Pop and rock royalty to play at free concert for jubilee

Sir Paul McCartney will headline a free public concert to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. The former Beatle will be among a concert line-up that will feature artists from across the 60 years of the monarch's reign, playing in front of Buckingham Palace on 4 June.

Among the other performers will be Sir Elton John, Sir Tom Jones, Dame Shirley Bassey, Jessie J, JLS, Ed Sheeran and, of course, Sir Cliff Richard. Other acts are still to be announced – the line-up is said to be 60 per cent finalised.

The two-and-a-half-hour concert will be televised live with tickets available through a public ballot, which opened yesterday for British residents to apply for 10,000 free tickets for the show. Each successful applicant will be allowed to nominate one guest aged 13 or over.

The event will begin in the evening, with the applicants who have been picked to attend enjoying a Jubilee picnic in the gardens of Buckingham Palace before the performances start. A concert stage around the Queen Victoria Memorial has been designed by architect Mark Fisher.