What happens to pop stars after their 15 minutes of fame – the ugly truth
“Pop music is supposed to be fleeting; likewise, its players,” writes Nick Duerden of “an industry obsessed with the idea of novelty”. But what happens to pop…
Ed Sheeran goes metal – but still has the world as his choir
Opening his stadium tour at Croke Park in Dublin, Ed Sheeran seemed to have borrowed his production from local heroes U2. The huge construction had a remarkably…
Fontaines DC interview: Why don’t you hear Irish accents on the radio?
“I still feel there’s a lot of ground to be explored with guitars,” says Grian Chatten, frontman for thrilling Irish rock band Fontaines DC. “The sound of…
Spiritualized stay psychedelic, Bob Vylan get angrily political – the week’s best albums
Spiritualized, Everything Was Beautiful ★★★★☆ Everything Was Beautiful is the ninth album from Spiritualized, and to fans of the cult British ensemble, that’s probably enough to recommend…
Tony Hadley: ‘Why did I leave Spandau? Ask the Kemps and watch them squirm’
What, the jokey interlude where Martin alluded to a three-way marriage with wife Shirlie Holliman and Pepsi deMacque-Crockett, her former fellow Wham! backing singer? “Yeah, I didn’t…
Tony Hadley: ‘Why did I leave Spandau? Ask the Kemps and watch them squirm’
What, the jokey interlude where Martin alluded to a three-way marriage with wife Shirlie Holliman and Pepsi deMacque-Crockett, her former fellow Wham! backing singer? “Yeah, I didn’t…
Adele reportedly ‘drafts in’ Take That’s creative director to save Vegas show
Adele has reportedly split with the creative team behind her delayed Las Vegas residency and brought in Take That’s creative guru in a bid to kick-start the…
Adele reportedly ‘drafts in’ Take That’s creative director to save Vegas show
Adele has reportedly split with the creative team behind her delayed Las Vegas residency and brought in Take That’s creative guru in a bid to kick-start the…
Fantastic, exciting, absurd: Florence + the Machine are back
Speaking of her relief to be back performing (a regular theme of the night), she said: “We still have some Machine and crew in isolation. At one…
Fantastic, exciting, absurd: Florence + the Machine are back
Speaking of her relief to be back performing (a regular theme of the night), she said: “We still have some Machine and crew in isolation. At one…
The BBC need look no further for the next host of Desert Island Discs
Something else Tennant said (“Pop music now is very narcissistic, which can be a bit tedious”) was ringing in my ears as I tuned into Dream Fuel…
The BBC need look no further for the next host of Desert Island Discs
Something else Tennant said (“Pop music now is very narcissistic, which can be a bit tedious”) was ringing in my ears as I tuned into Dream Fuel…
Forget everything you think you know about pop
There is an origin myth of pop in which Elvis Presley’s explosive arrival as the first rock’n’roll idol in 1956 represents the Big Bang, the cosmic birth…
Dua Lipa stuns as usual – if only we could get to know the woman behind the sparkle
Dua Lipa had a good pandemic. Whilst many musicians struggled to maintain momentum during these two long, strange years, the British-Kosovan dance-pop sensation went ahead and released…
Edgar Winter keeps the blues alive and kicking – plus this week’s best albums
Edgar Winter, Brother Johnny ★★★★☆ What a resilient form of music the blues has turned out to be. From misty origins amongst African-Americans of the post-Civil War…
Will Adele’s tour ever happen?
Almost three months have passed since Adele tearfully took to Instagram to announce the postponement of her hotly anticipated Las Vegas residency. The Tottenham-born superstar said that…
George Ezra, London Palladium, review: a joyous singalong that was impossible to resist
George Ezra stepped onto the stage at the London Palladium, grinning like the cat who got the cream. The breezy pop singer-songwriter revealed it had been three…
The strange birth of Camille, Prince’s secret ‘hermaphrodite’ alter-ego
Musician Jack White’s label Third Man Records recently bought a rare pressing of Camille at auction for $49,375 (£37,000). Having secured permission from Prince’s estate (the singer…
Phew, Wet Leg lives up to the hype – plus this week’s albums
Wet Leg, Wet Leg ★★★★☆ The ascent of Wet Leg has happened so dizzyingly fast the band themselves appear in a constant state of gleeful amusement. Two…
All I Can Say is an intimate portrait of a rock star who died with much still to say
The rock band Blind Melon emerged from the Los Angeles smog in 1990, adjuncts to the West Coast grunge scene that produced Nirvana and Pearl Jam. Their…
Punk still exists, but its power to shock has long since gone
If the Queen of Punk has left the stage, can we definitively say that punk is dead? Well, not to the many who continue to adhere to…
Sounds familiar? The plagiarism cases that shook rock
“The overall design and musical development of the melodic, harmonic and lyrical content in the relevant phrase in Shape Of You are distinctively different from that utilised…
Grammy winner Jon Batiste: ‘Genre is an archaic concept’
NB: This interview first ran on April 2, and has been republished following Jon Batiste’s four Grammy wins – including the award for Album of the Year…
Cinema Paradiso, the Maestro and me: who was the ‘real’ Ennio Morricone?
Even if you don’t know Ennio Morricone’s name, you’ll know his music, which has scored nearly 500 films. From the heavenly choral uplift of Roland Joffé’s The…
Grammys wunderkind Jon Batiste: ‘Genre is an archaic concept’
Jon Batiste has been nominated for an extraordinary 11 Grammy awards this year, more than any fellow nominee (and one short of Michael Jackson’s record-breaking 12 for…