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Sam Fender is riding high on the success of his hit "Seventeen Going Under." In the midst of his first stateside tour, GRAMMY.com spoke to the singer/songwriter about everything from growing up, to the best American sweets and the heroics of Elton John.
Sam Fender wants to "smash America" – and he's right on track.
After years of scoring hits in his native U.K., the Geordie singer/songwriter is breaking through to U.S.audiences with "Seventeen Going Under," a tale of growing up confused and yearning, told without inhibition in an upbeat style.
Fender's growing stateside success is due in part to a banner year in his home country, where he headlined Glastonbury Festival earlier this summer and performed to 40,000 people in London's Finsbury Park. His second studio album — also titled Seventeen Going Under — won a BRIT Award and was named Album Of The Year by NME.
Fender's music has broken free from the estate councils of his northern England hometown and obliterated the seen-it-all attitude that permeates London music culture to engender awe in America. His appeal comes from his ability to straddle the line between rock anthem and indie heartache with his songs, delivering jolts of universal emotion in the key of U2 , Bruce Springsteen and early aughts guitar rock. The singer has also drawn legions of fans on TikTok, who find commune in his deeply personal lyrics.
Fender is in the midst of his first U.S. tour, a portion of which has him supporting Florence + the Machine on major stages such as Madison Square Garden. On stage, Fender and his five-piece backing band of childhood friends rollick through songs with political and parental influence — buoyed by fist-pumping choruses and Clarence Clemons-worthy saxophone wails.
Though Fender already knows he won't be playing many shows next year — just a handful of performances "headlining something massive," he confides — in the meantime, he's culling his fan base.
Fender sat down with GRAMMY.com to discuss his growing international audience, writing process and a very special gift he received from Elton John.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
You're a bit on the precipice here in the U.S. How does that feel to you?
Everything in the UK is f—ing skyrocketing at the moment in terms of our career. We're doing a f—ing huge headline show at home which we're gonna announce really soon, like 50,000 people. The reason why I was talking about this — I wasn't just outright bragging — is because it’s really humbling to come over here when nobody f—ing knows who we are.
But you were on the biggest stage at Outside Lands in San Francisco.
But we don't have the usual amenities — we couldn’t get a tour bus. So we're in a f—ing RV which aren't designed for sleeping on while moving; that's so uncomfortable. There's four of us in that one. And it's sweaty, and you can't sleep at all.
It’s been a challenge, it’s been testing. But it’s lush because that's when I think this band really kind of bears its teeth. When we're like f—ing struggling it just takes us back to when we first were touring around Europe, but it's kind of bringing back all that excitement. It's like we've got to fight for it a bit more, which is really quite refreshing.
Have you felt that audiences were particularly responsive to you here?
People are picking up on [the themes of my lyrics]. It’s a small-town existence. It's lovely to see the songs connect on that kind of level in a place that is so far from home, you know?
I heard your band are childhood friends.
Me and [guitarist] Dean [Thompson] have known each other since we were 11. Joe [Atkinson] at the back [on keys and guitar], we've known each other since we were 14. And Johnny [Davis], the saxophonist, he's my brother's mate. My brother is 10 years older than me, so Johnny was always another sort of big brother character. I thought he was the coolest guy. It's like a family band.
What have you guys been doing in the RV when you can't sleep?
We don't watch anything because we don’t have any internet connection. It's been pretty dire to be honest. We've just been eating chocolate bars and reviewing them.
So what has been your favorite so far?
Butterfinger. I f—ing love them. I think they’re amazing. I like Baby Ruth and I like PayDay as well. All the nutty ones.
I'm with you on that. Except for the Butterfingers. It's a little OG for us.
It's like it sticks to your teeth and everything. I came to America to get hit by the most disgustingly sweet things. I think this is exactly what America should taste like.
Beyond getting the taste of America, has it been any different touring for American audiences than British or European ones?
It's sort of similar in a lot of ways. But I think the crowds are more enthusiastic from an early stage in your career.
We were told that LA was going to be really somber and nobody would give a f— sort of thing. So we were like, “Oh it's going to be like London!” But it was the complete opposite of what we expected — the whole room was bouncing, and we had them in the palm of our hands. That was the best feeling. Everyone kept coming up to us after like, "That doesn't happen in LA."
What's been your favorite song to perform during this tour?
"Get You Down" and " Spit of You " — I haven't seen my dad in a while, and that song's about him. So I think the further apart I am from him, the more I start to sing that song with conviction. It's been lovely and it's been going down really well. When we started playing it., there was just some kid in the crowd like, "This is my favorite f—ing song!" and it just really f—ing pumped us up.
Do you think that a lot of your fans are from TikTok?
Well, when you hear "Seventeen Going Under" and they scream two lines and then the kind of volume drops off [ laughs ] — yes. But they've stuck around and they're still singing other songs as well. So I don't give a f— where they're from.
I used to kind of poo-poo TikTok. Even at 26, I was like, I feel old to be on this. But then obviously, it all kicked off, so I'm not complaining. The way I look at it now is this — it's just another medium for kids to discover music, which is f—ing amazing. Because if they do come to the show, and they only know that one line from TikTok, probably by the end of the show, they'll know some more songs. A lot of these young new fans have come through — it's recurring. It's not like they've dropped off the face of the Earth.
It must be really interesting to see so many people engage personally with these very specific lyrics that you've written. A lot of people probably don't get the chance to see that.
It was a bit of a headf—k to be honest. At first, it was a bit overwhelming, because a lot of these initial stories and TikTok were like a lot of the posts that were like really heavy stuff [like] kids talking about being victims of domestic abuse. It was really quite a harrowing thing to kind of be constantly bombarded with notifications of that sort of level of story, and it kind of put weight on ["Seventeen"] for us. Even though my song touches on violence and things like that, it's not about my parents or anything.
It's essentially about being a skint [British slang for poor], how my mother being skint, and it's about how the government in my country treats poor people. How they go after people like my mum when she wasn't very well — not all the f—ing corporations that slide their taxes in the Cayman Islands.
That's the beauty of it, though, isn't it? I write about [that] and then the kids dig it, and it means something to them. And that's what it should be like; There's loads of songs out there that mean something to me for some memory that might [not be related to the artists' intention].
I think that all of your songs sort of sound a little bit different. Like there's some U2; I could hear like a little bit of Beastie Boys in the intro to one of your tracks. There's so much Bruce Springsteen in your sound to me. Who are your biggest creative inspirations?
You actually just said three bands that I adore. I f—king love Beastie Boys. I love U2 and I love Bruce Springsteen. I love the War, Achtung Baby , Joshua Tree era U2. I love Springsteen's entire catalog. Beastie Boys I f—king adore. We actually walk off to "Sabotage." The opening to " Spice " has that sort of visceral energy.
My dad used to sing in the social clubs back in the Northeast, and he used to sing all of the soul songs. And the first time I ever drank a whiskey with my dad, I was 15 or 16. I came downstairs and he was listening to, I think it was either "She Is My Lady" by Donny Hathaway, or it might have been "A Song For You."
He had a tear in his eye, poured us a glass of whiskey, and said, "Sit down and listen to this. This man is the best singer you will ever hear.” And then I started learning Donny Hathaway songs as a kid.
Roberta Flack , Aretha Franklin , Sam and Dave …love that '60s stuff. I used to cover Sam and Dave in my band [ sings "Hold On I'm Comin'" ].
What were your creative goals during the creation of Seventeen, and how do you see yourself evolving from that?
I wanted to do an album that was more cohesive than the first one, but it's not mega cohesive. From "Aye" to "Last To Make It Home," those are very different sounding songs. But I think lyrically, as a whole, [ Seventeen ] was more concise, and had more of a continuity with the story. It was more about growing up. It was all about mental health, love and loss, and all of the things that you have experienced in your early adult life.
What happened after with the success of it in the U.K., was something that I never ever thought. I never, ever dreamed of charting a single because guitar bands don't really get into the charts over there. The last time a band got into the top 10 before us was the Arctic Monkeys and that was in 2013. And they got to No. 8; we got to No. 3. That, for us was a real eye-opener as to how [the album has] connected.
Are you writing anything right now?
Yeah, I'm 16, 17 songs into another record.
Has that success been influencing what you're writing?
The actual writing of Seventeen itself was a catalyst for the next album. I had done such personal songs on the first album, the second album, I did a bit of therapy and that gave us so much to write about. Which was really cathartic for us and it really kind of helped my mental health.
To be honest with you, the only time that I feel sane is when I'm recording and when I'm writing. All of the distractions that you have in life, whether it be drugs, drink, sex, whatever, all of them things don't come f—ing close to just blackening out a page. It's more necessity than inspiration. I opened Pandora's box with that record. And I can't close it, but I'm good because it's cathartic. And it's a healing process as well.
It's the best way to pick up a shot at self esteem. It's the best way to grieve something. I had a really big breakup a year and a bit ago, so I've had a lot to write about that. And a lot of writing about my own failures as a partner and the trials and tribulations of trying to keep a lover when you're doing this as your job.
So it sounds like your next record is going to be very mature.
It's self deprecating and self-effacing, so nothing much has changed. [ Laughs ]
"Alright" was the most recent single that you released – why was that the one you chose?
I totally thought it was gonna go on Seventeen , but then I'd wrote 60 songs for Seventeen because of the pandemic. For the first two, three months of it; I was alone. I've got a health condition…so for the first three months I was completely stuck and wrote "All Right" 'round that time.
[The song is] about depression, but it's also about the idea that I felt like I've always cheated death, because I got ill at such a young age. So is this idea that I feel like I've just always cheated death somehow and my number is going to run up at some point.
You've been supporting some pretty awesome artists – is there anyone who you'd love to share a stage with?
We've [supported] Bob Dylan, Neil Young and the Stones. It's like, I just need Springsteen. And then I just get to die happy.
Then your number will be up. Speaking of greats, I read in NME that Elton John says you are the one man that's like putting out good rock music.
Elton's like my uncle now, my fairy godfather. Elton and David [Furnish, John’s husband], they're just like my f—ing dads. They took us well under their wing. I was being unhealthy and doing too much of everything else, and they were the ones who scooped us out of that pit. I stayed with them for f—ing two and a half weeks.
I sat up all night with Elton, night in, night out, just listening to music. I'd play him stuff and everything I played him, he'd heard. He is a f—ing encyclopedia of music.
There's so much music that he showed me that is now a part of my soul. For example, the Band. I've never really listened to the Band, I only heard a couple of hits. And then next thing you know, I go back home and there's this knock on the door. This guy just walks up with a box full of f—ing vinyl. And all of the things that we listened to, he bought on vinyl and got couriered to my house.
I've never ever met another artist that is so f—ing devoid of jealousy and envy. I mean, it's probably because he's one of the biggest rock stars ever, but he's so, so open and he loves so many different types of music. It's so f—ing inspiring. Like the amount of kids that he's pushed, including myself — the little punk band, the Linda Lindas, he loves them as well, shouts them out. He doesn't have to do that. He's Elton f—ing John, and he literally spends half his time just pushing kids to achieve their dreams.
He is such a wonderful human being. Everyone needs a f—ing Elton John.
Lastly, do you have any larger goals? Either in the coming years or immediate term?
I would love to maintain what we have. Like, I hope it doesn't peter off. I think my personal goals are that every single member of my band has a house that is theirs. Once I've achieved that, then I know that I've looked after the boys. These are my friends who've sacrificed to follow my dream. Once they have got that, then I know it was worth it.
That and, uh, smash America.
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Lizzo, J Balvin, The Strokes, Tame Impala, Tyler, The Creator, Burna Boy and Kehlani are among the artists who will perform at the festival on Aug. 6–8, 2021 at Golden Gate Park
Outside Lands, San Francisco's eclectic summer music festival, officially announced on June 24 that its 2020 edition would not be taking place but left little room for gloom as it has also announced its 2021 lineup.
Lizzo, J Balvin, The Strokes, Tame Impala, Tyler, The Creator, Burna Boy and Kehlani are among the artists who will perform at the festival on Aug. 6–8, 2021 at Golden Gate Park.
The fest sold early bird tickets for its 2020 event earlier this year, but had not released a lineup. While it had not officially announced this year's cancellation, California Gov. Gavin Newsom made it clear in April that mass gatherings would not happen any time soon in the state.
In a statement, the fest said it was sad their 13th consecutive fest could not happen, but that it was looking towards the future.
"We are looking to the future & filled with excitement to announce NEXT year’s festival, returning August 6-8, 2021," the fest said on Twitter. "We believe it is in the best interest of everyone’s health & safety that we not return in 2020."
Tickets for the 2021 fest will go on sale June 25 at 10 a.m. PST.
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Photo: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
Lineup for August is filled with artists prominent at the 61st GRAMMY Awards
The Outside Lands festival is coming to San Francisco's Golden Gate Park on the weekend of Aug. 9–11. They announced their lineup this morning including 61st GRAMMY Awards Record Of The Year winner Childish Gambino and Album Of The Year winner Kacey Musgraves. Gambino aka Donald Glover also won for Best Music Video, Best Rap/Sung Performance and Song Of The Year. Kacey Musgraves' Golden Hour also won Best Country Album. Her track "Space Cowboy" won best Country Song and "Butterflies" won Best Country Solo Performance. The overlap between Outside Lands and winning at the 61st Awards doesn't stop there.
Other 61st winners in Outside Lands' lineup announced on March 26 are Leon Bridges, Lauren Daigle, Ella Mai, PJ Morton, and Anderson .Paak. Nominees from this year's show include Bebe Rexha and Tierra Whack. Tyler Joseph from Twenty One Pilots was nominated for Best Rock Song at the 61st as well.
The Outside Lands lineup is filled with winners of GRAMMY awards from other years as well. The list includes Edie Brickell, Flume, Lil Wayne, Paul Simon, and Mavis Staples. Blink-182, Counting Crows, Hozier, the Lumineers, and Bob Moses are among the artists in the lineup who've previously been nominated for GRAMMY awards.
GRAMMY wins and nominations are recognition for artists but the lesser-known acts coming to Golden Gate Park in August are also exciting and well worth a listen. We've covered San Holo, Yaeji and others. With a lineup this entertaining, the experience in the park this summer is bound to be fantastic.
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As Billie Eilish accepted her second gramophone of her five that night, the "bad guy" singer celebrated the listeners who made her career happen.
The 2020 GRAMMYs marked a massive night for Billie Eilish. She arrived as a first-time nominee, and ended up winning five of the six awards she was nominated for — including a sweep of the General Field categories, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Album of the Year, and Best New Artist.
But the latter was extra special for Eilish, because she kept the focus on the fan base that made her such a successful act in the first place.
In this episode of GRAMMY Rewind , go back to January 2020 for Eilish's powerful acceptance speech. The "Happier Than Ever" singer was visibly emotional as she took the stage, still reeling over the fact that she was winning her second GRAMMY award of the night — and of her career.
Eilish had plenty of people to thank, including her touring team, but she reserved her most heartfelt gratitude for her fan base.
"Mainly, I think the fans deserve everything," she said. "I feel like they have not been talked about enough tonight. Because they're the only reason that any of us are here at all. So thank you to the fans."
Eilish also shared messages of support and love for her fellow nominees in the category, which included Lil Nas X, Tank and the Bangas, Yola, Lizzo, Rosalia, Maggie Rogers and the Black Pumas. She celebrated each of them as a deserving contender, and once again brought her focus back around to the loyal fans.
"I know your fans are hardcore and they're gonna fight for you guys and they love you, and they're gonna talk s— about me for years for this," Eilish laughed. "I love all fandoms. Thank you to the fans. You guys make this worth it."
Press play on the video above to watch Eilish's full speech, and check back to GRAMMY.com every Friday for more episodes of GRAMMY Rewind.
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Genesis in 1972. (L-R) Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford, Tony Banks, Peter Gabriel & Steve Hackett
Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
On the 25th anniversary of Genesis' final album 'Calling All Stations,' GRAMMY.com celebrates 15 of the most majestic and ambitious tracks in the group's catalog.
This month, Calling All Stations — the 15th and last studio album by British group Genesis — turns 25. It offers an intriguing (yet somewhat underwhelming) conclusion to the discography of a band that infused popular music with poetry and theatricality. Genesis enjoyed two careers in one; first as prog-rock pioneers in the '70s, then mainstream hitmakers throughout the '80s and early '90s. Both chapters share a common element: songwriting that surprises at every corner and defies expectations.
After producer Jonathan King discovered the group in the late '60s, he suggested the name Genesis, implying the promise of something new. It was a time of turmoil and growth for the English music scene, as the explosion of psychedelia, acid-folk and art-pop eventually coalesced into the heyday of progressive rock.
Genesis began as a teenage pop group, and after changing a couple of members, emerged in 1971 with its definitive lineup: singer Peter Gabriel, keyboardist Tony Banks, bassist Mike Rutherford, guitarist Steve Hackett and drummer Phil Collins. Lauded for representing the limitless imagination of prog, the GRAMMY-winning band quickly ventured beyond the confines of the genre.
Gabriel left in 1975, Hackett in '77, and Collins in '96. With Banks and Rutherford as core members, the group found resilience in change, eventually selling over 100 million records worldwide across their nearly three-decade run. Their final reunion tour, with Collins back on board, ended in March of this year.
Omitting the obvious hits, this list of 15 essential tracks highlights the Genesis songbook at its most majestic and ambitious.
The opening track of Genesis' third album Nursery Cryme , this 10-minute mini-opera features the newly arrived Collins and Hackett. It also showcases the quintet's fully formed obsessions: a preoccupation with nocturnal moods and odd time signatures, pastoral passages and lyrics that merge Lewis Carroll-like whimsy with the surreal and macabre. The story's grand finale — the aged spirit of a murdered child returns from the dead to unleash a lifetime of pent-up desire — allowed 21 year-old Peter Gabriel to create a memorable onstage moment by wearing a creepy mask resembling an old man while performing.
At the beginning, Genesis sat comfortably next to like-minded bands such as King Crimson and Van Der Graaf Generator. It was perhaps the staggering individual talent of its members that allowed them to transcend their prog roots and become one of the most popular rock bands in history. A deep album cut like "Harlequin" brims with promise — its vulnerable, luminous energy has aged particularly well.
Together with "Close to the Edge" by Yes — both released the same year — "Supper's Ready" sums up the beautiful madness of the British progressive school, its attempt to elevate rock 'n' roll into a level of complexity and ambition that was unimaginable until then. The song features music-hall extravagance, cozy folk harmonies and 12-string guitars, cutting edge 9/8 drum patterns, and the apocalypse itself ("as sure as eggs is eggs"), its 23-minute run time occupying the entire side B of the Foxtrot LP. The ending crescendo, with Gabriel in stunning vocal form, evokes the rapture of a classical symphony.
Keyboardist Tony Banks was inspired by Rachmaninoff for the hyper-romantic piano intro to this Genesis stage favorite. Only five albums into its career, the band had achieved full artistic maturity — a rare state of grace that wouldn't last long. The melodies are particularly rich on this solemn rock hymn, and Hackett's byzantine electric solo became a point of reference for generations of future guitarists like Eddie Van Halen and Brian May.
A proposed album based on The Little Prince was canned in favor of Gabriel's patchy narrative about a disaffected Puerto Rican teen in New York City. Eerily predating the punk revolution, double LP The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway found the band overreaching for the first and only time. Still, it boasts many spectacular moments — and a Brian Eno contribution — such as this dreamy ballad with nonsensical lyrics and a spectral, spiraling piano pattern. Perhaps prematurely, Gabriel decided to leave the band while playing the entire album live across America.
They considered carrying on as an instrumental unit, then held auditions in search of a new vocalist. But in the end, Genesis decided to give Phil Collins a chance as lead singer, with Yes virtuoso Bill Bruford joining behind the drum kit on tour. Released in 1976, the first two post-Gabriel albums — A Trick of the Tail and Wind & Wuthering — include some of the band's finest work; the revamped sound direct and pristine. "Dance on a Volcano" reflects the influence that the then-popular jazz-rock fusion had on Collins.
Genesis shone the brightest whenever they explored the more delicate, mournful shades of their sonic palette. From 1980 onwards, pop balladry would be the framework of choice. Before then, songs like "Ripples" combined the band's folk-rock vein with the influence of classical music. There are hints of Debussy and Ravel in the floating instrumental bridge — a passage seeped in longing, which arguably stands as the quintessential Genesis moment.
One of those rare instances when an album's title and cover sum up the specific aura of the music inside, Wind & Wuthering is misty and autumnal to the core. It is the one Genesis session most influenced by Hackett — his complex acoustic guitar contributing to the haunting mood. This was his last record with the band, followed by a string of brilliant solo albums.
Hitting a sweet spot between art-rock density and mainstream vigor, Duke showcased Genesis as champions of eccentricity — sweeping instrumental workouts next to sad ballads about getting divorced. "Duchess" uses a primitive drum machine pattern as launching pad for a saga about the inevitable decline of a veteran singer. Years of nonstop touring had opened up Collins' vocal chords, resulting in performances that sounded positively soulful.
Beginning with Abacab , Genesis abandoned individual song credits and started writing from scratch in their newly built home studio. They infuriated longtime fans by adding a brass section to a couple of hits, experimenting joyfully with noise and booming drums, and incorporating Collins' hitmaking recipes once his solo career took off. It was undoubtedly a different band, but the subterranean prog tendencies were still there. There's a new-wave polish to "Dodo/Lurker," but the grandiose melodrama of years past shines through.
Perhaps the biggest strength of the trio's commercial heyday was its ability to begin with a small idea like a riff or melody and allow it to blossom into a pop miniature. A B-side from the Abacab sessions, "You Might Recall" underscores the grit in Collins' voice — all those Motown records that he loved growing up — as well as the ease with which Banks and Rutherford became succinct and economical, without sacrificing the magic in their songwriting.
Pittsburgh '76. Zurich '77. London Lyceum '80. Some Genesis concerts became the stuff of legend among fans, boosted by breathtaking light shows and the drum duets between Collins and former Weather Report percussionist Chester Thompson. Lifting a song from The Lamb and connecting it with various instrumental sections and the somber "Afterglow," the "In The Cage Medley" was always the high point of their concerts. This version from the double album Three Sides Live is electrifying.
With electronic drums and a new arsenal of keyboard patches, this is the tight, quirky edition of Genesis: a trio of wealthy rockers in their '30s who played four sold-out shows at Wembley in 1987. Some of their creative choices were baffling during this period, but when the magic worked, it was the very "pictures of delight" referenced in the lyrics of "Home by the Sea." The instrumental section in the middle sums up the best of '80s Genesis — grand, funky and cohesive. Vari-Lites were invented for songs such as this one.
At the end of their journey together, Genesis excelled in a stark brand of minimalism. The trio found precious harmonic nuggets and maximized their emotional impact through the art of orchestration. This tribal percussive workout — almost like the theme to an imaginary movie — builds up subtle variations on the same lush melody and offers a striking coda to Invisible Touch , an album filled with massive pop singles.
From 1981's "In The Air Tonight" until his departure from the band, Collins juggled solo stardom with his Genesis commitments. As a result, the despondent breakup ballads for which he became famous started infiltrating the group material. Still, the contribution of Banks and Rutherford to perennial radio favorites like "Hold On My Heart" added subtlety and sophistication. The result was openly commercial, but also possessed an indelible, peculiar beauty of its own.
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