In Holler's new interview with Maddox Batson ahead of his UK and Europe tour, the up-and-coming artist has shared the emotional story behind his unreleased song, ‘Look Up’. Batson penned the heartfelt track about two childhood friends that sadly took their lives.

Batson has been performing ‘Look Up’ during a handful of recent shows, with the ‘Tears in the River’ singer-songwriter explaining that it was the first song he ever wrote. Batson crafted the moving track with his father, after struggling through the experience of losing his good friends, Alex and Dory, when he was just 13 years old.

While speaking with Holler, Batson cites ‘Look Up’ as his favourite song to perform, “It's not even out yet. It was the first song I ever wrote. I wrote it when I was 13 years old. Me and my dad were on the couch in Alabama, and I wrote it about a few kids in my hometown. Unfortunately, when I was around 13, they took their own lives”.

He touches on how he was especially close with Alex, “We were buddies. I grew up with him, grew up playing baseball with him. And, you know, it's just kind of a weird situation for a 13 year old. I didn't know what to say, and I didn't know what to do with myself. It was a weird time. So I was doing some research about it, and I found out that one of the leading causes in the US for teenage suicide is social media”.

Batson candidly shares how he found it challenging to come to terms with this knowledge, given the fact that his blossoming musical career was launched through social media.

He muses, “As someone who has built a brand and a career on social media, that sucked for me to hear, because I know that social media can be such an amazing platform, but it could also be very detrimental...So I went to my dad, and we wrote this song, ‘Look Up’. And it was basically, one, look up to the sky, look up to the man upstairs. If I ever have any questions, I'll go up to Him. And two, just look up from your phone. Look up, see how beautiful you are. See how amazing the world is that you're living in without social media. It's just such a meaningful song to me”.

‘Look Up’ epitomises Batson's continued dedication to positioning himself as a positive role model for his young listenership - an impressive and inspiring feat, considering he is just 16.

Batson underlines the heartwarming reaction he gets from fans - especially parents - whenever he performs ‘Look Up’, “I love playing it for my crowd, because that's when they really lock in. I'll notice that the moms and the dads at the concerts, they'll hold their children really tight during that song...It means a lot to me, and I'm glad I can put that message out there, and I'm glad that I can use my platform for the right reason. It's such an amazing song, and that one's definitely one of my favorites to perform, because it's sending out an amazing message”.

With Batson currently in the middle of a keenly anticipated run across The Pond in the UK, Germany, Sweden and more, the fast-emerging hitmaker is preparing to share this message with swathes of fans outside of North America for the first time.

He gushes, “I can tell the energy is so different. Like, over there, they just love music...They're so excited the entire time. That's what I'm excited for...It's such a cool feeling, the fact that I can go international and play shows in countries I've never been to”.

The ‘Fallin’ Easy’ crooner has been picking the brains of fellow members of the country music industry as to what to expect from this tour, “I've gotten advice from butt-loads of different people, whether they're artists, writers, anybody, and it's all just to go over there with the exact same intent as I would when playing a show here...I want to go over there, put on the best show I can and just have a good time”.

He concludes by joking that his mom, who joins him on tour, is particularly keen to visit Buckingham Palace, “I've never been out of the US, and I'm really excited to go to London...My mom is super into the Royal family...So she's super excited to go over there and see the palace, and just walk around and be in that atmosphere”.

With Batson dropping a new single, ‘Fallin’ Easy’, earlier in May, and continuing to tease unreleased material, 2026 is shaping up to be another stellar year for the Tennessee native.

We're hoping the country prodigy, who has already accumulated an impressive series of hits and writing credits - including a song for Lana Del Rey and Quavo - plans to give ‘Look Up’ a studio release in the near future, potentially as part of his debut album. It carries a deeply powerful and important message that will unfortunately strike a chord with many listeners, offering them comfort and reassurance, while gently encouraging us all to spend a little more time away from our screens.

Tickets to Maddox Batson's 2026 UK and EU tour are on-sale now. For the full list of international shows, see below:

May 12 | Dublin, IE | 3Olympia Theatre

May 13 | Glasgow, UK | SWG3 Galvanizers

May 15 | Manchester, UK | Manchester Academy 2

May 16 | London, UK | O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire

May 19 | Cologne, DE | Die Kantine

May 20 | Amsterdam, NL | Paradiso Amsterdam

May 21 | Hamburg, DE | Gruenspan

May 23 | Oslo, NO | Vulkan Arena

May 24 | Stockholm, SE | Fryshuset Klubben

For more on Maddox Batson, see below: