Who is Sam Fender?

Sam Fender is not an unknown up-and-coming artist, he’s been around the UK music scene for a decade now.

In fact, he’s topped the UK Album Charts twice. First with his debut album Hypersonic Missiles in 2019, and then with his second album Seventeen Going Under in 2021. With the latter, he outsold the rest of the Top 10 combined.

Now, this Friday, Jan. 19, Fender is releasing a new single with American singer Noah Kahan, called “Homesick” Both artists have shared a snippet of the song on social media.

In case you’ve just come across Fender and his music and your curiosity was piqued, here are some facts about the indie rock singer.

Straight out of Northeast England

Sam Fender was born on April 25, 1994, in North Shields, England so turns 30 this year.

Two main things that characterize Sam Fender as a vocalist are his vocal tenor and Geordie accent. Both his father and older brother were music-oriented, something which certainly rubbed off on Fender. Early on he was given a guitar which he took little time in becoming proficient in. “I love guitars.” He said in an interview with Radio X in 2021, “I play loads of guitars. It’s still early days of the guitar collection but I’m hoping that in about 10 years I have a stupid collection.”

He’s very unpretentious when citing his influences, as he doesn’t understand people who claim they “listened to Leonard Cohen when [they were] seven.” He’s cited, among others, Green Day and Bruce Springsteen as some of his influences.

He’s been through some rough patches during the first two decades of his life. He had to give up on his A-levels to help his mother who was suffering from Fibromyalgia and later developed a mental disorder in connection to the difficult disease.

Thankfully Fender’s chance to give a new route to his life came when he was spotted by Ben Howard’s manager Owain Davis while he was performing at a small pub.

Although he has had some problems with his health, which has forced him to take time off, Fender’s career has only taken off from there and, with the anticipated new single coming soon, Fender will continue to solidify his name in the UK rock scene, and hopefully, with this new collaboration, his name will also receive a push to widen his fanbase around the world.

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