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Sam Fender thanks 'fine young hero' for saving his life at Leeds Festival as he's named headliner

Sam Fender thanks 'fine young hero' for saving his life at Leeds Festival as he's named headliner

Sam Fender has thanked a lad from Sheffield for saving his life at Leeds Festival ten years ago.

The headline artists have been officially announced for Reading and Leeds festivals 2023, with Sam Fender amongst the names.

The Geordie lad will headline the popular summer festivals with the likes of Lewis Capaldi, The Killers and Billie Eilish - who will become the youngest solo artist to headline the festivals.

With Sam Fender headlining, the British singer has recalled a moment when he attended the festival as a teenager ten years ago with his guitarist Dean Thompson.

He took to Twitter to share this with his over 200k followers, and it is quite unbelievable.

As he is announced as a headline act for the 2023 festival, Sam Fender recalls the moment he nearly died at Leeds Festival ten years ago.
Roberto Finizio / Alamy Stock Photo

Fender revealed how he actually nearly died at the festival, and thanked the 'fine young hero' who didn't know at the time he saved the 2023 headliner.

He said: "I first went to Leeds festival 10 years ago as a teenager, me and Deano spent the entire week launching hot dogs out of a gazebo pole at random crowds of lads chanting ‘Yorkshire Yorkshire’.

"One night I was out cold in my tent from necking a bottle of vodka at…

"Eagles of Death Metal my tent got set alight - some fine young hero from Sheffield p***** out the fire to save me.

"Thankfully because of that lad whose name I can’t remember, I didn’t perish in the flames, little did he know he’d just saved Reading and Leeds’s 2023 headliner x"

If Fender remembers correctly, he attended the festival in 2012, which was deemed as a great year by many for headline acts.

In that year, some of the headliners included the Kaiser Chiefs, Foo Fighters, Kasabian and The Cure.

Fender was just a teenager then, and sure it would have been his dream to perform at the festival in the future.

Sam Fender will headline alongside the likes of Billie Elish.
Doug Peters / Alamy Stock Photo

And thanks to the lad from Sheffield that seemingly saved his life because he had too much to drink, he now has the opportunity to do so.

Speaking on the announcement, he also will be headlining Reading and Leeds festivals in 2023. Fender said: "I first went to Leeds Festival with Dean when we were teenagers.

"We had a wild time, a rite of passage. Ten years later and we’re headlining.

"I’m so excited, it’s going to be f****** intergalactic! See you down the front."

Just don't get on the vodka this time, eh Sam.

The three-day festivals will run at their usual homes, with Richfield Avenue in Reading and Leeds' Bramham Park taking centre stage once again.

For those hoping to see Fender and others, general sale tickets go live from 9am on Monday (12 December).

Featured Image Credit: WENN Rights Ltd / Alamy SOPA Inages LTD/Alamy

Topics: Sam Fender, Music