Richard Ashcroft Heads To Europe This Fall

LONDON-- Richard Ashcroft will embark on his first major outing as a solo artist when he plays 13 dates in mainland Europe beginning in September. The former Verve frontman, who left the group in 1999, will begin the venture in Brussels on Sept. 20 and finish with an acoustic show in Rome on Oct. 7.

He will be promoting his Mercury Music Prize nominated album "Alone With Everyone." Ashcroft's first LP is currently at No. 22 in the U.K. album chart after debuting at No. 1 six weeks ago, and has been certified gold, selling over 200,000 copies. Although no British dates have been cited in his upcoming fall tour, Ashcroft will play at England's V2000 on Aug. 19 & 20.

The next single to be taken from "Alone With Everybody," entitled "C'Mon People (We're Making It Now)," will be released in the U.K. on Aug. 28. The winner of this year's Mercury Music Prize competition, in which Ashcroft will be up against Leftfield, Coldplay, Nitin Sawhney and others, will be announced on Sept. 12.