Niall Horan announces virtual gig to support concert workers

Niall Horan is doing a special one-off concert to help raise funds for the people who help set up and run his concerts.

On 7 November, he's going to be performing at the Royal Albert Hall and fans will be able to buy tickets to watch virtually.

He's doing the gig in order to raise money for members of his crew who have lost their jobs during the coronavirus pandemic.

And Niall thinks other musicians should do the same.

"I urge all the artists, some of who are friends of mine, to do the same. If you're sticking on a virtual gig, you should put some funds towards your own crew if you're meant to be touring," he added.

The former One Direction star said he hoped to sell as many as 70,000 tickets for the event, which will be broadcast live on the internet.

All of the proceeds from the gig will go to Horan's crew and he hopes to encourage other musicians to do the same.

Speaking to the BBC, he said: "I'm obviously one of the lucky ones, but not everyone is as lucky as me. So we need to do what we can."

Musicians like Horan have been unable to go out and perform at concerts with crowds since the coronavirus lockdown was announced in the UK back in March.

The singer will play a show to an empty Royal Albert Hall

It's meant that a lot of people who rely on working at these tours have lost their jobs and have been worked to find alternative employment.

"I can tell you now that 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. It's as simple as that.

"They've always been forgotten about. They're known as the roadies and that's kind of it - but people don't realise that when they turn up to a venue, how that stage gets there. These people are up at 5am," he said.

'Not enough support'

Niall Horan shot to fame as part of the boyband, One Direction, who sold over 36 million records worldwide

Niall has criticised the government for what he says is a lack of support for people who work in the arts during the pandemic.

He said that people who work in the music industry have missed on the financial support offered by the government to those who have lost their jobs.

Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer, says he has promised £1.57 billion pound to protect the arts as he announced his Recovery Fund which has given a first extra bit of funding to 1,385 groups including theatre, dance and music organisations.