14 h. ago Dancing On Ice's Torvill and Dean make rare comment about retirement as they film final skate

Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean will take to the ice for the final time as they perform on the Dancing on Ice rink, after confirming they will retire after 50 years

Culture

31 h. ago Rihanna tipped for Glastonbury 2025 as she 'plans UK residency' and music comeback

Brit Award winner Rihanna has long been speculated to perform at Glastonbury Festival over the years and there's now more rumours of her potentially performing in the UK soon

Politics

44 h. ago Sam Fender: People Watching review – a lonely yet brilliant document of fame

(Polydor)The North Shields singer-songwriter wrestles with how far life has propelled him away from his roots on his musically adventurous third albumOver two albums, Sam Fender has cast an increasingly astute eye over the working-class struggles of his native North Shields while wrangling with his own parallel narrative. But after his acclaimed 2019 debut, Hypersonic Missiles, and its hugely successful follow-up, Seventeen Going Under (2021), the 30-year-old clearly feels the weight of other people’s attention. On his troubled yet brilliant third album, People Watching, that shift hangs heavy.The lead-single title track is a natural continuation from the widescreen Springsteen-isms of Seventeen , on an adventurous record that takes in rootsy fingerpicking (Wild Long Lie) and a subversively breezy duet with singer Brooke Bentham (Arm’s Length). Lyrically, however, the sad yearning of the opener signposts the turmoil to come, whether it’s new parents back home who “can’t heat the pla...

Politics

66 h. ago Nihilistic, anarchic, repugnant: Sam Peckinpah’s 10 best films – ranked!

The revered but divisive American director, who died in 1984, would have turned 100 this week. We rate his greatest movies, from Straw Dogs to The Wild BunchAfter making his name as a director of westerns, Sam Peckinpah was given his first shot at making a major studio film – an epic about a tyrannical cavalry officer (Charlton Heston) leading an expedition into Mexico. The production set a template for later Peckinpah films – heavy drinking, personality clashes, battles with the suits, and a final cut not matching the director’s vision. Major Dundee was a victim of its chaotic ambition and it’s easy to see why it flopped on release: even in the 2005 restored version, it is hopelessly unfocused, taking in Dundee’s Moby-Dick-like mission to track down an Apache chief, the dynamics of the US civil war, encounters with the French army and an unconvincing romantic interlude. But it’s interestingly flawed, a sort of dry run for The Wild Bunch, and Richard Harris is entertaining as Benjam...

Politics

67 h. ago Sam Fender: People Watching review | Alexis Petridis's album of the week

(Polydor)On his third album, produced by the War on Drugs, the North Shields singer-songwriter shows just how gifted he is at pairing stadium choruses with sharp, bleak vignettesSam Fender’s third album ends with a track called Remember My Name. It’s clearly a very personal song, about its author’s late grandfather – even revealing the address of his council house, 11 Walk Avenue. The northern British references – “Chasing a cross in from the wing / Our boy’s a whippet, he’s faster than anything” – are amplified both by Fender’s Geordie vowels and the backing, provided by the Easington Colliery brass band. It’s all very specific and individual – you really don’t hear brass bands, or indeed the mention of whippets in pop very often – and yet Remember My Name seems to have something of the self-fulfilling prophecy about it. You can immediately imagine its soaring melody being sung en masse by a huge festival audience, which is, one suspects, precisely the destiny that awaits it.It’s a...

Politics

3 d. ago BRIT winner Ella Eyre launches school outreach initiative Mic Drop

Ella Eyre, the BRIT Award-winning singer, has launched a new initiative called Mic Drop Talks, aimed at inspiring young students.

Politics

3 d. ago Ozzy Osbourne will only do 'bits and pieces' at Black Sabbath farewell as he 'can't walk'

Osbourne won't be able to perform a full set at the final Black Sabbath show, instead doing “bit and pieces” due to symptoms caused by his Parkinson’s.

Politics

4 d. ago Gemma Atkinson leaves fans distracted with loo snap as she grins and tells them 'stay classy'

The Hits Radio host took to her Instagram page as she revealed she'd soon be off to The BRIT Awards 2025 and is preparing her look

Politics

4 d. ago BRIT Awards 2025: Sam Fender announced as one of two final performers at this year's ceremony

The final artists have been confirmed 🎶

Events

5 d. ago Where to buy Sam Fender UK tour 2025 tickets today as they go on presale

Pre-sale tickets for shows at Manchester's Wythenshawe Park, Edinburgh's Royal Highland Showgrounds, and Belfast's Boucher Road Playing Fields will go on sale this week

Economics

5 d. ago Matildas ‘can’t wait’ to see Sam Kerr back on pitch following court case and injury

Ellie Carpenter backs Kerr after ‘very challenging time for her’Star striker again absent from squad for She Believes Cup in USMatildas vice-captain Ellie Carpenter has thrown her support behind Sam Kerr as the star forward turns her focus to recovering from a serious knee injury after a high-profile trial in the UK ended last week.Kerr is nearing a return to playing with Chelsea after rupturing an anterior cruciate ligament more than a year ago but will miss the Matildas’ SheBelieves Cup campaign in the US this month. Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago Love Island final first look as huge DJ surprises All Stars with villa performance

Love Island All Stars' final will air on Monday night, with one of the remaining five couples - who include Grace Jackson and Luca Bish - set to be crowned the latest winners

Politics