Culture

Much-loved 80s pop star announces special intimate Christmas shows

28 Sep 2026 3 minute read

Nation.Cymru staff

Whisper it quietly but Christmas is just around the corner.

To get us in the festive spirit a much-loved pop star of the 1980s is heading out on a special 12 Dates of Christmas Tour.

Haircut 100 frontman Nick Heyward has revealed a unique run of intimate performances set in some of the country’s most beautiful and atmospheric venues.

The 12-date UK tour will kick off on 14th November at Lincoln Cathedral and will see Heyward perform across historic churches and cathedrals, creating a special live experience that blends his much-loved catalogue with a festive, acoustic feel.

The tour visit Wales when the musician visits The Gate in Cardiff on Saturday, November 21.

Best known as the frontman of Haircut 100, Heyward continues to build on a remarkable legacy, with the band’s long-awaited follow-up to Pelican West – Boxing The Compass – released in June 2026, marking an exciting new chapter for the band.

The album brought the classic line up – Nick Heyward (vocals/guitar), Graham Jones (guitar), Les Nemes (bass) and Blair Cunningham (drums) – back together for the first time in 44 years.

It followed the single The Unloving Plum, which was named BBC Radio 2’s Record of the Week on its release. The band’s 1980s hits include Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl), Love Plus One, Fantastic Day and Nobody’s Fool.

Heyward is also currently working on new solo material, with more details on this exciting project to follow.

Creatively ambitious from the start, Nick Heyward began his career as the songwriter and frontman of Haircut 100. Marrying Chic with The Monkees, they rode the post-new-romantic-funk-wave of the early 1980s burning brightly, but briefly. Following four UK top 10 singles, “Fantastic Day”, “Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl)”, “Love Plus One” and “Nobody’s Fool,” and their debut album, ‘Pelican West’, going platinum, the band parted ways.

‘North of a Miracle’, Heyward’s first solo album, saw him working with The Beatles’ engineer Geoff Emerick to craft pop landscapes incorporating full orchestra, a jazz band and catchy pop-funk, all knitted together with top-flight songwriting that was featured in John Hughes’ classic film, ‘Sixteen Candles.’

Continuing to record through the ‘80s, Heyward found his stride again with 1993’s ‘From Monday to Sunday.’ Lead single “Kite” took off in America’s burgeoning alternative scene, reached No.4 in the Billboard Alternative Chart, and found Nick touring the country with the likes of The Lemonheads and Tony Bennett. The follow-up album, ‘Tangled,’ was more pure power pop and led to Heyward signing to Creation Records for his final album of the ‘90s, ‘The Apple Bed’.

2023 was a big year for Heyward and the newly-reformed Haircut One Hundred – as well as releasing a deluxe version of their 1982 debut album ‘Pelican West’, the much-loved band played BBC Radio 2’s Piano Room and a triumphant sold-out, one-off reunion show at London reunion show London’s O2 Shepherds Bush Empire which led to a short, joyous tour of the UK and Ireland. Now Nick Heyward sets off this autumn on his first solo tour since a series of UK, US & Japanese live dates in support of his critically acclaimed 2017 album, ‘Woodland Echoes.’

Buy tickets for Nick Heyward’s 12 Dates of Christmas Tour HERE

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