Founding member and clothing line owner Syke completed the athletic feat by swimming, running and cycling, three features which make up a traditional triathlon. The 35-year-old singer took to social media to announce his participation and shared pictures from the event. Within the post, Syke stated, “We did it! Thank u so much to everyone that sponsored us in our first triathlon 4 @ukraine.pride means the world. I’m going to leave up the donation page til tomorrow would be sick to double our goal (link in bio) but yeah sick thank u!”

Fellow founding member Nicholls also posted about the triathlon via social media, the 36-year-old musician said, “Had a great time today doing this. All for a good cause. Thanks to everyone that donated, me and Ol are dead chuffed to have smashed the target we set for the fundraising.”

Sykes and Nicholl’s band, Bring Me The Horizon, have shown support for the people of Ukraine before. On March 2nd 2022, the metal group took to the stage of O2 Brixton Academy to perform at this year’s BandLab NME Awards. Whilst displaying the Ukrainian flag upon the drumkit, they dedicated their six-song set to those affected by the current conflict in Ukraine. Before closing their show with “Throne”, Sykes addressed the audience, “I guess it’s better being here in a room full of influential people: they need to use their voice every single day until this crisis is over, If Kyiv does not survive, international peace will not survive,”

UKRAINEPRIDE took part in this year’s London Pride event, the charity took to the streets in the capital with a 50-strong group. A statement on the organisation’s website describes the cause, “UKRAINEPRIDE is a propatriotic queer movement. We nurture our cultural identity and defend it to share it with our soulmates from various countries, who belong to different nationalities and ethnicities, who have diverse complexions or practice varied religions. We preserve and protect our culture to tell the entire world about it.”

The mission statement continues, “Due to the opposite direction from imperial Russia chosen 8 years ago, currently we have the opportunity to attain equal rights for the LGBTQ community as well as all discriminated groups. We are not afraid of anything. We are defending our land. Glory to Ukraine, Glory to our Heroes!”

Bring Me The Horizon are set to perform in Finland on 13th August 2022 for Knotfest, the band will next appear at German Highfield Festival on 19-21 August 2022. The “Mantra” rockers are scheduled to perform at two more European festivals this month before heading home for their set at Reading Festival. The band will take the stage at the festival on 27th August 2022 and will make their appearance at the festival’s Leeds campus on 28th August 2022. On 22nd September 2022, Bring Me The Horizon will perform at Louder Than Life Festival in Louisville, USA, the group will then embark on an extensive tour consisting of the US, Australia and Europe.

Click here to make a donation to Oliver Sykes Justgiving.

Bring Me The Horizon Uk tour dates

27/08/2022 – Reading Festival – Reading
28/08 – Leeds Festival – Leeds

Click here to purchase tickets.

IT’S FINALLY HERE!! Here are your first 30+ artists for #RandL22 @ThreeUK & @Barclaycard pre-sale tickets on sale now for 48 hours
General release tickets 9am on Friday! Visit link below for more info! #AD #PaidPartnership #RandL22 pic.twitter.com/2K8cWW93Ho

— Reading & Leeds Fest (@OfficialRandL) December 8, 2021

Some of the six headliners that have been announced are no surprise to anyone. There had already been rumours of Arctic Monkeys’ inclusion, so much so that Melvin Benn (Managing Director of Festival Republic) even responded to them, saying “Arctic Monkeys are a law unto themselves and when they decide next to play live is beyond me, if I’m honest.” The band were last seen performing live in the UK back in 2018, and this will be the third time they have performed at the festivals, all coming amid the probable release of a new album next year, following up 2018’s Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino. Also, Rage Against The Machine’s inclusion is hardly a surprise, what with the group having been scheduled for the 2020 festivals before covid forced its cancellation.

As for the other acts, Halsey has been in the news recently, what with her fourth album last Summer (titled If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power), as well as being announced the winner of the BandLab NME Awards’ Innovation Award. Megan Thee Stallion is a multi-Grammy-winning artist who notably contributed vocals for Cardi B’s hit song WAP, and is expected to be releasing new material next year.

However, not all the acts are as well established or experienced. Musical artist Dave will become the youngest headliner at the festivals, being aged only 23 (he’ll be 24 by the time of the performance). Speaking on the opportunity, he said “It’s a massive honour, especially to be in the company of other legends that are headlining …. I’m going to try and have the highest quality production value that I can.“

Also, Bring Me The Horizon have expressed their delight at the opportunity to headline, with frontman Oliver Sykes promising that “We’ll make sure it’s insane. I’ve always said that we’d play it when we’ve earned it, and it’s finally come. We have the songs, we have the bangers, and we might not be a household name but I know that we can put on a show that’s festival-headline quality.” Band keyboardist Jordan Fish remembers being in Reading’s mosh pit when he was 14, feeling that they’ve come “full circle“. However, the band have played Reading before after two other groups had pulled out. Sadly it didn’t go too well for them then, with them all being pelted by the audience (a surprisingly common occurrence at Reading & Leeds). However, this time they seem to have the confidence and experience to rise to the challenge, promising an exciting set for all fans.

Tickets will go on sale this Friday 10^th December from 9 am, and more information on getting them can be found here. If you want to read more details about all the acts headlining at the festival, you can look here.

LINEUP COUNTDOWN – Announcement coming on Wednesday!

Final chance to purchase LAST few remaining First Release tickets before price increase, general release tickets and payment plans available from Friday 10th December! Watch this space… pic.twitter.com/0sVyNUSeKy

— Reading & Leeds Fest (@OfficialRandL) December 3, 2021

The festivals, which were cancelled back in 2020 due to the pandemic, have seen a whole host of famous names in their line-up, with some of the most influential people in the business appearing on stage. Last year saw host to the likes of Liam Gallagher, Biffy Clyro, Stormzy, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Disclosure and Post Malone.

Despite some cancellations last year due to covid travel restrictions (namely Queens of the Stone Age and Machine Gun Kelly), Benn has said that this year’s line-up will not be influenced by this, pointing out that keeping the festivals relevant in their choices was much more important. NME reported him as saying “What we want to do is book a relevant festival every year, and not just rebook the acts who have cancelled .… We will always intend to be relevant to an incredible audience. We don’t rest on our laurels, we don’t book for the sake of booking, we book for the sake of what works for our audience. The direction moves wherever music goes.“

Despite this, the festivals have on occasion re-used acts that couldn’t make it one year, namely Liam Gallagher and Stormzy’s return as 2021 headliners after being due for the cancelled 2020 event. Also, hopes are high for a certain indie-favourite music group making an appearance. Rumours are up that Arctic Monkeys may be among the set-list, what with having a space in their schedule just around the time of the August bank holiday when the event takes place. They’ve also recently announced their place in a number of European festivals as well as their own headline sets. Primed for a new follow-up to their 2018 album Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, hopes are up that they may make Reading & Leeds another part of their activity next year. On this possibility, Benn has stated that “Arctic Monkeys are a law unto themselves and when they decide next to play live is beyond me, if I’m honest”.

For those interested in one of the biggest musical events of the year, tickets are due for general sale next Friday 10^th December and both camping and day trip options will be on offer. For those wanting a bit more info about tickets (or just about anything to do with the festivals), you can look at the official website here. So if you have next August 26^th-28^th free, maybe consider getting yourself a tent and coming down to watch some of your favourite bands back in action!