Steps, Jason Donovan and Rick Astley for PWL anniversary concert

Steps, Jason Donovan and Rick Astley are among the acts who will be performing at a special concert this summer to celebrate the 25th anniversary of PWL.

The concert, which is dubbed The Hit Factory Live, will take place in London’s Hyde Park on July 11. Other acts on the bill include Bananarama, Sinitta, Sonia, Pepsi And Shirlie, Brother Beyond, Dead Or Alive, Princess, Hazell Dean, Sybil, Lonnie Gordon and 2 Unlimited, with more to be announced shortly.

2012 is shaping up to be a real celebration of the hit single – in addition to The Hit Factory Live, later this year the Official Singles Chart is set to celebrate its 60th anniversary.

After producing hits for a number of other record companies, pop mogul Pete Waterman launched PWL in 1987. The label became home to production team Stock, Aitken and Waterman (Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Waterman himself) who are arguably one of the most successful song writing partnerships of all time with over 100 Top 40 hits on the Official Singles Chart and more than 250 million single sales between them.

"I've been saying no for years to a Hit Factory concert but now, 25 years on, the timing feels right," said Waterman.

PWL not only launched the musical careers of all of the above artists, but also that of certain Australian soap star by the name of Kylie Minogue. It has also been speculated that a "very special duet", which was last performed 23 years ago, would also be perfomed at The Hit Factory Live. Could it be Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue's 1989 Number 1 hit Especially For You? We really hope so!

Watch an interview with Pete Waterman speaking about Kylie’s meteoric rise to fame below.

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