Sam Fender Tour Overview
Sam Fender is an English Indie rock singer-songwriter and musician who began his career as an actor before being signed to Polydor Records in 2018. When first starting off in the music industry, Fender released a number of independent singles, gaining recognition as BBC’s Sound of 2018. At the 39th BRIT Awards, Sam Fender won the Critics Choice Award for his debut EP, Dead Boys. He then went onto release his first album, Hypersonic Missiles, in September of 2019 and it immediately rocketed to the top of the UK Albums Chart. Fender’s second album, Seventeen Going Under, released in October 2021 was equally as successful, again debuting at number one of the UK Albums Chart.
About Sam Fender
Samuel Thomas Fender was born on 25 April 1994 in North Shields, England, to Shirley and Alan Fender. He has a brother, Liam, nine years his senior. Shirley was a nurse, and Alan was an electrician; the working class family lived in a terraced house in the suburb of North Shields. Alan is also a singer-songwriter, guitarist, and pianist, whilst Liam plays the drums. Both were musicians performing locally. Fender described the first 10 years of his life as "comfortable" within a musical family. His great-great-grandmother was Irish. His father later became a music teacher.
He had a tumultuous late childhood and adolescence. His mother abandoned him when he was eight years old, but he later returned to her after being forced out of his father's house by his stepmother. His mother was then living in the Scottish Borders, and Fender would grow up there when he visited her. At the age of eight, Fender received his first guitar from his father. He became "proficient" on the guitar at age 10 whilst being fascinated by Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, and Slash. Fender attended John Spence Community High School. 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. Fender said: "Suddenly mortality became real. Life and death became concrete."
Sam Fender Facts
- Brandon Flowers and Dave Keuning wrote the band’s most famous song, Mr. Brightside, in their very first rehearsal together.
- Flowers is a devout Mormon and even took part in a video campaign for the religion to change people’s perception of it.
- When Brandon Flowers was a child, a ouija board told him he would die on June 21st, which also happens to be his birthday.
- The band’s tour rider depends on the day of the week. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday they drink Maker’s Mark whiskey and Absolut Vodka. On Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday they go for Jack Daniel’s and Gin. Sundays are saved for tequila and Jameson’s.
- The Killers have a pre-show ritual called ‘The Cuddle’, in which they all join together in a circle before they go on stage.
