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Hypersonic Missiles
Samuel Thomas Fender was born on 25 April 1994 in North Shields, Tyne and Wear to Alan and Shirley Fender. He attended John Spence Community High School in nearby Preston and the sixth form college of Whitley Bay High School alongside bandmate Joe Atkinson. His father, Alan, and brother, Liam, are also both singer-songwriters; Liam also plays drums and piano.
In 2010, Fender was spotted performing in a pub in his home town by Ben Howard's manager Owain Davies, who took him on as a client. He acted in the 2011 pilot episode of the ITV drama series Vera and a 2012 episode of the CBBC fantasy series Wolfblood before being signed as a singer. His 2017 single "Play God" was featured in the video game FIFA 19.
After an extended tour, Fender had to cancel several gigs in 2019 (including the Glastonbury Festival) after experiencing bleeding in his vocal cords. After a month of rest, he recovered sufficiently to perform as support act for Bob Dylan and Neil Young in Hyde Park.
Fender released his debut studio album, Hypersonic Missiles, on 13 September 2019. It was preceded by the singles "Hypersonic Missiles", "Will We Talk?", and "The Borders". On 10 December 2019, he released a new track titled "All Is On My Side." He cancelled the weekend tour in May 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Later that year he was the first act to perform at the Virgin Money Unity Arena, a specially created socially distanced venue.