Sam Fender

Sam Fender (born April 25, 1994 in North Shields, England) is a Bruce Springsteen-obsessed alternative rock singer-songwriter who grew up in a musical family near Newcastle-Upon-Tyne and began performing locally as a teenager. He signed a recording contract and garnered attention in 2017 with singles such as "Play God," which reached number 89 on the Official UK Singles Chart and can be heard on the soundtrack of the FIFA 19 video game. Other 2017 singles included "Greasy Spoon," "Millenial" and "Start Again." He was named on the BBC's Sound of 2018 list and won the Critics Choice Award at the 2018 BRIT Awards. His 2018 singles include "Leave Fast," "That Sound" and "Dead Boys," which appear on his debut EP Dead Boys released in November 2018. The single "Hypersonic Missiles" came out in 2019 followed by a debut album of the same name that year, which debuted at Number 1 on the UK Albums Chart and was an exercise in gritty, down-to-earth heartland rock à la Bruce Springsteen. The album paved the way for a Best New Artist nomination at the Brit Awards in 2020. His band features guitarist Dean Thompson, bassist Tom Ungerer, guitarist and keyboard player Joe Atkinson and drummer Drew Michael. In October 2021, Sam Fender unleashed his second studio album, Seventeen Going Under, to a rapturous response. The LP is both autobiographical and politically charged and shot to the top of the UK Albums Chart. He released his third album, People Watching, in February 2025, which was preceded by the title track and lead single.