Everything You Need To Know About The Music In This Year's John Lewis Christmas Advert

After a year that’s seen him adding two more Brit Awards to his collection, shattering the record for the longest-running number one single in UK chart history and announcing a “proper massive” stadium tour, Sam Fender is ending 2026 on a high by adding another impressive string to his bow.

On Tuesday morning, it was revealed that the Geordie singer has provided the soundtrack for John Lewis’ landmark 20th Christmas ad campaign, joining the likes of Lola Young, Lily Allen and Ellie Goulding.

Sticking with the advert’s themes of mixing the modern and the classic, Sam has put his spin on the Rolling Stones classic You Can’t Always Get What You Want, with the clip itself featuring British acting legend Kristin Scott Thomas and the voice of TV icon Paul Whitehouse.

“It was a privilege to rework such an iconic song by such a legendary band,” Sam enthused as the ad was unveiled.

Sam also revealed that “in the spirit of Christmas”, his cover of the song featured a children’s choir made up of “kids from my old school, John Spence Community High School”, as well as the Easington Colliery Band on the brass section, a local music group from the North East, where the chart-topper was born and raised.

Meanwhile, Sam has already received the seal of approval from Sir Mick Jagger himself, who said: “I’m a fan of Sam’s work, so I was pleased to hear he was covering one of my songs. I think he’s done a great job with it.”

John Lewis will be selling physical copies of Sam’s song on both 7” vinyl and CD, with John Lewis’ profits from each record sold going to Action For Children, the retailer’s charity partner for its Building Happier Futures programme, which “supports those who have grown up in care to build brighter futures”.

The ad is already available to watch online here, but will also receive its TV debut on Tuesday evening, during Coronation Street on ITV1 and the Great British Bake Off on Channel 4.