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• Lisa Knapp and Gerry Diver: Hinterland review – folk at its most exalted

  08-03-2025 18:00
  (Ear to the Ground)
  Sealing years of collaboration with their first official duo album, the singer and producer fuse folklore and the everyday with dazzling directnessSince her 2007 debut, Wild and Undaunted, Londoner Lisa Knapp has blazed an impressive trail at the avant edge of British folk, her bravura vocals lighting up self-penned songs and well-loved standards, while the inventive arrangements of partner and producer Gerry Diver – now credited as co-creator – have helped captur
  
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• Jack White review – rock’n’roll showman makes believers of us all

  08-03-2025 15:00
  
  Troxy, LondonTouring his 2024 solo album No Name in a barnstorming gig, the former White Stripe plays fast and loose with the truth but is absolutely the real deal“Do you believe me yet?” yells Jack White from the lip of the stage, a few songs into his second night’s work at this classy art deco venue in east London. It’s a very Jack White kind of location: highly stylised, lovingly restored, but not entirely removed from its unglamorous surroundings.Lit in deep blue and
  
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• Rizzle Kicks look back: ‘Because of how fast it went, we became delusional about how easy it was to get successful’

  08-03-2025 13:00
  
  Jordan Stephens and Harley Alexander-Sulé on their early success, breakup,and why good friendships are like the tideJordan Stephens and Harley Alexander-Sulé started making music at the Brit school for performing arts in south London. In 2011, they released their debut album, Stereo Typical, which featured Top 10 hits including Down With the Trumpets and Mama Do the Hump. Rizzle Kicks went on hiatus in 2016, due to addiction and mental health problems. They are now b
  
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• ‘We joke about who’s getting their knees done’: the rock veterans still touring into their late 70s

  08-03-2025 12:55
  
  Yoga and ice baths have replaced all-nighters, but musicians such as Graham Nash, Bonnie Raitt, Rick Wakeman and Elkie Brooks aren’t planning to retire any time soonI always said I’d retire when I got to 50,” chuckles Rick Wakeman, who didn’t do any such thing. Instead – after realising that far from being left adrift by pop’s ever-changing styles, people were still interested in what he had to offer – he recorded another 37 albums (taking his
  
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• Everybody Loves the Sunshine is just one point of perfection in Roy Ayers’ truly ubiquitous legacy | Alexis Petridis

  07-03-2025 16:49
  
  Ayers’ genre-bending jazz-funk sound produced one fantastic album after another – and then found a new lease of life in hip-hop sampling• Roy Ayers, jazz-funk pioneer behind Everybody Loves the Sunshine, dies aged 84There’s a sense in which Roy Ayers was blessed from the start. Aged five, the son of two musicians – and by all accounts already showing talent as a pianist – he was famously presented with his first set of vibraphone mallets backstage at a gig by L
  
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• Gracie Abrams review – telling references tied together in a big, bland bow

  07-03-2025 15:27
  
  O2 Arena, LondonHer songs recall Taylor Swift and Phoebe Bridgers, so much so it’s hard not to wish you were listening to them instead. Not that that bothers her excitable young fans
  How do you describe a Gracie Abrams concert in one word? Bows. There are thousands and thousands of them at the O2 Arena tonight, most of them pale pink, and therefore starkly visible among the floor crowd even from seats high-up. Bows are Abrams fans’ Swiftian friendship bracelets – a clear identi
  
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• Annie Lennox and friends review – a euphoric celebration of female solidarity

  07-03-2025 14:25
  
  Royal Albert Hall, London
  In her first performance since 2019, Lennox’s rare charisma makes her the star attraction during a fundraiser that also includes Nadine Shah, Beverley Knight and CelesteWhen the suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst stood up at the Albert Hall in 1912 and declared, “I incite this meeting to rebellion”, she probably didn’t imagine her name would be hailed on the same stage by feminist performers more than a century later.Pankhurst was later banned from t
  
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• Sasami: Blood on the Silver Screen review – a quirky move to the mainstream

  07-03-2025 13:00
  
  (Domino)
  The US artist segues from industrial metal to radio-friendly pop most memorable for its vividly relatable lyricsSasami Ashworth’s gentle indie rock debut, Sasami (2019), felt reasonably familiar to fans of her previous band, Cherry Glazerr; the bracingly industrial metal of 2022’s Squeeze less so. Now the California musician has moved into sprightly, shiny pop for her third solo album, picking over matters of the heart. And the groin – apparently, Lana Del Rey-alike No
  
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• Tokimonsta: Eternal Reverie review – a life-affirming journey through dance music

  07-03-2025 12:30
  (Young Art)
  On her seventh album, delayed by personal tragedy, the US producer calls in collaborators aplenty on a high-energy set interspersed with tender momentsGrammy-nominated American producer Tokimonsta, real name Jennifer Lee, postponed the release of this seventh album, originally due out last autumn, so she could care for her best friend in her final days. It followed Lee’s own health scare – in early 2016 she underwent two brain surgery operations following her diagnosis wi
  
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• Wretch 32: ‘It’s a difficult ride for Black people in this country’

  07-03-2025 12:00
  The north-east London rapper’s new album mines his family’s past and society’s present to explore what it means to call a place homeOver the past two decades, Wretch 32, real name Jermaine Scott, has established himself as a pioneering figure in British rap. From his rise in the underbellies of an early-millennium rap and grime scene, to his mainstream success and songs with the likes of Ed Sheeran and Emeli Sandé, Stormzy and Giggs, he is among the handful of UK rappers
  
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• Lady Gaga: Mayhem review – a fabulous return to her freaky first principles

  06-03-2025 19:30
  (Interscope)
  After some noteworthy musical and cinematic misfires, Gaga gets back to her core themes of sex, sleaze and celebrity on an album that sounds not retro, but relevantLady Gaga’s single Abracadabra is enjoying its fifth consecutive week in the UK Top 10. You can imagine a collective sigh of relief chez Gaga: she has been experiencing what you might call a case of career sea sickness, in which unadulterated commercial triumphs have been followed by very public flops. In the credit
  
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• Edwyn Collins: ‘Could an Orange Juice reunion ever be on the cards? No!’

  06-03-2025 16:00
  
  The singer-songwriter on breaking up his band, recovering from a stroke, being too old to be a punk, and the chaos of recording with Mark E Smith In these deeply troubled, fractured, febrile times, why did you call the new record Nation Shall Speak Unto Nation? smileywombat
  It was Grace’s choice [Grace Maxwell, his wife and musical collaborator]. Up in Helmsdale [in the Scottish Highlands], in my studio, I have an art deco radiogram speaker which has a sort of sunburst thing with that phra
  
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• How MJ the Musical sanitised Michael Jackson’s story: ‘Can we really sit in a theatre and pretend?’

  06-03-2025 15:00
  
  MJ the Musical has already made millions for Jackson’s estate. But as the Broadway hit opens in Australia and the estate prepares to face two of Jackson’s alleged victims in court, fans may ask: is buying a ticket OK?Get our weekend culture and lifestyle emailThere’s a moment in MJ the Musical where the King of Pop tells a prying reporter: “I want to keep this about my music.”Over the last four years, as the jukebox musical has swept through the US, London and Hambu
  
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• Alabaster DePlume: A Blade Because a Blade Is Whole review | Alexis Petridis's album of the week

  06-03-2025 13:00
  
  (International Anthem)
  While some listeners might baulk at the earnest spoken-word incantations, you can’t argue with DePlume’s outstanding melodies, played with tremulous vibratoAlabaster DePlume’s seventh album comes with a statement of purpose. “What is it FOR?” asks the accompanying blurb, written by the artist, born Angus Fairbairn. “To inspire and facilitate our independent healing … Recently I told everyone to ‘go forward in the courage of
  
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• DJ Funk, trailblazing Chicago ghetto house producer, dies aged 54

  06-03-2025 12:06
  
  Charles Chambers was a key innovator in dance music, speeding up beats and adding raunchy lyrics, and inspiring Daft Punk and JusticeDJ Funk, the producer who coined the term “ghetto house” and was one of the Chicago scene’s key innovators, has died aged 54.His death was confirmed by close friend and collaborator DJ Slugo, who announced the news via a post on Instagram. Continue reading...
  
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• Roy Ayers, jazz-funk pioneer behind Everybody Loves the Sunshine, dies aged 84

  06-03-2025 09:00
  
  Family announces on Facebook that the musician died in New York City after a long illnessRoy Ayers, the jazz-funk pioneer whose hit Everybody Loves the Sunshine has become a summer staple across the globe, has died aged 84.A post on the musician’s official Facebook page said: “It is with great sadness that the family of legendary vibraphonist, composer and producer Roy Ayers announce his passing which occurred on March 4th, 2025 in New York City after a long illness. Continue reading
  
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• Glastonbury 2025: the 1975, Neil Young and Olivia Rodrigo to headline

  06-03-2025 09:00
  Charli xcx, the Prodigy and Loyle Carner will headline the Other stage, with first-time sets from Alanis Morissette, Doechii and En VogueThis year’s Glastonbury set will feature two first-time headliners in the British pop-rock group the 1975 and the US pop-punk songwriter Olivia Rodrigo.The band, led by Matty Healy, will top the Friday night billing on the Pyramid stage. Rodrigo will perform on Sunday. In 2022, the Drivers License singer performed on the Other stage, a set that boasted a
  
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• ‘The palace called and I heard myself saying yes’: how Errollyn Wallen went from Top of the Pops to Master of the King’s Music

  05-03-2025 17:44
  Written off in her youth, the unstoppable Belize-born musician has overcome indifference, mockery and abuse to become one of Britain’s most acclaimed composers. You have to hang onto your own worth, she saysFor at least half her life, the Belize-born British composer Errollyn Wallen, appointed last year to the title of Master of the King’s Music, has steered herself through a web of invisible rules. Classical composers, dead or alive, were male and white. Their Black and female count
  
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• Indian rock sensations Bloodywood: ‘What’s more metal than standing up for people you love?’

  05-03-2025 12:00
  The trio’s playful mix of heft and traditional instrumentation sent them viral. But they’re also confronting racism and rape culture, and struggling in a Bollywood-dominated music industry‘We’re serving a really nice dish called metal tikka masala,” jokes Bloodywood guitarist Jayant Bhadula. “It’s metal but with so many spices that it’ll overwhelm your senses. You will headbang and you will end up dancing with us.”This is the tongue-in-cheek
  
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• ‘Together in creativity for peace!’ Sain, the indie label pushing Welsh music forward for 56 years

  04-03-2025 13:00
  
  It’s gone from a cowshed to a cultural institution. As its 3,000-album archive gets digitised, different generations explain how Sain deepened Welsh identityOne of the oldest indie labels in Britain sits down a muddy lane on an old RAF site, less than a mile from the sea, half an hour from the mountains of Eryri. Founded in 1969, Sain – meaning sound in Welsh, pronounced (in English) like “sign” – is an unusual label, host to a remarkable treasure trove of music. An
  
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• Lola Young review – soulful Londoner finds magic in the messy

  04-03-2025 12:26
  O2 Forum Kentish Town, London
  An endearing shambles between songs but a powerfully versatile and emotional singer during them, the TikTok star is cool but relatable all at onceThe subject of Lola Young’s single Messy – No 1 for four weeks this year – hates the apparent contradictions in her character, and punishes her by behaving unpredictably in kind. Judging by how furiously attentive Young’s fans are, as her biggest London show vaults from rawness to raucousness, that
  
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• Jay-Z sues woman over allegedly falsifying rape allegation

  04-03-2025 12:07
  
  Rapper claims woman and her lawyers knowingly proceeded with false claim that he and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs raped her when she was 13Jay-Z is suing the anonymous woman who in February withdrew a lawsuit accusing the rapper of rape, claiming that she and her lawyers knowingly proceeded with a false claim.Jay-Z (AKA Shawn Carter) said that the woman, referred to as Jane Doe in the suit, admitted to his representatives that she had falsified her account of Jay-Z and Sean ‘Diddy’
  
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• ‘Power of music’: steel pan bands foster joy and resilience at Trinidad and Tobago carnival

  04-03-2025 12:00
  
  Caribbean country’s steel band competition, held this year amid escalating violence, celebrates an instrument born out of colonial resistanceA crescent moon hung in the cloudless sky over Trinidad and Tobago (T&T), as steel pan orchestras pushed through a throng of thousands of supporters who had gathered to greet them outside the Queen’s Park Savannah in Port of Spain.They were on their way to the final round of the Caribbean country’s national steel band competition: the
  
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• Hakeem review – musician’s journey from prison to Glastonbury exudes warmth and sincerity

  04-03-2025 12:00
  
  What you see is what you get with intimate and honest documentary about east London singer-songwriter Hak BakerSo many music documentaries have a kind of faked intimacy; they dangle the promise of lifting the lid on a star’s darkest secrets but end up feeling more like propaganda. You can’t say that about this film featuring the London singer-songwriter Hak Baker. What you see is what you get with him and, like him, the documentary feels genuine and very likable. It was filmed over f
  
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• S9, Ep3: Pete Tong, DJ

  04-03-2025 06:00
  
  This week on Comfort Eating, Grace is joined by superstar DJ, King of Ibiza, and namesake of his own rhyming slang: it’s Pete Tong MBE. Pete is one of the most influential figures in dance music; without him, house music and club culture would not be what they are today. He is about to go back on the road in the UK with his 10th year of Ibiza Classics – described as an event for the relapse raver. Born in Kent, Pete was raised on classic British 60s fare, and he remembers with fondne
  
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• Carl Dean, Dolly Parton’s husband of nearly 60 years, dies aged 82

  04-03-2025 02:22
  Singer, who met Dean when she was 18, says ‘words can’t do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years’Carl Dean, devoted husband of Dolly Parton and also the inspiration behind Parton’s hit Jolene, died on Monday. He was 82.According to a statement provided to the Associated Press by Parton’s publicist, Dean died in Nashville, Tennessee, and will be laid to rest in a private ceremony with immediate family attending. Continue reading...
  
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• ‘I don’t want to retreat any more’: William Tyler on grief, alcoholism and his healing new album

  03-03-2025 17:00
  
  After a painful midlife crisis, the former Lambchop sideman went to rehab, rejected ambition and embraced lo-fi recording. It made for his most startling music yet – with a surprise Four Tet collaboration still to comeWhen William Tyler put out Goes West in 2019, the album minted what the Nashville-born guitarist calls “an expansive, aspirational part of my life”. It was a prettier take on the crisp heartland Krautrock of his 2016 breakout Modern Country. Both were released on
  
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• ‘We spent £100,000 doing a gig in a scout hut!’ The Beta Band on debt, disastrous decisions – and their defiant comeback

  03-03-2025 11:00
  
  Fiercely original and stunning live, they should have been massive – but they imploded. As the Scots return, they relive disowning their debut album, blowing Top of the Pops – and getting shocks off their battery-powered illuminated suitsSteve Mason is remembering the day in 2004 he was told the Beta Band was over. “There was enough money in the bank account to pay each of us a month’s wages,” says the singer, seated in a busy London greasy spoon. “And by that
  
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• ‘I can spit hot fire on Baby Got Back’: Sterling K Brown’s honest playlist

  03-03-2025 08:00
  
  The star of new thriller Paradise loves musicals and feels mild shame at enjoying Vengaboys. But which star made him realise he could sing?The first song I fell in love withI was in elementary school and If I Had No Loot by Tony! Toni! Toné! was getting a lot of play on BET – Black Entertainment Television. I love the vibe. It has a good bounce. I like things that make me move and this is one song you can’t help but move to.The first single I boughtI remember buying Don’
  
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• Doves: Constellations for the Lonely review – prog poetry for gloomy days

  02-03-2025 14:00
  
  (EMI North)
  Impeccable production and propulsive moments led by Jimi Goodwin brighten the Manchester trio’s somewhat lethargic latestThe Universal Want was a satisfying return for the Manchester trio in 2020 after a decade-long hiatus, better than most of their 90s peers’ reunion projects. This time, with Jimi Goodwin still unable to return to his frontman role full time, the Williams brothers are more prominent on vocals. Sensible given an ongoing tour, although not always successfu
  
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• Angie Stone was a wise singer who deeply understood the power of love and lust

  02-03-2025 12:44
  
  The neo-soul artist, who has died aged 63, had years of experience by the time she became a star – and brought it to bear on a carnal, careworn catalogue• News: soul singer Angie Stone dies in a car crash at 63Angie Stone was no overnight success. By the time 2001’s Mahogany Soul made her a star, she’d logged two decades in the game, starting out in pioneering all-girl rap trio the Sequence, before passing through went-nowhere R&B groups like Devox and Vertical Hold an
  
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• Wild, waspish and whip-smart, there are few rock stars as great as David Johansen | Alexis Petridis

  01-03-2025 22:21
  He looked the part – and sounded even better. And the frontman of New York Dolls, who has died aged 75, was deeper than many gave him credit for• News – David Johansen, frontman of New York Dolls, dies aged 75
  • Gallery – David Johansen: a life in picturesNick Kent’s fabled 1974 NME piece about New York Dolls, Dead End Kids on the Champs-Élysées, is packed with characters and incident. The band have arrived in France after a showcase gig at London
  
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• Jeremy Pelt: Woven review – accessible post-bop with a touch of electric Miles

  01-03-2025 17:00
  
  The prolific US trumpeter shuffles the pack with the addition of synths, guitar and vibes to enhance his melodic, dextrous playingNow 48, trumpeter Pelt has maintained a profuse presence in US jazz since his early 20s, racking up an impressive 25 albums, while his contributions as a sideman run into scores. His playing stands squarely in the post-bop traditions of Clifford Brown and Freddie Hubbard, with occasional forays into the electric realm. Pelt himself is an agile player, capable of both
  
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• On my radar: Richard Russell’s cultural highlights

  01-03-2025 16:00
  The producer and head of XL Recordings on a spicy YouTube series, London’s most fascinating street and the musician who’s ahead of his timeRichard Russell was born in London in 1971. He joined XL Recordings in 1991 as an A&R and took over the label several years later, attracting a slew of artists including Dizzee Rascal, MIA and Adele. His parallel career as a producer began in 1992 with rave single The Bouncer and continued in 2010 with I’m New Here, his acclaimed collabo
  
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• One to watch: Erin LeCount

  01-03-2025 15:00
  
  Self-produced in her garden shed, the young Essex singer-songwriter’s gothic pop is bedding in nicelySearch for Erin LeCount online and you’re likely to find videos of her spinning around her room in a long white dress, a cross hanging on the wall and a gritty, melancholic synth melody in the background. Growing up in Chelmsford, Essex, the 22-year-old singer-songwriter started producing her own songs during lockdown, releasing music from her garden shed studio.LeCount’s 2023 d
  
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• Lisa: Alter Ego review – a focus group-tested attempt at megastar success

  01-03-2025 15:00
  
  (RCA)
  The Blackpink singer’s high-energy debut solo album, astutely timed to coincide with her role in The White Lotus, is packed with styles and stars that only highlight her lack of musical identityIt must feel pretty damn good to be Lisa right now. Alter Ego, the debut solo album by the Thai rapper and singer, is arriving at a germane time: HBO is airing the third season of its venomous satirical hit The White Lotus, in which she stars as one of the titular resort’s receptionists.
  
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• Justin Hawkins: ‘The worst thing anyone’s said to me? “I would love to go on a date with you, but I’d be too embarrassed”’ | The Q&A

  01-03-2025 10:30
  
  The Darkness frontman on intrusive thoughts, stamping on cockroaches and a terrifying flight to South AfricaBorn in Surrey, Justin Hawkins, 49, wrote music for adverts and played in bands with his brother, Dan. In 2000 they formed the Darkness; their hit singles include I Believe in a Thing Called Love, and they won three Brits and an Ivor Novello before splitting in 2006. Having reformed in 2011, the Darkness toured with Lady Gaga and their 2017 record, Pinewood Smile, became their third U
  
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• Bdrmm: Microtonic review – Hull shoegazers nod towards the dancefloor

  28-02-2025 13:00
  The quartet’s increasingly electronica-based textures convey a sense of tension and unease on their third albumRight from their self-titled shoegaze-indebted 2020 debut, Hull four-piece Bdrmm – so-called because they began as a bedroom project for singer/guitarist Ryan Smith – have been more about textures than big hooks. As they’ve grown, they’ve steadily broadened their palette, with electronica increasingly at the heart of their sound, and Microtonic feels very m
  
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• Ichiko Aoba: Luminescent Creatures review – nurturing music for bleak times

  28-02-2025 12:00
  
  (Hermine)
  The cult Japanese singer-songwriter’s new album, inspired by the Ryukyu islands, is like a powerfully soothing sound bathIn a recent interview with the Guardian, Kyoto-raised Ichiko Aoba stated that she saw herself less as a conventional musician and more like a conduit of textures and atmospheres: “I just love sound.” Across the immersive, celestial landscape of the hugely prolific Aoba’s eighth studio album (she has also released numerous live records, soundtr
  
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• Malmin: Med Åshild Vetrhus review | Jude Rogers's folk album of the month

  28-02-2025 10:00
  
  (Krets)
  Anders Hana, Olva Christer Rossebø and Åshild Vetrhus take inspiration from Norway’s rugged Rogaland in these tracks sourced from early-to-mid 20th century recordingsA new Norwegian folk label, Krets, arrives with an arresting debut release – an “anarchistic” set of songs, dances, ballads and psalms from the rugged south-western county of Rogaland.Malmin, a duo of experimental musician Anders Hana and folk-rock and cajun-pop instrumentalist Olav Chris
  
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• Hope Tala: Hope Handwritten review – even-tempered vocal gorgeousness

  28-02-2025 09:30
  (PMR)
  Tala’s mellow, unsensational debut ruminates on friendship, faith and family over fine, honeyed production but with a tad too much similarity‘I’ve forgotten how I used to write my name,” Hope Tala winces, in the diaristic opening bars to her debut album. Seeking clarity through her pen, the soulful west Londoner is wrestling with growing pains and writer’s block – but then it all flows out. Over a honeyed mix of bossa nova, R&B and pop, and in her go
  
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• Gracie Abrams, the year’s biggest pop star: ‘Trump has only been in office a month, and everybody is more at risk’

  28-02-2025 06:00
  
  After dodging toxic fans, ‘nepo baby’ jibes and her own projectile vomit, the 25-year-old has just spent eight weeks at UK No 1. She explains why she’s now writing about our dark, uncertain futureOn a video call from a hotel room in Hamburg, Gracie Abrams is expounding on the virtues of decoupling yourself from social media and living a life offline. “You can literally do so much when you’re not scrolling!” she enthuses. “You can retain more information;
  
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• Nuthing ta F’ wit: Wu-Tang Clan’s greatest albums – ranked!

  27-02-2025 16:05
  As hip-hop’s greatest group announce their final tour, we pick out the best of their LPs – from solo albums to a history-making, gamechanging debut• No longer ‘forever’? Wu-Tang Clan hint at breakupMethod Man’s second album is preposterously long, hopelessly uneven and features nine skits (one featuring a guest appearance by – uh-oh – Donald Trump). But make a playlist of the best 12 tracks – including Dangerous Grounds, Judgement Day and Brea
  
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• Panda Bear: Sinister Grift review | Alexis Petridis's album of the week

  27-02-2025 13:00
  (Domino)
  Noah Lennox’s powerful and adventurous album has plenty of playlistable psych-pop, but then turns introspective: it’s a striking emotional arcThe last time the world heard from Noah “Panda Bear” Lennox, he was in the company of Pete Kember, better known as Sonic Boom, co-founder of Spacemen 3 – the latest in a string of musical left-turns that have made Lennox the most prolific and intriguing member of Animal Collective. Solo, he has variously spawned an en
  
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• Fish review – euphoric opening to a prog hero’s farewell tour

  23-02-2025 16:01
  
  Albert Hall, Manchester
  The former Marillion singer was on rousing form as he delivered power ballads and intricate rock anthems spanning a career of more than four decadesIn 1985 Derek William Dick, the Scottish singer known as Fish, was locked into an intense, vivid and kaleidoscopic LSD experience which provided him with the inspiration for a concept album Misplaced Childhood, which would go on to be hugely successful and spawn multiple hits. Forty years later, the closest thing to hallucinat
  
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• Joy Crookes review – an enthralling, intimate set from this rising London soul star

  22-02-2025 15:00
  
  Islington Assembly Hall, London
  The twentysomething singer-songwriter brings classic Motown rhythms with a touch of hip-hop to a resounding set of anti-anxiety anthemsJoy Crookes is only 26, but the south Londoner’s music already feels omnipresent. One song in particular, at least: Feet Don’t Fail Me Now seems to be absolutely everywhere. I hear it in cafes and bars, trendy boutiques and grimy off-licences and, when I forget to turn it off, the autoplay function on my streaming app o
  
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• The late Gwen McCrae brought emotion to dance music like no one else

  22-02-2025 14:27
  Spanning deep soul, disco and beyond, McCrae – who has died aged 81 – didn’t get the recognition she deserved for a discography charged with pain and wonderRockin’ Chair, 90% of Me Is You, All This Love That I’m Givin’, Keep the Fire Burning, Funky Sensation – Gwen McCrae, who has died after a long illness aged 81, sang all these soul-funk anthems and more. Songs that refreshed radio, songs that lit up discos and clubs, songs that saw her called “T
  
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• Stormzy denies he ‘compromised beliefs’ with McDonald’s partnership

  22-02-2025 00:48
  
  Rapper is a vocal supporter of Palestine but has received criticism over restaurant’s links to Israeli militaryStormzy has denied that he “compromised beliefs for commercial gain”, after his advertising partnership with McDonald’s was criticised over the company’s ties to Israel.In a new campaign, the rapper appears in filmed adverts and on billboards promoting the “Stormzy meal” featuring a selection of his favourite menu items. Continue reading...
  
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• Jerry Butler, soul hitmaker and Illinois politician, dies aged 85

  21-02-2025 19:06
  
  Singer and songwriter who had a longstanding partnership with Curtis Mayfield earned the nickname ‘Iceman’ for his cool demeanourJerry Butler, the US singer and songwriter who had a string of 1960s pop and soul hits before a long career in Illinois politics, has died aged 85.According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Butler died at home on Thursday. He had been living with Parkinson’s disease. Continue reading...
  
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• Working-class creatives don’t stand a chance in UK today, leading artists warn

  21-02-2025 18:00
  
  Exclusive: Analysis by the Guardian shows a third of major arts leaders were educated privatelyAnalysis: Who is ‘working class’ and why does it matter in the arts?Interviews: Nine working-class creatives on class in the arts – and how they made itArtists, directors and actors have raised the alarm about what they describe as a rigged system preventing working-class talent thriving in their industries after analysis showed almost a third of major arts leaders were educated priva
  
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