Ahead of the Brits, North Shields' Sam Fender says he 'wants to do everybody proud back home'

North Shields singer-songwriter Sam Fender has vowed to celebrate any Brit award wins with pints, but not quite how you might imagine.

The 27-year-old credits the takeoff of his career to his local pub, the Low Lights Tavern in North Shields.

It was here that Sam went from pulling pints to performing.

As fate would have it, producer Owain Davies was in the pub at the time and picked up on Sam's potential.

The rest, as they say, is history.

In late 2018, Sam was nominated for the 2019 Critics' Choice award at the Brits, a title he went on to win.

In homage to the Low Lights, for giving him his first shot at performing, Sam gave the pub his Brit award.

The pub had the gong turned into a beer pump, which stands proud in the middle of the bar.

Sam hopes to add to the bar this year, as he's nominated for three awards.

He's up for 'Artist of the Year', 'Album of the Year' and 'Rock and Alternative Artist of the year'.

The winner of the 'Artist of the Year' award and 'Album of the Year' award is decided by the Brit Awards Voting Academy.

But fans are able to vote for who they want to pick up the 'Rock and Alternative Artist of the Year' title.

What awards is Sam Fender nominated for at the Brits?

  • Artist of the Year Nominees

    • Adele

    • Ed Sheeran

    • Dave

    • Lil Simz

    • Sam Fender

  • Mastercard Album of the Year Nominees

    • 30 by Adele

    • We're All Alone In This Together by Dave

    • = by Ed Sheeran

    • Sometimes I Might Be Introvert by Little Simz

    • Seventeen Going Under by Sam Fender

  • Rock and Alternative Nominees

    • Coldplay

    • Glass Animals

    • Sam Fender

    • Tom Grennan

    • Wolf Alice

Winning the Critics' Choice award at the Brits in 2019 set off a domino effect, as Sam's music received high praise from some of the biggest names in the music industry, including Sir Elton John.

Since then, our homegrown talent has become something of a success story, with two number one albums, sold-out arena tours and an NME Album of the Year.

You can watch the Brits on ITV on Tuesday 8 February, to see how our local lad gets on.