![\"Sam](\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/NMEAR_NME-AWARDS-2022-SAM-FENDER-LIVE-ANDY-FORD.jpg\")
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Sam Fender<\/a> has told fans that he used to watch Brian Johnson<\/a> interviews when he was homesick.<\/p>\n In a new social media post reflecting on the influence of the AC\/DC<\/a> star, Fender shared a picture of the two and looked back on the early days of his career.\u00a0\u201cWhen we were on our first tours before everything kicked off, I used to watch interviews of Brian when I was homesick,\u201d he said on Instagram this Saturday (December 13).<\/p>\n \u201cHe was given the keys to the kingdom when he joined AC\/DC, yet he never stopped being that little Geordie\/Italian lad from Dunston. When things started to go well for us, my Dad would always say, \u2018Be like Brian, no matter how far it goes, always remember where you\u2019re from\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cHere\u2019s me and Brian. We\u2019d both just headlined shows in Sydney. Two normal Geordie Lads. Mental.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n AC\/DC\u2019s return to Australia for the first time in a decade saw the return of \u2018Jailbreak\u2019 for the first time in 34 years<\/a> \u2013 in a concert so powerful, it set off earthquake detection equipment<\/a>.<\/p>\n As for Fender, having been out on tour and been vocal about the importance of protecting live spaces, he recently\u00a0donated his Mercury Prize\u00a0winnings<\/a>\u00a0to the\u00a0Music Venue Trust<\/a>\u00a0(MVT), while highlighting the importance of \u201cstruggling\u201d small gig spaces in the UK. The funds will support the charity\u2019s ongoing work to protect and secure the future of such live music spaces across the nation.<\/p>\n \u201cI wouldn\u2019t be doing what I am doing today if it wasn\u2019t for all the gigs I played around the North East, and beyond, when I was starting out,\u201d he said. \u201cThese venues are legendary, but they are struggling.\u201d<\/p>\n Last week, he\u00a0also shared his\u00a0Live At London Stadium<\/em>\u00a0concert film<\/a>. It captures the\u00a0Mercury Prize-winning artist<\/a>\u00a0playing his biggest gig to date at the 82,500-capacity venue as he kicked off his\u00a0huge UK summer stadium tour<\/a>\u00a0back in June.<\/p>\n The gig was also his first stadium headline date outside of his hometown of Newcastle, and saw him bring out support act\u00a0Olivia Dean\u00a0for a rendition of \u2018People Watching\u2018 track\u00a0\u2018Rein Me In\u2019, marking the first time the two singers had joined forces on stage<\/a>. The track was\u00a0later officially released<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n NME<\/em>\u00a0gave \u2018People Watching\u2019\u00a0a four-star review upon its release in February<\/a>, writing: \u201cFeeling existential, uprooted and disconnected from his old working-class life thanks to his rapid rise to fame, the British guitar hero channels it all into his gorgeous third album.\u201d<\/p>\n The record also landed at\u00a0Number 20 on\u00a0NME\u2019s<\/em>\u00a0Top 50 albums of 2025<\/a>, with Alex Flood writing: \u201cThough its title suggested an observer documenting life\u2019s mundanities from a distance, the contents of \u2018People Watching\u2019 proved anything but detached.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom hooky jam \u2018Arm\u2019s Length\u2019 to heartbreaking ballad \u2018Remember My Name\u2019 \u2013 a love song dedicated to his late grandparents \u2013 this album allowed us closer than ever before to the friends and family that made Sam Fender who he is today.\u201d<\/p>\n Similarly, the album\u2019s title track landed at\u00a037 on our round-up of the year\u2019s top 50 songs<\/a>, with Damian Jones writing: \u201cEasily the best song on the Mercury Prize winner\u2019s third album, \u2018People Watching\u2019 is steeped in grief and anger \u2013 yet it bursts with emotional euphoria as Sam Fender cries \u201cI people-watch on the way back home\u201d over jangly guitars and a spine-tingling saxophone. A stadium-slayer for the ages.\u201d<\/p>\n The post Sam Fender says he used to watch Brian Johnson interviews when he was homesick as he reflects on the influence of the AC\/DC star<\/a> appeared first on NME<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sam Fender has told fans that he used to watch Brian Johnson interviews when he was homesick. READ MORE:\u00a0Sam Fender \u2013 \u2018People Watching\u2019 review: reflective and perceptive indie rock from North Shields\u2019 shining star In a new social media post reflecting on the influence of the AC\/DC star, Fender shared a picture of the two […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37446,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-art"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-10-25 20:46:16","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37445\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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