Hugh Jackman to Open Brit Awards With ‘Greatest Showman’ Performance

By Robert Mitchell

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Grammy-winning Hollywood star Hugh Jackman is set to open next week’s Brit Awards with a performance from “The Greatest Showman.” Jackman, who has previously won Tony, Emmy, and Golden Globe awards, won a on Sunday night for compilation soundtrack for visual media for “.” The film’s director, Michael Gracey, will also handle the creative direction of Jackman’s Brits performance.

Brits chairman Jason Iley, who is also chairman and CEO of Sony Music U.K. and Ireland, said the performance was set “to be nothing short of spectacular.” “It’s only fitting that the U.K.’s biggest celebration of musical successes should be kicked off with a performance from the biggest-selling album in the U.K. of the last year,” said Iley.

“The Greatest Showman” opened in the U.K. on Dec. 29, 2017 and went on to gross £47.4 million ($63.7 million) in the market, becoming the sixth-highest grossing film of 2018. The film’s soundtrack was Britain’s bestselling album of 2018, selling 1.77 million copies and becoming only the second album in 30 years to spend 11 consecutive weeks at No. 1, matching Adele’s “21.” It has sold 5.4 million records worldwide.

In May, Jackman will kick off a world tour of his one-man show “The Man, the Music, the Show,” which includes five performances at London’s O2 Arena, where the will take place on Feb. 20.

Jackman joins a lineup of confirmed performers for the Brits that also includes Grammy-winner Dua Lipa. The singer, who won awards as British breakthrough act and female solo artist at the Brits in 2018, won best new artist at Sunday’s Grammy Awards. She will perform on “One Kiss,” her collaboration with Calvin Harris, which is nominated in both British single and British artist video categories, where it will compete with Lipa’s own track “IDGAF.”

Last week it was announced that American singer Pink was to become the first international star to receive the Brit Awards’ special prize for outstanding contribution to music.