‘People thought they knew the story’: the rise and fall of Milli Vanilli | Documentary films

Photo of MILLI VANILLI(MANDATORY CREDIT Ebet Roberts/Getty Images) UNITED STATES - JANUARY 01: Photo of MILLI VANILLI (Photo by Ebet Roberts/Redferns)

You could argue that, at least in the realm of pop music, the year 1989 belonged to Milli Vanilli. The German-French pop duo, formed barely a year earlier by the German producer Frank Farian, had […]

Joseph Fiennes says it was ‘wrong’ to play Michael Jackson

Joseph Fiennes says it was 'wrong' to play Michael Jackson

Joseph Fiennes says “people are absolutely right to be upset” that he played Michael Jackson for a British comedy sketch in 2016. For the series “Urban Myths,” the white British actor donned dark aviator sunglasses, […]

Sabrina Carpenter review – pop’s next big thing is best when she lets loose | Pop and rock

Revitalised … Sabrina Carpenter.

Framed by a huge heart-shaped mirror, as if she’s one of Greta Gerwig’s Barbies, Sabrina Carpenter steps into the spotlight. “Back then I didn’t know who I was, not even in the slightest,” she sighs […]

‘I like to slag off the headliner’: what is it like to do standup at a music festival? | Comedy

‘Take yourself out of the mayhem’ … Glastonbury in 2022.

You’re in a massive tent. People are walking in and out, chatting, spilling drinks. A mishmash of music pounds in the background. The crowd is wildly hungover or laying the foundations for tomorrow’s comedown. Perfect […]

Indiepop veterans Heavenly: ‘We saw the world of grownups and we didn’t like that very much’ | Indie

Rob Pursey and Amelia Fletcher as their recent project the Catenary Wires.

Amelia Fletcher and Rob Pursey met a little under 40 years ago, when they were both students at Oxford. Fletcher (later awarded the CBE for her services to the economy) and her friend Elizabeth Price […]

‘Work is therapy’: synth-pop icon Johnny Jewel on David Lynch, Chromatics and near-death experiences | Music

Johnny Jewel.

“Art is not a hobby, it’s a necessity,” says Johnny Jewel. “I have an unquenchable thirst for sound and tone.” Jewel has been thirsty for two decades. He has produced shimmering and dreamy synth-pop, slick […]

Lauren Bacall & Frank Sinatra’s Affair Began Before Humphrey Bogart Died

Humphrey Bogart, Frank Sinatra, and Anita Ekberg at Romanoff's Restaurant in 1955

Thanks to their marriage and the movies they made together, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall became known simply as Bogie and Bacall. And since their names are often mentioned in the same breath to this […]

‘She hasn’t just raised the bar – she’s obliterated it’: readers on Beyoncé’s Renaissance tour | Beyoncé

Anton Wiltshire

‘The set design was spectacular’ I have been fortunate enough to attend Beyoncé’s concerts seven times over the years. The audience really got into the Renaissance theme at this one, dressing up in a range […]

Casting Guardians of the Galaxy’s Pom Klementieff in the DCU

Casting Guardians of the Galaxy’s Pom Klementieff in the DCU

Not many are aware, but one naive and endearing Guardian of the Galaxy has had her share of both DCU and MCU projects. Pom Klementieff‘s DCU appearance was a small role as a dancer in […]

Kylie Minogue ‘bursting with joy’ as new single Padam Padam soars up charts | Kylie Minogue

Kylie Minogue’s new single, Padam Padam

It’s been hailed as Kylie Minogue’s “comeback” single and has generated countless memes and dance videos on social media. Yet when it was first released earlier this month, Padam Padam was not played on youth […]

Arctic Monkeys review – a mirrorball vision of what rock music can be | Arctic Monkeys

Alex Turner and Jamie Cook.

‘Very good,” Alex Turner exhales after delivering the final crunching note of Teddy Picker, hitting the nail on the head. The Arctic Monkeys frontman, dressed like a Laurel Canyon troubadour in a wide-collared denim shirt […]

Water From Your Eyes: Everyone’s Crushed review – style-hopping indie duo find focus in chaos | Music

Everybody’s Crushed album artwork.

We live in an environment that encourages rock and pop artists to make an immediate splash, to cut through the digital noise and the plethora of musicians jostling for attention on streaming services by appearing […]

‘I couldn’t outrun my grief’: Julie Byrne on the death of her musical partner | Music

Profound connection … with Littman at SXSW in 2017.

Julie Byrne precisely remembers the day she met the man who would change her life. “I loved him right away,” she says. It was the 2014 SXSW festival in Austin, Texas and Eric Littmann had […]