{"id":528350,"date":"2026-07-01T22:57:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T22:57:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/528350\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T22:57:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T22:57:09","slug":"mick-jagger-tells-us-hes-had-my-sam-fender-moments-lately-and-hails-people-watching-as-excellent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/528350\/","title":{"rendered":"Mick Jagger tells us he’s “had my Sam Fender moments lately” and hails ‘People Watching’ as “excellent”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mick Jagger<\/a>\u00a0has revealed that he is a fan of\u00a0Sam Fender<\/a>, hailing his album \u2018People Watching<\/a>\u2019 as \u201cexcellent\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Rolling Stones<\/a>\u00a0frontman\u00a0was speaking to\u00a0NME\u00a0ahead of the release of the band\u2019s new album \u2018Foreign Tongues<\/a>\u2019, which is set to arrive on July 10\u00a0\u2013 pre-order it\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Asked about younger artists he has been listening to recently, Jagger said: \u201cI\u2019ve\u00a0had my Sam Fender moments lately, because I like a lot of his stuff. That \u2018People Watching\u2019 album was stunning. Yeah, I thought that album was excellent, earlier stuff I liked, you know, \u2018Seventeen Going Under<\/a>\u2019,\u00a0there\u2019s\u00a0some good stuff on that album.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always the same when you hear songs for the first time,\u201d he continued. \u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0just the general vibe and then the grooves.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0rock music, you know, but his songs have good choruses \u2013 which is part of the game.\u00a0I think a lot of the lyrics\u00a0are\u00a0really interesting\u00a0too and reflective of his experience growing up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jagger also noted that Fender\u2019s writing has begun to move beyond the working-class themes that helped define his early material.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s obviously very pop orientated,\u201d he said. \u201cHe\u2019s\u00a0not only doing working class songs.\u00a0The song he did with\u00a0Olivia Dean\u00a0was\u00a0very successful<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

He then singled out \u2018Crumbling Empire\u2019 from \u2018People Watching\u2019 as \u201clyrically interesting\u201d.<\/p>\n

NME\u00a0put it to Jagger that Fender could be a fitting guest at a future Stones show, perhaps on \u2018Tumbling Dice\u2019. \u201cYeah, he might be really good for that,\u201d Jagger replied.<\/p>\n

Fender released \u2018People Watching\u2019 in February 2025, following 2021\u2019s \u2018Seventeen Going Under\u2019.\u00a0In a four-star review<\/a>,\u00a0NME\u00a0described the album as\u00a0\u201cReflective, analytical and vulnerable\u201d, concluding: \u201cHe approaches each track with sensitivity as he looks back on his life so far \u2013 perhaps even with an inkling of guilt \u2013 and contemplates who he may be next.\u201d<\/p>\n

The album went on to win the 2025 Mercury Prize<\/a>, with Fender later donating his \u00a325,000 winnings to Music Venue Trust.<\/p>\n

Jagger\u2019s comments come after\u00a0he recently discussed a number of younger artists he has been listening to<\/a>, including\u00a0Geese<\/a>, who he hailed as \u201cvery experimental\u201d,\u00a0and\u00a0Rosal\u00eda<\/a>\u00a0for her \u201cconceptual\u201d album \u2018Lux<\/a>\u2019.<\/p>\n

The Rolling Stones, meanwhile, have previewed \u2018Foreign Tongues\u2019 with the singles \u2018Rough And\u00a0Twisted<\/a>\u2019,\u00a0\u2018In\u00a0The\u00a0Stars<\/a>\u2019,\u00a0\u2018Jealous Lover<\/a>\u2019 and \u2018Divine Intervention<\/a>\u2019.<\/p>\n

Speaking to\u00a0NME\u00a0about\u00a0Paul\u00a0McCartney\u2019s appearance on the record<\/a>, Jagger said it was \u201cvery easy\u201d working with the former Beatle<\/a>, who plays bass on \u2018Covered\u00a0In\u00a0You\u2019.<\/p>\n

Robert Smith also features on \u2018Divine Intervention\u2019<\/a>,\u00a0although\u00a0The Cure<\/a>\u00a0frontman\u00a0initially turned down the chance to collaborate with the band because he \u201cwasn\u2019t really prepared for it\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Stones have also launched a six-part podcast series,\u00a0Speaking\u00a0In\u00a0Tongues<\/a>, exploring the making of the album.<\/p>\n

Jagger also recently named \u2018Sticky Fingers\u2019, \u2018Beggars Banquet\u2019 and \u2018Hackney Diamonds\u2019 among his favourite Rolling Stones albums<\/a>, while pointing to \u2018Sympathy For The Devil\u2019, \u2018Start Me Up\u2019, \u2018Angie\u2019 and \u2018Honky Tonk Women\u2019 as among his favourite songs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mick Jagger\u00a0has revealed that he is a fan of\u00a0Sam Fender, hailing his album \u2018People Watching\u2019 as \u201cexcellent\u201d. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":528351,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[93,61,60,278,640],"class_list":["post-528350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-music","tag-rock"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=528350"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528350\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/528351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=528350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=528350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=528350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}