Inside the Big Issue: Tom Grennan is here to help

Tom Grennan is one of the UK’s hottest pop acts. All three of his albums have charted in the UK top five. He’s had four top 10 singles. His soulful, authentic music connects with fans around the world.

Yet, as you’ll discover in this week’s exclusive cover interview, there’s more to Grennan: money from a Gilette advert paid off his parents’ mortgage, but he worries success could have slipped away from him.

His manager told him there’d be 100 more of him – he only has one chance to make this work. It was a wake-up call. Wary of making “down-the-line boring pop”, Grennan has made some big changes.

“I was just in a bad place, you know what I’m saying. I was doing all sorts of crazy shit, and now I’m not, and they’re just the changes I had to make,” he tells Big Issue.

After a summer of festival dates, Tom Grennan tells us why he’s taking time out to support Big Issue – stay tuned for information about a special busk to raise awareness of vendors.

Read the up-close-and-personal profile of an intriguing star in this week’s Big Issue.

What else is in this week’s Big Issue?

Nadhim Zahawi tells his life story in this week’s Letter to My Younger Self

Nadhim Zahawi was sacked as Conservative Party chair after failing to declare he’d paid a fine of £1m to the taxman.

In his Letter to My Younger Self interview, he explains his regrets over this chapter, and says: “You have to own your mistakes.”

Zahawi’s story took him all the way to one of the great offices of state, but as he explains to Big Issue books editor Jane Graham, he flirted with football hooliganism.

How one council used a little-known 20-year-old law to seize properties from a rogue landlord

A London council has seized 18 properties from a rogue landlord who ignored renters’ pleas to carry out repairs by drawing on a law that has gone underused for two decades.

Money from rent will go towards repairs on the property, with any money left over going to the landlord. But the move will block the landlord from evicting any tenants, while remaining responsible for paying mortgages on the properties.

Stress-free planning with our student money guide

Starting university is the start of financial independence for many an 18-year-old. But stereotypes of dodgy digs, deep overdrafts, and copious instant noodles don’t have to be reality.

Produced with support from Experian, our money guide is a handbook to navigate the tricky times at the start of term – and beyond.

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