LEGENDARY singer Rhoda Dakar is set to perform at the Railway Inn in Winchester as part of a tour to save independent music venues.

She is among the latest artists to join The National Lottery’s United by Music Tour with Music Venue Trust.

A longtime supporter of the trust, Rhoda will perform nine special shows in intimate venues across the country, to support Grassroots Music Venues amid the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.

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Speaking of the tour, Rhoda said: “I go to a lot of gigs and though the grand stage provides a spectacle, nothing beats the palpable emotion of looking into a performer’s eyes and knowing they mean it. This is what happens in a grassroots music venue. You can feel the music. The same is true of performing. When you’re looking an audience in the eyes, you know whether you’re getting through, there’s no faking it!

“Currently, one grassroots music venue is closing every week. This is like slowly and deliberately stripping a layer of culture from our society. I saw David Bowie at The Marquee in Wardour Street, London, back in 1973, up close and personal. Nobody will have that experience again, as both are no longer with us. It’s at those venues that you connect with an artist. Sometimes forever! And this is why I’m taking part in the United By Music Tour. I’m out to make friends. Are you with me?”

Rhoda’s career began as lead vocalist with all female 2Tone band, The Bodysnatchers in 1979. She went on to record with The Specials, The Special AKA and Madness, along with her solo work. She has seven gold albums and one silver covering these and other recording projects.

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Rhoda is also a respected DJ and toured the Americas and Europe as support to The Selecter in 2019 and The Specials in 2016 as special guest.

The United By Music Tour, organised by the charity Music Venue Trust and funded by The National Lottery started in June and is running until late September. Rhoda Dakar, alongside other established acts including Sleeper and Newton Faulkner and a host of new acts, are touring the country playing 150 gigs at 130 grassroots music venues across the UK.

Rhoda will be playing at the Railway Inn on St Paul's Hill, Fulflood, on Saturday September 2.