Lionel Richie, Katy Perry to play King Charles’ coronation show

Take That, Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Andrea Bocelli will be among those performing at a concert to mark King Charles III’s coronation, the BBC said on Friday.

A televised Coronation Concert is being held in the grounds of Windsor Castle, west of London, on May 7 – the day after Charles is officially crowned king.

BBC chief content officer Charlotte Moore said the coronation was a “once-in-a-generation occasion” and called the concert line-up “world class”.

But recent reports have said that a number of big-name stars have turned down the gig, including Adele, Elton John, Harry Styles and the Spice Girls.

They are said to have declined because of scheduling clashes or touring commitments.

But the Mail on Sunday said singer Kylie Minogue had refused given increased republican sentiment in her native Australia, where Charles is also king.

Some 20,000 members of the public and invited guests are set to attend in person, with the live event also broadcast on radio and online.

Other confirmed performers in the lineup include opera star Bryn Terfel, the singer-songwriter Freya Ridings and composer-producer Alexis Ffrench.

Perry – who performed for US President Joe Biden’s inauguration in 2021 – as well as Take That and Richie all have links to Charles’s charitable foundations.

Richie, who at 73 is just a year younger than the king, said the concert would be an “honour and a celebration”.

Bocelli has previously performed for Charles’s mother, Queen Elizabeth II, who died in September last year aged 96.

He was among a star-studded lineup headlined by Diana Ross for the late monarch’s Platinum Jubilee concert marking her 70th year on the throne last June.

Further names for the Coronation Concert will be announced in due course, the BBC said.

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Apathy

Despite the coronation being the first since 1953 and an event most Britons alive have never witnessed, public interest currently appears lacking.

Coronation coins have been minted, special chinaware produced and even a crown emoji made to mark the occasion at Westminster Abbey. 

But a YouGov poll of more than 3,000 people published Friday indicated that just over a third (35%) “do not care very much” about the event.

Just under a third (29%) said they “do not care at all”, with apathy greatest among younger age groups.

About a quarter (24%) of all respondents said they cared “a fair amount” and only about one in 10 people (9%) said they cared “a great deal”.

Nonetheless, 46% of Britons said they would likely watch or take part in celebrations, including street parties and community lunches on May 8, which has been declared a public holiday.

Preparations were ongoing for the solemn religious ceremony, whose roots date back more than a millennium, and the guest list finalised.

Charles’s younger son Prince Harry is set to attend, despite his public criticisms of the royal family since moving to the United States in early 2020.

The former British army captain’s actress wife, Meghan, however, will remain in California with their two young children.

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