Five of the UK and Irelands biggest hit-makers unite for the year’s biggest party at the Mission Estate Winery on Saturday, 15 February.
This very special Mission Concert – called A Night of Hits – will unite Grammy Award winners Ronan Keating and Billy Ocean, founder of The Corrs Sharon Corr, the voice of the Spice Girls Mel C and Leo Sayer all on one humungous bill.
With chart-toppers such as When You Say Nothing at All, Life Is a Rollercoaster, You Make Me Feel Like Dancing, Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car; When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going; So Young and Never Be The Same Again the 25,000-strong crowd will be boogying the night away. If this isn’t enough, they will be accompanied by the fabulous Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra under the conductorship of maestro Marc Taddei and will be preceded by several New Zealand support acts which will be announced in the coming months. This concert represents the biggest and best value-for-money event of summer.
The Exclusive Mission Concert Club Box Office opens at Midday Tomorrow (Tuesday 12 November) www.missionconcert.co.nz For Concert Club members who do not have direct internet access you can quote this special code MISSION2232 at any Ticketek Outlet also from Midday Tomorrow.
As a solo artist Ronan Keating has sold more than 25 million records worldwide, alongside 30 million records with Boyzone. After Boyzone’s 1995 hit with Father and Son, Ronan burst back onto the charts in 1999 with When You Say Nothing At All. This was followed with more hits, including Life Is a Rollercoaster, Lovin’ Each Day, If Tomorrow Never Comes and his most recent single Fires. In 2009, Ronan released the poignant Songs For My Mother (recorded in memory of his late mother), which debuted at number 1 on the Australian ARIA album chart. The popular X Factor Australia judge has won millions of fans around the world and New Zealand is no exception.
Melanie C (aka Sporty Spice) joined Victoria Beckham, Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton and Geri Halliwell to form the Spice Girls, achieving No 1 status in 30 countries with their debut single Wannabe in 1996. Their debut album, Spice, sold more than 28 million copies worldwide, becoming the best-selling album by a female group in music history. They have sold over 80 million records worldwide, making them the best-selling female group of all time, one of the best-selling pop groups of all time, and also making them the most successful British band since the Beatles. Melanie C later pursued a market outside of the band, joining forces with Canadian rock artist Bryan Adams to record "When You're Gone," which reached the top three in the U.K. Her first solo album, Northern Star, was released in 1999 and was certified triple platinum in the U.K. The single "Never Be the Same" reached number one on the U.K. charts, giving Melanie C her first No. 1 as a solo artist. This was followed by chart success in 2005 with her single "First Day of My Life" which became one of the best-selling European singles of that year.
British singer-songwriter, musician, and entertainer Leo Sayer's career has spanned four decades, with his first seven hit singles in the United Kingdom all reaching the top 10. In 1977, he had a US number one with "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" (a Grammy Award winner for the year's best Rhythm and Blues Song), as well as the romantic ballad, "When I Need You" (1977), which reached number one in both the UK and US. Written by Albert Hammond and Carole Bayer Sager, it was Sayer's first UK chart-topper (after three number two hits) and his second successive US number one. It was also the first of two UK chart-toppers in a row for producer Richard Perry. Sayer also made cover versions of Bobby Vee's Sonny Curtis/Jerry Allison composition, "More Than I Can Say" (his fourth UK number 2 hit and US number 2), and Buddy Holly's "Raining in My Heart" (1979) and "Orchard Road" in 1983. In the US, three of his singles - "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" (1977), "When I Need You" (1977) and "More Than I Can Say" (1980) - were certified gold. In 1978, Sayer made an appearance on The Muppet Show and in 2000, "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" was featured in the hit film, Charlie's Angels.
Sharon Corr – Grammy Nominee/Brit Award Winner, singer/songwriter and violinist – formed the legendary Irish group The Corrs with her siblings. Their unique blend of Celtic/pop/rock sold over 40 million albums. They toured arenas and stadiums across the globe. With a string of massively successful albums and singles like Runaway, So Young, Radio, Breathless – The Corrs have been a household name on every continent. In addition to her solo career and supporting The Corrs’ charitable work, Sharon has recently taken on a new role as one of the coaches on “The Voice of Ireland“.
Having sold over 30 million records worldwide and topping the charts across America, Europe and Australia, Grammy-winning Billy Ocean is the biggest black recording act Britain has ever produced. Having achieved extraordinary success as both an artist and a songwriter, Ocean has collected a pile of Gold and Platinum records across the world and hit the number one spot numerous times over. Born in Trinidad, Billy settled in London’s East End when he was seven years old. The calypso crazy kid soon got turned on to soul singers like Otis Redding and Sam Cooke, as well as the big pop groups at the time like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. These diverse range of influences helped create a distinct and unique sound which saw Billy release massive hits like “Love Really Hurts Without You”, “Caribbean Queen”, “When The Going Gets Tough” and one of the biggest hits of the 80’s, “Get Out Of My Dreams; Get Into My Car”.
