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Ezra has gradually snuck up on everybody as one of Britain’s most reliable and successful international exports of the last decade. With three UK number 1 albums now under his belt, he’s never skipped a beat, with every full length album he’s released grabbing the top spot. His song “Shotgun” from previous album Staying At Tamara’s hardly needs any introduction either, being George’s first No.1 single in the UK, it also went to No.1 in Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland, cementing the singer-songwriter’s star power across the world.

His latest album Gold Rush Kid has not given up on this ambition either. Rather than going for something a little different or leaning into more introspective inspiration for his third album, the pop tycoon kept the recipe familiar, attending to the classic reasoning of “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” and writing another boppy pop record built for summer bbq’s and kids playgrounds. What kind of playground has a PA system? I don’t know, but if there is one, it’s playing George Ezra’s “Green Green Grass“.

Wherever you stand on George’s tunes, one has to admit that he has a knack for effusive melodies that stick in your ears for weeks. Its no wonder then that this time honoured method has paid off with the kind of shows he gets to put on these days. Last night he sold 45 thousand tickets for his largest headline show to date at Finsbury Park, with big acts in their own rights supporting him like London’s International Gospel Choir, Mychelle, The Big Moon, Holly Humberstone, Mimi Webb, and Blossoms, it made for an event that was basically a music festival. It was such a massive show, that the arena dates he’s just added to his UK tour will look slim in comparison, of course they are not, but it will be interesting to see how much bigger this whole thing can get. Gig on the moon anyone?

You can catch George’s remaining UK live dates here:

The singer again touches on her love for theatre when faced with the question of what she loves about Studio 54, given the heavy disco influences heard in ‘Future Nostalgia’, “I love the spectacle of what was basically a theater production in a nightclub.”

It seems that a move into acting would the logical next step in Lipa’s world domination, last year the singer also mentioned to The Scotsman about her aspirations to break into TV by following in the footsteps of Lady Gaga. Whose star turn in the popular TV show American Horror Story saw the ‘Just Dance‘ singer play a Vampire Countess as well as a witch. “I would love to do that. I wouldn’t want do acting right now – I don’t think I’m quite there yet, I think I should focus on music – but if I was to try TV it would have to be something as crazy as a show like that.”

Lipa has had a lot to celebrate this year, topping off her success with a Grammy Award win, which saw the singer win Best Pop Vocal Album for ‘Future Nostalgia’. She was also nominated for the following award categories, Best Album, Best Record for ‘Don’t Start Now’, the Best song also for ‘Don’t Start Now’ as well as Pop Solo Performance for the hit. She was also nominated for Pop Duo/Group Performance for her 2020 collaboration with J Balvin, Bad Bunny and producer Tainy on track ‘Un Dia (One Day)’. Lipa took to Instagram to celebrate the win with her fans and showed the butterfly themed party that her boyfriend, Anwar Hadid, threw for her.

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The singer’s Grammy performance was stuff made of legends, at the 63rd annual awards ceremony the star took to the stage which looked straight out of Studio 54, one of New York’s most notorious night clubs. The club was a cultural institution during the 70s and became an icon itself within the disco movement. The club’s patron list included the era’s most influential icons including, Cher, Grace Jones and Andy Warhol. With its famed exclusivity, the club remained the number one hot spot for the famous, the rich and the powerful. Studio 54’s most famous spectacle saw Bianca Jagger, a constant patron and wife of Rolling Stone Mick Jagger, ride into the club on a white horse. A stunt which the style icon has now denied, stating that the animal was already in the building, put there by the club’s owner in celebration of Jagger’s birthday.

The performance seemed to take on the theme of the singer’s Studio 2054 virtual concert from November last year, the virtual event was in support of the singer’s album ‘Future Nostalgia’. Live streamed from London’s Printworks on November 27th 2020, the virtual concert was put on due to the impact which COVID took on the singer’s original tour dates. The concert is now available to stream and also features a documentary entitled ‘The Story Behind the Show’, which gives fans an exclusive insight into the making of the event.

It is no surprise that the singer has used a continuous disco theme given how ‘Future Nostalgia’ screams the essence of disco and features tracks shinier than a disco ball. Lipa performed two of her tracks from her hit album, starting with ‘Levitation’ and then finishing her set with ‘Don’t Start Now’. Keeping in line with her fashion-conscious reputation, the singer donned not just one but two-stage outfits during her performance.

Lipa also posted on Instagram to further celebrate her win and expressed her appreciation for the over 7 million views of her Grammy performance on YouTube, making the video trend at number one.

 

 

 

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Click here to buy tickets for Studio 2054.

Dua Lipa UK tour dates

10/09/2021 – M&S Bank Arena – Liverpool
11/09 – The SSE Hydro – Glasgow
13/09 – Utilita Arena – Newcastle
15/09 – Motorpoint Arena – Cardiff
16/09 – A0 Arena – Manchester
18/09 – 3Arena – Dublin
19/09 – 3Arena – Dublin
21/09 – First Direct Arena – Leeds
24/09 – The 02 – London
25/09 – The o2 – London
27/09 – Motorpoint Arena – Nottingham
28/09 – Utilita Arena – Birmingham

Harry, 26, has been one of the band’s exceptional stars with his debut single ‘Sign of Times’ from 2017 taking No.1 place in charts. His first album ‘Harry Styles’ went to No.1 as well and the latest release from December 2019 ‘Fine Line’ topped the charts at No.2. His latest album went multi-platinum and his single ‘Watermelon Sugar‘ reached the top of Billboard Hot 100. Variety named him “Grammy-nominated Hitmaker of the Year” and last year he became the first solo male to be on the cover of Vogue magazine.

Harry will open the ceremony this year, however what song(s) he will perform is still a secret. This year’s nominations are singer’s first since starting a solo career. The artist is up for: Best Pop Solo Performance for ‘Watermelon Sugar’, Best Music Video for ‘Adore You’ and Best Pop Vocal Album for ‘Fine Line’. As per Grammys official announcement: “Artists will be coming together, while still safely apart, to play music for each other as a community and celebrate the music that unites us all”. The poll created by the show’s official page reveals that Harry Styles and BTS are the most thrilled about performers this year. 

The show this year is virtual and available to watch on Sunday 14th March at 8pm ET / 5pm PT via the official Grammy’s streaming page. I will be hosted by Trevor Noah from ‘The Daily Show’. The lineup list has been announced on Grammy’s website and includes: Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, BTS and John Mayer to name a few.

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