New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Fresh from a hugely successful
Radio 2 Live in Hyde Park, BBC
Radio 2 announces the full star-studded line-up for this year's In Concert series.
Artists on the bill are
Paul Weller (1 November), Boy
George and
Culture Club (8 November),
Ed Sheeran (15 November) Emeli Sandé (22 November), and Sir
Cliff Richard (29 November). All artists are performing at the BBC
Radio Theatre in London.
Paul Weller was announced in a special Chris Evans' Breakfast Show broadcast from Weller's studio in Woking on Friday 14 September. The line-up in full was announced by Jo Whiley and
Simon Mayo between 5pm-8pm on
Radio 2 on Wednesday 19 September.
Taking place at 7.30pm, the series of intimate performances will be broadcast live from the BBC
Radio Theatre on BBC
Radio 2 as well as in vision via the BBC Red Button, to be produced by BBC Studios. All performances will be available on BBC iPlayer for 30 days after transmission. The concerts will also be broadcast on either BBC Two or BBC Four later in November.
Jeff Smith, Head of Music, BBC
Radio 2 and 6 Music, says: "2018 has been a bumper year of live music for
Radio 2, and I believe we will continue that with our stellar line-up for In Concert, featuring some of the world's best loved musicians. The universal appeal of Ed's music makes him perfect for
Radio 2 In Concert.
"Boy
George is an iconic artist who, with Culture Club, enjoyed global success, and I know that our audience will be excited to listen and watch them perform live. Emeli has become a firm favourite with
Radio 2 listeners, and entertained thousands of fans in Perth earlier this year. Cliff has been entertaining audiences for decades, and I'm delighted that this year he is able to make his
Radio 2 In Concert debut."
The series builds on the huge range of live music that
Radio 2 has already brought to music lovers around the UK this year.
Radio 2 visited Perth and Coventry for BBC Music's Biggest Weekend in May, and Kylie's stunning set at
Radio 2 Live in Hyde Park, with shock guest appearances from Jason Donovan and Rick Astley, caused headlines worldwide. On 29 September,
Radio 2 is heading to Bridlington for
Radio 2's All Star Party, which will feature live on-air performances from Clean Bandit, Incognito, Lemar, Kid Creole & The Coconuts and the Fantasy Funk Band featuring Gabrielle, Jaki Graham and John Turrell.
With a career spanning over 40 years, frontman of The Jam and The
Style Council, Paul Weller, will perform tracks from his new album True Meanings as well as classic tracks. With 14 solo albums under his belt and no sign of stopping, Weller is among the most revered British songwriters and performers of the past four decades.
Paul Weller says: "It's brilliant to be doing another In Concert for
Radio 2. It's always a great show and will be extra special doing it this time round with an orchestra."
One of the most representative and influential bands of the 1980s,
Culture Club have sold over 150 million records worldwide. Winners of numerous awards, they rose to fame in the early 1980s with an illustrious music career now spanning four decades.
Boy
George says: "We love playing live, and how brilliant, modern and slightly terrifying that our concert will be live on
Radio 2, television and online! We're looking forward to bringing old favourites and debuting new material at our performance at the BBC."
Ivor Novello Award and Brit Award-winning
Ed Sheeran made his debut TV performance on Later… with
Jools Holland in April 2011, beginning his meteoric rise to fame with his debut album, +. He has since released two further record-breaking albums and has cumulative sales of 26 million albums and 100 million singles worldwide. He has recently completed a sell-out UK stadium tour, including four nights at Wembley Stadium.
Ed Sheeran says: "Coming off the back of a whirlwind stadium tour, it'll be an absolute delight playing this great little venue for
Radio 2 listeners."
Multiple Brit Award-winning artist Emeli Sandé established herself as one of the UK's most exciting artists in 2012, with the release of her debut album, Our Version of Events. The album spent a total of 10 weeks at number one and was the best-selling album of 2012 in the UK. Emeli also performed at both the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2012 London Olympics. Following the release of Emeli's second album, Long Live The Angels, which featured singles
Hurts and Breathing Underwater, she performed at
Radio 2 Live in Hyde Park in 2017 and at BBC Music's The Biggest Weekend in 2018.
Emeli Sandé says: "After playing to an immense crowd at BBC Music's Biggest Weekend in Perth earlier this year, I'm delighted to be performing at
Radio 2 In Concert in the beautiful
Radio Theatre. It's a pleasure to be joining such a stellar line-up of performers."
Cliff Richard is one of the UK's most well-loved singers, with a career spanning 60 years. He has sold over 250 million records worldwide, and 21 million singes in the UK.
Cliff says: "With my first album of entirely new material in 14 years due to be released in November, I can't wait to play some of the new tracks and of course will also include classic favourites for fans later this year."
Radio 2 in Concert is a yearly series of live performances which in previous years has featured artists including Paloma Faith, Chic featuring Nile Rodgers, Van Morrison,
Take That and Kylie Minogue.
Ticket applications for the events are online at bbc.co.uk/radio2. Applications opened at 8pm on Wednesday 19
September and close at 8pm on Monday 1 October. Tickets are free, and successful applicants will be selected at random once the registration period has closed.
