In the interview, he also revealed details of changes to the camping design with new sections, made specifically for solo punters, eco-friendly visitors, the LGBTQ+ community and many more.

He shared: “I think it’s not just the biggest overhaul in the festival’s history, but in all festivals’ history. I was reflecting, and I realised that I was here in the ‘70s, and the campsite hadn’t changed very much since then! Reading Festival is always perceived as just for 16-year-olds, but actually, there are a lot of other age groups here. So the idea that we would have a calm campsite for people who don’t want to stay up all night had been knocking on my door for a little while,” he adds. “So I had the idea that we would have a campsite that focused on the LGBT+ community, and a women’s campsite, and an eco campsite, and one for people that come on their own. The response has been wonderful. I mean, much better than I anticipated.”

“We invested a lot more money into the toilets and the showers and these ‘Get Ready With Me’ stations— and the idea that people would want to blow dry their hair at a festival is not something I would have anticipated 30 years ago, or even 10 years ago. But this new generation want to do that, and I’m glad to be able to provide it for them.”

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The organiser also shared his excitement about receiving huge artists such as Bring Me The Horizon, Hozier, Chappell Roan and more whilst also taking pride in the very diverse lineup this year: “Ultimately, their popularity stands out because we have to book artists that will fill the audience, but it’s also about what today’s ticket buyer wants. I think across the three nights we’ve ticked absolutely every box.”

Melvin stayed honest in the fact that he kept his eye open for potential headliners this year, hinting that some acts might come back for the 2026 festival: “There are two or three on the bill this year that I think are future headliners… but I’ve stopped predicting that to the public because I think it’s a burden on the artists to say, ‘You’re tipped as being a future headliner… but will you be?’ One of the things that we do here is give acts a chance to go through the ranks. Let them start on one of the smaller stages and come all the way through.”

“I’ve already got headliners for two of the three nights booked already for next year, and I’m really confident about the artists. I feel like we’re in a stronger position than I can remember for an awfully long time. I can’t remember when I’ve ever had two of the three nights booked by this stage. We’ve had one booked by this stage, but I can’t remember ever having two of the three.”

Reading & Leeds took place last weekend and so an enormous amount of artists showcase their most incredible sets like Chappell Roan and her fairy magic or Bring Me The Horizon and their outspokenness for a free world and a free Palestine.

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Kneecap, known for their political stance and calls for actions, have been making the headlines for all the right political reasons this year. Mo Chara, real name Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, was released on unconditional bail after his first court appearance and being charged for terrorism after allegedly displaying a Hezbollah flag whilst performing in November 2024.

The musicians have been some of the most vocal people and supporters of Palestine in the Israel genocide and sparked many comments after their speech during their Coachella set back in April. Since then and since Mo’s court appearances, many supporters came out both for the Irish band but also to show their support to Palestine which has prompted the Met Police to issue a Public Order Act conditions for today’s court date. Per their statement, those conditions are being put in place to “prevent serious disruption being caused by a protest” outside the court.  

 

 

 

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Fans were heard outside the Magistrates Court singing Irish Folk songs whilst holding signs that read “Free Palestine”, “Free Mo Chara” as well as “Defend Kneecap: Drop The Charges”. Palestinian flags were waved as cars on the main road actively beeped in support. Famous Paul Weller, Jam’s frontman was spotted amongst the supporters.

Kneecap have consistently denied supporting either Hezbollah or Hamas as they say they do not condone nor incite any violence, arguing that the footage from their November gig was taken out of context to distract people from the real problem at hand.

The band was also put under investigation after making remarks about members of parliament during their performances. When asked if he regretted said comments, Chara said: “Why should I regret it? It was a joke – we’re playing characters, it’s satirical, it’s a fucking joke. And that’s not the point. The point is, that wasn’t an issue until we said ‘Free Palestine’ at Coachella. That stuff happened 18 months ago, and nobody batted an eyelid.”

Today’s court proceedings will see the likes of Gurriers, Nadine Shah and Maverick Sabre to get up and speak in favour and support of Kneecap and Mo Chara.

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Welch has also been dropping mentions of “Witchcraft, folk horror, mysticism, magic, poetry [and] insanity,” as well as a photograph of Simon Critchley’s 2024 book, On Mysticism which could be a main theme to the upcoming album.

Florence recently shared a video of herself, frantically digging up the ground in an empty field which ends in a below shot where she stares into the camera in the hole as she lets out the biggest, most horror filled scream.

The lead singer has made a few appearances leading up to the announcement. The band last performed together as a whole back in 2024 with a full orchestra as the Royal Albert Hall to celebrate the 15th anniversary of their debut album ‘Lungs’, Welch has since joined Taylor Swift on stag to perform their song ‘Florida!!!’ but more recently The Maccabees during their Glastonbury set to perform ‘Love You Better’ as well as ‘Dog Days Are Over’.

‘Everybody Scream’ will be Florence + The Machine first release since their 2022 album ‘Dance Fever’ and will come shortly after the 10th anniversary of their third studio album ‘How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful’.

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The model said: “David Bowie was a very special person. Someone who was much more than a friend – he was an enigma. So, when the chance came to dive into this extraordinary five-year chapter of Bowie’s life for 6 Music and BBC Sounds, hearing from those who joined him on his creative journey and those he continues to inspire, I was excited to help share the story of such an incredible transformation. This podcast is a real celebration of my friend, a true British icon.”

Each episode will focus on Bowie and the many things that made him the artist he was such as his early performances with The Hype, his love for art and especially Andy Warhol and the legacy he left behind with iconic character Ziggy Stardust.

The podcast is partnering with The V&A museum which is launching their David Bowie Centre at their East Storehouse location in London which is “is a new working archive for the world’s largest collection dedicated to Bowie’s life and works, with free rotating displays of highlights from the collection” according to a press release.

Gossip singer Beth Ditto will join the event with her own new series Indie Forever Disco starting in November as well as having a regular spot on Nick Grimshaw’s Breakfast Show from September 1. She stated: “I’m so excited to be joining 6 Music and to get to work with Nick every week is just the cherry on top. I’ve always been a huge fan of the station, so honestly… I’m so excited, I’m speechless. Which should work out great for radio!”

The Bowie podcast, hosted by Kate Moss, will be available on BBC Sounds from 6am on Wednesday September 10 and broadcasted on Monday September 22 and will feature some unheard archived performances and interviews, including an exclusive interview from 2001 with podcast creator Des Shaw, as well as some recently unearthed audio from the BBC Archive.

The show will also include interviews of the ones closest to Bowie such as Boy George, Lou Reed, Sinéad O’Connor, Lady Gaga, Elton John, Iggy Pop, Robbie Williams and more.

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The album, which first came out in 2003, is now digitally out and will physically be available on October 31, it captures performances of the different songs of the album across various shows the band did between 2003 to 2009.

The live version of the album was mixed by Ben Baptie and mastered by Matt Colton. To celebrate the announcement, the band released a live video performance of the track ‘There, There’ which was filmed during performance in Buenos Aires in March 2009.

The idea for the album came to Thom Yorke, frontman of the band, whilst he was working of critically acclaimed theatre production Hamlet Hail to the Thief, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic play and set to a deconstructed score of reworked songs from Radiohead.

In a statement explaining how the record came about, Yorke said, “In the process of thinking how to build arrangements for the Shakespeare Hamlet/Hail to the Thief theatre production I asked to hear some archive live recordings of the songs. I was shocked by the kind of energy behind the way we played and it really helped me find a way forward. For us, back in the day, the finishing of this record was particularly messy and fraught, we were very proud of it but there was a taste left in our mouths, it was a dark time in so many ways. Anyway we decided to get these live recordings mixed (it would have been insane to keep them for ourselves) by Ben Baptie, who did an amazing job. It has all been a very cathartic process, we very much hope you enjoy them.”

The album will be available on vinyl in a limited-edition at independent stores, and on cyan-colored vinyl exclusively from the band’s W.A.S.T.E. store.

Tracklist
Side A
2 + 2 = 5
Sit Down. Stand Up
Sail to the Moon
Go to Sleep
Where I End and You Begin
We Suck Young Blood

Side B
The Gloaming
There, There
I Will
Myxomatosis
Scatterbrain
A Wolf at the Door

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The rock group, which formed in 2001, became a genre-defining group in the emo era with their album ‘Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge‘ in 2004. The band’s status was cemented with their multi-platinum selling album, ‘The Black Parade’, in 2006 – a concept album that followed a man’s journey to the afterlife. The band split up in 2013, and reformed in 2019 for a string of special shows. They officially returned to the road for a new tour earlier this year.

Their recent shows, part of the Long Live The Black Parade stadium celebrates 20 years of their acclaimed album ‘The Black Parade’. Tickets will be available to buy on Friday August 15 via Ticketmaster.

Gerard Way and the rest of the band released a cryptic video where they’re playing a fake game show called Quizzo, where he host declares: “Our two fine contestants will help us learn who will be the next lucky country to win the grand prize of one nuclear winter. Congratulations, United Kingdom!” The Instagram post was captioned: “Let’s show them what they’ve won.”

The band performs the album in full as well as unrelease songs like ‘War Beneath The Rain’. The tour has seen a numerous amount of amazing bands open for MCR, including 100 Gecs, Wallows, Garbage, Death Cab For Cutie and Thursday, Alice Cooper, Pixies, Devo, IDLES and Evanescence. Support acts for the Wembley concerts are yet to be announced.

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The new single surprised more than one as it features drummer Joel Amey on lead vocals alongside main singer Ellie Rowsell. The drummer shared: “I was inspired by what songs we had already that were becoming ‘The Clearing’; the sonic shapes we were creating, the big acoustics, the harmonies, but I wanted to underpin it with a driving krautrock beat. I was on this big adventure with my best mates, never feeling the need to call one place home, living out a suitcase, all the stuff that comes with being in a band. I felt that the answers to ‘who I am and where do I come from?’ didn’t matter so much; I’d chosen my family and they were the people around me. ‘White Horses’ was me trying to put all that into a tune, and Ellie, Joff and Theo helped me all along the way.”

The upcoming album follows on from their debut album ‘My Love Is Cool’, their sophomore release ‘Visions Of A Life’ and one of their most acclaimed piece of work ‘Blue Weekend’. The band will hit the road with their new record at the end of the year all around the UK and Ireland. Tickets are still available on Ticketmaster.

Back in June, the ‘Don’t Delete The Kisses’ band spoke to NME after their Glastonbury set about the new album: “I think very much. I think we were buoyed by the songier songs being things that people really connected to and we spent a lot more time working on those constituency, songy song parts of the songs,” Joff Oddie said. “It’s the hardest thing in the world to write a really concise song in a – I don’t wanna say pop structure, but you know what I mean. It’s quite easy to throw a five-minute jam together, but that’s so difficult, so it’s a brilliant challenge and that’s more so where we were focused with this album.”

NME gave Wolf Alice’s Glastonbury 2025 performance five stars, writing: “The energy they pour into today’s set feels like that of a band who should be topping the Pyramid Stage next time they play Worthy Farm. As the set ends with ‘Don’t Delete The Kisses’ – a strong contender for one of the best, most dizzyingly accurate love songs ever written – that feeling only intensifies. That song finds Rowsell writing herself a romantic Hollywood ending; Wolf Alice’s world-beating set does the same for Glastonbury 2025.”

Wolf Alice will be playing shows in Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow, Dublin, Leeds and London from November to December 2025.

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The certificate was submitted by his eldest daughter Aimee Osbourne in London with reports later emerging of an air ambulance flying to his home in Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire, on the day of his death (July 22).

Ozzy was buried in the grounds of his UK mansion during a private ceremony attended by family, friends and other music legends such as Elton John, members of Metallica, his Black Sabbath band members and more. He was escorted in a cortege through his home city of Birmingham prior to the ceremony, giving his fans the chance to say one last goodbye. His family got the chance to stop by a fan memorial at the Black Sabbath Bridge, appearing to be wearing Ozzy’s famous ring and glasses.

The Brummy singer had played his final live show in his hometown just a couple of weeks before his death, raising money to help cure Parkinson’s disease but also for Birmingham’s Children’s Hospital and Acorns Children’s Hospice. It was later confirmed to be one of the highest-grossing charity concerts of all time.

His second daughter, Kelly Osbourne, took to Instagram on August 4 to talk about the passing of her father and how overwhelmed with love she had felt seeing the support from the fans during this difficult time: “I’ve sat down to write this a hundred times and still don’t know if the words will ever feel like enough. But from the bottom of my heart, thank you. The love, support, and beautiful messages I’ve received from so many of you have truly helped carry me through the hardest moment of my life. Every kind word, every shared memory, every bit of compassion has meant more than I can ever explain. Grief is a strange thing. It sneaks up on you in waves. I will not be ok for a while, but knowing my family are not alone in our pain makes a difference. I’m holding on tight to the love, the light, and the legacy left behind.”