George Ezra announced on Monday (Aug. 13) that he will be embarking on his largest U.K. tour to date, slated to kick off in March 2019.
The U.K. singer-songwriter posted a video on Twitter sharing the exciting news, adding that he will be making stops in Newcastle, Leeds, Liverpool, Brighton, Nottingham, Cardiff, Glasgow, Manchester and Birmingham before concluding at the The O2 Arena in London.
“Hello to all my friends in the U.K. I bring some very exciting news, and that news is that we are going on the biggest tour that we have ever done to date. It'll be in March of 2019. We're going to be visiting a lot of places we love to play in,” Ezra said in the video.
Pre-order for tickets will go live on Wednesday (Aug. 15) and general admission tickets will become available for everyone on Saturday (Aug. 18).
Check out the announcement below.
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George Ezra has announced details of a headline arena tour — including a huge London gig.
The singer-songwriter, who shot to fame with the release of his single Budapest in 2014, will visit the O2 on March 19 next year.
Tickets for the show will go on sale on Friday August 17 at 9am. They can be purchased here.
It comes as part of a headline tour of the UK. The full dates are below:
March 8 - First Direct Arena, Leeds
March 9 - Echo Arena, Liverpool
March 11 - Brighton Arena, Brighton
March 12 - Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham
March 13 - Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff
March 15 - The SSE Hydro, Glasgow
March 16 - Manchester Arena, Manchester
March 17 - Genting Arena, Birmingham
March 19 - The O2, London
Ezra will visit London before then for another massive date in the capital. He will play the SSE Arena, Wembley, before a sold-out crowd on November 15.
The 25-year-old released his debut album, Wanted on Voyage, in 2014 and, buoyed by its success, embarked on a world tour that took the best part of two years.
The best indie bands of all time 15 show all The best indie bands of all time 1/15 15. The Jesus and Mary Chain East Kilbride's Jim and William Reid became the prominent voices of Scottish indie after forming in 1983, releasing their debut album Psychocandy in 1987 and recording a handful of influential John Peel sessions. There’s a huge amount to discover across the band’s diverse and multi-faceted back catalogue, with seven studio albums, six EPs and plenty of compilations to get to grips with. Strange as it sounds, Jez from Peep Show summed the band’s appeal up perfectly when he compared them to his and Mark’s complicated new boiler: “It's like the Jesus and Mary Chain of central heating control systems — difficult to get into initially, but then so much to explore.” Getty Images 2/15 14. The Maccabees The Maccabees are another of the defining bands of their era – the lingering bass note that opens the band’s debut 2005 single X-Ray is enough to make the memories of skinny jeans and questionable haircuts come flooding back. Frontman Orlando Weeks had one of the most distinctive voices in the scene with its trembling vulnerability. The band’s sound matured as the years went on, moving away from a frenetic post-punk energy towards more considered art rock. AFP/Getty Images 3/15 13. Pavement ‘Angular’ has become a cliché when talking about indie rock but Pavement’s wonky melodies and cutting guitar lines embody the description more than most. The Californian band embodied a slacker spirit throughout the 90s but there was nothing lazy about the band’s songwriting craft and knack for killer choruses. Frontman Stephen Malkmus has since furthered the band’s legacy after splitting in 1999 with a series of brilliant solo albums, but fans are still holding out hope for a Pavement reunion soon. Getty Images 4/15 12. Echo and the Bunnymen Ian McCulloch’s Echo and the Bunnymen established themselves as one of the truly alternative voices coming from Merseyside in the late 70s and early 80s. Their brand of indie pop saw them experiment with psychedelic influences on tracks like The Cutter, one of the highlights of their extensive back catalogue. The band are hardly lacking in self-belief either: McCulloch called their 1984 track The Killing Moon “the greatest song ever written” in an interview with the Guardian and claimed it “contains the answer to the meaning of life”. Modesty might not be their forte but the group certain deserve to be regarded as one of the finest indie bands of their generation. Getty Images 5/15 11. Pixies Boston’s finest Pixies were pioneers of the loud/quiet rock dynamic which came to have a huge influence the 90s alternative scene. The group also understood the importance of simplicity in their songcraft and delivery better than any of their contemporaries. Zero frills didn’t mean zero thrills though. The band carved their own lasting mark on the musical landscape and tracks like the haunting Where Is My Mind and the absurdist Monkey Gone To Heaven are some of the greatest anti-anthems of the era. Getty Images 6/15 10. Neutral Milk Hotel Few indie records capture raw, unfiltered emotion quite like Neutral Milk Hotel’s iconic record The Aeroplane Over The Sea. The Louisiana group etched their name in rock history with the album in 1998, which featured lo-fi productions with distorted acoustic guitars, heartbreaking lyrics and some of the most impassioned vocals in indie rock courtesy of frontman Jeff Mangum. The singer’s performances on tracks like Two Headed Boy are utterly captivating and seem incredibly direct — like he’s stripping away all distractions and addressing the listener directly. The group never released another album but the strength of The Aeroplane Over The Sea means they retain one of the biggest cult followings in indie to this day. Getty Images for Coachella 7/15 9. The Cribs To put it plainly, any band that Johnny Marr wants to join has to be considered a very good band. The Smiths guitarist linked up with Wakefield’s finest to record an album, 2009’s Ignore the Ignorant, adding a sophistication to The Cribs’ jagged, punk-fuelled indie rock. Their earlier three albums were packed with hooks and scything guitar lines from Ryan Jarman, backed up by his brother Gary’s no-nonsense bass playing and the raucous drums of their cousin Ross. For a while they were the darlings of the indie rock world, but even as the scene began to lose its way the band’s cult following remained just as fervent. Getty Images for Coachella 8/15 8. Sonic Youth New York noise rockers Sonic Youth, made up of Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon and Lee Ranaldo, first found a cult following amongst the ‘no wave’ art scene in the early 80s. They reached a new generation of fans after signing to major label DGC in 1990 but they never lost their edge. Despite achieving more mainstream success their constant experimentation saw them cover works by experimental composers like John Cage and Steve Reich, pushing boundaries of genre and come to redefine what it meant to be an indie rock band over the last four decades. Getty Images 9/15 7. REM REM were one of the leading alternative voices in US rock before finding mega stardom off the back of1992 album Automatic For The People. REM were one of the leading alternative voices in US rock. Their debut album Murmer in 1983 announced them as one of the most exciting talents in American indie years before they became stadium mainstays. Guitarist Peter Buck is arguably one of the most underappreciated musicians of his generation too — his shimmery, jangly style was the key component of the band’s sound alongside Michael Stipe’s unmistakeable vocals. Getty Images 10/15 6. The Libertines Deified by certain sectors of the British music press and no doubt magnified by the celebrity of frontman Pete Doherty, The Libertines are nonetheless one of the essential bands of the indie rock movement. Their music was sloppy and infectious with choruses that were as at home in rowdy, booze-soaked pub as they were in front of thousands at a festival. Can’t Stand Me Now, the first single off their second, eponymous album stormed to number 2 the UK Top 40 in 2004 (a time when the charts still meant something) and became the band’s ultimate singalong, electrified by the intraband tensions that would eventually come to derail them. Getty Images 11/15 5. The Stone Roses So much of what the Stone Roses did was iconic: the wiggling bassline on Fools Gold, the bold religious appropriation of I Am The Resurrection, even the first line of the first song on the band’s first album (“I don’t have to sell my soul, he’s already in me” from I Wanna Be Adored remains one of Ian Brown’s most memorable lines). They epitomised the Madchester movement – an explosion of sound, fashion and substances – and popularised the psychedelia that would weave its way into the music of so many huge British bands in the 90s. Kevin Winter/Getty 12/15 4. The Cure The Cure’s sound is sprinkled with glitter and gloom, bridging euphoric pop highs with dark, gripping art rock. Listening to their back catalogue is like disappearing down the rabbit hole: there’s a wealth of musical ideas and forms to discover, from starker albums like Pornography to the technicolour indie pop of The Head On The Door and Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me. Their magnum opus Disintegration remains one of the most revered double albums ever too, with Robert Smith representing one the true visionaries of UK indie. Getty Images 13/15 3. Arctic Monkeys Nothing less than a British phenomenon. Their swift ascent from an unknown four-piece to one of the biggest bands in the country in the mid-to-late 2000s was astounding. The debut album Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not is the fastest selling in UK history and an indie-rock staple: audaciously clever lyrics, massive choruses and unforgettable hooks. They never stood still and were unafraid to risk alienating parts of their fan base for the sake of progression – the wholly unexpected sound and mood of 2009’s Humbug, their third album, was the first example of this. Turner’s lyrics meanwhile have gone from Mike Skinner-ish observations to those concerned with galactic hotel reservations on their latest release. That said, each album they’ve released has more hits than most bands could hope for in a career. AFP/Getty Images 14/15 2. The Strokes “I just wanted to be one of The Strokes.” So goes the first line of Arctic Monkeys’ latest album, a clear indication of just how influential the New York five-piece has been. Their first album Is This It, released in 2001, was the earthquake that shook up the next decade of rock music on both sides of the Atlantic. Its chugging guitars, beguiling hooks and swaggering, observational lyrics laid down a blueprint that countless other bands would follow. The record that came after it, Room on Fire, was quite nearly just as brilliant. The rest of the band’s discography varies in quality, but the enduring appeal of Is This It cements The Strokes’ place as one of the very best. Getty Images 15/15 1. The Smiths The Smiths became arguably the most influential British band since the Beatles and the Rolling Stones when they emerged in the early 80s, influencing and inspiring entire generations of fans and musicians alike. Geoff Travis, head of iconic independent label Rough Trade, took a punt on the band after being handed a tape by a teenage Johnny Marr and signed the band in 1983. In the space of just four years the group released four of the most influential British albums of the decade and leave an indelible mark on the musical zeitgeist. The unique vocal and guitar stylings of Morrissey and Marr respectively, as well as backing from the underrated and underappreciated rhythm section of Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce, made them one of the most compelling groups of the era. Marr remains an almost messianic figure for UK guitarists and while Morrissey’s history of controversial comments have caused some to question the band’s reputation, their musical legacy has never been in doubt. 1/15 15. The Jesus and Mary Chain East Kilbride's Jim and William Reid became the prominent voices of Scottish indie after forming in 1983, releasing their debut album Psychocandy in 1987 and recording a handful of influential John Peel sessions. There’s a huge amount to discover across the band’s diverse and multi-faceted back catalogue, with seven studio albums, six EPs and plenty of compilations to get to grips with. Strange as it sounds, Jez from Peep Show summed the band’s appeal up perfectly when he compared them to his and Mark’s complicated new boiler: “It's like the Jesus and Mary Chain of central heating control systems — difficult to get into initially, but then so much to explore.” Getty Images 2/15 14. The Maccabees The Maccabees are another of the defining bands of their era – the lingering bass note that opens the band’s debut 2005 single X-Ray is enough to make the memories of skinny jeans and questionable haircuts come flooding back. Frontman Orlando Weeks had one of the most distinctive voices in the scene with its trembling vulnerability. The band’s sound matured as the years went on, moving away from a frenetic post-punk energy towards more considered art rock. AFP/Getty Images 3/15 13. Pavement ‘Angular’ has become a cliché when talking about indie rock but Pavement’s wonky melodies and cutting guitar lines embody the description more than most. The Californian band embodied a slacker spirit throughout the 90s but there was nothing lazy about the band’s songwriting craft and knack for killer choruses. Frontman Stephen Malkmus has since furthered the band’s legacy after splitting in 1999 with a series of brilliant solo albums, but fans are still holding out hope for a Pavement reunion soon. Getty Images 4/15 12. Echo and the Bunnymen Ian McCulloch’s Echo and the Bunnymen established themselves as one of the truly alternative voices coming from Merseyside in the late 70s and early 80s. Their brand of indie pop saw them experiment with psychedelic influences on tracks like The Cutter, one of the highlights of their extensive back catalogue. The band are hardly lacking in self-belief either: McCulloch called their 1984 track The Killing Moon “the greatest song ever written” in an interview with the Guardian and claimed it “contains the answer to the meaning of life”. Modesty might not be their forte but the group certain deserve to be regarded as one of the finest indie bands of their generation. Getty Images 5/15 11. Pixies Boston’s finest Pixies were pioneers of the loud/quiet rock dynamic which came to have a huge influence the 90s alternative scene. The group also understood the importance of simplicity in their songcraft and delivery better than any of their contemporaries. Zero frills didn’t mean zero thrills though. The band carved their own lasting mark on the musical landscape and tracks like the haunting Where Is My Mind and the absurdist Monkey Gone To Heaven are some of the greatest anti-anthems of the era. Getty Images 6/15 10. Neutral Milk Hotel Few indie records capture raw, unfiltered emotion quite like Neutral Milk Hotel’s iconic record The Aeroplane Over The Sea. The Louisiana group etched their name in rock history with the album in 1998, which featured lo-fi productions with distorted acoustic guitars, heartbreaking lyrics and some of the most impassioned vocals in indie rock courtesy of frontman Jeff Mangum. The singer’s performances on tracks like Two Headed Boy are utterly captivating and seem incredibly direct — like he’s stripping away all distractions and addressing the listener directly. The group never released another album but the strength of The Aeroplane Over The Sea means they retain one of the biggest cult followings in indie to this day. Getty Images for Coachella 7/15 9. The Cribs To put it plainly, any band that Johnny Marr wants to join has to be considered a very good band. The Smiths guitarist linked up with Wakefield’s finest to record an album, 2009’s Ignore the Ignorant, adding a sophistication to The Cribs’ jagged, punk-fuelled indie rock. Their earlier three albums were packed with hooks and scything guitar lines from Ryan Jarman, backed up by his brother Gary’s no-nonsense bass playing and the raucous drums of their cousin Ross. For a while they were the darlings of the indie rock world, but even as the scene began to lose its way the band’s cult following remained just as fervent. Getty Images for Coachella 8/15 8. Sonic Youth New York noise rockers Sonic Youth, made up of Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon and Lee Ranaldo, first found a cult following amongst the ‘no wave’ art scene in the early 80s. They reached a new generation of fans after signing to major label DGC in 1990 but they never lost their edge. Despite achieving more mainstream success their constant experimentation saw them cover works by experimental composers like John Cage and Steve Reich, pushing boundaries of genre and come to redefine what it meant to be an indie rock band over the last four decades. Getty Images 9/15 7. REM REM were one of the leading alternative voices in US rock before finding mega stardom off the back of1992 album Automatic For The People. REM were one of the leading alternative voices in US rock. Their debut album Murmer in 1983 announced them as one of the most exciting talents in American indie years before they became stadium mainstays. Guitarist Peter Buck is arguably one of the most underappreciated musicians of his generation too — his shimmery, jangly style was the key component of the band’s sound alongside Michael Stipe’s unmistakeable vocals. Getty Images 10/15 6. The Libertines Deified by certain sectors of the British music press and no doubt magnified by the celebrity of frontman Pete Doherty, The Libertines are nonetheless one of the essential bands of the indie rock movement. Their music was sloppy and infectious with choruses that were as at home in rowdy, booze-soaked pub as they were in front of thousands at a festival. Can’t Stand Me Now, the first single off their second, eponymous album stormed to number 2 the UK Top 40 in 2004 (a time when the charts still meant something) and became the band’s ultimate singalong, electrified by the intraband tensions that would eventually come to derail them. Getty Images 11/15 5. The Stone Roses So much of what the Stone Roses did was iconic: the wiggling bassline on Fools Gold, the bold religious appropriation of I Am The Resurrection, even the first line of the first song on the band’s first album (“I don’t have to sell my soul, he’s already in me” from I Wanna Be Adored remains one of Ian Brown’s most memorable lines). They epitomised the Madchester movement – an explosion of sound, fashion and substances – and popularised the psychedelia that would weave its way into the music of so many huge British bands in the 90s. Kevin Winter/Getty 12/15 4. The Cure The Cure’s sound is sprinkled with glitter and gloom, bridging euphoric pop highs with dark, gripping art rock. Listening to their back catalogue is like disappearing down the rabbit hole: there’s a wealth of musical ideas and forms to discover, from starker albums like Pornography to the technicolour indie pop of The Head On The Door and Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me. Their magnum opus Disintegration remains one of the most revered double albums ever too, with Robert Smith representing one the true visionaries of UK indie. Getty Images 13/15 3. Arctic Monkeys Nothing less than a British phenomenon. Their swift ascent from an unknown four-piece to one of the biggest bands in the country in the mid-to-late 2000s was astounding. The debut album Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not is the fastest selling in UK history and an indie-rock staple: audaciously clever lyrics, massive choruses and unforgettable hooks. They never stood still and were unafraid to risk alienating parts of their fan base for the sake of progression – the wholly unexpected sound and mood of 2009’s Humbug, their third album, was the first example of this. Turner’s lyrics meanwhile have gone from Mike Skinner-ish observations to those concerned with galactic hotel reservations on their latest release. That said, each album they’ve released has more hits than most bands could hope for in a career. AFP/Getty Images 14/15 2. The Strokes “I just wanted to be one of The Strokes.” So goes the first line of Arctic Monkeys’ latest album, a clear indication of just how influential the New York five-piece has been. Their first album Is This It, released in 2001, was the earthquake that shook up the next decade of rock music on both sides of the Atlantic. Its chugging guitars, beguiling hooks and swaggering, observational lyrics laid down a blueprint that countless other bands would follow. The record that came after it, Room on Fire, was quite nearly just as brilliant. The rest of the band’s discography varies in quality, but the enduring appeal of Is This It cements The Strokes’ place as one of the very best. Getty Images 15/15 1. The Smiths The Smiths became arguably the most influential British band since the Beatles and the Rolling Stones when they emerged in the early 80s, influencing and inspiring entire generations of fans and musicians alike. Geoff Travis, head of iconic independent label Rough Trade, took a punt on the band after being handed a tape by a teenage Johnny Marr and signed the band in 1983. In the space of just four years the group released four of the most influential British albums of the decade and leave an indelible mark on the musical zeitgeist. The unique vocal and guitar stylings of Morrissey and Marr respectively, as well as backing from the underrated and underappreciated rhythm section of Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce, made them one of the most compelling groups of the era. Marr remains an almost messianic figure for UK guitarists and while Morrissey’s history of controversial comments have caused some to question the band’s reputation, their musical legacy has never been in doubt.
Staying at Tamara’s, his second studio release, dropped in March this year, spawning his first ever number single with the song Shotgun.
Ezra spoke to the Evening Standard last month about his love of performing, his rise to fame and his fondness of going for walks while wearing “really silly hats”. Read the interview in full here.
Singer-songwriter George Ezra is on track to reclaim the number one spot on the UK singles chart and end Canadian rapper Drake’s reign at the top.
Singer-songwriter George Ezra is on track to reclaim the number one spot on the UK singles chart and end Canadian rapper Drake’s reign at the top.
George Ezra on course to hurt Drake’s feelings and reclaim number one
Ezra’s former chart-topper Shotgun is in a close race with Drake’s In My Feelings.
It currently has a lead of just under 2,000 downloads and streaming equivalent sales.
Shotgun previously hit number one in July before it was toppled by comedy duo David Baddiel and Frank Skinner’s World Cup anthem Three Lions.
Ezra himself posted a video on social media urging his fans to help get the football song to surpass his own.
🚨THIS IS NOT A DRILL 🚨RT & SHARE. LET’S KNOCK SHOTGUN OFF NUMBER ONE WITH THREE LIONS #ItsComingHome 🦁🦁🦁 pic.twitter.com/Wk2AwAPZjc — george E Z R A (@george_ezra) July 9, 2018
Canadian production and DJ duo Loud Luxury’s song Body has climbed four places to reach number four, according to the Official Chart Update.
It is just behind DJ Khaled and Justin Bieber’s No Brainer, which is a non-mover at three.
At five is Eastside by Benny Blanco featuring Halsey and Khalid.
On the albums chart, the soundtrack of Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again continues to rule the roost.
The recording features renditions of Abba songs performed by the likes of Cher and Pierce Brosnan.
It is fending off competition from The Greatest Showman and 13 new entries in the top 40.
UK indie rock singer Miles Kane looks set to claim the highest of the new entries with his third solo album Coup De Grace.
Kane has previously topped the chart with Arctic Monkeys singer Alex Turner as duo The Last Shadow Puppets.
Two places back on this week’s albums chart update is US rapper Nicki Minaj’s new album Queen.
Nicki Minaj looks set for a new entry on the UK albums chart with Queen (Ian West/PA)
Elsewhere in the top 10, there is a new Elvis Presley collection called Where No One Stands Alone.
The album features a collaboration with the singer’s daughter Lisa Marie and is currently at number seven.
Just behind it at nine is Merseyside band The Coral’s Move Through The Dawn.
Hot on their heels are classical crossover group Il Divo at 10 with Timeless.
This week’s final singles and albums charts will be published on Friday.
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