Category Archives: Pop and rock

R Kelly accused of sexually abusing 13-year-old girl in 2001 incident

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New allegation comes as Kelly, who was recently arrested over 10 counts of sexual assault, returns to jail for failing to pay child support

A fresh allegation has been made against R Kelly, by an unnamed woman who says the R&B star sexually assaulted her when she was 13, and later infected her with herpes.

Police in Detroit are investigating the claims made by the woman, who says she and Kelly had sex at a hotel in the city in December 2001, and a few weeks later at a recording studio. The woman says she visited Kelly at his home over the next four years, eventually contracting herpes from him when she was 17.

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Rock’n’roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis suffers minor stroke

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American musician, 83, expected to make full recovery, according to representative

Rock’n’roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis has suffered a minor stroke, a representative for the star has said.

The 83-year-old was expected to make a full recovery and was recuperating in Memphis with his family by his bedside after falling ill on Thursday, Zach Farnum said.

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Mark Hollis, lead singer of Talk Talk, dies at age 64, reports say

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Hollis and the ‘post-rock’ band made a name with 1980s hit singles including It’s My Life

Figures from the world of music have paid tribute to Mark Hollis, frontman of the band Talk Talk, after it was reported that he had died at the age of 64.

With Hollis as its singer and creative mastermind, the group made a name with 1980s hit singles such as It’s My Life, Today, Talk Talk and Life’s What You Make It. They progressed to albums like Spirit of Eden, which was hailed as a “masterpiece”, and Laughing Stock.

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Peter Tork, bassist for the Monkees, dies aged 77

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Accomplished folk musician and teen star helped move the guitar-pop band beyond their manufactured image

Peter Tork, the bassist for the Monkees, has died aged 77.

Tork, who also sang on a number of the band’s songs and played keyboards, had been diagnosed with a rare form of tongue cancer in 2009, though the cause of his death, which was confirmed by his sister, has not been announced.

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Musicians voice concern over Ryan Adams’ abuse allegations

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Adams’ guitarist Todd Wisenbaker is one of a number of musicians to condemn the singer-songwriter, who has said accusations of abuse and harassment are ‘inaccurate’

Guitarist Todd Wisenbaker, who has collaborated with Ryan Adams, is one of a number of musicians who have condemned the singer-songwriter after seven women alleged emotional and verbal abuse and harassment in a New York Times investigation published last week.

Actor and musician Mandy Moore, who was married to Adams, and musician Phoebe Bridgers, who had a relationship with him, were among the women who spoke to the Times, alongside a fan who says she was underage when he began to send her explicit messages online.

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South Korea nixes diversity rules after saying K-pop stars ‘look identical’

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Guidelines to address promotion of unrealistic beauty standards withdrawn in state censorship row

Government guidelines aimed at promoting more diversity in South Korea’s K-pop world have been withdrawn after critics said they amounted to state censorship of a booming industry.

The guidelines issued last week by the ministry of gender equality and family complained that K-pop stars looked too alike, saying “the problem of … uniformity among singers is serious”, and noting most idols were thin and wore identical makeup and skimpy outfits.

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Salif Keita: ‘Democracy is not a good thing for Africa’

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The ‘golden voice of Africa’ has just released his final album. And though he is visibly tired, he is still in love with his guitar

Salif Keita, Mali’s most famous musical son, is going home. “I’m returning to the land,” he says. “I was a farmer’s son. I am a farmer’s son. Now, I will go back to the country and cultivate.” Cultivate what? I ask, not for the first time. Keita does not answer, not for the first time. He closes his eyes and falls silent. When he does speak, it is bursts of a few words and short, stilted answers.

I am in a modest hotel suite in the north of Paris with one of the greatest musical talents the African continent has ever produced. Keita, known as the “golden voice of Africa”, has enjoyed a career spanning more than half a century. Now nearly 70 years old, he is known not just for his extraordinarily powerful and passionate voice, but for the genetic condition he has called albinism that has made him, he says, “white of skin and black of blood”. He has sung for Nelson Mandela, and in aid of Ethiopia. He continues to sing to highlight the desperate plight of those with albinism across Africa, giving his time and talent to raise funds.

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Ariana Grande mocked for Japanese tattoo typo: ‘Leave me and my grill alone’

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Singer was hoping for a Japanese translation of the title of her hit 7 Rings. Instead she ended up with a tattoo which means ‘small charcoal grill’

Too bad pop star Ariana Grande is vegan – she just tattooed an accidental homage to a Japanese barbeque grill on her palm.

The US singer’s attempt to ink an ode to her hit single 7 Rings backfired Wednesday after social media quickly chimed in to tell her the characters actually translated to “shichirin”: a small charcoal grill.

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‘No one cared because we were black girls’: is time finally up for R Kelly?

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Women have accused the singer of sexual abuse for decades. So why are they only being listened to now? Blame misogyny and racism – but also the potency of his music

“Yo, Pac!” You can almost feel the spittle as Gary Oldman launches into his soliloquy. It is 2012, and he is performing in a skit on Jimmy Kimmel’s US talkshow, reciting from R Kelly’s autobiography with the plummy majesty he later brought to the role of Churchill. “What up, baby?” he utters as the audience collapses in giggles. The joke is twofold: English people are so white! But also: R Kelly is so ridiculous!

For years, Robert Kelly, now aged 52, was seen, as Kimmel put it that night, as “great and inexplicable”. He was one of the US’s most brilliant entertainers, beloved for his uproariously carnal R&B tracks and stratospheric ballads. But there was something that set him apart from his musical peers: a knowing ridiculousness, which would prompt him to cast himself in a 33-part television opera centering around a well-endowed dwarf, describe himself as a “sexasaurus”, and make Same Girl, his duet with Usher, so hammy it would inevitably be spoofed by Flight of the Conchords in a song called We’re Both in Love With a Sexy Lady. This sense of self-mockery gained him a new, white hipster audience – Pitchfork booked him to play its festival in 2013 – and also helped insulate him from criticism. Until now.

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The world in 2018: how much do you know? – quiz

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The year began with the Oxfam scandal and ended with a withering verdict on the food we eat. What do you remember?

Allegations of harassment at aid agencies and charities were frequent in 2018. Which organisation was branded 'a boys' club' by one employee?

UN Women

UNAids

Oxfam GB

ActionAid

Students in Cape Town scored a world first by creating a bio-brick from which substance?

Human saliva

Cow's milk

Horse manure

Human urine

Which singer came out in support of a Brexit-beleaguered Theresa May, suggesting the PM's gender made her a target for unfair criticism?

Lady Gaga

Paloma Faith

Kate Bush

Rae Morris

In a report condemning the 'diabolical state' of our diets, nutritionists found that more than four in 10 children worldwide consume what daily?

Chocolate

Cake

Crisps

Sugary drinks

Researchers at Harvard University believe it may be possible to protect countries in the global south from climate change using what?

A gigantic sunshade in the sky

Blanket distribution of sunscreen

A gigantic heat-absorbing sponge

Tibetan prayer beads

Which of the following food staples is threatened by a virulent fungus that could wipe it out of existence?

Wheat

Potatoes

Bananas

Chocolate chip cookies

Scientists working in Tanzania have developed an innovative method of diagnosing tuberculosis – involving the use of what?

Giant pandas

Giant armadillos

Giant frogs

Giant rats

In a speech on equality at the UN, which actor said she was tired of 'being undervalued, undermined and disrespected, because of my gender'?

Sienna Miller

Nicole Kidman

Gal Gadot

Emma Watson

Ethiopian girl band Yegna made headlines after losing UK aid funding. To which British girl band have they been compared?

Girls Aloud

The Spice Girls

The Saturdays

Sugababes

To which of the following did the Trump administration NOT make aid funding cuts in 2018?

Abortion services

Palestinians

Polio

Pakistan

10 and above.

Take a bow, you're a bonafide newshound!

7 and above.

My, my, now that was impressive – you really didn't miss much in 2018, did you?

4 and above.

A solid effort. Let no one say you ignored the headlines in 2018

0 and above.

Oops. It would seem the world passed you by somewhat in 2018. Was it all that talk of Brexit and Trump?

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