Latest news with #rockstars
The Sun
17-07-2025
- The Sun
The grand city hotel that feels like going back in time after £50million makeover
THE Grand Hotel in Birmingham has undergone a multi-million revamp in recent years, as well as welcomed some famous guests. We've explained everything you need to know from what to do at the hotel to the best thing to eat at the restaurant. 3 Where is the hotel? Located on one of Birmingham's most esteemed business addresses on Colmore Row, this hotel is right on the doorstep of Harvey Nichols, Selfridges, and a great mix of nightlife. It has the perfect location of a 5-minute walk from New Street railway station and the city centre. There is no hotel car park, but guests can get a discount at Snow Hill car park, which is extremely close. What is the hotel like? The Grade II-listed property is a grand place inside out. Having welcomed a number of rock stars in the past, guests can pretend to live like royalty in one of its 185 rooms. With £50million in refurbishments in recent years, this hotel takes a luxurious step back in time. The showpiece is the grand marble reception and ballroom with capacity for 300 people. What is there to do at there? Fancy some yoga? In-room yoga classes are available with mats for an early morning stretch or pop into the gym which has great equipment. Between Wednesday and Sunday, you can enjoy their traditional aft e rnoon tea (£35pp) in the Madeleine Bar. What is there to eat and drink there? To start, the full English breakfast is superb with all ingredients locally sourced. 3 The artistic Parisian-chic style strongly follows through with the Madeleine bar and its drinks menu. And a cocktail at the hotel's plush bar is a must. I tried the Strawberry Bon Bon made with vodka, toffee and strawberry (£13.50) which was delightful. Around the corner is Isaac's, the hotel's New York-style brasserie, which has a great atmosphere with cracking burgers and an array of fresh seafood. What are the rooms like? The rooms have dark wood panelling, stylish lamps and tall windows overlooking the city feature, with an array of seven categories to pick from. If you want to make it a night to remember, the Penthouse suite offers infinite qualities from in-room Yoga sessions to a walk-in wardrobe like no other. But with a double room, I still enjoyed the old-style rotary phone, fitting with the quirky look, as well as a spacious bathroom offering a huge bath and walk-in shower. Double rooms start at £159, including breakfast. Is the hotel family-friendly? There is a family package special offer which includes bathrobes and cuddly toys for your little or older ones, to family-friendly bars and activities for kids to create their own milkshakes. Your pooch can also be brought along if it weighs less than 36kg. Don't forget to book their arrival in advance too. Is there access for guests with disabilities? Lifts are accessible at the main entrance and from meeting rooms to ensure ease of movement, alongside disabled toilets. There are 7 bedrooms equipped for guests with disabilities. Looking for a place to stay? For more hotel inspiration click here. 3
Daily Mail
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Liam Gallagher blasted 'half-time rock stars' and claimed they're just 'in it for the money' in scathing interview before fleeing the stage after opening show of Oasis' reunion tour
Liam Gallagher furiously blasted 'half-time rock stars' for being 'in it for the money', years before Oasis' money-making reunion tour. The singer, 52, reunited with his brother Noel for the first in a string of blockbuster concerts last week, finally putting their differences aside after a 16-year feud. After the show, it was revealed that Liam wasted no time in racing off stage and straight into a car, with The Mail On Sunday revealing there was a distinctly 'frosty' atmosphere backstage between the brothers. Noel and Liam are thought to be earning around £50 million each from the reunion tour, with fans shelling out hundreds of pounds in a bid to secure tickets. It's a stark contrast to Liam's comments in 2017 interview, when he hit out at stars who little effort into their performance. Speaking on The Graham Norton Show, he said: 'A lot of these rock n' roll stars these days are coming in and just getting the check, do you know what I mean? 'Imagine Keith Moon drumming his a**e off and then going home. You need to boot a few things and that, know what I mean?' Last week, The Mail on Sunday revealed there was a distinctly 'frosty' atmosphere backstage between Liam and Noel. When the two-hour set at Cardiff's Principality Stadium ended, Liam, 52, wasted no time in racing off stage and straight into a black four-by-four vehicle. Left behind was Noel, 58, still waving to fans before slowly walking off with the rest of the band. It is understood the brothers shunned each other after the show as they were staying in separate places, with guitarist and songwriter Noel at the four-star Parkgate Hotel, which backs on to the stadium. The father-of-three was staying there with daughter Anais, 25, who supported him at the concert from the VIP section with her 26-year-old actor boyfriend, Callum Howells. Liam, meanwhile, was staying 20 miles away, close to the Celtic Manor Resort, where previous guests have included then US President Barack Obama. Friends fear relations between the brothers may deteriorate to breaking point, resulting in them ending the tour halfway through their worldwide 41-gig trip. A source close to Oasis told The MoS: 'They can't stand each other because they still have not forgiven each other. It's all very frosty and awkward. We all doubt they'll make it to Australia at this rate.' Oasis play five nights in Melbourne and Sydney from the end of October, with five more gigs in South America scheduled. Live '25 is expected to earn them £600million, with ticket prices ranging from £200 to £2,000. Earlier in the evening, Noel was spotted at the back of the stadium quietly supporting the Verve frontman, Richard Ashcroft, who opened for Oasis, while Liam was nowhere to be seen. Later, just moments before going on stage, the Gallaghers were seen standing with their backs to one another just metres apart, ignoring each other. But when they went on stage, the brothers gave the crowd what they wanted by holding hands momentarily before kicking off their 23-song Oasis marathon to a wall of cheering. They further delighted fans at the end of the gig when Liam strolled over to his older brother and embraced him in a brief handshake and shoulder bump. But the singers did not always appear in unity, often occupying different sides of the stage. When Noel played his solo songs such as Don't Look Back in Anger and Masterplan, Liam left the stage and walked past his brother without looking at him. He returned only when he was needed on vocals, and Noel would often turn his back to the audience and slink into the background. But the lingering animosity appeared to go unnoticed by the joyful fans who hailed the comeback 'biblical'. Oasis were back on stage in Cardiff before returning to home turf in Manchester on Friday. In August the brothers announced they would be reuniting as 'the guns have fallen silent' – an indication their often vicious quarrel was over. They famously fell out after a backstage row in Paris in 2009, with Noel insisting he would never work with Liam again and describing him as 'a fork in a world of soup'. Their relationship appears to have remained fractious in the run-up to the worldwide reunion tour, with the pair turning up to rehearsals at different times. While Noel was practising with the band in May, his younger brother had flown to his £3million mansion in France. Last month, the pair had delighted fans by appearing in an Adidas shoot together but they reportedly spent only 14 minutes in the same building for the advert campaign. Liam arrived an hour earlier than Noel, insiders said, and computer software was said to have been used to mesh the two together for the photograph.
Daily Mail
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
JONATHAN BROCKLEBANK: It's time preachy rockers remembered why they picked up a mic in the first place - don't tell us what to think, just sing!
A few weeks ago I had an online argument with a rock star. I do not normally do social media spats but my dander was up, it was late and it is possible a glass of red did some of the talking. I thought I'd just say my piece, let the rock star ignore it, then slope off to bed – but no, he came back at me. So I came back at him. He tried to have the last word. I wouldn't let him. Oh, Mike Scott from the Waterboys, how did we get here? Bickering after midnight on X – formerly Twitter – all those years after hits like The Whole of The Moon and Fisherman's Blues cast you as essential listening and me as dutiful accumulator of your oeuvre. I cannot say exactly how Mr Scott got to this place. I got here through decades of being rubbed up the wrong way by rock stars telling people what to think. I don't mind them telling us what they think. My problem is with the assumption that it carries any more gravitas or relevance than what your next-door neighbour or your taxi driver thinks. I bristle at the veiled implication that, if they enjoy their music, fans should tailor their world view to their hero's one. Just as I prefer taxi drivers to shut up and drive so I cannot help thinking many a music show would be greatly enhanced if the performer would only shut up and sing. The point of contention between me and the head Waterboy was a series of speeches Bruce Springsteen delivered at recent UK shows on his indignation at the Trump administration. Now, I am as disappointed as The Boss is about the presence of the current commander in chief in the White House. But what his successful election campaign demonstrated beyond doubt is it doesn't matter a damn what celebrities have to say about politics. Springsteen (who freely admits he has never had a job in his life) has for decades been the articulator of American blue collar workers' emotions. He's very good at it and, sure, it must be troubling for him that such high numbers of this very demographic backed the 'wrong' presidential candidate. Do you know what I think blue collar workers might be saying to their talismanic troubadour? 'Sing the songs, Bruce. It's what you're good at. It's why we're here. Lectures we can live without.' I was telling Edinburgh-born Mike Scott that conscience artists like Springsteen would be better off reflecting on the reasons America ignored them than sermonising to British audiences who didn't have a vote in the first place when, in any case, that ship had sailed. He was telling me: 'Really? You know what Bruce should be doing better than he does?' Well, not exactly. But I have been a loyal customer since the 1980s. Am I not as entitled to a view on the Springsteen brand as I am on Marks and Spencer or easyJet or Levis casualwear? Consider it feedback. My view as a fiftysomething rock fan is that we in the audience grow up. People my age are not looking for musical messiahs. We don't pay hundreds of pounds – as I did once for Springsteen – to receive political guidance or soak in the wisdom at the feet of some visionary or shaman. We're there to hear Born to Run and Dancing in the Dark, to sing along to Hungry Heart, and be enriched by the sights and sounds of thousands of people enjoying a notable talent performing great songs. Where do they get off with the preaching? And, given that the heroes I speak of are older than I am, isn't it time they did some growing up too? Take 79-year-old Neil Young who, for 'protest' reasons that I was too weary to fully fathom, first was, then wasn't, then was playing Glastonbury. Then he was, then wasn't, then was allowing the BBC to live stream it. Oh, for pity's sake, Neil, give over. Either do the flaming gig or don't. Enough with the endless indulgence and point-scoring and obsessing about making the occasion anything more than climbing onstage and delivering the goods to fans of your music. Indeed, and it pains me to say it about another hero of mine, but Young should compare and contrast his shambling, sparsely attended turn at Glastonbury with that of a performer a year his senior. Rod Stewart was that rare festival artist who seemed to remember that he was in the entertainment industry. Interestingly, Sir Rod had let slip in the hours prior to his performance that he was rather a fan of Nigel Farage. The kiss of death, one might assume, for a musician about to face a right-on festival crowd. Not a bit of it. They sang along to I Don't Want to Talk About It, boogied to Da Ya Think I'm Sexy and even teared up at the emotional punch of the showstopper, Sailing. Here is the thing about Sir Rod. He doesn't give two hoots whether people agree with him about Reform UK or not. These are his politics in 2025. Everyone else is welcome to their own. How refreshing for an artist to laugh off the shackles of self-importance and know that his view matters no more or less than anyone else's. And here is the thing about his audience on Sunday. They came for a great time and they got it. The day a singer's politics matter more than the songs which made us listen to them in the first place is the day the entertainment ends. It is not simply because I am bored with the preachy tendencies of the music industry that I take issue today with three of my favourite rockers. It's also because, in acts like Kneecap and Bob Vylan – both of whom performed at Glastonbury – we see the logical extension of the preaching. We see nonentity extremists spouting hatred from the stage, leading their audience in chants which call for killings. We see men dressed in balaclavas, glorifying a terrorist organisation which brought decades of bloodshed to Northern Ireland and the UK mainland. They even name themselves after an IRA punishment attack. In decades gone by rock stars agitated for peace. Some used their stage to unite divided peoples. In the 1980s and 1990s they used it to try to end a famine, to end apartheid, to raise money to combat HIV and AIDS. Worthy causes all. Is the stage now the recruitment centre for radicals and insurgents? Did thousands of flag waving idiots really participate in an anti-Jewish death chant because a lunatic on stage bade them to? That is indeed what the BBC had TV audiences witness. So I am sorry, Mike – love you and all, but I still respectfully disagree. I think rock stars should remember what put the microphone in their hands in the first place. I think a degree of humility is called for on the extent to which their politics influence society. I say it's a good thing most audiences know their own minds.
Yahoo
21-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'80s Metal Band Legend Stuns Concert Goers with Totally 'Off-Brand' Message Mid-Show
'80s Metal Band Legend Stuns Concert Goers with Totally 'Off-Brand' Message Mid-Show originally appeared on Parade. Metal often gets a bad rap. The music is incredibly intense, and it's built on its often horror-inspired imagery. The music is loud, abrasive, and sometimes violent, with mosh pits being one of the most common ways fans enjoy concerts. Because of this, metal has a reputation as a negative, or evil genre. But that couldn't be farther from the truth. Despite their popularity, Metallica is not a band exempt from this reputation, as they have had plenty of heavy or scary themes throughout their music. At a recent show, Metallica lead singer James Hetfield took a moment during the concert to speak directly to the fans in attendance, and his words might be surprising to those not familiar with the people behind metal music. "We are grateful after 140-something years to still be here playing music for you guys, and you come here, and you show yourselves, and you sing along! We are so blessed, and we couldn't take it for granted." Fans were delighted by the kind words from the rock star, leaving their reactions in the comments. "It was a great show!! Loved it." "I loved the concert with James." "So sad I had to miss this, hope they do another tour in the next 4 years." It's nice to see the humanity of our favorite artists, and see that they appreciate the fans as much as we appreciate them.🎬SIGN UP for Parade's Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox🎬 '80s Metal Band Legend Stuns Concert Goers with Totally 'Off-Brand' Message Mid-Show first appeared on Parade on Jun 6, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade on Jun 6, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'80s Metal Band Legend Stuns Concert Goers with Totally 'Off-Brand' Message Mid-Show
'80s Metal Band Legend Stuns Concert Goers with Totally 'Off-Brand' Message Mid-Show originally appeared on Parade. Metal often gets a bad rap. The music is incredibly intense, and it's built on its often horror-inspired imagery. The music is loud, abrasive, and sometimes violent, with mosh pits being one of the most common ways fans enjoy concerts. Because of this, metal has a reputation as a negative, or evil genre. But that couldn't be farther from the truth. Despite their popularity, Metallica is not a band exempt from this reputation, as they have had plenty of heavy or scary themes throughout their music. At a recent show, Metallica lead singer James Hetfield took a moment during the concert to speak directly to the fans in attendance, and his words might be surprising to those not familiar with the people behind metal music. "We are grateful after 140-something years to still be here playing music for you guys, and you come here, and you show yourselves, and you sing along! We are so blessed, and we couldn't take it for granted." Fans were delighted by the kind words from the rock star, leaving their reactions in the comments. "It was a great show!! Loved it." "I loved the concert with James." "So sad I had to miss this, hope they do another tour in the next 4 years." It's nice to see the humanity of our favorite artists, and see that they appreciate the fans as much as we appreciate them.🎬SIGN UP for Parade's Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox🎬 '80s Metal Band Legend Stuns Concert Goers with Totally 'Off-Brand' Message Mid-Show first appeared on Parade on Jun 6, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade on Jun 6, 2025, where it first appeared.
