With previous headliners including The Who, Aerosmith, Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen, the Hard Rock Calling festival can boast some appeal. Next year, it will take place from 24th to 26th June, and celebrate 40 years of Hard Rock!

Adding to the above list of luminaries are New Jersey darlings, Bon Jovi, who are the first headliner to be announced for Hard Rock Calling 2011. The band, who are releasing their Greatest Hits album today (Friday 29th October), will play day two of the three-day fest on Saturday 25th June.

This is part of their stadium tour, which will also see them play Edinburgh's Murrayfield Stadium on 22nd June, Lancashire County Cricket Club on the 24th June and the RDS in Dublin on the 29th June.

In the meantime, the band will make an appearance on the X Factor on Halloween Sunday to promote their retrospective release, and to find out which of their anthems they play - could it be 'Livin' on a Prayer', 'Bed of Roses' or 'You Give Love a Bad Name' ? I'm afraid you will need to watch ITV for a few minutes between 8pm and 9pm.

Tickets for the UK dates go on sale Monday 1st November (Hard Rock Calling: £59.50, Murrayfield: £50, Manchester: £65 + fees) at 9AM - and for some reason, Dubliners need to wait until Thursday 11th November to get their hands on tickets.

Solange Moffi