80s pop legend Nik Kershaw talks Live Aid and shares his song writing process ahead of his West Midland tour dates
It’s more than 40 years since Nik Kershaw first exploded onto the UK pop scene as a chart-topping solo artist.
A string of global hits – including ‘Wouldn’t it Be Good’, ‘The Riddle’ and ‘I Won’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me’ – saw him spend an astonishing 62 weeks on the UK singles chart through 1984 and 1985.
He also performed a memorable set at the iconic Live Aid concert at Wembley in front of an estimated global audience of 1.9 billion.
But it’s not just as a solo artist that Nik has enjoyed global success – he’s also written and produced best-selling songs for a string of top artists including Elton John, Sya, Gary Barlow, Ronan Keating, Lulu, Bonnie Tyler, and many more.
He wrote the Chesney Hawkes smash ‘The One And Only’, which spent five weeks at number one in 1991 and cracked the top 10 in the USA. “The royalties from that single put my kids through university and private school,” he jokes.
So, it’s fair to say that Nik Kershaw has got plenty to talk about… with his trademark dry wit and self-deprecating humour.
And that’s exactly what he will be doing when he takes to the road in this autumn on an intimate theatre tour with a difference, which includes dates in Staffordshire and the Black Country.
Musings & Lyrics runs from September 17 to November 23, and coincides with the launch of his new book which tells the stories behind every song from his nine studio albums.
The book – ‘Musings and Lyrics (The Inane Ramblings of a Grateful Idiot)’ – also includes a first-ever vinyl release of his celebrated Songs From The Shelf series, which has been gaining a growing fanbase online.
The vinyl is exclusively available on the Superluxe format, which also includes a photobook with never-before-seen pictures. A Luxe version of the book is also available with a limited-edition CD instead.
“I’m very much looking forward to these solo shows, which are in some brilliantly intimate venues – giving me a chance to share songs, stories and have a Q&A session with the audience too.
