Latest news with #LonelyHeartsClubBand
Belfast Telegraph
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Belfast Telegraph
‘A momentous occasion': Twelfth to be held in Dundonald for the first time in almost 60 years
There is 'anticipation and excitement' in Dundonald as it prepares to host its first Twelfth in nearly 60 years, locals have said. The last time it was held there was 1967 - when Lyndon B Johnson was in the White House, Harold Wilson was in Downing Street and The Beatles released Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
New York Post
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr reflect on ‘special' bond as only living members of The Beatles
They get by with a little help from each other. Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr are looking back on their decades-long friendship as the only surviving members of The Beatles. The duo reflected on their 'special' bond in a profile of Starr in The New York Times published on Wednesday, July 2. Advertisement 7 McCartney and Starr have been the last Beatles standing for nearly 25 years. AP 'With John and George not here, I think we realize nothing lasts forever,' McCartney, 83, said. 'So we grasp onto what we have now because we realize that it's very special.' The Beatles were active from 1960 until the four-piece rock band formed in Liverpool broke up in 1970. Advertisement McCartney and Starr, 84, were joined by John Lennon, who was shot and killed in 1980 at age 40, and George Harrison, who died from lung cancer in 2001 at age 58. 7 The Beatles were active from 1960 until they broke up in 1970. Bettmann Archive The pair have been the last Beatles standing for nearly 25 years. 'It's something hardly anyone else has. In fact, in our case, it's something no one else has,' McCartney continued. 'There's only me and Ringo, and we're the only people who can share those memories.' Advertisement In December 2024, McCartney and Starr reunited on stage for the first time in five years during the final night of McCartney's 'Got Back' tour. 7 McCartney and Starr reunited on stage for the first time in five years in December 2024. REUTERS Starr joined McCartney at London's O2 arena to perform Beatles hits 'Helter Skelter' and 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.' 'Should we rock? Get on your kit,' McCartney said as Starr appeared. Advertisement At the end of the show, Starr said, 'It's fantastic, playing with me old mate, but there comes a time when we've got to go home. All that remains to be said… I've had a great night, and I love you all.' 7 McCartney and Starr released 'Now and Then' in 2023. Getty Images McCartney told The New York Times that even though 'Helter Skelter' is an 'out-and-out rocker,' he found himself getting 'a little bit emotional.' In 2023, McCartney and Starr released 'Now and Then,' billed as 'the last Beatles song.' Originally written and recorded by the late John Lennon before his death, the track was completed with the help of AI, which was used to refine the 'Imagine' singer's vocals. 7 'Now and Then' earned the band a Grammy for Best Rock Performance at the 2025 awards. Getty Images The final version earned the band a Grammy for Best Rock Performance and a nomination for Record of the Year at the 2025 awards. Starr also recently admitted that McCartney was the reason the 'Twist and Shout' band released so much music. Advertisement 'Because of Paul, who was the workaholic of our band, we made a lot more records than John and I would've made,' Starr told Dan Rather for AXS TV. 'We liked to sit around a little more and then Paul would call, 'All right lads,' and we'd go in.' 7 The Beatles are set to get the silver screen biopic treatment. AFP/Getty Images The Beatles are the latest musical act set to get the silver screen biopic treatment — in four separate films. Directed by Sam Mendes ('1917' and 'Skyfall'), each installment, together titled 'The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event,' will focus on one member of the iconic group. Advertisement The cast of the biopic series was announced at CinemaCon 2025 in Las Vegas. 7 Harris Dickinson, Paul Mescal, Barry Keoghan and Joseph Quinn will portray the iconic British rock band in the upcoming biopic series. Ilaria Urbinati / Instagram Paul Mescal will play Paul McCartney, Barry Keoghan will play Ringo Starr, Harris Dickinson will play John Lennon and Joseph Quinn will play George Harrison. All four movies are set to hit theaters in April 2028.
Daily Mirror
14-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Reclusive star hailed 'next Prince' vanished from spotlight and changed name
Terence Trent D'Arby shot to fame in the 1980s after releasing his debut studio album, but after just a few years, his music career came to an abrupt halt and he disappeared from the limelight The 1980s was a decade that produced some iconic music legends, including Prince, Michael Jackson, and Whitney Houston. However, one name that was once mentioned alongside these stars has largely faded into obscurity. Terence Trent D'Arby exploded onto the scene in 1987, following a whirlwind of publicity surrounding his music. Just a few years prior, he had been an amateur boxer and a soldier in the US army. His debut studio album, Introducing The Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby, generated significant buzz after he claimed it was as groundbreaking as The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Although his bold statements about his work earned him a reputation, the album proved to be a hit, featuring some of his most popular tracks, including If You Let Me Stay, Sign Your Name, and Dance Little Sister. Critics praised the album, which won him a Grammy and a BRIT award, drawing comparisons to music legends like Prince, Michael Jackson, and Sam Cooke. Reflecting on that time and his provocative statement, the singer told The Guardian: "I said a lot of s***, but Muhammad Ali was one of my heroes, and I similarly realised that if you say outrageous things, it gets attention. "As a young artist, you've got to get your work heard and to a degree, I hypnotised myself into believing I was a genius. It worked like a charm, but I didn't understand the degree I'd have to pay for that." However, just as he gained momentum, his commercial success abruptly ended with the release of his second album Neither Fish nor Flesh in 1989. The album's different sound failed to resonate with fans and critics, halting his promising career. Four years later, after moving to Los Angeles, D'Arby released his third album, Symphony or Damn, which showed promise but couldn't match his original hits. He then became a recluse, rarely leaving his California mansion, as per the Mirror US. In 2001, he made headlines again by changing his name to Sananda Maitreya, stating: "Terence Trent D'Arby was dead... he watched his suffering as he died a noble death. After intense pain, I meditated for a new spirit, a new will, a new identity." Maitreya released new music under his new name, without big-label backing, and left Los Angeles for a quieter life. He moved to Munich, then Milan in 2002, and married Italian architect and television host Francesca Francone the following year. From Italy, he continued to release new music, uploading it to his website.
Daily Record
14-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
Music icon hailed as 'next Prince' changed his name after ditching fame
Terence Trent D'Arby was a huge name in the late 1980s with his debut album earning him critical acclaim and a host of awards but his career would take a very different path The 1980s was a decade graced by music legends such as Prince, Michael Jackson, and Whitney Houston, but one contemporary star has since faded into obscurity. Terence Trent D'Arby made a splash in the music world in 1987 following an intense publicity campaign for his tunes. Previously an amateur boxer and a US army soldier, he catapulted to fame with the release of his debut album Introducing The Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby, making headlines by claiming it rivalled The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in importance. Despite gaining notoriety for his audacious remarks about his music, there's truth in the adage that all publicity is beneficial, and the album featured some of his most memorable songs like If You Let Me Stay, Sign Your Name, and Dance Little Sister, achieving success. The album was a hit with critics, securing him a Grammy and a BRIT award, and drawing comparisons to greats from Prince to Michael Jackson to Sam Cooke, reports the Mirror US. Reflecting on that era and his provocative claim, the singer confessed to The Guardian: "I said a lot of s***, but Muhammad Ali was one of my heroes, and I similarly realised that if you say outrageous things, it gets attention. "As a young artist, you've got to get your work heard and to a degree, I hypnotised myself into believing I was a genius. It worked like a charm, but I didn't understand the degree I'd have to pay for that." Yet just as he was gaining traction, his burgeoning commercial career abruptly crashed to a halt in 1989 with the release of his outlier second album Neither Fish nor Flesh, which diverged starkly from his debut. Failing to resonate with fans or critics, it stunted what had appeared to be a rising trajectory. A move to LA and a new start awaited him, and in 1993, D'Arby brought out his third album Symphony or Damn. Displaying potential, it unfortunately didn't ascend to the success levels of his initial chart-toppers. Over the ensuing period, the singer kept a low profile, cloistered away in his California mansion and steering clear of the public eye. 2001 witnessed D'Arby's return to the limelight when he declared his transformation into Sananda Maitreya, stating: "Terence Trent D'Arby was dead... he watched his suffering as he died a noble death. After intense pain, I meditated for a new spirit, a new will, a new identity." Under his reborn persona, Maitreya offered fresh musical works, albeit without the clout of major record labels, and chose to leave the hustle of LA behind for a more serene existence. His journey took him first to Munich, Germany, before he eventually took root in Milan in 2002; the following year saw him tie the knot with Italian architect and television host Francesca Francone. Continuing on his musical path from Italy, he consistently published new material directly via his website.
Spectator
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Spectator
The greatest tribute to Brian Wilson is to listen to his music
The late Brian Wilson, who has died aged 82, once had his songs, which included modern-day classics such as 'God Only Knows' and 'Good Vibrations', described as 'pocket symphonies to God'. For just about any other artist, such a description would be grandiloquent tosh. Yet in the case of Wilson, who struggled with personal demons that all but consumed him after a brief, brilliant flourish of early success, such praise is entirely justified. It is little wonder that his friend and rival Paul McCartney was inspired to write Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band after hearing the Beach Boys' masterpiece Pet Sounds for the first time. That album was thrillingly alive to the possibilities of what pop music could be and transformed American culture forever. The Beach Boys' harmonies are glorious to listen to It is the central tragedy of Wilson's life, however, that he was both blessed and cursed with genius that eventually overwhelmed him. He became part of the Beach Boys in 1961, who were originally intended to be a light-hearted surf rock band, managed by Wilson's father, Murry. Wilson arrived at his zenith of artistic achievement with Pet Sounds in 1966, but its success and acclaim overwhelmed him. Its follow-up, Smile, from which 'Good Vibrations' emerged, was never released, and he sank into a quagmire of alcohol and drug abuse from which he never managed to truly recover. He continued to record and release music, but during the Seventies, especially, it is doubtful that he had any clear idea what was going on most of the time. He was rescued, if that's the right word to use, by the psychologist Eugene Landy, who kind of took coercive control of Wilson in the late Eighties. Landy turned Wilson into the iteration of himself that would last, with minor variations, until the end of his life. By the early 2000s, Wilson, who had spent most of the previous decade mired in litigation with his former bandmates, was persuaded to perform his best-known albums live once again. Although acclaimed to the skies by eager fans at the time, I remember seeing him perform Smile in London in 2004 and feeling a sense of unease that this clearly deeply unwell and confused man had been persuaded – or coerced – into taking to the stage once again. He was a shambling, barking figure, with his once-beautiful voice ravaged by age and lifestyle; only his superb band managed to keep matters together. Alexis Petridis nailed it in a negative review of one of his many comeback albums when he wrote in the Guardian that: Wilson's face now seems to arrange itself naturally into an expression of horrified bewilderment – suggesting he isn't entirely sure what is going on, but is pretty certain he doesn't like it. The word 'mad' is often bandied around lightly, but Wilson's mental health meant that the veteran performer was a sad, near-pathetic shadow of the genius boy who he was in the Sixties. Yet his achievements during that brief, brilliant summer of his career have seldom been matched by anyone. The Beach Boys' harmonies, with the complexity of their arrangements and orchestration and, most of all, the thrill they bring as some of the most indelibly brilliant songs ever written are glorious to listen to. It suggests that, if Wilson made a Faustian pact to have this brief period of glory followed by decades of trouble and sorrow, then he at least made the most out of his halcyon period. If there is a greater, more affecting love song than 'God Only Knows' – complete with the attention-grabbing opening 'I may not always love you, but as long as there are stars above you, you never need to doubt it' – then I would like to hear it. A long period of personal trouble now comes to an end with Wilson's death. The greatest tribute to him is to listen to his peerless songs once again and rhapsodise in the work of an authentic genius.
