Sam Smith and Florence Welch’s Proms bookings sparks debate over modern music at classical festival

BBC Proms has sparked a fierce debate about the festival’s future after signing pop singers Florence Welch and Sam Smith for the 2024 season.

The singers, who are best known for their pop music, will make their debut at the classical festival, which will showcase the talents of more than 3,000 other musicians.

While festival bosses have insisted that their music will be adapted for the occasion, many online commentators are doubting their suitability.

This is particularly the case for Sam Smith, 31, who has recently ignited controversy over their highly sexualised performances and risqué outfits.

According to reports, Smith will perform their earlier 2014 debut album In the Lonely Hour, which is a far cry from their more recent, controversial material like ‘I’m Not Here to Make Friends’.

It promoted calls for the artist’s work to be subject to age restrictions on YouTube after it featured suggestive content like a water fountain being sprayed up into Smith’s open mouth.

The video also saw the singer wear the likes of cosets and nipple tassels while simulating sex positions.

In the video for the singer’s international hit song ‘Stay With Me’ from the 2014 debut, meanwhile, he laments the loss of a lover in plain clothes.

Welch, 37, on the other hand, is set to perform her 2009 album Lungs.

Explaining the thinking behind the signings, BBC Proms director David Pickard said: “This isn’t just another trip after Glastonbury, this is something very special and we’re excited about the idea of opening up a different type of music to the Proms, but actually retaining the sense that this is an orchestral festival.

“And hopefully it will bring in the sort of audience that might not necessarily come to the Proms but now feel very welcome.”

The claims that the pop music will be performed in a way that’s appropriate for a classical festival was also backed up by the controller of Radio 3 and BBC Proms, Sam Jackson.

He insisted that Smith’s performance, in particular, will have a look and feel that’s “entirely appropriate for the festival”.

“We’ve worked very hard with Sam Smith and their management on how we can create something that is authentically Proms,” he insisted.

However, these statements did little to reassure music fans, who took to social media to express their concerns about the signings.

One Twitter (X) user questioned: “So, Sam Smith at the BBC Proms. What will he wear?”

“This is just progressives rubbing the noses of traditionalists in it, isn’t it?” questioned a second. They love to ruin the experience of those they consider cultural ‘elites’.

“Proms is not a pop concert and Sam Smith is not an ‘artist’ of any sort.”

A third wrote: “Sam Smith is headlining the @BBC proms!!! It’s gonna be tasteful!! What a load of tosh.” [sic]

Criticising the emphasis on pop music, another Twitter user wrote: “So many great Proms and yet 4 of the 6 Highlights on the first web page are Sam Smith, Disco, Dr Who and Florence and the Machine. I’m sure they’ll be great but….” [sic]

A second agreed, writing: “There clearly aren’t nearly enough pop music festivals in the UK now, so @bbcproms want to start to turn itself into another one. Do let us know when this rush to accept pop music in a classical music festival is matched by any of the many pop festivals featuring classical.” [sic]

The debate comes amid more general criticism of the BBC Proms, which will feature 90 concerts over an eight-week period.

Conservative MP Michael Fabricant dubbed the festival “hopelessly out of touch” back in 2020 for its decision to potentially scrap the song ‘Rule Britannia’ and ‘Land of Hope and Glory’.

This came after the 2020 Black Lives Matter movement when the song’s appropriateness was reconsidered because they are arguably a nod to Britain’s colonial past.

Fabricant told The Express at the time: “If my Twitter poll is anything to go by, with over 90 percent of respondents saying they do not agree with the BBC’s decision to potentially axe Rule Britannia and Land of Hope and Glory, the BBC are hopelessly out of touch.”

Despite the reconsideration, the songs were ultimately played at the event.

‘Rule Britannia’ will also be played on the last night of this year’s event, the BBC has confirmed.

The decision to press ahead with the production of the song comes after the cellist at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding spoke out about it in 2020 and again earlier this year.

Sheku Kanneh-Mason said in an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs that the song makes many people feel “uncomfortable”.

“I think maybe some people don’t realise how uncomfortable a song like that can make a lot of people feel, even if it makes [the people singing it] feel good,” he said. “I think that’s somehow a big misunderstanding about it.”

Suggesting an alternative, Kanneh-Mason added: “There is so much wonderful British music. The wealth of folk music from this country is astonishing.”

Some of the song’s controversial lyrics include the line: “Britons never, never, never shall be slaves.”

Smith is set to perform on August 2 while Welch will perform her only UK concert of the year on 11 September.