Sam Fender Turned Down Chance to Jam With Joni Mitchell: ‘I Completely Bottled It’

Sam Fender has shared that he once turned down the opportunity to perform alongside Joni Mitchell.

In a new interview at Coachella with radio station KROQ, the North Shields songwriter revealed that he was once offered the chance to perform with the seminal folk artist as part of her “Joni Jams” series, but turned down the slot down due to nerves.

Fender went on to explain that Mitchell — who has a long history of hosting jam sessions in her living room with musicians — invited him to perform at her home in California. “Can I tell you something mental? I got offered to go to a ‘Joni Jam.’ You know how people were going to Joni’s house, and I didn’t go,” he told KROQ.

“Honestly, it was nerves. I was like, ‘There’s no way I can sit next to Joni Mitchell and be like do you want to listen to this?’” he added. “I was like, ‘Does she even want these people around?’ Obviously, she did, but yeah, I got offered the chance to go, and I bottled it. I completely bottled it. It’s one of my great regrets, it really plays on my mind.”

The Joni Jams began as an intimate performance series after Mitchell suffered a stroke in 2015. Organized by fellow singer/songwriter Brandi Carlile, close friends and collaborators would play her music for Mitchell as she recovered, with everyone from Elton John, to Paul McCartney, Harry Styles and others rumored to have been involved over the years.

The sessions later expanded to include public performances. In 2023, the 27,000-capacity Gorge Amphitheater in Quincy, Washington, played host to a Jam featuring appearances from Mitchell and Carlile, plus a star-studded guest list including Marcus Mumford, Annie Lennox, Allison Russell, Sarah McLachlan and Lucius.

At the time, it had been 20 years since the “Blue” singer had performed live due to several health issues that plagued the 81-year-old icon, leading to her staying out of the public eye for nearly two decades.

Mitchell made headlines again earlier this year when she took to the stage as part of the LA FireAid charitybenefit show. She was joined by Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes, Lucius, Taylor MacKall, Blake Mills and Abe Rounds, following a moving set at the 2024 Grammy Awards ceremony.

Fender, meanwhile, has enjoyed a banner year. The singer and guitarist shared his third LP, People Watching, in February, which Billboard U.K. described as “as a grand, emotional record which has the potential to become an instant British classic.”

According to data from the Official Charts Company, the record landed the biggest U.K. opening week for a British solo act since Harry Styles‘ Harry’s House in 2022. It also marked Fender’s biggest-ever opening week, selling more units than his 2019 debut Hypersonic Missiles and 2021’s Mercury Prize-nominated Seventeen Going Under combined.

In recent months, Fender has gone on to win a BRIT award for alternative/rock act, and has taken People Watching on tour across Europe and the U.S., including his debut appearance at Coachella over the weekend (Apr. 12).

This summer, he will perform a string of headline stadium shows in the U.K., with dates in London and Newcastle. £1 from every ticket sold on the run will be donated to select cultural organizations such as Youth Music and Sunday for Sammy to support the arts in the North East of England.

Check out the KROQ interview below.

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