Capital's Summertime Ball is a mini-festival in London, usually held on either first or second Saturday or Sunday of June by the radio station Capital. The first ball was at Emirates Stadium in 2009, and it has since been held at Wembley Stadium. The 2020 Summertime Ball was to be held at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium because Wembley was due to host games of Euro 2020, but was eventually cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The concert is subsequently shown on ITV1 and ITVX as best bits from the event.
History The event is promoted and broadcast by the Capital network. There have been five different sponsors and lead partners since its first event. From 2012 until 2018, Vodafone UK was the sponsor. In 2009, Barclaycard sponsored the ball. In 2010 ASOS.com sponsored the event, with Starbucks sponsoring the event in 2011. There was no official sponsor in 2019, although Apple Music was a presenting partner for that year's edition in a last-minute deal. Barclaycard once again sponsored the event from 2022, and remains the present sponsor, also sponsoring the Jingle Bell Ball.
Event by year
2009
The first Summertime Ball took place on Sunday 7 June at Wembley Stadium, with headline acts Kelly Clarkson, Leona Lewis and Akon. The supporting headliners were Blue and Katy Perry.
The event was hosted by Capital London presenters Rich Clarke, Kat Shoob, Lisa Snowdon and Johnny Vaughan, and was sponsored by Barclaycard.
2009 Summertime Ball StarsKelly Clarkson Leona Lewis Akon Blue Katy Perry James Morrison JLS Mark Ronson Calvin Harris The Saturdays Shontelle Noisettes Ciara Enrique Iglesias Alesha Dixon Dizzee Rascal Daniel Merriweather
2010 Summertime Ball took place on Sunday 6 June at Wembley Stadium. The backstage action ran from 10am to 4pm, while the Ball itself started at 4pm and ended at 9:30pm. It was hosted by Capital Breakfast DJs Johnny Vaughan and Lisa Snowdon.
Stars of the 2010 Summertime BallRihanna Usher Justin Bieber Cheryl Cole JLS Ke$ha Dizzee Rascal Scouting for Girls Alexandra Burke Jason Derulo Iyaz Pixie Lott Chipmunk Ellie Goulding The Wanted Tinie Tempah Esmee Denters will.i.am Labrinth Sean Kingston Florence and the Machine
2011 The Summertime Ball 2011 was sponsored by Starbucks and took place on Sunday 12 June at Wembley Stadium. American singer Jennifer Lopez was the headline act for this year's ball. Tickets for the event sold out on 3 June 2011. However, in the weeks running up to the Summertime Ball, Capital held on-air competitions to allow listeners to win tickets to the event.
2011 Summertime Ball StarsJennifer Lopez JLS Jessie J Enrique Iglesias Nicole Scherzinger The Wanted Cee Lo Green LMFAO Mike Posner Alexis Jordan Far East Movement Katy B Example Wretch 32 Mann Ne-Yo
Surprise & Guest Acts
Dev & The Cataracs Lauren Bennett Natalia Kills Devlin
The first Summertime Ball to be aired across the Capital network of radio stations was presented by James 'The Bassman' Bassam, Greg Burns and Rich Clarke. Roberto presented interactive content and Kat Shoob was a backstage reporter.
2012
The Summertime Ball 2012 was sponsored by Vodafone and took place at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 9 June 2012. Katy Perry and Coldplay were both headline acts for this year's ball, with Justin Bieber and Jessie J being supporting headline acts. The line-up for this year's event was announced on localised Capital Breakfast shows across the United Kingdom on 21 April 2012. This year the event features a brand new logo. Ticketmaster sold out in all categories.
2012 Summertime Ball StarsKaty Perry Coldplay Justin Bieber Usher Ed Sheeran The Wanted Jessie J Kelly Clarkson Flo Rida Example Pitbull Rita Ora Conor MaynardSurprise Acts Cover Drive Lawson Dizzee Rascal CherylSpecial Guests Rizzle Kicks Carly Rae Jepsen
2013
The 2013 Summertime Ball was held on Saturday 8 June 2013 at Wembley Stadium. It was announced on 24 April 2013 that Justin Timberlake would be the guest presenter hosting the ball for 2013. Tickets went on sale on Friday 26 April at 8am, and sold out in under 2 hours. The 2013 Vodafone Summertime Ball featured the most acts ever for a single Capital FM ball with 21 performers. The headliners, Robbie Williams and Taylor Swift made their ball debuts on Saturday 8 June, with will.i.am, performing at his fourth ball, but his first one solo, and Olly Murs, who made his debut Summertime Ball performance, being the supporting headline acts. The Wanted's fourth appearance at this ball made them the most frequent performers at the Summertime Ball. Band member Nathan Sykes returned after having major throat surgery earlier on in the year, making this his first performance after his throat surgery. Justin Timberlake also performed at the event, despite only being listed as a host rather than a performer.
2013 Summertime Ball StarsTaylor SwiftRobbie WilliamsJustin Timberlake will.i.am Olly Murs Jessie J The Wanted Labrinth The Saturdays Ellie Goulding Lawson Rizzle Kicks Union J Disclosure AlunaGeorge Robin Thicke Naughty Boy Rudimental Duke Dumont James Arthur PsySpecial Guests Eliza Doolittle Sam Smith Ella Henderson B.o.B A*M*E Ella Eyre John Newman Ed SheeranDJ Sets Marvin HumesHost Justin Timberlake
2014 The 2014 Summertime Ball was officially announced by Capital FM on Monday 28 April 2014, and the announcement stated that ticket and venue details will be announced the following week. On 6 May, it was confirmed that the ball would return to Wembley for the fifth consecutive time and be held on Saturday 21 June. The first headliner, Miley Cyrus was announced on 7 May. The full line-up followed on 8 May, with Pharrell Williams and David Guetta as other headliners. Calvin Harris, Ed Sheeran, Little Mix and Enrique Iglesias were later revealed to be the supporting headliners of the mini-festival. Tickets officially went on sale the following day. Marvin Humes opened the show with an introductory DJ set.
2014 Summertime Ball StarsMiley Cyrus Pharrell Williams David Guetta Little Mix Ed Sheeran Enrique Iglesias Cheryl 5 Seconds of Summer Calvin Harris Ellie Goulding The Vamps Jessie J Iggy Azalea Rita Ora Foxes Clean Bandit Ella Henderson Austin Mahone Duke Dumont Union J Kiesza RixtonSpecial Guests Jess Glynne Charli XCX Nathan Sykes DJ Cassidy Kelli-Leigh Jax JonesIntroductory DJ Set Marvin Humes
2015 The 2015 Summertime Ball returned to Wembley for the sixth consecutive time and was held on Saturday 6 June 2015. The show sold out within the second few hours of ticket shows. On 27 April 2015 One Direction announced they were going to be the first headliners for the show. LunchMoney Lewis was added to the lineup on 19 May, with Rixton, Carly Rae Jepsen and Nick Jonas being added the following day. Former The Wanted star Nathan Sykes joined the lineup on 22 May. After appearing at the ball four times together with The Wanted and joining Jessie J on stage at the Summertime Ball last year plus his awaited performance this year, it was Sykes' sixth consecutive appearance since 2010 making him the most performed act to date. Sam Smith was due to perform, but withdrew from the show due to illness. Kelly Clarkson performed bare foot at this ball.
2015 Summertime Ball StarsAriana Grande One Direction Avicii Little Mix Sam Smith (Pulled Out) Olly Murs Kelly Clarkson Jason Derulo Flo Rida Carly Rae Jepsen Pitbull Meghan Trainor Martin Garrix Rita Ora Ne-Yo Fifth Harmony Jess Glynne Rixton Omi Nathan Sykes LunchMoney Lewis Nick JonasSpecial Guests Tinie TempahIntroductory DJ Set Marvin Humes
2016 The Summertime Ball returned to Wembley for the seventh consecutive year on Saturday 11 June 2016.
Little Mix and Tinie Tempah were the headliners for 2016.
Zayn Malik was due to perform at the event, but pulled out last minute due to nervous health issues and later apologized to fans
2016 Summertime Ball StarsAriana Grande Craig David Dizzee Rascal Clean Bandit & Louisa Johnson Flo Rida Jess Glynne Jillionaire Little Mix Lukas Graham Marvin Humes DJ Set Mike Posner MNEK Nathan Sykes Nick Jonas Tinie Tempah Sigala The Vamps Will.i.am Years & Years WSTRN Surprise Acts Dizzee Rascal Special Guests Lydia Lucy Imani Williams John Newman Bryn Christopher Katy B Zara LarssonCapital Weekender Introductory DJ Set Marvin Humes
2017 The Capital Summertime Ball with Vodafone returned to Wembley Stadium on Saturday 10 June 2017 with the event being announced on Friday 28 April 2017 by Roman Kemp and Vick Hope via London's Capital Breakfast show. They announced 7 acts per-day from Monday 7 May until Wednesday 9 May and the headlining act was announced on Thursday 10 May with tickets going on sale the same day and selling out in 30 minutes. Maroon 5 pulled out of the event and were replaced by Liam Payne and Sigala on Thursday 8 June. Bruno Mars and Little Mix headlined the event with Shawn Mendes and Niall Horan as supporting headliners.
Capital FM produced three programs dedicated to this event: on 10 June 2017, it broadcast live backstage from 6am to 3pm with Rob Howard, Will Cozens and Jimmy Hill, then live coverage from Wembley from 3pm to 11pm by three presenters in order: Ant Payne, Vick Hope and The Bassman, and finally JJ ran an "Afterparty" edition until 2am at night; on the next day, JJ reviewed every best moment from the event on his slot 7–10pm. After this, the network moved back to normal programming. Highlights of the event were aired on Capital TV from 7:00pm to 10:30pm on the day of the ball. This was the final performance of Dua Lipa and Sean Paul together with their song No Lie.
2017 Summertime Ball StarsBruno Mars Little Mix Maroon 5 (Pulled Out) Shawn Mendes Niall Horan Charlie Puth Zedd Olly Murs Stormzy Dua Lipa Zara Larsson Anne-Marie 5 After Midnight James Arthur JP Cooper Louisa Johnson Sean Paul Jax Jones & Raye Julia Michaels Martin Jensen Rag'n'Bone Man Sigala Liam Payne Special Guests Hailee Steinfeld Ella Eyre Imani Williams Craig David Introductory DJ Set Marvin Humes
2018 The Capital Summertime Ball returned to Wembley on Saturday 9 June 2018 and was announced by Roman Kemp and Vick Hope across London on Capital Breakfast on Friday 28 April. 5 acts were announced everyday from Monday 30 April 2018 until 3 May 2018. Tickets went on sale on Thursday 3 May 2018 and sold out in 5 days. Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello headlined the event, with Rita Ora and Charlie Puth as supporting headliners. Marvin Humes did a DJ set from 2:40pm before the main show began at 3pm.
2018 Summertime Ball StarsShawn Mendes Camila Cabello Charlie Puth Rita Ora Rudimental Jess Glynne Jax Jones Clean Bandit Stefflon Don Jonas Blue Yungen Craig David Anne-Marie Mabel James Arthur Sean Paul Sigala Raye G-Eazy Years & Years Special Guests Demi Lovato Louisa Johnson Ramz Not3s Ella Eyre Dan Caplen Yxng Bane JP Cooper Dakota Jack & Jack HRVY Paloma Faith Introductory DJ Set Marvin Humes
2019 The 2019 Summertime Ball was held on Saturday, 8 June 2019 at Wembley for the 10th consecutive year. The lineup was announced on Capital Breakfast with Roman Kemp, Vick Hope and Sonny Jay from Monday, 29 April 2019. The lineup was announced by being revealed on billboards across the United Kingdom. The person who spotted the 'Ballboards' had to text 83958 with their location and the artist they saw and as a result of confirming an artist Kemp would give the caller a pair of tickets to this year's event.
The headliner was announced to be Calvin Harris on 2 May 2019. Marvin Humes did an Introductory DJ Set at 2:00pm, with the show starting at 2:30pm BST and finishing at approximately 10pm BST. Roman Kemp, Vick Hope and Sonny Jay hosted the Ball. Tickets sold out six days after they went on sale.