It was such an incredible honor for Miss Piggy and me to be invited to participate in the Coronation Concert for King Charles III."
A host of British and global superstars came together at Windsor Castle for a star-studded concert to mark the Coronation of Their Majesties The King and The Queen.
The concert, which was broadcast on BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Radio 2 and BBC Sounds, saw HRH The Prince of Wales make a speech in honour of his father and Muppet favourites Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog make a surprise appearance in which Miss Piggy took quite a shine to host Hugh Bonneville, partly due to her mistakenly thinking he was a real Lord with whom she could become Lady Piggy.
Top Gun star Tom Cruise appeared via a pre-recorded video in which he sent a message to The King from his Top Gun Warbird plane in the clouds saying, “Pilot to pilot. Your Majesty, you can be my wingman any time” before saluting and banking off.
Hugh Jackman, Pierce Brosnan, Dame Joan Collins, Amanda Holden, Hamza Yassin, Giovanna Fletcher, Oti Mabuse, Richard E Grant, Bear Grylls OBE, Dynamo, Alan Titchmarsh, Tracey Emin CBE RA and Sir Tom Jones were the other stars who recorded videos in which they revealed little known facts about The King in relation to arts and culture, animals and nature, skills and hobbies. The segments saw Winnie the Pooh and Piglet discussing The King’s love of red squirrels.
Hit makers including Katy Perry, who sang Roar and Firework, and Lionel Richie, who played renditions of Easy and All Night Long, wowed the 20,000 strong audience and millions at home with their performances, backed by a world-class 70-piece orchestra, before Take That provided a spectacular finale with Greatest Day, Shine and, to close the show, Never Forget, featuring an intro from The Choristers of St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.
The 300-strong Coronation Choir, conducted by Gareth Malone, performed an uplifting version of the Emeli Sande song Brighter Days and legendary rock ‘n’ roll star Steve Winwood sang his hit song Higher Love, accompanied by the Commonwealth virtual choir, with singers from over 40 Commonwealth countries.
The evening also saw a collaboration between five Royal patronages – The Royal Ballet, The Royal Opera, the Royal Shakespeare Company, The Royal College of Music and The Royal College of Art, who came together for the first time ever to create a spectacular one-off performance of Somewhere from West Side Story. The segment, which is based on the theme of love, also featured Ncuti Gatwa and Mei Mac playing the roles of Romeo and Juliet.
Other collaborations included Maestro Andrea Bocelli and Sir Bryn Terfel, who sang You’ll Never Walk Alone, Lang Lang and Nicole Scherzinger, who performed Reflection from Mulan, and Alexis FFrench and Zak Abel, who performed 1980s Simple Minds hit Don’t You Forget About Me with an introduction voiced by The King himself on the theme of conservation.
They performed in front of awe-inspiring images of the natural world spanning the enormous LED screen at the top of the stage and projected onto the façade of Windsor Castle. It was accompanied by a spectacular drone scene of a Prince Charles Clematis flower appearing in the sky, followed by a giant multi-coloured butterfly. Using an innovative mixture of the stage roof wraparound screen and drones, a twisting wave appeared before a huge breath-taking whale appeared to leap out of the screen and into the air. At the end of the sequence, "Don't forget about me" appeared written in the sky, reminding us not to forget the beauty of our home, planet Earth.
Towns and cities around the country were also treated to spectacular visual displays as 10 locations were illuminated as part of Lighting Up The Nation. 1000 drones took to the nation’s skies in the first multi-location drone show ever to be staged in the UK. The legendary Welsh Dragon, spanning 140m, lit up the Cardiff skies, whilst a watering can hovered above the Eden Project’s famous Biomes in Cornwall. During the segment, Paloma Faith provided the soundtrack, singing Lullaby, whilst James Nesbitt performed a spoken word piece written specially for the occasion by Daljit Nagra, Chair of the Royal Society of Literature.
Other spoken word pieces were performed by Stella McCartney, who talked about conservation, and Sonam Kapoor, who spoke about the Commonwealth.
The concert was opened by Pete Tong Ibiza Classics, featuring Vula and JERUB, with performances from Olly Murs, who sang Dance with Me Tonight, winner of The Piano – Lucy, who played Bach’s Prelude in C Major, and Tiwa Savage, who sang Keys to the Kingdom, later in the show.
The concert, produced by BBC Studios Productions, was broadcast live on BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Radio 2 and BBC Sounds.
Kermit the Frog said, “It was such an incredible honor for Miss Piggy and me to be invited to participate in the Coronation Concert for King Charles III. The United Kingdom was our home while filming The Muppet Show and we’ve loved it ever since. As a frog, it’s always a thrill to hop across the world’s biggest pond — especially for a once in a lifetime event like this! I would like to thank His Majesty and the entire Royal Family for having us. Congratulations, Your Majesty!”
-Ends-
For further information, email coronationcomms@bbc.co.uk
Notes to editors:
Line-up and tracks:
- PETE TONG IBIZA CLASSICS FEATURING VULA + JERUB
- OLLY MURS – ‘DANCE WITH ME TONIGHT’
- THE CORONATION CHOIR WITH GARETH MALONE - 'BRIGHTER DAYS' (EMELI SANDE)
- LANG LANG + NICOLE SCHERZINGER 'REFLECTION' (FROM ‘MULAN’)
- THE ROYAL COLLABORATION WITH NCUTI GATWA AND MEI MAC - 'SOMEWHERE'
- LUCY, THE AMBER TRUST - 'BACH PRELUDE IN C MAJOR’
- SPOKEN WORD FOR COMMONWEALTH CHOIR: SONAM KAPOOR
- STEVE WINWOOD & THE COMMONWEALTH CHOIR -'HIGHER LOVE'
- TIWA SAVAGE - 'KEYS TO THE KINGDOM'
- HUGH BONNEVILLE AND KERMIT AND MISS PIGGY (SKETCH)
- MAESTRO ANDREA BOCELLI + SIR BRYN TERFEL - 'YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE'
- LIONEL RICHIE 'EASY' & 'ALL NIGHT LONG'
- HRH PRINCE OF WALES SPEECH - FOLLOWED BY THE NATIONAL ANTHEM
- JAMES NESBITT SPOKEN WORD INTRO FOR LIGHT UP THE NATION
- PALOMA FAITH – LIGHTING UP THE NATION - 'LULLABY’
- Dover
- Blackpool
- Newcastle & Gateshead
- Cambridge University Botanic Garden
- Titanic Museum, Belfast
- Sheffield
- Edinburgh Castle
- Leicester
- Eden Project, Cornwall
- Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff
16. STELLA McCARTNEY CONSERVATION SPOKEN WORD
17. ALEXIS FFRENCH - 'GUIDING LIGHT' segue into ALEXIS FFRENCH + ZAK ABEL - 'DON'T YOU FORGET ABOUT ME'
18. KATY PERRY 'ROAR' & 'FIREWORK'
19. TAKE THAT Ft. ROBIN SCHULZ + CALUM SCOTT - 'GREATEST DAY', 'SHINE', 'NEVER FORGET' featuring The Choristers of St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle
Did You Know? Contributors
- Animals and Nature – Alan Titchmarsh, Amanda Holden, Hamza Yassin, Winnie the Pooh
- Arts and Culture – Oti Mabuse (dance), Dame Joan Collins (acting), Hugh Jackman, Sir Tom Jones (music)
- Skills – Pierce Brosnan, Bear Grylls OBE, Tom Cruise
- Hobbies - Giovanna Fletcher, Richard E Grant, Dynamo, Tracey Emin CBE RA
About BBC Studios
BBC Studios is a commercial subsidiary of the BBC Group with sales of £2.1 billion (2021/22: £1,630 million). Able to take an idea seamlessly from thought to screen and beyond, the business is built on two operating areas: the global Content Studio, which produces, invests and distributes content globally and Channels & Streaming, with BBC branded channels, services and joint ventures in the UK and internationally. Around 2,500 hours of award-winning British programmes are made by the business every year, with over 80% of total BBC Studios revenues coming from non-BBC customers including Discovery, Apple and Netflix. Its content is internationally recognised across a broad range of genres and specialisms, with brands like Strictly Come Dancing/Dancing with the Stars, Top Gear, the Planet series, Bluey and Doctor Who. BBC.com is BBC Studios’ global digital news platform, offering up-to-the-minute international news, in-depth analysis and features.
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