Luton’s Brit Award-winning mega-selling pop star Myles Smith returned home last night to play a surprise pop-up show outdoors in the Hat District, insisting afterwards that he hopes he makes the town proud.
The ‘Stargazing’ hit-maker from Leagrave announced on his social media pages yesterday morning that he’d be playing in the town centre, having done so in numerous towns and cities recently.
Hundreds of Lutonians poured into Bute Street, opposite the Hat Factory, to see him perform a joyous short set including that global smash single, just one of his songs that have spent 72 weeks in the UK Top 40 chart, amassing over two billion streams across his catalogue.
At one point in the performance, Smith got a young fan on stage to sing ‘Stargazing’, while the crowd also sung along to hits like ‘Nice to Meet You’, ‘River’ and covers of Adele’s ‘Rolling in the Deep’ and Bastille’s ‘Pompeii’.
There was a funny moment when, doing his own rendition of 202’4’s biggest-selling British single ’Stargazing’, Smith had to stop part the way through as a police car, sirens blazing in background zoomed through the town.
Writing on his social media pages after the show, Smith posted a photo of himself sitting on the 3-D Luton sign with the crowd in the background, saying: “So good to be home, thank you to the hundreds of you that turned up last minute.
“It’s incredible to come back to the town who made me the person that I am and I’m so thankful. I hope I made you proud”
After the show the singer-songwriter pulled a few pints in the Sugar Loaf pub in New Town and then posted a snippet of a brand-new, as yet unreleased song, accompanied by a video on him singing it in nearby Cambridge Street.
The Sugar Loaf was one of the pubs he used to play in as a youngster, cutting his teeth as a performer.
The pub said: “Out of everywhere he could’ve gone today… Myles Smith chose Luton and he chose The Sugar Loaf!!! Such a humble guy. Massive respect. Loved having you in today, thank you.”
While earlier in the day Myles paid a visit to Luton Sixth Form College where he was previously a student, signing autographs and having a jam session with current music students.
The college posted on their social media accounts: “Thank you to Myles and his team for inspiring the next generation of musical talent.”
Smith, who has recently released single, ‘Drive Safe’ with One Direction megastar Niall Horan, regularly speaks fondly of his hometown, but said when announcing yesterday’s show that he’d not been back to Luton for six months.
That’s because he spent most of last year touring Europe with Ed Sheeran and North America on his own sold out shows.
So, yesterday was the first time Smith has performed in Luton since his stunning debut at the Stockwood Park-hosted Radio 1 Big Weekend festival in May 2024.
Since then, he has played Glastonbury, won a Rising Star Brit Award last year, was named BBC Introducing Artist of the Year, ranked in Time Magazine as one of 2025’s 100 most influential people and was included in former US President Barack Obama’s 2024 summer playlist.
Locally, Smith was also immortalised on the mural that surrounds the old ABC Cinema in George Street.
Luton Councillor James Taylor also confirmed that the show was part of the council’s year-long 150th anniversary celebrations of the town becoming a borough, saying: “Plenty more events like this to come.”
The council has already announced a flagship Party in the Park music event to take place in June, attracting 10,000 to Stockwood Park for the first time since Radio 1’s Big Weekend three-day extravaganza.
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