Rapper Tinie Tempah says UK live music venues are 'institutions that need to be protected'
The 'Pass Out' star says he owes his career to grassroots venues as he headlines a festival supporting them.
Last updated 15th Jun 2026
London rapper Tinie Tempah says UK live music venues are 'institutions that need to be protected' as he prepares to headline a festival supporting grassroots music venues.
The 'Miami to Ibiza' star says their cultural impact needs to be recognised: "One of our biggest soft powers is the export of our music, from as far back as I can remember, from The Beatles, and even before, all the way up until now.
"And if we don't have these venues, it's going to be a lot more difficult to nurture talent and for talent to continue to develop to get to that world-class level."
Alongside the likes of Becky Hill and Fatboy Slim, Tinie Tempah is going to be one of the headliners at a festival supporting grassroots venues, Everywhere At Once.
"Grassroots venues are the foundation of the UK’s live music ecosystem"
Calling itself a national celebration of grassroots live music, it will showcase artists at 1000 gigs at over 400 venues across the UK from June 26th - June 28th.
Taking place across hundreds of venues across the UK, the festival brings together grassroots promoters, artists and communities to highlight the importance of grassroots music venues.
It's supported by the National Lottery and Music Venue Trust, a UK registered charity created in 2014 which acts to protect, secure and improve grassroots music venues.
Venue closures
Grassroots venues are reportedly worth £500 million to the economy every year but Tinie Tempah says many are facing hardship: "The fact that we're kind of at risk of losing, at the moment we're losing three of these venues a month is highly concerning.
"A lot of them are being kind of knocked down and replaced by residences and then in my opinion kind of creating kind of areas that are now lacking in culture, you know, and lacking in a certain type of energy."
Other issues the rapper says have affected venues in recent years are things like rising costs and changing habits of customers after COVID, but he says he owes his career to grassroots music venues: "I think as an artist, I think to be honest, that's where you get your stripes, right?
"That's where you put your 10,000 hours in to be able to get to the headline slots of the festivals or to the big arenas or even stadiums if you're lucky.
"And if it wasn't for all of those venues, you know, going up and down the country, I don't think I would have been able to be here today."
London Venues
Tinie came up through venues in London, and says he has fond memories of one in East London in particular, Stratford Rex, saying he counted down the days until he was old enough, 18, to play at Grime night, Last Man Standing. The venue is closed by is hoping to reopen soon.
It's one of many venues opening up across the capital including British Airways Arc, which Tinie Tempah says is a good sign for the capital: "I think London is kind of what makes the UK the UK,
"You know, London is packed with so much culture and diversity from, you know, music to food to, you know, arts and the like. And I feel like if we start to lose some of that, then we kind of become a bit stale as a city."
Everywhere At Once takes place from Friday 26th June to Sunday 28th June. Tinie plays The Grove Newcastle Fri 26th, Voodoo Daddy's Showroom Norwich Sat 27th, The Brook Southampton Sun 28th.