John took to his Instagram to announce the single’s release.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Elton John (@eltonjohn)

This is not the first time the legendary artists have teamed up, the duo previously worked together on tracks “I Guess That’s Why They Call It Blues” and the cover of “That’s What Friends Are For”. The 1985 cover single featured a juggernaut of musical talent, including iconic artists Dionne Warwick and Gladys Knight. The recording was credited to Dionne and Friends and was released as a charity single in support of AIDS research and prevention.

Produced by Andrew Watt, the new track features two of music’s most talented pianists and is truly a celebration of the duo’s talent. Both musicians take lead on vocals and along with a resounding choir backing the powerful lyrics the single packs a soulful punch. The track is surely destined to be an iconic duet with both artists’ trademark sound heard throughout, including Wonder’s signature harmonica solo.

John has given the following statement concerning the new duet. ’I couldn’t be more proud of ‘Finish Line’, I’d go as far as to say it’s one of the best records I’ve ever made.”

In the upcoming episode of John’s show Rocket Hour on Apple Music, the duo spoke with Watt and further discuss their new track. John describes the musical process in which led to the track’s creation. “This track I did with Stevie Wonder is a very unusual way of writing. Usually, I write to lyrics, but I wrote the melody first in the studio, and then your girl put lyrics to it. And then Stevie came along and played piano. I played electric piano, and then he did harmonica on it. And then we were trying to get another vocalist on it and he wouldn’t do it because I think he thought he’d done enough. And then you put the gospel choir on, Kanye West Gospel Choir on it.”

John continues to celebrate his friend and musical partner’s talents as well as their friendship. .”… it was magical, magical, the way this thing came together was a series of accidents in a way. I’m so proud of this record because I love him so much. He’s always been so kind to me and so sweet to me, the talent is beyond ridiculous. And it was just lovely to spend time with him and just see this wonderful human being smiling and happy and playing on a record of mine.”

Wonder also spoke on the duo’s relationship stating that John’s “wisdom, pain, soul, love, and resilience” is heard within the track. Wonder proceeded to discuss their spiritual and musical connection, “And Elton, anyone who hears your voice singing “Finish Line”, will hear and feel your wisdom, your pain, your soul, your love, but also your resilience….. I love it!! Congratulations to you and our forever and never, never-ending music, friendship, life-song! Long live Sir Elton John!!!”

John’s new album The Lockdown Sessions is set to be released on 22nd October 2021 and features a star-studded list of artists including Dua Lipa, Lil Nas X, Eddie Vedder and Steve Nicks.

Click here to stream/download “Finish Line“.

Click here to pre-order The Lockdown Sessions.

Click here to listen to the full Rocket Hour episode broadcasted on 02/10/2021 at 5 pm.

The talented artist took to her Instagram to announce the news with a snippet from the show.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Anchoress (@theanchoressofficial)

Within Sir John’s show, Rocket Hour, the songstress was interviewed regarding her new album entitled The Art of Losing released 12th March 2021. The new material sees the talented singer collaborate with friend and fellow musician James Dean Bradfield, best known as the frontman for legendary British rock band Manic Street Preachers. The band began their musical partnership with The Anchoress in July 2016, the singer provided support and also duetted with the band within the Eden Project, an education and socially focused botanical garden and venue located in Cornwall. The musical acts would again perform with each other the following year and again in October of the same year, they performed a duet of “Little Baby Nothing” at the Q Awards. She would then join the band on their 2018 album Resistance Is Futile, the album features a duet with the pair entitled “Dylan & Caitlin”. Band-member Nicky Wire has once stated that the intentions for the song were inspired by Sir John’s duet with Kiki Dee, “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart”.

Born as Catherine Anne Davies, The Anchoress described how the pair initially collaborated on the track “The Exchange” whilst expressing her excitement to work with her musical hero. “We are good friends now, yeah. I mean, I grew up just completely idolising the band. So for me, it was a bit of a dream come true to duet on their record, their last album. And then, I thought, “Well, I’ll ask him if he’ll return the favour on mine,” which he dutifully did. I don’t know if it was under duress. But yeah, it was amazing to hear that song back, something that I’d written, and then hear our voices together, when I’d grown up singing along to Manic records since I was 12 years old. So it was just, yeah, mad, absolutely mad.”

The Art of Losing was released via indie record label Kscope, the label is focused on the alternative and progressive rock genres and have a roster full of great acts. The album was written and self-produced by Davies, the singer also talked to Sir John concerning the producing process. “I wrote and produced the entire thing myself in the studio here, that you can see. So I had that luxury of not having an A&R person over my shoulder saying, “Oh, we need a couple more tunes like this.” So it is completely an artistic indulgence. And how often do you get to do that anymore?”

The singer’s new album can be described as filmic, with lyrics full of personal subject matter describing emotions such as grief and anger resulting in a storytelling lyrical context. Davies discussed this musical quality with Sir John, “I mean, I was really lucky to get to do a kind of expanded three-CD edition. And it’s got these beautiful alternative images, very David Lynch inspired. It’s almost like there is a kind of filmic quality, I guess, to the album. And it takes the listener on a journey. I’m desperate to play, but equally, we’ve got to be careful about playing live. And it’s just unknown at the moment, isn’t it? I think we’re all in the same boat.”

Within the interview, Sir John discussed gender roles within the music industry and stated how female singers and performers were leading the way. The “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” singer stated “That Female Artists ‘Are Doing All The Good Work’…I can see the vision in the songs, a bit like Rina Sawayama. The female artists at the moment are doing all the good work. The boys are lagging really, really behind… It’s all about the females at the moment, as far as I’m concerned.” Listen to the episode here.

The Anchoress is set to hit the road this Autumn with performance dates starting on 9th September 2021, the singer will also join long term musical partners Manic Street on several dates.

09/09/2021 – Hull Central Library – Kingston Upon Hull
11/09 – Trades Club – Hebden Bridge
25/09 – Long Division Festival 2021 – Wakefield
26/09 – O2 City Hall (With Manic Street Preachers) – Newcastle
28/09 – Usher Hall (With Manic Street Preachers) – Edinburgh
29/09 – The Caird Hall Dundee (With Manic Street Preachers) – Dundee
01/10 – Victoria Hall (With Manic Street Preachers) – Stoke-on-trent
02/10 – O2 Apollo Manchester (With Manic Street Preachers) – Manchester
04/10 – York Barbican Centre (With Manic Street Preachers) – York
07/10 – O2 Academy Leeds (With Manic Street Preachers) – Leeds
08/10 – Guildhall Studio (With Manic Street Preachers) – Portsmouth
10/10 – O2 Academy Bournemouth (With Manic Street Preachers) – Bournemouth
11/10 – Cambridge Corn Exchange (With Manic Street Preachers) – Cambridge
13/10 – The Forum (With Manic Street Preachers) – Bath
14/10 – Brighton Done (With Manic Street Preachers) – Brighton
11/03/2022 – Boileroom – Guildford
12/03 – Gloucester Guildhall – Gloucester
13/03 – Trades Club – Hebden Bridge
14/03 – Hull Central Library – Kingston Upon Hull
01/05 – Queen Elizabeth Hall – London

The charity gig held on 10th August 2021 supported and thanked the nation’s NHS workers who have worked hard during the COVID-19 pandemic. Within the middle of the concert, ticket-holders were treated to live redemptions of the three new collaborative songs. The ‘Clint Eastwood’ performers teamed up with rapper and singer Jelani Blackman on track ‘Meanwhile’, Alicia Harley on the song ‘De Ja Vu’ and finally the British hitmakers joined forces with multi-talented British artist AJ Tracy on brand new track ‘Jimmy Jimmy’

The group took to their Instagram to post photos of the event and their collaborative performances.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Gorillaz (@gorillaz)

The triumphant event boasted an impressive setlist of 32 songs, the band also shared the stage with various other special guests. Some of music’s most respected and popular artists joined the band to entertain and thank the audience of NHS staff and their families. The Cure’s frontman and pop culture figure Robert Smith joined the group to perform a version of ‘Strange Timez’, a track which Smith featured on from the group’s seventh studio album ‘Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez’, the single was released on 9th September 2020.

Other artists who joined Gorillaz on The O2 stage included rapper Posdunos member of legendary hip-hop group De La Soul, Popcaan, Leee John, actress and singer Fatoumata Diawara, Happy Monday’s members Shaun Ryder and Rowetta, EARTHGANG, Little Simz, singer and DJ Sweetie Irie, Slowthai and Slaves who previously worked together with Gorillaz on track ‘Momentary Bliss’. The group were also joined by a member of another iconic and pioneering group within the dance and electro music genre, Peter Hook from New Order paired with the band in celebrating the healthcare key workers.

The charitable event marked the victorious return for Gorillaz, the group had not helmed a live performance since October 2018. The band have been a staple of the countries’ radio play since their first hit ‘Clint Eastwood‘ released on 5th March 2001. The single reached number four within the UK Singles charts and propelled the virtual band into popularity. The group was formed by Blur frontman Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett, the musician and artist who created the individualistic group which features a mix of animated and non-animated band members.

Damon has spoken to NME regarding the group’s new music, within the interview the musician also hinted that he has been discussing reuniting iconic Brit-pop band Blur, in which he started his musical career. In the interview Albarn revealed the virtual band’s new album’s sound, the singer also teased that the group’s new material will be a throwback to Gorillaz’s debut album ‘Gorillaz’ released in 2001. “Since then I’ve been working on carnival-themed music with Gorillaz with a lot of people from west London, We’re really going back to the spirit of the first record.”

Albarn continued to discuss the new album, whilst comparing the musical process to that taken whilst recording his second solo album ‘The Nearer The Fountain, the More Pure the stream Flows’. “It’s really exciting and we’ve been really enjoying it. It’s a nice kind of counter-balance to ‘The Nearer The Fountain…’, really. I’ve definitely needed a dose of something else after I finished that record. Steel pan drums and Casio MT-40s were always going to be a good cure.”

Although the group has completed both of their London O2 performances, Gorillaz has one more UK appearance this month at the Cornwall festival, Boardmasters, on 14th August 2021.  After their last UK appearance, the group is set to hit the road on their European tour which starts on 29th August 2021 in the Netherlands. UK fans may have missed the band’s August UK dates, but fans can get excited about the new tracks’ possible release with new material being performed live.

The ‘Years & Years’ singer spoke to the newspaper The Daily Star’s Wired column about the life-changing moment.

“Elton phoned me and asked if I would be up for doing a special performance for the BRITs. When I was on stage with him, I thought back to being a little kid watching him at the BRIT Awards and I thought, ‘I just can’t believe I’m doing this.’”

Sir Elton John and Olly Alexander’s appearance at the Brit Awards saw the duo perform a duet, covering the Pet Shop Boys 1987 hit ‘It’s a Sin’. The duet has already become legendary, for the artist’s performance as well as the cause and message in which it supported. The pair’s duet was in support of Sir Elton John’s AIDs Foundation and has also been released as a single in support of the Foundation.

The ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’ singer set up the foundation in 1992 and since then the organisation has provided support for prevention, provided support services and has formed education programs to support people living with HIV and AIDS. Since its inception, the foundation has raised millions to support programs and people within fifty-five countries.

The song choice may have been influenced by multi-talented Alexander’s star turn in the TV series with the same name, ‘It’s a Sin’. In the Channel 4 show, which aired in January 2021, the actor plays Russell T Davies, a leading role that has gained 30-year-old Alexander respect from his peers as well as critics. The show, which is set in the 1980s and 1990s, depicts the effect in which the AIDs epidemic had within the gay community.

Sir Elton John’s husband David Furnish and chair of Sir Elton John’s AIDS Foundation, gave an emotional and touching speech to introduce the performance, where he compared the current COVID-19 pandemic to the AIDs crisis within 1981.

“When a new virus broke out in 2020, the whole world reacted immediately. Governments took action, cities closed down, scientists created vaccines, and we all talked about it night and day. Quite rightly, given the pain and suffering which has been reaped on so many people the world over. But when the same thing happened in 1981, there was silence. That was the year HIV arrived, but people with HIV and AIDs were treated with ignorance, fear, shame, and stigma. That silence allowed AIDs to grow into the greatest disease affecting our planet. But we fought back. Campaigners and activists and allies shouted down the silence and demanded to be heard. We refused to let men, women, and children die in shame, and by fighting together, we’ve changed the world.”

The studio single is available to stream and download on all platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes and YouTube. Proceeds from the sale of the single will go towards the Elton John Aids Foundation.

Click here to listen to the single.

YUNGBLUD re-released his massive hit ‘Parents’, with a special twist. Dominic Richard Harrison, internationally known as YUNGBLUD,  delivered the album ‘The Underrated Youth’ in 2019, with the song ‘Parents’ being the hit song from that body of work. Recently, ‘Parents’ went viral again on TikTok: it surpassed 100,000 million streams on Spotify and was certified Silver in the UK.

The Yorkshire artist didn’t let this achievement go unseen:  ‘Parents is very much the anthem for my fan base’, Dominic explains, ‘and when I saw it was re-emerging on TikTok I asked them if I should get an artist to remix it and who should that artist be. Then it occurred to me, this song is about us, it is a celebration of individuality and a celebration of the determination of my generation so I thought f*** it, I’m going to release a record with one of my fans because this song is about my fans.’

He launched a duet contest via TikTok itself, inviting flans to write and perform their own verses of the artist’s most famous song. Totalling over a thousand entries, the rendition that got the artist’s attention was from Chloe Noone, a 19-year-old fan from Liverpool, who added to her personal anthem passionate verses about women equality. Not only Chloe was selected by her favourite artist, but she was also given the chance to professionally record her part in Liverpool’s Parr Street Studios and release the song featuring Dom himself.

Chloe described the experiences as ‘surreal. I have been a fan of YUNGBLUD for a while now but I never expected my verse in the ‘Parents’ duet to get much attention, let alone being called up by YUNGBLUD and asked to feature on the track. I honestly thought it was going to be a very long time before I was part of something this professional and legitimate. I’m so grateful to YUNGBLUD and his whole team for making my dream of being an artist see the light sooner than I expected. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!’

You can listen to their version here:

While Minogue recently released an album titled ‘Disco’ and Williams shared a Christmas album in December 2020, the latter is already working on another new LP. He commented, “As I look down the list of my new songs from my new album, that I don’t know when it’s coming out.” He did, however, reveal further information: that the work has a very disco feel.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Robbie Williams (@robbiewilliams)

The two singers last worked together in 2000 for the single ‘Kids’, which reached Number 2 on the UK Singles Chart. Additionally, Williams co-wrote ‘Your Disco Needs You’ which Minogue performed in 2001 on her ‘Light Years’ album, from which he is said to have taken inspiration for the new unnamed track.

‘Disco’ came out in full on 6th November 2020 to a strong critical and commercial reception, debuting at Number 1 on the Official Albums Chart in the UK. Its singles ‘I Love It’, ‘Magic’ and ‘Say Something’ came out prior to the album, while Dua Lipa collaboration ‘Real Groove’ followed.

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

A post shared by Kylie Minogue (@kylieminogue)

According to Billboard, the single rules the Official Chart First Look Top 10 with a lead of 7,000 chart sales, pushing DaBaby’s Rockstar from the top. The collaboration with Ariana Grande comes a week before the release of Lady Gaga’s sixth album Chromatica, which is due to be out this Friday May 29. If the duet is going to keep its position until the Official U.K. Singles Charts is published this Friday, ‘Rain On Me’ will mark the sixth Number 1 hit for both, Grande and Lady Gaga.

Fans had been speculating about a collaboration after they found what seem to be clues in a birthday post Ariana Grande dedicated to Lady Gaga on Instagram. The speculations were confirmed after both artists posted artworks for the single in various tweets since May 15.

Lady Gaga has been talking about the collaboration to Zane Lowe on Apple Music. “I think maybe she assumed that it’d be that she came in and I was like, ‘Here, just sing this and thank you so much for your time’. But instead I asked her what she needed, how she wanted to do things”, Gaga says about Grande. Gaga recalls telling Ariana that she was going to dance in front of her whilst Grande was going to record her parts of the duet. “I said to her, ‘Okay, now everything that you care about while you sing, I want you to forget it and just sing. And by the way, while you’re doing that, I’m going to dance in front of you’, to which Grande reacted with “oh my God. Oh my God, I can’t, I can’t. I don’t know. Oh my God. Okay, okay.” Well, we for sure think that she was able to do it just fine, and Lady Gaga seems to agree: “Then I did it and she sang, and she started to do things with her voice that was different. And it was the joy of two artists going, ‘I see you.’ “

To see if the general public also thinks that the two could do it, we still have to wait a couple more days until the official charts are going to be released on Friday, to find out if the duet can officially claim another Number 1 hit with ‘Rain On Me’.