Hugh Cornwell

Hugh Cornwell plays Cambridge Junction on Thursday 19 November, as part of what he's announced as his final solo acoustic tour. It's a stripped-back night: just him, his guitar, and the songs, with an open Q&A session to follow the set.

If the name rings a bell but you're not sure why, Cornwell was the lead singer and songwriter for The Stranglers during their golden period. He was a founding member and the pen behind their most memorable songs across ten albums, including Rattus Norvegicus and La Folie — with 'Golden Brown' often cited as a songwriting masterclass. He's a Londoner, born in 1949 and brought up in Tufnell Park and Kentish Town, and went to William Ellis School in Highgate, where he was friends with Richard Thompson of Fairport Convention, before studying biochemistry at Bristol University.

His solo career has run to ten critically acclaimed albums, with Moments of Madness described as a late flowering classic and a modern-day masterpiece. He last played acoustic solo shows in the UK in 2017, and this tour is his final run of them. The set mixes The Stranglers' catalogue with new songs from his next studio album, Succubus, which you'll hear live for the first time here. The Q&A that follows gives you a chance to ask him about the songs and the career behind them.

Cambridge Junction is an 850-capacity venue that opened in 1990 on the site of the city's former Cattle Market. Doors open at 7pm, with the show starting at 7:30pm; tickets are £40.50 in advance.