Benson Boone has covered Sam Fender‘s ‘Seventeen Going Under’ at the 2025 Montreux Jazz Festival – watch the cover below.
- READ MORE: Sam Fender – ‘People Watching’ review: reflective and perceptive indie rock from North Shields’ shining star
Last night (July 15), Benson Boone performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. He was originally to share the line-up with Sam Fender, who ultimately had to cancel his performance at the Swiss festival and his entire run of European dates due to a vocal haemorrhage.
While a replacement for Fender wasn’t found, Boone carried on with his set – now bumped up to the headliner slot – and gave his best effort to appease the fans who were hoping to watch Fender perform live.
“Did anyone come here to see Sam Fender?” he asked before the cover, admitting he was “terrified” about stepping in to fill his shoes and that he was “expecting a bunch of angry people” hungry for the Geordie star. He told Fender fans he hoped they would “get 5 per cent out of this beautiful song” before bursting into his cover of ‘Seventeen Going Under’.
Watch the performance below.
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@bensonboonenation Benson Boone covering Sam Fender’s Seventeen Going Under at Montreux Jazz Festival #bensonboone #montreuxjazzfestival #samfender
♬ original sound – Benson Boone Nation ⚡️💙
Benson Boone faz cover de “Seventeen Going Under”, canção de Sam Fender. pic.twitter.com/JczqcfDaoa
— Benson Boone Brasil (@BensonBooneBRA) July 15, 2025
After the cover, Boone gave Fender a shoutout: “We hope you’re doing well Sam Fender, we all love you out here”. Immediately after concluding his set, Boone raced backstage and dove into Lake Geneva right behind the main stage – watch footage of that moment here.
As for Sam Fender, he revealed earlier this month (July 5) that he was being forced to cancel his European festival run after suffering a vocal haemorrhage. He had been checked by an ENT doctor at the beginning of that week when his vocal cords were “slightly swollen”, but was given the all-clear to proceed with his Formula 1 British Grand Prix headlining set on July 3 “after a few days rest”. However, during the F1 performance, he “could feel that things were a lot harder than usual”.
He went on to tell fans: “I felt I needed to push a lot harder to sing – this is never a good sign… It’s transpired that I’ve had a haemorrhage on one of my vocal cords. This is incredibly frustrating as I have been so careful with my vocal health and this year so far has been the best of my career. I’ve been advised to be on vocal restriction and to not sing for the next 14 days. If I were to play at these next shows I would risk causing lasting damage to my vocal cords.”
Fender has yet to share an update on his vocal capabilities as his rest period nears its end. In August, Fender will play three big outdoor gigs in Manchester, Edinburgh and Belfast, as well as top the bill at Ireland’s Electric Picnic. Find any remaining tickets for Fender’s UK and Ireland headline dates here.
In a four-star review of his most recent album, ‘People Watching’, NME shared: “Reflective, analytical and vulnerable, ‘People Watching’ does exactly what the title may suggest: takes stock of the characters, friends and loved ones who have made Fender the person he is today. He approaches each track with sensitivity as he looks back on his life so far – perhaps even with an inkling of guilt – and contemplates who he may be next.”
In other news, Fender is currently a favourite to headline Glastonbury 2027.
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