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

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%’

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

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’

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

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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Nearly 21ft bronze statue of Shakira unveiled in her home town in Colombia

In social media posts, the singer thanked the sculptor Yino Márquez and his students for their ‘enormous artistic talent’

Shakira has been transformed into a 21.3ft (6.5 meters) bronze statue in her home town of Barranquilla, Colombia, where according to legend she began her trademark hip-shaking dance moves on the table in a Lebanese restaurant at the age of four.

The Hips Don’t Lie singer shared photos and video of the statue, which captures her making her trademark hip swivel, on her Instagram account. She captioned one post: “Estoy muy emocionada por este homenaje a la mujer Colombiana y a las Barranquilleras dentro y fuera de mi tierra!” (I am very excited for this tribute to the Colombian woman and the Barranquilleras inside and outside my land!)

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Wham!’s Last Christmas finally reaches Christmas No 1, 39 years after release

‘Mission accomplished!’ says Andrew Ridgeley, while Cher becomes oldest woman to score a UK Top 40 hit

Wham! have finally earned a Christmas No 1 for Last Christmas, 39 years after the song was denied the festive top spot by Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas?.

With the song’s pain and poignancy still undimmed thanks to the tangibly heartbroken performance of the late George Michael, it was streamed 13.3m times this week, and was helped along by special vinyl and CD editions.

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Amp Fiddler, funk musician with all-star collaborations, dies aged 65

Joseph Fiddler performed and recorded with Prince, Seal and Maxwell, and mentored hip-hop producer J Dilla

Joseph Fiddler, the funk musician known as Amp Fiddler who was acclaimed for solo work and collaborations with generations of diverse musicians, has died aged 65.

A statement on social media read: “Detroit’s own world renowned ambassador of funk, soul, & electronic music, keyboardist, producer, afro-futurist, and guiding force of light for so many, has transitioned at the age of 65. After an extensive and noble battle with cancer, he now gracefully rests in peace and power.”

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Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee accused of sexual assault

Rock star is sued by unnamed woman who alleges he attacked her on board helicopter in 2003

Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee has been accused of sexual assault, in an incident in 2003.

A new civil lawsuit filed on Friday by an unnamed woman, Jane Doe – and reported by Rolling Stone – accuses Lee of “forcibly groping, kissing and penetrating her with his fingers, and attempting to force her to perform oral copulation”. The woman had been invited on to a helicopter by pilot David Martz and believed she would be on a sightseeing tour around San Diego, but was told they would be flying with Lee to Los Angeles.

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Colin Burgess, original member of AC/DC, dies aged 77

Burgess was recruited in November 1973 to help form AC/DC, and fired in February 1974, accused of being drunk on stage

The Australian drummer Colin Burgess, an original member of the hard-rock band AC/DC in the early 1970s, has died, the band confirmed on its social media accounts. He was 77.

“Very sad to hear of the passing of Colin Burgess,” says an unsigned post on the band’s official Facebook page late Friday. “He was our first drummer and a very respected musician. Happy memories, rock in peace Colin.”

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Darlene Love says U2’s cover of her Christmas classic is best around

US singer of Christmas (Baby Please Come Home), recorded in 1963, says she rates U2’s 1987 version as finest of many covers

Darlene Love’s classic tune Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) has spurred numerous covers over the years, but to the singer herself, only one stands above the rest, she recently revealed.

Speaking on the podcast Behind the Table, Love, 82, said U2’s rendition of her hit Christmas song is the best cover.

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Patti Smith ‘in good health’ after being hospitalised in Italy

Singer suffers sudden illness while on tour and cancels remainder of dates

Patti Smith has been briefly hospitalised following an illness while on tour in Italy.

The 76-year-old singer had been due to perform in Bologna but she cancelled the concert after suffering what the city’s Teatro Duse venue described as a “sudden illness”.

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Zahara, platinum-selling South African singer-songwriter, dies aged 35

Singer who played for Nelson Mandela at his home had been hospitalised with ‘physical pains’, and previously suffered liver damage from alcoholism

The South African pop singer Zahara, whose soaring voice and strident ballads earned her multiple platinum-selling albums in her home country, has died aged 35.

South Africa’s sports, arts and culture minister, Zizi Kodwa, announced her death, saying: “My deepest condolences to the Mkutukana family and the South African music industry. Government has been with the family for some time now. Zahara and her guitar made an incredible and lasting impact in South African music.”

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Adele says staying in sunny LA staves off seasonal depression

Singer, who reportedly bought $58m property last year, says she also gets left alone in Los Angeles

Adele has said she is likely to stick around in Los Angeles because the sunny weather helps her stave off seasonal depression.

In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, she said the California city’s sunny weather was “good for me”. Los Angeles has an average of about 263 sunny days in the year.

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‘He embodied who we are, warts and all’: Dublin mourners bid farewell to Shane MacGowan

Tears and applause as band plays Fairytale of New York and people recall memories of pubs, squats, youth, dreams and loss

They followed the horse-drawn carriage singing songs that were written as raucous ballads. But on this day, the crowds of mourners sung softly, their voices floating into a grey Dublin day in farewell to Shane MacGowan.

The Pogues singer was dead but for mourners his lyrics seldom felt so alive as his funeral cortege wound through the heart of Ireland’s capital on Friday.

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Revealed: how top pop stars are used to ‘launder the reputation’ of Koch family

Stand Together Music, part of rightwing billionaire Charles Koch’s advocacy network, collaborates with Pitbull, Machine Gun Kelly and others

Last September, the rapper Killer Mike was DJing hip-hop classics like Snoop Dogg’s Ain’t No Fun at a music festival afterparty in Louisville, Kentucky. “The inspiration for the night’s set is freedom of speech, so say what the fuck you want!” he told a crowd of hundreds. Killer Mike, half of the duo Run The Jewels, is known for speaking out against police brutality and racial injustice, as well as campaigning for Bernie Sanders.

But this night’s set was co-sponsored by Stand Together Music, an organization backed by the libertarian billionaire Charles Koch, who made his fortune in fossil fuels. Other sponsors of the party included the free-speech group Fire (which has received millions of dollars in contributions from the Charles G Koch charitable foundation), as well as the music outlet Spin, an official partner of Stand Together Music.

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Taylor Swift lambasts music industry and says Kim Kardashian feud ‘took me down psychologically’

In a lengthy interview as she is named Time’s person of the year, Swift speaks about toll of high-profile spat, and criticises music industry over treatment of young stars

Taylor Swift has spoken of the psychological damage of her feud with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, and lambasted the music industry over its treatments of young pop stars, in a new interview with Time, which has named her their person of the year.

After a year in which she has been at the centre of cultural conversations for her massively lucrative Eras tour, Swift spoke damningly of what she sees as a short-termist approach by record labels to replace, rather than nurture its stars. “By the time an artist is mature enough to psychologically deal with the job, they throw you out at 29, typically,” she says. “In the 90s and 00s, it seems like the music industry just said: ‘OK, let’s take a bunch of teenagers, throw them into a fire, and watch what happens. By the time they’ve accumulated enough wisdom to do their job effectively, we’ll find new teenagers.’” She said her solution was to change style with each new album project: “I realised every record label was actively working to try to replace me. I thought instead, I’d replace myself first with a new me. It’s harder to hit a moving target.”

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‘Jesus lives in me’: Puerto Rican pop star Daddy Yankee retires to focus on faith

Retirement brings to an end one of the most successful and influential careers in Latin American pop

Daddy Yankee, the Puerto Rican star who helped make reggaeton a global phenomenon, has said he will focus on his Christian faith following his previously announced retirement from music.

The 46-year-old vocalist, real name Ramón Rodríguez, told the crowd of his plans at his final concert, held at Puerto Rico’s José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum. “I am not ashamed to tell the whole world that Jesus lives in me and that I will live for him,” he said in Spanish, in remarks translated by Variety. “For many years I’ve tried filling a hole in my life that no one could fill. I tried finding a purpose, on many occasions, it seemed as if I was happy but something was missing for me to feel complete.”

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Brenda Lee’s Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree hits US No 1 – 65 years after release

At 78, Lee becomes oldest person to top US singles chart, beating record held by Louis Armstrong since 1964

Brenda Lee has smashed a series of US chart records as her perennial festive favourite Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree, first released in 1958, has finally reached No 1 on the Hot 100.

Written by Johnny Marks, the man behind Christmas favourites such as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Have a Holly Jolly Christmas, the song was recorded when Lee was 13. Initially a flop, it rose to the US Top 20 in 1960 after Lee’s pop career had taken off and earned her back-to-back No 1 singles earlier that year.

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Myles Goodwyn, frontman with Canadian classic rockers April Wine, dies aged 75

The band had a string of US and Canadian hits in the 1970s and 80s, including power ballad Just Between You and Me

Myles Goodwyn, who fronted the popular Canadian classic rock band April Wine from its formation in 1969 until earlier this year, has died aged 75. His death was announced by his publicist, who did not give the cause but heralded Goodwyn’s “distinctive and immediately recognisable” voice and prolific songwriting.

Goodwyn formed the band in Nova Scotia, after suffering the death of his mother to brain cancer as a boy alongside his two brothers. “Four males living under the same roof, but there were never any hugs, never any communication,” he later said of his home life. “We were four lost souls roaming around that household. So I took to music. It was music that saved me.”

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