The Diamond Jubilee Concert was a British music concert and celebration held outside

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...

on The Mall in London on 4 June 2012. The concert was organised by

Take That Take That are an English pop group formed in Manchester in 1990. The group currently consists of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen. The original line-up also featured Jason Orange and Robbie Williams. Barlow is the group's lead singer ...

singer-songwriter

Gary Barlow Gary Barlow (born 20 January 1971) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He is the lead singer of the pop group Take That. Barlow is one of the United Kingdom's most successful songwriters, having writ ...

and was part of Queen Elizabeth II's

Diamond Jubilee A diamond jubilee celebrates the 60th anniversary of a significant event related to a person (e.g. accession to the throne or wedding, among others) or the 60th anniversary of an institution's founding. The term is also used for 75th annivers ...

celebrations. The Diamond Jubilee Concert followed two concerts held at the palace for the Queen's

Golden Jubilee A golden jubilee marks a 50th anniversary. It variously is applied to people, events, and nations. Bangladesh In Bangladesh, golden jubilee refers the 50th anniversary year of the separation from Pakistan and is called in Bengali language, ...

a decade earlier – the classical themed Prom at the Palace and the pop/rock themed Party at the Palace, followed by the Platinum Party at the Palace for the Queen's

Platinum Jubilee A platinum jubilee is a celebration held to mark an anniversary. Among Monarchy, monarchies, it usually refers to a 70th anniversary. The most recent monarch to celebrate a platinum jubilee is Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and the ...

in 2022. The concert was partially attended by the Queen, who arrived at 9 pm, but not by

Prince Philip Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 19219 April 2021), was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he was the consort of the British monarch from h ...

who had been taken to hospital with a bladder infection earlier in the day.

Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

and other members of the royal family attended the whole concert.

Ticketing

Ten thousand free tickets were made available to the public, with applications possible, by post or online, between 7 February and 2 March 2012. After the application period closed, successful applicants were then drawn by random ballot. A total of 1.2 million applications were eventually received, 240 for every available pair. Non-ticketed attendees could watch the concert on giant TV screens in the Mall and local Parks. Estimates of these free attendees range from 250,000 to 500,000 people.

Date, venue and stage

The concert took place on bank holiday Monday 4 June as part of the extended weekend celebrations for the Diamond Jubilee, which ran from 2 to 5 June. The acts performed on a specially constructed stage, with a canopy, around the Queen Victoria Memorial, in front of the palace. The stage was designed by

Mark Fisher Mark Fisher (11 July 1968 – 13 January 2017), also known under his blogging alias k-punk, was an English writer, music critic, political and cultural theorist, philosopher, and teacher based in the Department of Visual Cultures at Golds ...

House band

The

house band A house band is a group of musicians, often centrally organized by a band leader, who regularly play at an establishment. It is widely used to refer both to the bands who work on entertainment programs on television or radio, and to bands which ...

, led by Mike Stevens, who was also the

Musical Director A music director, musical director or director of music is a person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert ...

of the concert, consisted largely of the

band, a few additional musicians and the

BBC Concert Orchestra The BBC Concert Orchestra is a British concert orchestra based in London, one of the British Broadcasting Corporation's five radio orchestras. With around fifty players, it is the only one of the five BBC orchestras which is not a full-scale sym ...

. The house band performed with many of the guest artists that were featured, however

Tom Jones Tom Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tom Jones (singer) (born 1940), Welsh singer *Tom Jones (writer) (1928–2023), American librettist and lyricist *''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'', a novel by Henry Fielding published in 1 ...

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

and

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

brought their own bands to the concert.

Diamond Jubilee song

and

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948) is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End theatre, West End and on Broadway theatre, Broad ...

wrote a song for the jubilee entitled "

Sing Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

" which was performed for the first time at the concert by a choir from many

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

countries. The song draws inspiration from the music and people of the Commonwealth. Its creation was the subject of a one-hour BBC documentary broadcast on 3 June 2012 by

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

Jubilee picnic

Concert ticket holders were given access to the palace gardens for an afternoon picnic before the main event. They were served cold hampers with a British themed menu specially designed by Heston Blumenthal and the royal chef Mark Flanagan.

Performances

The running order was: *

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, launching a solo career in 1996. His debut studio album, ''Life thru a Lens'', was re ...

with drummers and trumpeters from the second battalion of the

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, monarchy; due to this, it often ...

– " Let Me Entertain You" *Introduction –

Rob Brydon Robert Brydon Jones (; born 3 May 1965) is a Welsh actor, comedian, impressionist, presenter, singer and writer. He gained prominence for his roles in film, television and radio. He was appointed Order of the British Empire, Member of the Order ...

will.i.am William James Adams Jr. (born March 15, 1975), known professionally as will.i.am (pronounced "will I am"), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. He is the frontman of the musical group Black Eyed Peas, which he ...

and

Jessie J Jessica Ellen Cornish (born 27 March 1988), known professionally as Jessie J, is an English singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, she began her career on stage, aged 11, with a role in the West End musical '' Whistle Down the Wind ...

– "

I Gotta Feeling "I Gotta Feeling" is a song by American group the Black Eyed Peas from their fifth studio album '' The E.N.D.'' (2009). It was written by the group members with the song's producers David Guetta and Frédéric Riesterer. The song was released a ...

" / " This Is Love" *

– "

Domino Dominoes is a family of tile-based games played with gaming pieces. Each domino is a rectangular tile, usually with a line dividing its face into two square ''ends''. Each end is marked with a number of spots (also called '' pips'' or ''dots'' ...

" * JLS – " Everybody in Love" / " She Makes Me Wanna" *Interlude –

Miranda Hart Miranda Katherine Hart Dyke (born 14 December 1972) is an English actress, comedian and writer. She has won three Royal Television Society awards, four British Comedy Awards, and four BAFTA nominations for her self-driven semi-autobiographical ...

and Cheryl (from

Girls Aloud Girls Aloud are a British-Irish pop music, pop girl group that was created through the ITV (TV network), ITV talent show ''Popstars: The Rivals'' in 2002. The line up consisted of members Cheryl (singer), Cheryl, Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, N ...

) – " Need You Now" (cover of

Lady A Lady A, known until 2020 as Lady Antebellum, is an American country music group formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2006. The group is composed of Hillary Scott (lead and background vocals), Charles Kelley (lead and background vocals, guitar ...

song) *Interlude –

Lee Mack Lee Gordon McKillop (born 4 August 1968), known by his stage name Lee Mack, is an English comedian and actor, famed for his quick wit. Mack’s better known work includes creating, writing and starring in sitcom ''Not Going Out'', and featuring ...

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is a British singer and actor. He has total sales of over 21.5 million singles in the United Kingdom and, as of 2012, was the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart histo ...

– Medley: "Dynamite", " The Young Ones", " Devil Woman", " We Don't Talk Anymore", " Wired for Sound" and " The Millennium Prayer" (followed by "

Congratulations Congratulations may refer to: Film and television * Congratulations (2010 film), an Egyptian film * Congratulations (2023 film), a Gujarati drama film *'' Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest'', 2005 television programme ...

") *Interlude –

Jimmy Carr James Anthony Patrick Carr (born 15 September 1972) is an Irish-British comedian, presenter, writer and actor. He is known for his rapid-fire deadpan delivery of One-line joke, one-liners. He began his comedy career in 1997, and he has regula ...

Lang Lang Lang Lang (; born 14 June 1982) is a Chinese pianist who has performed with major orchestras around the world and appeared at many leading concert halls. Active since the 1990s, he was the first Chinese pianist to be engaged by the Berlin Phi ...

– " Hungarian Rhapsody" / "

Rhapsody in Blue ''Rhapsody in Blue'' is a 1924 musical composition for solo piano and jazz band by George Gershwin. Commissioned by bandleader Paul Whiteman, the work combines elements of classical music with jazz-influenced effects and premiered in a concer ...

" *Interlude –

* Alfie Boe – " O Sole Mio" / " It's Now or Never" *Interlude –

Lenny Henry Sir Lenworth George Henry (born 29 August 1958) is a British Jamaicans, British-Jamaican comedian, actor and writer. He gained success as a Stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian and impressionist in the late 1970s and early 1980s, culminating in ' ...

Jools Holland Julian Miles Holland (born 24 January 1958) is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer and television presenter. He was an original member of the band Squeeze and has worked with many artists including Marc Almond, Jayne County, To ...

and Ruby Turner – "

You Are So Beautiful "You Are So Beautiful" is a song credited to Billy Preston and Bruce Fisher that was first released in 1974 on Preston's ninth studio album, '' The Kids & Me''. It was also the B-side of his single "Struttin'". Later that same year, English singe ...

" *Interlude –

Grace Jones Grace Beverly Jones (born 19 May 1948) is a Jamaican singer, songwriter, model and actress. She began her Model (person), modelling career in New York State, then in Paris, working for fashion houses such as Yves Saint Laurent (brand), Yves St ...

– " Slave to the Rhythm" *Interlude –

and

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran ( ; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...

– " The A Team" *

Annie Lennox Ann Lennox (born 25 December 1954) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving moderate success in the late 1970s as part of the new wave band the Tourists, she and fellow musician Dave Stewart w ...

and Joanne Shaw Taylor – " There Must Be An Angel" *Interlude –

Rolf Harris Rolf Harris (30 March 1930 – 10 May 2023) was an Australian musician, television personality, painter, and actor. He used a variety of instruments in his performances, notably the didgeridoo and the Stylophone, and is credited with the inventi ...

Renée Fleming Renée Lynn Fleming (born February 14, 1959) is an American soprano and actress, known for performances in opera, concerts, recordings, theater, film, and at major public occasions. A recipient of the National Medal of Arts, Fleming has been nom ...

– " Un Bel Di Vedremo" *Interlude –

– " Mama Told Me (Not to Come)" and "

Delilah Delilah ( ; , meaning "delicate";Gesenius's ''Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon'' ; ) is a woman mentioned in the sixteenth chapter of the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible. She is loved by Samson, a Nazirite who possesses great strength and serves as t ...

" *Interlude –

. During the interlude, the Queen arrived. *

– "

Mack the Knife "Mack the Knife" or "The Ballad of Mack the Knife" () is a song composed by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht for their 1928 music drama ''The Threepenny Opera'' (). The song tells of a knife-wielding criminal of the London underworld n ...

" *Interlude –

, The Commonwealth Band, Gareth Malone and the Military Wives – "

" *Interlude –

organised a forward-moving

Mexican wave The wave (also Mexican wave outside North America) is a type of metachronal rhythm achieved in a packed stadium or other large seated venue, when successive groups of spectators briefly stand and raise their arms. Immediately upon stretching to ...

in the Mall *

Shirley Bassey Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey (; born 8 January 1937) is a Welsh singer. Known for her career longevity, powerful voice and recording the James Bond music, theme songs to three James Bond films - the only artist to officially perform more than o ...

– "Diamonds Are Forever" *

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Frequently referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Princess of Pop", she has achieved recognition in both the music industry and fas ...

– Medley: " Spinning Around", "

Can't Get You Out of My Head "Can't Get You Out of My Head" is a song recorded by Australian singer Kylie Minogue for her eighth studio album, ''Fever (Kylie Minogue album), Fever'' (2001). Parlophone, Parlophone Records released the song as the album's Single (music), ...

", " Step Back in Time" and " All the Lovers". Dance troupe Flawless performed during the second half of the number. *Interlude –

* Alfie Boe and

– "

Somewhere Somewhere may refer to: Music Albums * ''Somewhere'' (Eva Cassidy album) or the title song, 2008 * ''Somewhere'' (Keith Jarrett album), 2013 * '' Somewhere – The Songs of Sondheim and Bernstein'', by Marina Prior, 1994 * ''Somewhere'', or ...

" *Interlude –

– " I'm Still Standing", " Your Song" and " Crocodile Rock" *Interlude –

*A film about the Queen's reign was played, which included her coronation, past jubilees, The Royal Wedding and other events. The film was accompanied by the

, performing an instrumental arrangement of " Beautiful Day". *Interlude –

(

sang, unaccompanied, a portion of " Two Little Boys" during the interlude.) *

– " Sir Duke", " Isn't She Lovely?" (the lyrics were amended to refer to the Queen), " Happy Birthday" (with

) and "

Superstition A superstition is any belief or practice considered by non-practitioners to be irrational or supernatural, attributed to fate or magic (supernatural), magic, perceived supernatural influence, or fear of that which is unknown. It is commonly app ...

" *Interlude –

* Madness – " Our House" and " It Must Be Love". *Interlude –

Peter Kay Peter John Kay (born 2 July 1973) is an English comedian, actor, writer, and director. Born and raised in Farnworth, Kay studied media performance at the University of Salford and later began working part-time as a stand-up comedian. In 199 ...

– " Magical Mystery Tour", " All My Loving", "

Let It Be Let It Be most commonly refers to: * ''Let It Be'' (album), the Beatles' final studio album, released in 1970 * "Let It Be" (song), the title song from the album Let It Be may also refer to: Film and television * ''Let It Be'' (1970 film), ...

", " Live and Let Die" and "

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1968 double album ''The Beatles'' (also known as "the White Album"). It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. Following t ...

" *Finish –

made a speech *"

God Save the Queen "God Save the King" ("God Save the Queen" when the monarch is female) is '' de facto'' the national anthem of the United Kingdom. It is one of two national anthems of New Zealand and the royal anthem of the Isle of Man, Australia, Canada and ...

" (National Anthem) *Grand Finale – The Queen lit the last National Beacon, after which there was a firework display, during which the melodies of several patriotic songs and hymns were played: "

Zadok the Priest ''Zadok the Priest'' ( HWV 258) is a British anthem that was composed by George Frideric Handel for the coronation of George II in 1727. Alongside '' The King Shall Rejoice'', '' My Heart is Inditing'', and '' Let Thy Hand Be Strengthened'', ' ...

" (

Georg Friedrich Händel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque music, Baroque composer well-known for his opera#Baroque era, operas, oratorios, anthems, concerto grosso, concerti grossi, ...

), " I Vow to Thee My Country" (

Gustav Holst Gustav Theodore Holst (born Gustavus Theodore von Holst; 21 September 1874 – 25 May 1934) was an English composer, arranger and teacher. Best known for his orchestral suite ''The Planets'', he composed many other works across a range ...

), "

Land of Hope and Glory "Land of Hope and Glory" is a British patriotic song, with music by Edward Elgar, written in 1901 and with lyrics by A. C. Benson added in 1902. Composition The music to which the words of the refrain 'Land of Hope and Glory, &c' below ...

" (

Edward Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

) and "Ode to Joy" / Anthem of Europe (

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

Broadcasting

The concert was broadcast live on

, BBC One HD and

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

. American broadcaster ABC showed highlights the following day after as ''Concert for the Queen: A Diamond Jubilee Celebration With Katie Couric'' as well as an encore airing on 9 June. Broadcasting unions announced in April 2012 that they would ballot their members over taking

strike action Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike in British English, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to Working class, work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Str ...

due to an ongoing pay dispute with the BBC, leading to media speculation that the BBC coverage of the concert could be affected. It was later confirmed that the BBC's coverage wouldn't be affected by any strikes. It aired on 5 June on

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

television in Canada.

BBC Entertainment BBC Entertainment was an international television channel that broadcast comedy, drama, light entertainment, reality and children's programming (some regions only) from the BBC, Channel 4 and other UK production houses. The channel broadcast re ...

showed the concert on 8 June in Latin America. The concert aired from 19:30 until approximately 23:00 UK time. In the UK the programme was seen by an average of 15.32 million viewers on BBC One, making it the 6th highest UK TV audience of 2012, but peaking near 17 million. For the ABC broadcast the following aired: *will.i.am and Jessie J – "I Gotta Feeling" / "This Is Love" *Jessie J – "Domino" *Tom Jones – "Mama Told Me (Not To Come)" and "Delilah" *Kylie Minogue – medley "Spinning Around", "Can't Get You Out Of My Head", "Step Back In Time" and "All The Lovers" *Elton John – "I'm Still Standing", "Your Song" and "Crocodile Rock" *Stevie Wonder – "Sir Duke", "Isn't She Lovely", "Happy Birthday" (with will.i.am) and "Superstition" *Madness – "Our House" and "It Must Be Love" *Paul McCartney – "All My Loving", "Let It Be", "Live and Let Die" and "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" *Finish – Prince Charles made a speech at the end of the concert *The National Anthem was played, which majority sang. *Grand Finale – The Queen lit the National Beacon followed by a display of fireworks, during which the melodies of several national hymns were played. **Annie Lennox's participation was listed in the program description yet her appearance did not air. The show of 5 June on ABC opened to 6.4 million (4.1/6) before rising in the second hour to 7.2 million (4.7/8) for an average of 6.8 million viewers for the evening. The broadcast was aired on Channel 9 in Australia on 5 June – and was broadcast in its entirety apart from: *Interlude – Jimmy Carr *Lang Lang – "Hungarian Rhapsody" / "Rhapsody In Blue" *Interlude – Miranda Hart *Interlude – Lenny Henry *Jools Holland and Ruby Turner – "You Are So Beautiful" *Interlude – Jimmy Carr

References

External links

Official site

Official site (BBC)
{{Authority control 2012 in London 2012 in British music Buckingham Palace Concerts in the United Kingdom Entertainment in London Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II June 2012 in the United Kingdom 2010s in the City of Westminster

Ticketing

Date, venue and stage

House band

Diamond Jubilee song

Jubilee picnic

Performances

Broadcasting

See also

References

External links