Niall Horan to livestream gig to raise money for his road crew

Albertina Lloyd
·Contributor
Updated ·2 min read
Niall Horan performs during 103.5 KISS FM's Jingle Ball at the Allstate Arena on Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019, in Rosemont, Ill. (Photo by Rob Grabowski/Invision/AP)
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Niall Horan has announced that he is putting on a livestreamed show to raise money for his road crew.

The One Direction singer had been due to take his Nice To Meet Ya tour around the world this year, but it has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Horan, 27, told the BBC: "I'm obviously one of the lucky ones, but not everyone is as lucky as me.

“I'm a 27-year-old dude, I live with one person, my cousin, in the middle of London. I'm fit and I'm healthy.

Read more: Niall Horan snaps foot ligaments in drunken injury

"Our crew members are the ones that have basically been forgotten about.

“Furlough doesn't touch them – and they are the ones who have mortgages and families and homes and lives to pay for [but] they haven't got any funds to do so."

Niall Horan performs at Y100's Jingle Ball at BB&T Center on Sunday, Dec. 22, 2019, in Sunrise, Fla. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP)
Niall Horan was due to tour the world for six months this year. (AP)

He added: "My stage manager is working on a building site currently. A couple of lads are working in Tesco and Sainsbury's.

"If there's no touring, they don't have a job. They've been left behind.”

The This Town singer had been scheduled to be on the road for six months this year, taking his tour to Australia, Asia, Europe and America.

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Horan revealed he has worked with some of his crew since One Direction’s first tour in 2011.

The former boyband star now plans to play a one-off gig at the Royal Albert Hall on 7 November that will be live-streamed to between 60,000 to 70,000 ticket holders to watch online.

There will be no audience present in the venue and the concert will not be available to watch on-demand afterwards.

One Direction members, from left, Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson perform on ABC's "Good Morning America" on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2013 in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)
Niall Horan has worked with some of his crew since he toured with One Direction. (AP)

Tickets go on sale at 9am BST on Friday, 16 October.

Horan said any remaining money from the gig would be given to the charity WeNeedCrew, which was set up by a former production assistant for One Direction.

Read more: Sam Fender performs UK's first socially distanced gig with fans penned in

Road crew’s work is essential to live music – building stages, sound systems and lighting rigs, and ensuring the best sound quality during the show.

With thousands of concerts, festivals and tours cancelled due to COVID-19, their industry has been hit hard with UK's Live Music Group reporting that "the live business is shrinking four times faster than the rest of the economy”.

Watch: How Niall Horan injured his foot