When Yungblud pulled pints of Guinness at Johnny’s Bar and Parlour on Sunday, it's fair to say it caused something of a stir in Harrogate.

But the Grammy-winning artist is by no means the first international megastar to grace our town, and we’re sure he won’t be the last.

So who else has been spotted here over the years?

Well, we frankly haven’t got the time or space for a comprehensive listing – after all, there have been a lot.

Buddy Holly popped into Bettys in 1958, The Beatles, The Who and The Kinks all played the Royal Hall in the 1960s, and the convention centre has seen a lot of big names over the years too. 

But the following are some of the more memorable ones to have been seen in the area in recent years.

1 Morrissey

In 2023, we reported that singer Morrissey, former frontman of The Smiths, had been spotted drinking in the Harrogate Arms pub. He must have liked the experience, because he was back in the area the following year, and was pictured posing by the sign for Cut Throat Lane in Shaw Mills.

The Smiths, who split up after just five years in 1987, sold well over four million albums and were hugely influential. One commentator said they were "the band that inspired deeper devotion than any British group since the Beatles". 

2 Toyah Willcox and Robert Fripp

These two took to social media in 2023 to effuse about Bettys. The couple had visited and come away enchanted, Toyah calling it “utterly amazing”.

Toyah, now 67, is best known for her string of hit singles in the early 1980s, including It’s a Mystery, I Want to be Free, and Thunder in the Mountains, but has also had a long acting career on both stage and screen.

Robert Fripp, who will turn 80 on May 16 – which will also be their 40th wedding anniversary – was the founder of progressive rock band King Crimson and also collaborated with the likes of David Bowie, Blondie and Talking Heads.

3 Calvin Harris

Calvin Harris, one of the most successful DJs and dance music producers ever, was spotted in Wetherby motorway services by fan Livvy Elder and friends in 2023.

The friends had watched the Scottish DJ headline the festival just two nights before, and Livvy said:

Calvin Harris – real name Adam Wiles – has had 11 number-one singles in the UK, including tracks with Rihanna, Dua Lipa and Sam Smith. 

4 Example

Musician Example stopped off for lunch at the Scotts Arms in Sicklinghall before performing at Leeds Festival last summer. He was quoted as saying the roast beef was an “absolutely bangin’ bit of kit”.

Example – also known as Elliot John Gleave – shot to fame in the early 2010s and topped the singles chart for two weeks in June 2011 with his single Changed the Way You Kiss Me, which also earned him a Best British Single nomination at the Brit Awards in 2012.

5 Sinitta 

Singer Sinitta was starring in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at Bradford's Alhambra Theatre over the festive season, and spent her time off-stage in Harrogate.

After several weeks in the town, the Seattle-born musician said in January she was “charmed beyond my imaginings” by it.

Sinitta – real name Sinitta Renet Malone – shot to fame after her debut single So Macho climbed to number two in the UK charts in 1986. She later appeared many times on the X Factor and this month featured in I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!.