Steve Winwood was among the performers at the Coronation Concert for England’s King Charles, held at Windsor Castle on Sunday night.
The hitmaker, known for his solo success, as well as his tenures in the band Traffic and the supergroup Blind Faith, delivered a rousing rendition of his classic track “Higher Love.”
Backed by a choir and full symphony, Winwood performed the 1986 chart-topper in front of a crowd of more than 20,000 fans, with millions more watching the event on television and streaming around the globe. Other performers at the event included pop star Katy Perry, opera singer Andrea Bocelli, R&B legend Lionel Richie and (suprisingly) Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog of the Muppets.
Watch Winwood play “Higher Love” at the Coronation Concert below.
The performance was just Winwood’s second public gig in approximately four years. In 2022, he made a surprise appearance during a festival set in Oxfordshire, England, playing three songs with the Staks Band.
Winwood’s last full concert took place in 2019. He was scheduled to hit the road with Steely Dan in 2020 – later pushed back to 2021 – however the pandemic put the kibosh on those plans. Winwood has not announced any new concerts since the cancellation of his Steely Dan dates.
The English rocker – whose hometown of Handsworth is roughly 120 miles north of the location where the Coronation Concert was held – has a connection to the royal family that goes beyond the recent performance. In 2011, his daughter Mary-Clare Winwood married Ben Elliot, a multi-millionaire entrepreneur and nephew to the newly crowned Queen Camilla.
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