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Will Young Verified account 
‏@willyoung
So pleased to be playing @wirralrocks for @wirralhospice on Fri 20 May. Onsale 9am Fri 19th http://www.wirralrocks.com

15 and counting.

Are you hoping to do the BetleyFarm gig Sunday?

All booked for Scarborough, Tynemouth and Kew. Hoping to add a couple more, possibly Doncaster and Betley if nothing else is announced.

PREVIEW: Will Young looks ahead to Wirral Hospice concert

WILL Young says he is looking forward to helping raise funds for Wirral Hospice St John's in a special show at Tranmere Rovers' ground later this year.
The entertainer - who has sold more than eight million albums worldwide - will perform his many hits including Leave Right Now, Evergreen, Jealousy during Wirral Rocks at Prenton Park on Friday, May 20.

Looking ahead to the show, Will told the Globe today: "I love doing the live gigs. It's going to be a great show.

"It's going to be a little bit mad, with some old new stuff. There will also be a little homage to Kurt Cobain, and some confetti thrown in.

"I love doing the shows and making sure the audience get their money's worth.

"It's part of a 20-date summer tour."

On fundraising for Wirral Hospice St John's, he continued: "I don't have any personal connection with the hospice, but I'm looking forward to helping raise money for it.

"I did something similar to this when I was in Hull, for a hospice there. It was amazing.

"We did three collections when I was in a production of Cabaret, which raised £5,000 for the hospice. It was great."

Will became the youngest winner of Pop Idol's inaugural season in February 2002.

His debut single, Anything Is Possible, was released two weeks after the show's finale and became the fastest-selling single in the UK.

His many hits include I Think I'd Better Leave Right Now and his album 85% Proof recently won rave reviews.

There are also plans for a new album.

Away from the recording studio and tours, Will has also enjoyed huge success on stage and the silver screen.

His performance in the hit musical Cabaret was critically acclaimed.

He also starred in the 2005 film version of Stephen Frears' musical-drama Mrs Henderson Presents alongside Dame Judi Dench and Bob Hoskins.

The film followed the fortunes of an upper-class widow who buys a dilapidated Soho theatre and turns it into a nude revue which never closes during the Second World War.


He was also among the line-up for the Queen's Golden Jubilee concert at Buckingham Palace in June 2002.

On career highlights, he reflected: "My proudest moment was performing in the Queen's Jubilee concert; that was really cool, but there have been many highlights.

"Doing the film with Dame Judi Dench and Bob Hoskins was a huge honour."

Will had studied politics at Exeter University before moving to London, where he studied for a degree in musical theatre at the Arts Educational School in Chiswick.

But he put his studies on hold in late 2001 to become a contestant in the first series of Pop Idol.

The secret of his longevity is simple. He said: "I think it's just about being stubborn.

"I really love doing what I do and it would be pointless to to work so hard at something that you don't love doing.

"I literally treat every day as if it was my last one in music.

"I used to be terrified about what I'd do if the music came to an end, but I don't anymore."

Rock legends Status Quo will perform one of their last ever full-on electric shows at Prenton Park on Saturday, May 21.

Michelle Talgram, Wirral Hospice St John's fundraising development manager, said: "We are so pleased that Will Young will be performing on the first night and helping us to raise money for our hospice's special care and support of our patients, their families and loved ones.

"Will is sure to really please the crowds and get everyone singing and dancing along.

"It promises to be a fantastic weekend of music and is a real first for Wirral!"

Pete Price
Pete Price‏ @PeteCityPrice

@wirralrocks just watching #willyoung doing his sound check at Prenton Park he is sounding fantastic. It's a must watch tonight
20 May 2016, 14:42:08

Liverpool Echo
Review: Will Young at Wirral Rocks, Prenton Park

by LornaHughes

The downpour didn't manage to dampen festival spirit

4 stars

****


Will Young and Status Quo - they're one of the most unlikely duos ever to play at Prenton Park.

They're both in town for Wirral Rocks, a fundraising weekend organised by Wirral Hospice St John's - former pop idol Will kicking things off on Friday and the Quo (performing one of their last electric sets) on Saturday.

And for once, town means Birkenhead , not Liverpool city centre .

Whatever the cause (and it's a great one), it's brilliant to see something as ambitious as this in Wirral, and the home of Tranmere Rovers provides the perfect setting.



Near to the end of May, it promised to be an evening of glorious sunshine but in the best tradition of a British summer, the rain poured down during a set by support act China Crisis.

If anything the downpour (which, as if by magic, was over in time by the time Will Young bounded onto the stage) added to the festival atmosphere.

The sun might not have come out to play but the ponchos, the umbrellas and the mud did.



Former Pop Idol Will, who has sold over eight million albums, delivers an energetic yet soulful set with some playful antics - at one point arriving on stage in what looks like a jazzed-up mobility scooter complete with neon lights, a keyboard and microphone attached.

He's chatty, often cheeky and jokes around with the crowd like they're an old friend - complimenting one woman on her "canary" yellow mac, wishing people a happy birthday and asking for requests.

He describes his first outfit (a white t-shirt under a baggy navy jumpsuit) as looking like his "grandmother's eiderdown" and, after a slight slip on a soggy stage, gets wolf whistles for admitting he's burst a button on his trousers.



The show opens with the lesser-known Joy and Love Revolution but it's Relight My Fire - the Doors song he covered in his Pop Idol days - that really gets the crowd singing along.

It's easy to forget how many good songs he's done, from the soaring, feelgood Changes to beautiful ballads Leave Right Now and Who Am I, and the anthemic (and criminally underrated) Switch It On.

The encore sees him covering David Bowie's Let's Dance before Your Game, Jealousy and a grand finale featuring the emotional All Time Love.

Wirral needs more of this.