Category Archives: Music

Swedish music stars call for Israel Eurovision ban over Gaza

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Open letter signed by more than 1,000 musicians from 2024 host country follows petition from artists in Finland and Iceland

More than 1,000 musical artists from Eurovision host country Sweden have signed an open letter calling for Israel to be excluded from this year’s edition of the song contest over its “brutal warfare in Gaza”.

Published in Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, the open letter says that by allowing Israel to participate, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) “is exhibiting a remarkable double standard that undermines the organisation’s credibility”.

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Jury selection begins in fatal shooting trial of Run-DMC’s Jam Master Jay

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Karl Jordan Jr, 40, and Ronald Washington, 59, are accused of murdering the musician over a drug deal in 2002

Jury selection began Monday in the trial of the two men charged in the 2002 fatal shooting of Jam Master Jay, a member of the legendary hip-hop group Run-DMC.

The defendants, Karl Jordan Jr, 40, and Ronald Washington, 59, are accused of murdering the musician over a drug deal. Opening statements were expected in a state courthouse in Brooklyn after the jury is selected.

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Playing a musical instrument or singing is linked to better memory in older age

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Piano especially associated with improved mental processes in those over 40, Exeter University research finds

Playing a musical instrument or joining a choir is linked to better memory and thinking skills in older age, research has found.

The piano was especially associated with a better brain in those over 40 in the study from Exeter University, which reviewed data from more than a thousand adults and looked at how much experience the people had in participating in music.

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Philippines president sparks outcry for using presidential helicopter to see Coldplay concert

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Ferdinand Marcos Jr was flown in because concert-goers created ‘unforeseen traffic complications’, bodyguards say

Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos Jr has been criticised for using a presidential helicopter to attend a Coldplay concert north of the capital Manila, bypassing the area’s notorious traffic jams.

On social media, many accused the president of wasting taxpayers’ money, and pointed out that the public has to endure Metro Manila’s infamous traffic daily while commuting.

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Shangri-Las lead singer, Mary Weiss, dies aged 75

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Weiss led US girl band with run of hit songs about teenage love and tragedy, including Leader of the Pack

Mary Weiss, the lead singer of the 1960s pop group the Shangri-Las, has died at the age of 75, her record label said.

The US girl band rose to stardom with a run of hit songs about teenage love and tragedy, including Remember (Walking in the Sand) and Leader of the Pack, and was later inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

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Madonna sued over late concert start by fans who ‘had to get up early’ the next morning

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The lawsuit, filed Wednesday, is seeking class action status for attenders of all other Celebration tour shows in the US that started late

Two Madonna fans in New York City are suing the pop star for starting her concert late, claiming that they “had to get up early to go to work” the next morning.

In a lawsuit filed on Wednesday in Brooklyn federal court, Michael Fellows and Jonathan Hadden say they bought tickets to a 13 December show at Barclays Center as part of Madonna’s Celebration tour.

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Dominican officials arrest Tekashi 6ix9ine on domestic violence charges

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US rapper scheduled to appear in court on Thursday and is being held in a Santo Domingo jail

Authorities in the Dominican Republic have arrested the US rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine, who is scheduled to appear in court on Thursday on charges of domestic violence.

The rapper, whose real name is Daniel Hernández, is being held at a jail in the capital, Santo Domingo, where he was arrested on Wednesday, officials said.

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‘Greedy and dishonest’ touts sold tickets worth £6.5m, court hears

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Ed Sheeran and Little Mix fans among those targeted by firm that resold on Viagogo and StubHub

Ticket touts acting out of “greed and dishonesty” sold tickets worth £6.5m to music fans, a court has heard, as a woman known as the “Ticket Queen” pleaded guilty to fraudulent trading nearly seven years after being named in an Observer investigation.

TQ Tickets Ltd, owned by Maria Chenery-Woods of Norfolk, used fake identities to hoover up large numbers of tickets for acts such as Ed Sheeran and Little Mix, prosecutors for National Trading Standards said.

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Simone Young to be first Australian conductor to perform at Bayreuth festival in 147-year history

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The Australian conductor will also be the first woman to perform the Ring cycle at the annual celebration of Wagner since it began in 1876

Simone Young will become the first woman to conduct Richard Wagner’s Ring cycle in the Bayreuth opera festival’s 147-year history, and the first Australian conductor to perform at Germany’s annual celebration of the composer.

Young, 62, is one of three female conductors who will be taking part in this year’s festival, which has been held in Bavaria since 1876. The Ukrainian conductor Oksana Lyniv became the first woman ever to open the festival in 2021, after 145 years. She will return this year, along with the French conductor Nathalie Stutzmann, who was the second female conductor in Bayreuth’s history in 2023.

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Lisa Marie Presley’s memoir to be posthumously published this autumn

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Book co-written with the star’s daughter Riley Keough promises to reveal ‘the complexity of being a Presley’

The posthumous memoir of Lisa Marie Presley written in collaboration with her daughter Riley Keough will be published later this year.

The as yet untitled book about Lisa Marie’s life as the daughter of Elvis will be released by Pan Macmillan on 15 October. Lisa Marie, who died on 12 January last year, had asked Keough to help her finish her memoir, parts of which she had recorded on tape.

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Second Russian performer detained for sock-on-penis stunt

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Incident involving Shchenki singer Maxim Tesli follows imprisonment of rapper Vacio for doing same at Moscow party

A Russian singer has been detained for appearing before a concert audience wearing nothing but a sock on his penis, weeks after a rapper was jailed for doing the same at a Moscow party that caused a national scandal.

Maxim Tesli, the frontman of a band called Shchenki (The Puppies), was detained at a St Petersburg airport, the state news agency Tass reported. The local news outlet Fontanka said he had been charged with petty hooliganism.

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New York Times faces backlash for essay speculating on Taylor Swift’s sexuality

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A 5,000-word opinion piece has been branded as ‘inappropriate’ and ‘invasive’ for suggesting the singer was sending coded queer messages in her music

The New York Times is under fire for publishing a piece speculating on Taylor Swift’s sexuality.

In a 5,000-word opinion piece titled Look What We Made Taylor Swift Do, editor Anna Marks listed references to the LGBTQ+ community overt or perceived in Swift’s music and theorized that the singer was sending coded messages that she was secretly a member of the community.

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Money, money, money: Abba’s Benny and Björn share in £900,000 payout

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Swedish music stars profit from blockbuster year for Mamma Mia! production company Littlestar Services

Abba stars Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus have shared in a dividend of nearly £1m after a surge in profits at the production company behind the Mamma Mia! stage musical and film adaptations.

The Swedish music legends received the payout after a blockbuster year for Littlestar Services, the licensing and production company behind the musical based on the pop group’s hits.

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Ocean Alley musician apologises for shoplifting after New Zealand shop shares CCTV footage

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Lachlan Galbraith says he feels ‘deep regret’ for stealing a drink bottle lid, but the Hunting and Fishing store in Queenstown says embarrassment ‘is punishment enough’

Ocean Alley keyboardist Lachlan Galbraith has publicly apologised after a shop in New Zealand shared CCTV footage of him shoplifting.

Hunting and Fishing Queenstown uploaded footage to Facebook and Instagram showing Galbraith placing a A$17.95 drink bottle lid in his bag on New Year’s Eve. The Australian rock band is currently touring New Zealand and is due to play in Wellington on Wednesday and Whangamatā on Friday.

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Green Day changes lyric to hit out at Trump in New Year’s Eve performance

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Band alters lyric from American Idiot to ‘I’m not a part of the Maga agenda’ during Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve set

Rock band Green Day altered the lyrics of their well-known song American Idiot to criticize Donald Trump during a televised New Year’s Eve performance.

During a set on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, the lead singer, Billie Joe Armstrong, replaced the line “I’m not a part of a redneck agenda” with “I’m not a part of the Maga agenda”. The song was originally released to criticize former president George Bush in 2004.

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Lewis Capaldi extends touring break as his health improves: ‘I want to make absolutely sure I’m 100%’

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Scottish singer says six-month hiatus from live shows after struggling during his performance at Glastonbury helped him ‘cope better with my Tourette’s and anxiety issues’

Lewis Capaldi has said he is “going to continue taking some time to carry on looking after myself” after his six-month hiatus from touring yielded an improvement in his health.

The Scottish singer-songwriter announced in June he would be taking a break from touring “for the foreseeable future” after he struggled with his voice during a Glastonbury set, during which the crowd stepped in to sing the lyrics to his final songs.

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Rick Astley: why we’re never gonna give up the evergreen 80s pop idol

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As the singer prepares to host the BBC’s new year special, it caps a stellar 2023 for the star who launched a meme phenomenon

Some may think: why is the BBC welcoming in 2024 with “Mr 1987”? Though that suggests they missed the memo about the spectacular revival of Rick Astley. On Sunday night, 1980s pop star Astley will host BBC One’s New Year’s Eve show from the Roundhouse in Camden, north-west London, following in the footsteps of Sam Ryder and Years & Years, fronted by Olly Alexander.

Stars come back. It’s what they do. But few manage to do it in a way that makes them look infinitely cooler than before. As Astley, 57, continues to ride the Rickrolling phenomenon (more of which anon), his 2023 has been stellar.

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John Oates opens up about Daryl Hall amid bitter legal battle: ‘I have moved on’

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Duo’s music ‘will always trump almost anything that Daryl does on his own or I do on my own’ says Oates, weeks after Hall filed to stop him selling his share of their rights

John Oates, half of the hugely successful pop rock duo Hall & Oates, has opened up about his partnership with Daryl Hall amid their ongoing and fractious legal battle.

Hall, 77, is suing Oates, 75, in an initially confidential lawsuit that came to light in November when Hall also filed for and received a temporary restraining order against Oates in a Nashville court.

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Taylor Swift fan died of heat exhaustion at Rio concert, forensics report finds

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Ana Clara Benevides, 23, died hours after the singer’s 17 November show – a day when temperatures hit 40C

Heat exhaustion caused the death of a Brazilian fan who attended a Taylor Swift concert in November, according to a forensics report obtained by the Associated Press on Wednesday.

Ana Clara Benevides, 23, passed out during Swift’s second song at the show in Rio de Janeiro on 17 November and died hours later at a local hospital. Temperatures in the city that day were at about 40C (105F).

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