20 h. ago ‘None of this should have worked’: David Adjmi on how Led Zeppelin sparked Broadway smash Stereophonic

The playwright was about to quit theatre but hearing Babe I’m Gonna Leave You led to a sensational, Tony-winning collaboration with Arcade Fire’s Will ButlerIn 2013, I was desperately looking for a way to quit writing plays. I’d had a terrible, scarring artistic collaboration a couple of years prior, and it broke me. And on top of that, I was actually broke, financially. So I decided to give up playwriting, move to Los Angeles and make some money writing for film and television. But just as I’d made that decision, I received a three-year grant from the Mellon Foundation. It came with a significant chunk of money, so I was thrilled. Only it also came with conditions: one of which was that I needed to write a new play. “Fine,” I thought. “I’ll write a very short one-act to fulfil the requirements of the grant and then be done with theatre for ever.”Months later, I was on an aeroplane listening to in-flight radio when Led Zeppelin’s cover of Babe I’m Gonna Leave You came on. I knew the...

Politics

44 h. ago Coronation Street star says 'it's the end' amid support from co

The ITV soap star confirmed fans needn't expect him to make a surprise return in the future after his tragic end

Politics

3 d. ago Man City fans make Kevin De Bruyne exit feelings clear after star 'surprised' to leave

Kevin De Bruyne will leave Manchester City at the end of the season, but the decision to let him move on has not gone down well with everyone at the Premier League side

Politics

3 d. ago Harry Maguire says Man Utd players surprised by ‘incredible’ backing from fans

United play Spurs in the Europa League final on Wednesday looking to salvage something from a poor season.

Sport

3 d. ago Love Island star wows fans with drastic new look but all is not as it seems

Love Island bombshell Grace Jackson is best known for her long blonde hair but she surprised fans by debuting a brand new brunette look after teaming up with a top hair stylist

Politics

4 d. ago Taylor Swift fans melt down as she finally releases first Reputation (Taylor's Version) track in very surprising way

Taylor Swift's fans got a thrilling surprise while watching the latest episode of Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale.

Sport

5 d. ago Harvard, jousting with Trump, found a real Magna Carta. It’s a grand coincidence

The document is a reminder we’ve been fighting autocracy for centuries – and we can’t give up nowSometimes, miraculous financial windfalls happen when you need them most. A college student finding $20 in a jacket pocket on a Friday night. A relative who you didn’t really even like dropping dead and leaving you with a hefty inheritance. Or an institution of higher learning discovering they have an original copy of the Magna Carta. I’m sure you can relate.Harvard University recently found the antiquities equivalent of a $20 bill in its archives. What was once thought to be an unofficial copy of King Edward I’s declaration of principles is now confirmed to be one of seven remaining legitimate documents left in the world. Harvard purchased this item in 1946 for a whopping $27.50, or $452.40 in today’s money. Now that the piece’s provenance is confirmed, it’s fair to say it’s actually priceless.Dave Schilling is a Los Angeles-based writer and humorist Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago Hairy Biker Si King’s Honest Playlist: ‘Led Zeppelin is perfect for when you’re speeding along’

The chef, author and presenter wants to be John Bonham and might be found busting out Baker Street at karaoke, but which song reminds him of lost love?The first single I bought I Don’t Like Mondays by the Boomtown Rats from Sounds Nice on Birtley High Street, when I was in my teens. I know it was about a school shooting, but at the time, I thought: I have a visceral reaction to Mondays as well.The first song I fell in love with Still in Love With You from Thin Lizzy’s Live and Dangerous album. I was learning to play drums and Brian Downey, Thin Lizzy’s drummer, used to do this wonderful shuffle beat because it’s a relatively slow track, and his playing is beautiful. I still play the drums. I’ve never stopped being a musician. Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago Eamonn 'lonely' as new girlfriend tells him: I won't move in with you

Eamonn Holmes surprised fans when it emerged he was in a relationship with a woman 22 years his junior following his split from Ruth Langsford.

Politics

6 d. ago Olly Murs fans boo X Factor legend as he makes cheeky confession

The singer was in good spirits during the show but fans were quick to turn on him after he made a surprise admission while on stage in Liverpool on Thursday evening

Politics

7 d. ago Coronation Street fans 'work out' unexpected return as heartbreak leads to surprise exit

Bobby Crawford was seen deciding to leave Weatherfield to reunite with a pal not seen for a while on the cobbles

Politics

7 d. ago Coronation Street fans 'not expecting that' as 'real' Mick Michaelis star 'uncovered'

Actor Joe Layton made his debut in the controversial role earlier this year and now fans have been left surprised

Politics

8 d. ago Naomi Watts' daughter doesn't look like this anymore! Kai Schreiber, 16, shocks with dramatic transformation

Naomi Watts' 16-year-old daughter Kai Schreiber recently surprised fans with a bold new look that had fans doing a double-take.

Events

8 d. ago GTA 6 fans discover surprising detail that could make entry most controversial yet

Grand Theft Auto fans have been poring over the second GT 6 trailer and think they've found a particularly controversial feature in Rockstar's upcoming game—the inclusion of children

Politics

8 d. ago Darren Till on why he is the ideal star for Misfits Boxing – and the one the UFC needs back

Exclusive interview: Till’s UFC career ended in surprising fashion, but the Scouser recently introduced himself to boxing fans with a sublime knockout in KSI’s promotion

Economics

9 d. ago Harvard’s unofficial copy of Magna Carta is actually an original, experts say

Document issued by Edward I in 1300 was bought by law school library for just $27 in 1946A Magna Carta wrongly listed as an unofficial copy for nearly 80 years has been confirmed as an original from 1300.The discovery means the document is just one of seven issued in 1300 by Edward I that still survive. Continue reading...

Politics

9 d. ago The photo Tom Cruise may not want you to see! Innocent image of Hollywood superstar surprises fans during Mission: Impossible press tour

Richard Wilkins shared what appeared to be an innocent photo with actor Tom Cruise, but has since confused fans.

Culture

9 d. ago Sound of Falling review – intergenerational angst haunts a German farmhouse

Cannes film festival Told in four different timeframes in the same rural family home, this story of national guilt and yearning is powerfully unsettlingHere is a mysterious and uncanny prose-poem of guilt, shame and yearning in 20th-century Germany, and the 21st; a drama of intergenerational trauma and genetic memories, visions and experiences suppressed and handed on to descendants and grandchildren in whom they can return as neurotic symptoms of the repressed.There are visual rhymes and unexplained cosmic echoes, and the film speaks of militarism and resentment, guilt and horror, with dark hints of abuse and sterilisation, the female slavery of domestic servitude and the pastoral world of rural Germany in which the city’s political currents are only dimly perceived. And it gestures at the terrible pathos of the old GDR, which laboured and sacrificed for 40 years after the war in Soviet vassalage finally to discover it was for nothing. The film’s original German title is In Die Son...

Politics

1 week ago Tom Grennan surprises fans at local supermarket with VIP tickets to exclusive gig

The Brit Awards nominated star, who has sold over a million albums, surprised shoppers at a local Tesco in Bedford, where he grew up.

Sport

1 week ago Coronation Street fans' prediction as character makes exit decision leaving Carla Connor surprised

Fans of the ITV soap have made a prediction about one resident on the Cobbles as he plotted his exit - but it doesn't seem like it will be for long

Politics