The annual British Summer Time festival returns to London's largest Royal Park from this weekend. Previous years have seen outstanding performances from superstar headliners Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam, Elton John, Tom Petty, Roger Waters and more on Hyde Park's Great Oak stage, and this summer promises a wealth of riches for music fans of all stripes between June 27 and July 13.
Here's our guide to 10 of the best artists playing BST over the next three weekends
Olivia Rodrigo
That, at the age of 22, Olivia Rodrigo can headline two huge British festivals - BST Hyde Park and Glastonbury - in the same weekend is an illustration of the phenomenal success she has already enjoyed. Reviewing the Californian pop star's 2023 album GUTS, an album inspired by No Doubt, Babes In Toyland and Rage Against The Machine, Louder noted, "Olivia Rodrigo isn't just the voice of Gen Z, but a superstar for the ages", and the sound of 60,000 voices channelling their own emotions on anthems such as good 4 u, deja vu, vampire and bad idea, right? should be quite something on June 27, the festival's opening night.
The Last Dinner Party
Speaking to Music Week in January, the biggest cheese at The Last Dinner Party's record label bullishly proclaimed that the London-based quintet have the potential to be "up there with the greatest acts that Britain has produced". No pressure there then. To be fair, there was very little that TLDP didn't achieve last year. After topping the BBC's Sound of 2024 poll, the band also bagged the BRIT's Rising Star award, then proceeded to score a number one album with the bold, baroque Prelude To Ecstasy which has now sold over 100,000 copies in the UK alone. Abigail Morris' band have suggested that their second album will have "darker themes", and a special guest spot with Olivia Rodrigo seems like the perfect opportunity to launch the next phase of their world domination plan, or to corrupt a few young minds at the very least.
Florence Road
Signed to major label Warners straight from school last year, Irish alt.rock quartet Florence Road consist of childhood friends Lily Aron (vocals/guitar), Emma Brandon (guitar), Ailbhe Barry (bass), and Hannah Kelly (drums). One of the new wave of Irish artists tipped for future stardom (see also Cliffords, Cardinals, Thumper...), the County Wicklow quartet have already scored major radio airplay with singles Heavy and Caterpillar, and support slots with Olivia Rodrigo this week in Dublin and London will provide the perfect platform to seduce more hearts and minds.
Gracie Abrams
The words "nepo baby" were inevitably bandied around when Gracie Abrams signed to major label Interscope back in 2019, before she'd turned 20. But for a new generation of music fans, the Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter is already a bigger name than her film director father, and having scored a UK number one album (The Secret Of Us) and number one single (the platinum-selling That's So True), she can take to the Royal Oak stage on July 4 as support to Noah Kahan knowing that there's every chance she can steal the show. Abrams' subtle, empathetic songs might impact hardest on TikTok, but having supported Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo in arenas and stadiums, she'll relish the chance to dazzle in the London sunshine.
Beabadoobee
Beabadoobee might not generate the same kind of headlines as Sabrina Carpenter, who she'll support on July 5, but she's been quietly racking up incredible numbers with her quirky, charming, off-beat songs: check out her Spotify profile and you'll see that singles such as Glue Song, The Way Things Go, The Perfect Pair and more have been streamed hundreds of millions of times. Shows with Taylor Swift have given Beatrice Laus an appetite for stadium-sized audiences, and after her acclaimed sets at Coachella earlier this year, her London homecoming should be a memorable affair, a chance to showcase songs from her Rick Rubin-produced UK number one album This Is How Tomorrow Moves, and another milestone in a career constantly gaining momentum.
Neil Young and The Chrome Hearts
Neil Young needs no introduction, but at 79-years-old, the Toronto-born singer-songwriter remains a force of nature. It's been five years since Young last played in the UK, and it's typical of his creative restlessness that he's returning with a brand new backing band, The Chrome Hearts, with who he released a new album, Talkin To The Trees, just two weeks ago. However, don't necessarily expect to hear any songs from that record at BST: three shows into his current Love Earth world tour, Young has yet to debut anything from the album. That said, he and his new band have been performing stone cold classics,- Like A Hurricane, Cinnamon Girl, Fuckin' Up, a 14-minute version of Cortez The Killer - alongside freshly excavated deep cuts, and whatever makes the setlist at BST, we guarantee you won't be disappointed.
Stevie Wonder
It's SIXTY-TWO years since 'Little' Stevie Wonder scored his first US chart-topping single with Fingertips, a song released just two months after The Beatles' debut album, Please Please Me. Just think about that for a moment. Since then, Wonder has sold 100 million records, won 25 Grammy Awards, and written some of the world's most recognisable songs, from Superstition to Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours, Uptigtht (Everything's Alright) to You Are The Sunshine Of My Life. Think you'd be too cool to join 59,9999 voices in singing I Just Called To Say I Love You if you are in attendance at BST Hyde Park on July 12? Behave.
Ezra Collective
Earlier this year, Ezra Collective triumphed over Coldplay, The Cure, Bring Me The Horizon and The Last Dinner Party to pick up the Group Of The Year gong at the BRIT Awards, becoming the first jazz group ever to do so. This was the second major honour picked up the London group, who came to national prominence when winning the 2023 Mercury Music Prize for their second album, Where I'm Meant to Be. They've also got a seal of approval from none other than former US President Barack Obama, who listed their 2024 single God Gave Me Feet for Dancing as one of his favourite songs of last year. Beyond all this, simply put, if you're at BST when they support Stevie Wonder, you won't be able to keep your ass from shaking.
Corinne Bailey Rae
For this writer, Corinne Bailey Rae's 2023 album Black Rainbows is one of the most astonishing, fearless and beautiful records of the decade so far. And when the Yorkshire-born singer/songwriter performed the album live, it was an utterly spell-binding experience, unlike any other gig I've ever seen. If you have tickets for Stevie Wonder's BST show on July 12, get there early, and trust us, you will not be disappointed.
Jeff Lyne's ELO
After a remarkable six-decades-long career, the sun is finally due to set on Mr Blue Sky on July 13, when Jeff Lynne's ELO take their last ever bow in Hyde Park. "My return to touring began at Hyde Park in 2014," Lynne explained when the show was announced. "It seems like the perfect place to do our final show." The set list for the band's Over And Out tour last year was crammed full of monster hits, and the Birmingham band's farewell show is bound to be an emotional, yet truly joyous, affair. Be there to shine a little love on a homegrown musical legend.
For full information on BST Hyde Park 2025 go here.
