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As part of ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 2's commitment to offering the best live music performances to its listeners, the network will host a bumper number of live music sessions and concerts in the forthcoming weeks, reflecting its unique and diverse music output.

On Bank Holiday Monday (25 May) Radio 2 presents The Great British Street Party, a free live concert from London's Leicester Square which concludes the network's week-long Love Where You Live initiative.

Hosted by presenter Kate Thornton, the concert will include live performances from British artists The Lightning Seeds, Ben's Brother and jazz diva Mica Paris.

The concert will feed live into Aled Jones and Melanie Sykes' Bank Holiday Monday afternoon show, where they present three hours of the very best party music from 1.00 to 4.00pm.

American soul singer and former Doobie Brother Michael McDonald will perform an exclusive live acoustic session on Tuesday 26 May during Ken Bruce's weekday show between 9.30 am and noon, when Zoe Ball sits in for the Scotsman.

Following in the recent footsteps of artists such as Annie Lennox, Seal and Take That, the soul singer will perform a selection of past hits and new material from the legendary ´óÏó´«Ã½ Maida Vale Studios.

Future performances from the Maida Vale Studios to feature on Ken's Radio 2 show also include the legendary American singer-songwriter Lionel Richie for an exclusive Live In The Morning session on Monday 8 June.

After recently confirming a Commodores reunion in the near future, Lionel released his new album Just Go earlier this spring.

On Wednesday 3 June, the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Theatre in Broadcasting House will play host to Yusuf, the man previously known as Cat Stevens, for a live performance which will be broadcast on Radio 2 at 10.00pm on Saturday 6 June.

Having just announced plans for a world tour, and a musical called Moonshadow which will hit London towards the end of the year, the multi-award winning artist will perform songs from his recently-released album, Roadsinger, as well as much-loved classic tracks.

Singer-songwriter Tori Amos will be joining presenter Stuart Maconie in the studio on Thursday 28 May for a live performance on The Radcliffe & Maconie Show between 8.00 and 10.00pm and Maida Vale will also be welcoming emerging musician Paloma Faith that week to give an individual performance for a Dermot O'Leary Introduces... session on Saturday 30 May, which featured upcoming artist Pixie Lott last month.

Inspired by jazz legends such as Billie Holiday and Etta James, the London-born ex-musician's assistant and former burlesque dancer will be releasing her debut single Stone Cold Sober later in the year and promises a theatrical performance which can be heard during Dermot's show between 3.00 and 6.00pm on Saturday 20 June.

Dermot also introduces the Yeah Yous to Maida Vale on Tuesday 26 May. Hotly tipped as the next big thing in British pop, the London-based duo release their new single 15 Minutes in June and their live session can be heard on Dermot's Radio 2 afternoon show later that week on Saturday 30 May.

Continuing the network's commitment to its jazz output, Radio 2 presents Canadian jazz singer Diana Krall who will perform a live concert, hosted by regular Friday Night Is Music Night presenter Claire Teal, on Sunday 31 May at Maida Vale.

Diana celebrates the release of her latest album Quiet Nights at the beginning of June and the concert will be broadcast on Radio 2 on 6 July at 8.30pm.

Bob Shennan, Controller of Radio 2 and 6 Music, says: "Radio 2 is proud to offer some fantastic live music performances from both classic and burgeoning artists over the next few weeks. As every day on Popmaster on Ken Bruce's show proves, our listeners are huge music fans and I'm delighted that we make time in the schedule to introduce them to new musical talent such as Daniel Merriweather, Pixie Lott and now Paloma Faith."

SM3