Coronation Concert: Who is on the line-up for Windsor Castle event?

The reign of King Charles and Queen Camilla begins in earnest on Sunday with street parties across the UK and an enormous serving of musical nostalgia in prospect at the Coronation Concert at Windsor Castle. 

Take That, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie are among musical acts on the line-up for Sunday night’s event, hosted by the BBC, which will take place in front of an audience of 20,000 members of the public.

The concert will also include performances by Italian opera star, Andrea Bocelli; Welsh bass-baritone Sir Bryn Terfel; singer-songwriter Freya Ridings and classical-soul composer, Alexis Ffrench.

Take That’s performance will feature three of the original members – Gary Barlow, Mark Owen and Howard Donald. In a joint statement, they said they “couldn’t wait” for the show. “This will be our first live show since the Odyssey Tour, four years ago in 2019, and what a stage to come back on.”

Katy Perry said she was “excited” to perform as well as “shine a light further” on The British Asian Trust, a charity founded by the King when he was the Prince of Wales. The charity – of which Perry is an ambassador – works to tackle widespread poverty and hardship in South Asia, as well as raise funds to end child trafficking.

It is widely reported, however, that a number of performers have refused invitations to appear including Adele, the Spice Girls, Ed Sheeran, Sir Elton John and Harry Styles. Other stars such as US actor Tom Cruise and British veteran actress Joan Collins have recorded video messages.

However the stage will be set for a coronation choir made up of amateur singers from across the UK, including refugee choirs, NHS choirs, LGBTQ+ singing groups and deaf signing choirs. This choir will appear alongside a virtual choir, made up of singers from across the Commonwealth.

A massive light display will form the centrepiece of the concert. Locations across the UK will be lit up using projections, lasers, drone displays and illuminations.

Quite how many people will tune in remains to be determined, recent pre-coronation surveys suggest that a majority of Britons are not interested in the coronation.

In a YouGov poll last month of more than 3,000 adults, 35% said they “did not care very much” about the event, and 29% said they did not care at all. 24% of people said they cared “a fair amount” and only 9% said they cared “a great deal”. However, 46% said they were likely to take part in related coronation celebrations.