Just months after completing a sold-out debut UK headline tour, Haiden Henderson, the alt-pop star with a cult following, will return to fulfil a long-time dream: supporting Aussie icons 5 Seconds of Summer as they hit the road for their Everyone’s A Star arena tour.
Speaking to Erazer over Zoom, just days before his flight across the Atlantic, Haiden said finding out he would be supporting the Youngblood hitmakers had left him in ‘complete and utter disbelief.’
“Middle school me is freaking out so much that it has yet to hit me as reality,” he said. “I don’t feel like it’s real. I feel like something could go wrong, and everything would get thrown off track. I’ve been inspired by these boys since they were on YouTube.”
Referencing his September 2025 appearance in London, Haiden joked this tour would be ‘a little different’ in terms of venue size. Swapping Highbury’s 600-capacity Garage for the O2 Arena, Haiden will be taking to the stage in front of thousands of fans.
“The one thing I anticipate is that the distance between the people and me is going to be much greater than usual. It’s going to be a lot more about the chemistry with my band and interacting with the first few rows I can actually see. I don’t really know what to expect, but I’m going to go out there with the same mindset I usually do.”
Originally planning on a career in aerospace engineering, Haiden burst onto the scene in 2021, and his return to the UK follows a 2025 run of dates, which culminated with a performance at The Garage in London – a show Haiden called the best show on the tour.
“My UK audience is my strongest globally. It sold out so quickly, we thought the ticketing system had glitched.”
Noting the anticipation ahead of the gig, Haiden described how he got ‘horrendously sick’ just the day before the performance.
“I was running 103 degrees Fahrenheit and could barely sing,” he revealed. “It got so bad that we ordered an IV of vitamins to the green room, then I chugged a Red Bull and put on the best show of the whole tour.”
Inspired by Eric Clapton, The Beatles and classic American blues guitarists, Haiden said he also takes showmanship inspiration from Mick Jagger. After releasing a variety of EPs, he is finally working on a debut album.
“The music is more in-your-face and less polite,” he said about what to expect from his first full-length record. “I’m not trying to prove to myself that I can make good music anymore, I’m just trying to make stuff that doesn’t sound like anyone else.”
For those getting to the 5 Seconds of Summer show early, Haiden said the aim with his support slot is to be different to the tour’s other openers.
“I would consider myself the pop-girly of the lineup compared to South Arcade or The Band CAMINO,” he said. “I hope people connect with the flirty, fun poppiness that I bring to the table.”
Haiden Henderson will support 5 Seconds of Summer in Glasgow, Birmingham, London, Manchester and Cardiff as part of the band’s Everyone’s A Star tour.
