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THEY'RE BACK!
Rock legends set to headline BST Hyde Park as they announce first album in three years
The huge gig will add fuel to the fire of a performance at Glasto
KINGS OF LEON are back to claim their title of rock royalty with a huge headline set at BST Hyde Park to follow their new album.
The Sex On Fire rockers will perform at the festival in central London on Sunday, June 30, seven weeks after they drop record Can We Please Have Fun.
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The massive show will add fuel to rumours of a performance at Glasto too, given they will be in the country on the weekend of the festival.
Brothers Caleb, Jared and Nathan Followill , along with their cousin Matthew, will be hoping the album, their first since 2021’s When You See Yourself, becomes their seventh No1.
And they’ve brought in the big guns to make it happen.
The boys have teamed up with producer Kid Harpoon, Harry Styles's right-hand man.
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He also produced a little song called Flowers for Miley Cyrus, which spent ten weeks at No1 last year, so he knows a thing or two about making a brilliant song.
Caleb said: “It was the most enjoyable record I’ve ever been a part of.”
Nathan added: “It’s like we allowed ourselves to be musically vulnerable. I love it when a rock band is not embarrassed to admit that every song doesn’t have to be on 11.”
The Kings Of Leon have been together for 25 years, and Caleb added: “When you have a band, there’s a bond like no other, and when you have family, you have a bond like no other.
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"We have both of those things. I thought, ‘if we put all our energy toward something, who is gonna stop us — except us?’”
The 12-track album will be out on May 10, while tickets for their show in Hyde Park, where they will be joined by special guest Paolo Nutini, will go on sale on Wednesday.
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Along with their smash hit Sex On Fire, the band helped provide the soundtrack to my coming of age with tunes Use Somebody and Revelry.
The new record is certainly more grown-up, and the band admitted they have calmed down over the past decade or so.
But it may take a few more years for frontman Caleb to get used to being back on stage playing to tens of thousands of fans.
The singer, married to model Lily Aldridge, previously said he couldn’t bear watching himself back, revealing he had begged his wife not to watch their videos when he caught her having a throwback session.
He said: “I was like, ‘Babe, you gotta turn this off!’ I was blushing so bad I felt like blood was seeping out of my face.”
He added: “I love the perks that come with being the frontman but I don’t love the pressure. I’m always happy to take the back seat.”
That will be tricky when they headline BST, likely to be a sell-out.
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Other acts at the festival will include Kylie Minogue, Robbie Williams, Shania Twain and Andrea Bocelli.
Singing along to this lot with a can or two of lukewarm Carling will be an ultimate summer highlight for me.
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