Tom Grennan named as first act to perform at Illuminations switch on

Chart-topping singer-songwriter Tom Grennan is to perform at this year’s Blackpool Illuminations Switch-On concert.

Tom, whose second studio album topped the UK charts last year, is one of the music industry’s brightest talents. He has had three top 10 singles (two platinum), performed in front of more than 100,000 people and his music has enjoyed a billion streams.

In 2021, he had his first UK top 10 hit with "Little Bit of Love", which peaked at number 7 and charted across Europe. He subsequently achieved more top 10 hits with "Let's Go Home Together", a collaboration with Ella Henderson, and “By Your Side”, a collaboration with Calvin Harris.

Tom was nominated in two categories in this year’s Brit Awards and his homecoming concert at Bedford Park earlier this month attracted a sell-out crowd of 15,000 ahead of a series of planned festival appearances this summer.

And just to add to his list of talents, Tom also put in a man-of-the-match performance at last weekend’s star-studded Soccer Aid charity match!

Tom is the first music act to be announced for the Switch-On show, which will be staged in the famous Blackpool Tower Ballroom on the night of Friday 2 September.

This year’s event will once again be staged in association with MTV and will be hosted by the music channel’s lead presenter Becca Dudley. It will feature live music performances in the ballroom with an audience made up of more than 2,000 winners of a free-to-enter ballot. It will trigger four months of Illuminations in the resort.

The concert and Switch-On moment will once again be live streamed to a global audience across MTV and VisitBlackpool channels, and event organisers are also exploring the possibility of streaming the event to an outdoor audience on the Tower Festival Headland.

A VisitBlackpool spokesperson said: “We are delighted to announce that Tom Grennan will be joining the Switch-On line-up.

“He recorded a song for our first ever virtual Switch-On concert in 2020 when we couldn’t stage a live show because of pandemic restrictions and we are thrilled that he will be coming to Blackpool to perform in the iconic Tower Ballroom with a live audience.”

The annual Blackpool Illuminations Switch-On event, one of the biggest in Blackpool’s calendar, moved indoors during 2020 and 2021 due to pandemic restrictions, but has proved so successful that it is being repeated for a third successive year – although this time with a full-capacity audience in the ballroom.

Last year’s Switch-On celebration saw Shirley Ballas, head judge of BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, pull the famous switch, watched by a worldwide audience with more than 160,000 views from as far afield as Australia, Canada and the United States.

Full details of more of the acts that will perform at this year’s event will be revealed over the coming weeks along with the identity of the Switch-On star.

The ballot for free tickets is now open with an initial allocation of 2,000 tickets to be split equally between Blackpool residents and visitors. There is a maximum of four tickets per person.

To register, click here: Blackpool Illuminations Switch-On | Visit Blackpool