Justin Bieber will headline this year’s British Summer Time Hyde Park 2017, bringing his Purpose world tour to the annual event.
Scheduled for 2 July, the Canadian pop star is the latest big name to be added to next year’s series of concerts, topping the bill alongside Phil Collins, Green Day and Kings of Leon.
Bieber will have support on the day from EDM producer Martin Garrix, Scandi-pop artist Tove Lo and Brits critics’ choice-shortlisted singer Anne-Marie.
A fixture in the British festival calendar, BST has previously featured the Rolling Stones, Carole King, the Who, Kylie Minogue, Taylor Swift and Stevie Wonder. “Justin Bieber has proven himself to be a master singer, songwriter and live performer,” said James King, the senior vice-president of AEG Live, which runs the event. “Bringing the Purpose tour to Hyde Park next summer is without question the pop show of the summer.”
Bieber’s gig will be a UK festival exclusive and his only London show of 2017. It arrives amid a huge tour to promote his global No 1 album Purpose. This year the singer has faced criticism for his unpredictable behaviour on the tour. He told a London audience in October he was dissatisfied with their loud response to his performance, and left the stage during a Manchester show in the same month.
He later apologised for his rants, saying: “There’s going to be times where I say the wrong thing, because I’m human. But I don’t pretend to be perfect and I hope to God that, you know, I don’t say the right thing all the time, because if that was the case then I’d be a robot, and I’m not a robot. There are times when I get upset … times when I get angry, there are times when I’m going to be frustrated. But I’m always going to be myself on this stage.”
