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Ray to play city despite shooting
KINKS frontman Ray Davies is still due to perform in Sheffield in April – despite being shot in the leg by an armed robber while on holiday in America.
The sixties pop star, who penned the hits Waterloo Sunset, Sunny Afternoon and Lola, was hit in the thigh at close range after chasing a mugger who pointed a gun at his girlfriend before snatching her handbag.
He was treated in hospital in New Orleans, Louisiana, but has been discharged and was today said to be in "good spirits" by his agent, Paul Charles.
Davies, aged 58, who was awarded a CBE last week in the New Year honours list, is scheduled to play in Sheffield in three months' time.
His concert, at the Crucible Theatre on Sunday April 4, is part of a nationwide tour which will begin in March, and tickets are already selling well.
Sheffield music promoter Stuart Basford, who is putting on the gig, said: "As far as we know it is still going ahead. Ray Davies has been discharged from hospital and we have heard nothing to say that he won't be coming."
Mr Basford said: "When someone rang me and said 'Have you heard Ray Davies has been shot?', it felt like the moment you heard John Lennon had been shot. It was one of those moments.
"Then when I heard he had been shot in the leg it was a relief. He is one of the great people from British pop music.
"I have worked with him twice before and once met him at a party for Bruce Springsteen.
He added: "His girlfriend lives in New Orleans so I presume he was staying with her.
"He sounds like he was very brave – but if a gunman steals your girlfriend's handbag in New Orleans the sensible thing would probably be to let him have it."
Davies – nicknamed the Godfather of Britpop for his influence on bands like Oasis and Blur – had just left a restaurant with his girlfriend when they were approached by a robber who demanded cash.
Mr Charles said: "Ray refused to give him the money so the guy grabbed his girlfriend and put a gun to her body and so the money was passed over. "The gunman took off and Ray took off after him. The guy heard Ray behind him, turned around, aimed and fired, then got into his car."
A 25-year-old man has been arrested and charged with armed robbery and aggravated battery, but police are still hunting a second suspect.
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Weather for Sheffield
Saturday 26 May 2012
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Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
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