Unknown singer speaks out on ‘whirlwind’ week after replacing Olly Murs at Take That concert-Robert Oliver-Entertainment – Metro

Take That needed saving during their recent Glasgow gig (Picture: WireImage)

A bar singer who stood in for Olly Murs at the last minute has described the ‘whirlwind’ week he’s had since he supported Take That.

Daniel Rooney, 26, was playing in a hotel bar next door to the Ovo Hydro in Glasgow when he was asked to fill Olly’s support slot at the 11th hour.

Olly couldn’t make it to the venue, situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, because of transport issues, leaving the concert’s organisers in a bit of a pickle.

Thankfully, Daniel stepped in after being approached by Scots TV presenter Ross King, and played in front of 14,000 fans – a crowd more than 300 times the size of his usual audiences in pubs and clubs around Glasgow.

The busker was later thanked by Take That frontman Gary Barlow before heading back to his life in Cambuslang, a town in the south-east of the Greater Glasgow area.

Olly struggled to make it to Glasgow despite supporting Take That throughout the rest of their current UK tour, with his flight from London cancelled on the day of the Scotland gig.

Daniel Rooney stepped in to save the Glasgow concert (Picture: Instagram)

Speaking to the BBC about the last few days, Daniel said: ‘It’s been a whirlwind. My phone’s not stopped for three days. It’s been really fun.’

Describing the feelings he had while on the biggest stage in Glasgow, he explained: ‘I usually play to around 40 people. It’s madness. I was more just focusing on what songs to sing. I was more excited than anything else.’

He then said his concert was ‘the craziest 30 minutes ever’ and thanked members Gary, Mark Owen, and Howard Donald for calming him down and discussing his setlist.

Olly Murs was meant to support Take That but couldn’t make it in time from London (Picture: PA Wire)

After giving the performance of a lifetime, Daniel’s whirlwind week started when Gary paid tribute to him on Instagram, saying, ‘This young man saved the day, thank you,’ adding a picture of him and posting three love heart emojis.

He admitted to Lorraine shortly afterwards that he thought the whole thing was a ‘wind up’: ‘One of the waiters [at the hotel] came up and says “Ross King wants to speak to you and he might have a life changing opportunity for you”.

‘I’m thinking someone’s trying to wind me up, but he was telling the truth. I packed up my stuff and I said to the Radisson “Look, I need to go, I’ve been asked to play at the Hydro”.’

Take That are currently on tour around the UK (Picture: SplashNews)

Days later, he was asked to perform a short setlist at the Celtic Park football stadium as Celtic took on Heart of Midlothian in the Scottish Premier League.

Since then, it sounds like Daniel has had an incredible week in the spotlight and is only just coming back to Earth, with TikTok videos of his performance racking up over 100,000 views.

While Daniel had already played the Hydro as a member of Rod Stewart’s backing band in December 2022, it was the first time he’d played the arena solo.

Olly supported Take That on their remaining two nights in Glasgow and will support them for their Manchester dates too, which have been moved from the newly-opened Co-op Live Arena to the city’s AO Arena.

The venue, situated in the east of the city by Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium, has been troubled by a serious of technical issues in its opening days which have resulted in several concerts being rearranged, postponed, or moved.

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