In what will be Radio 2’s biggest celebration of live music in a decade, 20 of pop’s best-loved artists will be performing for Radio 2’s Piano Room Month – accompanied by the BBC Concert Orchestra – live from London’s BBC Maida Vale studios from Monday 31 January to Friday 25 February.
The gigs will be broadcast live in Ken Bruce’s Radio 2 show (Monday to Friday, 9.30am-12pm) and on BBC Sounds. Each artist will perform three tracks – a new song, a classic, and a cover – with members of the BBC Concert Orchestra accompanying alongside them. Following the live shows, each performance will be available to watch live on BBC iPlayer then on demand from 6pm that day and available for 30 days afterwards. Ken’s PopMaster quiz – which sees two contestants compete in a pop quiz – remains daily at 10.30am.
In addition to the live broadcasts, an hour-long special will be broadcast on Radio 2 each Sunday (7pm-8pm) featuring highlights from the previous week’s performances (Sunday 6, 13, 20 and 27 February).
Jeff Smith, Radio 2’s Head of Music, says: “At Radio 2 we pride ourselves on providing our music-loving listeners with the widest range of songs and live music to be heard anywhere on UK radio. We worked hard to offer incredible performances to our audience throughout the past two years, and I’m thrilled to bring 20 live sessions to each of Ken’s weekday shows next month.
“I’d like to thank all of the artists, most of whom will be performing their first live session of 2022, as well as the BBC Concert Orchestra, who have been busy rehearsing a vast range of different songs. Tune in live, watch them all on BBC iPlayer or listen on BBC Sounds.”
The artists performing are:
Monday 31 January: David Gray
Tuesday 1 February: Jack Savoretti
Wednesday 2 February: Stereophonics
Thursday 3 February: Anne-Marie
Friday 4 February: Katie Melua
Monday 7 February: Clean Bandit
Tuesday 8 February: Joy Crookes
Wednesday 9 February: Will Young, performing on the anniversary of him winning Pop Idol in 2002
Thursday 10 February: Rebecca Ferguson
Friday 11 February: Tom Odell
Monday 14 February: James Morrison
Tuesday 15 February: Ella Henderson
Wednesday 16 February: Craig David
Thursday 17 February: Natalie Imbruglia
Friday 18 February: James Blunt
Monday 21 February: Tears For Fears
Tuesday 22 February: Simple Minds
Wednesday 23 February: Emeli Sandé
Thursday 24 February: Jamie Cullum (pre-recorded)
Friday 25: February Ed Sheeran (pre-recorded)
