On Stage

Obelisk Arena

Friday

Billy Bragg has been a fearless recording artist, tireless live performer and peerless political campaigner for 40 years.

Punk rocker, soldier, Essex boy, folk singer, Skiffle aficionado, protest singers’ protest singer, patriot, optimist, lefty polemicist, author, soul miner, musicologist, champion of the underclasses, Cockney vocalist and all round decent bloke Billy Bragg released a career spanning 14-disc deluxe box set. ‘The Roaring Forty | 1983-2023’ celebrates the remarkable and enduring musical legacy of a much-loved songwriter, principled activist and alternative national treasure.

To be expected from a career that has straddled many genres, Billy Bragg has worked with a wealth of celebrated musicians from different musical backgrounds including Eliza Carthy, Norman Cook, Dick Gaughan, Joe Henry, Kirsty MacColl, Ian McLagan, Johnny Marr, R.E.M., Natalie Merchant, Romeo Stodart, Danny Thompson, Robert Wyatt, Pete Seeger, The Philharmonic Orchestra and US alt-Rock band Wilco, with whom he created two critically acclaimed collections setting previously unheard lyrics by legendary American Folk singer Woody Guthrie to music.