The Feeling serenade Bill Gates

Illustrated rainbow pride flag on a white background.

Up and coming British band The Feeling gave a free concert in London this afternoon, after playing at the launch of Microsoft’s new Vista operating system.

Lead singer Dan Gillespie Sells became an alternative gay pin-up last year when he revealed in a magazine interview that he is gay.

The band’s singles have been championed by Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles, who won the Stonewall Award for Bully of the Year in 2006 for his misuse of the word ‘gay’ during his Breakfast Show.

The Feeling are a popular festival act, having played T in the Park, V and Oxegen Festivals and they have received extensive TV coverage in the last year.

The five-piece ‘soft rock’ band have been hugely commercially successful in the UK and are about to try to break the American market.

Bill Gates helped that dream of stateside success along somewhat by asking the band to perform at the launch of his new Microsoft Vista operating system at the British Library this morning.

Gates claims that Vista will be the fastest operating system yet and can load in just two seconds, compared to the three minutes or so PCs currently take to boot up.

The band also played a free gig at the British Library for fans and passers-by on London’s Euston Road.

The Feeling were the most played band on UK radio in 2006.

Their singles received a total of 97,436 plays, which meant that, on average, a song by The Feeling was played 267 times every day, or once every 5 minutes.

The band’s bassist, Richard Jones, is married to pop princess Sophie Ellis-Bextor. Jones and Gillespie Sells met at the BRIT school in Croydon in 1995.