Sam Fender has taken one of The Rolling Stones’ most enduring songs and brought it back to the North East. His new version of You Can’t Always Get What You Want, released today (3 November), soundtracks the 2026 John Lewis Christmas advert. But the most interesting part of the recording isn’t the television campaign. It’s the people he brought into the studio.
Recorded on Tyneside and produced by Fender with bandmates Joe Atkinson and Dean Thompson, the track features a children’s choir from John Spence Community High School in North Shields, where Fender was once a pupil. The brass comes from the Easington Colliery Band. For an artist about to play some of the biggest shows of his career, those are telling choices.
A big song with North East roots
Taking on a Stones classic is no small undertaking. The original, released in 1969, is built around the tension between personal longing and the things life actually delivers. Fender’s connection to working-class places and everyday lives gives the choice a particular resonance.
Rather than treating the arrangement as a simple seasonal cover, the recording makes space for the voices and musical traditions of the region that shaped him. The school choir and colliery band aren’t incidental decorations: they’re central to what makes this version his own.
Mick Jagger has given it his approval, saying he is a fan of Fender’s work and that the singer has done a great job with the song. That is quite an endorsement for an artist who once supported the Stones at BST Hyde Park in 2022.
More than a Christmas advert
The track accompanies Gloria and Pickles, the twentieth annual John Lewis Christmas advert, starring Dame Kristin Scott Thomas with Paul Whitehouse voicing Pickles the dog. The campaign centres on finding a meaningful way to give, rather than simply spending money.
The song is available digitally, with CD and 7-inch editions also announced. Those physical releases pair the Stones cover with Fender’s 2020 recording of Lindisfarne’s Winter Song, appearing on a physical format for the first time.
There is a charitable dimension, too. Profits from physical copies sold through John Lewis will support Action for Children, while net profits from UK sales through Fender’s official store will go to Teenage Cancer Trust.
From North Shields to stadiums
The release arrives as Fender prepares for his Proper Massive 2027 stadium tour. We’ve followed that story closely at Imminent Infinity, from the original tour announcement to the questions around ticket pricing and problems during the Newcastle presale.
What makes this latest release stand out is the contrast. As the scale of Fender’s career grows, he has chosen to put his old school and musicians from the North East at the heart of a song that will be heard across the country. It feels less like a detour into Christmas advertising and more like a reminder of where his music comes from.
Sources: John Lewis Partnership announcement; Music Week.
