Sky Arts returns to musical first loves of the famous

Famous faces from music, television and politics rekindle their relationship with their first love for Sky Arts. Guests include Sue Perkins, Shaun Ryder and Alastair Campbell.

The six part weekly series, to launch in January 2012, sees a different celebrity retrain in their musical ‘first love’, learning and relearning long forgotten skills from childhood. Paired with a musical mentor, each celebrity will undergo rigorous training to get them ready for the performance of their lives.

Alastair Campbell will rediscover his love of the bagpipes, Shaun Ryder will relearn his skills on the saxophone, Sue Perkins will take on the classical piano, Stephen Mangan will tackle folk guitar, Carl Cox will retrain on the keyboard and Sophie Winkleman will exercise her vocal chords as she remembers her love of opera singing.

Following the success of the first series, First Love series reveals the forgotten dreams of the stars in their younger years, as they revisit their past and talk to their parents, old friends and school teachers. Discover what motivated their ‘first love’ and how their lives and careers ended up taking a different path from their musical dreams. Meeting musicians and experts, they will get the chance to immerse themselves in different artistic worlds and discover the professional nature of their chosen sound and instrument before their big live performance.

“So many people regret the decision to give up singing or an instrument when they are young, and end up wondering what they could have done if they’d only persevered,” comments James Hunt, channel director of Sky Arts. “Our cast of celebrities go on a fascinating journey as they reacquaint themselves with their lost musical talent: some, it must be said, more successfully than others!”

The series begins on Tuesday January 24th 2012.