BT London Live 2012 Olympics opening ceremony concert lines up Snow Patrol and Duran Duran

Stereophonics

With Blur, New Order and The Specials already confirmed for the Olympics closing ceremony concert in Hyde Park, the line-up for the counterpart opening ceremony gig has been confirmed with each of the four headliners being taken from the countries of the UK.

The English offering comes in the form of pop giants Duran Duran whose billing lead singer Simon Le Bon has described as 'one of the highlights of the last decade' for the band. More than 30 years after conquering charts all over the world, the four-piece has shipped more than 100 million records making them a worldwide ratings winner for the gig.

Duran Duran may have grabbed the headlines this week but the representatives of the three remaining home nations are also crowd-pullers in their own rights. Northern Ireland's Snow Patrol join Welsh indie rock legends Stereophonics while Paolo Nutini brings the soulful sounds of Paisley to the capital. There's something in there for everyone and, coupled with the closing ceremony gig headliners, present a fairly rounded selection of established UK artists familiar to audiences around the world.

The opening ceremony itself will also be screened live in Hyde Park, interspersed with the four headline sets, all on 27th July 2012.

We will have tickets from 9am on Friday 4th May. As with any events touched by the irresistible aura of the London 2012 games, tickets will be very popular and the closing ceremony concert is already sold out (we do have some Premium tickets available however - click below).

Stewart Darkin