The Beautiful South and The Housemartins singer Paul Heaton is giving fans free beer to mark his 60th birthday.
Heaton has bolstered bar tabs at 60 pubs across the UK and Ireland in honour of his sixth decade on the planet, and punters can enjoy a tipple on Heaton today (9 May).
The popstar has put money behind the bar at some of his favourite pubs, including The Rummer Tavern in Cardiff, Keohoes in Dublin, Plymouth’s Minerva Inn and The Old Toll Bar in Glasgow. On your marks, get set, go!
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Heaton initially planned to mark his milestone birthday by embarking on a cycle tour and stopping off at each pub to perform, but covid threw a spanner in the works.
Heaton has since decided to show his fans just how much they mean to him via free booze.
While the singer didn’t specify exactly how much he’d stuck behind each bar, he did encourage his 110,000 Twitter followers to drink ‘until the bar runs dry’.
Announcing the news in a post shared on Sunday, Heaton wrote: “To celebrate my 60th birthday (on Monday, May 9) I’d originally intended to do another bicycle tour, visiting & performing at 60 pubs across the UK and Ireland.
“However, due to recording delays caused by the pandemic, I’ve had to shelve these plans for the time being.
“Instead, I’ve decided the next best way to celebrate this coming of age is to handpick 60 pubs across the UK and Ireland and put a given amount of money behind the bar of each one. Then, both regulars and yourselves can enjoy a birthday drink on me (until the money runs out, or the bar runs dry!)”
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He added: “The hope is to bring people together on the day, whilst recognising that many folk who bought my records or showed me support over the years, could do with a wee party, as we come out of Covid and hit potential financial struggles.”
"So, if there's one near you please head over on Monday, show your support and raise a toast to me on my birthday!"
Heaton formed jangle pop group The Housemartins during the 1980s, and the Hull-based band was behind three top 10 albums and six top 20 singles in the UK.
After The Housemartins’ split, he formed The Beautiful South along with Dave Hemingway, who was also in The Housemartins.
The Beautiful South’s debut album dropped in 1989 and one of the record’s tracks, 'Song For Whoever', landed a number two slot on the UK singles charts.
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LADbible has approached Heaton for comment.
Aisha Nozari