English-born David Evans, 63, is conferred with ‘long overdue’ Irish citizenship
After decades of finely balanced procrastination, the U2 guitarist The Edge has officially become Irish.
The 63-year-old British subject was conferred with Irish citizenship on Monday, 62 years after moving to Ireland in a step he said was “long overdue”.
Continue reading...UK prime minister criticises band’s inclusion in festival lineup after Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh allegedly displayed flag supporting Hezbollah
Kneecap’s Glastonbury festival performance next Saturday is not “appropriate”, Keir Starmer has said.
Kneecap member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh appeared in court on Wednesday after allegedly displaying a flag in support of the proscribed terrorist organisation Hezbollah and saying “up Hamas, up Hezbollah” at a gig in November last year.
Continue reading...Singer trains underwater like Frank Sinatra once did and scientists say it may be useful in maintaining vocal prowess
Frank Sinatra did it his way, taking to the pool to boost his vocal prowess, and it seems Rod Stewart is singing from the same songsheet. Now scientists say the approach might not be somethin’ stupid.
Stewart, 80, is still entertaining fans with his raspy vocals and energetic stage performances and earlier this month he revealed that as well as running and playing some football, swimming also played a key part in his campaign to stay forever young.
Continue reading...Exclusive: first store opens in Spinningfields, Manchester, two weeks before band’s first gig in 16 years in Cardiff
Will the truce between the Gallagher brothers hold out? Will the most-hyped reunion in British rock history actually come off? And will fans be able to bag themselves an official Oasis tea towel?
The answer to that final question, at least, has arrived. The first Oasis merchandise store will open in Manchester on Friday, two weeks before the band perform their first gig in 16 years at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.
Continue reading...Zak Starkey says his father made the comment after he was fired over a disagreement about his performance
Ringo Starr has reportedly criticised the way “that little man” Roger Daltrey runs the Who after Starr’s son was sacked from the band.
Zak Starkey, 59, who was sacked as the Who’s drummer over a disagreement about his performance, said he was proud that his father had come to his defence.
Continue reading...Sheffield band were last at the top with This Is Hardcore, while Sabrina Carpenter is at No 1 in the singles chart and breaks an album chart record
Pulp have topped the UK album chart for the first time since 1998, with the release of their new album More.
The Sheffield band, fronted by Jarvis Cocker, were last at the top with 1998’s This Is Hardcore, the follow-up to the similarly chart-topping Different Class in 1995.
Continue reading...After music, publishing, sports and philanthropy, rapper expands into film-making with lead role in Big Man, a short film premiering on YouTube
After conquering the charts, Glastonbury’s Pyramid stage and launching his own publishing imprint, Stormzy is taking his first steps into the world of movies with starring in a short film about the travails of an ex-rapper.
Big Man will be made by the rap star’s own production company Merky Films in association with Apple, and feature Stormzy – in a sizable wig – as the lead character Tenzman, “a former rap star now navigating a restless and uncertain chapter of his life”.
Continue reading...Rapper turns BET awards speech into call for justice after White House deployed military forces on demonstrators
The rapper Doechii turned her acceptance speech at the BET awards on Monday night into a powerful call for justice as she criticized the Trump administration’s deployment of military forces on protesters in Los Angeles.
The Grammy winner used the stage to highlight the immigration raids and protest crackdowns happening just miles from where the ceremony took place in Los Angeles.
Continue reading...Hundreds of fans, some of whom had travelled from as far away as Mexico, gathered to welcome the band members back to civilian life
K-pop superstars RM and V from the band BTS have been discharged from South Korea’s military after fulfilling their mandatory military service.
They each saluted upon their release on Tuesday in Chuncheon City as about 200 fans, some of whom travelled from Mexico, Turkey and Brazil, cheered.
Continue reading...Frederick Ashton’s La Fille mal gardée to be performed for first time, replacing classics by Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky after fundraising in London
One of the “most English of ballets” will be performed for the first time at the National Opera of Ukraine in Kyiv after a boycott of the classic Russian repertoire, including Swan Lake and the Nutcracker.
Sir Frederick Ashton’s La Fille mal gardée, a celebrated romantic comedy, will be performed to a sell-out audience on Thursday after Ukraine turned away from the works of Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky and Prokofiev.
Continue reading...Singer tells fans he is recovering from flu after various health setbacks this year including strep throat and Covid
Sir Rod Stewart has cancelled a run of concerts in the US after having the flu, just weeks before his appearance at the Glastonbury festival later this month.
The 80-year-old singer said he was “devastated” to cancel or reschedule six shows in the US, due to take place over the next eight days.
Continue reading...Singer’s western-inspired Cowboy Carter tour is reminder of pop culture’s sway over shopping behaviour
Rhinestones, cowboy hats and a whole lot of denim; not a hen party entourage, a Glastonbury fit or a Nashville rodeo, but the queues outside Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this week, as Beyoncé kicked off her UK tour. And, seemingly, a new national dress code.
Since the release of the Cowboy Carter album, Beyoncé fans have been quick to adopt the rancher style, sparking a surge in interest for western-inspired fashion. On Vinted, searches for “western” are up by 16% year on year this month, with “rodeo” up 13%. Meanwhile, denim searches have risen 8%.
Continue reading...Music mogul warned to desist from looking and nodding at jury during sex-trafficking and racketeering conspiracy trial
The judge in the federal sex-trafficking and racketeering conspiracy trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs threatened to remove the music mogul from court for looking and nodding at the jury during testimony on Thursday.
The court also heard from a woman, under the pseudonym “Jane” and who previously dated Combs, as she began testifying about their relationship and the drug-fueled sexual marathons that she said Combs orchestrated.
Continue reading...Björn Ulvaeus tells audience at SXSW London the technology is ‘very bad at lyrics’ but has helped him break through creative impasses
After bringing a blockbuster hologram version of Abba to a purpose-built venue in east London, Björn Ulvaeus’s next technological exploration is a musical that he’s written with the help of artificial intelligence.
Ulvaeus, 80, told an audience at SXSW London that he was “three-quarters” of the way through writing a new musical which he has created with assistance from AI songwriting tools.
Continue reading...Music executive claims defamation in suit seeking $20m from the film-makers and distributors of On the Record
Russell Simmons is suing HBO and the film-makers of a 2020 documentary detailing allegations against the music mogul of sexual abuse, claiming that together they defamed him and ignored his version of events.
On The Record, directed by Amy Ziering and Kirby Dick, expanded on reporting by the New York Times, the Hollywood Reporter, the Los Angeles Times and other publications on numerous allegations against Simmons. It featured the testimony of several women who claim they were sexually assaulted by Simmons in the 1980s and 90s, when he was at the height of his influence as the co-founder of Def Jam Recordings, the hip-hop label behind LL Cool J, Public Enemy, the Beastie Boys and other top acts.
Continue reading...Price Tag singer plans to have surgery after performing at Summertime Ball this month
Jessie J has said she has been diagnosed with early breast cancer and plans to undergo surgery after her performance at this month’s Summertime Ball.
The Price Tag singer, 37, said in an Instagram video she has spent much of her recent time “in and out of tests”.
Continue reading...Fringe Society CEO says venues could offer concertgoers ‘morning after’ shows or tempt residents who ‘want to hide’
Organisers of Edinburgh fringe events have been urged to be “pretty smart” and capitalise on the decision by Oasis and AC/DC to play gigs in the city midway through the festival.
There was surprise and irritation when it emerged the bands would be staging four concerts at Murrayfield stadium in mid-August when the world’s largest arts festival is in full flow.
Continue reading...Artists and legal experts are outraged over MC Poze do Rodo’s detention over supposed non-violent offences
The arrest of a well-known Brazilian funk singer on charges of allegedly inciting crime in his lyrics and an alleged connection to a major criminal gang has sparked outrage among artists, intellectuals and legal experts.
MC Poze do Rodo, 26, who has 5.8 million monthly listeners on Spotify, was arrested early on Thursday at his home in a luxury condominium in Rio de Janeiro’s west zone.
Continue reading...Radiohead frontman makes lengthy statement after he had been criticised over perceived silence on the war, and for previously performing in Israel
After he was criticised for his silence on the subject, Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke has made a statement regarding the war in Gaza, saying Benjamin Netanyahu and his Israeli administration are “extremists” who “need to be stopped”.
He also criticised Hamas, saying the organisation “chooses too to hide behind the suffering of its people”.
I think Netanyahu and his crew of extremists are totally out of control and need to be stopped, and that the international community should put all the pressure it can on them to cease. Their excuse of self-defence has long since worn thin and has been replaced by a transparent desire to take control of Gaza and the West Bank permanently.
I believe this ultra-nationalist administration has hidden itself behind a terrified & grieving people and used them to deflect any criticism, using that fear and grief to further their ultra-nationalist agenda with terrible consequences, as we see now with the horrific blockade of aid to Gaza …
Continue reading...Caleb Followill says shattered heel needed ‘significant emergency surgery’, which would stop him performing
The Kings of Leon frontman, Caleb Followill, has announced that the band have cancelled their UK and European shows this summer after he injured his foot in a “freak accident”.
The singer, who is part of the US rock group with his brothers Nathan and Jared Followill and cousin Matthew Followill, was scheduled to perform at Blackweir Fields, Cardiff and Lancashire’s Lytham festival over the next two months.
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