Music · 18 September 2026
Simply Red Announce Summer Funk ’27 Tour With Major UK Outdoor Shows
The Simply Red Summer Funk ’27 tour has been announced, with Mick Hucknall and the band returning to stages across the UK and Europe next summer for a run built around some of their most upbeat hits. Simply Red will spend summer 2027 performing at a mixture of outdoor venues, ...
The Simply Red Summer Funk ’27 tour has been announced, with Mick Hucknall and the band returning to stages across the UK and Europe next summer for a run built around some of their most upbeat hits.
Simply Red will spend summer 2027 performing at a mixture of outdoor venues, racecourses, arenas and historic locations, including their first-ever concert at London’s Gunnersbury Park.
The UK leg will also take the band to Chester, Halifax, Margate, Scarborough, Swansea and Newmarket, with a collection of major guest artists joining them at selected concerts.
The announcement marks Simply Red’s first tour since the band’s 40th anniversary celebrations in 2025.
Simply Red Summer Funk ’27 tour comes to the UK
Rather than returning with another conventional greatest-hits arena tour, Simply Red are giving the new run a deliberately summery identity.
Mick Hucknall says audiences can expect a set packed with the band’s upbeat material, designed around outdoor concerts and what he describes as having “fun in the sun with friends and family”.
Songs including “Fairground”, “Something Got Me Started” and “Money’s Too Tight (To Mention)” are among the tracks highlighted in the announcement.
The UK dates begin at Chester Racecourse on 7 August.
That concert follows a record-breaking music event at the venue this year featuring Tom Jones and Nile Rodgers & CHIC, which Chester Racecourse says attracted more than 17,000 people.
Simply Red then head to The Piece Hall in Halifax on 9 August, where Soul II Soul will appear as special guests.
Gunnersbury Park first for Simply Red
One of the standout dates on the Simply Red Summer Funk ’27 tour comes in London on 13 August.
Simply Red will headline Gunnersbury Park for the first time, with Lisa Stansfield joining them.
The following night brings the tour to Dreamland in Margate, where Heather Small is listed alongside the band.
Further UK dates include Scarborough Open Air Theatre on 17 August, with Soul II Soul, and Singleton Park in Swansea on 20 August, where Lisa Stansfield and Heather Small are both currently listed on the bill.
The UK run also includes a performance at Newmarket Racecourses on 21 August.
More dates form part of the wider European itinerary, taking Simply Red to venues across countries including the Netherlands, Germany and Italy.
Some of those settings are particularly striking. The European tour includes concerts in locations such as Venice and the archaeological surroundings of Pompeii, giving the summer run a very different visual character from a standard indoor tour.
More than 40 years of Simply Red
The new shows arrive after Simply Red marked four decades since the band’s formation.
Formed in Manchester in 1985, Simply Red quickly established themselves with debut album Picture Book and “Holding Back the Years”, which became one of their defining recordings.
Their catalogue subsequently expanded through songs including “If You Don’t Know Me by Now”, “Stars”, “For Your Babies”, “Something Got Me Started”, “Fairground” and “Sunrise”.
The 1991 album Stars became one of the biggest British albums of the decade, spending 12 weeks at number one in the UK and becoming the country’s best-selling album in both 1991 and 1992.
Simply Red initially ended their run in 2010 before returning in 2015 for their 30th anniversary.
Their 40th anniversary celebrations followed in 2025 with an extensive international tour. Performances in Santiago were subsequently documented in the Holding Back the Years: 40 Years of Simply Red, Live in Santiago release.
Tickets go on sale next week
Fans wanting tickets for the UK dates will not have long to wait.
Simply Red’s official website confirms that the artist presale begins on Tuesday 22 September, with registration available through the band’s mailing list.
General sale for the UK concerts begins at 10am on Thursday 24 September. European dates go on general sale the following day.
Individual guest line-ups vary between venues, so not every supporting artist will appear at every concert.
What remains consistent is the idea behind the Simply Red Summer Funk ’27 tour: taking the brighter and more energetic side of the band’s catalogue outside for another British summer.
After spending 2026 largely away from the touring spotlight, Mick Hucknall and Simply Red are preparing to make their return a particularly sunny one.