山姆·凡德

Samuel Thomas Fender (born 25 April 1994) is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. Born and raised in North Shields, Fender released several singles independently beginning in 2017. His sonic identity relies primarily on his traditional American musical upbringing, combined with a British rock sensibility. He is known for his high tenor voice and Geordie accent. Highly acclaimed for his songwriting style, Fender is the recipient of five Brit Awards, two Ivor Novello Awards and a Mercury Prize.

Fender first gained recognition after he was named on the BBC Sound of 2018 shortlist, before signing to Polydor Records, who released his debut EP Dead Boys. He subsequently won the Critics' Choice Award at the 2019 Brit Awards and released his debut album, Hypersonic Missiles that same year, entering the UK Albums Chart at number one. His second album, Seventeen Going Under, was released in 2021 and also debuted at the summit of the UK Albums Chart, with its title track gaining immense critical and commercial success. Fender subsequently gained Mercury Prize and Brit Award nominations.

In 2022, 2025, and 2026, Fender won the Brit Award for British Rock/Alternative Act, becoming the most awarded performer in that category's history. His third studio album, People Watching, was released in February 2025 and received that year's Mercury Prize; it also debuted atop the UK Albums Chart, his third album to do so. The album's sixth single, "Rein Me In", a duet with English soul singer-songwriter Olivia Dean, became Fender's first UK number one single, received the 2026 Brit Award for Song of the Year, and is currently the longest running chart-topping single in British history, lasting an unprecedented 23 overall weeks at number one.

Early life

Samuel Thomas Fender was born on 25 April 1994, in North Shields, England, to Shirley and Alan Fender. Shirley was a nurse, and Alan was an electrician, later becoming a music teacher. Fender has a brother, Liam, nine years his senior. Alan is also a singer-songwriter, guitarist, and pianist, whilst Liam plays the drums; both were musicians performing locally. A working class family, they lived in a terraced house in North Shields. Fender's great-great-grandmother was Irish.

Fender has described the first 10 years of his life as "comfortable" within a musical family. However, he had a tumultuous late childhood and adolescence. His mother left when he was eight years old, although he later reconnected with her when he, at age 17, was forced out of his father's house by his stepmother. Fender's mother was, at that time, living in the Scottish Borders; he partly grew up there through visiting her. Fender has spoken of his appreciation for Scotland, describing it as his "second home".

At age eight, Fender received his first guitar from his father. Fascinated by Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix and Slash, he became "proficient" on the guitar at age 10. Fender attended John Spence Community High School in Preston, Tyne and Wear. He was bullied for being overweight and unathletic as a child. When he was a young teen, he and his mother discovered the body of a woman they knew who died by suicide, which affected his formative years.

When Fender was 12, he met his friend Dean Thompson and continued to play the guitar alongside him. Over the following year, he performed for the first time in front of an audience at his brother's street performer nights, playing Hendrix covers, and accompanied by Thompson at the latter's uncle's birthday, covering songs by Kings of Leon. His ambition at this point was to become a professional musician; Fender recalled, "when I hit 13 it was the only thing I wanted from life." At age 14, Fender began writing songs. The same year, he learned to sing by listening to Jeff Buckley's Grace, an album his brother gave him. Fender's brother introduced him to Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run and Darkness on the Edge of Town albums at age 15, during which he also began playing at his brother's open mic nights and formed his first band. At the time, he and his mother were poor and living in a small, crumbling flat within a council estate on the outskirts of North Shields.

Fender attended sixth form at Whitley Bay High School. He found musically-minded friends at high school. He met Joe Atkinson, and they developed a friendship through their musical interests. Fender studied theatre and A Level in English language and literature at Whitley Bay High School; during this time, he began to spend most of his time in the music department, although he had not studied the subject academically. Fender performed with his band for the Year 13 students finishing their time. At age 16, Fender entered a Teenage Cancer Trust competition and won.