Sam Fender’s Seventeen Going Under wins Radio 1’s Hottest Record of the Year 2021 16 Dec 2021
Sam Fender’s Seventeen Going Under has won the coveted title of BBC Radio 1’s Hottest Record of the Year 2021, announced tonight in a special edition of Radio 1’s Future Sounds.
Seventeen Going Under, the title track from Sam Fender’s second album, debuted on Radio 1 as Hottest Record in July of this year. The single has since clocked up 21 weeks in the Official UK Singles Chart to date, including three weeks in the Top Ten, while the album debuted at Number 1 following its highly-anticipated October release.
With Radio 1’s Hottest Record of the Year now in its fifth year, Sam Fender is the first artist to win the title twice after claiming the top spot for the first time in 2019 with Hypersonic Missiles.
Sam Fender says: “I was doing therapy at the time that I wrote this song, and music has always been therapy before I did therapy. I’m a true believer that a song belongs to the fans once it’s out there, and if it provides the same level of catharsis that it did for me while writing it, then that’s the best thing I could ever hope for.”
Clara Amfo says: “I think Sam’s win is really well deserved. There have been so many definitive songs of the year, but with this one in particular I’ve seen first-hand how people have made it their survival anthem. It’s a song that’s really helped a lot of people, so salute to Sam.”
Listeners were able to vote for their favourite tracks via the Radio 1 website and via social media.
The top five Hottest Records of the Year 2021 are:
- Sam Fender - Seventeen Going Under
- Joy Crookes - When You Were Mine
- Wolf Alice - How Can I Make It OK?
- Adele - Easy On Me
- Griff - Black Hole
Other tracks longlisted for Hottest Record of the Year were (in alphabetical order):
- Anz ft. George Riley - You Could Be
- Billie Eilish - Your Power
- Central Cee - Obsessed With You
- Charli XCX - Good Ones
- Doja Cat ft. The Weeknd - You Right
- Ewan McVicar - Tell Me Something Good
- Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes ft. Joe Talbot - My Town
- Fred again.. feat. The Blessed Madonna - Marea (We've Lost Dancing)
- Kojey Radical ft. Lex Amor - War Outside
- Little Simz - Introvert
- Pa Salieu ft. Aitch - Bad
- Paul Woolford & Amber Mark - HEAT
- PinkPantheress - I Must Apologise
- Sigrid - Mirror
- Tion Wayne x ArrDee - Wid It
The Hottest Record in the World is unveiled every night on Radio 1 at 6pm in a slot known for breaking some of the most exciting new music on the planet. Bring Me the Horizon and YUNGBLUD’s Obey was named as Annie Mac’s Hottest Record of the Year in 2020, beating the likes of Billie Eilish and Royal Blood to the top spot.
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THE HEADLINES
Why 2025’s charts are so stale (see Comment)
Has pop music become stagnant? Kind of yes but also no (see Analysis)
Why are we still using Spotify? (see Opinion)
TikTok launches TikTok Songwriter Features (see Digital)
EU Commission reportedly prepares ‘full-scale, four-month investigation’ into UMG’s proposed Downtown purchase (see Business)
Lisa Nandy MP addressed the UK Music Summer Party (see News)
Building fandom is about the journey, not the destination (see Opinion)
Industry calls for streaming sites to tag music created by AI-generated acts (see News)
“Content is king” say analysts - so why is Spotify worth more than the entire music rights industry? (see Comment)
Where’s the next wave of working-class rock stars? (see Features)
Populists vs. tech titans: The battle over AI and the future of music (see Comment)
Can TikTok revive classic songs? A statistical analysis (see Analysis)
UMG’s Michael Nash: ‘AI can be instrumental to the future of music’ (see Digital)
In the post-music streaming era, do artists and labels give too much away? (see Comment)