Sam Fender enlists his old North Shields school for John Lewis ad

Grazzer, who has worked at the school for more than 20 years, said the latest scholars became involved after he bumped into old boy Fender in the summer holidays.

“It came as a real shock to be honest,” he said.

The pupils were not told what the recording was for and only had a day to rehearse, but Fender made an emotional appearance towards the end of the recording session.

“He even said just looking at the tie and the uniform really brought back his fondness for high school and his teachers,” Grazzer said.

“What an amazing experience for those students, it’s something that they’ll never forget, it’ll be there forever.”

“Just to give something back like that I think is absolutely incredible.”

Easington Colliery Band, who feature on the track Remember My Name on 2025’s People Watching album, performed with Fender during his stadium tour last year.

Principal cornet player Dan Robson said the hardest thing was not being able to tell anyone about the latest collaboration.

“It’s turned into a relationship more than just that kind of one job,” Robson said.

“So when we got this phone call it was kind of like ‘oh brilliant here we go again’.”

He described the experience as “unbelievable”, saying Fender “puts everything into everything”.

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