Sam Moran

**Samuel Alexander Moran** (born 4 April 1978) is an Australian performer and children entertainer born in Sydney and raised in Wagga Wagga, most commonly known for his tenure as lead singer in children's band The Wiggles and as a solo performer in his Nick Jr show, Play Along With Sam. He is currently working with Republic Records to develop new songs and albums. He has also produced a solo non-children's album, Colours of Love. 🎵

## Career

### The Wiggles (1998-2012)

Sam's involvement with the Wiggles began in 1998, as he appeared in "Haste to the Wedding" and "Evie and the Birdman", both written by John Field, Wiggles songwriter and brother of blue Wiggle Anthony and ex-Wiggles managing director Paul. In 1998, he appeared in the Wiggles Dorothy the Dinosaur Show, which was played at smaller venues the Wiggles had "grown too big for".

He later portrayed a Wiggly Dancer, Professor Singalottasonga and Dapper Dave in the Wiggles TV Series and became a member of the Manzillas, the group who sang the Wiggles' backing music, in 2002. He also did all the backing tracks for the Latin American and Taiwanese Wiggles, recording "around two or three albums worth" of music for the groups. He considered leaving in 2006, because he had "achieved anything he had wanted to achieve" in the Wiggles, telling a work colleague "it's not as if I'll become one of [the Wiggles]". However, in 2006, Greg Page, the original yellow Wiggle, was diagnosed with Orthostatic Intolerance (OI), which caused him to retire from the Wiggles to focus on his health, leaving the rest of the Wiggles to find a new yellow wiggle, as none of the other Wiggles could "hold a note". Sam was elected for the yellow skivvy, because as well as being a talented singer, he had filled in for Greg at Wiggles concerts around 1500 times, as Greg would feel unwell just before or during concerts, a result of OI.

   Sam was announced as the second yellow Wiggle in November 2006, with Sam being asked only a couple of days before. The transition from Greg to Sam was reportedly smooth for the Wiggles' young audience, although surprisingly, it was harder for the parents. His first album was *Getting Strong!* , an album and video that had already been completed with Greg. In 2007, the group won their first ARIA award with Sam, for their album *Pop Go the Wiggles.*

The Wiggles won ARIA awards in every year Sam was the yellow Wiggle, in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011, with their albums *You Make Me Feel Like Dancing!, The Wiggles Go Bananas!, Let's Eat!* and *Ukulele Baby!*

In 2010, Sam released his first non-children's album, titled *Colours of Love*. It contained covers of several love songs and was produced with Sony Music Entertainment Australia.

It was in 2012, where the Wiggles announced that Greg had regained his health and was returning to the band, with Sam having fulfilled his contract. Although Sam disputes this claim, saying that "I was not at the end of my contract, as Anthony [Field] has said ... I was not planning on leaving to do something else. There were no contract negotiations". Sam was reportedly paid $60,000 and was given unconditional use of the Hot Potato Studios and any royalties for his songs.

After his departure, Sam released a video on his YouTube channel, titled "Message to Children", which addressed his departure and what it meant for his future as a children's entertainer, as well as the future of the Wiggles.

Since 2012, Sam has made appearances through archive footage in two compilation videos & albums: *Hot Potatoes! The Best Of The Wiggles!* and *We're All Fruit Salad: The Wiggles' Greatest Hits*. He also appears in the compilation album *Hot Potatoes and Cold Spaghetti!*, although he is not mentioned on the cover or booklet of the album. He was also in talks to appear as a guest star in a Wiggles video or television series at some point, but for whatever reason, the plans fell through.

### Play Along With Sam (2013-2021)

On February 7th, 2013, Sam announced a new TV block to be broadcast on Nickelodeon's channel Nick Jr. It was called Play Along With Sam and consisted of educational music blocks that aired everyday at 10am until midday.

His first solo children's album, named after the TV block, released on June 23rd 2013. It contained songs from the TV block and was nominated for the 2013 ARIA award for Best Children's Album, although it ultimately lost to *A Little Day Out With Justine Clarke*. The show received an ASTRA award nomination in 2014 for Most Outstanding Children's Program or Event, while Sam was nominated for Best New Talent. An accompanying DVD of the same name was released on the 4th of December 2014.

To promote the *Play Along With Sam* album, Sam embarked on the *Play Along With Sam Live!* tour. It featured costumed mascot characters called The Bam Bam Binos.

On July 4th, 2014, a second *Play Along With Sam* album was released, titled *We're Gonna Dance!*. It was also nominated for ARIA's Best Children's Album Award, but lost to The Wiggles' *Apples and Bananas* album.

In 2015, a third *Play Along With Sam* album was released, titled *BOO!*. It was nominated for ARIA's 2015 Best Children's Album Award, which it won, marking Sam's first win as a solo performer. Among several other nominees, the album won against The Wiggles' *Rock and Roll Preschool*. In his acceptance speech, he spoke of his worries of making it as a solo artist, saying "On my first day I was there in my daggy safari suit and I do remember asking myself "do you even remember how to do this? Can you even do this by yourself?". He also admitted that he has "fantasied a few times about what [he] might say should [he] ever [win the ARIA], but standing up [on the ARIA stage] [he] realise[d] [he didn't] need to say those things or feel those things anymore". On the 5th of November, a new *Play Along With Sam* DVD was released, titled *Sam's Family Christmas*.

On the 16th of June 2016, a new *Play Along With Sam* DVD was released, containing the special episode *Around the World*. On the 9th of September, Sam's fourth and final *Play Along With Sam* album was released, titled *Best. Day. Ever!*. It was nominated for ARIA's 2016 Best Children's Album Award, although it lost to The Wiggles' *Wiggle Town!*.

On December 2nd, 2017, a Christmas compilation album, titled *Santa's Coming!* was released. It marks Sam's first solo album since *Colours Of Love* to not contain any *Play Along With Sam* branding, aside from his safari suit costume. It was nominated for ARIA's 2018 Best Children's Album Award, but lost to *The Justine Clarke Show!*.

On February 4th 2021, Sam released a single, titled *Pool Party*. It guest-starred Guy Sebastian and would be the last appearance of the *Play Along With Sam* safari suit.

On February 2nd 2023, all of Sam's *Play Along With Sam* albums received a cover-change on music streaming services. The albums had all *Play Along With Sam* and *Nick Jr* branding taken off of the covers (although *Play Along With Sam* still prefixed the album titles), and replaced with a more generic "Sam Moran" logo. The publishing rights also changed to "Child's Play Media Pty Ltd, distributed by Republic Records, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc". This rebrand also caused an error on some streaming services, dating the albums with a 2023 release. Sam's social media bios also removed mentions of *Play Along With Sam*, or removed the words surrounding it stating "currently on Nick Jr’s Play Along With Sam", simply stating "Play Along With Sam".

### Child's Play Media (2023-)

On March 7th 2023, Sam officially announced his new role with Republic Records. The change included a new outfit with a red and yellow colour scheme, and the retirement of the safari suit. On March 22nd, he announced a new single, titled *Biddy Bom*, which featured Qai Qai, a CGI children's character. It was officially released on March 31st, with an accompanying animated lyric video. A live-action music video was announced soon after , and was released on the 10th of May on the Qai Qai YouTube channel.

On the 16th of June 2023, Sam released a new single, titled Sunny Days.

On the 18th of August 2023, Sam released his first album, All The Feels, which contained both Biddy Bom and Sunny Days as well as brand new songs.

He made a brief return to the Wiggles in October 2023, being among the many people interviewed for the documentary *Hot Potato: The Story of the Wiggles*.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.heraldsun.com.au/entertainment/television/sam-moran-talks--about-his-wiggles-departure-as-he-plans-for-his-own-show-play-along-with-sam/news-story/402bfe2abe66a39f3650830ccc0fcead
2. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CnoLjo2uwm9/
3. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20130823034357/http://sammoran.com/2013/02/07/sam-moran-returns-to-tv-on-nick-jr
4. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20140126100237/http://sammoran.com/2013/11/14/nominated-for-best-childrens-album-2013-aria-awards/
5. ↑ https://www.amazon.com.au/Play-Along-Sam-Que-Minh/dp/B0776KXY5J/ref=sr\_1\_3?crid=3ERFEBN9HRL2U&keywords=play+along+with+sam&qid=1684064708&s=movies-and-tv&sprefix=play+along%2Cmovies-tv%2C1375&sr=1-3
6. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20130609084550/http://sammoran.com/events
7. ↑ https://www.sanity.com.au/products/2271968/Play-Along-With-Sam--Were-Gonna-Dance
8. ↑ https://www.aria.com.au/awards/past-winners/2014
9. ↑ https://www.amazon.com.au/Play-Along-Sam-SAM-MORAN/dp/B012WP0MIU
10. ↑ https://youtu.be/9UBKRPSTzdk?t=160
11. ↑ https://youtu.be/9UBKRPSTzdk?t=122
12. ↑ https://www.amazon.com.au/Play-Along-Sam-Family-Christmas/dp/B01EDDD3PI
13. ↑ https://www.sanity.com.au/products/2311539/Play-Along-With-Sam---Around-The-World
14. ↑ https://www.sanity.com.au/products/2317875/Play-Along-With-Sam--Best-Day-Ever
15. ↑ https://www.aria.com.au/awards/past-winners/2016
16. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/officialsammoran/posts/santas-coming-available-now-on-cd-or-download-get-this-great-holiday-compilation/10159746899565078/
17. ↑ https://www.aria.com.au/awards/past-winners/2018
18. ↑ https://youtu.be/R2dFmp3Bqkk
19. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CrZY4DOvbR-/
20. ↑ https://youtu.be/3KaEl\_ci6Bc
21. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/reel/CtivW6SgUah/?utm\_source=ig\_web\_copy\_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==