BBC Radio 2’s new Spring schedule celebrates Country, Hip Hop, Gospel and Rock & Roll

This spring, BBC Radio 2 will be celebrating country music, hip hop, 50s and 60s rock & roll.

There will also be new series or specials from Kiefer Sutherland, Mica Paris, Bob Harris, Romesh Ranganathan, Rob Beckett, Edith Bowman, Kate Thornton and Ricky Wilson.

As the official broadcast partner of C2C Country to Country, the biggest country music festival in Europe, in March the station will broadcast from backstage at the festival in London’s O2 Arena with two shows.

On Saturday 12 March (3pm-6pm), Bob Harris will introduce highlights from the festival.

Featuring live tracks from Russell Dickerson, Kip Moore and six-time Country Music Association female vocalist of the year, Miranda Lambert, Bob will also be joined backstage by major Nashville stars performing live on the programme.

On Sunday 13 March (7pm-9pm), Bob is back with headliners including Scotty McCreery, Brett Young and ex-Hootie and the Blowfish frontman Darius Rucker.

The Country Show will broadcast highlights from the remaining artists on Thursday 17 March, 9pm-10pm). Additionally, BBC Sounds will play host to exclusive extended highlights from all three nights of the festival.

Bob Harris will also present a new four-part series, 21st Century Country (weekly from Sunday 20 February, 9pm-10pm) celebrating 20 years of performances and interviews that have aired on his weekly Radio 2 show.

Bob says: “It’s so great to have C2C back after its long, enforced gap, and I’m really looking forward to welcoming the very best contemporary country artists onto the Radio 2 airwaves direct from the O2 Arena in London. I’m also excited to explore my Country show past and present and take a deep dive into the incredible Radio 2 archive to bring listeners the definitive history of country music in the 21st century.”

Edith Bowman will present her Top 10 Movies Of Country Music, a show with film clips, archive cast interviews and movie soundtracks.

The show will be available on BBC Sounds from Saturday 12 March and on Radio 2 on Saturday 19 March.

Edith says: “The relationship between music and film is something I love exploring. It’s going to be so much fun and I’m thrilled to shine a light on and celebrate some of the best country music represented on film as part of Radio 2’s country programming.”

Golden Globe winning actor Kiefer Sutherland features in My Life In A Mix Tape on Saturday 12 March, 9pm-10pm. Star of the TV hit series, 24, Kiefer is also a renowned country artist, producing three albums. Recorded direct from Los Angeles, he talks about the sounds and the songs that mean so much to him.

There are some changes coming to Sunday afternoons on Radio 2 as Paul O’Grady will present his 5pm-7pm show in two runs of 13 weeks across the year, with his last show in the current series on Sunday 13 February and he’ll return on Sunday 22 May.

From Sunday 20 February to Sunday 15 May, comedian Rob Beckett will present a new series in this slot, he says: “I cannot wait to start my new Sunday series on Radio 2. As someone that has inhuman levels of energy, I’m incredibly grateful and excited that the BBC are letting me loose on the airwaves to try and pump up anyone feeling the end-of-weekend blues. Whether your football team lost, your plans got cancelled, or you burnt your roast dinner, we will put a smile on your face – and if you’re already smiling, then expect a full Cheshire Cat grin.”

Mica’s Gospel Gold is a new four-part series, running weekly from Saturday 12 February, 9pm-10pm where she explores links between gospel music and the fight for racial equality and civil rights, and how it is woven into our social and cultural history.

Mica says: “I’m delighted to return to Radio 2 for another series to uplift and inspire you. These tunes raised the roof, I couldn’t sit down and can’t wait to share them!”

To mark the 20th anniversary of Will Young winning the inaugural Pop Idol in 2002, Kate Thornton is to present a two-part special, Pop Idol: Birth Of A Franchise, taking listeners behind the scenes of reality-based entertainment music shows (Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 February).

Kate, who was the host of The X Factor for two series from 2004 – 2006 as well as a part of the Pop Idol phenomenon on ITV2, talks to those involved with the show, including Will Young, who recalls his Pop Idol journey from audition to victory, Pete Waterman (an original Pop Idol judge who was also later a judge on Popstars: The Rivals), Nicki Chapman (another original Pop Idol and Popstars judge), and Gareth Gates who came to second to Will Young in the show’s final.

Kate says: “Pop Idol provided a genuine cornerstone in popular culture and transformed the way we consume and interact with TV. It made huge stars of its finalists, not to mention a then unknown Simon Cowell, and went on to global domination becoming a billion dollar industry.”

In March, Ricky Wilson’s Rock and Roll Classics returns for a second three-part series, he says: “I couldn’t be more excited about returning to Radio 2 with my Rock and Roll Classics. I can’t wait for you to hear some of my old favourites, and even some of my new favourites, twisting and bopping through each hour.”

In April, Romesh Ranganathan returns with a new series of For The Love Of Hip Hop – across four Saturday evenings, he says: “Doing the first series of For The Love Of Hip Hop, it felt great to be bringing hip hop to Radio 2 and BBC Sounds. And to be given the opportunity to be able to do it again is incredibly exciting. I love doing this show. It’s actually probably my favourite thing to do. I’m loving it, and I hope I’m bringing hip hop to more people.”

Also in April, Radio 2 Celebrates the 90s launches with Jo Whiley’s Shiny Happy Playlist in her show on Thursday 7 April, 7pm-9pm, features across all programmes that evening and all day long until midnight. Further details will be announced in due course.

BBC Radio 2 Celebrates Jazz at the 25th Cheltenham Jazz Festival and the 100th anniversary of the BBC, in a special concert on Thursday 28 April. It will be broadcast on Sunday Night Is Music Night.

Seventy musicians including the Guy Barker Big Band and BBC Concert Orchestra will premiere a unique symphonic celebration commissioned by the Festival.

The concert will also feature the greatest jazz hits of the past 100 years alongside some of the standout moments from across the Festival’s 25-year history featuring guest appearances from Gregory Porter, Paloma Faith, Imelda May and new artists Adeline and Georgia Cécile.

Helen Thomas, Head of Radio 2 says: “Radio 2 prides itself in offering the widest variety of music to its listeners. Last year we played over 16,000 different songs. This Spring we’re giving our audience another rich variety of programming that shines a light on our specialist music offer, so whether you love country, gospel, rock & roll, hip hop or pop, it’s going to be a bumper season on the network and BBC Sounds.”