Meghan Trainor shows off stunning weight loss transformation at Baby2Baby Gala in ivory ballgown, eight months after revealing Mounjaro use for health journey.
‘Prince’s Purple Rain guitar was in the corner of the studio and his lava lamps were everywhere. You couldn’t help but be inspired’
I was in a band in Hull called Akrylykz. When the Beat came to play at the Welly club we gave them a demo tape. Then they invited us to tour with them. Later, after they split up, Andy Cox and David Steele were looking for a singer for a new band and they remembered me. Fine Young Cannibals felt right straight away. After The Tube filmed us doing Johnny Come Home, we just took off. Then somebody must have noticed me on telly because suddenly I was getting film offers, and I appeared in Sammy and Rosie Get Laid and Scandal.
As the Jazz Cafe and Ronnie Scott’s expand, and Blue Note eyes its arrival, proprietors say there’s an energy in the scene – but financial pressures remain
As small gig venues around the country nervously eye their futures amid rising utility prices and a cost of living crisis, one corner of the live music scene seems to be thriving: London’s jazz clubs.
The Jazz Cafe is extending its Camden venue and opening an east London location, Ronnie Scott’s is being refurbished, and New York’s iconic Blue Note club, which has already spread to Japan, Brazil, Italy and China, will open its first London venue next year. And while financial pressures remain, a host of other, smaller venues are bringing in vibrant new audiences.
The transgressive icon of Mexican music, who died in 2016, still has millions of fans. On Saturday, more than 170,000 filled Mexico City’s central plaza to watch footage of a landmark concert.
Thousands gathered to watch the screening of a concert by the late Juan Gabriel.
Accused of obscenity and sued by police and Tory MPs, Libertine outraged the establishment as part of Crass. Now she’s back – and she hasn’t mellowed with age
‘Things haven’t changed,” sighs Eve Libertine as she contemplates her new album. “All those songs are as relevant as they ever were.” The album in question, Live at the Horse Hospital, shows no sign that one of punk’s most anti-establishment figures is mellowing with age. Recorded at one blistering London live show in April 2024, Libertine collaborated with Chilean guitarist Eva Leblanc, reimagining tracks from Libertine’s back catalogue including ones from her time singing with 1970s anarcho-punk pioneers Crass. Produced by Crass founder Penny Rimbaud, it treads a path between performance art, experimental music and earth ritual; with her strident operatic tones, Libertine sounds like a soothsayer foretelling an apocalypse. It’s not an easy listen, but that was never the case with Crass, either.
“We never had much fun, to be honest,” Libertine says. “It was really heavy going at times. We were angry; we were trying to say things in a way that was confrontational and shocking to get a reaction. And we definitely did.”
Wigmore Hall, London In a deftly curated programme, youthful compositions rubbed shoulders with music from her most productive period, the 1920s
Among the plethora of female composers finally receiving their due in recent years, Rebecca Clarke stands out for sheer quality and consistency of inspiration. Born in 1886, she studied with Stanford, worked with Vaughan Williams and, as a virtuoso violist, became one of the first professional female orchestral players in London. Relocating to the United States, her output declined, but her spirited chamber music and more recently her rediscovered songs, have proved fertile ground for today’s performers.
In a deftly curated programme, the culmination of a Wigmore Hall Clarke study day, youthful compositions rubbed shoulders with music from her most productive period, the 1920s. Ailish Tynan opened proceedings, her soaring soprano and snappy diction illuminating songs that suggested the influence of Vaughan Williams. Ravel, in Orientalist mode, hovered over settings of Chinese poetry, perfect material for Kitty Whately’s fresh, flaming mezzo-soprano with its cushioned lower register. Ashley Riches’ warm baritone embraced Clarke’s memorable melody for Yeats’ Down by the Salley Gardens while raising a smile in The Aspidistra, a melodramatic song about the calculated murder of a pot plant.
Kelly Clarkson returned to her Las Vegas residency at Caesars Palace, facilitating a proposal and vow renewal during her first show following her ex-husband Brandon Blackstock's death.
Gen X celebrated its heroes at the ceremony, where Soundgarden and Salt-N-Pepa were honored alongside Chubby Checker, Bad Company, Joe Cocker and Warren Zevon.
The singer was inspired by her mum’s love for Basement Jaxx and spent 69p on Jamiroquai, but what does she put on when she’s feeling down?
The first song I fell in love with
The first song that I remember really feeling inspired by was Good Luck by Basement Jaxx. My mum had all their CDs. Good Luck was the first song I sung for my managers before they took me on board, so I still have a big love for it.
The first single I bought
My mum gave me money to go and buy Feels Just Like It Should by Jamiroquai for 69p from HMV in Oxford Circus. It was the first time I’d bought a physical CD.
The New Jersey rock star is preparing for his band’s first tour in four years after undergoing risky but crucial vocal surgery. He speaks with Roisin O’Connor about new album ‘Forever (Legendary Edition)’, why he’s OK with being vulnerable, and his joy over his growing family
Connexion
.jpg?width=1200&auto=webp&crop=3%3A2)
