Ashton Irwin

For my research paper, I had chosen Ashton Irwin as my hero. Ashton Irwin is the drummer for the famous band, Five Seconds of Summer, or commonly known as 5SOS (pronounced like 5 sauce). They are an Australian boy band whom were formed in 2011. The band first started when Luke Hemmings, the lead singer, first started uploading videos of him singing on Youtube. Later, Michael Clifford, the lead guitarist, and Calum Hood, the band's bassist, joined Luke and they uploaded videos on Youtube. Ashton didn't join the band until December. From then on the boys would post videos of them singing on youtube. Their fame didn't really rise until One Direction's band member, Louis Tomlinson, tweeted the 5SOS boys and invited them to go on their Take Me Home Tour. Now today the boys have released 10 ep, 2 albums, and they are currently recording their new album. So far they have been on tour with One Direction twice and are on their second world tour. Ashton is the one who writes most of their music. Ashton has inspired millions of people by sharing his story through his music and how overcame his difficulties.

Ashton's dad had left his family when Ashton's Little sister, Lauren was born. After his dad left, it was only Ashton, his Mum, and his baby sister until his little brother, Harry came along. When Ashton was only 15, he had to get a job at KFC to help his mom support his siblings. Ashton got his first set of drums at the age of 8 when one of his mom's ex boyfriends bought him it. Ashton later then taught himself to play the drums. He had also helped his mom to make sure that his siblings got to school on time and that they had all of their necessities such as clothes, food, shelter, and schooling. During an interview last year he stated, " I look after my siblings like a dad would" (Irwin).

When Ashton was only 13, he was diagnosed with anxiety and depression. When he was only 16 years old, he tried to commit suicide by overdosing on his medications for his anxiety/depression. Thankfully, he survived and got the help that he needed. To this day, a Ashton still suffers from anxiety and depression and has self harm scars. Whenever Ashton sees a fan with self harm scars, he draws a little butterfly on their scars and tells them that he loves them and that he hopes they get better, which is really sweet. On Twitter he also said "Every single one of you are extremely important, to more people than you think" (Irwin). It's really inspiring and has helped thousands of fans quit harming themselves.

Ashton Irwin has also helped many of his fans through his music. For example, on 5SOS 's new album, Sounds Good Feels Good, there is a song that's called Broken Home, and it's about a girl whose parents are always fighting and arguing which causes her to have depression and for her to constantly feel alone. A song lyrics from that song is "...Hey mom, hey dad, when did this end? When did you lose your happiness. I'm here alone inside this broken home." (Broken Home: 5 Seconds of Summer). Ashton is actually the one who wrote that song, which shows that's what happened to him during his childhood. Most of his music is actually about everyday problems that all of us fans can relate to, is really important. He is just really a inspiring and respectable person which a lot of people don't see.

In conclusion, I believe that Ashton Irwin is a very good role model and is a good person to look up to. He is strong and very brave for sharing his story, which had to be a hard thing to do in all honesty. He is really inspiring. He is really sweet to his fans and loves them and cares for them. He just is really strong and inspirational to his fans and that's why I chose him as my hero.