'It's one of my great regrets': Sam Fender was too nervous to jam with Joni Mitchell
Sam Fender has revealed he turned down the chance to perform with Joni Mitchell because he was too nervous.
Sam Fender rejected the chance to perform with Joni Mitchell after he "completely bottled it".
The 'Seventeen Going Under' rocker has revealed he was asked to visit the folk rock legend's home to take part in one of her legendary 'Joni Jam' sessions - but he chickened out.
Speaking to KROQ-FM at Coachella, he spilled: “Can I tell you something mental? I got offered to go to a Joni Jam. You know how people were going to Joni’s house, and I didn’t go.
“Honestly, it was nerves. I was like, ‘There’s no way I can sit next to Joni Mitchell and be like do you want to listen to this?’
“I was like, ‘Does she even want these people around?’ Obviously, she did, but yeah, I got offered the chance to go, and I bottled it. I completely bottled it.”
Fender admits it's one of the biggest "regrets" of his life.
He added: “It’s one of my great regrets, it really plays on my mind.”
Mitchell first held the jams with musician pals Brandi Carlile and Marcus Mumford after she suffered a stroke in 2015.
In 2022, she revived the series for her performance at the Newport Folk Festival in 2022 and a concert in Washington.
Last year, Mitchell played a one-off concert at the Hollywood Bowl on October 19, with special guests including Sir Elton John, Brandi Carlile, Annie Lennox and more.
Meanwhile, Cameron Crowe is working on a biopic about the 'Big Yellow Taxi' hitmaker.
Meryl Streep, 75, was allegedly being eyed to Mitchell later in life in the as-yet-untitled movie.
Speaking about the flick to Ultimate Classic Rock last year, 'Almost Famous' director Crowe said: “I’m super-excited. We’re going to start it by the end of this year and hopefully have it done for Christmas next year.
It’s Joni’s life, not through anybody else’s prism. It's through her prism. It’s the characters who impacted her life that you know and a lot that you don’t know. And the music is so cinematic."
