Live Lounge
The Live Lounge is a segment on the British radio stations BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra. It was originally named and created by then Radio 1's Head of Music Jeff Smith, hosted by Simon Mayo, and later by Jo Whiley on her weekday mid-morning, and later weekend lunchtime radio shows, then by Fearne Cotton from 2009 until 2015, and then by Clara Amfo from May 2015 to August 2021. Since September 2021 the segment is now hosted by Rickie Haywood-Williams, Melvin Odoom and Charlie Hedges.
It exhibits well-known artists usually performing one song of their own and one by another artist, in an acoustic format. The Live Lounge itself is also a physical room in the Radio 1 studios, from where some of the performances are broadcast; however, due to its size, many are done from the BBC Maida Vale Studios. From 2009, Trevor Nelson began hosting Live Lounges on his BBC Radio 1Xtra show, and was replaced in that slot by DJ Ace in 2017.
The songs chosen as cover versions are often a completely different genre to that which the artist usually performs, and offer a new perspective on the original. Jamie Cullum's cover of Pharrell Williams's "Frontin' led to Cullum being signed to Pharrell's label Star Trak when played to him at a later visit to The Jo Whiley Show, and was added to his 2003 album Twentysomething.
Performances and albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | UK | IRE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Volume 1 | *Released: 16 October 2006 *Label: Sony Music Entertainment *Formats: CD, download | 1 | — |
| Volume 2 | *Released: 22 October 2007 *Label: Sony Music Entertainment *Formats: CD, download | 1 | — |
| Volume 3 | *Released: 20 October 2008 *Label: Sony Music Entertainment *Formats: CD, download | 2 | — |
| Volume 4 | *Released: 26 October 2009 *Label: Sony Music Entertainment *Formats: CD, download | 1 | — |
| Volume 5 | *Released: 25 October 2010 *Label: Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group *Formats: CD, download | 1 | — |
| The Best Of | *Released: 6 June 2011 *Label: Sony CMG *Formats: CD, download | 2 | — |
| Volume 6 | *Released: 31 October 2011 *Label: Sony CMG *Formats: CD, download | 1 | — |
| BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge 2012 | *Released: 29 October 2012 *Label: Sony CMG *Formats: CD, download | 1 | — |
| BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge 2013 | *Released: 28 October 2013 *Label: Sony CMG *Formats: CD, download | 1 | — |
| BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge 2014 | *Released: 27 October 2014 *Label: Sony CMG *Formats: CD, download | 1 | 2 |
| BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge 2015 | *Released: 30 October 2015 *Label: Sony CMG *Formats: CD, download | 1 | 2 |
| BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge 2016 | *Released: 11 November 2016 *Label: Sony CMG *Formats: CD, download | 2 | 8 |
| BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge 2017 | *Released: 17 November 2017 *Label: Sony CMG *Formats: CD, download | 2 | 7 |
| BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge 2018 | *Released: 23 November 2018 *Label: Ministry of Sound *Formats: CD, download | 6 | 18 |
| BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge: The Collection | *Released 8 November 2019 *Label: Ministry of Sound *Formats: CD, download | 6 | |
| "—" denotes album that did not chart or was not released |
Live Lounge Features
Over the years of Live Lounge, various Radio 1 features have involved this segment, these include:
- Live Lounge Tour
- Ultimate Live Lounge
- Live Lounge of 2010
- A-Z of the Live Lounge
- List of Live Lounge cover versions
Live Lounge Special
On 27 January 2011 BBC Radio 1 launched a new extended version of the popular Live Lounge dubbed 'Live Lounge Special with...' or sometimes referred to as 'Live Lounge XL'. The extended live lounge performance differs from the normal performance with an interview at the very beginning of the set rather than at the beginning of each track. Then the artist performs 5 or 6 tracks uninterrupted, which can include a cover.
Performances
2011
| Broadcast Date | Artist | Set List |
|---|---|---|
| 27 January 2011 | Adele | "Rolling in the Deep |
| "Don't You Remember" | ||
| "Promise This" (Cheryl Cole) | ||
| "Hometown Glory" | ||
| "Chasing Pavements" | ||
| "Someone Like You" | ||
| 30 September 2011 | Cee Lo Green | "Bright Lights Bigger City" |
| "It's OK" | ||
| "Inhaler" (Miles Kane) | ||
| "I Want You" | ||
| "Cry Baby" | ||
| "Forget You" | ||
| "Crazy" (Gnarls Barkley)/"Natural Blues" (Moby) | ||
| 25 November 2011 | Florence and the Machine | "Shake It Out" |
| "What the Water Gave Me" | ||
| "Take Care" (Drake) | ||
| "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" | ||
| "Dog Days Are Over" | ||
| "No Light, No Light" |
2012
| Broadcast Date | Artist | Set List |
|---|---|---|
| 19 March 2012 | Katy Perry | "Part of Me" |
| "The One That Got Away" | ||
| "Firework" | ||
| "Thinking of You" | ||
| "Paris" (Jay-Z & Kanye West) | ||
| 13 June 2012 | Usher | "Scream" |
| "U Remind Me" | ||
| "Yeah!" | ||
| "OMG" | ||
| "Pumped Up Kicks" (Foster the People) | ||
| "Climax" | ||
| 25 September 2012 | Mumford & Sons | "Roll Away Your Stone" |
| "Below My Feet" | ||
| "The Cave" | ||
| "Tessellate"(Alt-J (∆)) | ||
| "Ghosts That We Knew" | ||
| "I Will Wait" | ||
| 28 September 2012 | Muse | "Madness" |
| "Uprising" | ||
| "Follow Me" | ||
| "Panic Station" | ||
| "Sign o' the Times"(Prince) | ||
| "Starlight" | ||
| 12 December 2012 | Ben Howard | "Esmerelda" |
| "Only Love" | ||
| "Keep Your Head Up" | ||
| "Oats In The Water" | ||
| "Figure 8"(Ellie Goulding) |
References
- Live Lounge, BBC Music Events
- Irish Charts - Compilations, IRMA, 3 December 2018
- Radio 1's Live Lounge 2, Amazon
- Official Compilations Chart Top 100 - Official Charts Company, www.officialcharts.com
- Official Compilations Chart Top 100 - Official Charts Company, www.officialcharts.com
- Official Compilations Chart Top 100 - Official Charts Company, www.officialcharts.com
- Official Compilations Chart Top 100 - Official Charts Company, www.officialcharts.com
- The Best of BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge (CD), Amazon UK, 7 June 2011
- Official Compilations Chart Top 100 - Official Charts Company, www.officialcharts.com
- BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge Volume 6, Amazon UK, 10 September 2011
- Official Compilations Chart Top 100 - Official Charts Company, www.officialcharts.com
- BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge 2012, Amazon UK, 1 October 2012
- 2012 Top 40 Compilation Albums Archive, Official Charts Company, 5 November 2012
- BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge 2013, Amazon UK, 2 December 2013
- 2013 Top 40 Compilation Albums Archive, Official Charts Company, 2 December 2013
- BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge 2014, Amazon UK, 4 November 2014
- 2014 Top 40 Compilations Albums Archive, Official Charts Company, 2 April 2016
- BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge 2015, Amazon UK, 2 April 2016
- 2015 Top 40 Compilations Albums Archive, Official Charts Company, 2 April 2016
- BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge 2016, Amazon UK, 15 May 2017
- 2016 Top 40 Compilations Albums Archive, Official Charts Company, 15 May 2017
- BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge 2017, Amazon UK, 3 December 2018
- Official Compilations Chart Top 100 Archive, Official Charts Company, 3 December 2018
- Official Irish Compilations Chart Top 10 Archive, Official Charts Company, 3 December 2018
- BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge 2018, Amazon UK, 3 December 2018
- Official Compilations Chart Top 100 Archive, Official Charts Company, 10 October 2018
- BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge: The Collection, 10 October 2022, HMV
- Official Compilations Chart Top 100, 10 October 2022, Official Charts
- Cee Lo Green Live Lounge Special, BBC, 29 September 2011
- Florence And The Machine Live Lounge Special, BBC, 28 November 2011
- Katy Perry Live Lounge Special, BBC, 22 March 2012
- Usher Live Lounge Special, BBC, 12 September 2012
- Mumford & Sons Live Lounge Special, BBC, 19 September 2012
- dead, 7 September 2012, Muse Live Lounge Special, BBC, 19 September 2012
- Ben Howard Live Lounge Special, BBC, 13 December 2012