BRITISH music icons Duran Duran are set to delight fans next summer when they head to Essex’s newest live music festival for one of only two UK headline shows in 2025.
The multi-award winning Rock & Roll Hall of Famers will headline Chelmsford City Live on Saturday July 5, joined by special guests disco legends Nile Rodgers & CHIC – who they collaborated with on smash hit UK number one The Reflex, alongside a myriad of other tracks.
It has already been revealed Justin Timberlake will headline the festival on Friday July 4 while Olly Murs has his biggest homecoming show there on Sunday July 6.
Tickets for Duran Duran go on sale to the general public at 9am Friday from chelmsfordcitylive.com.
Members of the DD VIP Community will have access to a pre-sale at 9am Wednesday. Click PRE-SALE in the MEMBERS section of www.duranduran.com for more information.
Tickets for Justin Timberlake and Olly Murs are on sale now.
The announcement is the latest reveal for the brand-new Chelmsford City Live which takes place at Chelmsford City Racecourse next July with a capacity of up to 30,000 people each day.
Duran Duran have sold more than 100 million records worldwide, scored 18 American hit singles and 21 UK Top 20 tunes, cementing them as one of the most successful and influential bands of all time.
Formed in Birmingham in 1978, the band – singer Simon Le Bon, keyboardist Nick Rhodes, bassist John Taylor and drummer Roger Taylor – continue to play to huge concert audiences around the world.
Consistently fusing art, technology, fashion and a signature sense of style with their unique and infectious brand of music, the band has proven themselves timeless, always innovating and reinventing, to remain ahead of the curve.
2021’s Future Past saw the group earn widespread acclaim from Salon, Rolling Stone, and more, while last year saw the iconic UK quartet unearth bright melodies from darkness as they threaded together new tunes, covers, and alternate versions of their own classics on their 16th studio album, Danse Macabre.
The two-time GRAMMY, BRIT Award and Ivor Novello winners will play only two UK headline shows in 2025 at Chelmsford City Live and Powderham Castle in Exeter.
Audiences can expect the band to brilliantly combine such classics as Girls on Film, The Wild Boys, Ordinary World, The Reflex, Come Undone, (Reach Up For The) Sunrise and Rio with stunning new songs from Danse Macabre.
Meanwhile, iconic music pioneer Nile Rodgers will bring the ultimate party atmosphere to Chelmsford City Live as he performs hit after hit with CHIC.
Nile Rodgers is a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee and a multiple GRAMMY Award winning songwriter, composer, producer, arranger, and guitarist. In 2023 he became the first creator to be awarded a Lifetime Achievement Grammy for his legacy in the same year as being awarded a Grammy for his new work with Beyoncé on the smash hit Cuff It.
As the Co-founder of CHIC, Nile pioneered a musical language that generated chart-topping hits like Le Freak, the biggest selling single in the history of Atlantic Records and sparked the advent of hip-hop with Good Times and Rapper’s Delight.
His work in The CHIC Organisation, including We Are Family for Sister Sledge and I’m Coming Out for Diana Ross, and his productions for artists such as David Bowie (Let’s Dance), Madonna (Like A Virgin) and Duran Duran (The Reflex), have sold more than 500 million albums and 100 million singles worldwide, while his innovative, trendsetting collaborations with Daft Punk, Daddy Yankee, LE SSERAFIM and Beyoncé reflect the vanguard of contemporary hits.
Chelmsford City Live is a partnership between Chelmsford City Racecourse and Live Nation promoters Cuffe and Taylor.
Cuffe and Taylor promoter Ben Hatton said: “Duran Duran are global icons, so we are delighted to be adding them to the bill for the first ever Chelmsford City Live. Their music crosses generations and it is quite the coup to be able to welcome them to Essex for one of only two shows they are headlining in the UK next summer.
“Having Duran Duran and their special guests Nile Rodgers & CHIC join our already announced headliners Justin Timberlake and Olly Murs will put Chelmsford City Live well and truly on the map as Essex’s largest live music festival.”
Head of Events at Chelmsford City Racecourse Anthony Coleridge added: “We are absolutely thrilled to present this superlative line-up for our Saturday night at Chelmsford City Live.
“Duran Duran clearly speak for themselves, with such a phenomenal back catalogue of hit after hit and to also have special guests Nile Rodgers & CHIC, who are responsible for so many of the most iconic songs ever recorded, means everyone is guaranteed a good time.
“It’s also brilliant that the two acts have such a close working relationship and the synergy of having both on-stage will result in a great evening of music. We are counting down the days to next summer to celebrate with everyone at our beautiful venue.”
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