THIS St David’s Day, Wales Millennium Centre will be celebrating 50 years of Welsh rock and pop hits.

The event will be hosted by the One Show’s Alex Jones and will feature special guest Ricky Valance and John Owen-Jones, Sophie Evans, Lucie Jones and Steve Balsamo.

Ricky Valance made rock and roll history in 1960 by becoming the first Welshman to reach number one in the UK charts with “Tell Laura I Love Her”. The track sold over a million copies and following its success, Ricky went on to release Movin' Away, Jimmy's Girl and Six Boys. Marking the start of a long history of successful Welsh musicians, Ricky takes to the stage together with an impressive lineup of Welsh talent to relive some of the UK’s favourite Welsh tracks.

Joining Ricky will be John Owen-Jones and Sophie Evans who will be singing some very special arrangements of No 1 hit songs.

Famous for playing the leading role in Jesus Christ Superstar during the mid-1990s, Steve Balsamo has joined forces with English/Dutch singer and songwriter Rosalie Deighton forming Balsamo Deighton. This duo performs alongside Jessica Lee Morgan - daughter of Mary Hopkin (Those Were The Days and who signed for The Beatles label) and Gabrielle Murphy, an up and coming BBC Horizons star.

Soloists Lucie Jones, Alys Williams and Shaheen Jafargoli, who wowed judges on the shows X Factor, The Voice and Britain's Got Talent, will also be there to take audeiences through the decades with covers of some of their favourite hits made famous by Welsh artists.

The night will include tracks made famous by Dame Shirley Bassey, Ricky Valance, Spencer Davis Group, Mary Hopkin, Dave Edmunds, Shakin' Stevens, Bonnie Tyler, The Flying Pickets, Manic Street Preachers, Stereophonics, Duffy, and of course Sir Tom Jones, whose huge hit “It’s Not Unusual” got to No 1 50 years ago, in 1965.

The stars will be accompanied by the Welsh Pops Orchestra featuring pianist Gwilym Simcock and conducted by Matthew Brind.

Wales at No 1 is made possible with the support of Lloyds Bank, principal sponsor of Wales Millennium Centre’s 10th Anniversary.

The Centre will celebrate St David’s Day throughout the weekend with free performances from Welsh artists on the Glanfa stage plus a chance to experience the taste of Wales in the Centre’s ffresh Restaurant. On the menu will be an array of traditional Welsh dishes including Cawl, Roast leg of Welsh Lamb and Slow Cooked Welsh beef.

Wales at No 1 is also supported by First Great Western.

Tickets for the March 1 show will range from £17.50 to £35.

For more information and tickets please visit www.wmc.org.uk/Productions/2015-2016/DonaldGordonTheatre/WalesAtNo1/.