Meet AIDAN, the Maltese cowboy tipped to be Eurovision’s biggest underdog this year

It’s not often an artist can say every single they’ve released for the past few years has entered the charts at either number one or number two back home. But then again, AIDAN is hardly your average artist.

He is, in fact, Malta’s most successful recording artist and, since 2021, every track he has put out has done just that in his home country - a ridiculous run by anyone’s standards. Add in more than 10 million streams, sold-out arena shows and a fanbase that turns up to his concerts in full cowboy gear, and you’d be forgiven for wondering why more people in the UK don’t already know his name.

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We’re pretty certain that may all be about to change this week when AIDAN represents Malta at the Eurovision Song Contest with his biggest single to date, Bella – an absolute banger that blends Maltese, English and Italian, marking a more vulnerable, grown-up chapter for an artist who has spent years building his career entirely on his own terms.

And while he might arrive at Eurovision as one of this year’s underdogs, back home he’s anything but. Otherwise known as the Maltese Cowboy, AIDAN has become one of the most recognisable figures in Maltese pop. Case in point? His concerts have grown from 7,000-capacity shows to 12,000, with a huge September date expected to pull in around 20,000 fans from across Europe. Many of them, naturally, will be wearing cowboy hats.

His story starts in Żejtun, Malta, where he was raised by a single mother in a country of just over half a million people. From childhood, he was obsessed with music and with Eurovision in particular - the kind of kid who didn’t just watch the contest, but studied it, dreamed about it, and slowly built his artistic identity around the idea that one day he might be there himself.

He launched his first official single, Rule the World, in 2015, setting him on a path towards contemporary pop with a distinctly Mediterranean edge. But the thing that really made him stand out was his decision to write proper pop hits in the Maltese language at a time when not many people believed that could be commercially viable.

And boy did he prove them wrong. His single Naħseb Fik became the first Maltese-language song to pass one million Spotify streams and is still a radio favourite today, which we have to say is a pretty major moment for an artist who has consistently pushed the idea that Maltese music doesn’t have to stay small just because Malta is.

Eurovision has always been part of his ambition, and he first came close in 2018 when he entered Malta’s national selection with Dai Laga and finished fourth. And while it gave him his first major taste of national attention, the contest he had followed since childhood kept slipping just out of reach.

Until now, that is.

In 2026, he finally won the Maltese national selection with Bella, earning the right to represent Malta on the Eurovision stage. The song has already become his biggest release to date, passing 10 million streams and introducing a slightly softer, more emotionally open side to an artist many fans first came to know through high-energy performances and that cowboy swagger. Which is exactly what we would expect from a superstar in a small country, arriving at one of the biggest music events in the world with something to prove.

Having already done the hard bit - building a loyal following, changing expectations around Maltese-language pop and creating a live show culture – the next question isn’t whether, but when will the UK and the rest of Europe catch up.

If Bella lands the way we think it will, we don’t think it will take too long.

In the meantime, be sure to check him out on Spotify here.