Pop's Pixie Lott and Aston Merrygold will head to South Shields this summer

Pop star Pixie Lott will lead a host of acts heading to the North East this summer as the South Tyneside Festival Sunday Concert series returns.

The All About Tonight singer will be joined by former JLS member Aston Merrygold at Bents Park on Sunday 8 July, to launch the 2018 shows which will be held over four consecutive Sundays.

Pixie Lott burst onto the scene in 2009 when, aged just 18, her debut single Mama Do went straight to number one in the UK singles chart. Her second single, Boys and Girls, was another chart-topper and her first album reached number six in the album chart that same year. Her second album was released in 2011 with the single All About Tonight giving hera third number one hit. Since then she has also turned her hand to TV and acting, appearing in Inspector George Gently in 2013, and Strictly Come Dancing the following year.

Pixie will be joined at the opening concert by singer and dancer Aston Merrygold. One quarter of the successful British boyband JLS, he became famous for his trademark backflips in his TV appearances.

When the band split in 2013, he became a judge on UK talent show Got to Dance, before going on to star in last year’s series of Strictly Come Dancing.