Atomic Kitten, ‘Three Lions’ trio reform amid Euros fever
After England made history by qualifying for the final of the Euro 2020 football championship, the team’s first finals appearance in a major international tournament since 1966, a number of musical acts are hoping to capitalise on their success as the event nears its end.
The Lightning Seeds, whose song ‘Three Lions’, with comedians Frank Skinner and David Baddiel, hit number one in 1996 and 1998, will reunite with Baddiel and Skinner for a performance of the song on Channel 4’s The Last Leg tonight (9 July) ahead of a rumoured pre-match show at Wembley Stadium on Sunday.
Lightning Seeds frontman Ian Broudie tells I he wanted to “find an occasion” to perform the song before the match, which sees Italy face England at home, but a hoped-for pre-match rendition on the Wembley Stadium pitch is “out of my control”, he says. “We haven’t been invited to yet.”
While it unlikely any performance of ‘Three Lions’ would be allowed at the stadium before kick-off, the trio could potentially team up again at an unofficial event or post-match celebrations (should England win), I reports.
The Lightning Seeds continue their SJM-promoted Jollification tour, marking the 25th anniversary of the seminal 1994 album, in September with rescheduled dates in London, Bristol, Birmingham and Manchester.
Elsewhere, early-2000s girl group Atomic Kitten have reunited to re-work their 2001 no 1 ‘Whole Again’ as a tribute to England manager Gareth Southgate.
The release of ‘Southgate You’re the One (Football’s Coming Home Again)’ comes as the band prepares for a handful of summer festival dates, including We Love 90s in Darlington (27 August), Mighty Hoopla in south London (4 September) and Biggest 90s Disco in Dublin (23 October).
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“‘Southgate You’re the One’ is totally inspired by the England football fans in support of Gareth Southgate and the super-talented England football team,” say the trio in a statement. “We will be singing loud and proud: ‘Football’s Coming Home’.”
Euro 2020 kicked off on 11 June with a livestreamed show by the Edge (of U2) and DJ Martin Garrix, who performed tournament anthem ‘We Are the People’ inside a virtually rendered stadium. U2 frontman Bono, meanwhile, who sings lead on the track, performed his parts as a holographic head.
Other notable Euro 2020 music moments included a record-breaking TikTok event featuring Ed Sheeran, who played to 5.5m people from Ipswich Town’s Portman Road stadium as part of a partnership between TikTok and tournament organiser Uefa.
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