Virgin Radio Specials

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/p...

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,...

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...

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 pick...

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 Special to celebrate 'Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars: The Motion Picture' a digitally remastered recording of that i...

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 deb...

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 abo...

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 Jame...

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 rallyi...

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 w...

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 an...

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...

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...

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...

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 Aca...