Justin Hayward, the voice of The Moody Blues, has announced The Blue World Tour for March 2024. Justin is, once again, joined by guitarist Mike Dawes, Julie Ragins and Karmen Gould. I was lucky enough to catch the quartet on their last UK tour and thoroughly enjoyed the evening despite being a relative newbie to Justin’s work beyond the obvious hits. Please read on for more about Justin, the tour and ticketing details (Updated December 8th 2023).
Live Nation / Kennedy Street are delighted to announce that legendary singer-songwriter Justin Hayward, The Voice of the Moody Blues, will undertake ‘The Blue World Tour’ taking in 12 venues in March 2024. The shows are on general sale from 9am on Friday 1 September 2023*. Tickets available from ticketline.co.uk, ticketmaster.co.uk and the venues direct.
“It’s always a privilege and a joy to be invited to play in the UK. I’m rediscovering songs I have written and sung over the years - some that I only lived with for a few days while they were being recorded. Now, I have a chance to experience the feelings that they gave me then, every night on stage, as well as including in our set the favourites that have been milestones on my musical journey. I’m joined by the ‘guitar genius’ that is Mike Dawes, along with Julie Ragins and Karmen Gould, two of the brightest talents in music”
Justin Hayward OBE has enjoyed a career which is now in its fifth decade. He is best known as the vocalist, lead guitarist and composer for the iconic Moody Blues, whose hits include the masterful ‘Nights in White Satin’, ‘Tuesday Afternoon’, ‘Question’, ‘The Voice’ and the US top 40 hits ‘I Know You’re Out there Somewhere’ and In Your Wildest Dreams’: plus other classic, era and genre-defining hits. These laid the foundation for the incredible success story of the Moody Blues – as well as Hayward’s solo work – which continues to this day.
Already established as a songwriter, he joined the Moody Blues in 1966. Hitting his stride immediately with “Fly Me High,” he followed it with ‘Nights in White Satin’ and ‘Tuesday Afternoon’ from the seminal album Days of Future Past. The Moody Blues sold 70 million albums worldwide, which includes 18 platinum and gold LPs. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.
Hayward created several solo albums such as Songwriter, Night Flight, Moving Mountains and ‘Classic Blue’ with long time friend Mike Batt, and The View From the Hill. He hit the Top Ten globally in 1978 with ‘Forever Autumn’ – created for Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds album. Hayward took to the stage and starred in its spectacular live production. His Spirits Of The Western Sky (2013) was followed by DVD ‘Spirits…Live’, which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Video chart. All The Way followed - a compilation of solo work and live performances. In 2020, Justin took to YouTube for the ‘Tuesday Afternoon Video Series’ where he performed and discussed many of his key tracks: this led to the digital album ‘Tuesday Afternoons: The Audio Files’. Justin continues to record new music; in 2021 releasing ‘One Summer Day’ and ‘My Juliette’, and ‘Living For Love’ in 2022.
These 2024 dates represent a rare chance for Justin Hayward’s fans to connect with one of music’s keenest talents and to hear the music that he loves presented with a truly personal touch.
The Union Chapel is a Grade I listed Victorian gothic-styled structure constructed between 1874 and 1877, with further additions from 1877 to 1890. In 2022, the chapel is now a registered charity that hosts live entertainment, runs a homelessness drop-in centre and is still in use as a church. The octagonal building seats 900 in the original pews and includes a balcony level where I found a spot to take in the show. Seating is first come, first served, so you’ll need to get in the queue early if you want to warm a bench down the front.