Following on from the cancellation of the Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival 2020, ‘Bella’ can confirm today that it has managed to secure 100% of the previously announced 2020 line-up including headliners, legendary multi- Grammy Award winning composer, producer, arranger and guitarist NILE RODGERS & CHIC, along with the Scottish artist with one of the most recognisable voices in pop, soul and R&B, EMELI SANDE. They will be joined by the final Garden Stage headliner, another truly legendary figure in the music industry, the iconic singer-songwriter VAN MORRISON.Born in Belfast in 1945 Northern Irish singer-songwriter VAN MORRISON has a vast collection of awards to his name including a knighthood, a Brit Award, an OBE, an Ivor Novello, six Grammys, and an entry into The Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. Over the course of his career his has penned some of the most memorable songs of the 20th century including the classic hits, ‘Brown Eyed Girl’, ‘Moondance’, ‘Jackie Wilson Said’ and ‘Gloria’. He is an artist who is a true legend in every sense of the word and his debut at Belladrum is set to be a standout moment in the festival’s history.
As the co-founder of CHIC and the newly elected Chairman of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, Rodgers pioneered a musical language that generated chart-topping hits like “Le Freak,” (the biggest selling single in the history of Atlantic Records!) and sparked the advent of hip-hop with “Good Times”. Nile Rodgers transcends all styles of music across every generation with a body of work that’s garnered him inductions into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (2017) and the Songwriters Hall of Fame (2016).
He was appointed as the first ever Chief Creative Advisor for the legendary Abbey Road Studios and his work in the CHIC Organization and his productions for artists like David Bowie, Diana Ross, and Madonna have sold over 500 million albums and 75 million singles worldwide while his innovative, trendsetting collaborations with Daft Punk, Avicii, Sigala, Disclosure, and Sam Smith reflect the vanguard of contemporary music.
With over 340 million video views, 19 million singles sold including 3 Number One UK singles and over 6 million albums, EMELI SANDE has dominated the music industry and captured the heart of the nation. Her debut album ‘Our Version of Events’ released in 2012 was the biggest selling album of that year and this month featured in the official chart company’s top 10 albums of the decade. The Aberdonian has won numerous accolades including 4 Brit Awards (Critics Choice, Best Album and Female Solo twice, most recently in 2017 for her second album, ‘Long Live the Angels’ and in 2018 was awarded an MBE for services to Music.)
Alongside her solo career, EMELI SANDE regularly provided guest vocals for other artists including the huge hits ‘Read All About It’ (Professor Green), ‘Beneath Your Beautiful’ (Labrinth) and ‘What I Did for Love’ (David Guetta). She also performed at both the opening and closing ceremonies of the London Olympics and at the White House for Barack Obama.
‘We were absolutely devastated when we had to cancel Bella this year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but are delighted that we have been able to re-book such an incredible line up of artists to appear at our delayed 17th outing next summer. Securing another icon with Van Morrison as our final headliner is the icing on the cake. We cannot wait to welcome everyone back to what is sure to be the biggest party in Belladrum history next summer!’ Dougie Brown, Event Producer
In further line-up announcements, Scottish Indie Rock band THE FRATELLIS will make their Belladrum debut. Their debut album ‘Costello Music’ released in 2006 led a Brit Award for British Breakthrough Act and included the anthemic singles ‘Chelsea Dagger’ and ‘Henrietta’. The band will release their sixth album ‘Half Drunk Under a Full Moon’ later this year.
SHED SEVEN will be making a very welcome return to the festival having last appeared way back in 2009! To date they have clocked up 15 top ten singles and 4 top ten albums, with standout tracks including, ‘Going for Gold’, ‘Chasing Rainbow’ and ‘Disco Down’. The release of their first album in sixteen years, 2017’s ‘Instant Pleasures’ saw them cement their place as one of the UK’s most treasured bands.
PASSENGER has come a long way since the release of his first album, Wicked Man’s Rest, back in 2007. The initial incarnation, in which Rosenberg was backed by a full band, was followed by his reinvention as a solo artist and a period of busking, largely in Australia and New Zealand. Then came a year touring the world in support of Ed Sheeran. And then Let Her Go – followed, Rosenberg smiles, by ‘two years running round the world after that song’. He had to run fast: the song, for which Rosenberg won an Ivor Novello, has reached two billion plays on Youtube (18th highest ranked video of all time on the service) & over one billion plays on Spotify.
Belfast punk royalty STIFF LITTLE FINGERS make their Bella debut. Formed in 1977 the band, along with the likes of The Clash, Sex Pistols, The Damned, Buzzcocks, Sham 69, were there at the start of the punk rock movement and they are still going strong. Scotland’s TIDE LINES join the bill, a band whose sound is a combination of Celtic soul, folk philosophy and big guitars with the voice of a Gaelic angel in singer and chief songwriter Robert Robertson. The band first emerged in the summer of 2016 with the release of their debut single, ‘Far Side of The World’ and have been an unstoppable force ever since. 2020 will see THE MAGIC NUMBERS celebrate 15 years since the release of their self-titled multi-platinum debut album. The album was nominated for a Mercury Prize in 2005 and included the standout singles, ‘Forever Lost’, and ‘Love Me Like You’. Scottish cult rockers GOODBYE MR MACKENZIE make their Belladrum debut. The band reformed at the end of 2019 to celebrate the 30thanniversary of their hit debut album ‘Good Deeds & Dirty Rags’ which included the single ‘The Rattler’. The bands original line-up also featured a pre-Garbage Shirley Manson.
Making an overdue and welcome return to Bella are British Electronic Dub act DREADZONE who will take to the Garden stage. An act who feel more like a Bella family member,COLONEL MUSTARD & THE DIJON FIVE will bring the party with Peace, Love & Mustard; Electronic Afro-Funk outfit IBIBIO SOUND MACHINE are set to make their Bella debut on the Garden Stage; multi-award winning Scottish Supergroup MÀNRAN are set to appear as is KYLE FALCONER frontman of Dundee’s THE VIEW.
Other act joining the line-up include; ‘BBC Music Sound Of 2016 nominee’ BILLIE MARTEN; North London buzz band KAWALA; Caithness band NEON WALTZ; Canadian Contemporary Folk Group THE EAST POINTERS; THE HAWKMEN bring their brand of rhythm’n’blues, soul, and rock’n’roll to the festival; folk artist BEANS ON TOAST; winners of the 2019 Trad Awards Belhaven Bursary THE KINARIS QUINTET; Norwegian folk float-pop trio I SEE RIVERS; ANOTHER SKY who feature the incredible voice of Catrin Vincent; folk punk act BLACK WATER COUNTY; Neo-Trad trio PROJECT SMOK; Producer WUH-OH; exciting young Scottish singer LUKE LA VOLPE; The Highlands own KEIR GIBSON; and buzz artists ; SAM JOHNSON; NOISY and JACK CULLEN.
Closing the Grassroots Stage on the Thursday night will be RYTHMNREEL; also appearing over the weekend are Highland singer-songwriter JAMES MACKENZIE; firm Bella favourites THE DANGLEBERRRIES; ESPERANZAthe 9-piece ska collective from Glasgow; THE ROOV who provided the soundtrack to our official 2019 after-movie; the CALUM MACPHAIL TRIO, TWEED, SHIEHALLION, JOURNEY NORTH and one for the younger family members FUN BOX with lots more acts to be announced over the coming months.
TICKETS
Tickets for the 2021 festival are Sold Out. A monthly resale will take place on skiddle.com for any customers who are no longer able to attend and provide a safe and secure way for them to sell their tickets to other customers.
Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival takes place in the beautiful Highland surroundings of Belladrum Estate, near Beauly in Inverness-shire. The festival has built a reputation for its eclectic line-ups, its offbeat non-musical entertainments and its all-ages approach. The festival won a VisitScotland Thistle Award in2009 and is a past winner of the Grassroots Festival Award at the UK Festival Awards, the festival industry’s ‘Oscars’
