Mickey Callisto heads home for Summer Parties headline slot
The Sunderland singer talks Freddie Mercury, extravagant flashmobs, Britain’s Got Talent and coming back to Wearside for an open air party at The Fire Station
When I catch up with Mickey Callisto, he’s in Monaco.
Not on holiday, exactly - although he’s not complaining. More accurately, he’s leading the charge for a gloriously ambitious Queen-themed flash mob involving opera singers on balconies, choirs on bicycles, violinists appearing from nowhere and brass bands arriving in limousines.
“It’s good fun for me - and a free holiday,” he laughs.
A couple of months later he’ll be back in Sunderland, swapping the Mediterranean sunshine for The Fire Station’s Summer Parties and a headline slot in the venue’s Parade Ground.
That kind of joyful unpredictability seems to follow the Sunderland-born singer around these days.
One week he’s singing in front of millions on Britain’s Got Talent. The next he’s performing at a wedding in Florence after the couple spotted him on television and flew him to Italy. Somewhere in between are European festivals, Queen shows, writing sessions for a new album and gigs with Serbian collaborators Cosmic ahead of a US tour next year.
“It’s what you sign up for,” he says.
“I could still be working in the phone shop, do you know what I mean? I’m very grateful that this is my life.”
Britain’s Got Talent may have introduced him to a national (and then international) audience in 2025, but it wasn’t originally part of the plan.
“They asked me to go on and we actually declined at first,” he says.
Eventually he agreed, seeing it less as a competition and more as an opportunity.
“I didn’t care about the judges. For me, it’s for exposure and it’s a performance for the people.”
His soaring version of Queen’s Who Wants To Live Forever? duly went viral.
But while the show helped make him famous, it also left him wrestling with a question many singers face after finding success performing someone else’s songs.
“Obviously I don’t want to spend my life singing Queen,” he says.
“But God, it’s not bad if you’re going to be singing someone else’s songs. There are pretty good songs to sing.”
The bigger frustration came when he wanted to use his semi-final appearance to introduce viewers to his own material, namely a pop-rock track called Supernova.
The programme makers wanted more Queen. And while Mickey’s rendition of Somebody to Love didn’t get him through to the finals, his viral appearances on the ITV show have helped him clock up more than a million streams for Supernova and an international audience.
“Supernova is actually one of the songs people most want to hear during my live shows,” he says., “so that’s nice”.
Mickey, now 29, discovered he could sing when he was seven after a cathedral choir visited his primary school. He taught himself opera after falling in love with Pavarotti and Andrea Bocelli before a school production of We Will Rock You introduced him to the music of Queen.
“Some people find God,” he says. “I found Freddie Mercury.”
Mickey says this new obsession opened doors to Fleetwood Mac, The Beatles and a wider musical education that still shapes his songwriting today.
Space played its part too. A lifelong fascination with astronomy eventually gave him his stage name, borrowed from one of Jupiter’s moons (Callisto, not Mickey).
Following a music course at Newcastle College and then three years studying in Manchester, Mickey had a revelation during a rave in 2019 where he was wearing a full ski suit. (We don’t have time to explore this further here, but I do wish there was a photo).
Surrounded by synths, lights and dance music, he suddenly knew what his music should sound like.
“That’s when I thought: this is Mickey Callisto,” he says.
And now he’s enjoying bringing that sound to bigger and bigger audiences.
He’s already sold out the Fire Station’s indoor auditorium and is delighted to be returning to headline the Summer Party on August 29.
His gig is part of the venue’s biggest Summer Parties season yet.
Running from July 31 to August 30, joining Mickey on the schedule are Kula Shaker, Maxïmo Park, Pale Waves, Peat and Diesel, Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours with the Transatlantic Ensemble, John Grant and Richard Hawley, The Lottery Winners, Ibiza in Symphony and Silent Disco for Grown Ups.
Rhys McKinnell, CEO at Culture Quarter, which operates The Fire Station, said: “For a number of years now, our Summer Parties season has led the way in bringing large-scale live outdoor performances to the heart of Sunderland city centre, and this year is no exception. Our programme continues to grow from strength to strength, and this year’s line-up is our most ambitious and exciting yet.
“The Summer Parties concept brings together everything we believe we do best – outstanding musical talent, first-class technical production, a high-quality food and drink offer, and the warm hospitality we’re known for, all set within our unique venue.
“There’s nothing quite like Summer Parties in the region – a summer festival atmosphere right on your doorstep, and you don’t have to trek across a field or worry about getting muddy.”
For someone who grew up in a city where the Empire felt like the only obvious destination for ambitious performers, Mickey says venues like The Fire Station feel really important.
“It’s so good to see Sunderland getting more stuff going on in the city,” he says. “The Fire Station is such a great venue. I loved playing it and can’t wait for the summer party gig.”
And although Liverpool may be home these days, Wearside is never very far away from Mickey’s diary.
He recently returned to Monkwearmouth Academy to speak to students and perform alongside the school’s drama group and has spent part of this summer visiting schools and talent competitions to encourage the next generation.
“I think it’s my job now to try and inspire the kids where I was inspired,” he says.
The next chapter is already taking shape. An album is slowly coming together and 2027 is pencilled in for more studio time and less time in airports.
For now, though, the road continues and leads him back to home turf.
“Hopefully it’ll be sunny and everyone will be right up for a party,” he laughs.
Somewhere Freddie Mercury is probably smiling too.
Mickey Callisto will headline the Summer Party gig at The Fire Station on August 29. For tickets and details of the full Summer Party programme, visit thefirestation.org.uk. Follow Mickey on Instagram here