The chill of winter has passed. So while you wait for April showers to bring May flowers, immerse yourself in a bunch of new music from your favorite artists.

Blackpink, ‘Deadline’

The K-pop supergroup Blackpink released their last album four years ago. While they don’t have a full LP drop on the radar, you can still listen to some fresh music with the band’s new EP “Deadline.” The extended play, which heavily features English lyrics, is Blackpink’s first official release since 2022’s “Born Pink” album. It was released to largely positive reviews. Most notable is the EP’s lead single, “Jump,” a “punchy, hardstyle-inspired track” that places Blackpink “within the current wave of K-pop influenced by electronic dance music,” said Pitchfork. (out now)

Bruno Mars, ‘The Romantic’

Pop sensation Bruno Mars took more than a four-year break after his last album, but now he’s back with a new solo effort: Mars’ album “The Romantic” is the fourth LP to be released by the Hawaii native. The artist’s mid-2010s singles like “The Lazy Song” and “Just the Way You Are” remain tentpoles of the era, but “The Romantic” hasn’t received similarly universal acclaim. The LP is “so-so” and “very unadventurous and just very predictable,” said The Needle Drop, although others have praised it. (out now)

Gorillaz, ‘The Mountain’

If you are looking for something truly different, Gorillaz might be for you; unlike the other entries on this list, this is an entirely virtual band that just released its ninth studio album, “The Mountain.” The band typically appears in 2D media like comic books and art strips, but “The Mountain” marks another new direction for Gorillaz. It focuses on sounds of the Indian subcontinent and “gathers collaborators both living and departed for a characteristically audacious monument to grief, India and archival memory,” said Pitchfork. (out now)

Harry Styles, ‘Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally’

Harry Styles has been moving in one direction: up. The global pop superstar has had fans on their toes for his fourth studio album, “Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally,” which marks his first LP in four years. While Styles has been in the spotlight for years, he only started releasing solo albums since 2019, and his most recent outing is a “murky self-portrait that obscures as much as it reveals,” said The New York Times. The “surface, though, is usually where Styles’ music sparkles, and there’s plenty of gleam throughout this LP.” (out now)

BTS, ‘Arirang’

While Blackpink may have the K-pop girl group on lock, South Korean boy band BTS is its own cultural sensation. Now the band is releasing its milestone 10th studio album, “Arirang.” Fans have been eagerly awaiting the LP; BTS has not released new music in three years due to the band members’ mandatory military service. The album’s name “refers to the title of a beloved Korean folk song, often described as an unofficial national anthem and a core symbol of Korean culture and identity,” said Consequence. A trailer for a live reunion concert on Netflix has also been released. (March 20)

José González, ‘Against the Dying of the Light’

José González is known for blending a rich cultural background, and now the Swedish singer born to Argentinian parents is dropping his fifth studio album, “Against the Dying of the Light.” González doesn’t release solo music often, as his five LPs have landed during a 23-year period. But when he does put out new tunes, they typically receive critical acclaim; the upcoming album’s self-titled lead single, out now, is a “reflective meditation on the humanity of 2025, embracing who we are and what has shaped us, while turning our focus toward the challenges that lie ahead,” said KCRW. (March 27)

Raye, ‘This Music May Contain Hope’

British singer-songwriter Raye has released several EPs but only one full studio album — until now. Her second LP, “This Music May Contain Hope,” is on the horizon, and will feature a hefty 17 songs. Raye is known for imbuing her music with a variety of symbolism, and the album is “set in four different ‘seasons’ that will span the complexities of human emotion,” said Melodic magazine. For fans of album art, these ‘seasons’ will “also be featured on each side of the vinyl release.” The album’s lead single, “Where Is My Husband!,” is out now. (March 27)

Thundercat, ‘Distracted’

Thundercat started as a member of the heavy metal group Suicidal Tendencies before reinventing his music as a solo artist. His solo albums are typically a blend of funk, R&B and psychedelic, and his fifth LP, “Distracted,” is expected to continue this approach. The album features collaborations with artists like A$AP Rocky and Tame Impala, as well as a “previously unreleased collaboration with the late Mac Miller,” said Consequence. “Just know that the struggle is real and changes shape but just to keep pushing forward,” Thundercat said of the album. The LP’s lead single, “I Did This to Myself,” is out now. (April 3)

Zayn, ‘Konnakol’

As the second member of One Direction to appear on this list, Zayn is no stranger to superstardom. Like Harry Styles, Zayn has forged his own solo path and is preparing to release his fifth LP, “Konnakol.” The English singer is known for pulling from various musical sources, and the album’s title references the “vocal percussion technique used in South Indian Carnatic music,” a “deliberate nod to his South Asian heritage and a signal of the musical direction he's taking,” said Forbes. The album features “deep integration of South Asian musical elements” and the lead single, “Die for Me,” is out now. (April 17)

Foo Fighters, ‘Your Favorite Toy’

Rockers rejoice: The Foo Fighters are back with their first LP in three years, “Your Favorite Toy,” which will be the band’s 12th overall studio album. Fans of the Nirvana successor may notice a difference from prior work, as this is the Foo Fighters’ first album without drummer Ilan Rubin. While details on the album are slim, the LP’s self-titled second single, out now, is the “fuse to the powder keg of songs we wound up recording for this record. It feels new,” frontman Dave Grohl said in a statement, calling the song an “insidious earworm.” (April 24)

Last year was packed with thrilling gigs from the Oasis reunion to Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” tour. And it seems 2026 is shaping up to be just as exciting with a packed calendar of musical treats including Lily Allen’s first tour in seven years, following her fiery revenge album “West End Girl”. Here are some of our top picks.

My Chemical Romance

It’s “the news every former emo kid was waiting for”, said Danni Scott in Metro. My Chemical Romance are bringing their “Black Parade” anniversary tour to the UK; the band will be performing the 2006 album “front to back” to mark two decades since its release. Anticipation is already building as “fans eagerly await hearing that iconic note – you know the one – live”.

Anfield Liverpool, 30 June, then touring, mychemicalromance.com

A$AP Rocky

“Hot on the heels” of his new album, “Don’t Be Dumb”, A$AP Rocky will be setting out on a “huge” 42-date world tour, said Miranda Pell in the Manchester Evening News. The rapper will take to the stage at London’s O2 arena in August before heading to Glasgow and Manchester.

The O2 London, 30 August, then touring, asaprocky.com

Ariana Grande

The internet went into “meltdown” when Ariana Grande announced her new tour, with five dates scheduled in London this August, said Alice Hall in Grazia. It will be the Grammy-Award winning singer-songwriter’s first tour in seven years, since her 2018 album “Sweetener”. Since then, Grande – known for her impressive four-octave vocal range – has been busy on the big screen starring as Glinda in “Wicked”. This is not one to miss.

The O2 London, 15 August, then touring, arianagrande.com

Lily Allen

Lily Allen managed the comeback of the century with her “confessional” post-break-up album “West End Girl”, said Helen Brown in The Telegraph. It was released to rave reviews last year, delivering “dirty linen” as she dissected the “jaw-dropping breakdown of her marriage” to David Harbour. “Lyrically dark and dense” and “written in just 10 days”, it was one of the year’s best albums. It’s little wonder the first batch of tickets for the accompanying tour sold out in minutes.

Touring (including abroad) until 1 November, lilyallenmusic.com

Metallica

Metallica’s “M72” world tour will be “heavy music heaven”, said Ed Cunningham on Time Out. The most “interesting” shows are those in London where the band will play a “no repeat weekend” where fans can expect two completely different set lists and opening acts. It might be worth buying a few tickets…

Hampden Park, Glasgow, 25 June, then touring (including abroad) until 5 July, metallica.com

Florence + The Machine

Given the number of hits Florence + The Machine has had over the years, these shows will no doubt have fans “hollering to the rafters”, said Cunningham on Time Out. The band is touring with their latest album “Everybody Scream”, with stops in Edinburgh, Leeds and Reading.

Touring (including abroad) until 30 August, florenceandthemachine.net

Harry Styles

The “grand return” of Harry Styles after his three-year career hiatus is “finally here”, said Joanna Magill in Radio Times. He will be in London for a handful of dates in June and July, before heading on to Amsterdam and New York.

Touring (including abroad) until 13 December, hstyles.co.uk

Olivia Dean

British singer-songwriter Olivia Dean rose to “stratospheric levels after blowing up” with “Man I Need”, said Scott in Metro. You’ll need to snap up tickets fast as she’s “already filling out arenas” just a couple of years after scooping BBC Music Introducing Artist of the Year. “Giving pop a soulful spin, Olivia is one of the artists of the moment, so why wouldn’t you want to see her perform live?”

Touring (including abroad) until 18 July, oliviadeano.com

While millions will tune in to watch the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots battle it out in Super Bowl LX, just as many are excited for Bad Bunny’s highly anticipated halftime show. The Puerto Rican singer is the latest in a long line of superstar musicians to make their mark at the Big Game. From Prince to Katy Perry, Super Bowl halftime shows have a long history of memorable moments.

Historical firsts

While modern Super Bowls are thought of as platforms for major acts, this wasn’t always the case; the majority of early halftime shows were performed by college marching bands. The first major pop group to headline a Super Bowl was New Kids on the Block, who performed during the game in 1991. The boy band performed alongside a choir of kids singing songs like “It’s a Small World.” But while the show was historic, it was also not well-received, even by the band. “I don’t know how much pride I take in the actual performance,” frontman Donnie Wahlberg once told Playboy. “But I take pride in the fact that we were the first ones to do it.”

When pop stars began regularly performing at the Super Bowl, they were exclusively English-language singers — until 1999, when Gloria Estefan headlined the halftime show. Estefan had previously made an appearance at the 1992 Super Bowl show, and as “part of the ‘A Celebration of Soul, Salsa and Swing’ halftime show in Miami, Estefan performed her single ‘Oye,’ which blends Spanish and English lyrics,” said ESPN. Ahead of Bad Bunny’s performance, Estefan also had some advice for the Latino singer. “Enjoy every second because it really goes by so fast,” she said to E! News. “In those minutes, he’s gonna have the ability to impact the world.”

While the Super Bowl is a uniquely American phenomenon, another barrier was broken in 2000 when Phil Collins became the first non-U.S. citizen to headline the halftime show. The British singer, known for his work with the rock band Genesis as well as solo songs like “In the Air Tonight,” performed alongside Christina Aguilera and Enrique Iglesias. After this, the floodgates opened for a slew of British icons to perform at Super Bowls, including Paul McCartney, The Who and The Rolling Stones.

Record-breaking performances

Given the hype and cultural status of the Super Bowl, it should be no surprise that the halftime show is often one of the year’s most-watched events. Millions of people tune in annually, but one concert stands above the others: Kendrick Lamar’s 2025 performance is the most-watched Super Bowl halftime show in history. Lamar’s show was watched by an estimated 133.5 million people, according to Billboard. The rapper “came into the gig riding sky high” following a big Grammys weekend and “wowed viewers with intensely satisfying versions” of his songs, said The Mercury News, including his hit diss track “Not Like Us.”

And while The Weeknd’s 2021 performance didn’t include a diss track, it does carry another distinction: It’s the most expensive halftime show of all time. The total cost was reportedly a staggering $17 million. Performing at the Super Bowl is so desirable that the Canadian performer “used $7 million of his own money to fund his incredible production,” said the South China Morning Post. This is “on top of the estimated $10 million the NFL is believed to allow for a halftime show budget.” The high price shouldn’t be surprising; airing a 30-second commercial during the Super Bowl “costs about $8 million on average,” according to USA Today, and some companies are “paying $10 million or more.”

These shows are also known for incorporating many big-name artists into one act. This was never more apparent than during the 2022 halftime show, which featured the largest ensemble of performers at a Super Bowl. The show, which honored host city Los Angeles’ rap roots, was headlined by Mary J. Blige, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Eminem and Kendrick Lamar, with a surprise appearance by 50 Cent. The “spectacular, high-energy performance was a powerful celebration of hip hop and its evolution over the last three decades,” said Time, and also “marked the first time the halftime show lineup consisted entirely of hip hop headliners.”

Super Bowl superlatives

While Tom Brady is widely considered the football GOAT, there has been debate as to which halftime show can truly be called “the greatest.” However, many analysts consider the 2007 performance featuring Prince to be the best Super Bowl halftime show ever. There was a “great deal of anticipation for Prince’s performance,” said The Athletic, and the legendary singer delivered, as “no one before nor after has gotten close to him.” His rendition of his iconic song “Purple Rain,” which happened to occur during a rainstorm, created a “performance for the ages.”

Not all superlatives are positive; many shocking and unexpected moments have happened at halftime shows, too. The most jaw-dropping incident likely came during the 2004 show featuring Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake. During the pair’s performance, Timberlake accidentally ripped a piece of Jackson’s shirt, which “saw her right breast briefly exposed to 70,000 in-person spectators and more than 140 million TV viewers,” said The Guardian. The controversial moment “left Jackson, then 37, blacklisted from a significant portion of the music industry for years,” though she would later have a career resurgence.

And for as many halftime shows that have been lauded, there have also been some that have been questioned. The 2015 show, headlined by Katy Perry, is often considered the “campiest” in Super Bowl history. The show was filled with “Perry’s top songs, an entrance on top of a lion,” and costumes described as peak camp, said 303 Magazine. Given Perry’s history of concert performances, her Super Bowl outing “wasn’t too different than what we’ve seen from Perry previously.” But for many, it “seemed like they broadcast from one of Perry’s concerts instead of planning something new.”

Super Bowl shows have also had their fair share of daring, sometimes even death-defying moments. When it comes to stunts, many people think of Rihanna’s 2023 Super Bowl halftime show, when she entered the stadium from above on a platform suspended by cables. From there, the Barbadian singer carried out a 13-minute intense dance routine to rave reviews. But it was only when the show started that viewers realized Rihanna was also doing all of this while pregnant. Overall, the performance garnered critical acclaim, as Rihanna “graciously granted us a medley of her biggest hits,“ said Buzzfeed News.

What happened

Several artists broke new ground at Sunday’s 68th annual Grammy Awards, including Bad Bunny, whose “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” became the first all-Spanish-language record to win album of the year, and Kendrick Lamar, who broke Jay-Z’s record for most-awarded rapper by scooping five more prizes. “Golden,” from the Netflix hit “K-Pop Demon Hunters,” won best song written for visual media, becoming the first K-pop song to win a Grammy. Billie Eilish won song of the year with “Wildflowers” and British soul pop singer Olivia Dean was named best new artist.

Who said what

This was Bad Bunny’s second nomination for album of the year, and “the culture wars were seen as weighing in Bunny’s favor,” Billboard said. “Before I say thanks to God, I’m going to say ICE out,” the Puerto Rican artist said, in English, in his acceptance speech. “We’re not savage, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens. We are humans and we are Americans.”

“Expletives flew as ICE got cursed multiple times by winners,” The Associated Press said. The “frequent pushback” and anti-ICE buttons “marked a much stronger showing of support” than at last month’s Golden Globes, but “public backlash has grown since a Border Patrol officer shot and killed 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti and federal agents detained 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos.” The recent arrest of journalist Don Lemon, who attended the Grammys, “only added to the outcry.”

What next?

“K-Pop Demon Hunters” will also get a chance to make history at the next major awards show, the Academy Awards, on March 15. “Golden” is nominated for a best original song Oscar and the movie is up for best animated feature. Bad Bunny will also be the headline act at the Super Bowl halftime show this coming Sunday.

Bob Weir was the quiet linchpin of the Grateful Dead. Though he was uninterested in competing with the mythical presence of Jerry Garcia, saying fans’ deification had ultimately killed the frontman, Weir was a fan favorite: the good-looking one in the very short jean shorts. As a rhythm guitarist with precise timing and inventive chord voicing—in live shows he would play notes from a song’s chords in varying octaves or an unconventional order—he bridged Garcia’s long, noodling guitar solos with bassist Phil Lesh’s effervescent countermelodies. Several of Weir’s
compositions, like “Sugar Magnolia,” “Truckin’” and “Playing in the Band,” became standards, helping establish the Dead’s blend of rock, blues, folk, and country. And his constant playfulness onstage helped drive the band’s signature improvisations. We “state a theme and take it for a walk in the woods,” Weir said in 2010. “If I were playing a note-for-note set every night for all these years, I think I would have put a gun to my head.”

Robert Hall Weir was adopted as an infant and raised in the affluent town of Atherton, near San Francisco. His undiagnosed dyslexia “managed to get him kicked out of both preschool and the Cub Scouts,” said Rolling Stone. Instead of school, he devoted himself to piano and guitar, and at age 16 he wandered into a Palo Alto music store where Jerry Garcia was preparing to give banjo lessons. As soon as the two started jamming, they decided to start a jug band. By 1965, it had morphed into the Grateful Dead, the house band for author Ken Kesey’s “Acid Test” LSD parties.

The group became the center of a hippie culture dominated by drugs and the “flower power values of peace, love, and anti-Vietnam war protests,” said The Guardian. While they only had one hit single, “Touch of Grey” (1987), “their devoted live audience made them one of the most successful touring artists” ever. The Dead “proved unusually resistant
to time,” said the San Francisco Chronicle. Even after their 1970s heyday, a “self-sustaining world” of Deadheads continued selling weed and tie-dyes as they followed the group from city to city. The woman who would become Weir’s wife followed him, too: The two met when he was in his 30s and she was a 15-year-old who sneaked backstage. But he maintained they were platonic at first, and they didn’t marry until much later. It was only when he was “edging toward 50,” he said, that he realized he didn’t want to remain “a rock ’n’ roll tomcat.”

After three decades as “Pied Pipers of the hippie movement,” the Grateful Dead broke up when Garcia died in rehab in 1995, said The New York Times. Weir, though, kept touring for the rest of his life, even after getting cancer last year. He founded several other bands, some of them tribute acts like “Dead & Company,” and was a committed collaborator, playing with Willie Nelson, Joan Baez, the Allman Brothers, Sammy Hagar, and myriad other musicians. “I hope I’m remembered for bringing our culture and other cultures together,” Weir said in 2025. “I’m hoping that people of varying persuasions will find something they can agree on in the music that I’ve offered and find each other through it.”

Rosalía: Lux

The 33-year-old Catalan musician Rosalía was a phenomenon even before the release of “Lux”, said Julyssa Lopez in Rolling Stone. Her 2018 album “El Mal Querer”, which played with flamenco traditions, and 2022’s “Motomami”, which drew on everything from reggaeton to classical music, both won global acclaim. Her latest, however, has sent her stratospheric, earning ecstatic reviews and unlikely commercial success. “Lux” is a “transcendent” collection – inspired by the lives of female saints and sung in 14 languages – which is filled with both classical and pop orchestration and rawly emotional operatic singing. It’s a “gorgeous, gutting package that feels like a timeless work of art”.

“Lux” is a “masterpiece”, said Roisin O’Connor in The Independent. With aspects of flamenco, Romantic-era opera, baroque, electronic and indie, it features soprano vocals, massed choirs, fado singer Carminho, Patti Smith, Björk and the LSO. “Rosalía is doing something different, and she’s doing it really, really well.”

Wolf Alice: The Clearing

“The Clearing“ is the “kind of album that could only be written after the dust has settled on your 20s, and the post-30 clarity has set in”, said Rhian Daly on NME. It’s a “sublime” collection, on which the London alt-rockers swap the harder side of their oeuvre for more layered, nuanced, slower-tempo songs. Just as we all get wiser with every year, Wolf Alice “keep on getting better with every record, and here, they raise the bar on themselves once again”.

Ginastera: String Quartets (Kiera Duffy/Miró Quartet)

The 20th-century Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastera wrote three “extraordinary” string quartets, said Andrew Farach-Colton in Gramophone. The first abounds with folk-like melodies; the second is more dissonant and febrile; the third adds soprano settings of Spanish poetry. With polished yet heartfelt playing from the Miró Quartet, and Kiera Duffy’s wonderfully expressive singing, this is a “stunning achievement”.

Dijon: Baby

The American artist Dijon Duenas’ second album is “nothing short of a triumph”, said Jeff Ihaza in Rolling Stone. Inspired by his love for his partner and child, “Baby” combines traditional R&B with thrilling sonic experimentation. “Throughout the album, fragments of sounds – fiery ad-libs, golden-age hip-hop samples, whizzing, inverted vocal riffs – all jut out like beams of light piercing through the pitch black of night.”

Lily Allen: West End Girl

This “brutal, tell-all masterpiece” is Lily Allen’s best work since her era-defining albums of the 2000s, said Hannah Ewens in The Independent. Melding lounge, doowop, soul, folk, dancehall and western twang, “West End Girl” is “not just confessional pop, it’s obliterative; an emotional postmortem carried out in public, a death-by-a-million-cuts account of a thoroughly modern marriage breakdown”.

Suede: Antidepressants

The list of “truly worthwhile band reunions” is short – and topped by Suede, said Ed Power in The i Paper. Since they reformed in 2010, the arty, angsty Britpoppers have “forged ahead with a series of thrilling and challenging records”, of which “Antidepressants” is the best yet. It’s a “snarling tour de force” about the ravages of time: the defining mood is one of glorious, “incandescent fury”.

Hayley Williams: Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party

Paramore’s Hayley Williams is one of our time’s most “creative and fearless artists”, said Rachel Roberts in Kerrang!, and this album – an introspective yet propulsive collection that mixes alt-rock and synth pop – has been widely hailed as her best yet. The wit and honesty of Williams’ lyric writing is “the shining star of this work”; it’s a “musical purge of trauma patterns, depression, love, loss and, of course, ego”.

Bad Bunny: DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS

Puerto Rico’s Bad Bunny is the king of Latin rap and the world’s biggest artist of 2025 on Spotify, with almost 20 billion streams. His smash-hit sixth album (I Should Have Taken More Photos) is his most “determined and resonant yet”, said Thania Garcia in Variety. Lyrically, the focus is anti-colonialism and Puerto Rican pride. Musically, the album is ambitious but cohesive, drawing on genres including salsa, reggaeton, dembow and plena.

Ryan Davis & the Roadhouse Band: New Threats from the Soul

For this second solo album, Ryan Davis has produced a “beautiful and wildly smart” set of tracks “about making do in an upside-down world”, said Amanda Petrusich in The New Yorker. Full of “yearning, dark jokes and wordy disquisitions on desire”, this is storytelling music in the vein of MJ Lenderman or the late David Berman. Listening to these witty, tender songs, it’s “hard to know whether to chuckle or to clutch your heart”.

The Last Dinner Party: From the Pyre

The Last Dinner Party’s debut, “Prelude to Ecstasy”, “was a game-changer of a record, one that combined baroque pop with bigger rock sensibilities”, said Nick Reilly in Rolling Stone UK. The London band’s return is just as good, packed with glamrock belters and Queen-style drama – and “should cement their place in the biggest of leagues”. Their sound here is more defined, the mood darker, but they’ve lost none of their flamboyance and humour.

Olivia Dean: The Art of Loving

If you worry that pop music is “being travestied by streaming and TikTok into hooky two-minute jingles without intros or bridges”, then take heart from the vast commercial success of Olivia Dean, said Ludovic Hunter-Tilney in the Financial Times. The 26-year-old neo-soul singer from London is a “traditionalist whose songs do the things that proper songs should, like tell stories and employ key changes”. This gorgeous album is a real step up; the sound of a major artist finding her voice.

Beethoven for Three

In these sublime performances of Beethoven’s 1st Symphony in a slimmed-down arrangement – plus three wonderful piano trios – the “three great musicians playing” are clearly having a blast, said Ivan Hewett in The Daily Telegraph. “You feel pianist Emanuel Ax’s sly wit, violinist Leonidas Kavakos’ ringing passion, and cellist Yo-Yo Ma’s yearning expressivity. They are also wonderfully responsive to each other, and the music. The result is pure Beethoven, and pure bliss.”

CMAT: Euro-Country

This was the year of the “CMAT summer”, said Victoria Segal in The Times; and the sound of this stunning album from the Irish singer was the “unmistakable splintering crash of a proper momentous breakthrough”. Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson combines lyrics about social anxiety and her own aesthetic sensibilities with earworm pop melodies, to glittering effect. The title track, about the impact of the 2008 crash, is a song so powerful it will send you “flying across the room”.

Dave: The Boy Who Played the Harp

David Omoregie – the 27-year-old London rapper Dave – is a fantastically smart, sharp lyricist, and his latest album is a flat-out triumph, said Alexis Petridis in The Guardian. It also made the arena-filling star the first British rap artist to have three albums go straight to No. 1. “Harp” is light on self-aggrandising swagger and heavy on existential crisis and religious motifs. It is “fascinating, rather than self-indulgent”, and offers a vast range of “subtle pleasures”, from skittering beats and helium-vocal samples to “quietly eerie” harmonies.

It’s an “exceptional” album, agreed Ludovic Hunter-Tilney in the FT. There’s none of the levity of “Sprinter”, Dave’s “laddish” smash-hit single with Central Cee from 2023, or of 2018’s “Funky Friday”. Instead, there are sparse arrangements and gentle piano motifs. James Blake adds “tenderly sung hooks” to a couple of tracks; other star guests include Kano (as a kind of rap father figure) and singer Nicole Blakk. Full of “vivid lyricism, powerful storytelling and involving music”, this is a “five-star offering from the pinnacle of UK rap”.

The new year is mere weeks away, and while the weather outside may be frightful, there is plenty of new music that isn’t. Check out some fresh albums from your favorite artists this winter.

Rosalía, ‘Lux’ 

Spanish singer Rosalía has made a name for herself by performing music in a variety of genres from pop to folk. Now the popular artist is back with her fourth studio album, “Lux,” marking her second LP in three years following the success of 2022’s highly acclaimed “Motomami.” The album features guest appearances from a number of notable artists including famed Icelandic singer Bjork. The new album is a “heartfelt offering of avant-garde classical pop that roars through genre, romance and religion,” said Pitchfork in its review. (out now)

Orville Peck, ‘Appaloosa’ 

Orville Peck is known for often wearing a mask in public, but his fans aren’t hiding their excitement about his new EP, “Appaloosa,” which comes a year after Peck released his third studio album, “Stampede.” The country rock singer, whose deep voice and booming vocals put him on the map, wants people to hear the “other side of country that is a more traditional, referenced type of country that’s more about the songwriting,” Peck told Billboard, saying it is “more open culturally to anyone who wants to express themselves in that.” (out now)

Jessie J, ‘Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time’

One of the most prominent English pop singers of the last 15 years, Jessie J is coming out of a health-related hiatus to release her sixth studio album, “Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time.” The album, Jessie J’s first since a Christmas LP released in 2018, was made “over five years as she worked through both the joy and pain in her life,” said Riff magazine. She “brought her sound back to basics, away from the pomp of past hits like ‘Bang Bang,’ reuniting with her original management team and opting to self-release her music.” (out now)

Jeremy Allen White, ‘Deliver Me From Nowhere (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)’

Critics were abuzz about Jeremy Allen White’s performance as the legendary Bruce Springsteen in 20th Century Studios’ “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere.” The film depicts Springsteen’s struggles to pen his 1982 album “Nebraska” and features original covers from White. Now, fans of the film can grab the official soundtrack as an LP, which contains “12 new recordings by Jeremy Allen White and the cast of the critically acclaimed film,” said the official Bruce Springsteen website. This includes iconic Springsteen songs such as “Born in the USA,” “Atlantic City” and “Reason to Believe.” (out now)

Sam Fender, ‘People Watching (Deluxe Edition)’

Sam Fender’s third studio album, “People Watching,” was originally released in February 2025, but there is good news for fans: The English musician is releasing an updated version of the LP that includes eight new tracks. The new songs will include collaborations with another rising star, singer Olivia Dean, as well as a new single, “Talk to You,” which will feature the icon Elton John. These songs “weren’t included in the lineup of the first record but deserved to be out there,” Fender said on Instagram. (out now)

Pink Floyd, ‘Wish You Were Here 50’

Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” is often considered one of the greatest albums of all time, and it remains popular half a century after its release. Now, fans of the legendary group can revisit the LP with “Wish You Were Here 50,” which “gives fans an exciting new perspective into one of Pink Floyd’s most iconic and best-loved records,” said the band’s website. The 50th anniversary album “features the original album plus two discs of studio rarities, including previously unreleased alternate versions and demos presenting Pink Floyd’s eighth studio album in a brand-new way.” (out now)

Zach Bryan, ‘With Heaven on Top’

Country star Zach Bryan released a live album one year ago, and now he is following that up by dropping a new EP, “With Heaven on Top.” The offering is “expected to include previously hinted tracks like ‘In Dreams’ and ‘Plastic Cigarette,’” said Country Central. It also seems to mark a big moment in the singer’s career, as Bryan has “previously billed this project as his ‘final major label album.’” However, he has since renewed his most recent contract, meaning it “would seem that he still has a few more records left in him.” The project’s eponymous single is out now. (Jan. 9)

Geologist, ‘Can I Get a Pack of Camel Lights?’

Despite his name, Geologist doesn’t play rock music, but rather has become known as a member of the experimental pop group Animal Collective. Now, Geologist, whose real name is Brian Weitz, is getting ready to drop “Can I Get a Pack of Camel Lights?,” which is set to be his first solo LP. The studio album is the “first step into a rippling songscape in which his hurdy-gurdy gives and takes multiple forms, an epic electro-acoustic textile of many colors,” said the band’s website. A single from the album, “Tonic,” is out now. (Jan. 30)

Mandy, Indiana, ‘Urgh’

Head to the Hoosier State with Mandy, Indiana’s upcoming second studio album, “Urgh.” The English-French rock band, whose name is a play on the city of Gary, Indiana, is releasing this album three years after their debut LP, “I’ve Seen a Way,” burst onto the scene with positive reviews. The album will also feature a “primal, screaming call for retribution” from vocalist Valentine Caulfield about a prior sexual assault, part of an effort to “channel my anger into something productive,” Caulfield said in a statement. A single from the album, “Magazine,” is out now. (Feb. 6)

Charli XCX, ‘Wuthering Heights’

Charli XCX helped everyone have a Brat summer with her 2024 album, and now the pop superstar is getting ready to hit the music world again with her LP “Wuthering Heights.” The album is the official soundtrack for the upcoming film of the same name starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi. The LP comes as Charli XCX has “been in a state of overwhelming creativity of late, so much so that I feel like I’m running on the spot in a dream,” the singer wrote on Substack. A single from the album, “Chains of Love,” is out now. (Feb. 13)

The year is about to wrap up, but that doesn’t mean you still can’t enjoy some live music as 2025 comes to an end. There are still plenty of concert tours to feast your eyes and ears on this winter.

Bad Bunny

Bad Bunny is arguably the biggest star in the world right now, so it should come as no surprise that people are clamoring for tickets to his ongoing concert tour, “Debí Tirar Más Fotos.” The tour, based on the singer’s album of the same name released to critical acclaim earlier this year, is being held at some major venues, including stadiums across the Americas and Europe. But if you can’t get in to see this tour, don’t fret: You’ll be able to catch Bad Bunny when he headlines the halftime show at next year’s Super Bowl. (through July 2026)

Blackpink

If you’re looking for more than one artist to see, how about four? The quartet Blackpink has helped to make K-pop a worldwide phenomenon, rising from the group’s roots in Seoul to attract a fanbase of millions. Their popularity is evident as part of their ongoing “Deadline” world tour, which has been afoot since this summer and is being pushed as the group’s first all-stadium tour. This also marks the band’s second global tour in as many years and represents a “high-voltage homecoming,” said Rolling Stone. (through January 2026)

Calvin Harris

Since hopping onto the electronic dance music scene with his debut album in 2007, Calvin Harris has made a huge name for himself in the DJ space. The Scottish artist tours fairly regularly, and his latest venture will see him crisscross the globe with shows in the Middle East, Asia, Europe and the U.S. He has also been adding tour dates to his schedule, and his tour comes on the heels of his 2024 album “96 Months,” which “encapsulates the essence of his work over the past eight years,” said edm.com. (through August 2026)

Chris Stapleton

Singer Chris Stapleton is staying close to his roots for his upcoming tour, remaining in the United States to showcase some of his signature country tunes. This comes on the heels of Stapleton’s massive eight-year “All-American Road Show” tour that officially concluded in October 2025 — but the Kentucky native won’t put his microphone down for long, with shows set to resume this winter. Notably, his concerts feature “no flash or gimmicks, nothing pre-recorded. It's live music — in its purest form,” said CBS News. (through July 2026)

Doja Cat

Doja Cat is one of the most well-known artists blending pop and rap music, and she’s no stranger to globetrotting tours, having just come off her last concert series in 2024. Now she has embarked on her next outing, the “Tour Ma Vie” world tour, which will see her performing shows on five continents. The tour is in support of her album “Vie.” But it got off to a rocky start when fans “were quick to point out the show lacked visuals, structure and outfits,” said BBC News, with the artist replying, “I make music for people who enjoy music.” (through December 2026)

Ed Sheeran

With over 200 million records sold globally, Ed Sheeran is one of the world’s best-selling singer-songwriters, and now he’s back on the global stage with his sixth concert tour, “Loop.” Like most of Sheeran’s world tours, this one is in support of a new album release — his eighth LP, “Play.” The tour will run, with some breaks, through nearly all of 2026 and is being performed with an “understanding that it’s not about me, it’s about the community and about the couples that are coming to the gig,” Sheeran said to iHeart Radio. (through November 2026)

Lady Gaga

If you didn’t catch Lady Gaga’s latest concert tour when it premiered this summer, don’t worry. The pop star will be hitting stages on her “Mayhem Ball” tour well into the coming year. The tour, in support of her sixth LP, “Mayhem,” was announced after a slew of praise for the album; it was originally only going to be a limited series of concerts. For Lady Gaga, the show is a “celebration of everything that’s her: weird love, blood-gushing broken heart, newfound tattoo amour and sublime nightmarish dreams,” said Deadline. (through April 2026)

Laufey

Since her appearance a decade ago on a pair of talent shows, Icelandic singer Laufey has seen a stratospheric rise, and if you want to hear her unique blend of pop and jazz live, you’re in luck: Laufey is embarking on her “A Matter of Time” tour in support of her album of the same name. The tour will mark her first all-arena endeavor and featured opener Suki Waterhouse during the now-completed North American leg. Laufey’s music — and the tour — represents a “masterclass in sentimental whimsy,” said The Harvard Crimson. (through April 2026)

OneRepublic

If you’re looking to get away this winter, you can do it with OneRepublic, whose ongoing “Escape To” tour currently has the rock band appearing in various European venues. Since bursting onto the scene with early-to-mid-2000s hits like “Apologize,” “Counting Stars” and “Good Life,” OneRepublic has made concert tours a staple of their band and collaborated with groups like Maroon 5, U2 and the Zac Brown Band. Their latest tour, the group’s third in as many years, is largely in support of their 2024 studio album, “Artificial Paradise.” (through July 2026)

Pitbull

Pitbull certainly lives up to his “Mr. Worldwide” nickname, as the Miami-born rapper and singer has embarked on an astonishing five concert tours in four years. But he’s not done yet: Pitbull is currently performing shows in the United States before heading to the Middle East and Europe as part of his “I’m Back” tour. He will be performing at iconic venues including the Hard Rock Live in Atlantic City and the Stagecoach Music Festival in Indio, California, once he returns to the States. He will also be collaborating with rapper Lil Jon for the tour’s European leg. (through July 2026)

Playing calming instrumental music during surgery can help patients recover more quickly, according to a new study.

“Music seemed to quieten the internal storm”, according to researchers who tested 56 people, said the BBC, and the results “could reshape how hospitals think about surgical wellbeing”.

Lower stress

Experts at the Lok Nayak Hospital and Maulana Azad Medical College in India studied patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy surgery, the standard keyhole operation to remove the gallbladder.

Patients undergoing this procedure are generally given the anaesthetic propofol, which brings on a loss of consciousness within seconds and produces a swifter and more clear-headed awakening.

All 56 patients were given the same anaesthetic regimen and all wore noise-cancelling headphones, but only one group listened to music. The patients who listened to music required substantially less propofol – on average, 6.7mg per kg of body weight per hour compared with 7.86mg for the control group.

There were further positive outcomes for the music-listening group. They also required fewer additional doses of fentanyl, the opioid painkiller used to control spikes in blood pressure or heart rate during surgery.

“Crucially, the physiological stress response to surgery”, which is measured through serum cortisol, the level of the stress hormone cortisol in the blood, was “markedly lower” in patients listening to music, said The Independent.

Humming truth

Using music therapy during medical treatment is “not new”, said the website – it’s long been used to reduce stress, anxiety and pain before and after various procedures, including in cancer care, mental health, palliative care, physiotherapy, and post-operative recovery.

Medics aim for “early discharge after surgery”, Dr Farah Husain, senior specialist in anaesthesia and certified music therapist for the Indian study, told the BBC. “Patients need to wake up clear-headed, alert and oriented, and ideally pain-free,” and music could soon be used for this end in hospitals around the world.

The research team is preparing a further study which will build on the earlier findings, but “one truth is already humming through the data”, said the broadcaster: “even when the body is still and the mind asleep, it appears a few gentle notes can help the healing begin”.

The song “Walk My Walk” by country group Breaking Rust recently reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Digital Song Sales chart. However, the raspy cowboy singing the song is nothing but a series of code. Breaking Rust is a product of artificial intelligence, and “Walk the Walk” is now the first AI-generated song to top this particular chart in U.S. music history. The song’s success raises questions about the effect of AI slop on art and how its use will affect creatives everywhere.

Slop of the charts

AI music is “no longer a fantasy or niche curiosity,” said Billboard. It is “already beginning to have an impact” on music charts. Breaking Rust has amassed more than two million listeners on Spotify, with multiple songs that have been streamed over one million times. The platform lists someone named Aubierre Rivaldo Taylor as the composer and lyricist of the group, though that name “appears connected only to Breaking Rust and a separate AI music project called Defbeatsai,” said the San Francisco Chronicle. Many question whether Taylor is a real person at all.

Even on the same chart, another AI-generated musician, Cain Walker, holds the third, ninth and eleventh spots. Over the summer, a number of songs by the indie band Velvet Sundown, another AI-generated group, surpassed one million streams on Spotify. As technology is advancing, much of the AI slop is “nearly indistinguishable from the real thing,” said Whiskey Riff. This “poses a risk to actual artists, songwriters and fans who value real art.” The problem is likely to get worse. The streaming platform Deezer receives over 50,000 fully AI-generated tracks every day, according to a report by the company.

High volume

Currently, “at least six AI or AI-assisted artists have debuted on various Billboard rankings,” said Billboard. That figure could also be higher, as it has become “increasingly difficult to tell who or what is powered by AI — and to what extent.” A large majority of people would want AI-generated music and artists to be labeled as such, per the Deezer report. However, AI music has not found success just because of people’s inability to distinguish it. There is a “set of tools and platforms out there that enable AI music to spread easily,” said The Guardian. There are also “sub-communities of users eager to share tips to game the system.”

While “Walk my Walk” topped the Country Digital Song Sales chart, the song is “currently nowhere to be found on updated daily streaming country charts on Spotify or Apple Music,” said Time. This is because “very few people actually buy digital songs anymore,” and it only “takes a few thousand purchases” to hit number one. But that doesn't mean AI music won’t grow in popularity, especially with the sheer volume of output.

The real harm being done is to artists creating music the old-fashioned way. AI-made music is “creating more noise and integrating tracks to listeners,” said Josh Antonuccio, the director of Ohio University’s School of Media Arts and Studies, to Newsweek. “The only thing that will continue to distinguish human artists is those that have remarkable music, a compelling perspective and a story that draws fans to them.”

“Lux” by Rosalía

★★★★

Rosalía’s first album in three years “sounds like absolutely nothing else in music right now,” said Julyssa Lopez in Rolling Stone. Already, the 33-year-old Spanish singer, songwriter, and producer had established herself as “pop’s most provocative chaos agent,” proving with 2018’s El Mal Querer and 2022’s Motomami how much pop and reggaeton could be stretched and expanded by an adventurous conservatory-trained flamenco vocalist. Even so, Lux is the two-time Grammy winner’s “most astonishing offer yet,” a “gorgeous, gutting” record that “feels like a timeless work of art” and finds Rosalía singing in 14 languages, tying together opera references, classical flourishes, and the lives of numerous Catholic saints. The album is “not a dopamine machine like Motomami,” said Gio Santiago in Pitchfork. “But it rewards listeners who ache for more from pop artists: more feeling, more risk.” For inspiration, Rosalía studied feminist theory and historical accounts of female saints, then constructed a personal creed that imagines a more equal human relationship with the almighty. “When God descends, I ascend, and we’ll meet halfway,” she sings on “Magnolia.”

“Lux demands the listener submit themselves to its author,” said Alexis Petridis in The Guardian. It sounds “closer to classical music” than anything else riding in the upper echelons of the pop album charts, and it includes guest appearances from both the London Symphony Orchestra and Björk, an apparent inspiration. Despite the record’s complexity, “you don’t need to know what’s going on” to find striking moments among its “uniformly beautiful” songs, especially because Rosalía’s vocal performances are “spectacular firework displays of talent.” Albums this intense require resetting expectations, said Kelefa Sanneh in The New Yorker. “Lux wants to make us stop whatever we’re doing and listen.” There are moments, as in “Yugular,” when the music is “easier to admire than to enjoy.” But if Lux is less broadly appealing than albums that ask less, “it’s also much harder to forget.”

“Sad and Beautiful World” by Mavis Staples

★★★

“Even if we don’t always deserve Mavis Staples, we need her,” said Andrew Gulden in Americana Highways. As has been true for more than seven decades, the 86-year-old gospel, soul, and rock icon is singing with hope on her latest album, but she’s “not sugarcoating a damn thing about the backward mess we somehow find ourselves in.” The opening track, Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan’s “Chicago,” finds Staples’ voice “grittier than it’s ever been, but still just as beautiful.” Backed by guitarists Derek Trucks and Buddy Guy, she transforms the song into her own family’s story of migrating from the South to the Windy City. Kevin Morby’s “Beautiful Strangers” catalogs tragic gun violence and police brutality, but the track here also extends the album’s “beyond stellar” guest list by way of MJ Lenderman’s subtle guitar riffs. “Staples has always used her faith as a light,” said David Hutcheon in Mojo. Whether singing a new song, “Human Mind,” written for her by Hozier and Allison Russell, or revisiting Curtis Mayfield’s “We Got to Have Peace,” she “reaches not for retribution but for the hope that we will be able to start anew tomorrow.”

Music is blending into an algorithm-generated playlist, cinema is dominated by blockbuster movies from decades-old franchises, and the rest of the cultural scene is as flat and bland as a pancake.

That's according to a new book, the “lucid and entertaining – yet despairing” “Blank Space”, by W. David Marx. In it, he argues that 21st-century culture has become an “enthusiastic embrace of selling out”, said The Minnesota Star Tribune. But has he missed the point?

‘Slurry of stagnation’

“Omnivorism” is “one of the primary culprits” that Marx identifies. When “country, R&B, hip-hop and classic rock become interchangeable bits to sample, rather than distinct musical styles”, then “nothing stands out”. He thinks “the understandable desire to cross musical boundaries in once-unthinkable ways has turned into a slurry of stagnation”.

Marx’s “key point about the bland sameness” of today’s art “will resonate with anybody who has a hard time remembering when a new song made them perk up, pay attention and realise they have never heard anything like that before”.

This century “looks likely to go down in history as the least innovative, least transformative, least pioneering” one for culture since “the invention of the printing press”, said The New York Times Magazine in 2023. “Shockingly few works of art in any medium” have been “created that are unassimilable to the cultural and critical standards that audiences accepted in 1999”.

Misguided and oversimplified

Yes, it feels like there’s a “confounding glut of art”, but “little of the original, startling kind that matters”, said The Economist. Instead there’s “music without instruments and lyrics without meaning”, plus “endless reboots, sequels and superheroes in the cinema”.

But Marx’s “sweeping book oversimplifies a dizzyingly messy picture”, because some of his criticisms “could have been made in the past, and were”. So even if today’s “means of self-publicity are new”, the “attention-seeking grifters are not” and “there has always been more dross than gold”.

Marx’s argument is a “dated, misguided understanding of how history works”, said Art in America. It is “rooted in a 19th-century fallacy called positivism: the belief that history moves in a clean, linear progression of successive innovations”.

But “if history is any indicator”, those “still insisting culture is dead” will “go down” as “conservative curmudgeons very much on the wrong side of history”. You might “think writers so obsessed with the past would have learned as much”.

The Spanish prime minister and a Catalan bishop are both fans of avant-garde singer Rosalía’s new album “Lux”, “perhaps surprisingly for an artist who sings an ode to the Berlin techno club Berghain”, said The Times.

Featuring an image of the Catalan singer adorned with a white nun’s veil and a rosary, the album exudes “religiosity”, despite its sometimes explicit lyrics. It is also part of a wider trend across Spain: a “growing return to the Catholic faith”.

What’s more, the new release “has already made Spotify history”, said Rolling Stone. With more than 42 million streams in just one day, “Lux” broke the platform’s record for a female Spanish-language artist. The magazine’s review said the album “sounds like absolutely nothing else in music right now”.

‘Fusion of faith, flamenco, and rock opera’

Rosalía fans think she is “somewhat of a saint, worthy of candlelit ‘altars’”, said The Times, and “Lux” has quickly become a smash hit. A “fusion of faith, flamenco, and rock opera”, with lyrics from 14 languages, it has “cemented Rosalía’s place among innovators in contemporary pop music”. The album includes collaborations with the likes Björk, Yves Tumor and Escolanía de Montserrat – a choir “regarded as the region’s beacon of Catholic faith”.

Ahead of the album’s release, Rosalía put on a “show of promotional power”, said El País. “In her handling of fan anticipation and the industry’s promotional wheel”, she bears some artistic resemblance to Madonna, another star who “came of age musically and produced her first masterpiece when she abandoned ‘the material world’ and embraced spirituality”.

“Lux” “seems to be making everything related to nuns trendy… even the wimple”. Rosalía “is neither the first nor the only celebrity to seek answers to the modern world within the walls of the convent”. But the album does coincide with many other signs that nuns are “making a comeback”.

Spain ‘is having a nun moment’

In pop culture, nuns are typically relegated to “the sadistic school teacher” or an “evil spirit”. But more recently “Instagram has been filled with accounts of young (and not so young) religious women” from all sorts of religious backgrounds who are “using social media to vindicate the role of nuns in modern life”.

Spain is “having a nun moment”, said The Times, and Rosalía’s “aesthetic leap from motorbikes to mysticism” has only amplified the nunmania (or monjamania). A celebrated film about modern life in the convent and a “cult podcast devoted to 16th-century nuns” gaining popularity at the same time prove the point.

Sociologists have also identified a “parallel revival of the Catholic faith” among those under 35. Though the number of those attending “regular Sunday worship” has stayed relatively low, young people are participating more and more in “faith-based festivals and retreats”.

The craze may just be a “seasonal spike”, but for now Spain – “long caught between its Catholic heritage and a secular present” – seems to be “enthralled” by all things nun.

Can the Maldives quit smoking? Are British rappers the world’s best? And can whales lead us to immortality?

Olly Mann and The Week delve behind the headlines and debate what really matters from the past seven days.

A podcast for curious, open-minded people, The Week Unwrapped delivers fresh perspectives on politics, culture, technology and business. It makes for a lively, enlightening discussion, ranging from the serious to the offbeat. Previous topics have included whether solar engineering could refreeze the Arctic, why funerals are going out of fashion, and what kind of art you can use to pay your tax bill.

You can subscribe to The Week Unwrapped wherever you get your podcasts:

• Spotify
• Apple Podcasts
• Global Player

Peter Doig is “probably the single most influential painter in the world today”, said Mark Hudson in The Independent. Born in Scotland in 1959, but resident for many years in Trinidad, he is known for blending “different styles of painting and diverse forms of imagery – from Old Master paintings and random found photographs to horror movies”. His approach to painting has been likened to a DJ mixing other people’s records to create something new. So it’s hardly surprising to learn that Doig is “obsessed with music”.

This show sees him bring his “twin passions” together, scattering a representative selection of his paintings through the rooms of the Serpentine Gallery, soundtracked by programmed highlights from the artist’s enormous record collection. Each day of the exhibition’s run, the choice of music will be different, meaning that “no two experiences of the show will be the same”. The result is an “eccentric and entrancing experience”.

The show feels “oddly like a house party where you don’t mind being sober”, said Martin Robinson in The London Standard. There’s an “immediate intimacy” to it, with “easy chairs” scattered throughout, and tables provided for visitors to sit and chat: it’s about “the communal stimulus created when art and music mix”.

The musical set-up itself is a sight to behold, said Jonathan Jones in The Guardian. Doig’s records – from Aretha Franklin to Kraftwerk – are played through “immense” cinema speakers, designed in the 1920s and 1930s. These objects are “sculptures in themselves, with gaping mouths of wood and metal that once boomed behind the screens of British picture houses”. They find a mirror in Doig’s painting “Maracas”, in which a vast sound system towers over a jungle scene, a tiny figure at its edge revealing its “monstrous scale”. Doig’s “eerie” paintings repeatedly evoke “misty musical dreams”: one sees an old musician plucking at a guitar; another is “a more than three-metre-wide vision of a lakeside party venue at night”, filled with “people and lights, clubhouses and umbrellas”.

It’s more of an installation than a painting exhibition, said Waldemar Januszczak in The Sunday Times. Indeed, amid the “atmospheric feng shui” of the gallery set-up, Doig’s canvases can initially feel “incidental”. Yet eventually, they work their magic on you. Doig’s magpie approach injects old-fashioned artistic traditions with his interest in Black culture. This is particularly evident in a suite of paintings that features lions – a ubiquitous symbol in Rastafarianism – stalking past prisons in Venice and in Port of Spain. Without explicitly mentioning slavery and captivity, Doig’s paintings evoke “historical darkness”. Despite these themes, the show is “a joy to wander through”, combining music and art to create “a transportive gallery moment that feels like a Caribbean journey”.

Serpentine South Gallery, London SW7. Until 8 February

Lily Allen has always been known for her candour but the “radical level of sharing” in her latest album “West End Girl” makes you feel as if you are “eavesdropping on a private conversation”, said Louis Staples in Harper’s Bazaar. Through her raw lyrics, she delivers something so unfiltered that it sets a “new benchmark for what it means to be vulnerable”.

Allen leaves no room for ambiguity in this retelling of how her relationship with ex-husband David Harbour unravelled. She tackles the “taboo” topic of open relationships in “searing detail”, breaking down their “progressive facade” and revealing how hers left her feeling like a “desexualised, disempowered wife”. Despite the “very specific story” she tells, the album is still “littered with relatable moments”. “West End Girl” demonstrates that “vulnerability has become pop’s most valuable currency”.

“It’s not just what she says from moment to moment but how she says it that keeps you riveted,” said Chris Willman in Variety. The album plays out like a “suspense movie” despite the end of the story being no surprise. Allen is a “master storyteller” and the jaw-dropping details keep you “on the edge” of your seat. Most divorce albums will give listeners “occasional time-outs from the trauma” but there are no “commercial breaks” here. Allen suggested in an interview that there is a “little fiction mixed in” but the “vividly delineated” lyrics make you question how it could be anything but the truth.

Allen has “shape-shifted through genres”, said Maura Johnston in Rolling Stone, but her strength has always been her voice. Her distinct “airy soprano” is what makes her so unique. When you combine her singing with the album’s “fluffy synth-pop” sound, it adds a sort of “gauziness that makes its lyrical swipes land more sharply”.

It’s easy to get “wrapped up” in the lyrics during the first listen but the music’s “stylistic pastiche” is also worth paying attention to, said Willman in Variety. From “finger-picking guitar and orchestra” to “wildly up-tempo” beats, the sound is very dynamic. Despite its largely “avenging spirit”, “West End Girl” is a “tremendously touching” album.

In 1972, “The Harder They Come” brought reggae to the world and catapulted Jimmy Cliff – who starred in the film and wrote and performed several of the songs on its soundtrack – to international fame, said Sonny Waheed on What’s on Stage. This glorious adaptation, by Suzan-Lori Parks, honours that cinematic landmark while standing in its own right as a “vibrant, moving and ultimately triumphant piece of musical theatre”.

Set in Jamaica, it tells the story of singer-songwriter Ivan, a “country boy” who arrives in Kingston with the dream of making it as a recording artist, only to encounter corruption and slide into a life of crime. But where the film was a gritty drama, featuring scenes of intense violence, Parks has created for the stage something “altogether more uplifting”. Matthew Xia’s staging “crackles with visceral energy”, while the choreography, by Shelley Maxwell, “gives everything a natural rhythm that permeates” the evening “like a collective heartbeat”.

It’s hard to go far wrong when you are drawing on such uplifting reggae classics as “You Can Get it if You Really Want”, “Israelites”, and “I Can See Clearly Now”, said Anya Ryan in Time Out. But credit to the cast for making sure that the score “roars, cracks and prickles”. As Ivan, Natey Jones is superb, and matching him in both singing and acting chops is Madeline Charlemagne as the devout Elsa, said Gary Naylor on The Arts Desk. The singing across the board is astonishing, though, and never more so than in a bravura “Many Rivers to Cross”. Led by Josie Benson as Ivan’s mother, it “expands to an ensemble work that is operatic in its scale and power”. It is “spine- tingling” – and that is not a “metaphorical flourish, but a literal description”.

“There are only aces in this deck,” said Chris Wiegand in The Guardian. The cast are “uniformly excellent”, set and costume design are impressive – with a “sharp eye for unadorned spiritual and natty secular stylings” – and the eight-piece band is as precise as the stunning choreography. It makes for an irresistible and spectacular show.

Theatre Royal Stratford East, London E15. Until 1 November, stratfordeast.com.

Mexican music is facing a crackdown. Local authorities are banning public performances of narcocorridos, popular ballads that romanticise drug cartels.

As the country wrestles with the “effects of organized crime” and “pressure from the Trump administration to crack down on cartels”, politicians are keen to show they don’t condone songs that glorify criminal activities, said The New York Times.

Corridos about local bandits have been popular since the “early 20th century”, said the Financial Times but, since the 1970s, a hugely successful subgenre – narcocorridos – has celebrated drug runners and ”become a key element of propaganda for cartels”.

Heavy fines, even prison time

At a time when they are “more popular than ever” in Mexico, narcocorridos are “increasingly under attack”, said the Los Angeles Times. “A new generation that came of age during the ongoing drug war has embraced songs that recount and often glamorize both the spoils and perils of organized crime.”

Although there is, as yet, no nationwide law prohibiting narcocorridos, around “a third of Mexico’s states and many of its cities have enacted some kind of ban” on their performance. These mostly take the form of heavy fines, but can also trigger a prison sentence.

When Aguascalientes state “banned songs inciting violence” earlier this year, the well-known band Grupo Firme announced that they would not play narcocorridos any more, said The New York Times.

But fan reactions to artists abiding by state rules have, ironically, led to violence. When Luis R Conriquez – who has over 23 million monthly listeners on Spotify – said on stage that he was joining the “cause of zero corridos”, he was “booed” by the audience, who then “threw punches” at each other and “caused significant damage to the venue”, said Billboard.

Upsetting US authorities

Ignoring the crackdown has already had consequences, said The Times. When the band Los Alegres del Barranco sang a song “dedicated to El Mencho, leader of the Jalisco cartel”, and projected his face “onto a giant screen behind them”, they were not only charged with “promoting crime” by the local attorney general, they also found their American visas revoked, forcing them to “cancel dozens of shows in the US”.

There are increasing signs that, even where there are no local narcocorrido bans in place, bands are starting to “self-censor”, fearing that “upsetting US authorities” could affect their ability to tour”, said CNN.

“The last thing we need is a welcome mat for people who extol criminals and terrorists,” said US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau on X. “I’m a firm believer in freedom of expression but that doesn’t mean that expression should be free of consequences.”

The bans and the visa-revoking may be having the opposite effect to the one intended, however: figures show that Los Alegres del Barranco have “gained over 2 million new listens on streaming services”, said CNN. It seems a genre “that has long romanticised outlaws, outcasts and underdogs” still has an “enduring modern appeal”.

“Hard as it is to believe at this late date, not everyone gets yet that Sabrina Carpenter is up to something a lot more wily than just being a sex goddess,” said Chris Willman in Variety. The 26-year-old pop star just scored her second No. 1 album with Man’s Best Friend, whose cover art shows her on hands and knees, playing dog to a man who’s holding a few locks of her blond hair. But understand: The former Disney teen star is “a comedienne at heart,” and “no other star of songland is nearly so dedicated to getting laughs out of the carnage in the battle of the sexes.” The photo spoofs her own readiness to do more for undeserving guys than they’d do for her, and the dozen songs on her “very winning” new album drive home the theme by routinely mocking men’s inadequacies and her inability to stop lusting after them.

But where last year’s Short n’ Sweet established Carpenter as “one of pop’s queens of quirk,” said Jon Caramanica in The New York Times, this album “has all the hallmarks of a rush job.” Almost every song “feels traceable to a very specific ancestor,” echoing hits by Olivia Newton-John, ABBA, Blondie, and others. And the meter of the lyrics often doesn’t even fit the melodies. Yet Man’s Best Friend is still “a bright, effervescent pop record,” said Amanda Petrusich in The New Yorker, and the borrowing Carpenter does fits her approach to music making and modern romance. “I like that she is trying to inject a little messiness into a pop landscape that often feels focus-grouped into oblivion.” Besides, “maybe she’s showing us the sanest way to fall in love.” Namely, “don’t think too much” and “laugh when you can.”

With its poetic lyrics and haunting melodies, contemporary folk music is, at its best, deeply evocative. The elusive genre is hard to pin down, often blending traditional acoustics with elements of everything from punk and pop to country and jazz. These are some of the best folk albums of the year so far.

Big Thief: 'Double Infinity'

"Big Thief have done it again," said Helen Brown in The Independent. The Brooklyn-based band's bassist left last year, but their sixth album "sounds like an instant classic". Combining "solidly crafted, intelligently soul-searching songs" with the group's obvious "alchemical joy in jamming together", it's a wonderful record. Among the album's "many addictive grooves" is "Incomprehensible", a thoughtful reflection on the inevitability of ageing, and "All Night All Day", which "swings along", delivering the catchiest "singalong" chorus. "Heartwarming and mind-warming, this album is a pure pick-me up."

Folk Bitch Trio: 'Now Would Be a Good Time'

"The members of Folk Bitch Trio are not blood-related, but you'd never know on the basis of their magnificent three-part harmonies", said Joe Goggins in NME. The Australian indie-folk band met in high school and are only 23. But their new album, "Now Would Be a Good Time", is infused with a "richness and complexity" that belies their age. "Sprinkled with strangeness", the darkly ironic record spans everything from "wittily drawn portraits of disastrous situationships" to "yearning from the back of the tour van". It's one of those rare debut albums that is "so accomplished that it's as if it's just fallen out of the ether, fully formed".

Zoé Basha: 'Gamble'

This "confident" debut comes from an "exciting new voice", said Jude Rogers in The Guardian. Zoé Basha is a Dublin-based French-American musician "whose folk music swims deftly around country, jazz, French chanson and the blues". Her "nourishing" self-produced record is sung in "eerily bright a cappellas"; she has a voice that swoops "high and low like the Appalachian mountain music she loves". Among the stand-out songs are "Dublin Street Corners", a "great patchwork of failed dreams in a booze-soaked city", and "Traveling Shoes", filled with the careless ruminations of a "fly-by-night lover".

The New Eves: 'The New Eve is Rising'

The Brighton quartet's debut album is a "punk-infused, chaotic mix of experimental folk, rock music and spoken-word poetry", said Dale Maplethorpe in Far Out Magazine. It might sound "messy", but the record comes together "incredibly well" and the result is "spellbinding". Expect "stunning" vocals, carefully chosen instruments that each play a "crucial" role, and the type of music where not a second is wasted. "Wicked and endearing" in equal parts, The New Eves are "something different".

Annahstasia: 'Tether'

Annahstasia's "raw, unmistakable voice" shines on her hotly anticipated debut album, "Tether", said Laura Molloy in NME. The LA-based artist cements her reputation as a "pioneer of modern folk, propelling the genre to greater summits by weaving in moments of tense rock and intoxicating blues" in this exquisite record. "Eclectic yet streamlined", her album effortlessly blends the "poignant lyrical observations" of Joni Mitchell with the "immense vocal power" of Nina Simone. By the time you finish listening, "Annahstasia is transformed into a fully-fledged rock star".

Lisa Knapp and Gerry Diver: 'Hinterland'

Londoner Lisa Knapp has "blazed an impressive trail at the avant garde edge of British folk" since her impressive 2007 debut, said Neil Spencer in The Observer. Her "bravura vocals", coupled with her partner and producer Gerry Diver's "inventive arrangements", helped capture the "wonder and darkness of folklore". Earlier this year, the pair released their first "thrilling" official duo album. The opener, "Hawk & Crow" has Knapp at her "larkish best, giving voice to a cast of birds over a stumbling, broken rhythm", with Diver on the fiddle. This is "folk at its most exalted".

'A Matter of Time' by Laufey

★★★

"The emergence of Laufey is largely attributable to her abundant talent," said Maura Johnston in Rolling Stone. But "Gen Z's chief flag-waver for throwback pop" is also "a product of her time." In the TikTok era, there are many ears seeking out singable period-style tunes, and Laufey has both a "full-bodied alto" and "a knack for marrying 21st-century problems with fishhook melodies that recall standards from previous centuries."

The L.A.-based 26-year-old Icelandic singer-songwriter opens her third album on a bright note with the carefree "ding-dong" refrain of "Clockwork." But she's also exploring modern love's pitfalls, and by the time "Sabotage" closes the album with a touch of chaos, she's calling herself her own worst enemy. "Lyrically, this album is as timely as it gets," said Roisin O'Connor in The Independent (U.K.). With these 15 songs, "Laufey has achieved the kind of confessional storytelling that makes Taylor Swift so relatable." Laufey, though, adds "glamour and glitz." From the "lovely momentum" of "Carousel" to the "shivery, spellbinding flair" of "Forget-Me-Not," this is "sublime" work.

'Private Music' by Deftones

★★★★

"Against all odds," Deftones now rank among rock's elite, said Sadie Sartini Garner in Pitchfork. Once known as "nu-metal B-listers," the Sacramento-born quartet are today "avant-rock heroes" with a sizable Gen Z following. And while the band's 10th album is "unlikely to draw in unconvinced listeners," it shows them "fully in control" of their menacing sound, "able to effortlessly bend it around whatever structures they put in place." Still, the turnaround in Deftones' reputation owes mostly to the rock audience, particularly "the evolution of how people feel about heaviness, romance, and the primacy of our emotional life." A great Deftones song, as always, "can feel like an arduous hike to a stunning vista that reveals a violent storm on the horizon."

Private Music "should please all corners of their wide fandom," said Neil Z.Yeung in AllMusic. The band's "muscular" guitar riffs and Chino Moreno's "primal screams" are tempered by "catchy chord progressions" and "shimmering, melodic programming," producing a "sensual, sexy, and soulful" 11-song set that reaffirms Deftones as "one of the greatest bands of their generation."

'Live Laugh Love' by Earl Sweatshirt

★★★

Surrendering to the "weird logic" of Earl Sweatshirt's sixth solo album is "an enrapturing way to spend 25 minutes," said Alexis Petridis in The Guardian. "This is music from deep within hip-hop's 'otherground,' an area in which normal rules don't apply." The songs "unexpectedly short out or crash into each other." On the sixth track, "Live," the "bright-hued" synth backing starts glitching midway through before the beat and the rhythm of Earl's rhymes shift entirely. Yet there are hooks and samples here, including the harpsichord loop on "Forge," that "dig into your brain as they repeat."

Renowned for his bleak outlook, Earl seems to have lightened up, perhaps owing to the arrival of the children he pays tribute to on "Gamma (need the <3)" and "Tourmaline." The quest for self-knowledge has always colored Earl's music, and "he's using Live Laugh Love to catch us up on his hard-earned progress," said Kiana Fitzgerald in Consequence. On "Well Done," a track that's all of 71 seconds long, he raps about being "baptized in the fires of flaw and failures." Blink and you could miss it, but "Earl Sweatshirt might finally be happy."

'Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You' by Ethel Cain

★★★

If Ethel Cain's second album reminds you of the music from TV's Twin Peaks, it's no accident, said Chris Kelly in The Washington Post. Last year, Cain tracked down the same synthesizers that Angelo Badalamenti had used on the 1990 series soundtrack. The result is a stately paced concept album that "drips with the yearning of young love and the pain of your first real heartbreak." It marks the 27-year-old singer-songwriter as "the true heir to Lynch" because she's "the musical artist most capable of capturing the beauty of all-consuming love, the terror of man's capacity for evil, and the traumatic toll taken by both."

While Cain's world is "a landscape of despair," said Mark Richardson in The Wall Street Journal, she presents her Gothic tales with "a tender, almost nostalgic edge." She shows great empathy for her characters, even the self-destructive ones, and uses beautiful arrangements to draw listeners in before "taking them somewhere dark and foreboding." Willoughby Tucker serves as a prequel to Cain's first album, 2022's Preacher's Daughter, but the new music is where new listeners should start. It's "a stunning artistic statement."

'Black Star' by Amaarae

★★★★

Amaarae's "hugely enjoyable" third album "requires a slight resetting of expectations," said Shaad D'Souza in The Guardian. The Ghanaian American singer's previous album, Fountain Baby, was "sensual and musically dense," establishing her as a creative force on a level with Rosalía and Charli XCX. But because that record didn't break through commercially, "this is her take on a club record, weaving elements of house, trance, and EDM into Afrobeats and spiky rap cadences." The new sound comes with a heaping side of hedonism: The songs "exalt drinking, drug‐­taking, and rowdy sex in such an unapologetic way that they would elicit blushes even from the Weeknd, pop's reigning king of smut."

On Black Star, Amaarae is "pursued by hangovers and hangers-on," said Walden Green in Pitchfork. While the album's rave-ups sound "powder-dusted in ketamine and coke," Amaarae the lyricist "has never sounded quite so guarded." The album's "lacquered surface" finally begins to crack on "Dream Scenario," revealing a hint of candor. Otherwise, Black Star is the record you make when you've wallowed in every indulgence and wonder, "Is this all there is?"

'No Rain, No Flowers' by The Black Keys

★★

"The Black Keys' clockwork competence is a durable wonder," said Jon Dolan in Rolling Stone. Sure, the duo's last album, 2024's Ohio Players, and accompanying tour were market flops. But more than a dozen years since they broke through as unlikely retro-rock hitmakers, guitarist-singer Dan Auerbach and drummer Pat Carney didn't mope. Instead, they retreated to their Nashville studio, gathered a few high-profile collaborators, and put together "one of their most precision-tuned LPs yet." The 11-track set evokes the song list of a radio station of yore that leaps from "bubble-funk workouts" to Bee Gees–style falsettos to a "fuzzed-out blues-metal stomp." It's all "seamlessly smooth" and "a poppy far cry from the garage-grind they built their career on, but it's not without heart."

Unfortunately, the title track is "massively cheesy," said Will Hodgkinson in The Times (U.K.), and the disco-inflected groove of "Make You Mine" is "an awkward fit" for these garage revivalists. "Babygirl," at least, "has the mix of pop catchiness and retrograde rock that made their biggest hits so all-conquering." Most else sounds like "a band in crisis, unsure of where to go next."

Most of us could clear out a room by attempting to sing a karaoke rendition of "I Got You Babe" or give a dramatic reading of Jack Nicholson's courtroom speech from "A Few Good Men." But a handful of artists have excelled at both music and acting. For these singers turned actors, performing on-screen is not just something they dabbled in, but rather an entire second career. Some such musicians became arguably more renowned for their movie roles than for their exploits in music.

Cher

Cher rose to fame as one half of the musical duo Sonny & Cher alongside her first husband, Sonny Bono. But in the 1980s, she branched out into serious acting starting with the biographical drama "Silkwood" (1983). She later won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance as Loretta Castorini in the 1987 romantic comedy "Moonstruck," a movie that "celebrates the family over the romantic couple" and felt "completely true to people as they are: ridiculous and passionate, in search of answers and solutions, and taking what they can get," said B. D. McClay at The New Yorker. After starring in the 1990 comedy "Mermaids," Cher refocused her career on music and has only appeared in a handful of feature films since then, most recently 2018's "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again."

Doris Day

Doris Day earned her first big hit in 1945 with "Sentimental Journey" and became a huge pop star before starring in film musicals like "Love Me or Leave Me" (1955). She headlined a number of romantic comedies in the 1950s and 1960s, including "Pillow Talk" (1959) and "Send Me No Flowers" (1964). She also starred in Alfred Hitchcock's "The Man Who Knew Too Much" (1956). Day was "surprisingly effective as the mother who is frantic about her child" in Hitchcock's thriller, said Bosley Crowther at The New York Times. Her final screen credit was the sitcom "The Doris Day Show," which ran from 1968 to 1973. After retiring from acting, she became an animal welfare activist.

Lady Gaga

One of the biggest established music superstars to ever make the pivot into acting, Lady Gaga's feature film debut was in director Robert Rodriguez's 2013 "Machete Kills." She later appeared in two seasons of the anthology series "American Horror Story" — but her big screen breakout came in 2018 when she played Ally in the most recent remake of the Hollywood classic "A Star Is Born" opposite Bradley Cooper. In a "transcendent Hollywood movie," Gaga delivered a "fetching and accomplished debut" playing a waitress thrust into the limelight following a chance meeting with Cooper's jaded country musician, said Owen Gleiberman at Variety. She has also scored leading roles in "House of Gucci" (2021) and "Joker: Folie à Deux" (2024) while continuing to churn out chart-topping albums.

Whitney Houston

Houston was a pop megastar with multiple #1 Billboard hits to her name, including "The Greatest Love of All," when she starred in the smash 1992 romance "The Bodyguard" as Rachel Marron, a pop star who falls in love with her bodyguard (Kevin Costner). A movie "mocked by the critics and loved by the public," said Peter Bradshaw at The Guardian, it was buttressed by the "powerhouse punch of Whitney Houston's showcase musical numbers." While her performance drew some criticism — she was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress — it also helped make her one of the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood. After starring in the hit "Waiting to Exhale," Houston won an NAACP Image Award for her performance in "The Preacher's Wife" (1996). She died tragically in 2012 at the age of 48.

Jennifer Hudson

Hudson is one of the few stars who launched a career by getting eliminated from a season of "American Idol." Her shocking 2004 exit from the show had fans outraged, and she parlayed that fame into a multi-dimensional career as an actor and recording artist. While her Oscar-winning turn in "Dreamgirls" (2006) predated the release of her first album, she was known at the time for her singing. Her "pure delight to watch" of a performance in a film about a Supremes-esque Motown group called The Dreams meant that viewers could "finally experience the completion of the collective star-making fantasy" of "American Idol," said Dana Stevens at Slate. Hudson has subsequently "received the coveted EGOT for all four major entertainment awards, Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony," said People.

Janelle Monáe

A highly regarded musical artist, Janelle Monáe won a Grammy in 2008 for her song "Many Moons" and later released several acclaimed studio albums. After doing voice work for the animated film "Rio 2," she broke out with roles in the 2016 films "Moonlight" and "Hidden Figures." In the latter, Monáe gave one of several "superb, luminous performances" as Mary Jackson, a member of a "trio of math whizzes" tasked with assisting early NASA space missions in the 1960s, said Stephanie Zacharek at Time. Her performance earned her a Critics Choice Awards nomination, and she scored another for her supporting role in "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery" (2022). She continues to do prolific work in both film and music.

Dolly Parton

Few performers are so successful that they spawn their own theme park with millions of visitors per year. But Dollywood is part of what makes Dolly Parton one of a kind. Beginning with her 1968 duet with Porter Wagoner, "The Last Thing on My Mind," Parton became a country music sensation and one of the best-selling musical artists of all time. She made her feature film debut in the 1980 workplace comedy "9 to 5" and received a Golden Globe nomination for her role as Mona Stangley in the 1982 musical comedy "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas." She also turned in a memorable performance in the 1989 melodrama "Steel Magnolias," a movie that "belongs to its actresses, who have tapped into some fundamental truths about the strength women derive from one another," said Peter Travers at Rolling Stone.

Diana Ross

Motown megastar Diana Ross rose to fame as a member of The Supremes, known for chart-topping hits like "You Can't Hurry Love" and "Baby Love." In 1972, she made her film debut as Billie Holiday in the biopic "Lady Sings the Blues." Ross delivered "one of the great performances of 1972," said Roger Ebert, in part because "she never tries to imitate Holiday, but she sings somehow in the manner of Holiday." She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for the role. While other films she appeared in, like "Mahogany" (1975) and "The Wiz" (1978), were less lauded at the time, they now have devoted followings. Ross also starred in two made-for-TV films in the 1990s, but has otherwise focused on music.

Frank Sinatra

Ol' Blue Eyes was a well-established music star when he moved into acting, and the singer eventually "became admired for a screen persona distinctly tougher than his smooth singing style," said All About Jazz. Starting with lighthearted musicals like "Anchors Aweigh," Sinatra gradually took on meatier roles, including in 1953's "From Here to Eternity." Perhaps his most memorable turn was in 1962's "The Manchurian Candidate," a thriller in which Sinatra plays Captain Bennett Marco, who thwarts an assassination attempt by an unwitting communist sleeper agent. Sinatra here gave a "reasoned and in many ways more mature performance than he has ever done before," said The Hollywood Reporter.

Will Smith

As one-half of the legendary hip-hop duo DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, Will Smith had won a Grammy award for the song "Summertime" before launching his acting career on the 1990 sitcom "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air." A ratings success, the show led Smith to big roles in studio films like "Six Degrees of Separation," (1993) in which he plays a young conman pretending to be Sidney Poitier's son to insinuate himself into a wealthy, white family.

Smith has been an action star in movies like "Bad Boys" (1995), but has also turned in a number of critically praised dramatic performances, most recently in "King Richard" (2021), as tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams' father. This was a movie about a "fraught but loving family relationship at a pivotal time in all their lives," highlighted by Smith's "poetic physicality" in a "touching turn," said Bilge Ebiri at Variety. Smith won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 2022 for his role.

Barbra Streisand

Broadway star Barbra Streisand made her film debut in 1968's "Funny Girl," an adaptation of the stage musical she also starred in, and won the Academy Award for Best Actress. Streisand later played the idealistic young leftist Katie Morosky in the bittersweet 1973 romance "The Way We Were," acting opposite Robert Redford as her more conservative love interest Hubbell Gardiner. In that film, Streisand proved herself to be the "brightest, quickest female actress in movies today," said Roger Ebert at the time. She was able to inhabit her "characters with a fierce energy" yet also be "touchingly vulnerable." Streisand has been choosy about her cinematic roles since then, last appearing in 2012's "Guilt Trip."

Special mention for musical stars

In the heyday of the Hollywood musical, a number of stars emerged as staples of the genre, seamlessly blending the roles of musician and actor on and off screen. One of the most successful was Judy Garland, who toured as part of a musical vaudeville act with her sisters before signing with MGM at the age of 13 in 1935. She went on to star in more than two dozen film musicals, including the 1939 cultural touchstone "The Wizard of Oz." Garland was nominated for an Academy Award for one of her only roles in a non-musical; she played Irene Hoffmann, who was convicted by a Nazi kangaroo court, in "Judgment at Nuremberg"(1961). The film offered a "dramatic statement of moral probity," said Bosley Crowther at The New York Times.

A similar trajectory was enjoyed by Bing Crosby. While he was a more established musician than Garland had been before launching his acting career, Crosby is primarily known and remembered for his roles in musical films like "The Bells of St. Mary's" (1945), for which he earned an Academy Award nomination. He was again nominated for his portrayal of an alcoholic, down-on-his-luck actor in 1954's "The Country Girl."

Julie Andrews, who rose to musical stardom on Broadway as a child in the 1940s, struck gold in Hollywood with "Mary Poppins," her 1964 film debut in which she played the titular character, a nanny with magic powers. Her performance was a "signal triumph and she performs as easily as she sings," said Variety. She then starred in the beloved 1965 musical "The Sound of Music" and has since worked in a variety of settings, including television, film and voice work (she was Gru's Mom in the "Despicable Me" and "Minions" children's movie franchises). Incredibly, Andrews is still working at the age of 89.

As the frontman of Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, who has died aged 76, did not only help invent heavy metal, said The Daily Telegraph, he also pioneered its outrageous lifestyle: "preposterous theatrics", rumours of satanism and shocking excesses.

"I'm something of a madman," Osbourne said. "If it's booze, I drink the place dry. If drugs, I take everything and scrape the carpet for little crumbs." He bit the head off a dead bat during a concert in 1982; he snorted a line of ants while partying with Mötley Crüe; and he was banned from performing in Texas, for urinating on the Alamo Cenotaph while wearing a dress (his wife Sharon had hidden his clothes to stop him going out, so he had borrowed hers). He was serially unfaithful to Sharon: he slept with his children's nannies; on tour in Japan he took a fan to bed in his hotel room, forgetting that Sharon was there already. And in 1989, he was accused of trying to strangle her.

Nevertheless, both with Black Sabbath and as a solo artist, he managed to release several hit albums, and to tour solidly, before finding a new level of fame in the 2000s as a reality TV star. "The Osbournes" proved a revelation, said Spencer Kornhaber in The Atlantic. The supposedly demonic, self-styled Prince of Darkness turned out to be a doting (foul-mouthed) family man, bumbling around a mansion in LA.

Yet this "cognitive dissonance" was at the heart of his success. He'd invented a sound and an identity "with terrifying connotations", but "that identity was rooted" in the thing it superficially obscured – the warm "human core inside each of us. Osbourne knew that metal is not the music of hell but rather the music of Earth, not a fantasy but a survival guide."

Although accused of promoting satanism, Black Sabbath had no sympathy for the devil. As Osbourne said, "The closest we ever got to black magic was a box of chocolates." And most of the terrible things he did were as a result of being addled by drink and drugs. He had thought the bat was a plastic toy; he apologised to and was forgiven by the state of Texas; and he'd woken up in a jail cell with no memory of strangling Sharon. He was horrified when he was told that he had nearly killed her: it was the stuff of nightmares. He went into court-mandated rehabilitation after that incident.

Born in Birmingham in 1948, John Osbourne grew up in Aston. His parents both worked in nearby factories, but with six children, money was tight. At school, he struggled with dyslexia. He was once sent home for not being clean enough – a humiliation he never forgot – and he was sexually abused by two classmates. He left at 15.

It was his love of The Beatles that inspired him to join a band. Black Sabbath was formed in 1968. Their distinctive sludgy sound was partly the result of guitarist Tony Iommi slicing off his fingertips at work at a sheet metal factory, and making false ones out of plastic and leather. But they'd also resolved to exploit the new popularity of horror films. Osbourne sang in a howl; their lyrics contained references to Satan, war and insanity.

In 1970, their first album reached the Top 10. Osbourne suddenly had more money than he'd ever imagined. As a rock star, he could, he recalled, "get drunk morning, noon and night, and nobody would care". Then he found cocaine. He admitted to having been a terrible husband to his first wife, Thelma Riley. Sabbath fired him in 1979. It was Sharon – whose father Don Arden had been their manager – who steered his solo career.

Numerous hits followed, but Osbourne's addictions intensified. He was badly affected by the death of his guitarist Randy Rhoads in a plane crash in 1982, and he faced lawsuits over claims that one of his songs had been a factor in two suicides (the suits were dismissed). In the 1990s, he took time out to try to sober up. He stormed back with 1995's album "Ozzmosis", and the launch of the Ozzfest metal festival. Soon, he was playing with Sabbath again. He and Sharon seemed devoted, but in 2016 they temporarily separated: she'd discovered that he'd had a long affair. In 2019, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's.

Last month, he returned to Birmingham to take part in a farewell concert – "Back to the Beginning". He'd told Rolling Stone in 2023 that as his health declined, "I just want to be well enough to do one show where I can say, 'Hi guys, thanks so much for my life...' If I drop down dead at the end of it, I'll die a happy man."

'Headlights' by Alex G

★★★

"If you are under 35 and enjoy indie rock, Alex G is close to a household name," said Mark Richardson in The Wall Street Journal. "If you are over 50 and not particularly invested in new music, you may not have heard of him." His 10th studio album, which arrives 13 years after he found a big audience at age 19, is also his first on a major label, but as always, "you get a feeling that this is music he needs to make." While the opening tracks "have the bright, chiming sound of R.E.M. in the early '90s," his music still "feels of and for the internet," shifting from breezy acoustic instrumentation to warped electronics that sometimes distort his nasally voice. In short, the album "has all the immediacy and eccentricity that have carried him this far." The polish that label money buys "doesn't corrupt Headlights," said Ian Cohen in Pitchfork. Even when he calls on a string section, Alex G is merely expanding his range. At 32, he is also a father for the first time, and while you sometimes hear the money he spent to make this album, "you always hear the love even louder."

'Don't Tap the Glass' by Tyler, the Creator

★★★

"Don't Tap the Glass is Tyler, the Creator switching off the anxious side of his brain and allowing simple pleasures to guide him," said David Renshaw in The Fader. A surprise release that arrives just 10 months after his chart-topping Chromakopia, the 10-track set aims to put bodies back on the dance floor and comes with Tyler explicitly demanding that it not be listened to while sitting still. "Traversing G-Funk, bouncy R&B, Miami bass, jungle, and everything in between," it's the Grammy winner's "most don't-overthink-it record in years." And "at a breezy 28 minutes," it's also his tightest. Despite its brevity, Don't Tap the Glass is another sign that Tyler is "on a generational roll right now," said Aaron Williams in Uproxx. Who else gets to play so fast and loose with release schedules? Or "so wildly experiment with sonics?" Veering from '80s L.A. freestyle on "Sugar on My Tongue" to "Zapp-like funk-R&B" on "Sucka Free," he has whipped up "a living museum of Black music from the past four decades." If only "more artists were allowed to be like Tyler, the Creator and just...create."

'Sex Hysteria' by Jessie Murph

★★★

Jessie Murph's sophomore album "has even more sass and swagger than her impressive 2024 debut," said Jem Aswad in Variety. A "precociously talented" singer and songwriter who sings with a twang but is "absolutely not a country artist," the 20-year-old from Alabama follows in Amy Winehouse's footsteps by making music steeped in the sound of 1950s and '60s torch singers and girl groups. At the same time, "the flow and attitude of hip-hop are so deep in her DNA" that even her sung verses "hit like rap lyrics." The "brooding" title track, a rock ballad, "doesn't just set the emotional tone for the album; it is the tone," said Caitlin Hall in Holler. While the album includes a top-20 hit in "Blue Strips," which feels like "post-apocalyptic country pop," many of Murph's new songs "wrestle with self-worth, heartbreak, and survival," and the title song "exposes the mess of needing someone who you know is bad for you, just to feel anything at all." Characteristically, "it doesn't try to resolve the hurt." It just sits with it, "which in Murph's world is sometimes more powerful."

It was the reunion many fans feared would never happen. Last Friday, 16 years after they'd last performed together, Noel and Liam Gallagher strode onto the stage at Cardiff's Principality Stadium – and brought the house down, said Mark Beaumont in The Independent.

A huge multi-generational crowd in bucket hats swayed, sang and hurled beer as Oasis tore through a roster of their biggest hits. Yet for the two million people who'd endured long queues and dynamic pricing to buy tickets for this tour, joining in a singalong to "Wonderwall", and seeing the Gallaghers, now 58 and 52, reunited (for a reported £50 million each) was only part of the attraction: they had also wanted to feel what it was like to "be there then". Because it is not only fifty-somethings who are nostalgic for the Britpop era: for millennials and Gen-Zers too it is "as halcyon as Beatlemania or the Summer of Love – a time of vivid colour, jubilant melody, political stability and affordable flats".

It's not the case that Britpop depended on Oasis, said Dorian Lynskey in The Guardian. Blur and Suede had chart hits long before Liam's snarling vocals were heard on "Supersonic" in 1994, the first of Oasis's 26 top-40 UK hits. From the Young British Artists and Kate Moss, to Euro '96 and "Trainspotting", the era's "colour was turned up with or without them". What set them apart was that, where other Britpop bands ran from it, they actually sought mass appeal. Tapping into a "communal, aspirational hedonism that suited the times", they aimed not to be interesting, but to be popular.

Not everyone was "mad for it", said Chas Newkey-Burden in The Spectator. The brothers, Liam in particular, were laddish and boorish; their fans were often no better; and Noel's songs shamelessly ripped off everyone from T. Rex to Status Quo. His lyrics are basic, with their roads that are winding and lights that are blinding, and he has said that few of his songs have real meaning; they just evoke a feeling. In that respect, they are a bit like the cocaine he and Liam were always snorting – they make you feel amazing, then it's over "and you feel soulless and empty".

But maybe it is precisely because they sound so familiar that Oasis's ripped-off tunes are so potent; perhaps it's great to feel on top of the world, even if just for a moment. Oasis weren't innovators, said Neil McCormick in The Daily Telegraph, but they did do something remarkable, which was to bring melody to hard rock: they were like The Beatles but with "the power of Led Zeppelin" and "the swagger of the Rolling Stones", and it made them the outstanding rock band of the age.

The Velvet Sundown, apparently a four-piece band of "shaggy-haired rockers", arrived on the music scene seemingly out of nowhere in June with a blend of "laid-back 1970s-inspired rock and modern indie pop", said CBC.

Now the group are racking up a million streams per month on Spotify, featuring in several of the platform's popular playlists.

So far, so good. But "savvy listeners" quickly realised "something was off". The Velvet Sundown had never performed in person, gave no interviews, and their album artwork bears the "hallmarks of generative AI". Were they even real?

'Soulless lacklustre'

After internet sleuths got to work, the "band" was forced to confirm its existence as a "synthetic music project", created with the help of artificial intelligence tools, said Rolling Stone.

Music critics and technology experts began to piece together the "technical quilt" that could make an AI-generated album possible, said The Atlantic. ChatGPT can create "plausible" lyrics: "Dust in the Wind", the Velvet Sundown's most popular track, regales the listener with lines such as "dust on the wind / boots on the ground / smoke in the sky / no peace found". Meanwhile, software such as Suno can generate "instrumentation and vocals" with just a few prompts.

But the Velvet Sundown's "soulless lacklustre" and "milquetoast moodiness" may actually hold the secret to the band's success. Its monotony appears ideal in an era where listeners are simply looking for music to "drown out everything else".

'Theft dressed up as competition'

A "rising tide" of generative AI is seeping into popular playlists used for studying or relaxing, interspersing real tracks with "gobs of computer-generated slop", said Futurism.

Whether hoax or experiment, "paying punters" do "deserve to know if the band we are listening to is fake", said TechRadar, but many streaming platforms refuse to label music as generated by AI.

With this information, and the knowledge that AI music is now such an "easy way to generate revenue", an "absolute deluge" of generated content is "on the way" to our streaming platforms.

Musicians are alarmed. The Velvet Sundown is "theft dressed up as competition", Ed Newton-Rex told the BBC. Newton-Rex, a composer and founder of Fairly Trained, which campaigns for AI companies to respect creators' rights, warned this technology has the potential to impact livelihoods, and is "exactly what artists have been worried about".

What happened

A federal jury in Manhattan Wednesday convicted Sean "Diddy" Combs of two counts of transportation for prostitution, a felony violation of the Mann Act, for bringing sex workers across state lines for drug-fueled sex marathons. But he was acquitted of the more serious charges of racketeering and sex trafficking.

Judge Arun Subramanian denied Combs' request for release on bail as he awaits sentencing, saying the trial demonstrated the rap mogul's "yearslong pattern of violence."

Who said what

Combs' lawyer Marc Agnifilo called the jury's decision "a victory of all victories." It was "certainly a defeat for the prosecution and the victims who told their often terrifying stories in open court," USA Today said. "And the nation could be forgiven for wanting to take a collective shower" after hearing a "seemingly incessant stream of sordid details" of how Combs "used his fame and fortune to reduce his female victims to chattel."

Combs "dropped to his knees and prayed" after being acquitted of the charges that could have put him "behind bars for life," The Associated Press said. But the "mixed verdict capped a sordid legal odyssey that shattered Combs' affable 'Puff Daddy' image and derailed his career as a Grammy-winning artist and music executive, fashion entrepreneur, brand ambassador and reality TV star."

What next?

Subramanian scheduled a hearing next Tuesday on sentencing scheduling. Combs' lawyers suggested he should face about two years in prison while the prosecutors said federal guidelines called for at least four or five years.

Incorporating your love of music into a vacation is as simple as do-re-mi. Here are six ideas sure to make you break out in song, from tangoing the night away in Argentina to learning about the blues where it began in Mississippi.

Tango through Buenos Aires

Tango is the sound of Argentina's capital, a dance and music style formed from a "mixture of cultures and migratory currents" that arrived here during the 19th century, said Lonely Planet. Buenos Aires is known for its milongas, or venues where new and experienced dancers can pick up and sharpen their tango moves. La Viruta Tango Club is one of those "iconic" spots, blending "tradition and modernity," said Time Out. Milongas across the city offer classes, shows and open dancing every night of the week.

Have a gigcation in Las Vegas

The stars are always out in Las Vegas, as some of the biggest names in music — Kelly Clarkson, Eagles, Pitbull — take the stage for residencies. Bruno Mars stands out from the crowd, with his "electrifying" set at Park MGM's Dolby Live, Ebony said. His two-hour performance flies by, thanks to his incredible voice, smooth moves, lively band and frequent use of fireworks.

Pre-show, go to the Cosmopolitan for drinks in the sparkling, three-level Chandelier, where the cocktails are delicious (try the Verbena, with a Szechuan button that makes your mouth tingle and go numb) and the surroundings spectacular (a two-million-crystal chandelier cascades over each floor). For dinner, head upstairs to LPM for a taste of the French Riviera. The dishes and drinks here are light and flavorful, like the slightly sweet warm prawns in olive oil, citrusy yellowtail carpaccio and signature Tomatini cocktail.

Check into Grand Universe Lucca, a music-embracing hotel in Tuscany

Lucca feels like a Tuscan dream, a "fairytale-like city" filled with "towering Renaissance walls" in the "shadows" of the Apuan Alps and Monte Pisano, Condé Nast Traveler said. This "hub of culture" has long been a favorite for musicians, and composer Giacomo Puccini and jazz legend Chet Baker are among the artists who flocked to the "stately" Grand Universe Lucca. In honor of its melodic history, the hotel offers guests the chance to book the Prelude of Existence Experience. This includes a private meeting with a composer, who will turn the guest's interests into a personalized piece of music.

Follow the Mississippi Blues Trail

The Mississippi Blues Trail honors the "people and places that secured the music's legacy," with more than 200 stops across the state, Afar said. Blues was created by Black musicians and "pioneers" of the genre often learned from one another while "sharecropping on plantations in the Mississippi Delta." Stops include cotton fields, train depots, clubs, churches and cemeteries, with markers explaining the significance of each place. Highlights include the Blue Front Cafe in Bentonia, the "oldest surviving juke joint in Mississippi," and the "unmissable" city of Clarksdale, which offers "live music every day and festivals every month."

See the K-pop sights in Seoul 

K-pop fans can follow in their idols' footsteps at landmarks across Seoul, starting with K-Star Road in Gangnam. This boulevard is "dedicated entirely to K-pop artists," with 10-foot cartoon bear statues representing bands like BTS and Girls' Generation, Lonely Planet said. This is also where you will find the agencies that represent K-pop stars and restaurants and boutiques they often visit. Spend the rest of your day visiting K-pop music video filming spots, catching a taping of Idol Radio Live and, if possible, enjoying a performance by your favorite group.

Go on a road trip through Tennessee

The birthplace of Aretha Franklin, Dolly Parton and country music, Tennessee has "always punched way above its weight class musically," Afar said. Start exploring in Memphis, where you can "honor rock history" at Sun Studio and Graceland and "listen to the blues" on Beale Street. Head east to Brownsville for the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center, home of the Tina Turner Museum, then take a guided tour of Loretta Lynn's Ranch in Hurricane Mills. You could spend a "day or a week or a month" in Nashville and "still not see all the greatest hits," including the National Museum of African American Music, Ryman Auditorium and The Bluebird Cafe.

Catherine Garcia was a guest of MGM Resorts

"Prepare to put the summer into Somerset", said Michael Hogan in The Guardian. Britain's "biggest alfresco bash" is back – and 2025's line-up is an "extra special" one. The festival is taking a fallow year in 2026 to give the land a chance to recover, so this year's revellers could "go large to compensate". Whether you managed to get your hands on a ticket or you're watching the BBC's "wall-to-wall coverage" from your sofa, these are the best acts to catch.

Wet Leg

The "snarky alt-pop duo" from the Isle of Wight have turned into a "thrilling rock quintet", said The Telegraph. They perform with a "giddy sense of joy, as if they can't quite believe their explosive success", and their show will be a lot of fun. Expect "angular guitar riffs" and "tartly amusing vocals" mocking everything from dating to the "absurdities of popular culture".

Friday, Other Stage, 3.45pm

Alanis Morissette

Beyond the headliners, Alanis Morissette is "the kind of artist the Pyramid crowd unites behind", said Ben Beaumont-Thomas in The Guardian. Nineties music fans will be well served by the Canadian-American singer; songs like "You Oughta Know" and "Ironic" will be "big moments".

Friday, Pyramid, 6.15pm

Charli XCX

The "sassy electropop" of "Brat", Charli XCX's "zeitgeist-surfing global smash album", dominated the charts in 2024, said The Telegraph. So it was little surprise her DJ set last year was so sought after, it "almost brought the festival to a standstill". She's back again this year, headlining the 50,000 capacity Other Stage on Saturday night.

Saturday, Other Stage, 10.30pm

Doechii

"Florida firecracker" Doechii is headlining the West Holts stage on Saturday night and is guaranteed to create a buzz, said Hogan in The Guardian. But pop fans will have to grapple with a "fiendish scheduling dilemma" as her set clashes with Charli XCX. "Luckily, TV viewers can flip between both."

Saturday, West Holts, 9.45pm

Patchwork

"It's possibly the worst kept secret in the music industry," said The Times. According to SecretGlasto – a social-media account with a reputation for revealing secret Worthy Farm sets – the Britpop band Pulp will be playing the Pyramid Stage in a slot reserved for a mystery act called Patchwork.

Saturday, Pyramid, 6.15pm

Gurriers

Fresh from a support slot with Kneecap in Dublin, the "scrappy" post-punk band will be bringing their "visceral songs about anger and disillusionment with the modern world" to Glastonbury on Sunday, said the BBC. Part of a fresh crop of Irish acts who "grew up in the shadow of the country's 2008 financial crisis", their music is a "powder keg waiting to explode".

Sunday, Woodsies, 12.30pm

Wolf Alice

The British alt-rock quartet "really are something special", said The Telegraph. Their "adventurous" guitar-based music has secured them a major new label and they have a new album in the works. It feels like this could be their chance to show that "world-beating British rock is not dead".

Sunday, Other Stage, 7.45pm

Suga, a member of the K-pop giants BTS, has been discharged from South Korea's mandatory national service, as the last of the seven boyband members to finish their military duties.

This is nothing less than a "momentous occasion" for the group's zealous fans, said The Independent, marking the end of a two-and-a-half-year break in the band's career, and now that all BTS members have completed their service, they plan to reunite by the end of the year.

Source of grievance 

All able-bodied South Korean men aged 18 to 28 are legally obliged to carry out 18 to 21 months of military service. This is a "source of grievance" for many young men, said the BBC, and they "begrudge it for taking them away" from their education, jobs and friends.

There were questions about whether the members of BTS, the world's most successful boyband, would join the military or if they might receive an exemption. At one time, there was a special unit for famous people, who would be given privileges and allowed to continue to work as entertainers, but it was scrapped in 2013 after some stars were found "leaving their barracks more often than allowed".

In 2022, there were rumours that the government might allow the members of BTS to "skip the service" altogether, when it was argued that they'd "already served their country by earning it billions of dollars", and would be of more help to the country by continuing to rake in the cash.

Gas chambers

At the Yeoncheon bootcamp, where band member Jin began training in 2022, life isn't easy. Cadets told the BBC that the challenges included being "sealed in a gas chamber", to experience the effects of CS gas, and detonating a live grenade.

Recruits "sleep on mats on the floor" with 30 people to a room, said the broadcaster, and are taught how to handle weapons and fire live ammunition before "being put through demanding wartime scenarios".

When he served at an outpost in the Demilitarized Zone that separates South and North Korea, one recruit saw North Korean soldiers being "beaten", and he spent days shovelling snow in temperatures of -20C. "Our eyelashes would freeze", he said.

Titles like Special Warrior, Elite Trainee or Platoon Leader are given to soldiers who "excel in areas like shooting, endurance, discipline or leadership", said SportsKeeda, and V, Jin, j-hope and Jimin earned some of these "high-performance" honours, which suggested they reached an "outstanding" level.

During their service, BTS members tried to remain engaged with fans, with high-profile album releases, innovative documentaries, fan letters and pre-recorded performances. They hoped to turn military service into an opportunity for personal and artistic growth.

But K-pop has "changed" while they've been away, said the BBC, so whether they can continue their success in the music industry is another question. Military service has proved "fatal" for some celebrity careers, but "if anyone can break the curse", it's BTS, said Lim Young-dae, music critic and author of "BTS: The Review".

'I Quit' by Haim

★★★

Haim, L.A.'s three-sister rock trio, has always made music that "pairs best with an iced beverage and a lawn chair," said Angie Martoccio in Rolling Stone. On their fourth album, "they don't just perfect that summer vibe; they dial up the heat—and bask in it." All three were single when recording the album, and the result is another dose of "sleek, soft pop-rock" that's also a cohesive concept record, one focused on breakups and "the hard-won independence you earn from them."

It's perhaps "too on the nose" that George Michael's "Freedom! '90" is sampled on the opening track, said Rachel Aroesti in The Guardian. Much of the album "fixates on the bitter end of a flawed relationship," evoking the breakup of lead vocalist Danielle Haim and Ariel Rechtshaid, producer of the band's first three albums. At first the Michael sample doesn't quite fit the tune, but then a guitar solo kicks in and this "Frankenstein's monster of a song" turns brilliant. Some of the remaining tracks are "instantly forgettable." But the sisters have packed in a few other gems, including "Relationships," an "absurdly delightful" single and "the best pop song they've ever made."

'Addison' by Addison Rae

★★★

Addison Rae, against all odds, has just released "one of the most exciting pop records of the year," said Jaeden Pinder in Paste. This caps a year in which the former TikTok teen sensation transformed herself from a "flop star" to "the next left-of-center diva" because she "put her scrunched-up nose to the grindstone" and started making music she cared about. Back in 2021, Rae's ultraprocessed first single, "Obsessed," was widely mocked. But the 24-year-old has since teamed with two female songwriter-producers, and the young trio clearly draw inspiration from today's pop vanguard. You can hear Lana Del Rey's influence on "Diet Pepsi," while "New York" mixes Charli XCX–style electroclash with early FKA twigs.

Addison arrives in the wake of "a string of improbably great singles, each one a little weirder than the last," said Meaghan Garvey in Pitchfork. After "Diet Pepsi" came "Aquamarine"—"a four-on-the-floor siren song" reminiscent of Madonna's "Ray of Light." Throughout, "there's something potent in Rae's winking performance—a borderline unhinged devotion to the American promise that a person's destiny is entirely in their hands."

'Tether' by Annahstasia

★★★★

Annahstasia, a Los Angeles–based singer-songwriter, is "a once-in-a-generation vocalist" who has been trapped in a bad record contract for 13 years, said Laura Molloy in NME. But with her debut album, the 30-year-old is not only sharing the kind of music she's always wanted to make. She's also claiming "her rightful place as a pioneer of modern folk, propelling the genre forward by weaving in moments of tense rock and intoxicating blues."

Silenced for too long by handlers who steered her in a poppier direction, Annahstasia "has a lot to say" here, all in a husky purr that commands attention even in the sparest arrangements. And on Tether, she "balances the sweet, poignant lyrical observations of Joni Mitchell with the sensuality of Sade's Love Deluxe and the immense vocal power of Nina Simone." It's "as beautiful a record as you will hear this year," and it "heralds the arrival of a major talent," said Steve Baltin in the Los Angeles Times. "Gentle, soft, elegant, and graceful in a way that calls to mind a female Nick Drake," the album is "actually a bold statement to dare listeners to think and feel this much in these tumultuous times."

Summer is about to hit the calendar — which means some of the music industry's biggest names are also arriving on stage for a series of summer concerts. Soak in the rays with some of your favorites by snagging tickets.

Bad Bunny

Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny is widely considered one of the most influential Latin artists of the 21st century. He will head back to his roots for his "Debí Tirar Más Fotos" world tour, which will take listeners through his sixth studio album. The shows themselves will be held in Puerto Rico, as the singer's "globetrotting and success only made Bad Bunny miss his home even more," said Time. But for those of you who can't make it to Puerto Rico, don't worry; Bad Bunny has a series of shows lined up across the world going into next year. (through July 2026)

Beyoncé

Beyoncé may say, "This ain't Texas," but the Lone Star State is on tap for the global icon's ongoing "Cowboy Carter" tour. The concert is a backdrop to the album of the same name, released in 2024, that saw Beyoncé transition toward country music. The show itself is quite the spectacle and features "flying cars, mechanical bulls and a sprawling 40-song (!) set list," said GQ. There are plenty of shows throughout the summer to choose from, in multiple U.S. states and several countries. (through July)

Ethel Cain

Singer and songwriter Ethel Cain has left an indelible mark on the indie rock and folk genres, with her music becoming well-known in both worlds. Now she is embarking on her fourth concert tour in as many years with her "Willoughby Tucker Forever" tour, named after her upcoming second studio album, "Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You." The tour marks another prominent career milestone for Cain, who at just 27 has already appeared on the Forbes 30 under 30 list and has performed with the likes of Mitski, Florence and the Machine, and more. (through November)

Lady Gaga

Get ready to again go gaga for Lady Gaga. The pop superstar will head out on her "Mayhem Ball" tour in support of her sixth studio album, "Mayhem." Tour stops will entertain fans across the United States, Europe, Australia and Asia. Even at the height of her fame, the tour shows that Gaga isn't slowing down, as the "Mayhem Ball" Tour marks her second world tour in three years. Gaga has previously talked about returning to her roots with the type of bubbly pop sound that made her famous, and this tour looks to be no exception. (through January 2026)

Metallica

You can enter the Sandman once more with Metallica's "M72" world tour, which is being held in conjunction with the iconic heavy metal band's new studio album, "72 Seasons." Many music fans may already have gotten a glimpse of this show, as the tour has been happening on and off across global venues since 2023. The band's rabid following doesn't seem lost on them: The fans are a "huge part of our show. They're the show for us," Metallica's lead vocalist, James Hetfield, told Apple Music prior to the tour's start. (through November)

Nine Inch Nails

If Metallica isn't your speed, there is another rock band that is also embarking on a journey, as Nine Inch Nails will be heading out on their "Peel it Back" tour throughout the summer. The band, which has been described by some as "industrial rock," has won a slew of awards but hasn't released a new album in five years.

The tour will mark a resurgence for the widely followed band, marking their first major shows since 2022. They will also have a unique guest with them: A-list DJ Boys Noize is the band's opening act. (through September)

Shania Twain

Canadian darling Shania Twain is one of the best-selling musical artists in history, with her unique blend of country music endearing her to fans. Those who want to catch her live can do so in her summer 2025 tour, which is set to crisscross the United States and Canada. Twain herself has been extremely busy: She wrapped up her third Las Vegas residency this past February at the Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas. Don't get excited to hear any new music this time around, though, because Twain last released a new LP in 2023. (through August)

Teddy Swims

The genre-bending Teddy Swims got his start on YouTube but is now taking his talents to the global stage with his "I've Tried Everything but Therapy" tour. The tour, named for his debut studio album that released in 2023, marks a continuing ramp-up of popularity for Swims, who has collaborated with A-list singers like Maren Morris and Meghan Trainor. "It's such a wild thing to be doing what I love with my best friends in the world and touching people all over the world. It's so awesome," Swims told Today in an interview. (through September)

The Weeknd

The Weeknd has begun to shift away from the air of mystery that once defined him. He recently starred in a film using his real name, Abel Tesfaye, and has been conducting more interviews. But for those who still want The Weeknd, don't fret: Tesfaye's musical persona is embarking on the "After Hours 'til Dawn" tour largely in support of his sixth LP, "Hurry Up Tomorrow," as well as his two prior albums. The tour has been ongoing since 2022, but Tesfaye is continuing his film career, with another project, "Rolling Loud," set for release next year. (through September)

Yo La Tengo

Yo La Tengo has been in the collective minds of music fans since the 1980s and has left a lasting legacy on the industry. Having released a whopping 17 studio albums and known for their cover songs, the band is heading out on a summer tour, so their fans can hear some of their classic tunes in person. The tour, which will take place in the U.S. and South America, comes following Yo La Tengo's 40-year anniversary in 2024, and the band has since had hit performances everywhere from NPR's Tiny Desk to major music stages. (through November)

Put those heavy clothes away, as summer has finally arrived. And with its arrival, a selection of new music from some top artists has landed. Many of these singers are using the summer months as a platform to release new albums.

Lifeguard, 'Ripped and Torn'

If you head to the beach this summer, there may be more than one Lifeguard there — the indie rock band, based in Chicago, will be releasing their second studio album, "Ripped and Torn." Unlike their debut LP, which was self-released in 2021, the up-and-coming group will release "Ripped and Torn" through a record label, Matador Records, marking another milestone for the band. Lifeguard has a "destabilizing take on melodic post-punk and high velocity hardcore," according to Matador, and the album, including the single "It Will Get Worse," is out now.

Haim, 'I Quit'

The Haim sisters have been branching out recently, but are sticking to their musical roots by preparing to release their fourth LP, "I Quit." The album marks the California trio's first LP in five years (and also the first since band member Alana Haim made her Hollywood debut in the 2021 Paul Thomas Anderson Film "Licorice Pizza"). The upcoming album is "about a sense of release, or an 'exhale'" and speaks to the "post-quitting high, rather than relitigating the shit that led to the quitting," the band told GQ. The lead single from the album, "Relationships," is out now. (album out June 20)

Yaya Bey, 'Do It Afraid' (June 20)

Yaya Bey has become one of the most renowned R&B singers of the last half-decade, and she isn't showing signs of slowing down: Bey is about to release her sixth studio album, "Do It Afraid," just one year after the release of her fifth LP, "Ten Fold." The Brooklyn artist may be going in a different direction, though, as her upcoming album "steps into a more dance-heavy direction" compared to her prior work, said Pitchfork. Bey will also venture on a tour across the U.S. to promote the album. A single from the album, "Dream Girl," is out now. (album out June 20)

Barbra Streisand, 'The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume Two'

Babs has been dominating the charts for decades and remains a global pop icon. Now, Barbra Streisand is teaming with a slew of collaborators to release her 37th LP, "The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume Two." The studio album is a companion and spiritual successor to her 2014 LP "Partners." The album "brings together timeless talents, each with their own unique vocal styles," said Streisand's website, and features duets with Mariah Carey, Bob Dylan, Josh Groban, Paul McCartney, Tim McGraw and more. The LP's lead single, "The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face," is out now. (album out June 27)

Lorde, 'Virgin'

In her smash-hit 2013 single "Royals," Lorde calls herself Queen Bee, and many in the alternative pop space feel she has earned that title. Now, the New Zealand pop star is about to release her fourth studio album, "Virgin." Details about the songs remain unclear, but the album itself is "100% WRITTEN IN BLOOD," Lorde wrote in the LP's announcement. The LP is "like bathwater, windows, ice, spit. Full transparency. The language is plain," she added, while also revealing that it was partially inspired by singer Charli XCX. A single from the album, "What Was That," is out now. (album out June 27)

Burna Boy, 'No Sign of Weakness'

Burna Boy has helped put West African music and Afrobeats on the map globally, and now the chart-topping Nigeria native is readying the release of his eighth studio album, "No Sign of Weakness." The LP is the culmination of several singles that Burna Boy has released in prior months, and his recent work has helped him soar toward mainstream prominence. This includes a recent single with rapper Travis Scott, as well as a collaboration with Coldplay. A single from the LP, "Update," is out now. (album out July 20)

Backstreet Boys, 'Millennium 2.0'

Backstreet's back, alright. The Backstreet Boys are preparing to release a new album — sort of — as the iconic boy band is issuing a re-release of its 1999 LP "Millennium." The re-release, dubbed "Millennium 2.0," will feature 25 songs, including all 12 of the album's original singles, as well as "live recordings, demos" and an "alternate version of 'I Want It That Way,'" said the group's website. A new single from the Backstreet Boys, "HEY," is also set to be included on the LP. This could mark a new beginning for "Millennium," which originally topped the charts on its debut. (album out July 11)

The Black Keys, 'No Rain, No Flowers'

The Black Keys have gone from humble beginnings in Ohio to becoming one of the most notable rock duos of the 21st century. They are putting out music at a rapid pace, having released three studio albums over the last four years, and are preparing to drop their 13th LP, "No Rain, No Flowers."

The Black Keys are embarking on a tour of the same name to promote the album, which "leans in to their collaborative nous, with The Black Keys inviting musicians perhaps better known as songwriters into the studio," said Clash. The album's eponymous single is out now. (album out Aug. 8)

Jonas Brothers, 'Greetings From Your Hometown'

The Jonas Brothers have remained in the collective memory of millennials for years, and now they are getting ready for their second studio album in as many years with their upcoming eighth LP, "Greetings From Your Hometown." The boy band's next outing is heavily influenced by their upbringing in New Jersey. The band "walked the streets we grew up on, visited the exact places where we sat while dreaming up what this band could be," the brothers said on Instagram. The "album is filled with pieces of that." A single from the LP, "Love Me to Heaven," is out now. (album out Aug. 8)

No Joy, 'Bugland'

Jasamine White-Gluz, better known as No Joy, performs one of the least-known indie rock genres: shoegaze. But this hasn't stopped her from making a dent in the industry, and she has released four studio albums and is about ready to drop her sixth, "Bugland." The LP marks her first release of new music since 2022. Its title track is a "welcome sign of the album letting you know you've officially entered our world," White-Gluz said in a press release, and features the distorted vocals she has become known for. The LP's eponymous single is out now. (album out Aug. 8)

Sociable music breaks in lovely locations are sure to lift your spirits, said Stuart Kenny in The Guardian. Here are some of the best music and singing holidays to go on this year.

Singing in the Peaks

Amateur choral singers with a good level of experience might enjoy a trip with the likes of Singers Abroad, run by Graham Ross of Clare College, Cambridge. But you can find lovely holidays for singers of all abilities – such as HF Holidays' three-night break in the Peak District. Coach Su Grainger (founder of Singing Our Socks Off, a community choir in Liverpool) leads sessions in a "no-pressure" environment, and there's lots of time for walks in the area.

Folk under sail in Italy

Fans of folk music could try one of the many courses on offer at Halsway Manor – the National Centre for Folk Arts – in Somerset. But there are more adventurous options too, such as the tall-ship voyages run by Sessions and Sail: guests live aboard and take part in lessons, sessions and cèilidhs. The trips usually go along the west coast of Scotland, but this October there's a voyage around the Aeolian islands, north of Sicily. No experience – musical or maritime – is required.

Arabic songs in Morocco

On a five-night trip to Marrakech with Singing Holidays, guests take part in daily group sessions with the Belgian-Moroccan singer Laïla Amezian, exploring local folk songs, AraboAndalusian melodies, and the Judeo-Arabic vocal tradition. There's also the chance to sing some modern compositions inspired by ancient Arabic poetry. Accommodation is in a "leafy" riad in the medina, and there's lots of time to explore the city. Singers at all levels of experience are welcome.

Piano at Chetham's

There are lots of opportunities around Europe for amateur pianists looking to brush up their skills, while socialising with those who share their love of the instrument. Among the best known is the Chetham's Piano Summer School, at Chetham's School of Music in Manchester. Roughly 200 guests attend the two-week-long course, tutored by well-known classical pianists. There is the opportunity to focus on jazz, composition, the Taubman technique, and more, and beginners are welcome.

Concert ticket prices have risen sharply in recent years. Arena gig tickets have more than doubled, in real terms, since the turn of the century. For the biggest artists, increases have been bigger still. A basic standing ticket to see Oasis at Wembley Stadium on their last tour, in 2009, cost £44 (around £70 adjusted for inflation). The official price, when tickets for the Wembley gig in July went on sale, was £151. The average ticket for Taylor Swift's Eras tour in the UK was £206.

This has become a political issue, and at the centre of the debate is the role of the world's largest ticket sales company, Ticketmaster, responsible for both these tours. The UK competition regulator launched an investigation into its sale of Oasis tickets, in particular into the use of "dynamic pricing". In March, President Trump signed an executive order promising "to bring common-sense reforms" to ticket sellers in America's live entertainment industry.

Exactly how big is Ticketmaster?

If not a monopoly player, it's a near-monopoly, controlling more than 75% of concert ticket sales at major venues in the US, and about 60% in the UK. In 2010 it merged with the world's largest live events company, Live Nation, which controls more than 265 concert venues in the US; and owns or part-owns the Academy Music Group chain of venues, and festivals from Reading to Latitude, in the UK. Live Nation, now Ticketmaster's parent company, is also a major promoter (organising, funding and publicising music events), which promoted 54,000 events last year. It manages artists, too; and it's a big player in advertising and sponsorship, event parking, food and drink sales, merchandise and security. The US Department of Justice describes it as a "live entertainment ecosystem"; Liam Byrne MP, chair of the Commons Business Committee, says it has "more arms than an octopus".

What has it been accused of?

Live Nation "has faced allegations of predatory pricing, misleading fees, restrictive contracts, technical blunders, suppressing or colluding with competitors and generally abusing its monopolistic power", said Dorian Lynskey in The Guardian. Fans struggle to get tickets for big events, often facing technical problems, and long online queues; its app is notoriously awful and glitchy. Pricing is opaque. Which? has complained about the "drip pricing" of extra fees – on a £45 ticket, you might get a £6.10 service charge, a £1.75 facility charge, and a £2.75 order processing fee – making it hard to estimate the final price.

As a result, Ticketmaster is very unpopular among fans. The country musician Zach Bryan released a live album called "All My Homies Hate Ticketmaster". A poll for More in Common found that 58% of Britons would like to see it nationalised.

What does Ticketmaster say?

Michael Rapino, chief executive of Live Nation, claims that big concerts are still "massively underpriced". He may have a point. Demand is often high, and supply is limited. An estimated ten million fans wanted tickets for Oasis, so they could have been priced much higher, and still sold out. A live concert is a special experience; people, even on modest incomes, will pay large sums to see acts they love.

And many forces have contributed to price rises. The internet has reduced music sales, so artists now depend on concert fees for nearly all of their income; big artists insist on a high proportion of the revenue from ticket sales. Shows have become more spectacular and expensive to stage. Inflation has been high, and VAT is 20%. The ticket price is shared between, in rough order: artist (including crew, transport etc.), venue, VAT, promoter and ticket seller. Ticketmaster – or a rival such as AEG – might pick up 10% of the total price. Live Nation says its ticket profit margins are less than 2%. Finally, "scalping" can also drive up prices.

What is scalping?

In the early 2000s, sites such as StubHub launched as legitimate platforms for fans to resell unwanted tickets. But many have been exploited by touts, who buy large numbers of tickets to resell at inflated prices. The problem has been made worse by scalper "bots", which bombard ticketing sites with purchases destined for resale. Such bots are illegal in the UK, but are hard to police.

So is Ticketmaster in the clear?

No. Last May, the US Justice Department filed an anti-monopoly suit against Live Nation; the then assistant attorney general, Doha Mekki, claimed that Ticketmaster is rife with "abuse, exploitation and self-dealing". The case is ongoing; it has been reported that it may try to break up the company.

The UK Competition and Markets Authority found that Ticketmaster and Live Nation may have breached consumer laws by selling Oasis tickets at almost 2.5 times the standard price, without explaining that they came with no additional benefits, and by demanding a higher price than initially quoted after a lengthy queuing process.

What can artists do about it?

Many artists – Bruce Springsteen, Taylor Swift, Neil Young – have complained publicly about Ticketmaster. As far back as the 1990s, the US rock band Pearl Jam tried to organise a tour without using the company, but concluded that it was nearly impossible. There are, though, things that artists with substantial followings can do. They can reject dynamic pricing, as Coldplay and Neil Young have done. Or they can go further, like The Cure's Robert Smith. On The Cure's last tour, not only was dynamic pricing rejected, but tickets were priced at as little as £16, and resale was prohibited. Arguably, says Dorian Lynksey, Smith "made things awkward for artists by proving that they set the prices and dictate the conditions" – though they are happy for Ticketmaster to take the blame.

There's the sound of banjos, fiddles and tin whistles everywhere, as Irish trad music enjoys a roaring resurgence.

It's resonating "fiercely" with young people, who "roar out the lyrics" in pubs under the "looming threat that we might run of out of Guinness", said The Independent. One venue owner compared the phenomenon to Beatlemania, as "clamouring" fans of Irish folk flock to see their favourite trad acts.

'Changing the face of trad'

The success of Ryan Coogler's vampire film "Sinners", which features Irish ballads and reels aplenty, has helped put the genre in the spotlight. More widely, Irish indie folk band Kingfishr are topping the charts, while acts like The Mary Wallopers and Lankum are also helping to connect younger audiences with these traditional sounds.

We're "changing the face of trad" but "keeping the tradition there, too", all-female trad group Cailíní Lua told The Irish World. The "stereotype" is of "lads in Aran jumpers and beards", band member Tara Brady said. People "can't believe" that women could form a trad band, but there's a "strength" and a "power" in that.

Lisa Canny, from the 11-piece trad group BIIRD, told Image magazine that trad "needed a new image" to ensure that it "connects with everyone" and reaches audiences "in a contemporary way".

'Subconscious protest'

The popularity of Irish folk sounds could also be a "subconscious protest against the rise of AI and the forced homogenisation of our musical palettes", said The Independent. It is, perhaps, the equivalent of young people "ditching their iPhones in favour of a Nokia 3210", because they've realised that new "doesn't always mean better".

Young people have been "starved of communication, of human interaction", button accordionist and "trad legend" Máirtín O’Connor told the paper. Folk music is "very much music of human interaction, celebration and commiseration", and "quite the opposite" of "isolating technology". People feel "oversaturated by screens", particularly after the isolation of the Covid pandemic, said singer-songwriter David Keenan. We're entering an "era of romanticism", and looking at culture again.

For young people in Ireland, traditional music offers a "reaffirmed sense of national identity and pride", said Image. It's not that "we were lacking in patriotism before" but, for a time, we "found the outside world more alluring". Now, BIIRD's Lisa Canny told the magazine, "the focus has started to come back in".

Fundamentally, trad is popular because it's "very inclusive, egalitarian" and "everyone gets the chance to play it", Jason O'Rourke, who plays a 1920s vintage concertina, told the BBC. It's no wonder it's become a "global phenomenon".

Campaigners battling to prevent back-to-back festivals closing off large sections of a south London park are taking Lambeth Council to court. And, as the Protect Brockwell Park group readies for a summer of protest, a wider debate is raging over what public green spaces are for, and who should have access to them.

'Sacrosanct' spaces

For most people who live in British cities, the local park is their "only regular contact with the natural world", said Rebecca Tamás in The Guardian, and now this is "at risk". These "once protected havens for humans and wildlife alike", are being cordoned off for weeks at a time, with access sold by councils to promoters of music concerts and festivals. Defending urban green spaces is "as crucial as keeping sewage from our rivers"; "however cash-strapped" local councils are, "these spaces should be sacrosanct".

It's not just the lack of access, the noise and the disruption that's annoying locals; it's the mark these events leave on the parks – quite literally. In Glasgow, campaigners complained about gigs at Bellahouston Park trampling hundreds of wild flowers and damaging footpaths; in Newcastle, locals were dismayed by the damage done by event vehicles to stone pillars and large areas of grass, after a festival in Leazes Park last summer.

The increasing commercial use of parks "might be easier to swallow" if the profits were ploughed back into essential council services, said Matthew Garrahan in the Financial Times. But that's by no means the norm: the takings from Lambeth's Brockwell Park events, for example, will go into various community projects and "park maintenance – more of which will surely be needed in the aftermath".

Bog off, locals!

Locals may argue that festivals are "too popular, too populous, too loud" and "too bloody messy", but they can "bog off", said Maddy Mussen in London's The Standard. The opposition to holding events in public spaces "makes me bristle". I'm sorry for "the babies and pensioners who have a few sleepless nights" but this issue is "bigger than them".

I'd say the "price of unfettered access to a gorgeous park" for 348 days a year is the 17 days "you surrender it to make 30,000 other people very happy".

Live music in Britain is "in a perilous position", with its steady decline "exacerbated horribly" by the Covid pandemic, said Ben Lawrence in The Telegraph. The music sector contributed £6.1 billion to the economy last year, and "big tours", by the likes of Coldplay, accounted for three-quarters of the total. The up-and-coming acts who play in these events "may be the Coldplays of tomorrow"; with fewer live music venues than ever, their careers are "reliant" on these park festivals.

"There's not much that the Conservatives, the SNP and Labour agree on", but the band Kneecap has "pulled off the improbable and united political opponents against them", said The Spectator.

Criticism of the Irish rappers has been mounting after video footage emerged of a 2023 gig, appearing to show one member of the trio saying, "The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP." The band has issued an apology but several of their gigs have now been cancelled amid what their manager has called a wave of "moral hysteria", said the BBC.

A Downing Street spokesperson called the apology "half-hearted" and condemned "in the strongest possible terms" other comments Kneecap appear to have made "about the situation in the Middle East". The Metropolitan Police has said its counter-terrorism unit is assessing both the alleged call to murder MPs, and other footage apparently showing a band member shouting, "Up Hamas, up Hezbollah."

From Belfast to Baftas to backlash

The Belfast-based group was formed in 2017 by friends Liam Og Ó Hannaidh, Naoise Ó Caireallain and JJ Ó Dochartaigh. They rap in both English and Irish about working-class Belfast culture and post-Troubles Northern Ireland. (Their name is a reference to the punishment Republican paramilitaries would inflict, during the Troubles, on people they believed to be drug-dealers and child molesters.)

After the success of their second studio album, "Fine Art", their semi-autobiographical film, in which the band members played themselves alongside established actors like Michael Fassbender, won the 2025 Bafta for Outstanding Debut.

Kneecap's "punky attitude, fondness for coke and ketamine, anti-coloniser stance on British rule and defiant refusal to let the English language drown out their native tongue has made them social-media folk heroes", said The Scotsman. It has also made them "targets for right-wing tabloids and the British government".

Coachella censorship

Earlier this month, the group's set at US music festival Coachella "caught the attention of the world", with its "heavy political messaging" about Israel's bombardment of Gaza, said Business Insider. Organisers "attempted to censor the band" by removing their second set from the livestream, but this "only increased interest in the performance".

Former "The X Factor" judge Sharon Osbourne called for their US work visas to be revoked, saying they "openly support terrorist organisations". Kneecap's visa sponsor subsequently dropped them, meaning they'll need a new sponsor to be able to play their sellout North America tour in October.

'Coordinated smear campaign'

On Monday, after the daughter of MP David Amess, who was killed by an Islamic State fanatic in 2021, said that "this kind of rhetoric" should not be tolerated, Kneecap posted their "heartfelt apologies" to the families of Amess and Jo Cox, the MP murdered in 2016. "We never intended to cause you hurt," the band said in the 500-word statement on X. "We also reject any suggestion that we would seek to incite violence against any MP or individual. Ever."

Nevertheless, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has said Kneecap should be prosecuted and "banned full stop", as their "glorification of terrorism and anti-British hatred has no place in our society". Badenoch and Kneecap are "already known to each other", said Sky News. When she was business secretary, she blocked a £14,250 government arts grant the group had won; last November, Kneecap won a discrimination challenge over that decision.

The group maintain that they are facing a "coordinated smear campaign". They said the footage about MPs was "deliberately taken out of all context" and "is now being exploited and weaponised, as if it were a call to action. This distortion is not only absurd – it is a transparent effort to derail the real conversation."

And, although they "won't be silenced" about "the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people", they have said, "Let us be unequivocal: we do not, and have never, supported Hamas or Hezbollah."

US popstar Chappell Roan has caused a stir with her statement that nobody she knows with children is happy.

The 27-year-old said she wasn't aware of "a single person who is happy and has children, at this age", adding that "all of my friends who have kids are in hell" and she had "not met anyone" who "has light in their eyes who has a child under five, at this age".

Mummy politics

There's "nothing like mummy politics" for "touching the maximum number of raw nerves in one go", said Sarah Ditum in The Times. I "wouldn't dispute" Roan's "general point" because having a baby is "tough".

Remembering when she first had babies, Ditum said it wouldn't be "surprising" if "on some days you saw me and my eyes were less than glowing", but "when I remember their infancy", I'm "thinking about how their chunky little bodies sat perfectly on my hips", and "how good it felt to make them laugh".

It's "news to precisely no one" that babies are "hard work", wrote Melanie McDonagh in The Telegraph, but they're also "very good fun". So maybe Roan's "just empathising" with parents' challenges, but "there’s a line between sympathy and a put down".

Also, with birth rates already falling, if "childless celebs" like Roan make having children sound like "a threat to mental health, it's not going to help, is it"?

Writing in The Guardian about when she first became a mum, Molly Glassey remembered the "insane dichotomy that was my postpartum mental state", when most of all, she "needed to whinge".

So perhaps Roan is "simply a good friend" who has "listened to her friends" as they "navigate the perils of early parenthood". If she "assumed her friends were unhappy" that's "probably an understandable conclusion", even if "it might not be the right one".

Lightning rod

"Look at how quickly this lightning rod can divide two sets of women," observed Maddy Mussen in London's The Standard. Women who are "probably on the same side of many other political, social and economic arguments" get involved in "female infighting every day of the week", when it comes to parenting.

Every friend who "plans to be childfree forever" has "endured the crushing, needling criticism of her family, asking her every other month if she's 'changed her mind' yet", and many mothers "look at childfree women like they're unfeeling aliens".

Roan "made it incredibly clear" that she was "only speaking about the experience of people she knows in real life", wrote Stephanie Soteriou for BuzzFeed, so it is "pretty alarming" parents have "taken her quotes as an attack on them and their experiences".

Writing for MSNBC, Danielle Campoamor, said she was "too busy wiping faeces" off her "three-month-old's legs" to give "full attention" to the remarks, so why not assume "it's a given" that mothers love their children and instead "focus on the fact that no matter how loving they are", they're "still miserable".

Sporting platform boots, red patent leather, and lipstick, David Johansen was a flashy pioneer of proto-punk. As frontman for the New York Dolls—a short-lived, off-the-walls, gender-bending band of the early 1970s—Johansen put a New York City spin on the burgeoning punk rock scene. After the band broke up in 1976, Johansen underwent a total transformation, morphing into Buster Poindexter: a pompadoured lounge singer of winking suavity. The alter ego brought Johansen his first real commercial success, when his cover of the calypso song “Hot Hot Hot” hit No. 11. His most impactful work, though, was with the Dolls, a band that influenced the Sex Pistols, the Ramones, and even the Smiths—as a teen, Morrissey was head of the Dolls’ British fan club. “Our total attitude towards art was, like, get up and do something,” Johansen said in 2006. “Quit sitting there whining.”

Johansen was born on Staten Island to an Irish librarian mother and a Norwegian opera singer turned insurance salesman father. After high school, he “fell in with the New York City hipster scenes,” said The New York Times, and learned stagecraft working for an indie theater company. In 1971, at 21, he joined the newly formed Dolls. What they lacked in musical polish they made up for in “swagger, shock value, and song-writing.” Their first gig was at a homeless shelter; a year later, they were touring England as Rod Stewart’s opening act. But “drug addiction hobbled the band,” and it dissolved after releasing two albums. In the 1980s, Johansen as Poindexter “was known as a playful throwback to the Rat Pack era,” said The Washington Post, as he led conga lines and tossed out zingy one-liners.

“His larger-than-life onstage persona soon drew the attention of Hollywood,” said Rolling Stone. Small parts on shows like Miami Vice and in films, led to a memorable role as the Ghost of Christmas Past in Scrooged (1988) and a close friendship with Bill Murray. Johansen spent his final years battling a brain tumor and a broken back, and he had to appeal for money through a musicians’ charity to pay his medical bills. He outlived his bandmates, though. The members had reunited just once, in 2004, for a music festival in London. “I started listening to the records to prepare for the show, and I was quite surprised how good they were,” Johansen recalled. “Pretty genius lyrics, if I do say so myself.”

The chills of winter are nearly over, with the calendar turning to spring and the snow melting. As the weather begins to warm, you can get back into the swing of live music with a series of concert tours from some big-name artists.

Ed Sheeran

Ed Sheeran has grown to become one of the most popular singers of his generation, and now the red-haired, lanky Englishman is getting ready to embark on his next concert tour. Sheeran's "+–=÷× (Mathematics)" Tour is the singer's fourth of his career and comes in support of a pair of his albums: 2021's "=" and 2023's "-." Sheeran has been touring throughout the world over the past few years. Beginning in April, the tour will take him to 16 cities in 12 countries throughout Europe, Scandinavia and the Middle East. He previously played in several cities across the U.S. in 2024. (through September 2025)

Usher

Usher is widely recognized as one of the most influential R&B artists of all time, and now he is getting ready to go cross-continent with his "Past Present Future" Tour. The singer, who recently completed his highly anticipated residency at Caesar's Palace and Park MGM in Las Vegas, will perform in five cities throughout Europe, the Middle East and Scandinavia, including 10 shows in London (eight of which are already sold out). Usher has been on the move this past year in the U.S., having finished the American leg of his tour in December. (through May 2025)

Gracie Abrams

These past few years have seen several Gen Z singers burst onto the scene, and Gracie Abrams is certainly among them. Since releasing her debut album, "Good Riddance," in 2023, Abrams has been on a significant rise, and now the daughter of director J.J. Abrams is hitting the road again. Abrams' "The Secret of Us" Tour supports her second LP of the same name and will feature shows in an astounding 32 cities across Asia, Oceania, Europe and the U.S. Abrams is "extremely grateful for the opportunity to tour this album," she said on Instagram. (through August 2025)

Sabrina Carpenter

Speaking of Gen Z singers, there might not be a bigger name in the industry right now than Sabrina Carpenter. She has been on a stratospheric rise the past few years and at the age of 25 has already released six studio albums. Her latest "Short n' Sweet" Tour will be in support of her sixth LP of the same name, featuring her hit singles "Espresso" and "Please Please Please." The tour will run the majority of the year and feature 38 shows in cities across Europe, Scandinavia and the U.S., with the latter set to feature an additional North American leg. (through November 2025)

LCD Soundsystem

LCD Soundsystem remains one of the most popular "electronic" rock bands of this century, becoming one of the pioneers of the then still-recent genre. The band is currently working on their upcoming fifth LP and are embarking on a North American and European tour before it drops. The tour runs through the summer and features 22 concerts in 10 cities across the United States and Europe. As far as that new album? "Don't ask me when that is, because we're still working on it. But it feels very good to be putting out new music," the band said on Instagram last November. (through June 2025)

Coldplay

When popular rock bands come to mind, Coldplay is at the top of the list. The group has released 10 LPs during their career, and is embarking on their "Music of the Spheres" World Tour in support of two they recently released: 2021's "Music of the Spheres" and 2024's "Moon Music." This marks Coldplay's first live tour since the Covid-19 pandemic and will feature 39 shows in cities throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia. There may not be a ton of time left to hear Coldplay's new tunes: The band is "only going to do 12 proper albums," said frontman Chris Martin. (through September 2025)

Phish

Phish is not the only rock band on this list, but they might be the one with the most devoted following. Fans of the group will follow them wherever they perform, and those loyalists will have a chance to do that this spring when the band embarks on a North American tour.

The tour will feature eight shows in four American cities and will be followed by a longer summer tour crisscrossing the United States. For those who cannot catch the concerts, there is a website offering recordings of their live shows. (through July 2025)

Kendrick Lamar and Sza

Fresh off his Super Bowl halftime extravaganza, Kendrick Lamar is still "Not Like Us," as the acclaimed rapper and musician will be headlining his "Grand National Tour" from spring through the summer. Lamar will be joined on stage by R&B star SZA, and the tour will be one of his biggest yet. It will feature nearly 40 shows in 31 cities across the U.S., Europe and Scandinavia. The concert is in support of Lamar's sixth LP, "GNX," which was released to critical acclaim in 2024 and features his hit singles "Luther" and "Squabble Up." (through August 2025)

Kane Brown

Kane Brown is one of country music's up-and-coming stars, and recently released his fourth album, "The High Road," featuring collaborations with icons like Jelly Roll and Brad Paisley. Those who want to hear the songs live are in luck, because Brown is embarking on a tour of the same name in support of the LP. The tour is a massive one, set to feature 50 shows across the U.S., Canada and Europe. The tour life is not a new one for Brown, who at the age of 31 has already embarked on numerous concert journeys since he began his career in 2016. (through October 2025)

Djo

Djo is the stage name of Joe Keery, who has gone from being an actor on the hit Netflix series "Stranger Things" to one of the most popular singers of his era. His song "End of Beginning" on his second LP made waves on social media, and now Keery is capitalizing on that success by embarking on the "Back on You World Tour." The tour, Keery's first as a musician, will be in support of his forthcoming studio album "The Crux." It will feature more than 30 shows in cities across the U.S., Canada and Europe, with Keery's former band Post Animal joining for many of them. (through June 2025)

Watching a "top-notch" opera is a "unique thrill", said Nicholas Kenyon in The Telegraph. The "unforgettable mix of words, music, action and spectacle" can be spellbinding. And, despite intense funding pressures, it's still possible to get tickets for world-renowned shows around the UK at "affordable prices". Here are the best operas to look out for in 2025.

Peter Grimes

Benjamin Britten's iconic opera follows a tormented fisherman, Peter Grimes, who finds himself ostracised by his community following the mysterious disappearance of his apprentice. British tenors hoping to bag the title role in the "ferocious drama" must "form an orderly queue", said Neil Fisher in The Times. Next to take a "stab" at the part is "charismatic" Nicky Spence, who stars in Melly Still's Welsh National Opera production, alongside a "high-calibre cast" including Sarah Connolly and Sally Matthews.

5 –11 April, Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff, then touring until 7 June; wno.org.uk

The Merry Widow

Franz Lehár's "melody-rich, fun-filled operetta" about a wealthy young widow on her quest for love is a "classic of its Viennese genre", said Kenyon in The Telegraph. This new co-production from Scottish Opera and Opera Holland Park transports the drama to "glitzy 1950s Manhattan" and stars Paula Sides as "merry widow" Hanna and Alex Otterburn as "eligible bachelor" Danilo. Directed by "operetta specialist" John Savournin, it's set to be a real treat.

30 April – 4 May, Theatre Royal Glasgow, then touring until 28 June, scottishopera.org.uk

Carmen

Georges Bizet's 1875 opera scandalised its first audiences in Paris but nowadays "Carmen" is "ever popular", said Laura Wybrow in Radio Times. Set in a remote Spanish town, the tale follows Don José, a naïve police officer who is seduced by the fiery and "free-spirited" Carmen and soon abandons his stable career for a life of danger. Featuring some of the "most recognisable melodies in all of classical music", Damiano Michieletto's staging at the Royal Opera House is not to be missed.

9 April – 3 July, Royal Opera House, London, rbo.org.uk

Wahnfried

Israeli composer Avner Dorman's opera about Richard Wagner's "toxic family" is coming to Gloucestershire this summer, said Fisher in The Times. Starting with the death of the German composer and spanning 40 years of history, the "much praised" production explores how Wagner's music became associated with Nazism and the fascinating question of who controls the narrative of an artist's work after they're gone.

27 May – 14 June, Longborough Festival, Gloucestershire, lfo.org.uk

The Mikado

Opera della Luna is returning to The Lowry with its "most vibrant, zany and popular production ever", said Wolf McFarlane in Manchester Wire. The British touring theatre troupe has taken Gilbert and Sullivan's celebrated operetta and transported the action to the "sequin-studded world of modern high-fashion houses". Expect "soaring vocals", madcap humour, and glamorous costumes inspired by Versace and Jean-Paul Gaultier.

8 –10 May, The Lowry, Manchester, thelowry.com

Owen Wingrave

Britten's "timelessly prescient" opera "brings new dimensions" to Henry James' "captivating" short story, said McFarlane in Manchester Wire. A powerful tale of "courage, family, self-determination and the inescapable cycle of history", the action follows a young man who defies his family's rigid military traditions and embraces pacifism. This new staging, directed by Orpha Phelan, rounds off a "stunning spring season" for the Royal Northern College of Music.

30 March – 5 April, Royal Northern College of Music Theatre, Manchester, rncm.ac.uk

Roberta Flack had no flash or gimmick to propel her to stardom. A schoolteacher in her 30s when she achieved fame, she was a classically trained pianist with a low-key demeanor and a restrained vocal style. But she had a knack for getting deep inside a song and finding its heart.

“Her voice touched, tapped, trapped, and kicked every emotion I’ve ever known,” said jazz musician Les McCann, who helped Flack get a record deal after seeing her perform in a nightclub. Flack notched some of the 1970s’ top hits, including “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” (1972) and “Killing Me Softly With His Song” (1973). A partnership with Donny Hathaway yielded others, such as the breezy “Where Is the Love” (1972). While known as a soul/R&B singer, Flack incorporated influences including jazz, pop, folk, and classical. “I didn’t try to be a soul singer, a jazz singer, a blues singer—no category,” she said in 2020. “My music is my expression of what I feel and believe in a moment.”

Roberta Cleopatra Flack was born in Black Mountain, N.C., where her father was a draftsman and her mother a church organist, said the Los Angeles Times. She began playing by ear at 4, and “before long was studying the work of Bach and Chopin” and performing in church. At 15, she won a scholarship to Howard University and later settled in Washington, D.C., where she taught music in schools by day and played clubs at night. She earned a devoted following, and after McCann lined her up with an audition at Atlantic Records, she recorded her debut album, First Take (1969), in a day. Sales were modest, said the Associated Press, until director Clint Eastwood used “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” over a key scene in his steamy thriller Play Misty for Me (1971). The “hushed, hymn-like ballad” shot to No. 1, and “Flack became an overnight star.”

Flack continued to “log chart hits through the ’70s,” said Variety, but fell out of favor as tastes moved “to the harder sounds of funk, rap, and hip-hop.” Yet she toured and recorded “into the new millennium,” having honed an unvarnished style that valued emotional expression over vocal razzle-dazzle. “My main interest is in telling my story through a song,” she said in 2020. “Tell the truth with clarity and honesty, so that the listener can feel their story.”

UK musicians have released a silent album as part of a wave of protests over plans to change UK law to make it easier for tech companies to train artificial intelligence models on artists' copyrighted work.

Kate Bush, Damon Albarn and Annie Lennox – among the 1000 musicians behind "Is This What We Want?" – are hoping to highlight what they say is the threat posed by AI to their livelihoods, and those of other artists, journalists and authors working in the UK.

How might the law change?

"Britain's creative sectors are the envy of the world – and a major contributor to this nation's global soft power over the past century", said Oliver Duff, The i Paper's editor-in-chief. Together, they also contribute around £125 billion a year to the British economy. This is "no accident" but rather the result of the UK's "gold-standard" copyright laws, "which have helped to attract and nurture creative talent", who can feel "confident that their work has lasting value".

The current copyright law is "very clear", said an editorial in The Guardian: text and data mining – the scraping of content used to train and feed generative AI models – is unlawful for commercial purposes, without a licence. "The principle that original material cannot be ripped off, and that creative people have rights over their work is widely understood and accepted."

Now, Labour has signalled an intention to change these laws to "make it easier for AI companies to use British creative content without payment or permission", said The i Paper. The government has been consulting on proposals that include a so-called "rights reservation" system, where every company, artist or author would need actively to "opt out" of having their work used and copied by tech groups to train their AI models.

According to a statement from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), the UK's "current regime for copyright and AI is holding back the creative industries, media and AI sector from realising their full potential – and that cannot continue".

But these proposals have been "framed in terms that are far too favourable to big tech", said The Guardian. And others have pointed out that "it is not possible for an individual writer or artist to notify thousands of different AI service providers that they do not want their content used", said the BBC.

What has the reaction been?

The proposals have been met with a "co-ordinated wave of protests" from thousands of British musicians, artists, authors and journalists, said the Financial Times.

Today, the last day of the government's consultation, every UK national and regional news brand is running the same "Make it Fair" cover "wrap" and homepage takeover – a first for the industry.

And, in an open letter to The Times, artists, writers and musicians, including Andrew Lloyd Webber, Sting, Paul McCartney, Kate Bush, Ed Sheeran, Elton John, Kazuo Ishiguro and Stephen Fry, have said that the proposals would "smash a hole in the moral right of creators to present their work as they wish".

Britain's creative industries "want to play their part in the AI revolution", the letter said, but there is "no moral or economic argument for stealing our copyright. Taking it away will devastate the industry and steal the future of the next generation".

The "extent of the anger" over these proposals creates difficulties for the government, as it seeks to "boost its tech, and specifically AI, industries" in the face of the US charge for much lighter AI regulation, said the FT.

The risk is that, if the UK does nothing or makes changes in "a more restrictive" way – such as requiring artists to opt in, rather than opt out – we would be "falling for the worst of all worlds, where we have neither protected the creative industries nor got a domestic AI industry", a government figure told the paper.

The counter argument, of course, is that, without the work of artists, musicians and journalists, there is nothing on which to train the AI models in the first place.

Vladimir Putin has ordered a reboot of the Soviet-era alternative to the Eurovision Song Contest, with more than a dozen countries said to be signed up.

The "despot" wants his "apparatchiks" to restore the "defunct" Intervideniye song contest as an "anti-woke rival to the sequin-laden and LGBT-friendly original", said The Telegraph.

Political beginnings

The Intervideniye contest (Intervision in English) began in Czechoslovakia in 1965 and ran for three years until it was taken off air following the Soviet-led invasion of the country in 1968. It was later revived by Polish television, which made it part of the existing Sopot International Song Festival.

The format was similar to Eurovision: countries from the Eastern Bloc linked up through the Intervision television network and each sent a performer, where a jury chose the winner after watching the contestants.

Despite its "clear political undertones", the contest had some connections with the West, said Euronews. European nations like the Netherlands and Spain "occasionally sent entries" and a "surprising twist" saw neutral Finland win the final Intervision contest in 1980.

Return under Putin's stern gaze

Russia then began to take part in Eurovision. "Throughout the 2000s," said The Guardian, the contest became one of Russia's "most highly anticipated events", with Moscow "frequently sending some of its biggest stars" to take part.

But over recent years Russia's relationship with Eurovision collapsed. In 2021, Manizha became the last Russian act to take part before the nation was thrown out after it invaded Ukraine. The following year Ukraine won the contest for the third time.

After Switzerland's pink-clad non-binary singer Nemo won Eurovision in 2024, the Russian government reacted angrily, saying the contest had "surpassed any orgy, revelry or ritual sacrilege" and become another "funeral" for Western Europe.

Putin signed a decree on Monday ordering officials to revive the Intervision song contest in Moscow this autumn, with the aim of "developing international cultural and humanitarian cooperation".

It will return under the "isolated" Putin's "stern gaze", said The Telegraph, and it's expected to serve up "staid patriotic fare". The contest will be "supervised by the Kremlin", said Politico, with Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko appointed chair of the organising committee and domestic policy chief Sergei Kiriyenko the chair of the supervisory board that will be "certifying the results".

Moscow claims "almost 20" nations have agreed to take part, said The Telegraph, including Brazil, Cuba, India and China, but a government spokesperson previously said more than 25 countries had expressed an interest.

What happened

Beyoncé won album of the year, best country album and best country duo/group performance at last night's Grammy Awards, while Kendrick Lamar's diss track "Not Like Us" took five Grammys, including song of the year and record of the year.

Who said what

Beyoncé's "high-concept, multigenre" album "Cowboy Carter" finally won her the top prize after "four conspicuous losses" in the category, The New York Times said. And Lamar's "vicious takedown" of Drake was a "notable double victory for any song and a rare win for rap in the Grammys' two most prestigious song categories."

Beyoncé, already "both the most awarded and nominated artist in Grammys history," was the first Black woman to win album of the year since Lauryn Hill in 1999, as well as the first Black artist ever to win best country album, The Associated Press said. She was presented the top album Grammy by members of the Los Angeles Fire Department, "one of several times the show reflected the recent wildfires" that ravaged LA. Chappell Roan was named best new artist, while Sabrina Carpenter won best pop solo performance and best pop vocal album for "Short n' Sweet." The Beatles song "Now and Then," resurrected with AI technology, won best rock performance.

What next?

Grammys host Trevor Noah said viewers donated at least $7 million to wildfire relief efforts.

Beyoncé's first Album of the Year Grammy is not only a "long-overdue recognition" but also addresses "the elephant in the room" that's been "lingering" over the Grammys for years, said Saeed Saeed in The National.

The singer scooped the award last night for her genre-bending album "Cowboy Carter", which explores the Black roots of country music, and it "should help atone for past perceived snubs".

Beyoncé was already the most-awarded artist in Grammys history, and she now becomes the first Black woman to be awarded the Album of the Year this century. The win "finally" ends Beyoncé's dubious honour of being the most-nominated female artist without a win in this category, said The Hollywood Reporter.

'Rightful throne in music'

"Making history is nothing new for Beyoncé" and, with her long-denied Album of the Year win, she continues to "claim her rightful throne in music".

"Cowboy Carter" has also put a spotlight on a host of other Black artists in the country music space, both past and present. The album, released in March, is a "paean to a panoply of traditions" that define the African-American experience, taking in genres "from folk to roots to country to rock to hip-hop", said Michael Patrick F. Smith in The New York Times. This is not merely a "tourist's trip into country music" but a "symphony" of cultures and genres.

Those who think that Taylor Swift was robbed of the album award this year are simply wrong, said Neil McCormick in The Telegraph. Beyoncé is an innovative artist who "keeps getting better and bolder with age", and her "fantastic country hybrid" project was clearly "head and shoulders" above the rest of the field.

'Glass ceiling'

The Grammys have been "crazy in love" with Beyoncé since she first burst onto the scene in 1999 as a member of Destiny's Child, said the New York Post. Her success since has been "staggering", with 99 nominations – the most of any artist in Grammys history. Yet, until last night, she has been routinely forced to perfect the "beauty-queen smile-and-clap routine" after four nominations for Album of the Year without a win.

Despite Beyoncé long being at the "absolute pinnacle of Black excellence", the time it has taken for her to win this award speaks of a "glass ceiling" for Black female artists, said Leah Sinclair in Stylist in 2023.

After such a "historic sense of grievance", this win is hugely symbolic as well as personal, said McCormick. While last night's gong may be, in effect, a "mid-career lifetime achievement award" for Beyoncé, it is, for the Grammys, a "much-needed course correction", said Saeed in The National.

The Blur bassist, farmer and writer chooses his favourite books. His account of the band's 2023 reunion tour, "Over the Rainbow: Tales from an Unexpected Year", is out now.

Moonraker

Ian Fleming, 1955

Nicholas Shakespeare's recent biography of Fleming is a mind-blower that left me wondering how one man could have changed the world so much. He's really hitting his stride as a novelist in this third "Bond" novel. The description of drink, drugs and dining at M's club Blades is the finest food writing I've ever read.

Vines in a Cold Climate

Henry Jeffreys, 2023

British Cheese Explosion. Now we're into The Champagne Supernova years. This book tells the incredible story of commercial British winemaking since its beginnings in the 1990s. There was simply no English wine commercially available then; now our sparkling wines rank among the world's best.

Love Triangle

Matt Parker, 2024

Parker's videos on YouTube take geekery to new levels. I've spent countless hours watching them, and his books are even better. Move over Euclid. This latest bestseller is a blissful blend of pure science and pure merriment.

Flying Colours

C.S. Forester, 1938

I started reading Forester recently when I found out that he discovered Roald Dahl, my first favourite author. He's probably best known for the "Hornblower" series about the Napoleonic Wars, taking you to another world as complete and as fantastical as Middle Earth. This sees our man Hornblower and his principal thugs, Bush and Brown, mount a thrilling escape from the firing squad.

The Secret Hours

Mick Herron, 2023

This "Slow Horses" spin-off fills in the backstory of wheelchair-user Molly. Sean Barrett, who narrates the audiobooks, apparently often has to pause when recording Jackson Lamb's lines because he can't stop laughing. So funny it actually hurts. So sad, it hurts, too.

"As you'll no doubt have heard by now", Robbie Williams is portrayed in this biopic – directed by The Greatest Showman's Michael Gracey – as an ape, said Patrick Cremona in Radio Times.

"More specifically", the pop star narrates the film, while he is played on screen by an actor (Jonno Davies) who has been transformed by computer wizardry, so that for "every minute of the movie", whether Robbie is grieving his beloved nan in rainy Stoke-on-Trent, "performing to thousands in concert, or snorting cocaine backstage, he's depicted as a chimpanzee". This takes a bit of getting used to, but eventually you "find yourself getting swept up in the sheer emotion of watching Robbie's story unfold across the extreme highs and disastrous lows". It helps, too, that the film is generously sprinkled with his hits, which are worked into the plot "via dynamically staged musical numbers".

Two things are remarkable about Williams being a chimp, said Robbie Collin in The Telegraph. One is the fact that no one in the film passes comment on it, not even his father (Steve Pemberton) or grandmother (Alison Steadman). The other is that about 15 minutes in, you find yourself idly thinking: how amazing that they found an actor who is such a close fit for the musician. As for the film, it's "occasionally corny, over ripe and self serving", but it uses every cinematic trick in the book to create some fabulous moments.

It's a curious "hodgepodge", agreed Jordan Bassett in NME. Some of it is good, some of it is very bad, and it's all a bit of a mess. Still, "you can't fault the chutzpah or the ambition. If it makes back its reported budget, we'll eat $110m worth of bananas."