In brief: Jersey-based singer-songwriter Gilbert O’Sullivan will perform at the Jersey Opera House on 3 December as part of his UK tour marking 60 years in music. The Irish musician, behind classics such as Alone Again (Naturally) and Clair, will play songs from across his career alongside material from his 21st studio album. Tickets are available at jerseyoperahouse.co.uk.
A Local Legend Comes Home
Despite having lived in Jersey for many years, Gilbert O’Sullivan only gave his first performances on the Island earlier this year, making the newly announced Opera House date all the more significant for local fans. The Jersey Evening Post reports that a special date has been added on Thursday 3 December at the Opera House, tacked on to the end of a UK tour that began on 1 September at Malvern Theatres and winds through Milton Keynes, Edinburgh, Bristol, Liverpool and Portsmouth before arriving on our shores.
It is, when you think about it, a pleasingly quirky footnote in Island life: one of the most recognisable voices in British pop history has been quietly living here all this time, and Jersey only recently got around to rolling out the welcome mat. Better late than never, as the man himself might say.
Sixty Years and Counting
O’Sullivan first found major success with Nothing Rhymed in 1970, and what followed was a career that most artists would trade their entire back catalogue for. According to the Jersey Evening Post, he has accumulated 16 Top 40 records, including six number ones, and his songwriting has earned him three Ivor Novello Awards, among them Songwriter of the Year, as well as three Grammy nominations.
The hits that will fill the Opera House on 3 December read like a greatest-hits playlist from a particularly well-curated radio station: Alone Again (Naturally), Clair, Get Down and Nothing Rhymed are among the songs spanning his career. He will also perform new material from On The Record, his 21st studio album, demonstrating that six decades in the business have done nothing to blunt his creative output.
Getting Your Hands on Tickets
For anyone wishing to attend, tickets are available through the Jersey Opera House website at jerseyoperahouse.co.uk/events/gilbert-osullivan-celebrating-60-years-of-music. Given that this is a special addition to an already busy UK tour, and given the Island connection, demand from local audiences is likely to be strong. Those who missed his earlier Jersey performances this year will not want to let this one slip by.
Source: Jersey Evening Post
