
TikTok star PinkPantheress gets honorary University of Kent degree
PinkPantheress shared her first song, the Michael Jackson-sampling Just A Waste, on TikTok on Christmas Day in 2020.Over the next 18 months, she shared 15-second online snippets of her works-in-progress.Since then, she has signed with record label Parlophone.Internationally known for her Top 40 singles Just for Me, Pain and Boy's a Liar, she has won BBC's Sound of 2022 poll and Best Female Act at the MOBO awards in the same year. She also performed at Glastonbury last month.However, she posted on social media that years of exposure to loud music had left her 80% deaf in her right ear.And last year she cancelled a number of tour dates, stating that she had to "focus on my physical health and overall wellbeing".Others receiving honorary degrees throughout the week include writer Sir Michael Morpurgo MBE, presenter Iain Dale, filmmaker and former actress Andrea Arnold and conservationist Giles Clark.
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Daily Mail
6 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Paul Weller unearths a rich seam of forgotten treasures on latest album Find El Dorado...with a little help from Noel Gallagher and Robert Plant
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Cynics will argue that he's simply compensating for writer's block, but there's too much affection here for that to be the case. He grew up listening to these songs, and it feels personal. Sung with character and feeling — plus a collaborative spirit that sees appearances by Noel Gallagher, Robert Plant, Irish singer Declan O'Rourke and producer Steve Cradock — the album shines a light on some of the forgotten moments of the 1960s and 1970s and revitalises them. 'These are songs I've carried with me for years,' says Weller. Old fans might baulk at his eccentricities. 'Guess I'll die with this fever in my soul,' he sings on White Line Fever, country star Merle Haggard's reflection on the loneliness of the touring musician. One Last Cold Kiss, originally by New York rock band Mountain, features lute-like strings. It's all a far cry from The Jam's Going Underground. Elsewhere, a more soulful mood holds sway. Small Town Talk, a Bobby Charles folk-rock number from 1972, is given a swinging makeover. Willie Griffin's rhythmic Where There's Smoke, There's Fire features Nottingham soul man Liam Bailey. Lawdy Rolla, originally by an obscure French act called The Guerrillas, is delivered with gospel fervour. The most intriguing tracks tap into a surreal, melancholy strand of 1970s pop. There's a faithful cover of the baroque When You Are A King, a rags-to-riches fantasy that was a hit for British group White Plains, and a version of singer and actor Brian Protheroe's Pinball. The Bee Gees' haunting 1968 single I Started A Joke is wistful, psychedelic... and a world away from the disco anthems the Gibb brothers would deliver a decade later. On a different note, Duncan Browne's Journey is bright and breezy, illuminated by Senegalese kora player Seckou Keita. The album ends with its most unlikely pairing, Weller duetting with Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant on Clive's Song, originally by folk singer Hamish Imlach. With The Modfather and the golden god of blues-rock combining brilliantly, and Plant adding harmonica, it's an inspired collaboration, and one they could take further — Mod Zeppelin anyone? ALICE COOPER: The Revenge Of Alice Cooper (earMUSIC) Verdict: Theatrical and nostalgic Rating: Back with the four surviving members of his original band for the first time since they made two albums — Billion Dollar Babies and Muscle Of Love — in 1973, Alice Cooper lives up to his billing as the godfather of shock rock on an album of high-octane guitar heroics, tuneful power balladry and lots of blood-spattered, tongue-in-cheek humour. With original producer Bob Ezrin back in the fold — and a posthumous appearance from guitarist Glen Buxton, who died in 1997 — there are nostalgic echoes of early hits such as School's Out and Elected. Ezrin, who drilled the band for ten hours a day to create their signature sound in the 1970s, prioritises simplicity over sophistication. 'I'll just watch you while you're sleeping, darling, and decide if I should bite,' sings Cooper, his voice still potent, as the album opens with Black Mamba. With guitarist Michael Bruce, bassist Dennis Dunaway and drummer Neal Smith joined by second guitarist Robby Krieger, once of The Doors, the song strikes a macabre note, with Alice in the role of a slinky, venomous snake. From that point on, theatrical rock numbers jostle with ballads. 'We're the wild ones, we live in every town,' roars Alice on Wild Ones, reeling off a string of outlaw cliches that ring a little hollow when you factor in that he's now 77, and more likely to be found on the golf course, or tucked up in bed with a mug of cocoa, than raising hell. Elsewhere, on the Kinks-like Crap That Gets In The Way Of Your Dreams, he ponders what might have happened had he never made it as a singer (he reckons he'd still be making music, and that it would probably have cost him his marriage), while Famous Face is a discourse on empty celebrity ('you're as worthless as a dog with fleas'). He shows a gentler touch on See You On The Other Side, a ballad that pays tribute to the rock star friends he has lost along the way. He spoke of Jim Morrison, Keith Moon and Jimi Hendrix in a recent interview — and we can now add Ozzy Osbourne to the list 'Your rivers went raging by,' sings Alice. It's a poignant finale from a survivor whose inspiration has yet to run dry.


The Independent
7 hours ago
- The Independent
Why TV dance star made last-minute withdrawal from live show
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The Independent
7 hours ago
- The Independent
Spacey told actor ‘don't worry about it' after alleged assault, documents claim
Kevin Spacey allegedly sexually assaulted a young actor at a party at The Savoy hotel and then told him 'Don't worry about it', court documents for the High Court legal claim suggest. Ruari Cannon is suing Mr Spacey as well as two organisations connected to the Old Vic Theatre in London, claiming he suffered psychiatric damage as a result of sexual and emotional abuse. The 33-year-old has waived his anonymity in the claim. In court documents seen by the PA news agency, Mr Cannon alleges that Mr Spacey, who was a 'powerful figure and a world-famous actor and celebrity' at the time, assaulted him in about June 2013, when he was 'a very vulnerable young man'. Oscar-winning actor Mr Spacey has previously denied allegations of inappropriate behaviour and wrongdoing, and details of his defence are not yet available. According to the documents, filed in June, Mr Spacey was working as artistic director at the Old Vic Theatre at the time of the alleged assaults on a production of a play by Tennessee Williams known as Sweet Bird Of Youth, and Mr Cannon was a member of the cast in this production. They claim that Mr Spacey 'took a particular interest' in Mr Cannon for 'reasons of sexual interest' and sent him a 'lavish' gift of a framed poster of the 1985 production of the play directed by Harold Pinter. After the press preview of the show on June 12 2013, Mr Cannon attended a party at The Savoy in London organised by The Old Vic Theatre Company (The Cut) and The Old Vic Theatre Trust 2000. It is claimed that one of the alleged assaults took place at the event. Setting out the allegations, Elizabeth-Anne Gumbel KC, for Mr Cannon, said: 'Kevin Spacey pulled the claimant towards him, turned him around through 45 degrees and placed his left hand on the claimant's buttocks and lifted up the recess material of his suit.' It is alleged that Mr Spacey then pushed Mr Cannon's underwear 'as far up' into his bottom as possible, 'so as to cause pain and distress'. Ms Gumbel added: 'Mr Kevin Spacey pulled the claimant closer to him and whispered into the claimant's ear 'Don't worry about it'. 'Mr Spacey made more uncalled for and unwelcome advances to the claimant during the evening.' The following day, Mr Cannon reported the alleged assaults to his stage manager at the Old Vic Theatre, but no action was taken. According to the documents, it is accepted that Mr Cannon did not ask for any action to be taken, and was scared about how any further action might affect his career. Later that year, during the run of the show, Mr Cannon saw Mr Spacey at the Old Vic bar. Mr Spacey allegedly said to him, 'I hear you have a dirty secret', and then said: 'Open up.' Ms Gumbel said: 'Kevin Spacey then forced open the claimant's mouth with his fingers and thumbs and commented 'quite a bad boy' before the claimant could pull away. 'The claimant then left the bar. The forcing open of the claimant's mouth was another assault for which Kevin Spacey was responsible and for which the second and/or third defendants were vicariously liable. 'Further in 2017 when the Old Vic set up a confidential complaints email on October 31 2017 the claimant reported the above complaint again to the Old Vic.' She added that the alleged assaults were carried out by Mr Spacey in the course of his work for the organisations connected to the Old Vic, and they are 'vicariously liable' for the alleged assaults carried out in the context of a theatre production.