A Brighton singer has opened up about how his life changed after being dared into busking on the streets for money.

Sam Tompkins has shot to stardom in recent years, playing sell-out tour dates and even performing on stage with international pop star Justin Bieber.

In a video on his Twitter, Sam talks about how his music career started after being short of cash to buy a hat that he wanted.

He explained that he was “dared” into trying to raise enough money to buy the hat, which led to him busking on the street.

Sam said: “I wanted this hat and I couldn’t afford it, so I went to my friends and asked if I could borrow some money.

“They were like “no” - we were like literally 15 years old.

“They sort of dared me to go out on the street and see if I could make enough money to get the hat, so I did.

“It changed my life.”

The video features a montage of some of his proudest moments, including performing on stage in front of thousands of people.

Sam used to perform on Bond Street and Ship Street in Brighton, drawing increasingly larger crowds as people came to see him play.

Since then, the 25-year-old has more than three million monthly listeners on Spotify and even had his music featured on ITV hit show Love Island.