Elton was on hand to present Fender with the Songwriter of the Year prize at the Ivor Novello Awards last night (May 21).
The North Shields singer-songwriter was the recipient of the Songwriter of the Year prize at the Ivor Novello Awards in London last night (May 21), and was presented the prize by Elton John, who described him as ”one of the greatest lyricists Britain has ever produced”.
Elton said that he had been a fan of Fender’s since his debut album ‘Hypersonic Missiles’ in 2019, which he said “blew his mind”, and he explained that since then, Fender has become “a huge friend of my family, he’s part of our family”.
“What impresses me about Sam so much is his honest outlook on what happens when you grow up in somewhere like North Shields,” John continued. “His lyrical ability to paint pictures that are grim, uplifting, whatever, makes him one of the greatest lyricists I think Britain has ever produced.”
“As an industry, we cannot rely on people like Owen having to walk into the pub to find kids from fucking working class backgrounds,” he said. “All the way through ‘People Watching’, that year, my manager did his job always and looked after us, but he lost both of his parents that year and I just want to thank Owen.”
