BBC Radio 1

BBC Radio 1 (also known as just Radio 1) is a British radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in modern and current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00 pm, including electronic dance, hip hop, rock, indie or interviews. It is aimed primarily at the 15–29 age group, although the average age of the UK audience in 2008 was 33.

History

First broadcast

Radio 1 was established in 1967 (along with its somewhat more adult-oriented counterpart, BBC Radio 2) as a successor to the BBC Light Programme, which had broadcast popular music and other entertainment since 1945. Radio 1 was conceived as a direct response to the popularity of offshore pirate radio stations such as Radio Caroline and Radio London, which had been outlawed by Act of Parliament. Radio 1 was launched at 7:00 am on Saturday 30 September 1967.

Radio 1

Radio 1 or Radio One most commonly refers to:

Radio 1 or Radio One may also refer to:

Stations

BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend

BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend (previously known as One Big Weekend, and for 2012 as Radio 1's Hackney Weekend) is a music festival run by BBC Radio 1. It is held once a year, in a different location within the United Kingdom each time. It is the biggest free ticketed music event in Europe and always includes a host of new artists.

The festival is a spin-off of Radio 1's 'One Big Sunday', where every Sunday during July and August, a different town would host the roadshow, usually next to a beach or in a large park. These were also free, but non-ticketed.

Both the 'One Big Sunday' and 'One Big Weekend' events are successors to the Radio 1 Roadshow which toured the country during every summer from 1973 until the 1990s.

Originally a 'One Big Weekend' would run twice a year. The Saturday was dedicated to dance music and the Sunday to bands. But since 2005, the dance day has been replaced by a second day of bands. In 2005, the dance music took place on a second stage on the Saturday only and in 2006 it took place off site at a club on the Saturday night. The 'Saturday' of dance music was effectively reinstated for the 2013 event in Northern Ireland, but with the day of dance being held on the Friday of the weekend.

Live Lounge

The Live Lounge is a segment on the British radio station BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra. Originally hosted by Jo Whiley on her mid-morning radio show and then by Fearne Cotton from 2009 until 2015. It is now hosted by Clara Amfo, she has been the host since May 2015. it exhibits well-known artists usually performing one song of their own and one by another artist, in an acoustic format. The 'Live Lounge' itself is also a physical room in the Radio 1 studios, from where some of the performances are broadcast; however, due to its size, many are done from the BBC Maida Vale Studios. Since 2009, Trevor Nelson has hosted Live Lounges on his BBC Radio 1Xtra show.

The songs chosen as cover versions are often a completely different genre to that which the artist usually performs, and offer a new perspective on the original. Jamie Cullum's cover of Pharrell Williams's "Frontin'" led to Cullum being signed to Pharrell's label Star Trak when played to him at a later visit to The Jo Whiley Show, and was added to his 2003 album Twentysomething.

Ed Sheeran

Edward Christopher "Ed" Sheeran (born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. He was born in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk. After dropping out of school at 16, he moved to London the following year, in 2008, to pursue a career in music. In early 2011, Sheeran independently released the extended play, No. 5 Collaborations Project, which caught the attention of Elton John and Jamie Foxx. After signing with Asylum Records, his debut album, + (read as "plus"), was released on 9 September 2011 and has since been certified six-times platinum in the UK. The album contains the single "The A Team", which earned him the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically. In 2012, Sheeran won the Brit Awards for Best British Male Solo Artist and British Breakthrough Act.

Sheeran's popularity abroad began in 2012. In the US, he made a guest appearance on Taylor Swift's fourth studio album, Red. "The A Team" was nominated for Song of the Year at the 2013 Grammy Awards, where he performed the song with Elton John. He spent much of 2013 opening for Swift's The Red Tour in North America dates. In late 2013, he performed three sold-out shows at New York's Madison Square Garden as a headline act. He was nominated for Best New Artist at the 2014 Grammy Awards.