Category Archives: Music

Sam Fender wins 2025 Mercury prize for his album People Watching

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Geordie singer-songwriter’s album reached No 1 on the UK album chart and led to a series of stadium-sized concerts this summer

Sam Fender is the winner of the 2025 Mercury prize, for his chart-topping album People Watching.

Announcing the award, Sian Eleri, BBC radio DJ and one of the judges on the judging panel, said the album was characterised by “cohesion, character and ambition. It felt like a classic album, one that will take pride of place in record collections for years to come.”

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Sydney nightclub named after lesbian artist’s song changes name after ‘preferred clientele’ revealed to be men

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Pink Pony Club, a song by Chappell Roan inspired by The Abbey gay bar in West Hollywood, was the inspiration for new Oxford Street club

A Sydney nightclub whose name was inspired by a lesbian artist despite “predominantly” targeting gay men has been forced to change its name after attracting a swift and “passionate” backlash.

Pink Pony was set to open on Oxford Street in Sydney’s LGBTQ+ heartland in early December. Kevin Du-Val, the owner of Palms on Oxford nightclub, and its manager, Michael Lewis, announced via social media their new venture was “unashamedly inspired by its namesake song that resonates so profoundly within our community”.

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Dolly Parton ‘going to be just fine’, singer’s sister says as she calls for prayers amid health problems

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Freida Parton says she has been ‘up all night praying’ as singer continues to deal with unspecified ‘health challenges’

Dolly Parton’s sister says she has been “up all night praying” for the singer as she continues to deal with unspecified health problems.

Freida Parton wrote that her 79-year-old sister “hasn’t been feeling her best lately”, two weeks after the singer postponed a Las Vegas residency scheduled for December, citing “health challenges”.

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Rush reform for first time since drummer Neil Peart’s death

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Canadian prog-rockers will play seven concerts in summer 2026 in the US, Canada and Mexico, after hiring new drummer Anika Nilles

Rush, the Canadian prog rockers whose epic and detailed songcraft continues to attract a large and heartfelt fandom, are to reform for the first time since the death of drummer Neil Peart.

Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, both 72, will tour the US, Canada and Mexico, playing seven concerts in summer 2026 beginning in Los Angeles on 7 June.

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Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs sentencing: what to know

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Rapper to be sentenced on two counts that each carry maximum 10-year term – what might the judge decide?

Sean “Diddy” Combs is scheduled to be sentenced on Friday morning by a federal judge in New York, following his conviction earlier this year on federal prostitution-related charges.

Here’s a recap of his criminal case: what he was indicted for, what happened at trial, and what might happen next.

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Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson to make Netflix road trip series

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Former One Direction members to reunite for docuseries set on the road in US after death of bandmate Liam Payne

Former One Direction members Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson are set to reunite for a Netflix road trip series.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the docuseries will follow the pair as they travel across the US. The show will be directed by Nicola Marsh, who was also behind the Demi Lovato documentary Child Star.

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Canadian government asked to clarify whether Kneecap barred from country

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Opposition party says minister ‘either lied or has no clue how it works’ when he said band were ‘ineligible’ to enter

Canada’s opposition party has asked the government to clarify whether the Belfast rap trio Kneecap have been barred from the country, after doubts emerged over their status.

The Liberal MP Vince Gasparro, the parliamentary secretary for combating crime, posted a video on social media on 19 September in which he said Kneecap were “ineligible” to enter Canada.

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Nirvana again defeats alleged child sexual abuse image lawsuit over Nevermind cover

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Spencer Elden, who was photographed as a baby and put on the cover of the 1991 album, has attempted to sue the band twice, claiming it constituted child sexual abuse

A federal judge again threw out a lawsuit by a man who accused grunge rock band Nirvana of distributing child sexual abuse images by using a photograph of him as a naked, swimming baby on the cover of its breakthrough 1991 album Nevermind.

US District Judge Fernando Olguin tossed out the lawsuit filed by plaintiff Spencer Elden for a second time after finding that no reasonable jury would consider the picture pornographic.

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Row erupts after Venice opera house hires conductor linked to Meloni government

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Musicians and staff at the theatre say Beatrice Venezi is not experienced enough for the role and should be replaced

Venice’s prestigious La Fenice opera house is embroiled in controversy over the hiring of a conductor with close ties to Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government.

The theatre’s orchestra musicians and staff are calling for Beatrice Venezi’s appointment as music director to be revoked, claiming she does not have enough experience for the high-profile role and was picked only because of her government connections.

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Isle of Wight festival increases profits despite fall in attendance

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Festival made £3.4m profit in 2024, generating £2.6m dividend for its parent company, part of Live Nation

Pet Shop Boys and The Prodigy helped the Isle of Wight music festival increase its profits last year, generating a £2.6m dividend for its parent company, a division of the events industry’s biggest player, Live Nation.

In a year when many smaller music festivals lost money or were cancelled amid wet weather and soaring costs, the summer showpiece on the island, a ferry ride across the Solent from England’s southern coast, managed to prosper.

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European broadcasters to vote on expelling Israel from Eurovision 2026

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European Broadcasting Union says vote required after several nations threaten potential boycott

The European Broadcasting Union has confirmed it will hold an online vote in November that could see the Israeli broadcaster Kan expelled from next year’s Eurovision song contest.

In a letter sent to participating broadcasters on Thursday, the EBU president, Delphine Ernotte Cunci, wrote there was an “unprecedented diversity of views” on Israel’s participation in Eurovision, and the issue required “a broader democratic basis”.

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JD Twitch, esteemed Scottish DJ in duo Optimo, dies aged 57

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The producer and DJ, real name Keith McIvor, had been diagnosed with an untreatable brain tumour earlier this year

JD Twitch, the Scottish DJ and producer celebrated as one half of the duo Optimo, has died aged 57.

The artist, whose real name was Keith McIvor, had been diagnosed with an untreatable brain tumour, which he announced in July. He died on Friday in Glasgow’s Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice, his DJ partner Jonnie Wilkes (AKA JG Wilkes) announced.

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Brett James, Grammy-winning songwriter, dies in plane crash

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James’ wife and stepdaughter were also killed when the Cirrus SR22T crashed in Franklin, North Carolina

Brett James, a Grammy-winning songwriter whose credits include the Carrie Underwood hit Jesus, Take the Wheel – died alongside his wife and stepdaughter in a plane crash on Thursday, according to authorities and reports.

James, 57, had been flying with his wife and stepdaughter when the plane, a Cirrus SR22T, crashed “under unknown circumstances” in a wooded area of Franklin, North Carolina, said officials and media reports. The plane had taken off from John C Tune airport in Nashville, Tennessee, as reported by the Associated Press.

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China, India and Belarus line up for Russia’s rival version of Eurovision

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Intervision promises to be lighter on sequins and heavier on patriotic ballads than its European counterpart

Russia is gearing up to revive its Soviet-era alternative to Eurovision – the Intervision song contest – which kicks off in Moscow on Saturday, with performers from 23, mostly allied, countries set to take the stage.

But sequinned bodysuits, camp theatrics and Europop bangers will be in short supply. Instead, the Kremlin’s version of the spectacle promises “traditional values”, patriotic ballads and a Russian entry led by a fiercely pro-war singer, as Moscow attempts to refashion Europe’s glitter-soaked pageant in its own image.

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SBS resists calls to join EU boycott of Eurovision 2026 if Israel allowed to compete

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Israeli media had reported nation had been asked to step aside or compete under a neutral symbol due to controversies over Gaza war

SBS has indicated it will not follow the lead of a growing number of European Union countries and boycott next year’s Eurovision song contest if Israel is permitted to compete.

The decision on Israel’s inclusion will be made by the contest’s governing body in December, but SBS told the Guardian on Tuesday it intended to participate in the 2026 event in Vienna, regardless of December’s decision.

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Brazilian musician identified as victim of 1976 killing by Argentina military

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The bossa nova pianist Francisco Tenório Cerqueira Júnior went out for cigarettes after a concert in Buenos Aires – a forensic team has finally revealed his fate

Early on 18 March 1976, Francisco Tenório Cerqueira Júnior, a Brazilian pianist who had played alongside some of Latin America’s greatest musicians, disappeared from the streets of Buenos Aires.

For nearly 50 years, his fate has remained a mystery, sparking desperate searches, raising suspicions of government complicity, and inspiring international documentaries. Now the mystery has been solved, with forensic scientists formally identifying Tenório Júnior’s body – and confirming he was a victim of Argentina’s bloody dictatorship.

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James’s Tim Booth criticises Tommy Robinson for ‘cynical’ use of song

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Sit Down was played at ‘unite the kingdom’ rally in London but singer says band is ‘antithesis’ of far-right movement

The lead singer of the band James has criticised Tommy Robinson for the “cynical” use of the group’s hit song in a protest video.

Tim Booth said he was “disgusted” that the alternative rock band’s single Sit Down had been played without their permission, as he believed the song was “the antithesis” of the far-right activist’s movement.

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Belgium prime minister attends concert of Israeli conductor axed by festival

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Bart De Wever travelled to Essen, Germany to hear performance conducted by Lahav Shani, the music director of the Israel Philharmonic

Belgium’s prime minister, Bart De Wever, has said he attended a concert by a German orchestra that was uninvited from a Belgian festival to show support for its Israeli conductor.

The cancellation of a planned performance at the Flanders festival Ghent by the Munich Philharmonic over concerns about its Israeli future chief conductor, Lahav Shani, has triggered a storm of criticism and accusations of antisemitism.

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Bad Bunny says he left US out of world tour due to fear of Ice raids at concerts

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Puerto Rican rapper says he and his team were ‘very concerned’ that Ice agents might target his performances

Bad Bunny says he excluded the US from his forthcoming world tour due to fears that, as a prominent Latino musician, his fans would be subjected to immigration raids.

In an interview with i-D magazine on Wednesday, the three-time Grammy-winning musician was asked whether he was skipping the US “out of concern about the [mass deportations of] Latinos”.

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Meet the retiree who realized his dream of joining the LSU marching band as a 66-year-old freshman

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Kent Broussard joined Louisiana State University’s famed Golden Band from Tigerland after retiring as an accountant

Some dreams live on in time forever, says the summer Olympics anthem considered by many to be the greatest – and living proof of that is a retired accountant who recently enrolled as a freshman at Louisiana State University in his mid-60s to fulfill his lifelong ambition of playing for the school’s famed marching band.

Kent Broussard drew nationwide media attention after being shown on ESPN’s broadcast of the LSU football team’s victory at home against in-state rival Louisiana Tech on 6 September.

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