Olly Murs celebrates new album at SailGP Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi: British pop sensation Olly Murs is celebrating the success of his eighth studio album 'Knees Up' following his performance at the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Sail Grand Prix 2025 Season Grand Final this weekend.

The globally recognised platinum-selling artist, who headlined Saturday's Après-Sail celebration at Mina Zayed, has been delighted with the reception to his latest release, which marked his first album in three years.

"The reaction to the new album has been brilliant," said Murs. "It's been a really mad couple of weeks just promoting it, but I've had the album the whole year, so I've leaked it in the studio to Wrighty before it came out. Playing songs, dropping them. It was a new direction for me, something different, it was a real passion project really. To get a top five album in the UK, I'm delighted with that."

The album, which serves as the follow-up to 2022's 'Marry Me', has been preceded by singles including the ska-influenced 'Bonkers' – a collaboration with Ed Drewett, Sky Adams and James New – and lead single 'Save Me'.

For Murs, the timing of the Abu Dhabi performance, coming just eight days after the album's release, provided the perfect opportunity to showcase his new material alongside his decade of chart-topping hits.

"It's nice to get everything tied up before the end of the year, so I can enjoy some family time in 2026," Murs explained. "The last three years I worked so hard, so next year, Wrighty and I are going to do more on radio and a few other different projects that I'm into."

The 45-minute set at the SailGP Race Stadium delivered exactly what the singer promised – an energetic showcase of his musical repertoire.

"I've got the whole repertoire tonight, I've got all the hits and then a medley of songs that I played at my wedding. It's going to be a real fun night," Murs said ahead of the performance.

The Abu Dhabi appearance marked a return to the UAE capital for Murs, who visited Yas Island last year with his Heart Radio co-host and friend Mark Wright for a week of activities and competition.

"We came to Abu Dhabi last year, to Yas Island and we did a week of competition. We had a lot of fun, but Wrighty actually won! We did loads of stuff, climbing, go karting, went on the rollercoasters – it's such a beautiful country!" he said.

Wright, a popular Heart presenter, TV personality and DJ, will also perform at the Grand Final weekend, taking over the decks for Sunday's Après-Sail celebration to close the season-deciding championship event.

"I've never really watched this before, so I'm really honoured to be here but also really excited to see the event unfold,” said Murs. “We've just been watching some video of the action – it's crazy!"