Taoiseach Leo Varadkar sent handwritten letter saying he is ‘huge fan’ and offering to meet singer in person before her Dublin concert
The Irish prime minister used official letterhead to write a fan letter to Kylie Minogue, freedom of information documents reveal.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar sent a handwritten message saying he was a “huge fan” of the Australian pop star, offering to meet her in person ahead of her Dublin concert in October last year.
Continue reading...A large crowd of fans gathers to pay tribute to the rapper Nipsey Hussle after he was shot dead outside his Los Angeles clothing store on Sunday. The 33-year-old earned a Grammy nomination this year for his major-label debut and was a respected figure in south LA, where he grew up
Continue reading...Singer follows George Clooney in protest at sultanate’s death penalty for gay sex and adultery
Elton John has joined George Clooney in calling for a boycott of nine Brunei-owned hotels over the sultanate’s new death penalty laws for gay sex and adultery.
“I commend my friend, George Clooney, for taking a stand against the anti-gay discrimination and bigotry taking place in the nation of Brunei – a place where gay people are brutalised, or worse – by boycotting the sultan’s hotels,” the singer wrote on his Twitter page late on Saturday.
Continue reading...Singer ‘devastated’ but expects to make full recovery and tells fans to keep tickets
Sir Mick Jagger has said he is “devastated” to let down fans after the Rolling Stones announced they were postponing a tour of the US and Canada while the frontman seeks medical treatment.
The singer, 75, has been told by doctors that he cannot go on tour at the moment but has been advised that he is expected to make a full recovery. No further details of his condition were given.
A statement from the group said: “Unfortunately today the Rolling Stones have had to announce the postponement of their upcoming US/Canada tour dates – we apologise for any inconvenience this causes those who have tickets to shows but wish to reassure fans to hold on to these existing tickets, as they will be valid for rescheduled dates, which will be announced shortly.
“Mick has been advised by doctors that he cannot go on tour at this time, as he needs medical treatment.
Continue reading...Ten years ago, electronic music in Iran was suppressed by the government. But now these strange, often punishing sounds are finding their way into the world
Ten years ago Bahman Ghobadi’s film No One Knows About Persian Cats followed a young Iranian songwriting duo’s efforts to form a band with other underground musicians in Iran. It presented a country in which music deemed politically or culturally incendiary was prohibited, since artists hoping to perform or distribute their work had to acquire permission from the Iranian ministry of culture and Islamic guidance, or risk arrest.
Western journalists seized upon a narrative of sensitive outlaws holed up in underground studios, but today a new story is emerging: of a visionary music community now able to openly share its strange creations. Increasingly, Iran is becoming recognised as a hub for some of the world’s most vital, forward-thinking experimental music.
Continue reading...Barbra Streisand has apologised over her remarks about Michael Jackson and two men who have accused him of sexual abuse, saying she should have chosen her words more carefully and that she admires the accusers for “speaking their truth”.
Streisand had been strongly criticized for her comments about two men who accused Jackson of sexual abuse in the HBO documentary Leaving Neverland.
Continue reading...His first guitar was made from wood and bicycle parts and his first songs were shared via Bluetooth in the desert. But the Niger musician has become international – and is taking aim at France
How do you even dream of making music when your family and religious leaders disapprove, when you live at the edge of the Sahara desert, and you cannot afford an instrument?
It helps that the Tuareg musician Mdou Moctar, from Niger, is not easily discouraged. Unable to acquire a guitar, he made one out of a piece of wood with brake wires from an old bicycle for strings, and taught himself to play in secret. “I was from a religious family and music was not welcome, but I would go and listen to local musicians and dream of being like them,” the 32-year-old singer-songwriter says over the phone while on tour in the US.
Continue reading...Robson Wade and James Safechuck, who in HBO documentary accuse Jackson of child sex abuse, face legal action in France
Three Michael Jackson fan groups are suing his alleged victims in France for “sullying his memory” by taking part in the Leaving Neverland documentary, the fans’ lawyer told Agence France-Presse on Friday.
The Michael Jackson Community – which claims to be the “official fan club forum” – and the MJ Street and On The Line groups accuse Robson Wade and James Safechuck of “lynching” Jackson.
Continue reading...Jung Joon-young apologises and says he will retire, one day after singer Seungri was charged with running a prostitution ring
A sex scandal swirling around South Korea’s K-pop industry has deepened after a singer and TV celebrity admitted he had secretly filmed himself having sex with women and sharing the footage online without their consent.
Jung Joon-young, who rose to fame after coming second in a TV talent show, said he would retire from show business and admitted he had shared footage of several women in a group chatroom.
Continue reading...Big Bang singer Seungri retires to clear his name, saying ‘scandal is too big’
Seungri’s taste for the high life earned him the nickname the Great Gatsby of Korea. But now the singer, a member of one of South Korea’s biggest K-pop bands, is facing charges that he procured prostitutes for businessmen in some of Seoul’s most fashionable nightclubs.
The youngest member of Big Bang has announced he will retire to fight the charges and to spare his management agency, YG Entertainment, and fellow band members further embarrassment, according to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency. The decision came after news of the scandal spread on social media on Monday.
Continue reading...A Pennsylvania man was cleaning out an old videotape collection when he found what he thought was a recording of R&B singer R Kelly in concert, but instead turned out to show a man who appeared to be Kelly sexually abusing girls, he and his attorney said on Sunday.
Related: R Kelly and the art of the male meltdown | Arwa Mahdawi
Continue reading...Child abuse allegations in Leaving Neverland prompt cartoon’s makers to act
An episode of The Simpsons featuring Michael Jackson’s voice has been pulled by its producers after a powerful documentary accused the star of sexually abusing two men when they were children.
The HBO documentary Leaving Neverland, which was shown on Channel 4 this week, featured James Safechuck and Wade Robson who claimed they were sexually abused by Jackson.
Continue reading...When the south London-raised musician visited his home country, Ghana, he fell in love with it. Now, he is building schools and organising festivals there, and calling for others to return and rebuild a nation
It was in 2011 that Fuse ODG had an awakening. Frustrated with his experiences growing up in south London, he decided to take a trip to Ghana, the country of his birth. “I saw a whole new Africa that I had never seen on TV,” he says. “You’re just a human here, you don’t feel like a minority. It feels like home. That’s the energy I got from coming back: peace of mind.”
That trip was a catalyst for what happened next: a string of hit Afrobeats singles that melded old African highlife rhythms with western rap and R&B melodies. Now, the 30-year-old is about to release his second album, New Africa Nation, which comes hand in hand with a vastly more ambitious project: to build schools, bring together communities and change the way Africa is perceived.
Continue reading...New allegation comes as Kelly, who was recently arrested over 10 counts of sexual assault, returns to jail for failing to pay child support
A fresh allegation has been made against R Kelly, by an unnamed woman who says the R&B star sexually assaulted her when she was 13, and later infected her with herpes.
Police in Detroit are investigating the claims made by the woman, who says she and Kelly had sex at a hotel in the city in December 2001, and a few weeks later at a recording studio. The woman says she visited Kelly at his home over the next four years, eventually contracting herpes from him when she was 17.
Continue reading...Kelly jailed hours after the broadcast of an interview in which he said he was being ‘assassinated’ by allegations of sexual abuse
R Kelly was taken back into custody Wednesday after appearing at a child-support hearing, authorities said, hours after the broadcast of an interview in which the R&B star cried and ranted about being “assassinated” by allegations of sexual abuse.
A spokeswoman for the Cook county sheriff’s office said Kelly would not be released from jail until he pays $161,000 in back child support.
Continue reading...Backlash comes after documentary Leaving Neverland details abuse allegations of two men against the singer
Dozens of radio stations around the world have removed Michael Jackson’s music from their playlists after allegations that the late singer abused children aired on Sunday in the documentary Leaving Neverland.
In New Zealand, the public broadcaster and its major commercial rivals – whose listener base covers more than half the population – united in opting not to play Jackson’s hits.
Continue reading...In the 1970s and 80s Mogadishu's airwaves were filled with Somali funk, disco, soul and reggae. Musicians rocking afros and bell-bottom trousers would perform at the city's trendiest nightclubs during the height of the country's golden era of music. But it was short-lived: a brutal civil war began, musicians fled to all corners of the world and the vibrant music scene came to an end.
Habib and Abdulkadir, two former band mates and best friends, lost touch after the war started, and neither knew if the other was alive. But both kept playing music.
Somali Night Fever tells the story of the people keeping Somali music alive, including these two friends, separated by war but united by the music of the golden era.
Continue reading...The likely cost of £2.7bn to the taxpayer due to Chris Grayling’s incompetence will ring hollow to the parents of disabled pupils in Leicestershire and across the country, who have been informed that their council can no longer provide transport to special schools and colleges post-16 due to lack of funds. The implications for these families, who already face substantial additional burdens of care due to cuts in respite and other services, may place another group in the foodbank queue.
Kate Warner
Claybrooke Parva, Leicestershire
• If Donald Trump genuinely believes that Kim Jong-un did not know of the brutal treatment of Otto Warmbier which led to his death (Report, 2 March), has he asked Kim to investigate the matter? And if not, why not?
Jeremy Beecham
Labour, House of Lords
American musician, 83, expected to make full recovery, according to representative
Rock’n’roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis has suffered a minor stroke, a representative for the star has said.
The 83-year-old was expected to make a full recovery and was recuperating in Memphis with his family by his bedside after falling ill on Thursday, Zach Farnum said.
Continue reading...Ceon Broughton imprisoned for eight and a half years for manslaughter of Louella Fletcher-Michie
A musician who supplied his girlfriend with a lethal dose of drugs and filmed her as she lay dying at a music festival has been jailed for eight and a half years.
Ceon Broughton, 30, gave Louella Fletcher-Michie, 24, the party drug 2C-P at Bestival in Dorset in September 2017. Jurors at Winchester crown court were shown footage in which Fletcher-Michie repeatedly shouts at Broughton to phone her mother but he dismisses her, telling her to “put your phone away”.
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