North Shields' own Sam Fender to donate his Mercury Music Prize money to charity supporting music venues
North Shields' own Sam Fender's revealed he's donating his Mercury Music Prize money to help small venues across the country stay open.
North Shields' own Sam Fender's revealed he's donating his Mercury Music Prize money to help small venues across the country stay open.
Presented with the Mercury Prize on 16 October in his hometown of Newcastle for his critically acclaimed album People Watching, Sam is promising to donate the £25,000 prize to MVT in recognition of the vital role grassroots venues played in his early career.
It was the first time the Mercury Music Prize ceremony has ever been held outside London.
Sam said;
“I wouldn’t be doing what I am doing today if it wasn’t for all the gigs I played around the North East, and beyond, when I was starting out,”
“These venues are legendary, but they are struggling.”
Mark Davyd, CEO and founder of Music Venue Trust, said:
“This is an incredible gesture by Sam, demonstrating once again that artists absolutely understand how vital grassroots music venues are to their careers and to their communities.
"We are honoured to accept this donation and will ensure every penny of it makes a direct difference to the campaign to keep live music at the heart of our towns and cities.”
Previously announced, Sam’s 2024 arena tour raised more than £100,000 that was distributed, by MVT via its Liveline Fund, to support 38 grassroots venues across England, Scotland, and Wales.
Speaking at the time Sam said,
“It’s brilliant to see that the money raised from the arena tour is making a real difference to so many venues.
"The grassroots circuit has been decimated over the last 10 years or so and the idea that money from shows in big venues supports the smaller venues, where it all starts for musicians like me, is just common sense.”