Brian May and Grayson Perry are knighted, Denise Lewis is made a dame and Frank Skinner becomes MBE
The fashion designer Mary Quant, the Lionesses and the Queen guitarist Brian May are among those recognised in the first new year honours of the king’s reign.
Quant, 92, who as one of the most influential fashion figures in the swinging 60s popularised the miniskirt and hot pants, becomes a Companion of Honour, one of the top honours.
Continue reading...These days the Canadian singer, 75, is as likely to be belting out protest songs as performing whimsical tunes
With 13 albums, more than 12m sales in North America and a devoted following, he’s been called the most popular children’s singer in the English-speaking world, a title that has spanned generations. But pivoting from hits such as Bananaphone and Baby Beluga, the Canadian singer Raffi Cavoukian has since followed in the footsteps of his folk music heroes, dedicating much of his later career to advocating on children, social justice and the climate crisis.
“Nobody can guarantee a future, but who has the right to steal our children’s future?” the 75-year-old, who performs as Raffi, said in an interview. “The stakes are very high right now. People ask me if I’m hopeful. But I heard recently that hope is a verb. So I’m active.”
Continue reading...LGBTQ+ rights groups praise ex-Spice Girl for pulling out of New Year’s Eve appearance on state broadcaster
The former Spice Girl Melanie C says she has cancelled a performance in Poland on New Year’s Eve after being made aware of issues “that do not align with the communities I support”.
She did not elaborate but was praised by allies of the LGBTQ+ community.
Continue reading...Dance group announces death of singer, saying he was ‘a lovely human being with time for everyone’
Maxi Jazz, the lead singer of the dance group Faithless, has died aged 65.
In a Facebook post on Saturday, the group wrote: “We are heartbroken to say Maxi Jazz died last night. He was a man who changed our lives in so many ways.
Continue reading...Felonies facing rapper Tory Lanez include assault with a semiautomatic weapon and could lead to up to 22 years in prison
A Los Angeles jury on Friday found rapper Tory Lanez guilty of three felonies in the 2020 shooting of hip-hop star Megan Thee Stallion that left her wounded with bullet fragments in her feet.
The jury deliberated for one day before convicting the 30-year-old Canadian rapper, whose legal name is Daystar Peterson, of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, having a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle and discharging a firearm with gross negligence. The counts could lead to up to 22 years in prison.
Continue reading...Having survived a tough childhood in Coventry, Hall became one of pop’s defining voices at the turn of the 80s, chronicling British decline and disfranchised youth with the 2 Tone band
• Alexis Petridis: ‘Terry Hall was the self-assured eye of the Specials storm’
• Terry Hall: a life in a pictures
Terry Hall, the lead singer of the Specials and a former member of Fun Boy Three and the Colourfield, has died aged 63, his bandmates in the Specials have confirmed.
“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing, following a brief illness, of Terry, our beautiful friend, brother and one of the most brilliant singers, songwriters and lyricists this country has ever produced,” the band tweeted.
Continue reading...Gaby Hutchinson, 23, was working in security role at London venue on night of Asake gig
A security guard has become the second person to die after a crowd crush at the O2 Academy Brixton last week.
Gaby Hutchinson, 23, was working as a contracted security provider at a performance on Thursday by the Nigerian Afrobeats singer-songwriter Asake.
A previous version of this story was launched on Monday 19 December 2022. This version reflects updated information released by the Metropolitan police.
Continue reading...Met police begin investigation into ‘extremely distressing’ incident after large crowd gathered outside O2 Academy
Three people were still in a critical condition on Friday night after an apparent crowd crush at a concert at the O2 Academy Brixton in London on Thursday.
The Metropolitan police launched an investigation into what they said was an “extremely distressing” incident at a performance by the Nigerian Afrobeats singer and songwriter Asake.
Continue reading...Andrés Manuel López Obrador calls on Puerto Rican reggaeton star to perform after fans turned away from sold-out show
Mexico’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has called on Bad Bunny to give a free concert in the capital’s central Zócalo plaza after hundreds of fans were locked out of the Puerto Rican rapper’s sold-out show last weekend thanks to a Ticketmaster debacle.
During his regular morning news conference, López Obrador, or Amlo as he is commonly known, said Bad Bunny was a “supportive” and “sensitive” person, adding that, although the government could not pay the artist, it would fund limited production costs for the concert.
Continue reading...Rapper takes stand in case against Canadian-born musician, emotionally recounting night when she was shot
Megan Thee Stallion delivered emotional testimony on Tuesday in the trial of Tory Lanez, the fellow musician and former friend who allegedly shot her following a party in Los Angeles.
The Texas-born rapper, whose real name is Megan Pete, shared the most in-depth account yet about the moment that led to the shooting in 2020. She described how the attack left her with constant pain in her feet and said the reliving the incident in the public eye had been “torture”.
Continue reading...The 30-year-old begins five weeks of training amid questions over future of the global phenomenon band
Jin, the oldest member of the K-pop phenomenon BTS, was due to begin his mandatory military service on Tuesday at a base close to the border with North Korea, amid growing speculation about the band’s future.
The 30-year-old, now sporting a buzzcut, will be followed into the military by younger members of the band in the coming years, after their impending enlistment sparked a debate among South Koreans over whether the band, and other successful entertainers, should be granted exemptions.
Continue reading...Singer abruptly evacuated just a couple of songs into her concert after the bomb threat forced authorities to evacuate the theatre
Patti LaBelle was abruptly rushed offstage just a couple of songs into a Christmas concert in Milwaukee, after a bomb threat forced authorities to suddenly evacuate the venue.
Footage of the 78-year-old singer’s sudden evacuation from the stage at the Riverside Theater began to circulate on social media on Saturday night shortly after the incident.
Continue reading...Study shows the proportion of musicians, writers and artists with working-class origins has shrunk by half since the 1970s
The proportion of working-class actors, musicians and writers has shrunk by half since the 1970s, new research shows.
Analysis of Office for National Statistics data found that 16.4% of creative workers born between 1953 and 1962 had a working-class background, but that had fallen to just 7.9% for those born four decades later.
Continue reading...A new lawsuit claims the Backstreet Boys member sexually assaulted a minor after a concert
Backstreet Boys member Nick Carter has been sued for sexual battery involving an incident with a minor in 2001.
According to the lawsuit, first reported by TMZ and later obtained by Rolling Stone, Shannon Ruth, who was 17 at the time, claims she was invited by Carter, then 21, on to the Backstreet Boys’ tour bus after a concert in Tacoma, Washington. Ruth also spoke at a press conference today.
Continue reading...The Grammy winner’s family said they would support state legislation allowing authorities to withhold certain records
The family of Naomi Judd is dropping a lawsuit that it filed in an attempt to block the public release of police-captured images showing the Grammy-winning country musician dying slowly after she shot herself earlier this year.
In a statement obtained by the Guardian, representatives of Judd’s family – which includes the actor Ashley Judd – said they are instead going to focus on supporting legislation in their home state of Tennessee which would clarify that such graphic materials from investigations into suicides and other non-criminal matters would be barred from being released as public records.
In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 800-273-8255 and online chat is also available. You can also text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis text line counselor. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org
Continue reading...Lawsuit claims ‘millions of fans waited up to eight hours and were unable to purchase tickets as a result of insufficient ticket releases’
A group of Taylor Swift fans is suing Ticketmaster over what they call the “disastrous” recent debacle to secure tickets for her 2023 Eras US tour.
In November, Ticketmaster had to cancel the public on-sale date for the tour “due to extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand”, the company said at the time.
Continue reading...The Guns N’ Roses singer made the announcement on Twitter after the incident at in Adelaide, Australia
Axl Rose has promised to stop throwing his microphone into the audience after a fan was reportedly hurt during a recent show in Australia.
The Guns N’ Roses singer, who celebrated his 60th birthday this year, has routinely ended their shows by offering attenders towards the front a chance to catch his mic.
Continue reading...Elon Musk intervenes after rapper posted image hours after airing antisemitic views in Alex Jones interview
Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, has been suspended from Twitter after he tweeted an image of a swastika blended with a star of David, less than two weeks after he returned to the platform.
The suspension took place hours after Ye praised Adolf Hitler and the Nazis in an interview on Infowars, a show hosted by the rightwing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
Continue reading...Posthumous lawsuit brought by Jan Roeg, who worked as a talent scout, alleges a long history of harassment and assault
Jan Roeg, a talent scout who worked for Atlantic Records under label founder Ahmet Ertegun from 1984 until the mid 00s, has sued the label and the estate of Ertegun for sexual assault, alleging that Atlantic knew about Ertegun’s misconduct and took a “laissez faire” approach when dealing with it. Rolling Stone reports that Roeg alleges Ertegun sexually harrassed and assaulted her throughout her time at the label, masturbating in front of her numerous times, forcing her head to his crotch in attempts to engage in oral sex, digitally penetrating her and, during a dinner in 1990, drugging her, resulting in her getting her stomach pumped.
Roeg also alleges that Ertegun touched her and made inappropriate comments about her, would describe her as his girlfriend, and retaliated against her rejections by withholding money she was owed. Elsewhere in the lawsuit, Roeg says that Atlantic, a subsidiary of Warner Music Group, “utterly failed to engage in training or implementation of any policies or standards that would inform employees of the company’s disapproval of and how to report such conduct”. The lawsuit also states that Atlantic failed to institute any policy “that would dissuade employees from engaging in sexual misconduct” while on company premises or time.
Continue reading...Musician admits he used an autopen to sign books and artworks due to his vertigo, after fans compared signatures and discovered they were identical
Bob Dylan has issued a rare public statement to apologise for his “error in judgment”, amid controversy over his use of a machine to autograph special copies of his new book that had been advertised as “hand-signed”.
The book, The Philosophy of Modern Song, features the legendary singer-songwriter’s commentary on tracks by other artists and was released in early November, with a limited run of 900 “hand-signed” editions sold for US$599 each. All copies came with a letter of authenticity from publisher Simon & Schuster.
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