He has performed for the King, shared the stage with Beyonce and wowed crowds of 80,000 at the Millennium Stadium.
But opera star Geoff Sewell has now found himself facing a decidedly less glamorous audience – local council planners.
The globetrotting tenor, whose classical crossover group Amici Forever sold 3.5 million albums worldwide, has been ordered to stop running an unlawful Airbnb from the garden of his £1.5million London home.
Mr Sewell, 53, and his wife, Simone Lanham, also 53, became embroiled in a planning row after renting out a cabin in the back garden of their South Hampstead maisonette to paying guests.
Camden Council took enforcement action after discovering that the star – once dubbed the most famous singer you have never heard of – had been advertising the annexe on Airbnb for £160 a night under the name ‘Harmonious Hideaway’.
Officials said the couple had been listing the retreat on Airbnb since 2023 despite never obtaining planning permission to use it as ‘temporary sleeping accommodation’.
The council – which has cracked down on Airbnbs among its exclusive north London streets – said the unauthorised use risked disturbing neighbours in the affluent area where Victorian homes fetch upwards of £3million.
In enforcement papers, the authority said: ‘Holidaymakers and others staying in properties for short periods of time are less likely to treat the area in a manner that has respect for the peace and privacy of other, permanent, residents who live within the vicinity.
Geoff Sewell and his wife, Simone Lanham, both 53, faced a planning dispute after renting out a garden cabin at their South Hampstead maisonette to paying guests
Amid a wider crackdown on short-term rentals in north London, the council ruled that the unauthorised Airbnb risked disturbing neighbours in an affluent street where Victorian homes regularly exceed £3million (Pictured: Mr Sewell and Simone Lanham’s home)
The ‘Harmonious Hideaway’ (pictured), located in Mr Sewell’s back garden was let on Airbnb for £160 a night
‘Therefore residential amenity is often diminished through noise and disturbance.’
Officials concluded: ‘The high turnover of people coming and going at the site results in the potential for increased incidences of noise and disturbance at unsociable hours to the detriment of neighbouring occupiers.’
Mr Sewell and Ms Lanham, who live with their two children at their four-bed home, fought back against the notice, arguing that the cabin was used mostly for storage and as a summerhouse.
They claimed that when it was occupied, it was usually by visiting family members or artist friends staying for free of charge.
The independent Planning Inspectorate this month dismissed their appeal after hearing that there had been 58 Airbnb reviews between October 2023 and December 2024.
Inspector Jason Whitfield found the outbuilding bore the hallmarks of a holiday let, complete with an open-plan living area, a kitchen with sink, hob and portable fridge, a separate shower room and a mezzanine sleeping area with a bed.
Guests were able to access the annexe independently via a side gate and use self check-in and check-out through a lockbox.
Mr Whitfield said: ‘Excerpts from the Airbnb reviews provided paint a picture of a place suitable for a small family and one which provides all the facilities needed for independent occupation.
‘Occupancy as temporary sleeping accommodation appears to have occurred for a considerable period of time given the number of reviews left by persons having stayed there.
‘Despite the fact it may not have been occupied consistently throughout the period of being advertised, it appears nevertheless to have been available to book throughout that time.’
Mr Sewell and Ms Lanham have been handed one month to stop using the cabin as temporary accommodation.
The multi-platinum singer rose to fame as part of pop-opera crossover band Amici Forever which landed two No.1 albums and toured internationally.
The group performed Abide With Me and God Save The Queen on the pitch at the Millennium Stadium in Wales before an audience of 80,000 and millions more watching on television around the world.
Sewell has previously boasted of performing for ‘almost all members of the British Royal Family’, including the late Queen, the then-Prince Charles, Princes William and Harry, and Princess Anne, of whom he once said: ‘She was going nuts and waving her arms about to We Will Rock You. She loved it.’
He has also rubbed shoulders with a string of A-listers.
Mr Sewell and Ms Lanham, who live in the four-bedroom home with their two children, appealed the notice by claiming the cabin served primarily as a summerhouse and storage space
Sewell has performed with Pink and Beyoncé in the South of France, while he has also appeared at lavish events alongside Robbie Williams and Kylie Minogue.
His company, Incognito Artists, specialises in high-end private entertainment and has organised star performances for elite clients – including booking Andrea Bocelli for a private wedding anniversary celebration.
Sewell, a former banker, once said one of the challenges of performing at ultra-exclusive parties was simply getting the attention of wealthy guests.
At one huge London wedding, he said guests barely reacted when pop star Pink took to the stage.
‘A lot of the guests had seen it all before, and when Pink gets on stage they’re just talking through it,’ he told the Sunday Times.
He has also described a memorable encounter with King Charles, saying the royal told him ‘he loved our music’, before adding: ‘Did you know I played the pirate in The Pirates Of Penzance?’
‘Then he started singing – “ta ran ta ra” – and we were duetting’.
Mr Sewell’s website states: ‘Geoff has performed by request of Queen Elizabeth II at the Royal Albert Hall, for King Charles at Windsor Castle, for Prince Albert of Monaco at the Prince’s Palace, for Nelson Mandela, and for many other distinguished public figures.
‘At international stadia for rugby fixtures such as London’s Twickenham and the FA Cup Final at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium; and at private parties held by the A-list such as the Beckhams and Sir Elton John.
‘He’s shared the stage with the likes of Kylie Minogue, Robbie Williams, Lionel Richie, Pink, Beyonce, Katy Perry, Cliff Richard, Olivia Newton John, and Keith Urban.
‘Nicole Kidman told him, “You’re amazing up there!” after watching him perform.’
Ms Lanham, meanwhile, has her own impressive CV – having worked in communications in New Zealand, as a CNBC journalist, before helping build Incognito Artists into an international entertainment brand with offices in London and New York.
