4 d. ago Lily Allen gives fans 'goosebumps' with her incredible vocals as she performs West End Girl tracks at Chanel event and reveals her favourite song from the revenge album

The singer, 40, released the album in October - her first in seven years - which documents her split from husband David Harbour, his infidelity and their toxic relationship.

Culture

7 d. ago Oasis legend Noel Gallagher wants to play 'Mancunian villain' in next James Bond film

Wonderwall rocker Noel Gallagher declared it would be an 'honour' for Oasis to record the next James Bond theme song – the band are rumoured to be favourites for the running

Politics

9 d. ago Sex object, animal rights activist, racist: the paradox that was Brigitte Bardot

A fantasy figure for men and women, a victim of press intrusion, a defender of animals the French actor was also a mouthpiece for racial hatred whose views grew uglier over timeBrigitte Bardot inspired many fantasies, from the wanton, panting reveries of assorted French auteurs in the 1950s and 60s, to the perky-nippled bust created in 1969 as a model for Marianne, the embodiment of the French Republic itself.With her death on 28 December, another more contemporary Bardot illusion was shattered. The singer Chappell Roan, responding to Bardot’s passing at 91, posted a photo of the actor in her beehived prime on Instagram, saying she had inspired her song Red Wine Supernova and writing": “Rest in peace Ms Bardot.” Continue reading...

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9 d. ago Big name BBC host is unmasked on The Masked Singer as she dedicates performance to her children

A major TV host has been unmasked on The Masked Singer and became the first star out of the mystery singing competition after giving a rendition of Chappell Roan's Pink Pony Club

Politics

1 week ago Boris and Carrie Johnson celebrate New Year with ‘Pink Pony Club’ performance

Former prime minister Boris Johnson and wife Carrie celebrated New Year’s Eve with their own rendition of Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club”.

Politics

1 week ago Lily Allen’s live return, Charli xcx’s Wuthering Heights and Simon Rattle’s Janáček: music to listen out for in 2026

Raye, Deftones and Yungblud do UK tours, Jill Scott returns for more neo-soul, and the classical world gears up to celebrate Hungarian composer György Kurtág at 100• More from the 2026 culture previewSeventeen years on from the release of her debut single, Florence Welch finds herself in an intriguingly strong position: while most of her early 00s indie peers are forgotten or in reduced circumstances, she is a major influence on pop, from Ethel Cain to the Last Dinner Party to Chappell Roan. Her recent album Everybody Scream was a strong restatement of her theatrical approach – with more light and shade than you might expect – but it’s on stage that she really comes into her own. • UK tour begins 6 February at the SSE Arena, Belfast Continue reading...

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2 w. ago Chappell Roan furiously backtracks on Brigitte Bardot tribute after 'insane' views

American singer Chappell Roan may have penned a hit song inspired by the late French icon - but has now changed her opinions of the actress after learning about some of her personal views

Politics

2 w. ago Chappell Roan says she doesn’t condone ‘insane’ things Brigitte Bardot stood for: ‘Very disappointing to learn’

French film star and cultural icon, who died Sunday, sparked outrage later in life with her outspoken views on #MeToo, Islam and homosexuality

Politics

2 w. ago From Chappell Roan to Bob Dylan: 11 of the best songs inspired by Brigitte Bardot

The 1960s French sex symbol died on Sunday

Politics

3 w. ago Liam Payne's girlfriend Kate Cassidy posts previously unseen video of the late singer as she bakes his favourite Christmas gingerbread with his song playing in the background

The One Direction star died aged 31 in October 2024, after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and was found to have alcoholand cocaine in his system.

Culture

3 w. ago Meghan lists favourite Christmas songs she plays for Harry and children

The Duchess of Sussex has shared her personal playlist of Christmas songs with her followers.

Politics

3 w. ago ‘It contains the greatest song ever about an ice cream truck’: readers’ favourite albums of 2025

The beautiful despair of Cameron Winter, the perfectly imperfect life of Lily Allen, the maximalist R&B of Dijon and more: here’s what our readers have had on heavy rotation• The 50 best albums of 2025The production is uniquely rhythmic and layered, the instrumental performances are all pretty bulletproof, and Cameron Winter’s writing is just ridiculously good. He is able to show us beauty and despair, and the beauty in despair and the despair in beauty. The best track to me is Islands of Men, which builds over this hypnotic instrumental while Winter sings about isolation and self-illusion. Other highlights would be the title track and Half Real, which feels like a dizzy, intoxicated folk song. Geese are the next big thing. Freddie, 18, Surrey Continue reading...

Culture

3 w. ago Meghan Markle lists her favourite Christmas songs she plays 'on rotation at home'

Meghan Markle, who is the Duchess of Sussex, has wished her Instagram followers "a safe and cosy Christmas" and offered a fascinating insight into her music taste

Politics

3 w. ago Strictly Come Dancing 2025 final time tonight, couples, full list of songs and dances and favourite to win

Only one of the three remaining couples in the BBC One dance contest will lift the Glitterball trophy

Culture

3 w. ago Even Happy Birthday has a dark side: my quest to tell the history of the world in 50 pieces of music

The Nazis adopted Beethoven’s Ode to Joy. Happy Birthday hides a tale of corporate greed. And Putin uses Shostakovich’s Leningrad symphony as a call to arms. That’s why I put them in my soundtrack to the complexities of human existenceThe idea was always a ludicrous one: to reduce millennia of human musical history – not to mention billennia of the Earth’s sonic geology – into a book of 50 pieces of music. And yet that’s the challenge I decided to take on. The most pressing question was: why? To which my answer was: the inevitable failures and gaps of the project are precisely where its interest lies.The next concern was how. Called A History of the World in 50 Pieces, the book is not a digested history of music, nor a list of my favourite songs, performances or recordings. Instead, it’s centred on the definition of a “piece of music”. This is a democratic principle – a belief that works don’t belong only to their creators but are shared and reinterpreted by generations of musicians...

Culture

3 w. ago Our favourite songs of 2025, from Addison Rae’s ‘Headphones On’ to Chappell Roan’s ‘The Subway’

From the big-city yearning of Chappell Roan’s breakup ballad to Sam Fender and Olivia Dean’s wonderful collaboration ‘Rein Me In’, The Independent’s culture team pick their favourite songs of the past 12 months

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