Dr John Cooper Clarke has announced a 2026 UK tour that will take fans through his “latest and greatest works” as well as his new book Have It – check out all the details below.
- READ MORE: The full story of Arctic Monkeys’ album ‘AM’
Clarke, whose performance poetry work was embraced by punk clubs in the ’70s, is set to hit venues including London’s Palladium, Liverpool’s Philharmonic Hall and Manchester’s O2 Apollo next winter.
Per a press release, next year’s 20-date tour will see Clarke introduce is new body of work alongside his beloved, hilarious and classic fan-favourites.
The Salford Bard’s brand-new book, Have It, will hit shelves in autumn and will follow on from 2024’s WHAT, which went on to become an instant Sunday Times bestseller.
Tickets for the tour will be available from 10am this Friday (December 5), and you can find yours here.
Dr John Cooper Clarke’s 2026 UK tour dates are:
OCTOBER
7 – Southend Palace Theatre
10 – Poole Lighthouse
11 – Bristol Beacon
14 – Brighton Theatre Royal
15 – London Palladium
17 – Sheffield City Hall
20 – Glasgow Pavilion
21 – Carlisle Old Fire Station
23 – Stoke-On-Trent Victoria Hall
24 – Birmingham Town Hall
28 – Liverpool Philharmonic Hall
31 – Leeds City Varieties Music Hall
NOVEMBER
4 – Whitley Bay The Playhouse
6 – York Grand Opera House
12 – Dublin 3 Olympia
15 – Belfast Mandela Hall
18 – Blackpool Opera House
21 – Manchester O2 Apollo
25 – Leicester De Montfort Hall
27 – Edinburgh Queens Hall
Clarke is arguably best known for penning ‘I Want To Be Yours’, which featured on his album ‘Zip Style Method’ and was later covered by the Arctic Monkeys for their 2013 album ‘AM‘.
The poet previously spoke to NME about the poem back in 2013. “I wrote it along with a load of others at the time, I tend to write like that. I remember when it was – about ’83 or ’84 or something like that. It’s come to my attention that it’s the wedding favourite.”
He continued: “The number of people that have said, ‘I had that read at my wedding’, or ‘My husband proposed to me using that number’… It’s been very useful in the world of modern romance! It is to modern wedding ceremonies what ‘Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life’ by Eric Idle is to humanist funerals. I probably go to a great many more funerals than you do, so take it from me.”
More recently, he teamed up with Luvcat on their eerie collaboration ‘He’s My Man (The Anniversary)’, with the Clarke providing original poetry for the song.
On ‘He’s My Man (The Anniversary)’, Clarke performs as Luvcat’s victim, narrating his gradual poisoning by the singer in a grizzly baritone: “Clinically hypoxic, literally toxic / I keep fallin’ in and out of sleep…”
Speaking about the collaboration, Luvcat said: “I met John a few months back at The Northern Music Awards. He was being honoured and I won breakthrough artist of the year that night. I was so afraid to speak to him… my dad was a punk and John’s work was spoken about a lot in our house. I found the courage to go over to his table and he couldn’t have been more sweet to me.
“I think John is the coolest man in the country and to have him play the role of my poisoned husband for the anniversary of this song is a true honour.”