EXCLUSIVE: Clare May Ball headliner revealed

Following on from last year's headliners of David Rodigan and Kikomann, Clare May Ball committee have announced their 2018 headliner, UK music legend Mike Skinner.

As the genius behind The Streets, Mike Skinner has played at many of the biggest venues and festivals around the world, and drawn widespread critical acclaim.

Various high-profile awards have fallen his way including a BRIT award and a highly-prestigious Ivor Novello award. His seminal debut project “Original Pirate Material” narrowly missed out on winning the 2002 Mercury Prize but was recently adjudged by The Guardian​ to be the “Album of the Decade”.

Further to this, Skinner has always been heavily involved in shaping the careers and sounds of the UK’s most exciting talent. He has produced and worked on hit songs for pioneers of the UK urban music scene such as Kano​ and Giggs, and mentored chart-toppers Example​ and former Clare May Ball headliner Professor​ Green​ under his record label, The Beats.

Skinner has also put his production talents to use in remixing and has remixed tracks for artists ranging from Ellie Goulding to Slaves.

Keeping a particularly keen eye on the underground MC scene within the UK, Skinner has given early breaks to the likes of Skepta, D Double E, Donae’o, Tinchy Stryder​ and Bruza​ on remixes of his tracks.

In this vein, Skinner has also teamed up with Manchester’s Murkage Dave​ to put on highly successful “Tonga” club nights up and down the country (although originally based at The Victoria in London) since 2014. These nights have showcased a huge variety of the UK’s finest talents including special surprise performances from some of the UK’s biggest names such as Giggs, Kano​ (who performed a rare old school grime set), Fekky​ and Big Narstie​.

Top notch publicity.

Skinner has also revived The Streets for a European tour, which sold out in under 2 minutes, and a series of innovative new releases. He continues to wow crowds at some of the world’s most celebrated festivals and venues.

The excitement doesn't stop there. With still more to announce, the Clare May Ball committee have promised "a full night of very good music from several highly accomplished artists.”

Clare is going inter-galactic with its "Planetarium" theme.

Find out more at the Clare May Ball website