Latest news with #RobbieWilliams
Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Sam Fender's London Stadium Show Launches U.K.'s Summer of Music: 5 Best Moments
The U.K.'s summer of live music kicked off in earnest this week with a number of huge tour debuts throughout major cities, particularly in London. Over at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Thursday (June 5), Beyoncé brought her Cowboy Carter tour to these shores for the first time, and a day later, Robbie Williams was just a stone's throw away at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium. The festival circuit also got off to a powerful start with Massive Attack in Victoria Park's LIDO, and Charli XCX set to grace the same venue next weekend. More from Billboard Finneas Says He Was Tear-Gassed During ICE Protest in L.A. Kevin Parker Previews New Tame Impala Music During Barcelona DJ Set BRIT Awards 2026 to Be Held Outside London for First Time No gig was bigger than Sam Fender's record-setting show at the London Stadium on Friday (June 6) night with a whopping 82,500 tickets sold for his largest-ever show (1,000 more than The Weeknd at the venue in 2023). The event arrived during a banner year for the North Shields-born rocker. His third album, People Watching, is the best-selling British album of 2025 so far, and the fastest-selling LP by a British solo act since Harry Styles in 2022. Over the course of the summer, he'll play more huge shows in his hometown Newcastle, and headline outdoor shows in Manchester and across Europe. Packed to the brim with fans of all ages (but a large contingent wearing the homestrip of his beloved Newcastle United Football Club), it was a moment to celebrate just how far he'd come since his 2017 arrival, a hard-won British success story when they feel worryingly scant. These are the best moments from Fender's headline show at London Stadium. Fender was undeterred by what people want him to play, staying true to the songs he feels the set deserves. To drop in two lesser-known B-sides — 'Howdon Aldi Death Queue' and 'Tyrants' — from his second and third albums, respectively, is hubristic but justified. The former was a wry look at the daftness of COVID-era Britain, while the latter 'should have been on' People Watching he told the crowd, a reminder of the stark quality of that record that this could be left off, or a cheeky warning to label execs that he knows best. When Fender last toured the U.K. in December 2024, he gave fans the first taste of People Watching months ahead of release. Six months later, he's still rolling out tracks from the LP and switching up the setlist with 'Rein Me In' earning a live debut in the biggest of settings. Even better, the performance of this song was elevated by rising British star Olivia Dean who played on the bill earlier in the day. Her rich vocals sidled up to Fender's, creating a sumptuous moment in an otherwise rowdy show. Rock anthems in the 21st century have been hard to come by, but 2021's 'Seventeen Going Under' is a rare exception and has embedded itself into British culture. The song reflects on Fender's upbringing in a macho environment, but also trying to support his mother as she suffered at the cruel hands of the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) who withheld vital benefits. It's pure Springsteen, but also a story distinctly his own. People Watching ends with Fender's most tender song, 'Remember My Name,' a homage to his late grandparents and the simplicity of their love and life together. The track features a brass band from the North East, a nod to the city's mining community, and during its tour debut The Easington Colliery Brass Band joined Fender on stage for a gorgeous moment of understated grandeur and tradition. There was nary a dry eye in the house. Before playing his final track 'Hypersonic Missiles,' which references the 'kids in Gaza' being 'bombed,' Fender spoke directly to the crowd, saying, 'It breaks my heart that it's more relevant now than it was then,' when he released the song in 2019. He called for a 'free Palestine' and called for a stop to the 'ethnic genocide,' encouraging fans to donate to and engage with the work of Doctors Without Borders who will join him throughout his summer tour. Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Janet Jackson's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart
Daily Mirror
10 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Robbie Williams finally addresses secret Glastonbury performance rumours
Former Take That star Robbie Williams has teased that he will be performing at the 2025 Glastonbury Festival - and he finally took to social media to reveal the truth behind the speculation Robbie Williams has finally confirmed if he is performing at the 2025 Glastonbury Festival after whipping fans in to a frenzy of excitement. The 51-year-old pop icon had seemingly suggested he could be one of the secret performers to attend the festival this year. Glastonbury is known for allowing top performers to take to the stage without their presence being previously announced. Acts and performers have even taken to the stage under fake names in order to surprise the thousands of music fans at the annual event. In 2023, the Foo Fighters performed on the Pyramid Stage - taking fans by surprise by being billed as a band called The Churnups. While the 2025 festival is seen performances by Lorde and Lewis Capaldi who sang for fans without previously being advertised as performers at the festival. On Saturday, a band known as Patchwork are expected to perform on one of the stages - but this group is expected to be a pseudonym for a major performer. And fans have questioned if Robbie could be the star expected to take to the stage. On Friday, he teased fans by hinting he might perform at the festival as he shared a photo of a plaque at Glastonbury recalling his appearance there in 1995. The plaque read: "1995. Robbie Williams entered this area without accreditation, authorisation or alignment with prevailing taste. "His presence was uninvited, unofficial and ultimately inevitable." He shared the image via social media with a simple caption stating: "30 years later…" He also shared a photo of a fence with a message reading "Welcome to Glastonbury," and changed his profile photo to a throwback image of himself at the event wearing a red-and-white tracksuit. Despite all the teasing, Rob confirmed he would not actually be performing over the weekend. He took to Instagram Stories to admit he would not take to the stage. Leaving some fans crushed, he wrote: "I'm not performing this year. If you are there, go and see The 1975, Busta Rhymes, Self Esteem, Charli XCX and Reverend and the Makers." Sir Rod Stewart is one of the stars performing at the festival this year and previously shared his excitement about playing the festival. He will play the teatime Legend's Slot on Sunday - a titled that he isn't overly thrilled about. He told the BBC: "I just wish they wouldn't call it the tea time slot. That sounds like pipe and slippers, doesn't it?" However, he went on to tease fans what to expect when he takes to the stage. He said: "Usually I do well over two hours so there's still a load of songs we won't be able to do. But we've been working at it. "I'm not gonna make any announcements between songs. I'll do one number, shout 'next', and go straight into the next one. I'm going to get in as many songs I can." The singer explained that he usually plays for over two hours when he is on tour and that Glastonbury organisers initially offered him only 75 minutes for his slot - but he was able to negotiate this up to 90 minutes instead.
Daily Mail
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Robbie Williams responds to Glastonbury surprise set rumours after he fuelled speculation with cryptic post
Robbie Williams has responded to rumours that he will be performing a secret set at Glastonbury festival. The singer, 51, fuelled speculation that he would make a shock appearance at the Somerset-based festival with a cryptic post on Friday. However, just hours later, Robbie took to Instagram once again to set the record straight. Leaving fans disappointed, he clarified: 'I'm not performing this year.' Instead, he encouraged fans to go and see other artists, listing The 1975, Busta Rhymes, Self Esteem, Charli XCX and Reverend and the Makers. The Angels hitmaker had sparked speculation that he'd be performing at Worthy Farm with a cryptic Instagram post. He uploaded a snap of a plaque which marked 30 years since he partied with Oasis at the iconic festival after leaving Take That. The plaque read: '1995. Robbie Williams entered this area without accreditation, authorisation or alignment with prevailing taste. 'His presence was uninvited, unofficial and ultimately inevitable.' The singer, who also headlined Glastonbury in 1998, captioned the post: '30 years later…' He also added a picture of a wooden fence reading 'Welcome to Glastonbury,' and switched his profile pic to a throwback image of himself headlining the event in an iconic red-and-white tracksuit. Robbie is currently on his BritPop tour with a slot at Belgium music festival TW Classic scheduled for tonight, but his social media antics drove fans crazy. 'Either you're doing the secret set this afternoon or you're playing up to the hype it could be you,' said one user. 'Tease,' another added, and one user questioned, 'Patchwork?!', suggesting the Patience star might be touted to be the mystery band Patchwork, set to headline the Pyramid Stage at 6.15pm tonight. Other guesses of who the secret act could be have included Oasis, Mumford And Sons, Sam Fender and Harry Styles. Fans speculated on Reddit: 'There's two surprises on the Pyramid Stage, one Friday one Saturday. Talk of Mumford and Sons on the Friday and I'm praying for Pulp on the Saturday.' Another user suggested: Haim probably.' Other users speculated: 'A massively long shot, but could it be Oasis to officially kick-start their comeback? Only a 35-minute set, which would probably be like 4 songs with a lot of talking. Which feels appropriate', 'Patchwork? Oasis I know they've said no, but that doesn't carry a great deal of weight... Patchwork... Patching things up... might be a bit of a reach but MY GOD it would be good', 'Ed Sheeran I think. Been doing secret sets all year. Just popping up', 'Pulp would fit. New album which is great. Gap in tour. Headlined twice before. Band of the people', 'Hopefully Sam Fender, heard about Harry Styles aswell'.
Sky News
21 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Sky News
Robbie Williams addresses Glastonbury rumours - as excitement builds for 'secret' sets
Pulp tried to quash the rumours, Robbie Williams was happy to fuel them - sharing a picture of a blue plaque in his name apparently slapped over a famous Glastonbury sign, before seemingly backtracking. "30 years later..." he captioned his first social media post early on Friday morning - a reference to his headline-grabbing attendance in 1995. This was the year Williams was famously pictured partying with Oasis 's Liam and Noel Gallagher, shunning the boyband shackles with bleached-blonde hair and a blacked-out tooth. The writing was on the wall, and the announcement of his departure from Take That came just a few weeks later. At Glastonbury this year, is the writing quite literally on the wall for a comeback? Well, maybe not. A few hours after his post, Williams shared another, less cryptic message to say he would not be performing, along with his list of recommended acts to go and see - The 1975, Busta Rhymes, Charli XCX, Self Esteem and Reverend And The Makers, if you're interested. Is he bluffing? Double-bluffing? Who knows, but along with celeb spotting and mud, if there's one topic of conversation that makes headlines when it comes to Glastonbury, it's speculation about secret artists. Williams has got everybody talking. Even before his posts, the Let Me Entertain You singer was among the artists rumoured to be performing secret sets this year, along with Pulp and Haim. Lewis Capaldi and Lorde too, with both "TBA" acts turning out to huge crowds on Friday. In recent years, these surprise sets have turned into some of the event's most memorable moments - think Foo Fighters as "The ChurnUps" in 2023, Pulp's comeback in 2011, and Lady Gaga treating fans to a small performance in one of the festival's after hours areas, Shangri-La, in 2009. Franz Ferdinand, famous for hits including Take Me Out and Do You Want To in the mid-2000s, were the first to do it back in 2008. This was actually due to Pete Doherty's band Babyshambles pulling out last-minute, but the approach to announcing the switch was, at the time, a novel one. While officially, the act was "TBA", frontman Alex Kapranos wasn't great at keeping the secret, worried people might not turn up. He and bandmates handed out fliers, and word spread. "We played on the Park Stage and we thought, 'nobody's going to know we're playing'," Kapranos told Sky News ahead of a return performance on Friday. "It actually ended up being one of the most amazing gigs we've ever played, people were so up for it and going crazy. "We weren't keeping it secret. We were walking about like, 'we're playing later on, check it out'. We're a band from Glasgow called Franz Ferdinand." These now not-so-secret performances have become bigger and bigger as each festival rolls around, with leaks making headlines in the run-up to the event. Providing handy tips and hints - and often eventually confirmation, just in time for fans to be in position - is the Secret Glasto team. They have no official ties to Glastonbury, but over the years have become a reliable source of information. The account's founder, who now works in a team of six, spoke to us on site - incognito, of course. "We've got our own sources and we can start checking things because we've now had enough years that we can check in with several people," he said. "And they trust us because we are quite sensible with when we time announcements, which I think is the key thing." Sometimes acts themselves will confirm, they said. Their success rate for predictions is "in the low 90%" - but dragged down mainly by inexperience in their first year, which was 2014. Capaldi's comeback yesterday, two years after struggling on stage at Glastonbury in 2023, was a special moment. "It was really, really heartwarming to see him get back up," Secret Glasto said. "There was such goodwill in the crowd and it was just magical. It's just what secret sets should be about." On Saturday evening, a non-existent act called Patchwork have a pretty important billing just before Raye and then headliner Neil Young on the Pyramid Stage. Pulp keyboard player Candida Doyle dampened rumours by reportedly saying in an interview earlier this month Glastonbury "weren't interested" in booking the band. But is this true? "It happens a few times," Secret Glasto said, of artists maybe telling little white lies to keep the secret for as long as possible. "They've got to keep the suspense somehow... "Sources that we got for Pulp were really, really strong. It's just so exciting for us, for the whole team. This is the most exciting secret set that Glastonbury's ever done." It's a fine balance - not spoiling the surprise but giving fans enough time to get where they want to be. When a festival is this big - home to around 200,000 people over the weekend - at a lot of stages, fans need to be in place early. "The point is to always make sure people can get to the set if they wanted to." But if a huge artist is going to surprise fans on a very small stage, sometimes they have to keep schtum for safety concerns over huge crowds. "Sometimes we're like, we can't print this." So, will Williams be playing? The rumour is that he could be joining his mate Rod Stewart, who is performing on the Pyramid Stage in the "legends" slot on Sunday. "Robbie Williams entered this area without accreditation, authorisation, or alignment with prevailing taste," according to the blue plaque in his social media tease, of his attendance in 1995. "His presence was uninvited, unofficial and ultimately inevitable." In his candid documentary series, and biopic Better Man, both released last year, Williams has been open about his struggles with fame and imposter syndrome, and how as an artist known for pop he craved respect from those seen as more credible at a time when indie music reigned. Officially this year, there is no Robbie Williams on the line-up. Unofficially, who knows? But 30 years since his partying with the Gallaghers, pop music is embraced - and there would be a lot of love for the star if he did make an appearance now.
Sky News
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Sky News
Robbie Williams fuels and then denies Glastonbury rumours - as excitement builds for 'secret' sets
Pulp tried to quash the rumours, Robbie Williams was happy to fuel them - sharing a picture of a blue plaque in his name apparently slapped over a famous Glastonbury sign, before seemingly backtracking. "30 years later..." he captioned his first social media post early on Friday morning - a reference to his headline-grabbing attendance in 1995. This was the year Williams was famously pictured partying with Oasis 's Liam and Noel Gallagher, shunning the boyband shackles with bleached-blonde hair and a blacked-out tooth. The writing was on the wall, and the announcement of his departure from Take That came just a few weeks later. At Glastonbury this year, is the writing quite literally on the wall for a comeback? Well, maybe not. A few hours after his post, Williams shared another, less cryptic message to say he would not be performing, along with his list of recommended acts to go and see - The 1975, Busta Rhymes, Charli XCX, Self Esteem and Reverend And The Makers, if you're interested. Is he bluffing? Double-bluffing? Who knows, but along with celeb spotting and mud, if there's one topic of conversation that makes headlines when it comes to Glastonbury, it's speculation about secret artists. Williams has got everybody talking. Even before his posts, the Let Me Entertain You singer was among the artists rumoured to be performing secret sets this year, along with Pulp and Haim. Lewis Capaldi and Lorde too, with both "TBA" acts turning out to huge crowds on Friday. In recent years, these surprise sets have turned into some of the event's most memorable moments - think Foo Fighters as "The ChurnUps" in 2023, Pulp's comeback in 2011, and Lady Gaga treating fans to a small performance in one of the festival's after hours areas, Shangri-La, in 2009. Franz Ferdinand, famous for hits including Take Me Out and Do You Want To in the mid-2000s, were the first to do it back in 2008. This was actually due to Pete Doherty's band Babyshambles pulling out last-minute, but the approach to announcing the switch was, at the time, a novel one. While officially, the act was "TBA", frontman Alex Kapranos wasn't great at keeping the secret, worried people might not turn up. He and bandmates handed out fliers, and word spread. "We played on the Park Stage and we thought, 'nobody's going to know we're playing'," Kapranos told Sky News ahead of a return performance on Friday. "It actually ended up being one of the most amazing gigs we've ever played, people were so up for it and going crazy. "We weren't keeping it secret. We were walking about like, 'we're playing later on, check it out'. We're a band from Glasgow called Franz Ferdinand." These now not-so-secret performances have become bigger and bigger as each festival rolls around, with leaks making headlines in the run-up to the event. Providing handy tips and hints - and often eventually confirmation, just in time for fans to be in position - is the Secret Glasto team. They have no official ties to Glastonbury, but over the years have become a reliable source of information. The account's founder, who now works in a team of six, spoke to us on site - incognito, of course. "We've got our own sources and we can start checking things because we've now had enough years that we can check in with several people," he said. "And they trust us because we are quite sensible with when we time announcements, which I think is the key thing." Sometimes acts themselves will confirm, they said. Their success rate for predictions is "in the low 90%" - but dragged down mainly by inexperience in their first year, which was 2014. Capaldi's comeback yesterday, two years after struggling on stage at Glastonbury in 2023, was a special moment. "It was really, really heartwarming to see him get back up," Secret Glasto said. "There was such goodwill in the crowd and it was just magical. It's just what secret sets should be about." On Saturday evening, a non-existent act called Patchwork have a pretty important billing just before Raye and then headliner Neil Young on the Pyramid Stage. Pulp keyboard player Candida Doyle dampened rumours by reportedly saying in an interview earlier this month Glastonbury "weren't interested" in booking the band. But is this true? "It happens a few times," Secret Glasto said, of artists maybe telling little white lies to keep the secret for as long as possible. "They've got to keep the suspense somehow... "Sources that we got for Pulp were really, really strong. It's just so exciting for us, for the whole team. This is the most exciting secret set that Glastonbury's ever done." It's a fine balance - not spoiling the surprise but giving fans enough time to get where they want to be. When a festival is this big - home to around 200,000 people over the weekend - at a lot of stages, fans need to be in place early. "The point is to always make sure people can get to the set if they wanted to." But if a huge artist is going to surprise fans on a very small stage, sometimes they have to keep schtum for safety concerns over huge crowds. "Sometimes we're like, we can't print this." So, will Williams be playing? The rumour is that he could be joining his mate Rod Stewart, who is performing on the Pyramid Stage in the "legends" slot on Sunday. "Robbie Williams entered this area without accreditation, authorisation, or alignment with prevailing taste," according to the blue plaque in his social media tease, of his attendance in 1995. "His presence was uninvited, unofficial and ultimately inevitable." In his candid documentary series, and biopic Better Man, both released last year, Williams has been open about his struggles with fame and imposter syndrome, and how as an artist known for pop he craved respect from those seen as more credible at a time when indie music reigned. Officially this year, there is no Robbie Williams on the line-up. Unofficially, who knows? But thirty years since his partying with the Gallaghers, pop music is embraced - and there would be a lot of love for the star if he did make an appearance now.
