Paul Heaton, the voice and pen behind the Housemartins and the Beautiful South, brings four decades of songs to The O2 arena with the Lightning Seeds.
Paul Heaton, the singer and songwriter behind the Housemartins and the Beautiful South, plays The O2 arena in North Greenwich on Saturday 7 November 2026. The Lightning Seeds join him as guests.
Born in Bromborough on the Wirral in 1962, Heaton grew up in Sheffield and Surrey and moved to Hull in 1983. There he formed the Housemartins, who paired left-wing politics and Christian conviction with bright guitar pop. Their a cappella “Caravan of Love” reached number one in December 1986.
He then formed the Beautiful South with the drummer Dave Hemingway. They took “A Little Time” to number one in 1990. Blue Is the Colour, Quench and Carry On up the Charts topped the album chart before the band split in 2007.
Reunited with the singer Jacqui Abbott in 2013, Heaton found a second peak. Manchester Calling in 2020 and N.K-Pop in 2022 both reached number one, and The Last King of Pop was played in full at the Royal Albert Hall.
Ian Broudie of the Lightning Seeds produced The Mighty Several, released in October 2024, which reached number two. The guests on this bill are recent collaborators.