51 h. ago Men of a Certain Age by Kate Mossman review – close encounters with charismatic male rockers

A journalist’s bracingly honest account of interviews with musicians from Brian May to Shaun RyderWhen the journalist Kate Mossman was a child, she developed an obsession with the rock band Queen. Mossman came of age in the 1990s, but the irony and snark of that decade left her cold. Instead, she lived for the “middle-aged musicians from the 80s in jacket and jeans, and for the open-hearted, non-cynical pop times that had come before”. Watching Queen’s posthumous single These Are the Days of Our Lives on Top of the Pops in 1991, she “felt something within myself ignite”. Though she was captivated by the strange longing of a monochrome Freddie Mercury, who had died weeks earlier, it was drummer Roger Taylor who became the focus of her obsession. On the mantelpiece of her childhood home sat a holy relic: a beer glass he had drunk from during a solo gig. Twenty years later, while on her way to interview Taylor and Queen guitarist Brian May for a magazine profile, Mossman confesses...

Politics

4 d. ago Nineties anthem from iconic rock band is crowned the best British song of all time

Live Forever by Oasis has topped a new poll of the best British song of all time.

Culture

8 d. ago ‘She had no interest in the comfort zone’: celebrating the centenary of Celia Cruz, Cuba’s Queen of Salsa

Exiled from Castro’s Cuba, she became a superstar – and a trailblazer in the macho world of salsa. Fans and collaborators including Angélique Kidjo hail an icon of Black empowermentOn 13 November 1973, at Roberto Clemente Coliseum in Puerto Rico, Celia Cruz took to the stage in a bejewelled, psychedelic blue dress and vast afro, saluting the 12,500-capacity arena with her trademark rallying cry: “Azucar!” – sugar.The Cuban singer had been a star for more than two decades by this point, but this concert marked a rebirth. Backed by the Fania All-Stars, the in-house orquesta of the label that brought salsa to the US, Cruz performed Bemba Colorá. Devotees have variously decoded its lyric and “big red lips” metaphor as a repudiation of a neighbourhood gossip, a commentary on anti-Black racism or an anthem for female empowerment. Stretched out to a righteous 12-minute call-and-response in Puerto Rico, she recast the song as a cry of anguish over her exile from her homeland, adding lines l...

Politics

1 week ago Rock legends The Who sack drummer Zak Starkey after question marks over Royal Albert Hall bust

The legendary rock band made the decision to part company with him after their two shows at the Royal Albert Hall in March, where they performed their iconic hits

Politics

1 week ago Rock icons The Who axe drummer Zak Starkey after 29 years in brutal band shake

The Who's Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend have reportedly sacked long-time drummer Zak Starkey who has played in the band since 1996 after the rock icons are said to have wanted a change in their music.

Politics

1 week ago Iconic rock band will only return to Glastonbury Festival in 'life or death' situation

It comes after the band announced a six-date UK tour including one night at Manchester Co-Op Live

Events

1 week ago Judas Priest star Les Binks dies aged 73 as band pays tribute to 'first

Rock legend Les Binks, who was the drummer in metal band Judas Priest, has died at the age of 73, with the band celebrating his "first class" drumming in a tribute online

Events

1 week ago Sting praises Adolescence choir for creating ‘beautiful’ cover of Fragile

The 73-year old former frontman of the rock band, The Police, shared the post on Monday with a video from the hit Netflix drama.

Politics

1 week ago ‘The Citizen Kane of rock movies’: glam rockers Slade and their bid for cinema greatness

Fifty years ago, the Black Country legends made Slade in Flame, about a band screwed by the music business. It tanked and almost finished them. Now, as it’s re-released, the film is being seen as a prescient gemDaryl Easlea was eight years old when he got the 4A bus with his mate Graham down to the Odeon in Southend-on-Sea to see his favourite rock band make the leap from vinyl to celluloid. After 12 consecutive top 10 singles – including six No 1s – Slade had finally made their first movie, Slade in Flame. It has just turned 50.What young Easlea saw in 1975 was not the fun-packed adventures of a happy-go-lucky glam rock foursome, but a dour, downbeat film about being chewed up and spat out by the music industry. Easlea, who would grow up to be Slade’s biographer, didn’t care. Continue reading...

Culture

2 w. ago Maverick who scored vs Man City headbutted teammates, smoked after games and formed rock band

Dani Osvaldo was compared to Johnny Depp for his looks and lifestyle, but the former Southampton and Roma striker's off-field antics were even more wild than the Pirates of the Caribbean

Sport

2 w. ago Wild Premier League striker headbutted teammates, smoked after games and quit for rock band

Dani Osvaldo, who has been likened to Johnny Depp, was a talented striker who played for the likes of Roma and Southampton but his career was overshadowed by his off-field antics

Events

2 w. ago TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe: ‘I remember thinking I never want to do this again’

TV on the Radio’s frontman hit rock bottom at the height of the band’s powers and stopped performing music for good. But with his acting career taking off and a genre-jumping new solo album, one of rock’s great polymaths is backSitting in the belly of north London’s Islington Assembly Hall in the middle of four sold-out nights, TV on the Radio frontman Tunde Adebimpe is recalling the precise moment he wanted to quit his band – and music – for ever. It was 2019 and the group, an art-rock four-piece who haven’t made a record that wasn’t adored by critics since emerging from Brooklyn in the early 00s, were opening for Weezer and Pixies at Madison Square Garden in New York.Over the years, they’ve made five studio albums and also lost bass player Gerard Smith, who died suddenly in 2011. They’ve grieved and grown together. Adebimpe is their talisman. A tall, expressive focal point, able to rabble-rouse with songs such as Wolf Like Me, or calm the congregation with low-slung trac...

Politics

2 w. ago Iconic rock band bassist’s wife shot by police and arrested for attempted murder

Jillian Shriner, wife of Weezer bassist Scott Shriner, has been arrested for attempted murder after she allegedly raised her handgun to police after an alleged hit and run incident

Events

2 w. ago How Blondie drummer Clem Burke stopped taking drugs and drinking in his rock band heyday as he 'detested what substance abuse did to people'

The sad news of Blondie drummer Clem Burke's death at the age of 70 was revealed on Monday - following his 'private battle with cancer'.

Events

2 w. ago Blondie star dead aged 70 after private battle with cancer as band pay tribute

The rock band shared a tribute on Facebook on Monday which read: 'It is with profound sadness that we relay news of the passing of our beloved friend and bandmate Clem Burke.'

Events

2 w. ago Florence Welch buys £1.9million Somerset estate and waits YEARS to move in amid major renovations AND the house might be haunted

The lead singer of indie rock band Florence and The Machine first bought the Grade II listed home in 2021 and submitted final plans last year to partially demolish buildings on the land in order to restore it.

Economics

3 w. ago Rock band Muse postpone Istanbul show over promoter comments about anti

Turkish fans had urged the rock band to cancel the show as thousands of citizens protest the recent arrest of mayor Ekrem Imamoglu

Culture

3 w. ago Muse cancel show in Istanbul after call for boycott of concert promoter who called Turkey protests 'treason'

It comes after DBL Entertainment promoter Abdulkadir Ozkan called protests against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ‘treason’

Events

3 w. ago Muse cancel show in Istanbul after call for boycott of concert promoter

Large-scale anti-government protests began last month after the jailing of the Turkish city’s mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu.

Culture

3 w. ago Beatles biopic cast confirmed as stars assemble on stage for first time ahead of epic four film project

The Beatles cast for Sam Mendes' upcoming biopics about the iconic British rock band has been revealed. 

Politics