The Trump administration keeps picking fights with pop stars. It’s a no-win situation | Adrian Horton 13 December 2025 at 05:03

The Trump administration keeps picking fights with pop stars. It’s a no-win situation | Adrian Horton

13 December 2025 at 05:03

By using music from SZA, Sabrina Carpenter and Olivia Rodrigo in ICE videos, the government is playing a game of rage-bait

Last week, as the Trump administration was engulfed in controversy over its illegal military strikes near Venezuela (among numerous other crises), a Department of Homeland Security employee – I picture the worst sniveling, self-satisfied, hateful loser – got to work on the official X account. The state-employed memelord posted a video depicting Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) officials arresting people in what appeared to be Chicago, celebrating the humiliation and incarceration of undocumented immigrants as some sort of patriotic achievement. The vile video borrowed, as they often do, from mainstream pop culture; in this case, a viral lyric from Sabrina Carpenter’s song Juno – “Have you ever tried this one?,” referring to sex positions – overlaid clips of agents chasing, tackling and handcuffing people, cheekily nodding to all the methods in ICE’s terror toolbox.

Carpenter, as a pre-eminent pop star, was caught in an impossible position. Say nothing, as her friend and collaborator Taylor Swift did weeks earlier when the White House used her music in a Trump hype video, and risk appearing as if you condone the administration’s use of your art for a domestic terror campaign (the administration hasn’t yet used Swift for an ICE video, but I’m sure it’s coming); engage, even if to honestly express your utter disgust, and risk bringing more attention to objectionable propaganda designed to provoke a response.

From Eleanor the Great to Emily in Paris: your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead 13 December 2025 at 01:00

From Eleanor the Great to Emily in Paris: your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead

The Guardian

By:Guardian Staff

13 December 2025 at 01:00

Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut stars the 96-year-old June Squibb, while Netflix’s lovable tweefest sees its heroine move to Rome

Eleanor the Great
Out now
June Squibb stars in Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut, which premiered at Cannes and tells the tale of the eponymous Eleanor, a senior citizen recently relocated to New York, who strikes up a friendship with a 19-year old – and then stumbles her way into pretending to be a Holocaust survivor.

Lurker
Out now
A hit at Sundance, this is the story of a lowly retail employee who happens to strike up a friendship with a rising pop star, becoming the Boswell to his Johnson, if Boswell was part of a pop star’s entourage. But the path of friendship with a famous person never did run smooth, and the uneven power dynamic soon prompts some desperate manoeuvring in this psychological thriller.

Ella McCay
Out now
Emma Mackey stars in the latest from James L Brooks (his first since 2010), a political comedy about an idealistic thirtysomething working in government and preparing to step into the shoes of her mentor, Governor Bill (Albert Brooks). Jamie Lee Curtis co-stars as Ella’s aunt.

LSO/Pappano review – Musgrave’s Phoenix rises and Vaughan Williams’ London stirs the soul 13 December 2025 at 01:00

LSO/Pappano review – Musgrave’s Phoenix rises and Vaughan Williams’ London stirs the soul

The Guardian

By:Clive Paget

13 December 2025 at 01:00

Barbican, London
An all British programme featured music by Thea Musgrave, Vaughan Williams and William Walton, with Antoine Tamestit an expressive and sensitive soloist in the latter’s Viola concerto

Antonio Pappano’s evangelical embrace of British music continued apace in a concert featuring a welcome rarity by Thea Musgrave, William Walton’s strangely neglected Viola Concerto, and the latest in his ongoing Vaughan Williams cycle, the evocative A London Symphony.

Musgrave, still composing at 97, wrote Phoenix Rising in 1997 for the late Andrew Davis, to whom Pappano dedicated this concert. A 23-minute rollercoaster, it pits a blackguardly timpanist and his stick-wielding allies against a devil-may-care hornist and his brassy backup band. The horn player enters from off stage, the timpanist stalks off in a huff, and somewhere in the middle, for no immediately discernible reason, a phoenix soars aloft in an iridescent haze of tuned percussion. Pappano and the London Symphony Orchestra gave it a thorough workout with marimba, vibraphone, glockenspiel, xylophone and tubular bells creating a magical aura. The musicians certainly revelled in its prickly harmonies, though the theatrical elements might have been pushed further.

Lurker to Our Girls: the week in rave reviews 13 December 2025 at 01:00

Lurker to Our Girls: the week in rave reviews

The Guardian

By:Guardian Staff

13 December 2025 at 01:00

A buzzy thriller about a Hollywood hanger-on and a moving documentary following the parents bereaved in last summer’s Southport attack. Here’s the pick of the week’s culture, taken from the Guardian’s best-rated reviews

Has Simon Cowell lost his mojo? Seven things you need to know about the music mogul’s new direction 13 December 2025 at 00:00

Has Simon Cowell lost his mojo? Seven things you need to know about the music mogul’s new direction

The Guardian

By:Elle Hunt

13 December 2025 at 00:00

The former X Factor judge is back, auditioning boyband wannabes for his latest talent show – but gen Z doesn’t seem to care very much, or even know who he is

Have we gone back in time to 2010? If only! No, Simon Cowell is just back in the headlines, reasserting his svengali status for his new Netflix show. Reviews suggest that Cowell’s attempted comeback, 15 years since his celebrity peak, highlights less his particular star power than how totally the world has moved on. But is there anything to learn from SyCo now, and will his new boyband work? Let’s see!

1. Cowell is chasing a new direction

Amadeus returns: can Sky’s miniseries attract a new generation to Mozart? 12 December 2025 at 14:26

Amadeus returns: can Sky’s miniseries attract a new generation to Mozart?

The Guardian

By:Imogen Tilden

12 December 2025 at 14:26

A reboot of Peter Shaffer’s play hopes to repeat the 1984 film’s magic and lure a fresh audience to classical music

Forty years ago, Amadeus won eight Oscars, four Baftas and four Golden Globes – and introduced a new generation to 18th-century music. Millions bought the film’s Mozart soundtrack and it remains one of the bestselling classical music albums of all time, shifting more than 6.5m copies globally, and earning 13 gold discs.

It even inspired a novelty hit when Falco mixed Europop with rap in Rock Me Amadeus – the first German-language song to top the US Billboard chart (Nena’s 99 Luftballons only reached No 2 in the US, pop-pickers).

Kylie Minogue gets 11th UK No 1 album as Christmas No 1 race intensifies 12 December 2025 at 13:00

Kylie Minogue gets 11th UK No 1 album as Christmas No 1 race intensifies

The Guardian

By:Ben Beaumont-Thomas

12 December 2025 at 13:00

As Wham! top singles chart, Minogue draws level with David Bowie, Eminem, U2 and Rod Stewart in the album league table, thanks to a reissue of her 2015 Christmas LP

Kylie Minogue has scored her 11th UK No 1 album, putting her level with David Bowie and Eminem in the league of all-time album chart-toppers.

The album, Kylie Christmas (Fully Wrapped), will sound familiar to her fans: it’s a reissue of her 2015 album Kylie Christmas (which only reached No 12), containing four newly recorded tracks and an altered tracklisting. It had already been reissued once before, in 2016, as the Snow Queen Edition. Nevertheless, the Fully Wrapped version counts as a new album in chart terms, and so continues a non-consecutive run of No 1s that began in 1988, when Minogue’s self-titled debut spent six weeks at the top.

Pavel Kolesnikov review – he is a virtuosic sculptor in sound 12 December 2025 at 12:45

Pavel Kolesnikov review – he is a virtuosic sculptor in sound

The Guardian

By:Flora Willson

12 December 2025 at 12:45

Wigmore Hall, London
A beautifully controlled programme of Chopin, Rameau, and the latter’s long-forgotten contemporary Duphly, showcased the pianist’s unerring sense of line

Siberian-born Pavel Kolesnikov soared into view after winning the Honens piano competition in 2012 in his early 20s. More than a decade later, he has established a mix of standard concerto performances with idiosyncratic, smaller-scale projects: a choreographic collaboration, chamber-music partnerships and imaginatively off-piste recital programming.

For his latest Wigmore Hall appearance, bookending 18th-century French keyboard music with Chopin, Kolesnikov sloped on to the stage largely hidden behind his own hair. He sat abruptly but caressed the opening of Chopin’s Waltz in C sharp minor Op 62 No 2 as if he’d been at the keyboard for hours, his touch cashmere-soft, the sound almost outrageously intimate. Movements from a suite by the long-forgotten French composer Jacques Duphly followed without a break. Kolesnikov emphasised the contrasts – between spare, crisply articulated contrapuntal meandering and flurries of liquid passagework, the harsh and the barely audible – as if the five movements were a single fantasia composed in Chopin’s era, not Duphly’s.

‘Harder work than almost any album we ever did’: Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here turns 50 12 December 2025 at 10:07

‘Harder work than almost any album we ever did’: Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here turns 50

The Guardian

By:Jim Farber

12 December 2025 at 10:07

As the classic album hits 50, Nick Mason talks about the often difficult process of making it and how it has since fit into their larger catalogue

By almost every measure, from commercial reward to creative reach, Pink Floyd scaled its peak on Dark Side of the Moon. But, when I asked drummer Nick Mason how he would rank the album in their catalogue, he slotted it below the set that came next, Wish You Were Here. Speaking of Dark Side, he said, “the idea of it is almost more attractive than the individual songs on it. I feel slightly the same about Sgt. Pepper. It’s an amazing album that taught us a hell of a lot, but the individual parts are not quite as exciting, or as good, as some of the other Beatles’ albums.”

By contrast, he says of Wish You Were Here, “there’s something in the general atmosphere it generates – the space of it, the air around it, that’s really special,” he said. “It’s one of the reasons I view it so affectionately.”

Primal Scream defend image of swastika inside Star of David shown during London gig 12 December 2025 at 09:16

Primal Scream defend image of swastika inside Star of David shown during London gig

The Guardian

By:Matthew Weaver

12 December 2025 at 09:16

Scottish rock band says image ‘meant to provoke debate, not hate’ after many at concert accuse group of antisemitism

The Scottish rock group Primal Scream has defended displaying an image of a swastika inside a Star of David during a London gig, in response to accusations of racism and antisemitism.

During a performance at the London’s Roundhouse, a video was shown on stage of a swastika in the centre of a Star of David that was then superimposed over eyes of images of political figures, including the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the US president, Donald Trump.

Taylor Swift: The End of an Era review – as she breaks down over the terror plot, it’s impossible not to feel her pain 12 December 2025 at 07:24

Taylor Swift: The End of an Era review – as she breaks down over the terror plot, it’s impossible not to feel her pain

The Guardian

By:Laura Snapes

12 December 2025 at 07:24

The singer’s tears over the Islamic State terrorist plot against her show and Southport attack make this behind-the-scenes docuseries about her world-conquering tour more moving than anyone could have anticipated

Swifties had long guessed that there would be a documentary going behind the scenes of Taylor Swift’s blockbuster Eras tour. The 2023 Eras Tour concert movie didn’t show any of the inner workings of this three-and-a-half-hour behemoth, which ran for 149 dates from 2023-24. Fans put some bits together, such as how Swift arrived on stage being pushed inside a cleaning cart. Plus, given the two albums she wrote during and about the Eras tour – 2024’s The Tortured Poets Department and this year’s The Life of a Showgirl – it wouldn’t be Swiftian to overlook another lucrative IP extension.

What fans could never have imagined was that Disney was set to start filming as the Eras tour was due to hit Vienna on 8 August 2023 – the first of three shows in the Austrian capital that were cancelled owing to an Islamic State terrorist plot. We learn this in episode one of the six-part docuseries The End of an Era, when Swift and her longtime friend Ed Sheeran are backstage at Wembley, hours before he guests at her first concert after the thwarted attack. “I didn’t even get to go,” Swift tells him of Vienna. “I was on the plane headed there. I just need to do this show and re-remember the joy of it because I’m a little bit just like …” She can’t find the words.

Robert Plant’s Saving Grace review – self-effacing superstar still sounds astonishing 12 December 2025 at 07:01

Robert Plant’s Saving Grace review – self-effacing superstar still sounds astonishing

The Guardian

By:Alexis Petridis

12 December 2025 at 07:01

Royal Festival Hall, London
Playing a mix of traditional folk and radically rearranged acoustic Led Zeppelin classics, the former Zep frontman is in fine voice – but also happy to step out of the spotlight

Between songs, Robert Plant describes his latest project, Saving Grace, as hailing “from the west side of common sense”. It’s a self-effacing remark but he has a point. Most rock stars of his vintage and stature (78 next year, somewhere between 200m and 300m albums sold with Led Zeppelin) would be out there underlining their status by touring the hits. But as anyone who has followed Plant’s serpentine post-Zeppelin career will tell you, the straightforward option doesn’t seem to hold great appeal for him.

So Saving Grace are a band assembled from musicians local to his home in Shropshire – though it isn’t entirely clear if Plant is joking when he suggests he found multi-instrumentalist Matt Worley working in the local tourist information office. Their oeuvre is an intriguing stew of traditional folk songs (The Cuckoo, As I Roved Out); covers that pay testament to Plant’s famously catholic tastes (Everybody’s Song by Low rubs shoulders with It’s a Beautiful Day Today by 60s psych heroes Moby Grape); and a scattering of Led Zeppelin tracks that you could fairly describe as radically rearranged: both Ramble On and Four Sticks now heavily feature an accordion, with the low end provided not by a bass guitar but a cello. Moreover, this is an evening in which one of the most renowned frontmen in rock history – whose voice is in quite astonishing nick – seems happy to regularly cede the spotlight, and effectively act as a backing singer for Worley and vocalist Suzi Dian.

Add to playlist: the slow-burn psychedelia of Acolyte and the week’s best new tracks 12 December 2025 at 07:00

Add to playlist: the slow-burn psychedelia of Acolyte and the week’s best new tracks

The Guardian

By:Katie Hawthorne · Ben Beaumont-Thomas and Laura Snapes

12 December 2025 at 07:00

Unhurried trippy bass lines and poet Iona Lee’s commanding, velvety voice conjure a glamorously unhurried sense of hypnosis

From Edinburgh
Recommended if you like Dry Cleaning, Massive Attack, Nick Cave
Up next Warm Days in December out now, new EP due early 2026

As fixtures of Edinburgh’s gig-turned-performance art scene, Acolyte’s eerie, earthy psychedelia is just as likely to be found on stage at the Traverse theatre as in a steamy-windowed Leith Walk boozer. Their looped bass lines and poet Iona Lee’s commanding, velvety voice conjure a sense of slow-burn hypnosis – and just like their music, Acolyte are glamorously unhurried. They’ve released only a handful of songs in the seven years since Lee and bassist Ruairidh Morrison first started experimenting with jazz, trip-hop and spoken word, but now the group (with Daniel Hill on percussion and Gloria Black on synth, also known for throwing fantastical, papier-mache-costumed club nights with her former band Maranta) are gathering pace.

‘He was struggling with his breath. I sat beside him and sang’: the choir who sing to people on their deathbeds 12 December 2025 at 06:53

‘He was struggling with his breath. I sat beside him and sang’: the choir who sing to people on their deathbeds

The Guardian

By:Fiona Sturges

12 December 2025 at 06:53

Just as lullabies send babies to sleep, so songs can help those at the other end of life on their way. The leader of a Threshold Choir reveals what they do – and the personal tragedies that convinced her we need to get better at dealing with death

It’s a brisk November afternoon in the village of South Brent in Devon and, in a daffodil yellow cottage, two women are singing me lullabies. But these aren’t the sort of lullabies that parents sing to their children. They are songs written and sung for terminally ill people, to ease them towards what will hopefully be a peaceful and painless death.

We are at the home of Nickie Aven, singer and leader of a Threshold Choir. Aven and her friend are giving me a glimpse of what happens when they sing for people receiving end-of-life care. These patients are usually in hospices or in their own homes being supported by relatives, which is why 67-year-old Aven – who is softly spoken and radiates warmth and kindness – has asked me to lie down on the sofa under a rug while they sing. She says I can look at them, or I can close my eyes and allow my mind to drift. In fact, my eyes settle on Lennon, Aven’s large black labrador retriever who squeezes himself between the singers and is as gentle and well-mannered as his owner. The pair sing a cappella and in harmony. Distinct from elegies or laments, the songs are gently meditative, written to provide human connection and foster feelings of love and safety. They are not just for the benefit of the dying but for friends and relatives caring for them or holding vigil. Their singing is simple, intimate and beautiful. It is also utterly calming.

Threshold: the choir who sing to the dying - documentary 12 December 2025 at 06:01

Threshold: the choir who sing to the dying - documentary

The Guardian

By:Florence Browne · Noah Payne-Frank · Ekaterina Ochagavia · Lindsay Poulton and Jess Gormley

12 December 2025 at 06:01

Dying is a process and in a person’s final hours and days, Nickie and her Threshold Choir are there to accompany people on their way and bring comfort. Through specially composed songs, akin to lullabies, the choir cultivates an environment of love and safety around those on their deathbed. For the volunteer choir members, it is also an opportunity to channel their own experiences of grief and together open up conversations about death.

Full interview with Nickie Aven, available here

‘Men explicitly loving men is so threatening to the status quo’: why are gay male pop stars being shut out of the music industry? 12 December 2025 at 01:00

‘Men explicitly loving men is so threatening to the status quo’: why are gay male pop stars being shut out of the music industry?

The Guardian

By:Jeffrey Ingold

12 December 2025 at 01:00

Not long ago, artists such as Lil Nas X and Olly Alexander were ruling pop. But success has stalled as acts face industry obstacles and rising homophobia. What now?

At the turn of the decade, gay male and non-binary pop stars seemed poised to take pop music by storm. Lil Nas X broke out with Old Town Road – which blew up on TikTok, sold about 18.5m copies and remains tied with Shaboozey’s A Bar Song (Tipsy) and Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas Is You as the longest-running No 1 single in US history – and artists such as Sam Smith, Troye Sivan and Olly Alexander from Years & Years were all singing about gay love and sex.

But the initial promise has stalled. Lil Nas X’s attempts to build on his smash debut album have fizzled, and he is publicly dealing with mental health issues. In October, Khalid released his first album since being outed by his ex last year but only sold 10,000 copies in the first week in the US. A previous album, 2019’s Free Spirit, sold some 200,000 copies in the first week and led to him briefly dethroning Ariana Grande as the most listened to artist on Spotify.

London venue ‘appalled’ after antisemitic imagery allegedly screened at Primal Scream gig 11 December 2025 at 17:58

London venue ‘appalled’ after antisemitic imagery allegedly screened at Primal Scream gig

The Guardian

By:Kyriakos Petrakos

11 December 2025 at 17:58

Roundhouse apologises after animation projected behind band appears to show Star of David entwined with swastika

A music venue in London has apologised after antisemitic imagery was allegedly displayed on stage during a Primal Scream gig.

A video appearing to show the Star of David entwined with a swastika was said to be screened during the Scottish band’s show at the Roundhouse in Camden on Monday.

Eurovision winner Nemo to return trophy in protest at Israel taking part in 2026 11 December 2025 at 13:38

Eurovision winner Nemo to return trophy in protest at Israel taking part in 2026

The Guardian

By:Lisa O’Carroll

11 December 2025 at 13:38

‘Clear conflict’ between Eurovision ideals of ‘inclusion and dignity for all’ and decision to let Israel compete, says 2024 winner

Nemo, the Swiss singer who won the 2024 Eurovision song contest, has said they are handing back their trophy in protest over Israel’s participation in next year’s event.

The 26-year-old, the first non-binary winner of the contest, said on Thursday there was “a clear conflict” between the Eurovision ideals of “unity, inclusion and dignity for all” and the decision to allow Israel to compete.

Barbican to close its doors for a year for multimillion-pound renovation 11 December 2025 at 13:00

Barbican to close its doors for a year for multimillion-pound renovation

The Guardian

By:Lanre Bakare Arts and culture correspondent

11 December 2025 at 13:00

London site’s theatre, music venue and galleries to close in June 2028, in first stage of upgrades before 50th anniversary

The Barbican will close its doors for 12 months from June 2028 as it undergoes a multimillion-pound renovation that its leaders say will secure its future.

The arts organisation’s Beech Street cinemas will remain open but its theatre, music venue, conservatory and visual arts galleries are set to shutter as the overhaul of the 43-year-old building begins in the lead-up to its 50th anniversary in 2032.

Jarvis Cocker and Mary Beard announced as Booker prize judges 11 December 2025 at 12:59

Jarvis Cocker and Mary Beard announced as Booker prize judges

The Guardian

By:Ella Creamer

11 December 2025 at 12:59

The historian is set to lead a ‘stellar’ 2026 panel featuring the Pulp frontman and other acclaimed writers, as the search begins for next year’s standout work of fiction

Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker will feature on the 2026 Booker prize judging panel that will be chaired by the classicist and broadcaster Mary Beard.

Novelist Patricia Lockwood has also been named as a judge, along with the poet Raymond Antrobus and Rebecca Liu, an editor at the Guardian Saturday magazine.

Goodbye June review – Kate Winslet’s Christmas heartwarmer is like a two-hour John Lewis ad 11 December 2025 at 12:00

Goodbye June review – Kate Winslet’s Christmas heartwarmer is like a two-hour John Lewis ad

The Guardian

By:Peter Bradshaw

11 December 2025 at 12:00

Star turns from Helen Mirren, Andrea Riseborough and Toni Colette can’t stop cartoony sentimentality smothering this film directed by Winslet and written by her son Joe Anders

Kate Winslet’s feature directing debut is a family movie, scripted by her son Joe Anders; it’s a well-intentioned and starrily cast yuletide heartwarmer, like a two-hour John Lewis Christmas TV ad without the logo at the end. There are one or two nice lines and sharp moments but they are submerged in a treacly soup of sentimentality; in the end, I couldn’t get past the cartoony quasi-Richard Curtis characterisation and the weird not-quite-earthlingness of the people involved. Having said this, I am aware of having been first in the queue to denigrate Winslet’s Christmas film The Holiday, that is regarded by many as one of the most successful films of all time.

Helen Mirren is the June of the title, an affectionate but sharp-tongued matriarch who is diagnosed with terminal cancer in the run-up to Christmas, and her entire quarrelling clan will have to assemble in her hospital room. June, with a kind of benign cunning, realises that she can use her last days as a cathartic crisis that will cure her adult children’s unspoken hurt. They are a stressed careerist (Winslet), a stay-at-home mum (Andrea Riseborough), a hippy-dippy natural birth counsellor (Toni Collette) and a troubled soul (Johnny Flynn), plus all their various kids. There is also June’s daft old husband Bernie, played by Timothy Spall, who likes a drink and can’t talk about his feelings, and whose scatterbrained goofiness has a sad origin. Stephen Merchant plays Riseborough’s lovably useless husband and a gentle hospital nurse, played by Fisayo Akinade, is the ensemble’s self-effacing guide to a wiser future.

From shiveringly vivid Mahler to the eclectic Hermes Experiment: our top classical recordings of 2025 11 December 2025 at 10:10

From shiveringly vivid Mahler to the eclectic Hermes Experiment: our top classical recordings of 2025

The Guardian

By:Andrew Clements

11 December 2025 at 10:10

Opera may be conspicuous by its absence, but the brilliance of Berlin Philharmonic’s Schoenberg and the exceptional South Korean Yunchan Lim gave us plenty to sink our teeth into this year

The survey of the new releases that my colleagues and I have enjoyed most in 2025 differs in one significant respect from the lists of previous years. This year’s top ten contains no operas. There has been a profound change in record companies’ policies of how and what they record. The glitzy, studio-based opera recordings of the last century now seem impossible to contemplate, and even releasing audio-only recordings taken directly from live opera-house performances often seems less viable than issuing DVDs of the same productions.

Some specialist labels devoted to specific areas of the operatic repertoire continue sterling work: operas feature prominently in Bru Zane’s mission on behalf of neglected French composers, while Opera Rara continues to crusade for forgotten, mostly 19th century, mostly Italian, scores which this year included the original 1857 version of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra. Other companies continue to find treasures in Europe’s apparently inexhaustible baroque archives, while, on its own label, the London Symphony Orchestra has continued to release Simon Rattle’s Janáček series taken from his concert performances with the orchestra at the Barbican, the latest release being Jenůfa. If full-length operas are notably scarce in the schedules of the major companies, two exceptions this year were Decca’s release of the Oslo-sourced Flying Dutchman, with Lise Davidsen and Gerald Finley, and Deutsche Grammophon’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, part of Andris Nelson’s Boston-based Shostakovich series, both of which proved less than overwhelming.

Chrissie Hynde: ‘I pierced Johnny Rotten’s ear in a toilet with an earring and a bar of soap’ 11 December 2025 at 07:00

Chrissie Hynde: ‘I pierced Johnny Rotten’s ear in a toilet with an earring and a bar of soap’

The Guardian

By:As told to Dave Simpson

11 December 2025 at 07:00

The Pretenders bandleader answers your questions on her friendship with Morrissey, her love of Van Gogh and why her cameo on Friends ruined her school run

Wondering if you saw the [music-filled 1996 comedy drama] film Grace of My Heart and whether it influenced your decision to record an album of duets? GiniMarie
I didn’t see the film – Duets Special came about after a conversation with Rufus Wainwright’s husband when I impulsively suggested doing an album with Rufus. Rufus wanted to do Always on My Mind, and I looked at the list of nine other songs I’d sent him and thought: why don’t I ask some other people? Like, Low are one of my all-time favourite bands and when I first met Mimi Parker she immediately seemed like someone I’ve known all my life. I told her I’d done one of their songs with Debbie Harry and she looked at me and said: “Why didn’t you ask me?” I thought: touché, Mimi. I suggested [Cass McCombs’s] County Line but she wasn’t well. I told Mimi I’d wait as long as it takes. Then she died. Alan [Sparhawk, Parker’s husband] sang it instead and it’s absolutely amazing.

The Pretenders covered Morrissey’s Every Day Is Like Sunday and now Duets Special features The First of the Gang to Die. As one of Morrissey’s oldest friends, how often do your conversations reach a philosophical, political or moral impasse? McScootikins
My relationship with him started because we were both vegetarian and he sent me a postcard asking to meet for tea. Thirty-five years ago most of my mates – Linda McCartney and so on – were friends because of vegetarianism. Morrissey does stuff for Peta and he’s an amazing songwriter. A few nights ago I had dinner with a couple of girls he’d worked with. I sent him a picture of the three of us and he immediately sent back a picture of three women from Coronation Street. He’s always true to himself and no, we’ve never reached an impasse.

Brian Eno urges support to get Together for Palestine song to Christmas No 1 11 December 2025 at 07:00

Brian Eno urges support to get Together for Palestine song to Christmas No 1

The Guardian

By:Lanre Bakare Arts and culture correspondent

11 December 2025 at 07:00

Lullaby features Palestinian singer, lyrics written by Peter Gabriel and artists including Eno and Celeste

The Together for Palestine fund is trying to get a Palestinian lullaby to Christmas No 1 in the UK charts in an effort to help provide aid to the people of Gaza, but also showcase their culture and creativity.

The musician Brian Eno, who performs on the track, said Lullaby, which will be released on Friday, is a chance to support Palestinians over Christmas and potentially stage an unlikely coup by getting to No 1.

The Rolling Stones give blessing to Fatboy Slim’s Satisfaction sample after 25 years 11 December 2025 at 05:15

The Rolling Stones give blessing to Fatboy Slim’s Satisfaction sample after 25 years

The Guardian

By:Ben Beaumont-Thomas

11 December 2025 at 05:15

The mashup Satisfaction Skank was unofficial for years but band allow Norman Cook to remake it using original stems of their 1965 hit

A classic bootleg recording by Fatboy Slim which samples the Rolling Stones’ (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction has finally been released, as the band give it their blessing after 25 years.

Satisfaction Skank was a familiar track on turn-of-the-century dancefloors, as Fatboy Slim mashed up his own 1999 hit The Rockafeller Skank with the Stones’ 1965 classic, hurling Keith Richards’ iconic guitar riff into the “big beat” sound of the late 90s.

Sounds like activism: musicians who fight for change – in pictures 10 December 2025 at 15:55

Sounds like activism: musicians who fight for change – in pictures

The Guardian

By:Curated by Briana Ellis-Gibbs

10 December 2025 at 15:55

Photographer Janette Beckman and curator Julie Grahame have organized a one-time fundraiser for the ACLU that showcases images of musicians who have recorded protest songs or are known for their activism. Forty-three photographers have donated images of 50 artists, from John Lennon to Nina Simone to Bad Bunny, and 100% of the profits will go towards the ACLU and their efforts to protect equality, freedom and rights. In addition to the images there is a playlist of songs for the fundraiser.

Iceland becomes fifth country to boycott Eurovision 2026 over Israel 10 December 2025 at 12:35

Iceland becomes fifth country to boycott Eurovision 2026 over Israel

The Guardian

By:Lisa O’Carroll

10 December 2025 at 12:35

Iceland joins Spain, Slovenia, the Netherlands and Ireland in neither participating in nor broadcasting event

Iceland has become the fifth country to boycott next year’s Eurovision song contest after Israel was given the go-ahead to compete, deepening the crisis facing the competition.

The board of the national broadcaster, RÚV, voted on Wednesday not to participate, meaning Iceland will join Spain, Slovenia, the Netherlands and Ireland in neither participating in nor broadcasting the event, which is scheduled to take place in Vienna.

Ariodante review – dysfunctional royals and designer dresses in Handel with a disjunct 10 December 2025 at 10:28

Ariodante review – dysfunctional royals and designer dresses in Handel with a disjunct

The Guardian

By:Erica Jeal

10 December 2025 at 10:28

Royal Opera House, London
There’s a top-notch cast and detailed work from all involved in Jetske Mijnssen’s production that reframes Handel’s opera as a modern family psychodrama.

Handel was at the top of his game when he composed Ariodante, pushing gently at the boundaries of operatic convention, and writing some of his most captivating music. It had its premiere in 1735 at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, where the Royal Opera House now stands. Then it was positively demanded that composers and librettists magic up a happy ending from even the most tragic story, sending audiences away uplifted, and Handel duly delivered. However, audiences for the Royal Opera’s new production – surprisingly, its first since that premiere, unless you count a streamed concert during lockdown – might come away with more contradictory feelings.

The director Jetske Mijnssen, making her Covent Garden debut, is not convinced by that forced happy ending – which, after her staging of Wagner’s Parsifal at Glyndebourne this summer, won’t come as a big surprise. Like the latter piece, here again is a dysfunctional royal family. We’re in the modern palace of a besuited, ailing king; the five children playing at weddings around the dining table during the overture reappear as adults, becoming his two daughters and their three suitors.

Bob Vylan to sue Ireland’s RTÉ for defamation over Glastonbury coverage 10 December 2025 at 07:11

Bob Vylan to sue Ireland’s RTÉ for defamation over Glastonbury coverage

The Guardian

By:Rory Carroll Ireland correspondent

10 December 2025 at 07:11

Legal action alleges Irish broadcaster defamed group by claiming they led antisemitic chants at festival in June

The British punk-rap duo Bob Vylan have launched defamation proceedings against the Irish broadcaster RTÉ over its coverage of their performance at Glastonbury.

The legal action alleges Ireland’s national broadcaster defamed the group by claiming they led antisemitic chants at the festival last June.

‘Highlight of my week’: how community choirs have changed people’s lives 10 December 2025 at 07:09

‘Highlight of my week’: how community choirs have changed people’s lives

The Guardian

By:Jane Clinton and Guardian readers

10 December 2025 at 07:09

As James Corden and Ruth Jones announce new series, people share how choirs have brought friendship, belonging and valuable memories

For many, singing is one of life’s great pleasures.

The actor and writer James Corden has said he was so inspired by the joy he saw when his mum sang in her choir that he teamed up once again with writing partner Ruth Jones to write a new comedy drama called, appropriately, The Choir.

Eurovision used to be a campy joy – but it has become a cynical way to whitewash war | Arwa Mahdawi 10 December 2025 at 06:00

Eurovision used to be a campy joy – but it has become a cynical way to whitewash war | Arwa Mahdawi

The Guardian

By:Arwa Mahdawi

10 December 2025 at 06:00

The song contest continues with its mission of ‘unity and cultural exchange’ by rolling out the red carpet for Israel, even though at least four countries have pulled out in protest

A new acronym emerged a couple of months into Israel’s bombardment of Gaza: WCNSF. “Wounded child, no surviving family”. That acronym is unique to Gaza, experts like paediatrician Dr Tanya Haj-Hasan with Médecins Sans Frontières have said. Normally it’s rare for doctors to treat a child who has lost their entire family. But there has been nothing “normal” about the genocide in Gaza, where whole bloodlines have been wiped out and there are more child amputees than anywhere else in the world. Nothing normal about scores of doctors coming back from a landscape of rubble with reports of kids being deliberately targeted by Israeli snipers.

Despite a supposed ceasefire being in place, Gaza remains hell on earth. Essential medical supplies are not getting in and Amnesty International has said Israel is still committing genocide. (Israel has denied this, of course, just as it denies everything it is accused of.) But while traumatised orphans are now freezing in makeshift tent camps, there is a little heartwarming news: nothing is going to stop the Eurovision song contest from continuing with its mission of “unity and cultural exchange.” Eurovision will continue to roll out a blood-red carpet for Israel, even though at least four European countries (Netherlands, Spain, Ireland, Slovenia) have now pulled out in protest. Because this is what unity looks like, folks!

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Coordinated online attack sought to suggest Taylor Swift promoted Nazi ideas, research finds 10 December 2025 at 05:52

Coordinated online attack sought to suggest Taylor Swift promoted Nazi ideas, research finds

The Guardian

By:Laura Snapes

10 December 2025 at 05:52

Thousands of social media posts were traced to deliberate attempts to misrepresent the singer – and showed ‘significant user overlap’ with the campaign to attack actor Blake Lively

Analysis has found that a coordinated online attack sought to align Taylor Swift and her latest album, The Life of a Showgirl, with Nazi and rightwing imagery and values, from accounts feigning leftist critique and designed to encourage outrage.

The AI-driven behavioural intelligence platform Gudea produced a report examining more than 24,000 posts and 18,000 accounts across 14 social media platforms between 4 October, the day of the album’s release, and 18 October. These posts accused Swift of sowing dogwhistle references in her lyrics and alleged that a lightning bolt-style necklace from her merchandise line – a reference to the album track Opalite – resembled SS insignia.

The art of going ‘Instagram official’: how 10 celebrity couples shared their love with the world 9 December 2025 at 12:23

The art of going ‘Instagram official’: how 10 celebrity couples shared their love with the world

The Guardian

By:Stuart Heritage

9 December 2025 at 12:23

Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau are the latest A-listers to announce their relationship status online. But there are many ways to do it - from fancy dress to panicked deletions

As a mark of pure intent, going Instagram official has become a firmly entrenched dating marker. To post a picture of you and your new partner on Instagram – on the grid, mind you, not hiding behind the cowardice of a story – is to not only declare that you are in love, but also that you are confident enough in your future to share it with the world.

As such, Katy Perry’s decision to go Instagram official with Justin Trudeau is a classic of the genre. Long dogged by rumours that they might be together, Perry this week debuted a sanctioned image of them both. They are cheek to cheek. They are smiling, albeit in that slightly strained hurry-up-and-take-it way you do when someone decides to shoot a whole reel of photos. Katy Perry is pulling the exact same face she did when she stared into the camera that time she sort of went into space, which is how you know that it is really serious. Good luck to the pair of them.

Hannigan/ Chamayou review – strange and beautiful musical magic 9 December 2025 at 05:46

Hannigan/ Chamayou review – strange and beautiful musical magic

The Guardian

By:Alexandra Coghlan

9 December 2025 at 05:46

Wigmore Hall, London
Barbara Hannigan and Bertrand Chamayou were exhilarating and extraordinary in John Zorn’s monumental Jumalattaret; a beautifully intimate performance of Messiaen’s Chants de Terre et de Ciel completed an enthralling evening

One generation’s “unperformable” is another’s repertoire staple. Tristan und Isolde, Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto and Beethoven’s Ninth were all once declared beyond reach. But when Barbara Hannigan – the fearless, seemingly limitless soprano with more than 100 world premieres to her name – admits that a work came close, reducing her to “a state of panic” over a multi-year study period, you believe her.

Inspired by Finland’s national epic the Kalevala, John Zorn’s Jumalattaret is less a song-cycle than a musical seance, summoning a series of spirits and goddesses in sound. The singer morphs from persona to persona in yelps and keening cries, guttural moans and shouts, sometimes anchored, sometimes released by the piano (here Bertrand Chamayou) – an ever-present sorcerer’s assistant.

The 50 best albums of 2025 12 December 2025 at 08:59

The 50 best albums of 2025

The Guardian

By:Ben Beaumont-Thomas and Laura Snapes

12 December 2025 at 08:59

The year’s finest LPs as decided by 30 Guardian music writers – from a slip’n’slide through British club culture to a UK rapper like none before her
• More on the best culture of 2025

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Musicians must embrace ‘unstoppable force’ of AI, Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart urges 5 December 2025 at 13:24

Musicians must embrace ‘unstoppable force’ of AI, Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart urges

The Guardian

By:Eamonn Forde

5 December 2025 at 13:24

Producer says creatives need to own their intellectual property so they can license it to generative AI platforms

The Eurythmics co-founder Dave Stewart has said artificial intelligence is an “unstoppable force”, and musicians and other artists should bow to the inevitable and license their music to generative AI platforms.

These platforms use artificial intelligence to analyse existing songs and tracks, using that knowledge to generate completely new ones as prompted by a user. For example, someone could ask the AI platform to generate a song about a boozy night out in the style of a Britpop band, and it would draw on songs with similar sounds and themes to create its own.

‘Witness (1 Hope) by Roots Manuva gives me some bad girl energy’: Eliza Rose’s honest playlist 7 December 2025 at 04:00

‘Witness (1 Hope) by Roots Manuva gives me some bad girl energy’: Eliza Rose’s honest playlist

The Guardian

By:As told to Georgina Lawton

7 December 2025 at 04:00

The DJ, producer and singer likes the kind of dancehall her dad disapproves of, and her funk to be electronic. But whose songs make her feel bougie?

The first single I ever bought
Aaliyah, Rock the Boat. My nan sent me and my cousin to pick up some bits in Dalston and there was some change left over so I went into HMV and bought this CD for £1.99. I shouldn’t have been stealing my nan’s change but I felt so grownup. If my Jamaican dad had found out, he wouldn’t have been happy. I would have got a couple of licks.

The song I inexplicably know every lyric to
Mambo No 5 (A Little Bit of …) by Lou Bega. I was working on my album recently and realised I knew every word. I was so impressed because I barely remember my own lyrics.

Partygoers are pushing for clubs to offer free water: ‘It costs as much as a beer’ 3 December 2025 at 09:00

Partygoers are pushing for clubs to offer free water: ‘It costs as much as a beer’

The Guardian

By:Alaina Demopoulos

3 December 2025 at 09:00

New York venues aren’t required to give out water – but nightlife workers say it could make the difference between a safe evening out and an ER visit

When the Brooklyn metal band Contract performs around New York, they expect a mosh pit: thrashing bodies shoving and jumping along to the music. They also want to make sure the amped-up, usually drunk crowd stays hydrated. Without water, a mosher might feel sick, faint or pass out. “You don’t want anyone to get injured or hurt,” frontman Pele Uriel said.

Most of the spaces Uriel plays or visits have water stations where customers can easily fill up. But some do not. The worst offenders sell bottles of water at astronomical prices, from $5 to $10. “There have been times when I asked for water, but they charged a lot, so I went to the store next door to buy some,” Uriel said.

Viral Song Created with Suno's genAI Removed From Streaming Platforms, Re-Released With Human Vocals 29 November 2025 at 10:34

Viral Song Created with Suno's genAI Removed From Streaming Platforms, Re-Released With Human Vocals

Slashdot

By:EditorDavid

29 November 2025 at 10:34

An EDM song by the British group Haven ran into trouble in October after it shared clips of upcoming song "I Run" on TikTok. The song "was an overnight viral sensation online," writes Digital Music News — racking up millions of plays "even before it hit streaming services." (Although the Washington Post notes that "Record labels and TikTok users began questioning whether 'I Run' used an AI deepfake, modeled off British R&B singer Jorja Smith, for the vocals.") Digital Music News picks up the story: The artist says he used his own voice to record the vocals, and then ran it through layers of processing and filtering to turn it into the female-sounding voice heard in the track. However, that filtering also included the use of the controversial genAI platform Suno — and that's what complicates things... [The article says later that Suno "is currently in the middle of a blockbuster lawsuit with the Big Three major labels over allegations of widespread copyright infringement of sound recordings used during the AI model training process."] Meanwhile, the song was rapidly amassing listenership. It soared to #11 on the U.S. Spotify chart and #25 on Spotify globally. Videos using the song continued going viral on TikTok and Instagram, including one in which rapper Offset had apparently played the song during a Boiler Room set, which later turned out to be falsified. And then, as quickly as it appeared, "I Run" was taken down from streaming services, including Spotify and Apple Music. That was due, in part, to numerous takedown notices from The Orchard, the label to which Jorja Smith is signed, as well as the RIAA and IFPI. The takedown notices alleged various issues with the track, including the "misrepresentation" of another artist, as well as copyright infringement. As a result, the song has also been withheld from the Billboard charts, including the Hot 100, on which it had been predicted to debut this week before the controversy. Billboard points out that it "reserves the right to withhold or remove titles from appearing on the charts that are known to be involved in active legal disputes related to copyright infringement that may extend to the deletion of such content on digital service providers." The song itself has now been re-released with an all-human vocal track. But going forward will the music industry ever work with AI platforms? The Washington Post reports: "I Run" has taken off as record labels remain unsure of the extent to which they should welcome generative AI programs such as Suno or Udio into the industry. After the two AI music companies began growing in popularity, the three major labels — Sony Music, Warner Music Group and Universal Music Group — filed lawsuits against Suno and Udio, claiming that the AI companies have used the labels' sound recordings to train their model. Since then, UMG and Warnerhave reached agreementsto work with Udio, ending their litigation... It comes shortly after all three major labels licensed their catalogue to Klay, a music streaming start-up that allows users to adjust songs using artificial intelligence. Major licensing organizations such as ASCAP and BMI shared that they would register songs that were partially AI-generated — but not fully generated ones. Haven appears to present an uncomfortable edge case. While some AI-generated songs that sound broadly like other artists have been allowed to remain on streaming platforms, the voice in "I Run" appears to have been deemed too duplicative for comfort.

We put the new pocket-size vinyl format to the test—with mixed results

Ars Technica

By:Chris Foresman

28 November 2025 at 07:00

We recently looked at Tiny vinyl, a new miniature vinyl single format developed through a collaboration between a toy industry veteran and the world’s largest vinyl record manufacturer. The 4-inch singles are pressed in a process nearly identical to standard 12-inch LPs or 7-inch singles, except everything is smaller. They have a standard-size spindle hole and play at 33⅓ RPM, and they hold up to four minutes of music per side.

Several smaller bands, like The Band Loula and Rainbow Kitten Surprise, and some industry veterans like Blake Shelton and Melissa Etheridge, have already experimented with the format. But Tiny Vinyl partnered with US retail giant Target for its big coming-out party this fall, with 44 exclusive titles launching throughout the end of this year.

Tiny Vinyl supplied a few promotional copies of releases from former America’s Got Talent finalist Grace VanderWaal, The Band Loula, country pop stars Florida Georgia Line, and jazz legends the Vince Guaraldi Trio so I could get a first-hand look at how the records actually play. I tested these titles as well as several others I picked up at retail, playing them on an Audio Technica LP-120 direct drive manual turntable connected to a Yamaha S-301 integrated amplifier and playing through a pair of vintage Klipsch kg4 speakers.

Read full article

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Udio Users Can't Download Their AI Music Creations Anymore 24 November 2025 at 15:43

Udio Users Can't Download Their AI Music Creations Anymore

Slashdot

By:msmash

24 November 2025 at 15:43

An anonymous reader shares a report: As part of the settlement with Universal, Udio has amended its terms of service, and users can no longer download their outputs. This has AI music makers furious, and with good reason. Unfortunately, they have little recourse, as the contract they sign when creating a Udio account includes a waiver of the right to bring a class action.

Napster Said It Raised $3 Billion From a Mystery Investor. But Now the 'Investor' and 'Money' Are Gone

Slashdot

By:EditorDavid

23 November 2025 at 21:35

An anonymous reader shared this report from Forbes: On November 20, at approximately 4 p.m. Eastern time, Napster held an online meeting for its shareholders; an estimated 700 of roughly 1,500 including employees, former employees and individual investors tuned in. That's when its CEO John Acunto told everyone he believed that the never-identified big investor — who the company had insisted put in $3.36 billion at a $12 billion valuation in January, which would have made it one of the year's biggest fundraises — was not going to come through. In an email sent out shortly after, it told existing investors that some would get a bigger percentage of the company, due to the canceled shares, and went on to describe itself as a "victim of misconduct," adding that it was "assisting law enforcement with their ongoing investigations." As for the promised tender offer, which would have allowed shareholders to cash out, that too was called off. "Since that investor was also behind the potential tender, we also no longer believe that will occur," the company wrote in the email. At this point it seems unlikely that getting bigger stakes in the business will make any of the investors too happy. The company had been stringing its employees and investors along for nearly a year with ever-changing promises of an impending cash infusion and chances to sell their shares in a tender offer that would change everything. In fact, it was the fourth time since 2022 they've been told they could soon cash out via a tender offer, and the fourth time the potential deal fell through. Napster spokesperson Gillian Sheldon said certain statements about the fundraise "were made in good faith based on what we understood at the time. We have since uncovered indications of misconduct that suggest the information provided to us then was not accurate." The article notes America's Department of Justice has launched an investigation (in which Napster is not a target), while the Securities and Exchange Commission has a separate ongoing investigation from 2022 into Napster's scrapped reverse merger. While Napster announced they'd been acquired for $207 million by a tech company named Infinite Reality, Forbes says that company faced "a string of lawsuits from creditors alleging unpaid bills, a federal lawsuit to enforce compliance with an SEC subpoena (now dismissed) and exaggerated claims about the extent of their partnerships with Manchester City Football Club and Google. The company also touted 'top-tier' investors who never directly invested in the firm, and its anonymous $3 billion investment that its spokesperson told Forbes in March was in "an Infinite Reality account and is available to us" and that they were 'actively leveraging' it..." And by the end, "Napster appears to have been scrambling to raise cash to keep the lights on, working with brokers and investment advisors including a few who had previously gotten into trouble with regulators.... If it turns out that Napster knew the fundraise wasn't happening and it benefited from misrepresenting itself to investors or acquirees, it could face much bigger problems. That's because doing so could be considered securities fraud."

Y2K Kids Were the Last to Really Rage With No One Watching

NYT: Technology

By:Maya Salam

25 October 2025 at 05:00

The angst of nu metal is being discovered by Gen Z, but with digital eyes always looming, the ephemeral catharsis of collectively going mad is a thing of the past.