Katy Perry, Lionel Richie, Take That, and Nicole Scherzinger were among the artists to celebrate the coronation of King Charles III at a star-studded concert Sunday at Windsor Castle.
Perry — performing on arguably her biggest stage since the Super Bowl XLIX halftime show — delivered a rendition of “Roar” while drones formed the shape of a lion, denoting the newly crowned king’s coat of arms.
Perry then segued into “Firework,” which served as the evening’s final song, dedicating the song to the king. “Thank you for bringing out the firework in so many young people,” she said.
Despite the concert taking place on Sunday night, Richie took to the grand piano to perform the Commodores classic “Easy” — a song about weathering a breakup — before, thankfully, livening things up a bit with “All Night Long.”
Richie wasn’t the only Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee on hand: Steve Winwood also appeared to perform his hit “Higher Love” alongside the Commonwealth Choir.
Scherzinger was joined by pianist Lang Lang for “Reflection,” a song from the soundtrack for Disney’s Mulan previously performed by Christina Aguilera. Scherzinger, who had never sang the track live before, noted, “It’s a beautiful song when you listen to the lyrics.”
Prior to the performances, host Hugh Bonneville from Downton Abbey joked that the evening would feature “the artist previously known as prince,” a.k.a. King Charles III. It was that kind of night.
The coronation concert was plagued by reports of a number of artists turning down offers to perform at the coronation, with some theorizing that the royal family’s recent “PR disasters” were partly to blame.
However, Perry answered the king’s call given her history with Charles III: She’s been an ambassador of The British Asian Trust, a charity founded by Charles, since 2020.
“I am excited to be performing at the Coronation Concert, and helping to shine a further light on the British Asian Trust’s Children’s Protection Fund, whose work includes on-ground initiatives to fundraising, with the aim to find solutions to child trafficking,” said Perry.
Richie said in a statement, “To share the stage with the other performers at the coronation concert is a once-in-a-lifetime event and it will be an honour and a celebration.”