Emerging from England’s house music scene in 1990, Seal became the most popular British soul vocalist of the decade. By the mid-90s he was known for a distinctive fusion of soul, folk, pop, dance, and rock that brought him success on both sides of the Atlantic. His first single ‘Killer’ won him an Ivor Novello Award, to be followed by two more for ‘Crazy’ and his most celebrated song ‘Kiss from a Rose’, as well as three BRIT Awards and four Grammy Awards only a few years later.
Former Supergrass frontman Gaz Coombes joins the line-up at BST Hyde Park. His 2023 record Turn The Car Around completes an informal trilogy with 2015’s Mercury and Ivor Novello nominated Matador and 2018’s World’s Strongest Man, but it also carved a new way forward for one of the UK’s most gifted and cherished singer-songwriters.
With Black Grape, Shaun Ryder expands the psychedelic dance-rock of his former band the Happy Mondays, buttressing their pop smarts and adding a heavier hip-hop influence thanks to the presence of rapper Kermit. These shifts in style helped make the group’s 1995 debut, It’s Great When You’re Straight…Yeah, feel at home in the heady days of Brit-pop, leading to the Top Ten hits ‘Reverend Black Grape’, ‘In the Name of the Father’, and ‘Fat Neck’. Black Grape’s implosion coincided with the commercial collapse of Brit-pop. Stupid Stupid Stupid, their second album, slid down the charts in 1998 and the group split not long afterward. But, Ryder and Kermit revived Black Grape in the mid-2010s, releasing Pop Voodoo in 2017. It wasn’t a one-off: the group toured for the 25th anniversary of It’s Great When You’re Straight, going on to release Orange Head in 2023.
Nearly twenty years into her ever-evolving career, London and LA-based, BRIT award-winning singer, songwriter, actor and activist Kate Nash has seen it all: from finding huge commercial success in 2007’s hit single ‘Foundations’, reaching No. 1 in the UK, rocking the world as an independent punk artist and even starring in HBO’s hit wrestling drama, GLOW. Nash isn’t finished shape-shifting just yet; today she released her fifth album, 9 Sad Symphonies. Inspired by old Hollywood, vintage musicals and a desperate quest to find beauty in a rotten world, it’s another sonic shift following her “rage-y” recent output. On 9 Sad Symphonies, Nash takes another huge step towards cementing her place as one of Britain’s most unique and fearless talents.
After being on hiatus for several years, Laurie Vincent and Isaac Holman reignited their partnership under a new moniker, SOFT PLAY. The English punk-rock duo were built on a rejection of rules, and it’s served them well since the release of their Mercury nominated Gold debut album Are You Satisfied? in 2015. Fast forward to 2024, with two more records under their belt, SOFT PLAY are now gearing up for the release of their new album, HEAVY JELLY, out 19 July.
Also performing at BST Hyde Park will be “old soul” songwriter James Smith, indie pop artist Ellur, Dutch singer and viral sensation Davina Michelle, pianist and vocalist Ryan Gibb, and Amex Unsigned artist, alt-pop-punk-rock musician Ben Kidson.
Robbie Williams is one of the most decorated music artists in the world with six of the Top 100 best-selling albums in British history, a huge 80 million album sales worldwide, 14 Number 1 singles and a record 18 BRIT Awards – more than any other artist in music history. He secured his 14th UK Number 1 album in 2022 with XXV, which celebrated 25 years of Robbie as a solo artist – breaking the record for the solo artist with the most UK Number 1 albums. In November 2023, Netflix released Robbie’s four-part documentary series, Robbie Williams, which saw him reflecting on his career and time spent in the spotlight. The documentary has been a huge success with audiences around the world, hitting the Netflix Number 1 spot in 22 different countries and Top 10 in 48 nations. The series had a huge 5.5 million views just one month after release. Robbie previously headlined BST Hyde Park in 2019.
Robbie Williams said: “It’s an honour to be back headlining BST Hyde Park alongside an incredible line-up of music talent. The Hyde Park shows are truly special and I can’t wait to come back this summer. See you there!”
The lineup for American Express presents BST Hyde Park 2024 is set to be truly spectacular, with headliners SZA (29 June), Kings of Leon (30 June), Morgan Wallen (4 July), Andrea Bocelli (5 July), Robbie Williams (6 July), Shania Twain (7 July), Stevie Nicks (12 July), Kylie (13 July) and Stray Kids (14 July), with the full line up for each day to be announced, and All Things Orchestral on 28 June.
