**Sophie Ellis Bextor. Photo: Ray Keogh**

A star-studded line-up has been announced for the Summer Concert in Taupō at the end of January.

British singer and songwriter Seal will headline the concert, joined by Bastille, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Level 42.

The Summer Concert takes place on January 31 at the Taupō Amphitheatre. Locals get the chance to buy tickets early at the Visitor Information Centres in Taupō and Tūrangi from September 29.

General public tickets will go on sale Thursday, October 1 at 12pm.

Amanda Calvert, Greenstone Entertainment CEO says they are “overjoyed” to welcome Grammy award winning Seal to New Zealand for the first time.

Seal is known for his singles ‘Killer’, ‘Crazy’ and ‘Kiss From A Rose’ which topped the Billboard Hot 100 at Number 1, scored Grammy awards for ‘Record of the Year’ and ‘Song of the Year’, and adorned his quadruple-platinum 1994 epic, Seal II.

British Indie-pop band Bastille has popular hits like ‘Pompeii’ and ‘Happier’ which have had more than 2 billion views on Spotify.

They are returning to New Zealand following their 2020 headline show at Spark Arena in Auckland.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor returns on the heels of her shows earlier this year. She has achieved five top 10 albums and eight top 10 singles, with hits including ‘Murder on the Dancefloor’, ‘Take Me Home’, ‘Get Over You’, ‘Heartbreak (Make Me a Dancer)’ and many more.

Level 42 has spanned four decades, with the English jazz-funk, pop fusion band coming to prominence in the 1980’s and 1990’s releasing a swag of UK and worldwide hits.

The group’s 1984 single, ‘The Sun Goes Down (Living It Up)’ hit the British Top Ten starting their trajectory.

Amanda says every year, they embark on an extensive search to secure the best international acts for the Summer Concert tour.

“With our 2027 line-up we think we’ve achieved the perfect balance of artist’s and musical genres – it’s going to be an exceptional tour.’

Artist profiles

Seal

Wielding one of the most identifiable voices of all-time, British singer and songwriter Seal who first emerged during the 1990’s has left an indelible imprint on pop, R&B, soul, and dance music over the last 30+ years.

He has sold over 30 million albums worldwide, generated in-excess of 1 billion streams, and garnered four Grammy awards, three BRIT awards, Two Ivor Novello awards, and one MTV VMA.

As a versatile and vital force throughout popular culture, his catalogue encompasses ubiquitous anthems such as ‘Killer’, ‘Crazy’ and ‘Kiss From A Rose’ which topped the Billboard Hot 100 at No: 1, scored Grammy awards for ‘Record of the Year’ and ‘Song of the Year’, and adorned his quadruple-platinum 1994 epic, Seal II.

This year Seal has completed a string of headline concerts in the US and UK celebrating 30 years of the Classic Albums Seal 1 and Seal 11, along with numerous festival appearances.

Expect to hear Seal’s greatest hits and phenomenal cover songs during his set.

Bastille

Over the course of a decade, Bastille’s distinctive sound has connected with audiences across the globe like few other British band in recent memory.

The band’s chart-conquering twice No.1 debut album Bad Blood - featuring the era-defining hit ‘Pompeii’ - was the biggest-selling digital album of 2013 and made Bastille the year’s biggest-selling global breakthrough act.

With over a billion Spotify streams the band won the British Breakthrough Act award at the 2014 Brit Awards and received two Grammy nominations.

Bad Blood has since gone triple platinum and sold over 1 million copies in the UK alone.

Further No: 1 albums followed with Wild World (2016) and Give Me The Future (2022) alongside Doom Days (No: 4, 2019).

Their 2018 ‘Happier’ collaboration with Marshmello has been streamed over 7 Billion times.

2023 was a year of celebration for the four-piece as they marked the 10-year anniversary of the release of their breakthrough debut album Bad Blood.

The band released Bad Blood X, and played a special series of sold-out Bad Blood X shows and festivals across the UK, Europe and the US.

This year the band has released their first new music in three years with the single, ‘Save My Soul’, and they have been busy headlining summer concerts across the UK and Europe.

With over 13 million records sold, three UK No.1 albums, six UK top 40 singles and more than two billion video views, Bastille remain one of the world’s most streamed acts, and one of the most influential British bands of a generation.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor

With an impressive musical career that spans over an amazing 25-years, Sophie Ellis-Bextor has achieved five top 10 albums and eight top 10 singles, with hits including ‘Murder on the Dancefloor’, ‘Take Me Home’, ‘Get Over You’, ‘Heartbreak (Make Me a Dancer)’ and many more.

After featuring in the 2023 film ‘Saltburn’, Sophie’s hit ‘Murder on the Dancefloor’ saw a huge resurgence garnering it’s most-ever global streams on Spotify, receiving 1.4 millions streams.

Sophie’s latest (2025) album ‘Perimenopop’ charted at #5 in the UK Albums Chart, giving Sophie her first Top 5 album in over a decade alongside her 6th Top 10 record.

The album, is a celebratory soundtrack for mid-life happiness and sees Sophie return to big, bold pop. This year she has been touring internationally and performing festival sets in support of her eighth studio album.

Level 42

With a career lasting over four decades Level 42 are an English jazz-funk, pop fusion band who came to prominence in the 1980’s and 1990’s releasing a swag of UK and worldwide hits cementing their reputation as one the UK’s musical forces and dynamic live acts.

The group’s 1984 single, ‘The Sun Goes Down (Living It Up)’ hit the British Top Ten starting their trajectory.

Released in late 1985, their album World Machine broke the band worldwide with singles ‘Lessons in Love’ which hit No: 1 in Britain and No: 12 in the US and ‘Something About You’ which hit No: 7 in US.

Their next two records, Running in the Family (1987) and Staring at the Sun (1988), were also big successes in the U.K.

Level 42 will be performing songs from their album World Machine along with an epic set of their greatest hits.