Carlisle is set to welcome rock royalty next month as The Zombies take their UK Tour to the city.

The St Albans group formed over 60 years ago and will perform songs from their extensive catalogue in the city’s Old Fire Station on February 16.

Discussing what people can expect from the show, lead singer Colin Blunstone said: “We’ll play a backbone of all the songs they are familiar with, the songs that people know including ‘She’s Not There’ and ‘Time of the Season’. The interesting thing with The Zombies is that Rod and I have had different careers, he was in Argent and with my other singles, people often come to our shows and are surprised by how many songs they recognise.

“We are also in the process of completing our new album and we will be playing four or five songs for it. Judging by early reactions the songs have caused quite a stir and we’re looking forward to performing them for the first time.”

News and Star: ICONIC: The Zombies were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2019ICONIC: The Zombies were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2019 (Image: Alex Lake)

Since the band’s last tour of the UK, they were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Sharing his reaction to the band’s inclusion, Colin continued: “Just like everyone else, really. There is a committee there and when they named the 15 nominees I was absolutely thrilled. We were inducted and it was, so far, the highlight of my career.

“All the inductees were there. You had Stevie Nicks, Janet Jackson, Def Leppard, Roxy Music, The Cure, Radiohead; all of these fantastic acts being inducted at the same time and it was such a thrill to be there, I’ll never forget it.”

News and Star: ANNIVERSARY: Colin's solo debut 'One Year' was released 50 years agoANNIVERSARY: Colin's solo debut 'One Year' was released 50 years ago

2022 also commemorates the 50th anniversary of Colin’s debut solo album, ‘One Year’. When asked if he had any plans to celebrate the occasion, he said: “The album has an extensive range of music with a large orchestra and it may not be viable to take everyone on tour although I do know there’s interest both here and America. It’s really exciting to me that there’s still interest after 50 years and it would be a thrill to perform it in its entirety.”