The Wanted’s Siva Kaneswaran to star in his first stage musical La Bamba!

The 34-year-old member of boy band The Wanted will take part in a UK tour of dance musical La Bamba!

The British dates begin in Leicester on Tuesday, 1st August before heading to London’s Peacock Theatre, Sadler’s Wells West End theatre, from Tuesday 22 August until Saturday 2 September.

La Bamba! will continue the UK tour until December. There are no Irish dates scheduled as of yet.

Siva plays the role of Mateo. The singer has recently appeared in ITV’s Dancing On Ice.

He joins previously announced Strictly Come Dancing champion Pasha Kovalev, as well rising star Inês Fernandez in the lead role of Sofia.

Siva grew up in Corduff in north west Dublin to Sri Lankan-Irish parents, who had eight children. His dad died of a heart attack when he was aged 44 and their mother then moved her kids to Cavan.

The singer is the younger brother of former Dove member and former Popstars: The Rivals contestant Hazel Kaneswaran. Their other sister Gail is a well known model, while brother Trevor is also in the entertainment business, working as an actor – he recently starred in Bad Sisters and can currently be seen in RTÉ Clean Sweep. Another brother, David, was a member of Irish pop band Zoo.

Former model Siva, who married long term girlfriend Nareesha McCaffrey in 2013, was picked from thousands of auditionees in 2009 to be part of quintet The Wanted.

The band who had hits with Glad You came and Walk Like Rihanna, sadly lost one of their members, Tom Parker last year when at the age of 33 he died of brain cancer..

La Bamba! tells the story of how the power of music can transform a generation and celebrate a community.

Sofia, a 17-year-old from Los Angeles, has music in her blood. From the moment her father handed her a guitar, her dream was to become a superstar. Inspired by her musical heroes and with the help of her family, Sofia discovers that even the longest journey begins with a single step. As she mixes the music from her roots with the music in her heart, Sofia dreams of bringing together a community that has never felt more divided.

La Bamba! is a new musical that combines Latin, R&B, and timeless rock and pop to tell the ultimate feel-good story of a young girl with a big voice, big dreams, and an even bigger heart.

The full company includes Bethan Mitchell, Stefani Ariza, Julia Ruiz Fernandez, Nicolle Matheu, Gabriella Rose-Marchant, Alex Sturman, Tristan Ghostkeeper and Luke Jarvis

La Bamba! is directed by multi-award-winning American director Ray Roderick, and features choreography by Graziano Di Prima, Erica Da Silva and associate choreography by Giada Lini.

This brand-new musical will feature music from across the Latin genre from traditional folk songs to recent chart-topping hits all arranged by award-winning musical maestro, Alfonso Casado-Trigo.

La Bamba is a Mexican folk song, also known as La Bomba.

The song is best known as a hit in 1958 by Ritchie Valens, and was covered by Los Lobos in 1987 when they had a No 1 hit from a biopic, La Bamba, about Valens, who was killed in a plane crash along with Buddy Holly in 1959 just eight months into his music career.