Rick Wakeman to open CRE Midlands 23

Rick Wakeman to open CRE Midlands 23

Legendary rock star Rick Wakeman will open CRE Midlands 23 (10am, Wed 8 Nov, Cranmore Park, Solihull).

Baptised at South Harrow Baptist Church, Wakeman became a Sunday School teacher there before attending the Royal College of Music in the 1960s, where he studied piano, modern music, clarinet and orchestration.

As well performing with top bands like the Strawbs and YES, he is best known for his own albums like The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Journey to the Centre of the Earth and The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. He has also played on more than 2,000 different tracks by artistes as diverse as Black Sabbath, Cat Stevens (‘Morning Has Broken’), Mary Hopkins, Cilla Black, Elton John, Edison Lighthouse, David Bowie (‘Life on Mars’) Lou Reed, Dana (who has opened CRE three times), Des O’Connor, Al Stewart, Ralph McTell and Harry Nilsson.

Awarded a CBE for services to music and broadcasting in 2021, Wakeman will be interviewed at CRE Midlands by Peter Wooding, son of Dan Wooding, a Christian journalist, author and close friend of Wakeman’s from the late 1960s until his death in March 2020. Wooding wrote a biography of his friend in the 1970s under the title Rick Wakeman: The Caped Crusader.

‘I have many stories about the great man,’ said Wakeman, ‘and some of them I can tell, too! I look forward to playing ‘Gone, But Not Forgotten’ at CRE Midlands – in memory of my dear friend.’

Wakeman will be joined at the opening of the exhibition by The BIG Sing choir, who recently scored a big hit with the judges on TV’s Britain’s Got Talent.

Photo: Rick Wakeman © Lee Wilkinson 2017

Book your ticket for CRE Midlands 2023 here from as little as £3

Organisations looking to book a stand should contact James Batterbee 0161 250 2306 (E: james@creonline.co.uk) or Carol Malpass 0161 250 2467 (E: carol@creonline.co.uk)

Click to view the latest floorplan and price list for available stands