Singer revered by David Bowie and Jimi Hendrix had complications in hospital following hip surgery
Phil May, frontman of riotous band the Pretty Things who were acclaimed peers of David Bowie and the Rolling Stones, has died aged 75.
He died in hospital in King’s Lynn, Norfolk, from complications following hip surgery after a cycling accident, that are not related to coronavirus.
Continue reading...Singer had ranted at ‘wet market animal selling, virus making’ people in China in Instagram post
The Canadian singer-songwriter Bryan Adams has apologised after an outburst on Instagram where he attacked “bat eating, wet market animal selling, virus making greedy bastards” in China for the source of the coronavirus outbreak.
The 60-year-old shared an expletive-filled post on Instagram, lamenting how his planned performances in London had been postponed due to the health crisis.
Continue reading...How did a turbaned drag queen from the sexual underground of America’s deep south ignite rock’n’roll? We unravel the mystery behind Little Richard’s subversive genius
As the world marks and mourns the passing of Little Richard, many have been asking: how was someone so unapologetically black and queer present at the origins of rock, a world-shaking music still associated, to this day, with white male musical acts like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones?
All these artists and more, including Bob Dylan in a Twitter thread, would be quick to acknowledge Little Richard’s formative influence on them. But “influence” is perhaps too weak a word here. Rock’n’roll history has never exactly neglected or ignored Little Richard: it just has never quite known what to do with him. The longstanding pissing contest over who can claim the title “King of Rock’n’Roll” – Elvis? Jerry Lee Lewis? – is a case in point. While his authorised biographer went celestial in choosing to style Richard “the Quasar of Rock”, perhaps we might do better to listen to the artist, introducing himself at the Club Matinee in Houston, Texas, in 1953: “Little Richard, King of the Blues … and the Queen, too!”
Continue reading...Canadian pop-rocker conflates various unproven theories about source of disease in expletive-filled rant on Instagram
Bryan Adams has made an expletive-filled attack on Chinese people over coronavirus, in the week he was due to start a concert residency at the Royal Albert Hall, London, that was cancelled due to the outbreak.
Introducing an acoustic performance of the song Cuts Like a Knife on his Instagram page, the Canadian singer wrote:
Continue reading...Singer with remarkable vocal range had been sampled by generations of hip-hop and R&B artists, including Beyoncé and Mary J Blige
The soul, funk and R&B singer Betty Wright, celebrated across pop genres for her remarkable vocal prowess, has died aged 66.
The cause of death was not immediately known but Wright’s niece confirmed the news, writing on Twitter: “Sleep in peace aunty Betty Wright. Fly high angel.”
Continue reading...His 1955 song Tutti Frutti, with the lyric ‘awopbopaloobop alopbamboom’, and a series of follow-up records helped establish the genre and influence a multitude of other musicians
Little Richard, one of the pioneers of the first wave of rock’n’roll, has died. He was 87.
Related: Little Richard – a life in pictures
Continue reading...Album news revealed with release of third song from the project, swaggering blues number False Prophet
Bob Dylan has announced his first album of original songwriting in eight years.
Rough and Rowdy Ways will be released on 19 June. It follows three albums of cover versions – Shadows in the Night (2015), Fallen Angels (2016) and triple album Triplicate (2017) – with his previous album of his own songs, Tempest, released in 2012.
Continue reading...Queen guitarist says ‘I won’t be able to walk for a while’ after injury during lockdown and lambasts Boris Johnson over coronavirus
Brian May has complained of “relentless pain” after he was taken to hospital following a gardening injury that tore muscles in his buttocks – and, while in recovery, made a sustained attack on Boris Johnson’s preparedness for coronavirus.
Writing on Instagram, the Queen guitarist said: “I managed to rip my gluteus maximus to shreds in a moment of overenthusiastic gardening. So suddenly I find myself in a hospital getting scanned to find out exactly how much I’ve actually damaged myself. Turns out I did a thorough job – this is a couple of days ago – and I won’t be able to walk for a while … or sleep, without a lot of assistance, because the pain is relentless.”
Continue reading...Co-founder of hugely influential electronic pop group, who has died of cancer, had a UK No 1 hit with The Model in 1982
Florian Schneider, who as one of the founding members of German group Kraftwerk changed the sound of pop music forever, has died aged 73 of cancer.
The news was confirmed to the Guardian by one of his musical collaborators, who said Schneider had died a week ago and had a private burial. It was also confirmed via Sony Berlin.
Continue reading...Singer complains of ‘tasteless’ release amid coronavirus crisis by former label Big Machine, owned by frequent adversary Scooter Braun
Taylor Swift has disowned a new live album released under her name, calling it tasteless and “shameless greed” amid the coronavirus outbreak.
The album, Live from Clear Channel Stripped 2008, was recorded when Swift was 18, around the release of her Grammy-winning second album, Fearless. The live album has been released by Big Machine, Swift’s former label that was bought by music manager Scooter Braun from its founder, Scott Borchetta. Swift has frequently criticised Braun and Borchetta – leading Braun to allege death threats from fans to his family – and is planning to rerecord and rerelease her six albums put out by Big Machine to regain some control over her back catalogue.
Continue reading...Pop star unites with Twitter founder Jack Dorsey to support charities working with ‘communities of colour’
Beyoncé has announced a donation of $6m for mental health and other initiatives during the coronavirus outbreak.
The singer teamed up with Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s relief fund #startsmall to make the donation to the National Alliance in Mental Health, University of California Los Angeles, and local community-based organisations working to improve mental health. In a statement on her website, Beyoncé said mental burdens were accelerating for people who can’t access basic necessities during the crisis.
Continue reading...Mick Jagger says new single will ‘resonate through the times we’re living in’ and references coronavirus with the lyric: ‘Life was so beautiful, then we all got locked down’
The Rolling Stones have released their first original music since 2012, a new – and rather apocalyptic – single called Living in a Ghost Town.
Mick Jagger said the band were “recording some new material before the lockdown and there was one song we thought would resonate through the times that we’re living in right now. We’ve worked on it in isolation. And here it is.”
Continue reading...O’Rahilly, who also managed pop stars and James Bond actor George Lazenby, was diagnosed with dementia in 2013
Ronan O’Rahilly, the Irish founder of the notorious Radio Caroline that popularised pop music on British radio, has died aged 79.
His death was announced by the radio station that is still broadcasting, who said: “In a pastime populated by unusual people, Ronan was more unusual than all of them combined.” He had been diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2013.
Continue reading...Nobel prize-winning songwriter follows 17-minute Murder Most Foul with I Contain Multitudes, referencing everything from Edgar Allan Poe to William Blake and the Rolling Stones
Bob Dylan has continued to release his first original music in eight years, with a song in which he seemingly compares himself to Anne Frank, Indiana Jones, the Rolling Stones and William Blake.
At four and a half minutes, I Contain Multitudes is less lengthy than the song he returned with, Murder Most Foul, a 17-minute long track about the JFK assassination. Like that song, though, I Contain Multitudes is drifting and percussion-free, backed by acoustic, electric and pedal steel guitars.
Continue reading...From a six-strong indie household in Glasgow to a trans DJ thruple in a remote log cabin, we meet the bands weathering the pandemic with each other
The London indie-pop band were recording at a studio in Devon when lockdown began
Continue reading...He’s been attacked by pastors and jailed by the authorities. But the outspoken rapper will not be silenced. He talks about his cult-like following – and the weird rules ‘Marlians’ live by
Depending on who you talk to, Naira Marley is either the scourge of the next generation of Nigerians or their saviour. But whoever’s talking, the pop star – arguably the most controversial in Africa – is spoken about in near-mythological tones, which makes his amiability very arresting when we meet in London a few weeks before lockdown.
He arrives flanked by an entourage, photoshoot-ready in a reflective puffer, and oscillates between class clown and deep thought. To some, the 25-year-old’s meteoric rise over the past two years has been sudden: selling out Brixton Academy in three minutes; accruing three million Instagram followers, tens of millions of streams, and a cult-like fandom. But the signs of stardom have always been there.
Continue reading...Grammy-winning songwriter beloved of Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash died on Tuesday
John Prine, the US folk and country singer beloved of Bob Dylan, Kris Kristofferson and more, has died aged 73 due to complications from Covid-19.
Prine was hospitalised on 26 March, and was in intensive care for 13 days before dying on Tuesday, at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Tennessee. Prine’s family confirmed his death to several US media outlets including The New York Times, Rolling Stone and Variety.
Continue reading...Lean on Me and Lovely Day singer dies of heart complications, according to a family statement
Bill Withers, the influential US soul singer who wrote Lean on Me, Ain’t No Sunshine and Lovely Day has died aged 81 of heart complications, according to a statement from his family.
Withers wrote and recorded several other major hits including Use Me and Just the Two of Us, before retiring in the mid-1980s and staying out of the public eye.
Continue reading...In Listener’s Digest, our writers help you explore the work of great pop musicians. As fans eagerly await the album known as R9, here’s a guide to pop superstar Rihanna
Rated R (2009)
Continue reading...Musician who influenced Michael Jackson dies in Paris hospital from Covid-19 infection
Manu Dibango, the Cameroonian musician celebrated for his blend of jazz, funk and traditional west African styles, has died aged 86 in a Paris hospital after contracting Covid-19.
A message on his Facebook page announced the news with “deep sadness”, and added: “His funeral service will be held in strict privacy, and a tribute to his memory will be organised when possible.”
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