Since 1903, O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire has been a prominent landmark on London’s entertainment scene. Designed and built by Frank Matcham as the flagship of the “Empire” chain of variety theatres, it was taken under the wing of the BBC in the 1950s and converted into a television theatre. Shows such as Crackerjack, The Old Grey Whistle Test, That’s Life, Hancock and Wogan were transmitted from there.

After a £2m refit, which retained the BBC’s technical infrastructure, the Empire opened in March 1994 as a 2000 capacity live venue. The music industry embraced it from the opening concert, Soundgarden (March 12th 1994), and has consistently provided a wealth of talent in music, comedy and club nights ever since.

The O2 Empire has frequently hit the headlines with its classic concerts by internationally acclaimed stars such as David Bowie (11th and 12th August 1997), Rolling Stones (June 8th 1999), The Who (22nd and 23rd December 1999), Oasis (8th October 2001), Elton John (16th and 17th December 2002) and Bon Jovi (18th September 2002); who were also the first band at the Empire to simultaneously broadcast their show to twenty cinemas across Europe via satellite and to a global audience of more than 375,000 on the Internet.