SHAKIN' STEVENS joins JOHN OWEN-JONES, SOPHIE EVANS, STEVE BALSAMO & more on 1 March at Wales Millennium Centre
Shakin'
Stevens joins the St David’s Day line-up at Wales Millennium Centre celebrating
50 years of Welsh chart topping hits
Shakin’ Stevens will be joined by Ricky Valance, John
Owen-Jones, Sophie Evans,
Lucie Jones and Steve Balsamo
Welsh legend
Shakin’ Stevens has been announced to perform at Wales at No 1, Wales
Millennium Centre’s St David’s Day concert on 1 March 2015. Stevens, who has sold millions of albums and
singles worldwide and earned a multitude of Gold, Platinum and Double Platinum
discs, will join the all-Wales line up to celebrate 50 years of number one hit
singles made famous by Welsh artists.
Best known
for his chart topping hits, Green Door, This Ole House, Oh Julie and Merry Christmas Everyone, Shakin’ Stevens, who has scored a whopping 39 UK hit
singles and ranks in the top 25 highest selling artists in history of the UK
charts, will make his debut appearance at Wales Millennium Centre on 1 March.
Hosted by
the One Show’s Alex Jones, Shakin’
Stevens will be joined by Ricky Valance who made rock and roll
history in 1960 by becoming the first Welshman to reach number one in the UK
charts with “Tell Laura I Love Her”. The track sold over a million copies and
following its success, Ricky went on to release Movin' Away, Jimmy's
Girl and Six Boys. Marking the start of a long history of successful
Welsh musicians, Ricky takes to the stage together with an impressive lineup of
Welsh talent to relive some of the UK’s favourite Welsh tracks.
Joining
Ricky will be John Owen-Jones and Sophie Evans who will be
singing some very special arrangements of No 1 hit songs. Famous for his roles
Jean Valjean in Les Misérables and as the Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera,
John Owen-Jones is an award- winning West End and Broadway performer. Named
runner-up from over 10,000 hopefuls, Sophie appeared on the hugely popular BBC
series Over The Rainbow. She subsequently took on the role of Dorothy in the
Wizard of Oz at the London Palladium.Since
then Sophie has gone on to become an accomplished live performer, feature in
several TV programmes and make her big screen debut alongside Simon Pegg in The
World's End.
#WalesatNo1
Famous for
playing the leading role in Jesus Christ Superstar during the mid-1990s, Steve
Balsamo has joined forces with English/Dutch singer and songwriter Rosalie
Deighton forming Balsamo Deighton. This duo performs alongside Jessica
Lee Morgan - daughter of Mary Hopkin (Those Were The Days and who
signed for The Beatles label) and Gabrielle Murphy - an up and coming
BBC Horizons star.
Soloists Lucie
Jones, Alys Williams and Shaheen Jafargoli, who wowed judges
on the shows X Factor, The Voice and Britain's Got Talent, will also be there
to takeus through the decades with covers of some of their favourite hits made
famous by Welsh artists.
Graeme Farrow, Artistic Director at Wales Millennium
Centre said “What better place to celebrate St David’s Day and Welsh culture
than in the heart of Wales’ national centre for the performing arts. I am
hugely excited about marking St David’s Day during the Centre’s special 10th
anniversary year with the artists we have lined up for Wales at No 1, and also
for our collaboration with Lucy Morgan and the Welsh Pops Orchestra.”
Lucy Morgan,
Artistic Director of Wales Pops said “"This year marks the 50th
anniversary of Sir Tom Jones' first number one hit 'It's Not Unusual', which
got me thinking about all the other great number one hits that have come out of
Wales. They are all songs which are ingrained in our musical memory and I knew
that a concert featuring this stunning music would be a winner. What better
place than the Wales Millennium Centre or a better date than St. David's Day to
celebrate the achievements of those great singers and songwriters from Wales
who have topped the charts in the UK and beyond. We are also planning a few
moments in the evening with some more special guests - it's growing day by
day!"
The night
will include tracks made famous by Dame Shirley Bassey, Ricky Valance, Spencer
Davis Group, Mary Hopkin, Dave Edmunds, Shakin' Stevens, Bonnie Tyler, The
Flying Pickets, Manic Street Preachers, Stereophonics, Duffy, and of course Sir
Tom Jones, whose huge hit “It’s Not Unusual” got to No 1 50 years ago, in 1965.
The stars
will be accompanied by the Welsh Pops Orchestra featuring pianist Gwilym
Simcock and conducted by Matthew Brind.
Wales at No.1 is made possible with the support of
Lloyds Bank, principal sponsor of Wales Millennium Centre’s 10th Anniversary
The Centre
will celebrate St. David’s Day throughout the weekend with free performances
from Welsh artists on the Glanfa stage plus a chance to experience the taste of
Wales in the Centre’s ffresh Restaurant. On the menu will be an array of
traditional Welsh dishes including Cawl, Roast leg of Welsh Lamb and Slow
Cooked Welsh beef.
Wales at No
1 is also supported by First Great Western.
Further
guests to be announced.
Wales at
No.1 is at Wales Millennium Centre on St David’s Day, 1 March 2015. Tickets
range from £17.50 - £35. For more information and tickets visit https://www.wmc.org.uk/Productions/2015-2016/DonaldGordonTheatre/WalesAtNo1/
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