Musician who had huge 1984 hit with Agadoo had retired last month
Colin Gibb, who had huge success as a core member of novelty pop band Black Lace, has died aged 70.
His wife Sue Kelly announced the news on Facebook, writing: “I love you Colin … we were due to retire to Spain on Thursday, you were so happy, so looking forward to our new life, now you’re gone. As we used to say, always love you forever.”
Continue reading...D:Ream members regret association with Tony Blair and do not want song played at July general election
The pop group that sing Things Can Only Get Better – which became an anthem for Labour at the 1997 general election victory – will deny any request from Keir Starmer to use the track at this year’s election.
D:Ream’s founding members Peter Cunnah and Alan Mackenzie said they were dismayed to hear their song play through a loudspeaker as the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, called a 4 July general election on a wet afternoon in Downing Street.
Continue reading...Brum Rocks, born out of community musical groups, will bring together dozens of performers to play a new anthem for Birmingham
When Steve Groome started learning to play guitar after retiring, he never expected he would end up in a band.
“At 66, I’m not going to get a phone call from Mark Knopfler or Eric Clapton. I might not even get in an averagely rubbish covers band,” he said. “But I don’t need to with this, we have fun. I just let rip.”
Continue reading...Singer calls for 88 million followers to ‘show your solidarity with Gaza’ following Israeli attack on Rafah
Pop singer Dua Lipa has condemned the military operations in Gaza, describing them as “Israeli genocide” in an Instagram post to her 88 million followers.
Reposting a graphic from the group Artists4Ceasefire, along with the hashtag #AllEyesOnRafah that has trended in the days following Israel’s bombing of the Palestinian city, she wrote: “Burning children alive can never be justified. The whole world is mobilising to stop the Israeli genocide. Please show your solidarity with Gaza.”
Continue reading...Musician who played sax solo on Young Americans and released a series of Grammy-winning albums dies from prostate cancer
David Sanborn, the Grammy-winning saxophonist whose expressive versatility across jazz and pop also made him a sought-after session player for tracks such as David Bowie’s Young Americans, has died aged 78.
A message on social media stated he died from “an extended battle with prostate cancer with complications. Mr Sanborn had been dealing with prostate cancer since 2018, but had been able to maintain his normal schedule of concerts until just recently. Indeed he already had concerts scheduled into 2025.”
Continue reading...Leading cultural figures including Margaret Atwood sign statement in support of rapper who criticised Iranian regime
More than 100 figures from the worlds of music, culture and human rights activism – including Coldplay and Sting – have signed a statement calling for the release of the Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi who has been sentenced to death in Iran after protesting in support of women’s rights.
The 33-year-old, who was a vocal supporter of the Women, Life, Freedom movement in Iran was sentenced to death by a court in the city of Isfahan on 24 April, according to his lawyer.
Continue reading...Vocalist, guitarist and producer for bands such as Nirvana and Pixies suffers heart attack at his recording studio
Steve Albini, the vocalist, guitarist and producer who helmed a series of the most esteemed albums across the US alternative music scene, has died aged 61 from a heart attack suffered at his recording studio. Staff at his studio, Electrical Audio, confirmed the news to Pitchfork.
As well as fronting the bands Big Black, Rapeman and Shellac, who all pushed at the boundaries of post-punk and art-rock, Albini also produced – or, to use his preferred term, engineered – albums by Nirvana, Pixies, PJ Harvey and Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. He was noted for his DIY and punk ethos, resisting streaming services and refusing to take royalties from the recordings he produced for other artists.
Continue reading...Daniel Rooney stood in at 30-minutes’ notice on Friday night when Murs’ flight from London was cancelled
A Scottish singer has said he is “still on a high” after being plucked from obscurity to replace Olly Murs as the opening act for Take That at the last minute.
Murs was due to open for Take That at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow on Friday but had to pull out after getting stuck in London after his flight was cancelled.
Continue reading...She’s set to depose Taylor Swift from No 1 and has the most-streamed song in the world this week – the culmination of a decade of slow-burn success
Capped with one of the most brilliantly nonsensical chorus lines in pop history – “That’s that me, espresso” – Sabrina Carpenter’s Espresso is the most streamed song in the world this week, deposed Taylor Swift as the UK’s No 1 single yesterday and is shaping up to be the critics’ pick for the song you won’t be able to escape this summer.
Since its release in mid-April, this irresistible shot of nu-disco has been steadily climbing the charts to become one of the only tracks holding its own against the tidal wave of songs from Taylor Swift’s double-disc The Tortured Poets Department. Carpenter was recently released from Swift’s Eras tour juggernaut, having supported the superstar on her dates in Latin America, Australia and Singapore. Anointed by Swift as a “sweet angel princess”, she is now rising through the ranks to become pop royalty in her own right.
Continue reading...Swift now has joint highest number of chart-toppers for a female artist, as The Tortured Poets Department earns biggest opening week in seven years
Taylor Swift has tied with Madonna to become the female artist with the most UK No 1 albums, earning her twelfth chart-topper with the global phenomenon that is The Tortured Poets Department.
Swift also dominates this week’s singles chart, with three songs in the Top Five including a No 1 for Fortnight, featuring Post Malone. It’s her fourth No 1 single, and her third chart double.
Continue reading...French singer dedicates top prizes at Les Flammes ‘to all black women’ after backlash over rumoured Paris show
The French pop star Aya Nakamura, who found herself at the centre of a racist row after rumours she was going to sing at the Paris Olympics opening ceremony, has thanked fans for their support after winning three big prizes at France’s Les Flammes awards for rap, R&B and pop.
“I’m very honoured because being a black artist and coming from the banlieue is very difficult,” Nakamura told the audience at the ceremony, which she opened with a medley of her songs. She dedicated her awards – female artist of the year, pop album of the year, and international star of the year – “to all black women”.
Continue reading...Guitar also played by George Harrison on Norwegian Wood could sell for millions in May auction, alongside other memorabilia including a book of Tupac Shakur’s handwritten lyrics
A guitar played by John Lennon and George Harrison in sessions for the albums Help! and Rubber Soul, which has spent the last 50 years lying in an attic, is to go up for auction alongside other memorabilia items such as a handwritten concert setlist by Kurt Cobain, a book of handwritten lyrics by Tupac Shakur and a Fendi dress worn by Amy Winehouse.
The 12-string acoustic guitar, a Hootenanny model made by Bavarian firm Framus in the early 1960s, was primarily played by Lennon and also appears in the movie Help!, used to perform You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away. The studio version of that song also features the guitar, as well as Help!’s title track, It’s Only Love and I’ve Just Seen a Face. Harrison, meanwhile, used it to play the rhythm guitar part on Norwegian Wood, and it appears on another Rubber Soul song, Girl.
Continue reading...Cher finally recognised 60 years after her first recordings, while Mary J Blige, Peter Frampton and Dave Matthews Band are among the other inductees
Cher, Ozzy Osbourne, Mary J Blige and A Tribe Called Quest are among the stars to be added to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year – many of them rather overdue.
Artists can be added to the US institution 25 years after their first recording, but Cher – who once described her snub by the Hall as “kind of rude” – has had to wait until 60 years after her first releases with Sonny & Cher to be included.
Continue reading...The superstar arrives in Europe next month – and Swifties, tourist boards and venues are already preparing
Tim Brown, 44, and his wife, Marcella, 34, may not consider themselves bona fide “Swifties”, but when it was announced last June that Taylor Swift would be visiting their corner of the globe this summer they could not resist joining the scramble for a pair of tickets.
A post-pandemic appetite for live music events has fuelled huge worldwide interest in the American singer-songwriter’s Eras tour, which surpassed in $1bn sales in November to become the highest-grossing series of concerts in history.
Continue reading...After ‘bonkers gig’ at Huddersfield town hall paired doom metal bands with pipe organist, churches are keen to get in on the act
It was a “bonkers gig”, pairing heavy metal with a pipe organ – a musical curiosity that the bands thought would surely seldom be repeated, if ever.
But Pantheïst and Arð, the doom metals bands who performed the concert at Huddersfield town hall last year, have been inundated with requests to repeat the performance – with churches leading the way.
Continue reading...Tailor-made suits, live music and – of course – a scooter run are expected at this weekend’s celebration
Hundreds of vintage fanatics, dressed in tailor-made suits and berets, are expected to descend on London this weekend for a three-day event celebrating mod subculture.
Modstock, launched 30 years ago by a British vintage fanatic, Rob Bailey, and his organisation New Untouchables, returns for its fourth edition.
Continue reading...The former Years and Years singer and star of It’s a Sin signed a joint response affirming a stance against ‘all forms of hate, including antisemitism and Islamophobia’
Britain’s Eurovision competitor Olly Alexander and several other entrants have rejected calls to boycott this year’s Eurovision song contest owing to its inclusion of Israel among the competitors, stating their belief in “the unifying power of music, enabling people to transcend differences and foster meaningful conversations and connections”.
Maxine Peake and the author Sarah Schulman were among a list of more than 450 queer artists, individuals and organisations who signed an open letter as Queers for Palestine calling on Alexander – the former Years and Years singer and star of Channel 4’s It’s a Sin – to pull out of the contest in solidarity with Palestine.
Continue reading...High court judge to rule on level of compensation awarded to woman sexually abused by pop star
One of Gary Glitter’s victims is seeking about half a million pounds from the disgraced musician in damages, the high court has heard.
The woman is suing Glitter, whose real name is Paul Gadd, after his 2015 conviction for abusing her and two other young people between 1975 and 1980.
Continue reading...Rock star left Spotify in 2022 in protest over podcaster Joe Rogan, but says he can’t keep up fight as Rogan broadens distribution to Apple, YouTube and Amazon
Neil Young is to return his music to Spotify after keeping it off the streaming platform for more than two years.
Young removed his entire catalogue from the world’s biggest streaming company in January 2022, in protest against Joe Rogan whose chart-topping podcast was exclusive to Spotify.
Continue reading...The US singer has been called out by human rights activists for hosting a summit and performing on stage in the repressive state
Performer Alicia Keys projects a powerful position on women’s rights, hosting a regular Women to Women summit and posting inspirationally on Instagram on Friday for International Women’s Day. But the singer-songwriter’s message is undermined for some by the revelation that she is hosting the third edition of her summit this weekend in Saudi Arabia.
The American performer and her guests, including Pharrell Williams, best known for his worldwide hit Happy, are to discuss “how women are pushing the culture forward in Saudi Arabia and around the world”, she has announced, before the get-together in the coastal city of Jeddah.
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