Category Archives: Pop and rock

‘A huge event’: excitement as the Beatles’ final song Now and Then approaches release

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AI-enhanced song released at 2pm GMT today, but Beatles experts are divided over how effectively it could capture the band’s spirit

George Harrison originally disliked it; fans had long assumed it would never be released. But the “final” song by the Beatles, Now and Then, is being released at 2pm GMT, an unexpected last flourish for arguably the UK’s greatest band.

“It’s a big moment,” says Dr Holly Tessler of the University of Liverpool, who specialises in the Beatles’ history and legacy. “It’s strange to think that a band that broke up more than 50 years ago is telling you that this is our last song … in a way, Paul and Ringo, who are both in their 80s, are drawing a line. It’s a very sweet moment I suspect for almost all Beatles fans; it feels like an ending. So I do think it’s significant.”

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BTS and Taylor Swift fans give Javier Milei and his running mate an earful

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Argentinian Swifties say ‘Milei is Trump’ as devotees of BTS decry ‘hatred and xenophobia’ of Victoria Villarruel’s tweets about group

Weeks before Argentina’s run-off election, far-right populist Javier Milei and his running mate, Victoria Villaruel, have found themselves under pressure from an unexpected quarter: an alliance of Taylor Swift supporters and K-pop fans.

Milei, a radical libertarian who has proposed dollarizing Argentina’s economy and even legalizing the organ trade, topped the polls ahead of Sunday’s first round, but was beaten into second place by the centrist finance minister, Sergio Massa.

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Keith Richards: Rolling Stones hologram performance is ‘bound to happen’

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Guitarist says he doesn’t know if he wants ‘to hang around that long’ to see Abba Voyage-style recreation of the band

Keith Richards has reflected on the likelihood of a hologram performance by the Rolling Stones, saying it is “bound to happen”.

In an interview with Matt Wilkinson on Apple Music 1, Wilkinson asked if “in 10, 20 years’ time, we could be watching holograms of the Stones on stage”. Richards replied: “I certainly wouldn’t rule it out. I’m pretty sure that is bound to happen. Do I want it? Now, that’s another thing. I don’t know if I want to hang around that long, man. But at the same time, it won’t be up to me, will it?”

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Slade’s Noddy Holder diagnosed with cancer five years ago, wife reveals

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Suzan Holder says her husband was initially given six months to live but he is ‘feeling good and looking great’

Noddy Holder, the frontman of Slade, was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer five years ago, his wife has revealed.

Doctors told Holder that he had six months to live, Suzan Holder wrote in Cheshire Life magazine on Thursday, but she said Holder, 77, had responded well to experimental chemotherapy and “coped with amazing good humour and breath-taking bravery”.

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Neomelodica star Tony Colombo arrested in Naples mafia swoop

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Singer, whose music has been linked to crime gangs, and his wife are among 27 held in police raids targeting the Di Lauro clan

Before announcing his retirement from singing in 2020, Antonio “Tony” Colombo was arguably the most acclaimed singer of neomelodico, an Italian pop genre that resonates strongly within mafia strongholds in the southern regions of Italy.

His songs were so highly praised among the underworld that when he married Tina Rispoli, the widow of the slain Neapolitan mafia boss Gaetano Marino, in 2019, dozens of members of the Camorra attended their wedding.

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‘We cannot lose our humanity’: Madonna addresses Israel-Hamas war on stage in London

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Singer laments the deaths of children during war, as well as the Palestinian-American child to alleged hate crime in Chicago

Madonna has addressed the Israel-Hamas war in a long statement during a concert at London’s O2 Arena.

At the third date of her Celebration tour, she lamented the deaths of children in the conflict as well as alleged hate crimes related to it, expanding on comments she had made about the war at earlier concerts.

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Pop group Easy Life forced to change band name amid dispute with easyJet owner

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The group have decided not to defend lawsuit due to financial burden, after easyGroup labelled the Leicester-formed band a ‘brand thief’

British pop group Easy Life have been forced to change their name after easyGroup, the parent company of easyJet, filed a lawsuit claiming their name infringed on a trademark.

The band will not defend the high court lawsuit, saying the financial burden of doing so would be too high. They have not announced a new name.

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Stevie Nicks says Fleetwood Mac won’t tour again after death of Christine McVie

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Singer says ‘we really can’t go any further with this – there’s no reason to’ when asked about future of band

Stevie Nicks has said Fleetwood Mac will not tour again after the death of Christine McVie in November 2022.

In an interview with Vulture, she referred to the band’s 2018 tour, An Evening With Fleetwood Mac. “We had a really great time and it was a huge tour. That was there in the realm of possibility. But when Christine died, I felt like you can’t replace her. You just can’t. Without her, what is it?” Nicks said.

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Eternal: 90s stars cancel full-band reunion over reported trans rights clash

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Representative for Louise Redknapp says sisters Easther and Vernie Bennett refused to play Pride events due to trans people ‘hijacking’ gay community

Chart-topping British girl group Eternal have cancelled a planned full-band reunion due to an alleged difference in views on transgender rights.

A representative for singer Louise Redknapp, who went on to have a successful solo career, confirmed reports that she had left the reunion due to a clash in values with sisters Easther and Vernie Bennett.

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‘Swiftposium’: Australia to host academic conference on Taylor Swift

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Event at University of Melbourne in February will explore singer’s influence on gender, mental health and urban landscapes

Australia is set to fulfil student Swifties’ wildest dreams when it hosts an international academic symposium in 2024 devoted to the global cultural and economic impact of Taylor Swift.

The three-day “Swiftposium”, hosted by the University of Melbourne from 11 to 13 February 2024, coincides with the singer’s Eras tour, which kicks off in Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 16 February.

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Australian Eurovision entrant Danny Estrin reveals cancer diagnosis as Voyager cancel European tour

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Lead singer of Perth synth-metal band, which placed ninth in Eurovision, set for ‘immediate treatment’

The frontman for Voyager, Australia’s representatives at this year’s Eurovision, has announced he has been diagnosed with cancer that requires “immediate treatment”.

Danny Estrin announced the shock diagnosis on Instagram, saying he was “absolutely devastated” the band would have to cancel its upcoming European tour.

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Outrage as Polish TV talent show contestants use blackface for Kendrick Lamar and Beyoncé performances

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Singer Kuba Szmajkowski and actor Pola Gonciarz heavily darkened their skin on Your Face Sounds Familiar, with Szmajkowski also wearing cornrows and using the N-word

A leading Polish TV talent show has been widely criticised for featuring celebrity contestants in blackface, impersonating Kendrick Lamar and Beyoncé.

Singer Kuba Szmajkowski, a star in Poland who has 163,000 Instagram followers, won the second episode of the 19th series of Twoja Twarz Brzmi Znajomo – the Polish iteration of long-running franchise Your Face Sounds Familiar – on Saturday after performing Lamar’s track Humble in blackface, fake cornrows and a fake beard. He also used the N-word, which went uncensored on the broadcast.

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Welcome to ‘the robot soundscape’: Australia’s music industry braces for the rise of music AI

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The spectre of intelligent technologies is looming over Australian artists, and dominating the chatter at Brisbane’s Bigsound music conference

Music conferences tend to follow a similar format: showcases of up-and-coming artists, panels about the business, and behind-the-scenes deals. But between the events and around the corridors of this year’s Bigsound in Brisbane, Australia, there was one topic dominating conversation: how AI was threatening the industry.

Musicians and composers are fascinated by – and terrified of – artificial intelligence, which has the potential to both help artists create, and steal their work. AI is already starting to weave into the everyday soundtracks of our lives, from a new track by the Beatles to Spotify’s “AI DJ”. It’s a new reality that scholars such as Oliver Bown from the University of New South Wales call “the robot soundscape”.

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Mercury prize 2023: London group Ezra Collective secure first ever jazz win

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Band say unexpected win is ‘testimony to good, special people putting time and effort’ into helping young people to play music

The 2023 Mercury prize has been awarded to Ezra Collective, the London band whose propulsive blend of jazz, funk and Afrobeat has electrified audiences and cemented the capital’s jazz scene as one of the world’s most exciting.

“We met in a youth club,” said drummer and bandleader Femi Koleoso on accepting the award for the year’s best British or Irish album for Where I’m Meant to Be, the band’s second release. “This moment we’re celebrating right here is testimony to good, special people putting time and effort into [helping] young people to play music … let’s continue to support that,” he added, citing grassroots collectives in London such as Tomorrow’s Warriors and Kinetika Bloco.

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Gary Wright, singer of Dream Weaver and Love is Alive, dies aged 80

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Frequent collaborator of George Harrison and synthesiser pioneer was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia

Gary Wright, the singer of pop hits Dream Weaver and Love is Alive, has died aged 80.

His son Dorian confirmed the news to the Guardian. His other son Justin told TMZ his father died on Monday at home in California, and had been diagnosed with both Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia.

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Niece of J-Pop mogul Johnny Kitagawa should resign over abuse allegations, panel says

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Julie Fujishima, now president of Japan’s biggest boyband talent agency, had long been aware of accusations but failed to investigate, experts say

The current president of Japan’s biggest boyband talent agency, who is the niece of its late founder Johnny Kitagawa, should resign over allegations that Kitagawa sexually abused recruits for decades, a panel has said.

The panel, commissioned by Johnny and Associates to address the allegations of abuse, recommended on Tuesday that Julie Fujishima should resign because she had long been aware of the allegations but “neglected to conduct a probe”.

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Britney Spears’ estranged husband Sam Asghari denies he will challenge prenup in their divorce

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Asghari says he and Spears will ‘hold onto the love and respect’ they have for each, after filing for divorce after 14 months of marriage

Sam Asghari has denied he will challenge the prenuptial agreement he has with Britney Spears after filing for divorce after 14 months of marriage.

In a statement posted online on Thursday, the model and fitness trainer acknowledged that asking for privacy “seems ridiculous” but asked that the media be “kind and thoughtful”.

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Malaysian music festival to take legal action against the 1975

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Promoters of the event claim that Matty Healy’s onstage kiss with bandmate ‘tarnished’ the festival’s reputation and are calling on the musicians to acknowledge liability and provide compensation

The organisers of the Good Vibes festival in Kuala Lumpur are taking legal action against the 1975 after frontman Matty Healy criticised Malaysia’s punitive anti-LGBTQ+ legislation during their headline set.

On 21 July, Healy told the crowd: “I don’t see the fucking point of inviting the 1975 to a country and then telling us who we can have sex with. Unfortunately, you don’t get a set of loads of uplifting songs because I’m fucking furious.

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Mexican city of Chihuahua bans misogynist lyrics in live music venues

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Fines of up to £55,000 could be imposed on musicians who sing songs deemed to promote violence against women

Authorities in the north-western Mexican state of Chihuahua have banned artists from singing misogynist lyrics in live music venues.

Chihuahua, the capital city of the state, which borders the US, has passed a measure to prohibit musicians from performing songs that promote violence against women.

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Randy Meisner, a founding member of the Eagles, dies aged 77

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The bassist and vocalist, who sang the hit Take It to the Limit, died of complications from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Randy Meisner, a founding member of the Eagles, has died at age 77, the band said on Thursday.

Meisner died on Wednesday night in Los Angeles of complications from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the Eagles said in a statement.

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