The Essex pop singer took to social medias yesterday to reveal her second pregnancy. She welcomed her first child back in April 2024 after secretly tying the knot to rapper boyfriend Slowthai in Las Vegas back in 2022. The news came shortly after Anne-Marie opened up about her “most beautiful yet hardest year”, following her husband recently being cleared from the rape allegations against him from two women at a house party in 2021.

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Anne-Marie has previously supported artists such as Shania Twain at her BST Hyde Park Show in London in the summer of 2024 after collaborating together on the title track of Anne-Marie’s last album ‘Unhealthy’.

Her latest release also features the song called ‘I Don’t Like Your Boyfriend’, a track where she talks about her dislike towards her friend’s boyfriend where the other track focuses more on her inner turmoil. Lead track ‘Don’t Panic’ is a raw and powerful song that delves into the chaotic reality of anxiety and inner turmoil. With haunting imagery and vulnerable lyrics, it captures the relentless whirlwind of thoughts and emotions that accompany feelings of panic. Yet, amidst the storm, Anne-Marie makes a poignant plea for calm and self-compassion.

Anne- Marie says: ”These songs are intended to be the realisation that in searching for a friend, sometimes you’re the only friend you’ll ever need. Apart from me, I can be your best friend, right!?”

The charges were based on events that occurred on September 7, 2021, after Slowthai finished a gig in Oxford. Following the performance, two women joined the rapper and his friend Alex Blake-Walker, who was also tried, at a house party. This is where the alleged assaults were said to have taken place. It was claimed that both men allegedly engaged in non-consensual sexual activity with the women, made inappropriate comments and behaved inappropriately during the incident. Slowthai and Blake-Walker both denied the accusations, asserting that all interactions were consensual.

Northampton-born Slowthai, known for his politically charged lyrics and raw, gritty music, rose to fame with his 2019 debut album Nothing Great About Britain, which reached number 9 on the Official Album Charts. It also earned a Mercury Prize nomination. He then followed up this success with 2021 album Tyron which solidified his status as one of the most influential voices in British Music. The album blended sharp social commentary with a vulnerability that most fans could relate to.

Slowthai’s track ‘Doorman’, from his album Nothing Great About Britain, is widely regarded as one of his most notable songs. Produced by Mura Masa, the song critiques class divides through the lens of a blue-collar boy with a nicotine addiction infatuated with a girl from a wealthy background, highlighted in lyrics like “parents minted, Mayfair, couple dogs.” Slowthai explores feelings of inadequacy and alienation, capturing the tension between his working-class identity and the lavish, detached world of privilege the love interest lives in expressed in the line, “I pour my heart out, she laps up my blood.” The song’s raw energy and punk-infused grime sound reflect his frustration, making it a standout song that exemplifies his unique storytelling style. Alongside ‘Doorman‘, other standout tracks such as ‘T N Biscuits’, ‘Drug Dealer’, and ‘Peace of Mind ‘ showcase his versatility, blending dark humour, vulnerability, and sharp social commentary.

However, the case made a significant impact on the artist’s career over the past year. Following the charges initially made to the rapper, Slowthai was removed from major festival line-ups, including Glastonbury as well as Reading & Leeds festival.

Throughout the trial, the defence emphasised the complexities of consent, especially in situations involving high-profile individuals. Slowthai maintained that there was no wrongdoing. After over ten hours of deliberation, the jury returned with unanimous not guilty verdicts for both Frampton and Blake-Walker, distinguishing the end of the case.

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The verdict was met with visible emotion from the rapper, who reportedly broke down in tears as the decision was announced. Frampton is still yet to make a comment on the verdict. His supporters, including friends and family, as well as his wife, pop star Anne-Marie, were also seen in court, physically relieved by the outcome. The couple, who secretly wed in 2022, welcomed their first child, February of this year.

The raucous weekend first came about in 2007 after a group of students decided they wanted to put together their own rave, aptly named the Mad Ferret Festival. The event kicked itself into gear in Platt Fields Park, Rusholme, but by the early 2010s it had relocated to Heaton Park and christened as Parklife. Since then, the event has witnessed a huge surge in popularity and has been crowned the UK’s largest metropolitan music festival, growing from a one-day event in a field to over 160,000 ticketholders rushing to north Manchester every year.

After today’s announcement, superstar rapper Doja Cat has no doubt cemented herself as the queen of the 2024 festival season, boasting headline slots across the globe for Coachella, Rock in Rio and Open’er Festival. The polarising singer and internet personality is most certainly set to bring the heat ahead of her European leg of The Scarlet Tour.

Festival-goers can also expect performances from powerhouse vocalist Becky Hill, DJ and singer Peggy Gou and Canadian producer Kaytranada, as well as unmissable sets from Anne-Marie, Nia Archives, Fourtet, Barry Can’t Swim, ANOTR, Camelphat, Rudim3ntal, Digga D and Sugababes.

Welcoming a multitude of different genres, the festival has since steered away from indie bands headlining in recent years, predominantly featuring dance, electronic and hip-hop acts to cater to its everchanging audience. This year is predicted to mark a new era for the festival, showcasing a brand new stage, jaw-dropping production, state-of-the-art tech and fewer line-up clashes.

Early Bird tickets sold out rapidly in December 2023, but an exclusive 2024 presale will be open from 10am on Thursday 25th January to anyone who has registered. Registration closes the night before at 6pm on Wednesday 24th January. Three Mobile customers will be able to purchase Saturday and Sunday tickets or full weekend tickets 24 hours before other customers on Wednesday here. Tickets including VIP access and coach travel are also available.

All remaining tickets will go on general sale from 10am on Friday 26th January which you can purchase from Ticketmaster. Both day and weekend tickets will be available either to pay in full or by deposit and signing up to a payment plan.

For those not wanting the party to end, Parklife’s official afterparties, ‘Afterlife’ have been unveiled, including an after-hours set from Kaytranada. You can grab tickets here.

The conflict between Israel and Gaza has been ongoing for decades, however the latest escalation occurred recently on October 7th, when Hamas, an Islamic Resistance Movement governing the Gaza strip of the Palestinian territories, launched an unprecedented attack on Israel killing 1,400 people and taking more than 200 hostages. Israel retaliated by launching air strikes, and as it stands, the United Nations have reported 4,200 deaths in Gaza over the last 10 days.

The MTV EMAs, which were set to be held in Paris on November 5th, have now been cancelled “out of an abundance of caution”, according to a BBC statement from the event’s organisers Paramount.

Paramount describes the annual event as “an annual celebration of global music”, but said as “events in Israel and Gaza continue to unfold, this does not feel like a moment for a global celebration. With thousands of lives already lost, it is a moment of mourning”.

In a social media post from Paramount, the event organisers issued a declaration saying “Given the volatility of world events, we have decided not to move forward with the 2023 MTV EMAs out of an abundance of caution for the thousands of employees, crew members, artists, fans, and partners who travel from all corners of the world to bring the show to life.”

Given the volatility of world events, we have decided not to move forward with the 2023 MTV EMAs out of an abundance of caution for the thousands of employees, crew members, artists, fans, and partners who travel from all corners of the world to bring the show to life.

— MTV EMA (@mtvema) October 19, 2023

MTV announced the list of performers for the awards show previously this week. Acts on the line up include the likes of Anne Marie, David Guetta and Thirty Seconds To Mars, all of which are also 2023 MTV EMA nominees. You can view the full list of performers and nominees here. The EMAs were set to broadcast on MTV in more than 150 countries, as well as stream on Pluto TV and Paramount+.

Paramount have announced that voting for the awards show will continue, and the event will be rescheduled to November 2024 with all the original performers.

Voting is continuing and the winning artists will receive their MTV EMA Awards.

We look forward to hosting the MTV EMAs again in November of 2024.

— MTV EMA (@mtvema) October 19, 2023

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The annual award ceremony aims to celebrate the artists and podcasters who have seen great success during the year. The categories are based on the material played within Global’s radio stations and the Global player. Ashley Tabor-King OBE, Global’s Founder and Executive President has given the following statement concerning the upcoming event, “The Global Awards brings together all Global’s radio brands in celebration of the world’s most talented artists and broadcasters. We’ll be honouring the achievements of some of our listeners’ favourite artists, bands, DJs, podcasters and some of music’s brightest rising stars, across a whole host of genres.”

Leading the way in nominations are Anne-Marie and Becky Hill; both have been elected for four individual categories. English singer Anne-Marie is in the running for Best Female, Best Pop, Best British Act and the coveted Best Mass Appeal Artist award. Hill is also nominated for Best Female, Best British Act, Best Pop, the “My Heat Goes” singer claims her fourth nomination for the Rising Star Award.

Joining the list of nominees for the Rising Star Award are a host of music’s most promising and successful new artists including A1 X J1, Arrdee, Mimi Webb, Olivia Rodrigo, Tate Mcrae and Tom Grennan. Rodrigo can be seen within more than one category; the “Good 4 u” singer is also pitted against Anne-Marie, Hill and megastar Adele for the Best Female award. The ”Easy On Me” hitmaker is also enjoying numerous nominations, scoring a hat trick and receiving further nominations for Best British Act and Best Mass Appeal Artist. Another British artist has received three nominations; Ed Sheeran has been elected for Best Male, Best British Act and Best Mass Appeal Artist awards.

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The Best Mass Appeal Artist award has remained a mainstay category since the event’s inaugural year; this year marks Sheeran’s third nomination for the prize.  The “Bad Habits” singer was amongst the award’s first nominees in 2018, Sheeran was nominated for a second time in 2020. Joining the British singer in the race to win the award at this year’s ceremony are Sir Elton John, Adele, Coldplay and Anne-Marie.

This announcement confirming this year’s nominees included another top contender; British group Coldplay join Sheeran to secure nominations in three categories. Along with The Best Mass Appeal award, the band are also in the running for Best British Act and Best Group. Joining Coldplay, Adele, Sheeran, Anne-Marie and Becky Hill in the list for Best British Act are Dave, KSI, Sam Fender and Years Years. Amongst those joining Coldplay within Best Group are Biffy Clyro, BTS, D-block Europe, Jonas Brothers and British girl group Little Mix.

Music fans will be able to attend the event online, on-air and via the Global Player. The winners will be announced on Thursday 14th April 2022 across Global’s radio stations.

Presently, there is still one final headliner to be announced for the second day of the festival alongside Die Fantastischen Vier and Tiësto. Also on the line-up amongst the aforementioned headliners are English indie rockers Sea Girls, American singer and rapper Iann Dior and singer-songwriter Clairo.

Lollapalooza is undeniably one of the most well-known festivals in the world right now; whilst the event took its genesis in Grant Park in Chicago, its success has spawned a plethora of spin-off events and expansion to several other countries outside of the USA, including Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Sweden, France and Israel. The festival was originally conceived in 1990 by Jane’s Addiction singer Perry Farrell and a number of other individuals such as artist manager Ted Gardner and music executive Marc Gieger.

The festival originally began as a touring event upon its founding in 1991, but later settled on Chicago as a permanent venue. The festival actually declined in popularity in the late 1990s, so much so that the 1998 iteration of the event was cancelled, as no suitable headliner could be found. Lollapalooza was revived in 2003, and whilst it struggled with low ticket sales and even another cancellation, by 2006, the festival was experiencing much more success, with Capital Sports and Entertainment and the Chicago Park District agreeing to a five-million-dollar deal lasting five years, that would keep Lollapalooza in Grant Park until 2011. This was extended to 2018 after a very successful event in 2008.

The festival has long been inclusive of many different genres of music, initially playing host to rock icons of the 1990s such as The Butthole Surfers, Siouxsie and the Banshees and Soundgarden, and then in later iterations featured artists such as Waylon Jennings and The Prodigy.

The German version of the festival commenced in September 2015 after an announcement in 2014 and has been held in Olympia Park since 2018.

Ed is playing the Main Stage at @BBCR1‘s #BigWeekend this May! pic.twitter.com/LIMLKxy56n

— Ed Sheeran HQ (@edsheeran) March 14, 2022

Sheeran has spoken on his upcoming performance at Coventry’s War Memorial Park, “I can’t wait to kick off festival season and perform in front of a live audience at Radio 1’s Big Weekend 2022 in Coventry. See you all there!”

The “Shape Of You” singer is amongst eight headlining acts who will take to the Main Stage on the second day of the festival. Saturday’s main stage acts also include Calvin Harris, Aitch, AJ Tracey, Anne Marie, Central Cee, Joel Corry and Yungblud. AJ Tracey and Anne Marie also joined Sheeran in last year’s event, where the three acts participated in a virtual event that was held in lieu of a live festival. BBC Radio 1 took to social media to share the headlining acts that will perform on the main stage on Saturday.

Some #BigWeekend line-up news! Performing on the Main Stage on Saturday 28th May: @CalvinHarris @EdSheeran @OfficialAitch @ajtracey @AnneMarie Central Cee @JoelCorry @Yungblud Everything you need to know about this year’s event: https://t.co/GNEZRXbbVS pic.twitter.com/uswiaDjRkJ — BBC Radio 1 (@BBCR1) March 14, 2022

The event has also announced Sunday’s main stage acts, George Ezra, Becky Hill, Dermot Kennedy, Jax Jones, Lorde and Mabel will headline the festival’s closing day. A long list of up-and-coming acts have also been confirmed to play the BBC Music introducing stage, the smaller stage aims to showcase emerging artists whilst providing a perfect platform in which to grow a fanbase and career and has remained a vital part of the event. Taking the stage this year are Alfie Indra, Crawlers, Danniella Dee, Hope Tala, Lizzie Esau, piri & tommy, Queen Millz and Sad Night Dynamite.

Two further stages have also been confirmed for Saturday, and both feature an impressive line-up of acts. Set to take the Future Sounds Stage are Sam Fender, Easy Life, Fontaines D.C., KSI, Mimi Webb, Sigrid and Tom Grennan. The BBC Music Introducing Stage features Artemas, Celina Sharma, Deyah, Jordan Mackampa, Tamera, Thomas Headon, USNA and Willow Kayne.

The British YouTube sensation, KSI, has spoken on his appearance at the three-day event, “Ya boy KSI is performing at Radio 1’s Big Weekend 2022. Cannot wait to get out and perform in front of you all in Coventry. Expect all the hits and maybe even a few surprises!”

Head of Radio 1, Aled Haydn Jones has provided the following statement concerning this year’s event, “We are kicking off the UK’s festival season in true Radio 1 style with an incredible line up of acts already on the bill, and more exciting names to be revealed this week. We can’t wait to bring our flagship live music event to Coventry for 2022.”

#BigWeekend is coming to Coventry from the 27th – 29th May!

Want to be there? Find out everything you need to know before tickets go on sale on Friday 18th March: https://t.co/IVIdwjCF62 pic.twitter.com/WDjT0QqfnG

— BBC Radio 1 (@BBCR1) March 11, 2022

Ticket sales for Radio 1 Big Weekend 2022 go live on 18th March 2022. Tickets are limited to two per person and the availability has been divided into three sections. 60% of tickets are reserved for Coventry residences, 25% are for people who reside within the neighbouring towns, and the rest of the tickets will be released for general sale. A detailed step by step guide on how to get your ticket can be found here.

The long-standing awards show was hosted by Mo the Comedian (aka. Mo Gilligan), marking the occasion as the first black British host of the show since its inception in 1977. The show saw Adele take home three awards; Artist of the Year, Song of the Year for “Easy On Me” and Album of the Year for 30, and also saw the iconic singer deliver a performance of the piano driven tune “I Drink Wine”, which you can view down below.

The ceremony had no shortage of grandiose, explosive performances, perhaps most notably Ed Sheeran’s unlikely collaboration with UK rock/metalcore act Bring Me The Horizon, performing a considerably more rock oriented rendition of Sheeran’s recent tune “Bad Habits”. The performance saw Sheeran toting an electric guitar in place of his usual parlour sized acoustic guitar, sharing the lead vocal spot with Bring Me The Horizon singer Oli Sykes and busting out a short but bombastic metalcore breakdown at the end, with Sykes screaming out “My bad habits lead to you”.

Geordie rocker Sam Fender, who took home the award for Best Rock/Alternative Act, gave a performance of his debut album’s titular track “Seventeen Going Under”, and Little Simz, who claimed the award for Best New Artist given her stunning debut Sometimes I Might Be Introvert performed her songs “Introvert” and “Woman”. Anne-Marie was joined by KSI for the song “Don’t Play” which saw the singer suffer an unfortunate fall down the steps of the onstage set during the song, thankfully recovering in time and still delivering a stellar performance. One of the more electrifying performances of the ceremony was that of rapper Dave, who took the stage by storm with “In The Fire”, featuring Giggs, Ghetts, Meekz and Fredo, as well as performing a guitar solo towards the end of the song.

A full list of the award winning artists can be viewed down below.

Artist of the Year – Adele
Best Group – Wolf Alice
Brits Rising Star – Holly Humberstone
Song of the Year – Adele: “Easy On Me”
Best New Artist – Little Simz
Album of the Year – Adele: 30
Best Rock/Alternative Act – Sam Fender
Best Hip Hop/Grime Act – Dave
Best Dance Act – Becky Hill
Best Pop/RnB Act – Dua Lipa
Best International Group – Silk Sonic
International Song of the Year – Olivia Rodrigo: “Good 4 U”
Songwriter of the Year – Ed Sheeran

Along with this recent announcement, more information concerning the rest of the line-up has been divulged, with artists such as Yard Act, Sigrid and Annie Mac getting involved. If you want to see a more full list, you can look here.

Occurring from July 21^st–24^th (Thursday till Sunday), the festival promises to be a range of things for all sorts of people, with a ‘Who Let the Toys Out?’ fancy dress parade on the Saturday, a dog show and even a swimming pool/hot tub for those of you who like to indulge in a few luxuries whilst out camping.

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There are also a few firsts coming up for Standon Calling, with the Friday and Sunday shows featuring a new all-female/non-binary line-up. Artists featuring in these shows include Bessie Turner, Ezra Furman and Self Esteem. More information about which artists are playing on which days can be seen in this article.

The festival’s founder and director, Alex Trenchard, had this to say: “After the joy of bringing everyone together against the odds in 2021 we could not be more pleased to share this unbelievable line up for 2022. So many incredible artists are coming to Standon for the very first time, and with each year we get to enjoy this magical weekend with new and old friends from all around the UK! Standon Calling really is for everyone and this year we’re excited to bring you our most eclectic line-up to date!”

More line-up announcements are apparently due soon, so keep a look out for further updates on their website here. If you’re a fan of anyone from the eclectic list of artists set to arrive, Thursday Day tickets and Weekend Camping are already available here.

And if Standon doesn’t take your fancy, a number of other UK festivals have also recently announced more details concerning their line-ups, with Electric City, The Great Escape, Edge of the Road Festival and Parklife all readying for their own events. You can read more about the last two here and here.