Credit: Mick Jagger / Gracie Hall
Tue 30 June 2026 16:28, UK
After recently giving props to both Geese and Zara Larsson, The Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger has now given love to Sam Fender.
Back in 2022, Fender supported The Rolling Stones at BST Hyde Park in London, and since then, Jagger has seemingly kept a close eye on the North Shields singer-songwriter’s development.
While Fender was already hugely successful at that time, he’s now become a stadium-dwelling, Mercury Prize-winner who has also been at the top of the UK Singles Chart for months with his Olivia Dean collaboration, ‘Rein Me In’.
Speaking to NME, Jagger was full of admiration for Fender, sharing, “I’ve had my Sam Fender moments lately. I thought that album (People Watching) was excellent, earlier stuff I liked, y’know Seventeen Going Under, there’s some good stuff on that album.”
He elaborated, “It’s kind of rock music, y’know, it is rock music but it’s kind of good choruses and things, which is part of the game, and what I try and do. Not every song, but some of them you do. I think a lot of the lyrics are really interesting, reflective of your own experiences growing up and all that. I mean, there’s a point where you are going to have to move on from that.”
Jagger added, “He’s obviously very pop orientated, he’s not only doing working class songs, the song he did with Olivia Dean was very successful.”
He then singled out ‘Crumbling Empire‘ from People Watching as a personal favourite, which the rock legend described as “lyrically interesting”.
Last week, Jagger also gave praise to Geese, telling GQ, “Geese, everyone’s talking about them. They’re very experimental, Geese, really. I mean, for a rock band. I quite like it.”
He then explained how the band surprised his expectations in a positive way, adding, “I heard all the talk about it, and as soon as the record, [Getting Killed], came out, I was expecting it to be more indie. I wasn’t expecting it to be quite that out there, but I admire that.”
In addition to sharing his admiration of Geese, Jagger also provided a further glimpse into the contemporary artists that he’s currently enjoying, singling out Rosalía as a personal favourite.
Jagger continued, “I mean, there’s also a lot of good women singers who have done great recently. Look at Rosalia’s album [Lux]. That was something really conceptual, really interesting. And she really pulled it off, and I really admire her for doing it.”
On the topic of new music, The Rolling Stones’ new album, Foreign Tongues, is set for release on July 10th.
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