Razorlight mark 20 years since their self-titled second album with intimate show ahead of UK tour - as James Corden makes surprise appearance

Razorlight marked 20 years since their self-titled second album with an intimate show in Covent Garden, London on Wednesday ahead of their UK tour.  

Johnny Borrell and Andy Burrows performed an acoustic set of their classic hits at Stereo where actor and presenter James Corden made a surprise appearance in the crowd.

The musicians looked thrilled to be back on stage together before posing for photos with Gavin & Stacey star James, who was dressed in a smart navy shirt and jeans. 

James seems to be a big fan of the band as he included two of their tracks in his hit BBC TV show. 

Johnny and Andy took to the stage and told the true stories behind the band's greatest hits including track America, which was inspired by Billy Joel's Moving Out.

Johnny said: 'I sat down and said, "Why don't we just write a song with a drop beat like that, but minus the trumpet?" You looked at me like, "Well, we could, but you wouldn't like it."'

The evening also included renditions of Golden Touch, In The Morning, Stumble And Fall, Who Needs Love and Before I Fall To Pieces, as well as unexpected snippets of Extreme's More Than Words and Eric Clapton's Wonderful Tonight.

After Los Angeles Waltz. Johnny said: 'We could write a song back then before we knew how to do anything else…we were in our 20s and I don't think I could even tie my shoelaces back then. I was like, give me some Velcro - but here's a hit record.'

The 2026 tour will see Razorlight's four classic members – Borrell, Burrows, Björn Ågren and Carl Dalemo – perform the Razorlight album in full. 

The band will kick-off their UK leg on November 26, in Glasgow before heading to Newcastle, Wolverhampton, Leeds, Nottingham, Manchester, London and Bristol. 

After Johnny and Andy found huge success with the musical partnership that spawned Razorlight, they fell out and were estranged for more than a decade. 

But after a successful reunion in 2021, the pair took to the stage on Wednesday to tell the true stories behind some of the band's greatest hits. 

It comes after James returned to the UK following a long trip to the States to cover the World Cup after show for Fox, with ex-England captain Rio Ferdinand and comedian Ian Karmel, formerly co-head writer on The Late Late Show.