Sam Fender returned to North Shields after picking up the award for Best Alternative/Rock Act at the BRITs 2022 and swiftly put it to good use.
Before handing it over to his local pub, the Low Lights Tavern, Fender used the trophy to destroy a piñata made to look like Boris Johnson that he’d brought with him, while family and fans cheered him on. Watch footage below.
In another clip, Fender is heard telling the crowd “let’s get fucking pissed” before admitting that he hadn’t slept since the awards, which took place on Tuesday evening (February 8). “I’m still awake (after) 40 hours,” he said before heading inside the pub for a pint.
🚨 drunk sam fender almost kills a fan at his local pub in north shields
pic.twitter.com/BQf1TeYuru— loshinoya (@parableofender) February 10, 2022
sam fender at the low lights tavern!
(c) xkatiegraham pic.twitter.com/ftm8rY2s9E
— sam fender files (@samfenderfiles) February 10, 2022
sam fender at the low lights tavern! pic.twitter.com/guyTpQDoPC
— sam fender files (@samfenderfiles) February 10, 2022
Fender used to work at the Low Lights Tavern in North Shields as a barman. It’s also where he was discovered by his manager Owain Davies.
In 2019, Fender won the BRITs Critics Choice award and donated the trophy to the pub for it to be turned into a beer pump.
Following his win this year, Fender said he was going to do the same. “I came here for the meat raffle, to be honest, and then I came away with a BRIT. Now I’ve got two, I’m going to go back [to the pub] and do the exact same thing,” he said following the ceremony.
During his acceptance speech, Fender dedicated his award in part to the North East Homeless centre, which provides support to those who are vulnerable and homeless in the north east of England. He also performed his single ‘Seventeen Going Under’ live at the ceremony.
Speaking to NME on the red carpet at the BRITs, Fender spoke about the “special experience” of attending this year’s event with his bandmates in tow.
Fender will be performing at the BandLab NME Awards 2022 at London’s O2 Academy Brixton on March 2 alongside Griff, Rina Sawayama, BERWYN and Chvrches featuring special guest The Cure‘s Robert Smith – with more to be announced. Tickets are on sale now and available here.
It’s not the first time that Fender has taken a swing at the Prime Minister either. The poster for his upcoming show at Finsbury Park includes a cartoon of Boris Johnson as a pig, cooking on an open fire.
In an interview with NME, Fender spoke openly about the impact that Tory leadership has had on his working-class town. “It’s been closed since the ’80s, from the ghost wasteland of the shipyards. You’ve got all the scars of Thatcherism from The Tyne all over to the pit villages in Durham.
“I never want to see Boris Johnson’s or Matt Hancock’s face ever again. As soon as they come on the TV, I just turn it off,” he continued. “I’d never vote for the bastards because I fucking hate them and I know what they’re up to, but I get why people don’t feel any allegiance to left-wing politics when they’re working-class.”