Category Archives: Pop and rock

Pink Floyd reaches deal with Sony to sell music catalog for $400m – report

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British rock band also agree to sell rights to their name and likeness after years of reported infighting among members

Pink Floyd has reportedly reached a deal with Sony to sell their music catalog, as well as their name and likeness, for about $400m.

The British rock band agreed to sell the rights to their recorded music catalog, their name and their likeness, but not the rights to their songwriting, according to the Financial Times, who first reported the news of the deal on Tuesday, citing two people familiar with the matter.

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Lincoln venue apologises for treatment of male gig-goers at Last Dinner Party concert

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Men who attended planned concert alone tell how they were searched and asked ‘condescending questions’ by security

A venue in Lincoln has apologised for the treatment of some male attendees at a planned concert by the Last Dinner Party – which the band ultimately cancelled shortly before show time due to illness.

On X, one man wrote that on arriving at the Engine Shed, he was “funnelled into a dark corner with other men, told I might be a pervert cus I’m alone and then taken into a room alone with a security guard where I was interrogated and searched. Feel sick.” In subsequent comments, he said he had been asked what his favourite song by the British group was.

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Tito Jackson, Jackson 5 member and brother to Michael, dies aged 70

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The third of nine Jackson children and last to release a solo project, Tito was ‘incredible man who cared about everyone’

Tito Jackson, one of the brothers who made up the pop group the Jackson 5, has died at the age of 70.

Tito was the third of nine Jackson children, including global superstars Michael and sister Janet.

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Will Jennings, Oscar-winning lyricist of My Heart Will Go On, dies aged 80

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Songwriter wrote No 1 hits for Whitney Houston and Barry Manilow, as well as iconic ballads such as Up Where We Belong and Tears in Heaven

Will Jennings, the Oscar-winning US lyricist behind hit songs such as My Heart Will Go On, Tears in Heaven and Up Where We Belong, has died aged 80. His agent said Jennings died at home in Tyler, Texas, and did not give a cause of death.

Born Wilbur Jennings in 1944, he was raised in Tyler and initially went into academia, teaching at the University of Wisconsin. But in 1971 he headed to Nashville and became a lyricist in the city’s country music scene, earning his first country No 1 in 1975 with Feelins’ by Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn.

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Oasis fans frustrated by technical issues in battle to nab reunion show tickets

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High demand crashes ticket-selling websites amid scramble to secure place on 14-date tour

Did Oasis sell out yesterday? Definitely in Dublin. Maybe in Manchester. It was hard to tell.

Fans struggled to buy the million or so tickets that went on sale at 9am yesterday morning for the Manchester band’s 17-date comeback tour. Tickets had been expected to be snapped up in minutes, but instead many waited in online queues for hours, frustration mounting, only to be kicked off booking websites.

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Oasis warn that gig tickets resold at inflated prices will be cancelled

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Official tickets are priced at between £73 and £151, but some resellers are charging in the thousands for them

Oasis have issued a warning to people against reselling tickets for their reunion tour – or buying those resold tickets – on the secondary market at vastly inflated prices.

The band said tickets “sold in breach of the terms and conditions will be cancelled by the promoters”.

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Mariah Carey announces death of mother and sister on same day

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Grammy winner asks for privacy as she mourns Patricia and Alison, saying: ‘My heart is broken’

Mariah Carey’s mother, Patricia, and sister, Alison, both died on the same day, the singer said Monday.

“My heart is broken that I’ve lost my mother this past weekend,” the Grammy-winning singer said. “Sadly, in a tragic turn of events, my sister lost her life on the same day.

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Love story: Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour at Wembley – photo essay

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Scottish photographer Dougie Wallace documented the Swifties from the UK and beyond decked in their finery to see their hero perform

As Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour sweeps across the globe, it’s on track to gross more than $1bn (£770m) by the end of 2024, having already become the first tour to pass that figure last year.

Economists have even started talking about the “Swift effect” or Swiftonomics. Rumour has it that the tour’s impact may have played a role in the Bank of England’s deliberations before cutting its interest rate at the start of this month. With almost 1.2 million fans attending concerts in the UK, each spending an estimated average of £848 on the overall experience of attending the concerts, the surge in spending sparked a short-term bump in inflation.

‘Infectious energy that could only come from dedicated Swifties who had travelled from all corners of the UK and beyond. Being from Scotland and not into football meant I was visiting Wembley for the first time.’

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‘Safer than ever’: Swifties gather at Wembley for first concert since foiled Vienna plot

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Fans in sequins and cowboy hats arrive undeterred at first of five Taylor Swift concerts in London

Thousands of fans have arrived at Wembley stadium in London to see Taylor Swift perform for the first time since her shows in Vienna were cancelled after a foiled terror attack.

Despite heightened security concerns, fans have arrived unfazed, wearing sequins, cowboy hats and friendship bracelets. Angelina Morris, 20, said her mum had spent more than 50 hours hand-sewing her outfit and had not thought twice about attending the concert after the attack plot.

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BTS member Suga facing possible prison sentence or fine over drink-driving e-scooter incident

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Suga has apologised after he was found lying on the ground in the Yongsan district of Seoul following an apparent accident

Suga, a member of the K-pop supergroup BTS, faces a potential prison sentence or a hefty fine after a breathalyser test revealed he was over the blood-alcohol limit when he reportedly fell off his e-scooter in Seoul last week.

Suga, who along with other members of the band has taken a break from music to perform compulsory national service, was found lying on the ground in the Yongsan district of Seoul on 6 August after an apparent accident, South Korean media reported.

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Family of Isaac Hayes threaten Donald Trump with lawsuit over use of song in rallies

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Family call for $3m in licensing fees stemming from Trump’s frequent use of the Hayes-penned Sam & Dave track Hold On, I’m Comin’

The family of late soul and funk singer Isaac Hayes has ordered Donald Trump to stop using the Hayes-penned song Hold On, I’m Comin’ at campaign rallies.

A letter sent to Trump and his campaign team, shared by Hayes’s son Isaac Hayes III, threatens Trump with legal action if he continues to use the 1966 Sam & Dave song, written by Hayes and David Porter. It alleges copyright infringement, and also demands $3m in licensing fees incurred from the use of the song between 2022 and 2024.

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‘We have to adapt or die’: Daniel Bedingfield says AI is music’s future

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Exclusive: Gotta Get Thru This singer argues that ‘neo-luddites’ risk being left behind as technology develops

The growing use of artificial intelligence in the creative industries has been described as an existential threat to jobs and artistic integrity. Earlier this year artists including Billie Eilish and Katy Perry signed an open letter urging tech companies not to “sabotage creativity”, while Nick Cave has called lyrics written by ChatGPT “a grotesque mockery of what it is to be human”. But according to the musician Daniel Bedingfield, AI is music’s future, and anyone who fights against it faces being left behind.

“AI is now here for ever,” he told the Guardian. “And so I think that there will be two paths: there’ll be the neo-luddite path, and then there’ll be everyone else, most of the planet, who thinks the music’s really good and enjoys it.”

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‘A bit bloody exciting’: Adele welcomes tens of thousands to epic Munich concert series

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The British singer’s 10 shows in a pop-up stadium will bring big revenues to the Bavarian city – but there are concerns over ticketing and the climate impact of ‘gig tripping’

Earlier this summer, with a little help from AI, Adele slipped into a Bavarian-style dirndl dress, cradled a very tall beer and held a giant soft pretzel aloft. “Not long now … Pack ma’s!” was the tagline, translating from Bavarian dialect as “Let’s do this!” Her groundbreaking, potentially record-busting Munich residency was only a few weeks off.

Her Adele in Munich spectacular is now set to begin on Friday, attracting fans from around the world to 10 shows during August at a custom-built pop-up stadium, while pointing a way forward for pop superstardom – a bold project that has sparked excitement and some controversy.

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First trailer for Bob Dylan biopic shows Timothée Chalamet as the star

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A Complete Unknown, from Walk the Line director James Mangold, will show the musician’s rise to worldwide fame in early 60s New York City

The first trailer for A Complete Unknown shows Oscar nominee Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan in the much-anticipated biopic.

The Dune and Call Me by Your Name star has transformed into the legendary musician for an awards-aiming drama to be released in the US in December and in the UK in January. It comes from the film-maker James Mangold, who previously directed the Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line.

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Adele announces ‘big break’ from music

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Speaking to German media ahead of Munich concert residency, singer says she ‘wants to do other creative things’ and has no plans for new material

Adele has announced she intends to go on hiatus from music after a forthcoming concert residency in Munich.

The British singer told German broadcaster ZDF: “My tank is quite empty from being on stage every weekend in Las Vegas. I don’t have any plans for new music, at all.

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Ann Wilson, frontwoman of Heart, diagnosed with cancer

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Chart-topping singer cancels remainder of 2024 tour dates but says she hopes to return next year

Ann Wilson, the lead singer of rock band Heart, has announced that she has been diagnosed with cancer.

The 74-year-old wrote in an Instagram post: “I recently underwent an operation to remove something that, as it turns out, was cancerous. The operation was successful & I’m feeling great but my doctors are now advising me to undergo a course of preventive chemotherapy & I’ve decided to do it. And so my doctors are instructing me to take the rest of the year away from the stage in order to fully recover.”

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One Direction’s Louis Tomlinson stages impromptu England match screening at Glastonbury

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After festival organisers refused to screen Euros clash, pop singer bought flat screen TV and generator from Argos on Sunday morning and set them up in camping area

Festivalgoers at Glastonbury were given the opportunity to watch England’s Euro 2024 last-16 match against Slovakia by an unlikely figure: former One Direction star Louis Tomlinson, who livestreamed the game in the festival campsite on a flatscreen television he’d bought from Argos earlier in the day.

Glastonbury officials had announced earlier in the week that the match would not be shown at the festival due to clashes with performances on the major stages, forcing fans to find enterprising ways to watch it. Tomlinson was more enterprising than most, purchasing a flat screen TV and generator on Sunday morning and streaming the game using wifi. He said that he had initially intended to watch the game in the hospitality section but was thwarted by spotty reception, so brought the TV to the main festival site instead.

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Crazy Town singer Seth Binzer died of accidental overdose, band manager says

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Frontman, who spoke before about substance addiction, said to have taken mix of pharmaceutical and street drugs

The US singer Seth Binzer, whose rap-rock band Crazy Town became a No 1 hit with 2001’s Butterfly, died as a result of an accidental drug overdose, his group’s manager told the Guardian on Friday.

Crazy Town manager Howie Hubberman said the death on Monday of the musician known as Shifty Shellshock occurred after he ingested an unintentionally lethal combination of pharmaceutical and street drugs, though the medical examiner in the vocalist’s home town of Los Angeles had not yet provided details on an official cause or manner of death.

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Coldplay: vinyl copies of new album Moon Music will be made from old plastic bottles

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Band say carbon emissions for vinyl production will be reduced by 85% thanks to new method, as they announce 10th studio album

Coldplay are aiming to make the most ecologically sustainable vinyl record yet, for their newly announced album Moon Music.

Each 140g vinyl copy of Moon Music, released 4 October, will be manufactured from nine plastic bottles recovered from consumer waste. For a special “notebook edition”, 70% of the plastic has been intercepted by the environmental nonprofit The Ocean Cleanup from Rio Las Vacas, Guatemala, preventing it from entering the Gulf of Honduras and the Atlantic Ocean.

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Pop singer Kevin Jonas documents skin cancer treatment

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Jonas Brothers star revealed he has had surgery for basal cell carcinoma, advising followers to get moles checked

Pop 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.

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