News

Rag’n’Bone Man awarded 2nd place in the BBC Sound of Poll 2017

• 10th Jan 2017

Rag’n’Bone Man has sold out his biggest headline tour to date. Opening this April, the dates sold out in record time and includes two shows at London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire. He will also headline The Great Escape Festival in Brighton this May.

Rory was also awarded 2nd place in the BBC Sound Of 2017 last week. News of the accolade follows an incredible 2016 for the singer: recently crowned winner of the coveted BRITs Critics’ Choice Award, Rory was also tipped by Apple Music, Google Play, Tidal, Amazon, The Daily Telegraph, The Sun, NME, The Times plus many more. Single Human has reached #1 on iTunes in an outstanding 31 countries, reached Platinum status in 4 countries and Gold in 4. Human also landed the #2 spot in the Official UK Charts race this Christmas, has been streamed 85 million times and peaked at #2 in the Worldwide Shazam chart. Along the way, Rory has also gained a plethora of fans from legends such as Chaka Khan, De La Soul and Elton John, who regularly plays Rory’s music on his Beats 1 show.

To celebrate news of his BBC Sound Of honour, Rory performed an exclusive stripped version of forthcoming album track Skin, direct from his old stomping ground, Brixton Jamm.

Rory will collect his BRITs Critics’ Choice Award live at the BRITs nomination launch this Saturday, January 14, where he will also perform. The launch will be aired live in a primetime spot on ITV.

Headline UK 2017 Tour Dates:

April
Tuesday 18 02 Academy, Bristol
Wednesday 19 02 Shepherds Bush Empire, London
Thursday 20 02 Shepherds Bush Empire, London
Saturday 22 02 Ritz, Manchester
Sunday 23 Glasgow 02 ABC, Glasgow
Monday 24 02 Institute, Birmingham

For those who opted for a night in this New Year’s Eve, viewers of Jools Holland’s annual Hootenanny would have seen Rory’s many performances across the evening. Alongside Jools’ Rhythm & Blues Orchestra Rory performed his version of the Four Tops classic Reach Out (I’ll Be There) and also gave a stellar performance of Bring It On Home To Me with Gregory Porter, as well as playing his hit single Human.

The phenomenal success of his single Human around the globe follows years of relentless performing for Rory. At the age of just 15, he started rapping in his hometown of Uckfield and then at 19, encouraged by his father, started singing at local blues nights. His combined love for blues and rap soon developed into something bigger, when he joined Brighton’s hip-hop crew The Rum Committee, regularly travelling up to London to play hip-hop nights in Brixton. The releases of his Blues Town, Wolves and Disfigured EPs earned him huge crowds across the country, firming a dedicated fan base incredibly early on in his career.

His debut album Human will be released on February 10 on Columbia Records / Best Laid Plans.

www.ragnbonemanmusic.com