Music

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Freddie Mercury’s Queen magnum opus, Bohemian Rhapsody.But fans will not be quick to forget that 2025 is also the 40th anniversary of the late singer’s debut solo album, Mr Bad Guy.To celebrate, Freddie’s estate has announced a lavish special edition vinyl reissue.The star, who died in 1991, said at the time of the 1985 release: “I put my heart and soul into Mr Bad Guy.“It reflects a whole spectrum of my life. Mr Bad Guy? That’s me!”The announcement read: “Originally released end of April 1985, Mr Bad Guy was Mercury’s first album away from the group he had co-founded 15 years before and helped steer to staggering artistic and commercial heights. It found him breaking free from the confines of a band, swapping Queen’s chameleonic, arena-sized musi...

Foo Fighters recently confirmed a US tour throughout the beginning of next year, but finally, the Dave Grohl-fronted band have announced some news for British fans, as well. The platinum-selling band just confirmed they will be going on tour in Europe and the United Kingdom in June and July 2026. And once they hit Britain, they'll be playing two stadium shows for their Take Cover Tour 2026 - but there is a catch.Foo Fighters - which is made up of Grohl, Nate Mendel, Pat Smear, Chris Shiflett, Rami Jaffee and Ilan Rubin - will be playing two shows at Liverpool's Anfield Stadium on Thursday, June 25, and Saturday, June 27. At the time of writing, these are the only two shows confirmed for Great Britain. As a result, tickets are going to be well sought-after. Thankfully, there is one presa...

“I’ve never had a bad review off someone who was a good looker,” Richard Ashcroft told the crowd last night at his sell-out gig at Manchester’s Co-op Live. And reader, well it looks like I'm a 10/10, because last night's show was a blinder. It was a homecoming for the 54-year-old singer and The Veuve frontman, who hails from Wigan. Ashcroft was last in Manchester over the summer, providing support for Oasis’ Heaton Park shows. “Was anyone there?” he asked a crowd who were mainly dressed in merch from that very tour. “Yeah…they were great times.”But last night it was Ashcroft himself everyone was there to see. And he gave the fans exactly what they wanted - the hits. The carefully curated, career-spanning set built like a gigantic tidal wave of euphoric indie. One by one, the bangers cam...

Lorde stands as one of the most thrilling and innovative performers currently dominating the music scene, and her most recent tour announcement proves once again how popular she is. The musical prodigy, who hails from New Zealand, recently revealed a collection of UK concert dates scheduled to take place this year. And finally, the time has come.In just a few days' time, Lorde will begin her performances around the UK at some of the country's biggest and best venues. The five shows will take place at London's O2 Arena, Glasgow's OVO Hydro, Manchester's AO Arena and Birmingham's Utilita Arena. Tickets for these gigs were released some time ago, but there are still some leftover. And we've broken down everything fans need to know now.Several official ticket vendors also have some stock, h...

Andrea Bocelli loves to collaborate with all sorts of fellow stars from Sarah Brightman and Ed Sheeran to Sir Brian May and the maestro’s very own children, Matteo and Virginia Bocelli.Toda,y the 67-year-old has launched a single called The Blessing with Christian music singers Kari Jobe and Cody Carnes.A believer himself, Andrea sings a new rendition of the GRAMMY-nominated track, The Blessing.Check out the inspirational music video below, featuring family being reunited.Kari Jobe and Cody Carnes said of the unique collaboration: “What a huge honour to record a new version of The Blessing with Andrea Bocelli. We’ve listened to his incredibly beautiful voice for many years and had tears in our eyes when he started singing this song in Italian. So moving!! What a special recording this i...

The average internet installation day can be a nightmare. You clear your schedule for that vague “any time between 8 and 6” window and keep half an ear out for a van that never quite arrives.But for one Chester man, getting high speed internet couldn’t have been more different as a nineties boyband turned up to ensure he got online. As Tao Chang, a local university lecturer and father-of-two, got his broadband installed, he was met by pop icons Five, who have joined forces with mobile and broadband provider giffgaff to get Chester connected. The moment was marked with a spectacular neon light display at his home, followed by a headline performance by Five at The Carlton Tavern (their first ever gig in a pub) delighting an audience of around 100 guests with hits including ‘When The Light...

This week’s episode of Queen The Greatest, an official mini YouTube series featuring new interviews with Sir Brian May and Roger Taylor, looks back once again the band’s run-up towards Bohemian Rhapsody.Today’s footage, which you can view below, sees the two rock legends reveal how their technical experiences on Queen’s first three albums “enabled them to realise their outrageous ambitions for their make-or-break fourth album, A Night At The Opera.”During which, the guitarist revealed which of Queen’s albums the rock community did not initially warm to.Sir Brian revealed: “Queen II wasn't that well received in the rock fraternity... in some places.” Considered the band’s heaviest album, the record features tracks like Ogre Battle and Seven Seas of Rhye.The guitarist shared: “I’ve always...

A major band has announced that they are parting ways after forming in 1973. Journey will be saying farewell to their legion of fans in 60 cities across North America and Canada from February 28 in Hershey, Pennsylvania, to July 2 in Laredo, Texas - the first leg of their Final Frontier Tour. Journey was formed in 1973, and they went on to sell over 100million records globally, making them one of the world's best-selling bands. However, Journey's founding member Neil Schon, 71, has promised to continue making music. The band's current line-up also includes singer Arnel Pineda, 58, drummer Deen Castronovo, 61, bassist Todd Jensen, 65, and keyboard players Jonathan Cain, 75, and Jason Derlatka.Neil said in a statement: "This tour is our heartfelt thank you to the fans who’ve been with us ...

When they saw a bed in Abbey Road’s studio three, the three Shulman brothers couldn’t resist using it as a trampoline. “We’d just finished a recording session and were trying to see who could jump higher,” admits singer Derek, then known as Simon Dupree of Simon Dupree & The Big Sound. “The bedsheets were all over the place.” Then the Lennons turned up. “John said, ‘Jesus Christ! What bulls*** is this?’, and then Yoko told us to get off but in more colourful terms. It was embarrassing to say the least; I blamed my older brother Phil for encouraging me. We didn’t hang around for a conversation. Luckily the Beatles never knew we spent more time on their instruments than on their bed.”When their band went Top Ten in 1967 with psychedelic single Kites, their manager booked them a three-...

EXCLUSIVEBritain’s world leading music industry has reacted with joy that the highly controversial English Baccalaureate system – heavily criticised for squeezing out arts subjects in schools – is to axed.The move signals a significant victory for the Daily Express’ Strike A Chord campaign, with music leaders hailing the plans as a "great day for the next generation of creative talent".The EBacc was introduced in 2010 as part of a plan to encourage pupils to take a suite of tough GCSE subjects including English, maths, science, a language and a humanity.Schools that succeeded in getting a high proportion of their pupils to take the EBacc have been rewarded in performance tables.But the measure prevented pupils from taking arts-based subjects meaning millions of children had to choose be...