Frankie Goes To Hollywood will reunite for Eurovision party

Frankie Goes To Hollywood will reunite to play The National Lottery’s Big Eurovision Welcome in Liverpool next month following the group’s original split 36 years ago.

The Liverpool-formed band, which began in the 1980s and saw the number one hits Two Tribes, The Power Of Love and Relax, will be appearing on May 7 outside St George’s Hall in the city.

Other performances from bands with a connection to Liverpool include girl band Atomic Kitten, funk band The Real Thing, and rock band The Lightning Seeds – singers of the football anthem Three Lions.

Lead singer of Frankie Goes to Hollywood Holly Johnson with the group (PA)PA Archive/PA Images - PA

Meanwhile, Conchita Wurst, the 2014 Eurovision winner from Austria, and Ukrainian winner Jamala, who competed in 2016, will also take part in the concert hosted by presenter AJ Odudu.

Odudu, who will kick off celebrations alongside comedian Joel Dommett, announced Frankie Goes To Hollywood will perform on BBC’s The One Show.

The band split in 1987 after the number one album Welcome To The Pleasuredome in 1984 and their second record Liverpool reached fifth place in the UK charts in 1986.

The pop group reformed with original members Paul Rutherford, Peter “Ped” Gill and Mark O’Toole in 2004 to perform at a concert at Wembley Arena, which raised money for youth charity The Prince’s Trust.

The gig, attended by the now King and Queen Consort, followed the band holding open auditions in London for a new vocalist to replace Holly Johnson.

They then performed with the then 28 year-old Ryan Malloy from Newcastle at the concert produced by Trevor Horn.

Around two decades ago, Frankie Goes To Hollywood also took part in a VH1 show Bands Reunited which saw Brian “Nasher” Nash, Gill, and Rutherford among the members tracked down.

When asked to perform at a concert during the original recording, Johnson told his bandmates off camera he did not want to take part.

Since their break-up, the Grammy-nominated band has released compilation albums Frankie Say Greatest in 2009, Frankie Said: The Very Best Of Frankie Goes To Hollywood in 2012 and The Essential in 2022.