Katy Perry will be temporarily replaced on “American Idol” while she is in Britain for King Charles’ coronation.
The “ET” singer, 38, and fellow judge Lionel Richie, 73, are set to take to the stage at Windsor Castle in London on 7 May for the king’s coronation show, and a couple of “big time” stars are set to fill in for the pair.
Their co-judge Luke Bryan told Entertainment Tonight about the stars who will fill the pair’s seats when they are away: “It’s big time. It’s big time. The people that we have filling in, contestants have used their songs many, many times. A lot more than mine!”
Perry was announced as one of the performers at the show on 13 April along with Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, 64, who will duet with 57-year-old Welsh opera icon Sir Bryn Terfel at the gig, which will be held in the grounds of Windsor Castle a day after Charles, 74, is crowned along with his wife Queen Consort Camilla, 75, at Westminster Abbey on 6 May.
Perry said she was “excited” to be performing as it would “help shine a further light on the Trust’s Children’s Protection Fund”.
The singer, who has daughter Daisy, two, with fiancé Orlando Bloom, 46, became an ambassador for Charles’s British Asian Trust, which helps child trafficking victims, in 2020.
Charlotte Moore, chief content officer for the BBC, which will broadcast the show live, said: “We are bringing the nation together for this once in a generation occasion.
“We have a world class line-up of performers to look forward to for what promises to be a very special night of celebration and entertainment.”
Charles’ concert will also include soul pianist Alexis Ffrench, 53, and 29-year-old singer-songwriter Freya Ridings.
The headliners were revealed after it emerged Take That’s Gary Barlow, 52, Howard Donald, 54, and 51-year-old Mark Owen will perform.
They will be backed by musicians including a 70-piece orchestra, and the Massed Bands of the Household Division and Countess of Wessex’s String Orchestra – with a 300-strong Coronation Choir also lined up to feature in the show.
It comes less than a year after the concert to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, which included music by Queen, Duran Duran and 79-year-old Diana Ross.