GRAMMY Award-winning rock band Foo Fighters will play Sunderland's Stadium of Light next summer.

The gig will kick off the UK leg of the band's Sonic Highways European tour and is the only date between Edinburgh and London.

Led by Dave Grohl, Foo Fighters have sold more than ten million albums in their native USA alone.

The first concert to be confirmed in Sunderland’s 2015 summer music calendar, Foo Fighters will perform on Bank Holiday Monday, May 25 - 2015 being the band's 20th anniversary.

The Stadium has previously welcomed some of the rock world’s biggest acts, such as Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi and Kings of Leon.

The club's commercial director, Gary Hutchinson, said: “This is a major coup for the Stadium of Light and the North-East region and we are absolutely thrilled to be welcoming one of the world’s best live bands to Wearside.

"The dynamics of the Stadium of Light provide the perfect venue for rock shows of this magnitude and to host the opening night of Foo Fighter’s UK tour is another fantastic first for us.

“As the band’s only stadium venue between London and Edinburgh, Sunderland has truly cemented its credentials as one of the top venues in the UK for major global music acts.”

The tour announcement coincides with the release of the band’s eighth studio album, Sonic Highways. The album rocketed to the top of the iTunes chart on release.

Support for the gigs will come from wild-eyed rocker Iggy Pop and highly regarded Brighton hard rock duo Royal Blood.

The Foo's Sonic Highways album comes four years on from the mega-selling Wasting Light.

The eight songs on their eighth album document a road trip, accompanying the HBO documentary of the same name.

Each song was recorded in a different US city and in a studio where musical history was made.

Despite the miles put in, Grohl and company have not travelled too far from their usual style of music.

The album is filled with driving, fist-punching rock and anthemic choruses, such as in the sure-to-be-live-favourite I Am A River and The Feast And The Famine.

One track, Subterranean, sees Grohl, previously with grunge legends Nirvana, starkly examine the break-up of the band, in the studio where the pioneers of the genre recorded for the last time before Kurt Cobain's suicide.

TICKET DETAILS

Tickets go on sale at 10am on Friday, November 21 from the Stadium of Light and ticket agents.

Stadium of Light sales information:

The Stadium of Light will offer General Admission (standing/Tier 1 unreserved seating) tickets only, priced at £55. All sales are subject to a £4 booking fee per ticket (unless payment is made in cash). Tickets cannot be purchased from SAFC by telephone or online, tickets are available from the stadium’s box office to in-person purchasers only.

Ticket agents:

General admission tickets (standing/Tier 1 unreserved seating) are priced at £55. Tier 2 reserved seats, £67.50 and Tier 3 reserved seats (Premier Concourse, no access to main stadium bowl) £55. All tickets are subject to a booking fee.

Online at www.gigsandtours.com, telephone 0844 811 0051

Online at www.ticketmaster.co.uk, telephone 08448262826

Wheelchair and special needs patrons:

Tickets for wheelchair and special needs patrons are available by telephone from See Tickets, tel. 0871 230 3453

(calls cost 10p per min plus standard network charges).

Important information:

Young people aged 14 and under must be accompanied by an adult aged over 18 and no unaccompanied youngsters aged 14 or under will be permitted entry to the venue.

There is a limit of six tickets per purchaser in place.

HOSPITALITY

Demand for this show is expected to be exceptionally high. Visit www.safcconcerts.com or call 0871 911 1555 or email fooshospitality@safc.com to find out more information or to make an expression of interest for our exciting new concert hospitality concept. Existing SAFC hospitality customers should contact the club immediately to reserve their package.