John Lewis have shared their Christmas advert for 2024, featuring Richard Ashcroft covering The Verve’s track ‘Sonnet’. Check it out below.
READ MORE: Richard Ashcroft – ‘Acoustic Hymns Vol. 1’ review: stripped-back re-imaginings of indie classics
The UK retailer has become recognised for its festive ads over the years, with the plot usually telling a short story, while also featuring a specially-created cover of a famous song to accompany.
Now, the ad for 2024 has been shared, which centres around a character called Sally, who embarks on a journey through her childhood memories in a bid to find the perfect Christmas gift for her sister Lauren.
Taking inspiration from The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, she falls through a rack of dresses, only to find herself in a fantastical world of her memories.
Titled The Gifting Hour, the ad ends with the strapline: “The secret to finding the perfect gift? Knowing where to look.”
Unlike previous years, which included covers of famous tracks, this time around the retailer has lined up a performance of The Verve’s single ‘Sonnet’ – performed by frontman Richard Ashcroft.
While the track was originally released over 25 years ago, Ashcroft also recorded an acoustic version of the single for his ‘Acoustic Hymns Vol 1’ solo album, which was shared back in October 2021.
That record saw him reimagine songs from his back catalogue, and included a number of tracks from The Verve’s third studio album, ‘Urban Hymns’. Check out the ad in full, featuring Ashcroft’s rendition of ‘Sonnet’ above.
The inclusion of The Verve track in the ad doesn’t stop there either, as tomorrow (November 15), John Lewis will be offering the general public the chance to become the next cover star. This involves launching a nationwide search, where musicians are asked to cover Ashcroft’s melody.
The winner will have their version released on TV on Christmas day, and the track will be officially released by BMG (as per Daily Mail).
Last year’s instalment of the John Lewis ad featured Andrea Bocelli, who sang a track called ‘Festa’, which was written and produced by Italian duo Le Feste Antonacci specifically for the ad. Before then, it included a cover of Blink-182‘s ‘All The Small Things’, and followed the narrative of a middle-aged man as he learns how to skateboard.
2021’s advert was soundtracked by a cover of Philip Oakey and Giorgio Moroder‘s 1984 hit ‘Together In Electric Dreams’ by Lola Young.
Prior to that, Elton John previously revealed he was paid £5million to star in the 2018 edition of the advert, while viewers in 2017, unimpressed with Elbow’s cover of The Beatles’ ‘Golden Slumbers’, complained that they weren’t brought to tears by the commercial, as had become customary with past editions.
Other artists to have contributed music to the yearly campaign include Lily Allen, Aurora and Tom Odell. It has featured covers of acts such as John Lennon, Oasis, The Smiths and Keane.
As for Richard Ashcroft, the singer-songwriter has been making more headlines earlier this year, when it was confirmed that he would be joining Oasis as a special guest for their 2025 UK and Ireland reunion tour.
“As a fan from day one I was buzzing for many reasons when the news of Oasis’ return was announced,” he said at the time.
“I can say with no exaggeration that the songwriting talent of Noel and Liam’s pure spirit as a lead singer helped to inspire me to create some of my best work. It was the perfection of ‘Live Forever’ that forced me to try and write my own.”
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