Twenty years after he famously blasted God Save the Queen from the roof of Buckingham Palace, guitarist Brian May and his Queen bandmates will join the UK’s Eurovision star Sam Ryder among headline acts at the platinum jubilee concert, it has been announced.
Queen and Adam Lambert will open the BBC’s Platinum Party at the Palace concert with a special performance marking the actual Queen’s 70 years on the throne.
May stole the show with his surprise rooftop appearance for the golden jubilee concert in June 2002. He said: “Twenty years after playing the Queen’s glorious golden jubilee, we’re very happy to be invited again. Then there was a moment when I wondered … after Buckingham Palace roof, where can you go? Well … you will see.”
Alicia Keys, Nile Rodgers and Andrea Bocelli will also perform during the three-stage, two-and-a-half-hour event on Saturday 4 June.
The lineup will also include Duran Duran, the Bond composer Hans Zimmer, Ella Eyre, Craig David, Mabel, Elbow and George Ezra.
Ryder, who came second at the Eurovision contest in Italy on Saturday with the song Space Man, the UK’s best result in 24 years, will also perform live. Sir Elton John will appear in a pre-recorded performance.
Soul legend Diana Ross, who has not performed in the UK for 15 years, will close the event with a live performance. She said: “I have had the honour of meeting the Queen many times throughout my life, including when I was with my family.
“Her Majesty has and continues to be such an incredible inspiration to so many across the world and I was absolutely delighted to receive an invitation to perform on such a momentous and historic occasion.”
The evening will feature appearances from sports figures and stars of the stage and screen, including Sir David Attenborough, Dame Julie Andrews, Stephen Fry, the tennis player Emma Raducanu, the former footballer David Beckham, the Paralympian swimmer Ellie Simmonds and the Royal Ballet. The dance troupe and Britain’s Got Talent winners Diversity will also perform.
The evening would highlight global themes that had emerged or evolved during the Queen’s reign, organisers said, and would include British and Commonwealth contributions in the fields of fashion, sport, the environment, pop music and musicals.
The latter section will be curated by Andrew Lloyd Webber and include a special appearance by the Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, plus performances featuring the casts of The Phantom of the Opera, Hamilton, Six, The Lion King and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
Coverage will be led by Kirsty Young and Roman Kemp, with 22,000 people attending. Ten thousand tickets will be allocated in a public ballot, with 7,500 for key workers, members of the armed forces, volunteers and charity workers.
Charlotte Moore, the BBC’s chief content officer, said: “We are thrilled to be bringing the nation together for this incredible, once-in-a-lifetime event, broadcast live across the BBC with an amazing star-studded lineup of performers to celebrate the Queen’s momentous 70 years on the throne.”
Further details and additional artists will be confirmed closer to the event.
