Van Morrison

Precisely 55 years ago, Van Morrison and his Northern Irish band Them unleashed the rock & roll classic ‘Gloria' on the world – as a B-side! His first solo single, the timeless ‘Brown Eyed Girl', dates back to 1967. About a year later, with Astral Weeks, Van Morrison made one of the best pop records of all time (and one of the few albums to receive 10/10 from the ridiculously skeptical music bible Pitchfork). So, really, calling Van Morrison a living legend is an almost insulting understatement. Especially since the now 75-year-old icon is still at it. According to the British newspaper The Guardian, he recently even made his best album in over twenty years, with Three Chords & The Truth. And for those who think "well, he probably only made two albums in the past twenty years": the exact number is fifteen, and almost all of them got great reviews. But according to The Guardian, Three Chords & The Truth is just that little bit more unique. And the newspaper isn't the only one who feels that way. Q Magazine wrote that Morrison "languidly strolls though the light and dark of his past stylistic glories", while Pitchfork noted that the singer-songwriter still sounds incredible – "his voice deepened and richer with age" – and that "for Morrison, there are always mysteries left to articulate." Add to that that Van Morrison's live reputation is greater than the Great Wall of China, and you know that July 11 will be a day to remember, for a very long time. Line up to be announced