‘It doesn’t have to be just for Paul Heaton fans, although they might be now I’ve bought them a pint!’
Paul Heaton, Housemartins and The Beautiful South frontman, who is looking to involve scores of pubs in his next birthday celebrations
Singer Paul Heaton hopes to celebrate his next birthday in style by putting money behind the bar in scores of pubs around the UK – for a second time. Hull-hailed The Housemartins and The Beautiful South frontman marked his 60th birthday in 2022 by putting a total of £60,000 behind the bar at pubs up and down the country, setting up bar tabs of £1,000 in 60 boozers.
He had originally planned to do a bicycle tour, visiting and performing at 60 pubs across the UK & Ireland, but recording delays caused by the pandemic knocked those plans, sparking his idea for the big birthday bar tab. It made May 9 2022 a day to remember for three pubs in Hull.
The Whalebone on Wincolmlee, Ye Olde Blue Bell in Old Town, and The Grafton down the Avenues – where the Housemartins bandmates were regulars – all had a steady stream of drinkers toasting the singer that day. And now Paul, known for hits such as Caravan of Love, Perfect 10 and Song For Whoever, says he’s planning to do it all again when he celebrates his 65th birthday next May, to thank his fans for all of their support over the years.
He told BBC Breakfast: “I picked pubs, some of which I knew and some I didn’t, and put money behind the bar for my birthday. I’ll probably do it again next year. . .65 is a nice round number. I could pick the pubs.”
He was asked how he would select the pubs, and said: “Some of them I’ve been in. Some of them I just ask people where’s a good place, like ‘what’s a good pub in Nottingham?’ or wherever, and there’s money behind the bar until it runs out. It doesn’t have to be just for Paul Heaton fans, although they might be now I’ve bought them a pint!”
Pubs around the region will be hoping to make Paul’s list for his 65th, after those who were part of the 60th birthday celebrations had a brilliant day, turning a typically quiet Monday in the pub into a busy day bustling with drinkers raising a glass to the Happy Hour singer.
As well as the three pubs in Hull, there was also joy for two hostelries elsewhere in East Yorkshire. £1,000 was also put behind the bar at The Bay Horse in Market Weighton and The White Horse in Hutton Cranswick.
At the Whalebone in Hull, landlord at the time James Reading, said: “When I originally heard about it, it was so far-fetched that I thought it was fraud and kind of ignored it. They messaged The Whalebone Facebook page and said Paul Heaton wants to put £1,000 behind the bar for your regulars. Then his promoter rang me and it was true. It is a wonderful thing to do.”
Paul originally shot to fame in the 1980s when Hull band The Housemartins’ garnered national acclaim with their London 0 Hull 4 album. After the band split, Paul formed The Beautiful South in 1988, becoming one of the biggest-selling UK acts of all time, releasing 15 albums over nine years.
He has also recorded a number of albums as a solo artist and Paul’s 23rd studio album Jenius is out now, ahead of a UK tour starting in October.
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