Will Young: The Evergreen 25th Anniversary Tour heads for York and Sheffield. Picture: Joseph Sinclair
POP Idol’s first winner, Will Young, will mark the silver jubilee of that landmark victory on the Evergreen 25th Anniversary tour next year.
His celebratory 16-date itinerary with a full band will feature two Yorkshire venues: York Barbican on February 25 2027 and Sheffield City Hall on February 27. General sales for the York show open at 10am on October 2 at https://www.yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/will-young-27/; for Sheffield, same time, same day, at https://www.sheffieldcityhall.co.uk/will-young/.
Young, 47, says: “To reach 25 years is a privilege and an honour. Who knew entering a competition by cutting out a piece from the newspaper would lead to the most exciting 20 weeks of my life in Pop Idol and a relationship with the public that has lasted for so long.
“People voted and trusted me and that has forever been a dream come true. I can’t wait to celebrate with the full band and get to play Evergreen, as well as all the songs that have come since, from Light My Fire to You And I to Leave Right Now to Jealousy and onwards. Can’t wait to see everyone who trusted in me during Pop Idol and since at the anniversary shows.”
Wokingham-born and Wellington College, University of Exeter and Arts Educational School-educated Young was catapulted virtually overnight into international fame from winning the inaugural Pop Idol talent competition in 2002.
Soul-pop singer Young has carved a career in music, on stage in musical theatre (Cabaret and Strictly Ballroom The Musical) and on screen (Mrs Henderson Presents), earning two BRIT Awards, an Olivier Award nomination, four number one and 11 UK Top Ten albums.
He has 11 Top Ten singles to his name too: Anything Is Possible/Evergreen (number one); Light My Fire (number one); The Long And Winding Road (with Bradford’s Gareth Gates, number one); Don’t Let Me Down/You And I (number two); Leave Right Now (number one); Your Game (number three); Friday’s Child (number four); Switch It On (number five); All Time Love (number three ); Changes (number ten) and Jealousy (number five), his last Top Ten success in 2011. In the same year, Who Am I just missed out, peaking at number 11.
Will Young’s 16-date itinerary for his Evergreen 25th Anniversary Tour next February and March
For the record, in 2021, he released a single called Elizabeth Taylor that failed to match its inspiration’s glittering career by not bothering the Top 100.
On the Evergreen 25th Anniversary Tour, Young will play “all the hits across his two-decade-plus journey in music” that has seen him “captivate listeners through a diverse palette of original songs by Burt Bacharach, Sia, Groove Armada and Nithin Sawhney”.
To mark the tour announcement, Young has unveiled a new performance of Evergreen (Live from The Evergreen 25th Anniversary Sessions). Watch the video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWzflgKUQiw.
His 2002 debut hit Anything Is Possible/Evergreen sold more than 1.7 million copies, making it the second best-selling single of the 21st century in the UK and one of Britain’s Top 20 best-selling singles of all time.
The Evergreen 25th Anniversary Tour will be Young’s first since his intimate acoustic tour in 2024, in support of his August 2024 Top Five album, Light It Up, when he played the Grand Opera House, York, on September 8.
He last appeared at York Barbican on October 13 2022 on his 20 Years Tour, following his October 20 2019 performance there on his Lexicon Tour travels.
To complement his music career, Young is an author (Funny Peculiar: The Autobiography, To Be A Gay Man, Be Yourself And Happier: The A-Z Of Wellbeing), podcaster in the mental health, wellbeing and LGBTQ+ space and campaigner for animal welfare and rights.
He shares his passion for gardening through Will Young’s Garden Diary on social media, garnering more than 5.6 million views already. September 1 marked the debut of his Young’s first garden design, Out Of The Shadows, created in collaboration with designer Jamie Butterworth for the RHS Wisley Flower Show.