Why Sam Fender turned down an appearance in Ariana Grande’s music video
Unfortunately, it’s far too common for artists to care more about the size of their Instagram following than the quality of their output. However, Sam Fender is cut from a different cloth and refused to star as a love interest featured in an Ariana Grande music video despite his career not yet taking off.
In late 2018, Fender was in America to shoot the video for ‘Play God’, which later appeared on his debut album, Hypersonic Miles, when an offer came through from Grande’s camp. They needed somebody to star alongside her in the video for ‘Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored’ and believed the North Shields singer-songwriter was the perfect fit.
As of writing, the visuals for Grande’s single have been viewed over 500 million times on YouTube and shot to number one in the United Kingdom. If Fender had agreed to act in the video, it would have boosted his profile worldwide. But at what cost?
As much as it would have increased his social media following, Grande’s fans wouldn’t be following him for the music. It would have been a short-term boost, but it could have had severe repercussions on the long-term trajectory of Fender’s recording career.
When he made his debut on the BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge in 2019, Fender revealed his unlikely connection to ‘Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored’ after electing to cover the track. “I got scouted by the director to be the dude in the video for Ariana’s ‘Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored’. But I would have had to sacrifice my own music video and also I think they were going under the notion that I was some LA six-pack tanned dude,” Fender told host Clara Amfo.
He added: “So I went and did my video instead and had a burger. It’s an absolute honour to be asked to do that, but I had a load of people on standby to do my video. And I’m like a pasty Geordie so I was like, ‘Nah it’s not going to happen’. Ha, get my kite out on a Ariana Grande video, I don’t think it would go down too well'”.
Three years later, Fender’s decision to shun Grande’s proposal has been more than vindicated. He has two number one albums to his name and a headline performance on the horizon at Newcastle United’s stadium, St James’ Park, while also avoiding the life-sentence of being “that guy from the Ariana Grande video”.
