7 facts you didn't know about John Newman!
Our Key 103 Christmas Live performer
To celebrate John’s eagerly awaited appearance at Key 103 Christmas Live on Friday 11th December, we’ve rounded up 7 facts you might not know about the ‘Come and Get It’ singer. Check them out below!
BUY KEY 103 CHRISTMAS LIVE TICKETS
!1. John built a shed when his debut album hit no.1 When John’s debut album ‘Tribute’ stormed in at the top spot back in October 2013, he was building a shed at the time. Explaining why he wasn’t knocking back champagne, John explained to the Daily Telegraph: “Me and my best friend Tom were building a shed in the garden because it was the only Sunday I'd had off in a long time.” Sterling work, John!
!2. Rudimental gave John his big break While working as a barman at The Silver Bullet bar in Finsbury Park, London, John made friends with Piers Agget aka one quarter of Rudimental. Two years later, Rudimental and John stormed in straight in at number one with their colossal anthem ‘Feel The Love’ and the rest, they say, is history!
!3. John has written songs for Rudimental, Calvin Harris, Jessie J & Olly Murs As well as a brilliant singer, John is a well-respected songwriter too! John co-wrote his number one collaborations with Rudimental (‘Feel The Love’) and Calvin Harris (‘Blame’) and has also written tracks for Jessie J (‘Fire’) and Olly Murs (‘Stick With Me’). Mightily impressive stuff!
!4. John’s new album features Idris Elba The first voice you hear on John Newman’s new album ‘Revolve’ isn’t himself but arguably the coolest actor on the planet right now, Idris Elba. The Luther star delivers an impassioned monologue on the opener and album title track. Awesome stuff!
!5. John has a very unique diet at music festivals At Isle of Wight Festival in 2014, John revealed to KISS FM what he survives off at music events. He explained: "I heard the best way to get energy out of food is to eat baked beans so I took lots of cans of all day breakfast, so I'd be alright for the whole festival. Only I didn't take anything to open them with....so I ended up very hungry". Doh!
!6. John has been itching to collaborate with Adele for years A huge admirer of Adele Adkins, John has been hankering for an Adele collaboration for some time now. “I always think about the Adele thing,” John says, “I would love to work with her. She is very inspiring and very cool." Sadly the two haven’t created sweet music together yet!
!7. John has a brain tumour removed in 2012 Shortly before Rudimental’s ‘Feel The Love’ hit number one, John was diagnosed with a brain tumour. He told London’s Evening Standard: ‘I started going blind. But being Northern, I just thought, ‘I’m fine, I’ll just need some glasses’. I went to the opticians, and they sent me to the eye hospital. They sent me to a neurosurgeon and they told me I had a non-cancerous tumour and they had to take it out. I was starting to shake, I was so scared. My girlfriend at the time put the radio on and (it) played Feel The Love, which I had totally forgotten about because I had so much on. I burst out laughing and said, ‘This is ridiculous.’ It was perfect timing.”
Key 103 Christmas Live takes place at Manchester Arena on Friday 11th December where John will appear alongside James Morrison, Jess Glynne, Ben Haenow and Fleur East.
Tickets are on sale from Key 103 Tickets now! CLICK HERE to buy yours.