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Rock/Pop

Craig Charles Tickets

Concerts7 results

Concerts in United Kingdom

About

Multi-faceted funk and soul maestro

An instantly recognisable presence on television and radio over the past four decades, Craig Charles is rightly renowned these days for bringing his eclectic hip-shaking blend of funk and soul to our country’s dancefloors. 

Born in Liverpool to a Guyanese father and Irish mother, Craig Charles grew up as a relative outcast from society during the 60s due to his dual heritage. Winning a poetry competition run by The Guardian newspaper at the age of 12, Charles pursued football seriously before switching lanes to poetry: experiencing bigotry, prejudice, and violence growing up in Cantril Farm Estate in his early life would provide a unique platform for his career as an urban poet to flourish. 

Though it was poetry in which Charles would make his name in the beginning, his journey would forever be entwined with music. Writing lyrics and performing in local bands, it was also music where he snatched his breakthrough moment. 

At a Teardrop Explodes gig, Charles clambered onto the stage to recite a snippy poem about the band’s lead singer Julian Cope. Impressed by his gusto, Cope invited Charles to tour with them for the remainder of their dates. In the guise of punk-poet John Cooper Clarke, Craig Charles was invited on to record a session for John Peel’s BBC Radio show, an institution he’d become accustomed to some years later.

Focusing on comedy as part of the Red Wedge troupe, Craig Charles got his first television acting role as the Scouse slob Dave Lister in cult comedy series Red Dwarf. Despite not being in mind for the part initially, Charles wangled his way into the sitcom. “I begged and begged for an audition, and in the end he relented,” he later recalled in The Guardian.

From then on, Craig Charles was almost ever-present on British television, taking on the opportunity to host Robot Wars in the late 90s, narrated bonkers Japanese TV competition Takeshi’s Castle, and even starred in Mancunian soap opera Coronation Street. Despite frequent highs and lows both personally and professionally, it was music which would become Charles’ bedrock. 

In the early 00s, Charles secured a regular slot as a DJ on BBC Radio 6 Music, spinning a diverse and studied range of funk and soul on the aptly titled The Craig Charles Funk and Soul Show. His broadcasts immediately garnered praise, stepping up to BBC Radio 2 at one point, even presenting the House Party on Saturday nights more recently.

2024 will see Craig Charles conjure grooves on the club circuit and festival dance floors, performing at Wilderness Festival, both Dorset and Shropshire iterations of Camp Bestival, EartH Hackney in London, and even hosting his own celebration at the Craig Charles Funk & Soul Party in Sheffield.

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