• Lil Nas X: ‘Who do I most admire and why? I have to say myself’

    Lil Nas X: ‘Who do I most admire and why? I have to say myself’
    The singer on eating junk food in bed, a $100k holiday he didn’t even go on, and the perks of fameBorn Montero Lamar Hill in Georgia, Lil Nas X, 25, rose to fame in 2019 with his single Old Town Road, which won many awards, including two Grammys. In 2021, he released his debut album Montero, which featured the hits Montero (Call Me By Your Name), Industry Baby and Thats What I Want. The following year, he completed his first worldwide tour. The documentary Lil Nas X: Long Li
  • Multiple bands pull out of Download festival over Barclays’ Israel ties

    Multiple bands pull out of Download festival over Barclays’ Israel ties
    Acts including Speed, Scowl and Ithaca voice opposition to Barclaycard sponsorship over financial services provided to defence companiesMultiple bands have pulled out of Download festival over Barclaycard being used as its official payment partner, in protest against Barclays providing financial services to defence companies supplying Israel.Download, the UK’s biggest rock, metal and punk festival which takes place from 14 to 16 June, lists Barclaycard as one of its official sponsors along
  • The best albums of 2024 so far

    The best albums of 2024 so far
    Billie Eilish’s third is a triumph, Shabaka goes woodwind and Yunchan Lim makes the most thrilling piano debut of the decade … here are our music team’s picks of the best LPs from the first half of the yearBeing called “overproduced” is generally a criticism but BMTH make it a virtue on this ridiculously high-intensity album. The glitched-up production reflects a fiendishly intricate digital world, while frontman Oli Sykes’ emotions are more histrionic &ndash
  • Pop singer Kevin Jonas documents skin cancer treatment

    Pop singer Kevin Jonas documents skin cancer treatment
    Jonas Brothers star revealed he has had surgery for basal cell carcinoma, advising followers to get moles checkedPop singer Kevin Jonas, a member of chart-topping trio the Jonas Brothers, has received treatment for skin cancer.In an Instagram video, the 36-year-old singer, guitarist, actor and reality TV star said he had been diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma. Continue reading...
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  • Françoise Hardy: France’s girlish yé-yé star was a groundbreaking musical artist

    Françoise Hardy: France’s girlish yé-yé star was a groundbreaking musical artist
    Hardy shot to fame singing airy, carefree pop before she took control of her career, hung out with 60s rock aristocracy and became a sophisticated singer-songwriter of rare sensuality and melancholyFrançoise Hardy, French pop singer and fashion muse, dies aged 80Yé-yé was France’s homegrown response to rock’n’roll: pretty young singers – almost all female – performing a lightweight Francophone adaptation of American music with lyrics about teena
  • Françoise Hardy, French pop singer and fashion muse, dies aged 80

    Françoise Hardy, French pop singer and fashion muse, dies aged 80
    Singer and actor who wrote some of her country’s biggest pop hits had suffered with lymphatic cancer for many yearsFrançoise Hardy obituary Françoise Hardy, whose elegance and beautifully lilting voice made her one of France’s most successful pop stars, has died aged 80.Her death was reported by her son, the fellow musician Thomas Dutronc, who wrote “Maman est partie,” (or in English, “mum is gone”) on Instagram alongside a baby photo of himself
  • Four Tops singer sues hospital for assuming mental illness after he revealed identity

    Four Tops singer sues hospital for assuming mental illness after he revealed identity
    Alexander Morris alleges racial discrimination and false imprisonment after being placed into restraining jacketThe lead singer of the Four Tops said a Detroit-area hospital restrained him and ordered a psychological exam after refusing to believe that he was part of the Motown music group.Alexander Morris, who is Black, filed a lawsuit Monday against Ascension Macomb-Oakland hospital in Warren, alleging racial discrimination and other misconduct during an April 2023 visit for chest pain and bre
  • ‘Don’t worry about AI. People want bodies in a room’: Faithless on the eternal power of rave – and the death of Maxi Jazz

    ‘Don’t worry about AI. People want bodies in a room’: Faithless on the eternal power of rave – and the death of Maxi Jazz
    The dance music legends are preparing their first live shows without their late frontman. They explain why they can’t replace his voice, but can continue his spiritIn 2002 Faithless were granted a sunset slot on Glastonbury’s Pyramid stage, and attracted close to 100,000 people. “England had actually just lost the football, so lifting the crowd took real energy to get people going,” says the band’s Sister Bliss. “It’s a funny coincidence – we&rsquo
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  • ‘Nobody believed I sang it’: how Move Your Body blew dancefloors away

    ‘Nobody believed I sang it’: how Move Your Body blew dancefloors away
    It became a Chicago house anthem classic – and it was cooked up in just 30 minutes by four postal workers after a tough shift on the letter-sorting machineI first heard the term “house music” in Chicago in 1983 when I was working at a post office. There was this girl there who dressed crazy, with her hair different colours. She said she was going to the Music Box, where they played “house music”. I went along and the bass was so loud it physically moved you back a c
  • Beth Gibbons review – otherworldly presence transcends light and dark

    Beth Gibbons review – otherworldly presence transcends light and dark
    Barbican, London
    The singer’s voice remains almighty in an intense and sometimes thunderous set, but ultimately what steps out of the tumult is her unswerving humanity
    Beth Gibbons is visible only as a silhouette, backlit against blood red lighting. Flanked on three sides by her musicians, she stands several feet away and isolated at centre stage as an expectant hush gives way to the stark guitars, brooding drums and low clarinet of Tell Me Who You Are Today. For the rest of the show, whil
  • Smashing Pumpkins and Weezer review – mismatched 90s rockers bore and charm

    Smashing Pumpkins and Weezer review – mismatched 90s rockers bore and charm
    O2 Arena, LondonBilly Corgan’s band are bloated with self-importance, but Rivers Cuomo and company continue to dole out witty power-pop with elanCo-headline tours of this ilk can allow relatively long-in-the-tooth artists to pool their fanbases and play large venues that they would not necessarily be able to fill on their own. Nevertheless, this particular pairing of two bands who arrived in the wake of the early 90s US grunge rock scene appears decidedly incongruous.When Weezer (★&#
  • ‘You’re Beautiful by James Blunt is terrible!’: Paloma Faith’s honest playlist

    ‘You’re Beautiful by James Blunt is terrible!’: Paloma Faith’s honest playlist
    The singer hates a certain James Blunt megahit and feels empowered by Chaka Khan, but which Aussie bard does she think wrote the best song of all time?The first song I remember hearingMy mum was a massive fan of Nina Simone but she’s got dyspraxia. She was always having dinner parties, but she’d always make people dance. I just have an image of her clapping out of time to Simone’s song Baltimore.The first single I boughtEspecially for You by Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue, on
  • It’s OUR team: Euro 2024 anthem strikes a chord for England’s diversity

    It’s OUR team: Euro 2024 anthem strikes a chord for England’s diversity
    Rappers team up with the Black Footballers Partnership for a song calling out racism while backing England“Football and music are the biggest influences in the country,” says the artist CreezOn, also known as Cree Amory Reid. “I think that they are vehicles of expression that have been put there for us to explore.”The 20-year-old features on the recently released Euro 2024 anthem It’s OUR Team alongside another up-and-coming rapper, Keaton Amory (Ke4t). Th
  • Frothy, fun and hard to resist: is Sabrina Carpenter’s Espresso the song of the summer?

    Frothy, fun and hard to resist: is Sabrina Carpenter’s Espresso the song of the summer?
    The US singer’s hit has all the elusive qualities that can elevate a tune into a touchstone for sunny memoriesHave you heard the Sabrina Carpenter song Espresso? Even if you don’t know it by name, you will have done. It’s honeyed but arch (“That’s that me, espresso”). Frothy, hooky, with a lyrical sting (“My ‘give a fucks’ are on vacation”). The coquettish hyper-real video has the US singer draped over speedboats and surfboards like a S
  • Hip-Hop Is History by Questlove review – a soundtrack for the world, from the Sugarhill Gang to Kanye West

    Hip-Hop Is History by Questlove review – a soundtrack for the world, from the Sugarhill Gang to Kanye West
    The Roots drummer, DJ, author and director is the ‘Ken Burns of black music’, and his personal reflections on a genre that last year turned 50 are full of wisdom and charmHip-hop officially turned 50 last year. It is generally accepted that it was born on 11 August 1973, when 18-year-old DJ Kool Herc first cut up breakbeats at a party in the Bronx and his friend Coke La Rock rapped along, but this DJ-driven art form, which evolved parallel to disco, took another six years to spawn it
  • On my radar: Billy Corgan’s cultural highlights

    On my radar: Billy Corgan’s cultural highlights
    The Smashing Pumpkins frontman on bonding with his son over Miyazaki, the genius of Mozart’s Requiem, and the world’s biggest Bozo the Clown collectionBorn in Chicago in 1967, Billy Corgan is the frontman of the Smashing Pumpkins. The band have released 12 studio albums, including Atum: A Rock Opera in Three Acts (2022–2023); he has also released music solo and with the supergroup Zwan. He owns the National Wrestling Alliance, and is the subject of US reality TV series Billy Co
  • Liam Gallagher/ Definitely Maybe 30th Anniversary review – 90s anthems still shake without their maker

    Liam Gallagher/ Definitely Maybe 30th Anniversary review – 90s anthems still shake without their maker
    Utilita Arena, Cardiff
    Noel may be absent, but so is the chaos of early Oasis, leaving Liam free to get the detail right in a volley of on-point anthems As a defining image, it’s an unexpected choice: a sizeable portrait of Burt Bacharach sits in front of the drum riser, drawing the eye as a giant digital clock counts back the years to 1994. A songwriter of classic pop who died last year at age 94, the US artist seems an unlikely totem for a band – Oasis – whose general disdain
  • Girls Aloud on public bullying, getting older and reuniting after the loss of Sarah Harding: ‘I keep expecting her to burst into the room’

    Girls Aloud on public bullying, getting older and reuniting after the loss of Sarah Harding: ‘I keep expecting her to burst into the room’
    When their bandmate was diagnosed with terminal cancer, it was her dying wish that the tour would go on. Now, the biggest-selling British girl group of the 21st century are making good on their promiseCheryl has a wind problem. We’re meeting at rehearsals for Girls Aloud’s comeback tour, standing in what will later become the Gift Wrapped Kitty Kat VIP Zone – essentially a pit next to the stage named after a ludicrous lyric in their equally ludicrous 2004 single Love Machine. I
  • Taylor Swift review – as all-powerful as a pop star can be

    Taylor Swift review – as all-powerful as a pop star can be
    Murrayfield stadium, Edinburgh
    ​The audience is overwhelmed by an astonishing, risk-taking, strangely intimate extravaganza – and Swift in turn is overwhelmed by themAs Cruel Summer fades away and she surveys the audience, Taylor Swift looks startled. She clasps her hand to her chest and shakes her head in disbelief. They cheer louder. “That went straight to my head!” she exclaims, apparently unable to take in the vociferousness of their reaction.Of course, this is hokum
  • Céline Dion says illness has caused muscle spasms that broke her ribs

    Céline Dion says illness has caused muscle spasms that broke her ribs
    Singer describes symptoms of stiff person syndrome, the rare illness she was diagnosed with in 2022, including a feeling of strangulationCéline Dion has said she has suffered muscle spasms so strong that her ribs were broken as a result, as she lives with the condition stiff person syndrome.Speaking in her first TV interview since the diagnosis, to Hoda Kotb on NBC News, Dion said: “I had broken ribs at one point, because sometimes when it’s very severe …” Kotb as
  • Guess who’s back? How Eminem is storming to the top of the charts again

    Guess who’s back? How Eminem is storming to the top of the charts again
    His new song Houdini is set to be the fastest-selling single of the year, eclipsing even Taylor Swift – despite being ignored by rap fans and radio stations alikeLast Friday, Eminem released his 62nd single, Houdini. Reviews were lukewarm to woeful. “Eminem loses the magic,” ran the headline in the New York Times, while website Stereogum went for the more straightforward “Eminem’s New Song ‘Houdini’ Is Really, Really Bad”, criticising everything fr
  • Peggy Gou: I Hear You review – sparkling 90s-inspired dance

    Peggy Gou: I Hear You review – sparkling 90s-inspired dance
    (XL)
    Irrepressible tracks abound on the hugely popular Korean DJ-producer’s debut albumKorean DJ-producer Peggy Gou is one of the most successful women in her field. She’s about to headline a huge outdoor party in London and reckons she’s played to a million fans in the past year. As often in the dance industry, success precedes suspicion: Gou’s first break came when a promoter saw her photo rather than heard her DJ; she’s into fashion as much as music; her songs of
  • Kaytranada: Timeless review – guaranteed to make you move

    Kaytranada: Timeless review – guaranteed to make you move
    (RCA)
    The Canadian dance producer doesn’t lack for guests on a banger-filled, club-focused albumCanadian producer and DJ Kaytranada has spent the past decade perfecting the art of the bounce. Since his dancefloor-focused rework of Janet Jackson’s 1993 track If went viral in 2013, Kaytranada – real name Louis Celestin – has released three albums characterised by a rhythmic swing that lands between the beats to produce an infectious swagger.After 2023’s funk-fuelled c
  • Tems: Born in the Wild review – the Afrobeats artist levels up in style

    Tems: Born in the Wild review – the Afrobeats artist levels up in style
    (RCA)The Lagos-born singer’s rocket-fuelled rise to stardom continues on a debut album peppered with swaggering bangersTemilade Openiyi’s three-year rise from Lagos buzz to international contender has been vertiginous. The vocalist/producer has already scored one Grammy, plus further Grammy and Oscar nominations for her work with Future, Beyoncé and Rihanna.After two well-received EPs, Tems’s debut album drops with 18-track swagger and a tiny handful of guests (Asake and
  • Surprise songs, secret guests and hidden details: the ultimate guide to Taylor Swift’s Eras tour

    Surprise songs, secret guests and hidden details: the ultimate guide to Taylor Swift’s Eras tour
    As Eras reaches the UK this week, brush up on what to expect, from the likely setlist to the bewildering array of merch optionsIt’s certainly the biggest pop music tour of all time by revenue, and arguably also by the more nebulous measure of pop-cultural heft. We’re 97 concerts in, and Taylor Swift’s Eras tour has already grossed well over a billion dollars, generated nearly as many friendship bracelets, caused a series of massively viral fits of weeping and screaming and now
  • Zara McFarlane: Sweet Whispers: Celebrating Sarah Vaughan review – terrific tribute to a jazz legend

    Zara McFarlane: Sweet Whispers: Celebrating Sarah Vaughan review – terrific tribute to a jazz legend
    (Eternal Source of Light/!K7 Records)
    The British jazz singer pays homage to Vaughan with earthiness and spontaneity: an animated reinvention of these classicsThe great African American double bass player Richard Davis used to note that it had been “the university of Sarah Vaughan” – his life on the road from 1957-63 with the jazz singer dubbed The Divine One – that taught him everything worth knowing about timing, improvisation and making every sound count.Vaughan’
  • ‘I wish I had enjoyed success more’: Jon Bon Jovi on megahits, marriage – and his fears for his career

    ‘I wish I had enjoyed success more’: Jon Bon Jovi on megahits, marriage – and his fears for his career
    For years the frontman couldn’t enjoy the rock star ride – and now that he finally is, a vocal injury could end it. He explains how he stays upbeat, even with the US ‘at a precipice’In 1982, Jon Bon Jovi recorded a song called Runaway during his downtime while working at a New York recording studio. Every record company he approached rejected it, but a radio DJ encouraged him to enter an unsigned band competition, which he won. Not long after, Bon Jovi was driving back to
  • Dolly Parton announces Broadway musical: ‘You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll clap’

    Dolly Parton announces Broadway musical: ‘You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll clap’
    Hello, I’m Dolly, a stage show inspired by the superstar’s life, will include her classics and new songsDolly Parton is heading to Broadway with the musical Hello, I’m Dolly.The star is writing new songs to go along with some of her past hits and co-writing a stage story inspired by her life – a stage show that she hopes to land on Broadway in 2026. Continue reading...
  • Charli XCX: Brat review | Laura Snapes' album of the week

    Charli XCX: Brat review | Laura Snapes' album of the week
    (Atlantic)
    Beyond the sleaze, grinding bass and it-girl in-jokes, the British visionary’s sixth album is a masterpiece that understands how a hard persona can offer protectionCharli XCX’s last album was designed to reach as many people as possible. Satisfying the contract she signed with Atlantic as a teenager, 2022’s Crash was a conceptual go-for-broke by a pop star who had made her name as a refusenik, save a few uneasy youthful flirtations with the mainstream. She swapped he
  • TV channels once championed music. Why have they given up so completely?

    TV channels once championed music. Why have they given up so completely?
    Channel 4 has axed music video channels such as The Box and Kerrang! amid falling revenues. They were once vibrant and full of gems – and there’s very little to replace themYou may not live near a record shop or live venue, but if you want more music, chances are you own a television: this was the alluring promise of linear TV music channels, which, two decades after their peak period, came to a decisive end this week.Channel 4 have announced the closure of The Box, 4Music, Kiss, Mag

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