CHARLI XCX and RAYE have found the perfect warm up for Glastonbury – supporting Dua Lipa in London.
I’m told Dua has approached Charli and Raye to open her two huge Wembley Stadium shows next weekend.
And it’s looking promising as insiders tell me the deals were close to being confirmed last night.
A source said: “These two Wembley shows are monumental for Dua and she wants to give her fans an extra treat.
“Her team has approached Raye to open Friday’s show, while Charli is in talks to perform on Saturday.
“Dua, Raye and Charli are all super supportive of each other and it would be amazing to have these three British female powerhouses playing Wembley.
“With Glastonbury the week after, this is the perfect warm-up for Raye and Charli too as they’ll be playing to almost 80,000 fans at Wembley Stadium.
“The deals are still being thrashed out but fans off to see Dua should expect to see these two on the stage.”
It’s a coup for us music fans, we’re being spoilt for choice when it comes to huge gigs this summer.
And while the Brit Awards is moving to Manchester, London is proving to be the hottest city in the country when it comes to music this summer.
Our capital is the only place fans can catch Coldplay, Oasis, Beyonce, Kendrick Lamar, SZA and Billie Eilish.
And the stats speak for themselves, with more than 3.6million fans heading to the city this summer to watch their favourite acts.
‘Best in the world’
I’m told 40 per cent of stadium ticket sales this summer were for artists who all started their careers in venues that held less than 1,000 people, acts such as Dua, Kendrick, Lana del Rey, Imagine Dragons and Post Malone.
And ladies are doing it for themselves as female-led stadium shows account for 40 per cent of sales.
Mayor of London, and self confessed Taylor Swift superfan, Sadiq Khan told me: “Our capital’s music scene is the very best in the world and this summer we have another incredible line-up of performances featuring some of the globe’s biggest artists.
“From headlining acts at stadiums and festivals to upcoming stars at grassroots venues, London’s music scene has so much for fans to enjoy, and we’ll continue to do all we can to support our venues.”
Sophie dazzled at the Hall
IT WAS murder on a very fancy dancefloor for Sophie Ellis-Bextor as she performed a huge sold-out show at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
The concert was Sophie’s biggest ever headline show in the capital, with the singer performing her new single Taste from upcoming album Perimenopop, which is out on September 12.
This year marks Sophie’s 25th anniversary as a solo star, and she said: “I’ve been singing for 30 years now and throughout my career I’ve been lucky enough to happily play with many music genres, but my heart beats the fastest for pop.”
Of her eighth record, Sophie added: “This album is a celebration of that relationship.
“In fact, it’s a celebration of lots of things, including being the age I’m at and still having so many adventures and so much fun.”
Paddy’s duet dream for Soccer Aid party
THEY defeated the World XI last year after a five-year losing streak – but Paddy McGuinness hasn’t got his mind on taking home the trophy again ahead of Soccer Aid tomorrow.
The Radio 2 DJ tells me he’s got bigger fish to fry, like convincing football legend Wayne Rooney to have a go on the karaoke machine he’s bringing to the after-party.
Paddy, who has been part of the England XI line-up for 15 years for the charity match, which will be broadcast live on ITV tomorrow at 7:30pm, said: “Obviously, I’d sing Islands In The Stream with Wayne – it’s a classic.
“There are singers on the team – we’ve had some A-list stars over the years and everyone gets involved.
“But, to be honest, when the karaoke machine comes out, that’s when the professional singers have to step aside and let the rest of us have our moment.”
Paddy is joining Dragons’ Den’s Steven Bartlett, former Olympian Sir Mo Farah, adventurer and TV presenter Bear Grylls, and former footballers Gary Neville and Joe Hart in the England XI team.
They will be up against a team that includes boxer Tony Bellew, Strictly’s Gorka Marquez and Baby Reindeer’s Richard Gadd.
This year, Paddy revealed that the training schedule had been cut down from five days to two, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been taking it seriously at home in preparation for his moment in goal.
He said: “I keep myself fit and healthy.
“I’m going to be back in goal, so I’ve been doing a lot of yoga and stretching, and I’ve always loved combat training. I do karate.
“One year, I stopped Usain Bolt from scoring a goal with a karate roundhouse kick to the ball.
“He was already celebrating with his arms in the air, it was a real close one.
“It was like, ‘I didn’t know Paddy could put his leg over his head!’”
WILL SMITH has admitted he needed some A-list encouragement to write his new album Based On A True Story.
On Capital XTRA Breakfast, he said: “Jay Z said, ‘Don’t even make music if you’re not going to be honest.’
“That was the deep push for me.”
Jord’s hair of importance
MARIAH CAREY has been demanding loads of dressing rooms for Capital’s Summertime Ball tomorrow but there will be an even bigger diva at Wembley Stadium for the sold-out show – Jordan North.
The Capital Breakfast show host is even more of a primadonna than the Fantasy singer, according to his hilarious co-host Sian Welby, with Jordan.
In an exclusive chat, she said: “Jordan is the biggest diva.
“He’s got his makeup and, in an interview, he’s so busy looking at the cameras, checking his hair out that he gets lost in the interview.
“He has his own barber come into the studio and he wears a cape. And then two days later, he wants a fresh trim.
“He would have a barber following him around if he could.
“He’d have special lighting.
“He’d have a tanning booth.”
Sian said that working with her male co-hosts is amazing, adding: “It’s like having brothers – we can rip the p**s out of each other.”
And she reckons they have hit their stride as a trio, with their show broadcast nationally.
She added: “I’m usually self-deprecating but the combo of me, Chris Stark, and Jordan is just the right timing and the right mix of personalities.
“I feel like we’re in some sort of golden era of radio.”
Tim’s a fall guy
JAMES frontman Tim Booth took their 1990 hit Sit Down to heart at the Summer Sessions festival after falling off the stage.
The Manchester born singer took a tumble while performing at the event at Plymouth Hoe.
Ever the professional, Tim carried on singing – much to the amusement of the crowd.
One fan told me: “One moment Tim was singing and greeting fans, the next he’d gone ar*e over tit.
“He had jumped down from the main stage onto a smaller platform towards the barriers.
“As he jumped to the floor he looked like he rolled his ankle and dropped straight to the ground.
“It took him a couple of attempts to get off the floor, but he continued singing the whole time.”
What a trooper.
