Sam Fender will "definitely" collaborate with Sir Elton John in the future.

The 27-year-old star has become friends with the 'Tiny Dancer' legend but his packed scheduled in 2021 meant he had to reject an offer to team up with the iconic musician on his 'Lockdown Sessions' album as he was focused on finishing his second record 'Seventeen Going Under'.

Speaking to the Daily Star newspaper's Wired column, he explained: "It sounds awful to say, 'I was too busy to work with Elton', but I needed to finish my album.

"Me and Elton will definitely happen at some point. We just need to find time to get into the studio.

"We want to make something special together. I'd love us to make something stripped back, that sounds organic with a band."

The musician might have some more time on his hands as he admitted such an intense workload means he's already got material written for his third album.

He said: "That album was a tough labour. I wrote about 60 songs for it. Some of those songs will carry over to my next record, as I didn't finish all of them.

"I know that I'll look back at some of them and think, 'That's great! Why didn't that make Seventeen?'

"A hell of a lot of work went into that album but, about halfway through recording, we kept having moments of looking at each other and just giggling.

"That's when I thought, 'We've done something good here.' "

Meanwhile, he insisted his huge success won't impact his songwriting at its heart as he wants to keep penning tracks about his hometown of North Shields.

He added: "My friends, the stories I know and the things I see in my hometown are what give me a constant source of material.

"Unless North Shields gets gentrified to the point where it's the new Dubai, I don't think I'll ever run out of stuff to write about."