Virgin Radio Specials

To celebrate the release of the new Amy Winehouse movie, 'Black to Black', you can hear the Story of Amy Winehouse. Archive interviews with Amy from her early years, and of course her incredible music, this is a unique insight into one of the greatest singers of the 21st Century.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Iconic Kim Wilde is picking her favourite songs of all time with Steve Denyer and telling a story or two.

From Touring with David Bowie & Michael Jackson to what it's really like backstage on Top Of The Pops Kim lets us know all.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To celebrate Texas's new album, 'The Muscle Shoals Sessions', Front woman Sharleen Spiteri takes us through the history of the iconic studios as well as the stories behind their new album recorded there.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To celebrate International Women’s day, Mutya Buena takes us through her life in music, playing the songs she grew up with to the musicians that continue to inspire her career as a solo artist and in the Sugababes.

From Lisa Stansfield to the Spice Girls, Whitney Houston to Destiny’s child… Mutya’s got a story for them all. 

Hear about her fateful recording session with George Michael, the song she sang on the Michael Barrymore show and the female artist that just beat her debut single to No.1 in the UK charts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Kaiser Chiefs have released their eighth studio Album, called 'Easy Eighth Album'. Join frontman and Virgin Radio's very own Ricky Wilson as he chats to bandmate Andrew 'Whitey' White about recording the album and the bands history.

Hear what it’s like working with Nile Rodgers plus hear the music from the album, along with some old favourites too!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Britpop powerhouses, Cast, played a special intimate set at the Top of the Tower. Eddy Temple-Morris relives the gig along with a chat with the bands frontman, John Power, before they went on stage.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One of the most iconic voices of the 80s, Tony Hadley, joins Steve Denyer and picks his favourite songs, from Bowie to The Boss. Plus he tells stories of being back stage at Live Aid.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Steve chats to multi million selling singer Belinda Carlisle about songs that have influenced and inspired her.

Her picks include songs from U2, The Cure and Midnight Oil.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To celebrate 20 years since Franz Ferdinand released the self titled debut album Eddy Temple Morris chats with singer Alex Kapranos and bass player Bob Hardy about their career, their friendship and the stories behind some of their biggest hits.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Steve Denyer is joined by actor and comedian Rob Brydon as he picks his favourite songs from Steely Dan, to Sam Fender, and he tells us which artist he is a self confessed superfan of.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Steve Denyer is joined by one of this country's greatest songwriters Vince Clarke, founding member of Depeche Mode, Yazoo and Erasure, as he picks his playlist. He talks about his relationship with his two musical partners, Alison Moyet from Yazoo and Andy Bell from Erasure, and explains why a Little Respect is the Erasure song he's most proud of.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Steve Denyer returns with My Playlist, as Ade Edmondson picks his playlist, talks about how the Young Ones managed to persuade Cliff Richard to record with them, his friendship with comedy partner the late Rik Mayall, and his love of 1920’s comedy duo Laurel and Hardy.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join Eddy Temple-Morris as he talks to the Texas singer and founder member Sharleen Spiteri about their remarkable career, their ‘Best Of’ album and some of the band's biggest hits.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill formed Simple Minds in 1977, they'd been best friends since 1967 when they met at the playground in a Glasgow housing estate. Nearly 6 decades later they're still best friends and Simple Minds are about to embark on their biggest world tour since 1985.

On 22nd of December 2023 'Everything is Possible' a documentary on Simple Minds premiered on the streaming service, Paramount Plus.

Eddy Temple Morris talks to Jim and Charlie about the documentary, their music and their extraordinary friendship.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

JoinSteve Denyerfor the first of a regular series calledMy Playlist, where musicians, actors and comedians talk about the music they love.

In this episodeDave Stewart from the Eurythmics picks his favourite songs, talks about the memories they hold and how they influenced his song writing.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Spandau Ballet's album 'True' is 40 years old this year, it was a global hit for them and a number one album in the UK. Gary Kemp, talks to Ben Jones about the album, their lasting legacy of the iconic hits from it and looks back at his remarkable catalogue of music with Spandau Ballet.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lighthouse Family's 'Ocean Drive' came out in 1995 and nearly 20 years on the band have reissued the album on vinyl. One half of the duo Paul Tucker talks to Steve Denyer about writing and recording the album and revisits some of his favourite songs from it.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Deacon Blue are one of Scotland's most successful groups. They released their debut album Raintown in 1987 and since then they've sold seven million records including twelve UK top 40 singles, and two number one albums.

After 35 years together as a band they're celebrating with a box set collection of 14 albums 'You can have it all'.

Eddy Temple Morris chats to founder members Ricky Ross and Lorraine McIntosh about their career, life and music.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hear Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark perform live at Virgin Radio! Plus, Jayne Middlemiss sits down for a chat with founding members Andy and Paul.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pop icon, Natalie Imbruglia, recently wowed a lucky audience with a intimate Virgin Radio Sunset Session at the top of the tower. Hear all the live songs and join Ricky Wilson as he chats to Natalie.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Throughout October Virgin Radio has been celebrating Black History month with a series of shows presented by Mykaell Riley. In June Mykaell compiled the Windrush 75 playlist to celebrate the 75 anniversary of the arrival of the ship HMT Empire Windrush at Tilbury docks in 1948.

To round off Black History Month, Mykaell plays all 20 songs from his playlist, including tunes from Soul 2 Soul, Massive Attack, Little Simz and Craig David.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mykaell Riley speaks with disco sensation and the original lead singer with Boney M, Liz Mitchell. Boney M, albeit on paper formed in Germany, are a very important part of the story of Black British music, and Mylaell finds out from Liz about her upbringing, the formation of Boney M and how the new generation have rediscovered Boney M.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mykaell Riley is in conversation with million selling multi talented British singer Beverley Knight at the top of the tower in front of an invited audience, you'll hear her story from a church gospel singer to a multi award winning artist.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Virgin Radio is celebrating Black History month with a series of shows presented by Mykaell Riley, he was a founder member of the British roots Reggae band Steel Pulse and he also formed The Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra, Britain's first black pop orchestra. He is currently Senior Lecturer, Director for The Black Music Research Unit at the University of Westminster.

This week it's the story of UB40, one of the UK's first multicultural bands. They formed 1978 in Birmingham, they've had over 50 hit singles in the UK and have sold more than 70 million records worldwide. Founding members, Robin Campbell and Jimmy Brown tell the story of their extraordinary career.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To celebrate Black History Month, Mykaell Riley is putting a spotlight on the most influential black artists in music history. This week, he celebrates the life and music of Billy Ocean.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Texas play a very special Sunset Session live from the top of the tower. Hear all the live songs and Ricky Wilson's interview with Sharleen Spiteri.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In August, Busted returned for their first gig in over 4 years for a very special Sunset Session live from the top of the tower. Hear all the live songs and Jayne Middlemiss' interview with the band in this Virgin Radio Special.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Eddy Temple-Morris celebrates the 10th anniversary of The 1975’s self-titled debut album. The record was a double platinum success and marked the start of an incredible decade for the band, who announced a headline slot at Reading/Leeds Festival playing their debut album in full. Listen to the album alongside interviews with their charismatic frontman, Matty Healy.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stu Elmore takes a look back at Bastille's debut album 'Bad Blood' album ten years on from its release. Featuring live versions of tracks from the album and a chat with the bands lead singer Dan Smith.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One of the most iconic albums of the 1980's The Lexicon of Love by ABC is being reissued as a box set to celebrate the 40th anniversary of its release.

Frontman Martin Fry talks to Eddy Temple Morris about recording and writing the album and the band's live shows where they're playing the album with the Southbank Sinfonia orchestra

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ben Jones celebrates the 80th birthday of Rock n Roll’s greatest frontman, Mick Jagger.

An icon, an innovator and one of the most incredible live performers of all time.

Ben dives into the Virgin Radio archives and we hear from several interviews he recorded with Mick over the years including life on the road with The Rolling Stones, writing with Keith Richards and some of his solo work, including a song that was produced by John Lennon.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jayne Middlemiss brings you a full roundup of Latitude Festival 2023.

Expect to hear interviews with James, The Proclaimers, The Lightning Seeds, Far From Saints and many more.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Around 50,000 people will soon descend upon a field in Suffolk! Yes, Latitude Festival is back and this year Virgin Radio will be bringing you along for the festival again.

Before she packs up her wellies to go there Jayne Middlemiss has a Latitude 2023 Preview for you to get you ready! She'll look back at last year's festivities and give you some of the acts she's excited to see this year.

You'll hear music and interviews from the likes of Snow Patrol, James, Kelly Jones and much much more.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The British music festival season has finally kicked! Every weekend for the foreseeable future we can go see the biggest acts in the world, whilst dancing in a field with our loved ones and new friends.

Nowhere beats the UK for music festivals and to make sure you know the places to be and the bands to see Stu Elmore has got your covered.

This is Sunday Night Live: Best of the Fests where Stu picks his top picks from the top festivals and will treat you to some live music from those acts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On 3 July 1973, David Bowie retired Ziggy Stardust, in front of 5,000 disbelieving fans on stage at London's Hammersmith Odeon. Fifty years to the day, Ziggy will return to that same stage as well as 1000 other cinemas worldwide.

Eddy Temple Morris has a Virgin Radio Movie Specialto celebrate 'Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars: The Motion Picture' a digitally remastered recording of that infamous night.

Eddy sits down with Spider's keyboardist Mike Garson to find out what it was like on a night that will never be forgotten. Plus you will hear live music from that very gig.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bedford singer songwriter Tom Grennan has released his third album 'What's If's and Maybes’ It got to number one in the album charts and is his second UK number one album 'What If's and Maybes' was released off the back of a series of Arena gigs across the UK and Europe where he's played to 200,000 fans.

Tom talks to Eddy Temple Morris about some of his favourite songs on the new album and his debut appearance at Glastonbury at the weekend.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

75 years ago on the 22nd of June HMT Empire Windrush arrived in the UK.

To commemorate the 75th anniversary, Mykaell Riley, founding member of British reggae band ‘Steel Pulse’ has put together a playlist of 20 songs that represent the Windrush generation from the 40’s right up to the present day. 

Expect to hear music from Soul 2 Soul, Craig David, Massive Attack and Little Simz and hear about their significance to both the Windrush generation and British music.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Can you believe it’s been 40 years since the Mancunian legends James first took the music world by storm? Well to celebrate 40 years in music they have reworked some of their much loved music with an orchestra and choir and released 'Be Opened By The Wonderful'.

In this Virgin Radio Album Special Tim meets Tim and Jim. Yes, our very own Tim Cocker sits down with Tim Booth and Jim Glennie from James to discuss their 40 years in music, the new album and chat about their headlining set at this year's Latitude festival.

Hear your favourite James tracks like you've never heard them before and listen to behind the scenes this Sunday at 7pm on our Virgin Radio Album Special: James - Be Opened By The Wonderful.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A former flour mill which first opened its doors as a music venue in 1980, The Leadmill has boasted performances from acclaimed artists like Coldplay, Oasis, Arctic Monkeys, Kings of Leon and more. After receiving an eviction notice in early 2022, the venue’s current management have been campaigning with the slogan‘We Can’t Lose Leadmill’, with former performers and local community figures rallying around it.

Alex Milsomwill hear from internationally-renowned musicians, community leaders, academics, and those with a personal connection to the venue seeking to discuss its future.

With exclusive access to the venue’s archives over the last four decades and an exclusive chat with the new management, listeners will hear the impact The Leadmill has had in the Yorkshire music scene, and the ongoing role it plays on community projects in Sheffield.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On Thursday 1st June Virgin Radio Pride returns for its third year. 

In 2021 Virgin Radio wanted to create a radio station which gives a platform for those unheard voices within the community. Celebratory in tone but also packed full of purposeful LGBTQ+ stories designed to push conversations forward, never shying away from the difficult questions. 

Olivia Jones, gets you warmed up for when Virgin Radio Pride takes to the airwaves once again. You'll hear some of the highlights from last year two years including great music, powerful conversations and find out what's in store for 2023.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In our final episode of Hometown Stories, singer songwriter Freya Ridings returns to North London. She'll take us through her old spots in the town including where she used to busk, plus you'll hear Freya performing an intimate set live at Banquet Records.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

UB40 are the most successful reggae group of all time, with over 100 million records sold worldwide, 50 UK top 40 singles and 10 UK Top 10 albums.

This year, the Birmingham band are celebrating 45 years together with a brand-new album and special anniversary tour.

Eddy Temple-Morris sits down with original UB40 members Robin Campbell and Jimmy Brown to talk about their celebrations, their lives and their incredible music career.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ben Jones sits down with the founder of one of the most influential bands of all time, Stewart Copeland from The Police. Talking about 40 years of their final album ‘Synchronicity’, Stewart's new book called and his album of re-worked, new orchestrations of their biggest hits called ‘Deranged’.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last April, Virgin Radio put on three huge parties. 

It was a celebration of the UK’s key workers: giving them free tickets to see some of their favourite bands for their sacrifice which kept the country going during the coronavirus pandemic.

Join Steve Denyer as we re-live some of the sets from our Big Thank You Tour one year on since it was at London’s Wembley Arena with music from the Kaiser Chiefs, the Fratellis, David Gray, and more!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At the end of last year, Bono joined Chris Evans to chat about his memoir, his life and of course, U2.

In this special show you'll hear highlights from that conversion along with some of the tracks from their new re-imagined album 'Songs of Surrender'.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Australian indie rockers DMA's joined us for an intimate Sunset Session live from the top of the tower. 

This special gig took place at sunset in front of just 150 Virgin Radio listeners where they were treated to a mix of songs from their latest album, 'How Many Dreams? ', plus Johnny Took of the back speaks Jayne Middlemiss about their journey so far.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Eddy Temple Morris sits down with Depeche Mode's lead singer Dave Gahan and goes through their 15th studio album 'Memento Mori. We'll find out the story behind the tracks and the recording journey. Plus how the band are coping after losing founding member Andy Fletcher last year.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tim Cocker takes you on a virtual Rock n’ Roll tour across Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales

Think about the musical culture that has been created and exported from our little island. It’s incredible. And every corner of the UK has its own unique tale to tell.

Travel with Tim as we hear music and interviews from Snow Patrol, Manic Street Preachers, Simple Minds and even Shirley Bassey. So strap your seatbelt on and enjoy this musical journey around our isles.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tim Cocker takes you on a virtual Rock n’ Roll tour across England.

Think about the musical culture that has been created and exported from our little island. It’s incredible. And every corner of the UK has its own unique tale to tell.

Music and interviews from Ed Sheeran, UB40, Sam Fender and so much more. So strap your seatbelt on and enjoy this musical journey around England.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This Virgin Radio Classic Artists special features two legends in conversation, as Chris Difford from Squeeze sits down and chats to Roger Daltrey from The Who about the upcoming Teenage Cancer Trust gigs at the Royal Albert Hall, the rumoured Keith Moon film and the summer live dates from The Who.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To celebrate International Women's day Natalie Imbruglia presented a special show on Virgin Radio playing songs from women who’ve influenced and inspired her in her personal life and in her music.

Expect to hear music from Alanis Morissette, Bjork, Tori Amos, Whitney Houston and more.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Debbie Harry is one of the most iconic people in music, so join her as she speaks to Jamie East about her life, her music and her legacy in this Virgin Radio Classic Artist Special.

Hear her story directly from her as well as all your favourite Blondie tracks, and we all know there are plenty of them.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sunday Night Live is our regular celebration of some of the incredible live music that’s been performed by bands and artists on Virgin Radio.

Stu Elmore strips everything back as we will play the best acoustic live performances we’ve had here at Virgin Radio. 

We will keep things chilled for you with performances from Chris Evans ‘Stool of Rock’ to Graham Norton’s ‘Sunday Sessions’ plus we even have George Ezra popping up and playing for us unprepared.

You’ll hear acoustic versions of their most famous tracks from Tom Walker, Sam Ryder, and even a 00's throwback from Craig David.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

John Hughes was the phenomenal director behind some iconic 80s and 90s films like Planes, Trains and Automobiles, The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Sixteen Candles and so many more.

His passion for music was evident in the tracks he used across these wonderful films and by using those songs he helped to break so many of the artists whose music would feature in the soundtracks. 

Ben Jones celebrates his music and movies by talking to those people who knew him best. You'll hear from Simple Minds' Jim Kerr, Spandau Ballet's Gary Kemp, Nick Heyward, Suzanne Vega, James Hughes (John's son) and even Ferris Bueller himself, Matthew Broderick plus so many more.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this special show, John Parr picks his favourite songs of the 80s and shares some of the stand-out stories from his career.

Expect to hear stories about playing with John Lennon's sons at Madison Square Garden, meeting Kate Bush by accident on French TV and the true story behind 'St Elmo's Fire'.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On Saturday the 11th of February the BRIT awards 2023 took place at the O2 in London. It's this country's highest profile music awards ceremony and over the years there’ve been some memorable rock n roll moments at the event, which peaked in 1996 at the height of Britpop when the infamous feud between Oasis and Blur was played out on stage and Pulp’s frontman Jarvis Cocker invaded the stage to protest against Michael Jackson who was performing the finale.

These days the BRIT’s is a far less anarchic and far more polished affair, but it’s still a great celebration of the last twelve months of British and International music.

Jayne Middlemiss previewed this year's event, and cast an eye over the major awards and acts who have been nominated. Expect chat from Lewis Capaldi and George Ezra along with live music from Tom Grennan and Sam Ryder.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Brits rising star award is always one of the most exciting awards in the world of music.

Previous winners have gone on to have amazing careers and in this Virgin Radio special Stu Elmore will be taking a look back at their careers and playing some of their stand out songs ahead of the Brit Awards on February 11th 2023.

Expect to hear music from Adele, Rag N Bone Man, Sam Fender and so many more.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lewis Capaldi picks songs from the bands and artists who have inspired him and shares the impact they've had on his music.

Expect to hear music from The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Al Green and Bruce Springsteen.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sunday Night Live is our regular celebration of some of the incredible live music that’s been performed by bands and artists on Virgin Radio.

In this Sunday Night Live it’s all about bands and artists who have new albums out in 2023.

You’ll hear live sets from Tom Grennan, DMAs, Lewis Capaldi and Gaz Coombes.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On the 8th January 1947 one of the greatest musicians of all time was born, David Bowie.

Stu Elmore presents 'Bowie on the Big Screen', a Virgin Radio special about the use of David Bowie in the movie world. 

Stu will be taking a look at the films that used some of Bowie's phenomenal back catalogue in their soundtrack as well as some of the movies that he starred in himself.

Expect to hear songs from The Martian, Labyrinth and even Shrek 2.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Elmore, Stu Elmore explores the music from the James Bond films.

From Connery to Craig, this Virgin Radio special dives into the 007 soundtracks from it's 60-year journey.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.