The Live Lounge is a segment on the British radio stations

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

and

BBC Radio 1Xtra BBC Radio 1Xtra is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts Black music and urban music, including hip hop and R&B and is a sister station to Radio 1. Launching at 18:00 on 16 August 2002, it had been ...

. It was originally hosted by Simon Mayo, and later by Jo Whiley on her weekday mid-morning, and later weekend lunchtime radio shows, then by Fearne Cotton from 2009 until 2015, and then by Clara Amfo from May 2015 to August 2021. Since September 2021 the segment is now hosted by Rickie Haywood-Williams,

Melvin Odoom Melvin Kuuku Odoom (born 30 July 1980) is a British radio DJ and television presenter. Alongside Rickie Haywood-Williams and Charlie Hedges, he presented the Kiss (UK radio station), Kiss FM breakfast show (2009–2018) and since then, on BBC R ...

and Charlie Hedges. It exhibits well-known artists usually performing one song of their own and one by another artist, in an acoustic format. The Live Lounge itself is also a physical room in the Radio 1 studios, from where some of the performances are broadcast; however, due to its size, many are done from the BBC

Maida Vale Studios Maida Vale Studios is a complex of seven BBC sound studios, of which five are in regular use, in Delaware Road, Maida Vale, west London. It has been used to record thousands of classical music, popular music and drama sessions for BBC Radio 1, ...

. From 2009,

Trevor Nelson Trevor Ricardo Nelson, MBE (born 7 January 1964) is an English DJ and radio presenter. He is best known for presenting a range of shows across BBC Radio. Early life Born in Hackney to a family of St Lucian heritage, Nelson attended Centra ...

began hosting Live Lounges on his BBC Radio 1Xtra show, and was replaced in that slot by DJ Ace in 2017. The songs chosen as cover versions are often a completely different genre to that which the artist usually performs, and offer a new perspective on the original.

Jamie Cullum Jamie Paul Joseph Cullum (born 20 August 1979) is an English jazz-pop singer, pianist, songwriter and radio presenter. Although primarily a vocalist and pianist, he also accompanies himself on other instruments, including guitar and drums. He h ...

's cover of

Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973), also known mononymously as Pharrell, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, and fashion designer. He first became known as one half of the music production duo ...

's "

Frontin' "Frontin'" is the debut single by American musician Pharrell Williams featuring American rapper Jay-Z. It was written by the artists alongside Chad Hugo, who produced it with Williams as the Neptunes. At the time of its release, Williams insis ...

led to Cullum being signed to Pharrell's label Star Trak when played to him at a later visit to ''The Jo Whiley Show'', and was added to his 2003 album '' Twentysomething''.

Performances and albums

Live Lounge Features

Over the years of Live Lounge, various Radio 1 features have involved this segment, these include: * Live Lounge Tour * Ultimate Live Lounge * Live Lounge of 2010 * A-Z of the Live Lounge * List of Live Lounge cover versions

Live Lounge Special

On 27 January 2011

launched a new extended version of the popular Live Lounge dubbed 'Live Lounge Special with...' or sometimes referred to as 'Live Lounge XL'. The extended live lounge performance differs from the normal performance with an interview at the very beginning of the set rather than at the beginning of each track. Then the artist performs 5 or 6 tracks uninterrupted, which can include a cover.

Performances and albums

Live Lounge Features

Live Lounge Special

Performances

2011

2012

References

External links