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As we edge closer to June, we draw nearer to yet another World Cup marred by controversy. The 2022 competition drew criticism for its host Qatar’s alleged use of slave labour in constructing their stadiums, as well as the event being rescheduled to winter dates. This year’s tournament, which kicks off on the 11th of June, is hosted jointly in the USA, Canada and Mexico. Since Donald Trump’s re-election in 2025, the US has grappled with political assassinations, violence on the streets involving the nation’s immigration authority (ICE), and the ongoing conflict with Iran which has created a global oil crisis. These factors, ­coupled­ with Trump’s tariff-posturing with allied nations, anecdotes of foreign nationals being deported for social media posts, and grossly inflated ticket prices for the World Cup games, have led to many fans in the UK and abroad to approach travelling to the US this summer with apprehension.

But as the biggest television spectacle in sport, the World Cup Final routinely draws several billion viewers from all around the globe, and this year’s final is advertised by organisers FIFA as the biggest ever. In 2024, the association announced a final halftime show, inspired by American Football and the NFL’s Superbowl entertainment. While this choice was met with sceptic cries that it would contaminate football’s traditions with American commercialisation, the plans continued with Coldplay frontman Chris Martin heading up the selection process.

FIFA announced the lineup for the halftime extravaganza today with a light-hearted trailer starring Chris Martin, Sesame Street characters Elmo and the Cookie Monster, and several stars from The Muppets including Kermit and Miss Piggy. The ensemble of one of the UK’s most popular singers and the US’s most famous puppets revealed a billing of pop queen Madonna, K-Pop sensations BTS, and Latin songstress Shakira. President of FIFA Gianni Infantino was quoted in the announcement as saying “Madonna, Shakira and BTS are global icons whose music transcends borders and generations, and we are proud to welcome them to the first-ever FIFA World Cup Final Halftime Show curated by Chris Martin of Coldplay.”

The halftime show will support FIFA’s Global Citizen Education Fund, their initiative whose goal for the event is to raise $100 million for sponsoring education and football opportunities for the world’s children. Madonna, who has a vast history of philanthropic work, said “Performing at the World Cup final in support of the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund is deeply meaningful to me. Without education, children are denied opportunity before they even have a chance. Every child deserves access to a quality learning — because education expands possibilities and creates lasting change.” Remarks also came from Shakira, who is a board member of the Global Citizen Education Fund and previously had a hit with 2010 World Cup single ‘Waka Waka (This Time For Africa)’. She says “I’ve spent my life doing two things — making songs and building schools. At the FIFA World Cup, those two paths come together. Standing alongside Madonna and BTS, I’ll be performing ‘Dai Dai’, the song I created for this World Cup and for the kids around the world we will reach with the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund. My hope is that on the world’s biggest stage, the importance of investing in children’s education steals the show!”

The FIFA World Cup Halftime Show has been produced by Global Citizen, with partners Live Nation and Done + Dusted. You can catch Madonna, BTS, Shakira, and the stars of Sesame Street and The Muppets on the 19th of July, when the final airs from the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

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The original Arirang song is a Korean traditional folk song. A symbol of Korean culture and history, ‘Arirang’ for BTS is something of an emotional return to their devoted fans, known widely as ARMY. A group hiatus owing to mandatory military enlistment in South Korea between December 2022 and June 2025, saw the members release their own individual albums. The group reunited following the completion of their service on July 1st 2025 and six months later, on January 1st 2026, ‘Arirang’ was announced.

Notably, each song also includes writing credits for the BTS member’s with leader RM credited for writing on every song. It also includes the writers and producers for each song with notable inclusions from Diplo, Flume and One Republic’s Ryan Tedder.

‘Arirang’ is set to be released on March 20th, almost six years after their last, ‘Be’ which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. ‘Be’ was the groups fifth to debut at number one, which made them to quickest to repeat the feat in the US since the Beatles.

The seven member group made up of RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook was formed in 2010 and have become one of Kpop’s greatest exports, becoming the first non-English speaking act to sell out concerts at Wembley. Known for their high energy performances and charm, BTS were consistently awarded the Billboard Music Award for Top Social Artist between 2017 and 2021 and were the first Kpop act to receive both Grammy and Brit Award nominations. They have similarly reached extraordinary heights in Korea, with their seventh album ‘Map of The Soul: 7’ becoming the fourth best-selling album of all time in South Korean and receiving 50 total awards at The MAMA Awards.

BTS are also set to embark on a world tour to support the album, scheduled to begin in April 2026 and continue until March 2027. It is set to be their largest world tour to date with a 360-degree stage set-up to showcase their performance skills. Ahead of the album’s release, BTS are also scheduled to perform for the first time in three years which will be exclusively streamed on Netflix on March 21st which fans eagerly await.

wtf is wrong with the grammys

— blonde don (@machinegunkelly) November 23, 2021

This year’s more prestigious categories in the general field (best album, best new artist, record of the year and song of the year) see a lot of big names, none of which crop up more regularly than Olivia Rodrigo, who has been nominated for each with her viral sensation ‘drivers license’ from here 2021 album Sour. The usual suspects of Billie Eilish, Justin Bieber, H.E.R., Taylor Swift, and Kanye West also receive nods throughout the categories. Mercury Prize winner Arlo Parks and recent record breakers Glass Animals also get fitting mentions in the Best New Artist bracket.

The Album of The Year, and Best Rap Song categories also bring their fair share of controversy. Kanye West has been nominated for his effort on DONDA, released earlier this year. These days it’s seemingly impossible for Kanye to go through an album cycle without something landing in the headlines. This time, the spotlight has been placed on his expansive feature list. Specifically, the appearance of recently cancelled Marilyn Manson, who also has a nod for Best Rap Song on West’s track “Jail”. His position on the album has led to many questioning whether or not he should be involved in the award ceremony after being accused of sexual assault by multiple women. The academy’s CEO Mason Harvey Jr. said this about his inclusion, “We won’t look back at people’s history, we won’t look at their criminal record, we won’t look at anything other than the legality within our rules of, is this recording for this work-eligible based on date and other criteria,” he added. “If it is, they can submit for consideration.”.

Jay-Z makes history with this announcement, picking up 2 separate nominations in the Best Rap Song category. Featuring on “Jail” with Kanye West, and “Bath Salts” alongside DMX and Nas, takes the rappers total Grammy nominations up to a record-breaking 83. He surpassed Beatles legend Paul McCartney to take the title after he has only gained 81 nominations so far, renowned producer Quincy Jones sits in 3^rd place with a meagre 80 Grammy nominations. Of the 83 nominations Jay-Z has bagged so far, he has won 23.

Many other oddities come from this year’s nominees. ABBA was nominated for the first time in their 48 year careers, BTS fans are shocked at the group’s singular mention despite the group themselves seeming incredibly grateful, and notice a distinct lack of British music on the list. Arlo Parks, Major Lazer, and Paul McCartney are basically the only Brits to land in any major categories. See all the nominations here.

This is a huge honor Thanks to everyone who supports our music journey! @RecordingAcad #GRAMMYs #BTS #방탄소년단 pic.twitter.com/l10x0LrDMq

— BTS_official (@bts_bighit) November 24, 2021

This year’s Global Citizen Live will take place in Rio de Janerio, London, Seoul, Los Angles, Sydney, Lagos, France’s capital city Paris and US city New York City and will include various artist’s live performances as well as pre-recorded sets. The worldwide concert aims to promote unity whilst rallying citizens of the world to urge major conglobates, governments and politicians as well as philanthropists to band together to help the world’s poverty-stricken communities and help rectify the recent global issues.

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The global event has been dated to take place this September to match with the UN General Assembly which is also taking place this September. Global Citizen Live will also coincide with other important meetings and summits including the G20 and COP26 set to take later on in 2021. Each act performing will be taking part in a 24-hour historic musical event, the concerts will be aired over many broadcasted mediums including ABC, ABC News Live, BBC, FX, IHeartRadio, Hulu, YouTube, TIME, Twitter as well as many more social media and televised channels.

Ed Sheeran will join the impressive list of artists billed to perform in Paris, joining the ‘Shape of You’ singer are hitmakers Black Eyed Peas, H.E.R., Dj Snake, Christine and the Queens and ‘Kiss Me More’ singer Doja Cat.  The line-up featured in Lagos include musician Femi Kuti, singer-songwriter Davido, Made Kuti and MTV Europe music award winner Tiwa Savage.

New York City’s event will take place at the famous landmark, Central Park, Global Citizen has been hosting events at the famed landmark since 2012. Performing at the city’s venue includes a vast array of artists such as ‘Bad Guy’ singer Billie Eilish and former Fifth Harmony member Camila Cabello. Also included to play the city that never sleeps are British hitmakers Coldplay, legendary artist Jennifer Lopez, ‘Good as Hell’ singer Lizzo, Shawn Mendes and rapper Meek Mill. New York City’s event will also see performances by special guests Burna Boy and Lang Lang, also set to take the stage at Central Park is 80’s pop icon Cyndi Lauper, known for her ‘Girl’s Just Want To Have Fun’ mega-hit.

Other artists donating themselves to the cause include Queen + Adam Lambert singer Adam Lambert, Alessia Cara, Opera tenor singer Andrea Bocelli, Angélique Kidjo, BTS, Demi Lovato, legendary 80’s band Duran Duran, iconic punk rockers Green Day, Hugh Jackman & Deborra-Lee Furness, Jon Batiste, Country music artist Keith Urban, ‘Royals’ singer-songwriter Lorde, The Lumineers, thrash metal pioneers Metallica, Rag ‘ n’ Bone Man, Ricky Martin, The Weeknd and Usher with even more acts to be announced.

Global Citizen’s Head of Music, Entertainment and Artist Relations, Katie Hill, has provided the following statement describing the organisation’s mission statement whilst expressing the organisation’s excitement to work with the host of artists. “Over the last year and a half, we’ve seen music bring communities together and inspire action during one of the most challenging times of our generation, We’re excited to join these incredible artists to unite people across the globe on September 25 as we hold world leaders and business leaders accountable to rectify the damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. As we carefully resume Global Citizen’s live events, we couldn’t be more grateful to each of these artists for donating their time and performances to make an impact through this urgent campaign.”

Potential ticket-holders must earn their way into the amazing event by winning their tickets and each location has its own draw. You must begin by downloading the Global Citizen app and creating an account, within this app users can sign petitions, write letters to government officials and politicians, share news and messages via social media plus many more actions. These actions can earn users points, which they can then use to enter to win tickets to the event. The first collection of actions was released on 10th August 2021, fans have until 24th August 2021 to fulfil enough actions to place them in the competition to receive tickets. The lucky winners will be selected at random and will be notified via email, once the email has been received, ticket winners have 48 hours in which to claim their tickets.

Click here to learn more about the event.

The 30-minute documentary will include the footage of the group’s debut appearance on Radio 1’s Live Lounge, the famed segment featured on the BBC Radio 1 station. The BBC film will not only chart the rise of BTS but will also examine the increasing popularity of the genre K-pop and the industry which has evolved the style. The Live Lounge broadcast will take place on Tuesday 27th July 2021 at 12 pm and will be available to view on Radio 1’s YouTube channel. Following the radio broadcast, the BBC One programme will air on Wednesday 28th July at 10:35 pm, the show will also be available on BBC iPlayer.

The hitmakers first performance and interview on the Live Lounge will be presented by Adele Roberts, Roberts who once participated in the reality TV show Big Brother is a regular presenter for the station’s segment. The group will perform versions of their successful single ‘Dynamite’ and will perform their new single ‘Permission to Dance’ as well as a cover of the gigantic hit ‘I’ll Be Missing You’ originally performed by Puff Daddy and Faith Evans.

Roberts took to her Instagram page to announce the news, the presenter also conveys her elation to be a part of the show.

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Radio host, Adele Roberts, has spoken on her excitement to be a part of the group’s appearance, the DJ also comments on the band’s accolades and immense popularity. “I am so happy for BTS fans worldwide especially our very own UK Army. They have been so passionate, so supportive and have hoped for a Radio 1 Live Lounge since the first time we played the band. Four years later, BTS have broken records, barriers & boundaries. That dream is now going to be a reality. I’m beyond excited for us to finally be hosting the biggest boy band in the world!”

The BBC documentary entitled ‘BTS @ Radio 1’ will begin by charting their initial relationship with BBC Radio 1, which saw the group’s first-ever radio play in 2017. Ever since their initial radio plays a supportive and large fanbase has developed across the world. Roberts will be conducting an exclusive interview prior to their Live Lounge appearance, where the presenter will reunite with the group.

Within the BBC film, Roberts will provide an insight into the moment that the group exploded after their hits were broadcasted on the BBC station. Viewers will also get the chance to see Roberts describe her experiences when the presenter set out to explore and document the popularity of BTS. Her exploration took her to Seoul in 2018, it was within this trip that the radio personality met with the group’s choreographer who is responsible for the band’s most beloved and infamous dance routines. Roberts also met with the minister for K-pop to further her understanding for the genre’s industry and the group’s large and loyal fanbase, faithfully called The ARMY. Within the documentary viewers will see the impact of The ARMY within the band’s victories and the sheer admiration in which the ARMY hold for the band.

BTS, otherwise known as the Bangtan Boys, are a south Korean breakout act from the newly popular music genre K-Pop. The band consists of seven members, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V and Jungkook. To say that the band are successful is a vast understatement, the seven-piece outfit have rocketed since their inception in 2013. The band are mainly popular with a younger audience and include topical and current themes within their music, their lyrics involve subject matter such as mental health issues, self-love and loss. The band’s music also deals with topics that are geared towards adolescent life, coming of age story themes are prevalent within their lyrics.

Their debut single album, ‘2 Cool 4 Skool’, was released on 12th June 2013 and was well received, the album sired two singles ‘No More Dream’ and ‘We Are Bulletproof pt. 2’, both released in 2013. The band’s second album, which was recorded and released in Korean, was their first big success and became their first step into stardom. The album entitled ‘Wings’ was released in 2016 and sold over 1 million copies in the band’s home country of South Korea. The band soon crossed over into global success, they were awarded the certification from the Recording Industry Association of American and became the first Korean group to receive the certificate, the award was for their single ‘Mic Drop’. The band would soon become the first Korean band to enter into the US billboard 200 Chart, doing so with their album ‘Love Yourself: Tear’ which was released in 2018. BTS would then obtain a Grammy nomination for their massive single ‘Dynamite’ which was released on 21st August 2020. Keeping in line with the band’s lyrical message, the release was meant to improve morale among the world during the COVD-19 pandemic. The single landed at number 3 within the UK Singles charts and became the catalyst for the group’s world domination.

The band have been compared to the Beatles due to their vast and endearingly loyal fan base, much like Beatle fever within the ’60s, BTS hysteria has ensued globally. The group’s success is not only based on their catchy hooks and relatable lyrical content but on a phenomenon, which has spread throughout the world. Due to these reasons, the BBC special along with the Live Lounge, is not just for diehard BTS fans but for music fans everywhere, giving an insightful look into a new and powerful genre of music.

The video shows the extensive process that the trio and their team go through when setting up sound and video recording equipment as well as all of their instruments and tools required for a standard live performance. Clean Bandit can be seen performing from behind a plethora of camera equipment and the montage is set to a soundtrack of their summer hit featuring 24kGoldn ‘Tick Tock.’ The video shines a light on the amount of people involved in creating something as simple as a live streamed performance from a big name act, from make up artists to camera operators and sound engineers, the amount of people involved in making the music industry happen is a lot larger than the illusion of a polished video.

Clean Bandit are a hit making trio who blend orchestral instrumentation with mainstream pop sensibilities and have worked with some of the biggest pop vocalists of this decade to achieve four UK number one singles to date. Artists who have featured on a Clean Bandit track include Jess Glynn who scored a number one with the trio in 2014 with ‘Rather Be,’ Zara Larsson who provided vocals for 2017’s number one hit ‘Symphony,’ and many more.

The child friendly lyrics and simple melodies have made Clean Bandit ideal for chart success, with their songs not requiring any censorship to receive radio airplay. Despite this the pandemic has, of course, affected the trio as it has all other musicians in the UK and across the world with gigs and tours being cancelled and life becoming very different for everyone. Fortunately Clean Bandit have done well in reaching out to their fans using online platforms and delivering live streams throughout the pandemic which, though no substitute for the real thing, can at least bring some joy to their millions of fans across the country and the world.

The video of ‘Tick Tock’ which was released in August follows the song’s theme of obsession and also plays on its name by including a dance routine for the popular new social media platform TikTok, clearly making an effort to appeal to the most recent generation of teenagers and young adults who have most taken to the platform. While the trio have not currently announced any touring plans for 2021, fans will likely be keeping a close eye on their social media for any clues of plans to take part in the return to live music when it is finally allowed to happen.

BTS was scheduled to perform two London shows in July this year but due to the ongoing situation where mass gatherings are not permitted, BTS has suspended the shows.

Ticketmaster released a statement informing BTS fans of the following update: “Unfortunately, due to ongoing government advisories on mass gatherings, BTS MAP OF THE SOUL TOUR – EUROPE has been postponed -“

“Our highest priority remains the safety of our artists and fans as well as the global community – We ask for your generous understanding that this decision has been made in consideration of the safety and health of everyone involved.”

It was announced by CMU, that BTS, leading K-pop artists have “renewed their deal with South Korean management company and record label Big Hit Entertainment through to 2026.” Big Hit Entertainment made an official announcement featured in Soompi, stating their decision to completely reschedule Map Of The Soul Tour originally due to begin in April, 2020.

Fans will be informed when their London dates will be rescheduled later this year which was currently booked at the Twickenham stadium.

BTS released their album ‘Map of the soul: 7′ in February this year, which was supported by two singles, ‘Black Swan‘ and the lead single ‘ON’ with over 120 million views on YouTube, peaking at number four on the Billboard charts, were released to promote their new album on their fourth worldwide tour.

BTS MAP OF THE SOUL TOUR 일정 안내#BTS #방탄소년단 #MapOfTheSoulTour pic.twitter.com/qrqOUD9HAl

— BigHit Entertainment (@BigHitEnt) January 22, 2020

The Map of the Soul Tour marks the boyband’s comeback to London after last year’s sold-out show at Wembley Stadium on June 2. This tour is also in support of BTS’s upcoming fourth album Map of the Soul:7, which will drop on February 21. “Black Swan” is the first cut from the record. The song is described as an emo hip-hop track that further explores the theme of one’s ego, the main theme that the members focus on their previous record Map of the Soul: Persona (2019).

Furthermore, “Black Swan” is said to help the fans see BTS “dive deep into their inner selves as artists and faces the shadows they had once hidden”. The track is currently holding a spot at number 26 on UK iTunes Top Songs Chart. The band also unveiled an art film for “Black Swan”, which accompanies with the dance performance of Michal Rynia and Nastja Bremec Rynia of the MN Dance Company from Slovenia.

The show at the 82,000 capacity stadium in Twickenham is part of the tour’s European leg. Berlin and Barcelona are the other two cities that will see the massive show of BTS apart from London. The tickets are expected to sell out in a flash, so have your devices at the ready on February 7.

The Map of the Soul Tour: European leg tour dates
3-4/07/2020 — Twickenham Stadium — London
11-12/07 — Olympiastadion — Berlin
17-18/07 — Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys — Barcelona

Shazam’s software allows users of smart phones to find out which song it is playing on the radio, just by holding their smart phone up to a speaker. 

For years the age old question has always been, “who sings this song?”, “what’s this song called?”, and we had no way of knowing the answer. Shazam is the answer to those prayers, and knows through its analysing technology the answer to those questions.

In 2018, Shazam revealed that the most searched for song of 2018 was Clean Bandit’s “Solo” featuring Demi Lovato. It was revealed to have been tagged 9.1 million times.

The second most popularly searched for song, was X by Nicky Jam and J Balvin, with Calvin Harris and Dua Lipa’s “One Kiss’ coming in at third place.

The company was bought by the giant Apple last year, for a reported $400m (£316m). Shazam had over 120 million users, and was one of the only music technology companies to be making a profit.

Apple has used its purchase of Shazam to get users over to their streaming service.

Ed Sheehan also proved popular in 2018 with his track “Perfect” coming in at the fifth most Shazamed song, and the number one song in Shazam’s global charts this year. “Perfect” had been at the top of the bill for nine weeks, as well as being the most shared song worldwide. Sheehan is the only artist to have claimed pop’s most Shazamed song of 2017 hit the number one spot in the same genre twice.

Shazam revealed that “Friends” by Marshmallow and Anne-Marie was 2018’s most Shazamed track in a day worldwide, on April 9th.  Drake was named as the most Shazamed artist of the year,  J Balvin was the second most popularly searched artist.

Top 10 Most Shazamed Songs

1. “Solo”, Clean Bandit Feat. Demi Lovato
2. “X”, Nicky Jam & J Balvin
3. “One Kiss”, Calvin Harris & Dua Lipa
4. “In My Mind”, Dynoro & Gigi D’agostina
5. “Perfect”, Ed Sheehan
6. “Leave a Light On”, Tom Walker
7. “Girls Like You”, Maroon 5 Feat. Cardi B
8. “Friends”, Marshmallow & Anne-Marie
9. “Flames”, David Guetta & Sia
10. “I Like It”, Cardi B & Bad Bunny & J Balvin

Most Shazamed Songs by Genre

Country: “You Make It Easy”, Jason Aldean

Pop: “Perfect”, Ed Sheehan

Dance: “Solo”, Clean Bandit Feat. Demi Lovato

Hip-Hop: “I Like It”, Cardi B & Bad Bunny & J Balvin

Rock/Alt: “Feel It Still”, Portugal. The Man

K-Pop: “FAKE LOVE”, BTS

Latino: “X”, Nicky Jam & J Balvin

R&B: “Love Lies”, Khalid & Normani