Rick Wakeman has announced new concert dates for the Strictly Wakeman tour, which will run this summer.
The upcoming performances are being billed as an all-new show featuring “music specially adapted for piano and vocals” with Hayley Sanderson, a singer on the U.K. TV show Strictly Come Dancing.
A press release notes that this will be the first time Wakeman has toured with a female singer. “Hayley is great to work with, as she has the talent to feel the music in such a way as to make all the arrangements seamless,” Wakeman said in the press release announcing the concerts.
“Hayley and I have never worked in concert with just the piano and voice, and so it opens up opportunities for new arrangements of pieces from rare albums.”
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Wakeman’s previous concert tour, billed as his final U.S. run as a solo artist, concluded last week. He has a handful of European shows left in May. Those one-man shows featured the keyboardist discussing his past and music from his solo career, his time with Yes and other songs.
He and Sanderson collaborated on her 2009 album Just Songs; they later played some shows with a band and orchestra in the U.K. and South America. She also appears on Wakeman’s Live at the London Palladium, which included onstage versions of songs from throughout his career, and on the 2023 concept LP A Gallery of the Imagination.
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The U.S. dates for the upcoming Strictly Wakeman tour – Wakeman’s nickname for Sanderson is “Strictly” – start on July 18 in Richmond, Virginia. They run for the next few weeks with shows in New Jersey, Ohio and New York, before wrapping up on July 31 in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania.
You can see all of the scheduled dates below.
Tickets for most of the dates go on sale Friday. You can find more information about the shows and tickets at Wakeman’s website.
Rick Wakeman, Strictly Wakeman 2025 Tour
July 18 – Richmond VA – The National
July 20 – Ridgefield CT – Ridgefield Playhouse
July 21 – Ocean City NJ – Ocean City Music Pier
July 23 – Englewood NJ – Bergen Performing Arts Center
July 25 – Cincinnati OH – Ludlow Garage
July 26 – Northfield Park OH – MGM Northfield Park – Center Stage
July 29 – Derry NH – Tupelo Music Hall
July 30 – Poughkeepsie NY – Bardavon Opera House
July 31 – Phoenixville PA – Colonial Theatre
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