision in 2022, coming second, and has just released his second album, Heartland.

Mr Pratt said playing with Ryder on 6 November was “exhilarating” and continued: “There are a lot of words just to describe how fantastic it was. It’s given me a boost in life.

“You never say never in this life because things do happen, but to think that my life would actually end up like that at Wembley is really a dream come true, and Sam made that possible.”

He said he taught Ryder at a studio in Heybridge for about a year.

“He was a lovely kid. He started playing and he turned out to be one of the most fantastic entertainers,” he said.

Mr Pratt said he taught at several schools for 29 years, including Thurstable School at Tiptree, near Colchester.

Although now retired, he is still teaching pupils to play guitar.

“I’m happy to say a lot of my students have become teachers; a lot of them have played in bands and been semi-successful – as successful as I am, just going round the pubs and clubs, enjoying life,” he said.

Mr Pratt said he had not spoken to his famous former pupil for about 22 years until he received the invitation.

“Sam has taken it to another level and I think he is going to be a national treasure,” he said.

“Sam has obviously got that extra X-factor and gone that bit further.”