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A post shared by halsey (@iamhalsey)

Halsey, full name Ashley Nicolette Frangipane, released ‘Badlands’ at just 20 years old and to put it lightly, it took the world by storm. Halsey immediately cultivated a dedicated, cult following online, falling headfirst alongside her into the dry, eroded terrain of the ‘Badlands.’

The record has remained a staple in individuals’ playlists for a decade and is, without a doubt, one of the most impactful releases from 2015. As of 2025, Halsey dropped a fresh anniversary edition of the record, resulting in a mammoth spike in sales, further proving that fans still adore this nostalgic whirlwind.

If you were an avid Tumblr and/or Instagram user in the year 2015, you were bound to have witnessed the success of this debut record in the flesh. ‘Badlands’ tracks were everywhere, Instagram edits, playing in Urban Outfitters and encouraging young women globally to invest in a pink fluffy jacket. Halsey raised a generation of rebellious, alternative teenagers and here she is to commemorate that on the ‘Back To Badlands’ tour.

The shows themselves are a heartfelt homage to her first-born release. Halsey cycles through the entirety of the ‘Badlands’ record, whilst simultaneously sprinkling in some newer tracks. The two-and-a-half-hour set is a harsh reminder of how hard she worked to get to where she is today. American artists fight tooth and nail to solidify themselves in the UK music scene, and Halsey’s impact is here to stay.

In terms of UK shows, Halsey attended Manchester on Jan 29 before completing a momentous 3-night streak at the O2 Academy Brixton, London, dating from Feb 1 to Feb 4. Each night, fans had the ability to vote for their preferred tracks on the encore, deep cuts, never-before-played tracks and fan favourites are often fought over. Little did the crowd know that on the third and final night, Halsey had an additional opportunity in store.

Commencing a speech regarding her idols and musical partners, Halsey announced she was bringing someone on stage who greatly inspired her in the early days. Lo and behold, Ellie Goulding waltzed on stage to perform her track, ‘Starry Eyed.’ An eye-watering moment for everyone in attendance.

Not only did she surprise the crowd with one friendly face, but two. Halsey blessed the audience with a surprise performance from Julia Wolf. The New York-based singer made an impromptu visit to London to accompany Halsey on stage, playing her notorious track, ‘In My Room.’

It is absolutely no doubt that Halsey will continue to put on incredible live shows globally. We can only hope and pray that there are more UK performances in the near future.

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The announcement comes after nearly a year of musical silence from Harris, following his last album ‘96 Months‘ (2024) and a collaboration with Ellie Goulding on the track ‘Free‘. The forthcoming single is expected to blend electronic elements with country motifs, reflecting a growing trend among DJs like Avicii and Diplo, who have explored similar fusions.

Calvin Harris has been a dominant force in the music industry since his debut album ‘I Created Disco‘ (2007). He holds the record for the most top ten hits from a single studio album, with nine tracks from his 2012 album ‘18 Months‘ reaching the UK top ten, including ‘We Found Love‘ in collaboration with Rihanna, ‘Feel So Close‘, and ‘I Need Your Love‘ featuring Ellie Goulding. His most recent chart-topping single ‘Miracle’, another collaboration with Ellie Goulding, reached number one in April 2023.As the DJ embarks on this new musical journey, fans are eager to see how he will blend his electronic roots with country influences. While ‘Smoke the Pain Away’ is set for release next week, there has been no official confirmation regarding a full country-inspired album. This single may signify a broader exploration of genre fusion, but details about subsequent projects remain unknown. Fans are encouraged to keep an eye on Harris’s official social media accounts for any hints about what’s next.

Miley Cyrus led the way with her hit single “Flowers,” spending ten weeks at No 1. Other talented artists such as Dua Lipa, Ellie Goulding, Kenya Grace, Raye, Billie Eilish, Doja Cat, Olivia Rodrigo, and Taylor Swift also enjoyed time at the top spot.

In fact, Goulding, Cyrus, Swift, Raye, SZA, PinkPantheress, and Libianca dominated seven out of the top 10 most popular tracks of the year. This achievement is the highest number of female-led tracks in the history of the Official Singles Chart, which spans over 70 years.

Goulding’s collaboration with Calvin Harris, “Miracle,” was particularly notable, and the rest of the top 10 featured artists like Dave, Central Cee, and Rema.

Dr Jo Twist, the chief executive of BPI, expressed her delight at this significant shift but also stressed the importance of not becoming complacent. She emphasised the need for continued efforts in the music industry, she said,“Our work in the music industry continues to ensure that this becomes the norm.” 

Furthermore, an impressive 48.5% of all songs that reached the Top 10 this year were either solo efforts or collaborations by female artists. This represents the highest annual share of Top 10 hits by female musicians in this century.

In 2023, the British music industry saw its ninth consecutive year of growth, with album sales and streams increasing by 10% to a total of 182.8 million. Streaming reached a record high with 179.6 billion audio streams, a 12.8% increase from the previous year. However, no new releases achieved platinum status, indicating a“crisis” in the industry according to music writer Patrick Clifton. He added,“A new generation of artists is not building fanbases that will buy gig and festival tickets in two, five, or 10-years’ time, and is not popularising songs that will have ubiquity in our culture once this generation of music fans reaches old age. The artists who succeed, he argued, are those who are able to cultivate a “two-way” relationship with fans on social media, and “don’t mind revisiting songs from their repertoire if those songs blow up”.

Vinyl records sales reached a remarkable milestone, surpassing 6 million units, marking the highest total since 1990. Additionally, CD sales remained strong with a staggering 10 million albums sold. Furthermore, cassette sales maintained their steady performance, exceeding 100,000 units for the fourth consecutive year.

However, it is undeniable that streaming has become the dominant force in the UK’s music landscape. Accounting for a remarkable 87.7% of the market share, streaming has experienced a substantial growth compared to 63.6% five years ago.

She told The Sun newspaper, “I’m always writing new music. I think my natural state is to always come up with ideas and I’ll get in the studio at some point. Since I wrote Higher Than Heaven a while ago during lockdown, I’m very ready to write new music. I’ve always wanted to compose music for films, so at the moment I’m focusing on more classical.” 

Goulding’s bold decision to explore a genre of music that is not quite common in today’s music industry, and a step away from the standard formula of ‘singer-songwriter ‘pop. She is determined to prove that her talent creativity and passion for writing and performing extend beyond the pop and electronic music that has become her mainstay.

miracle by calvin harris & ellie goulding. pic.twitter.com/K7lvUoQrDV

— songs that changed history (@iconiksongs) March 10, 2023

Goulding recently teamed up with Calvin Harris for the third time for their song, “Miracle” from her Miracle album. She admitted that the trance track came “out of the blue” but she almost missed the opportunity for a collaboration by playing it a bit “too cool”. She explained, “This one came slightly out of the blue. He said that he had the track and immediately thought of me for it. Calvin doesn’t like to mess around so he sent the song in the next message. I accidentally played it a bit too cool and didn’t reply for a few days so he thought I wasn’t into it.”

Goulding remains committed to creating a full album of original classical music. Her announcement of the project has been met with positive responses from fans and critics alike, which leaves her fans intrigued about her capability in creating her new sound.

She admitted that the creation of her classical album has been a rather difficult process than her other albums. The most difficult thing in her process was mastering elements or techniques of classical music which has been the biggest challenge she has taken on musically. Regardless of the big challenges, she nonetheless remains hopeful that the creation of her new album will be epic and beautiful.

The concept of their latest album started during the 2020 lockdown when band’s postponed shows ultimately cancelled in early January 2021. Matt Healy, the lead singer used that opportunity to tease newer music from his band under the previous album name, Drive Like I Do. Unfortunately, the band confirmed that there was no exact day they were going to finish writing, recording and mixing their fifth album.

On February 14 2022, the band had to temporarily deactivate their socials, indicating new material was all set to be released, after a 7 month wait. In terms of musical style, Being Funny In A Foreign Language is a mix of Pop-Rock, Indie Folk, Baroque Pop and Electropop.

Part Of The Band Official Performance @Vevo_UK https://t.co/uXOf6lpwLL #the1975 #bfiafl pic.twitter.com/CBzQJqSt7F

— The 1975 (@the1975) October 19, 2022

The 1975 At Their Very Best UK tour Dates:

08/01/2023- The Brighton Centre- Brighton

09/01- Bournemouth International Centre- Bournemouth

10/01- Westpoint Area- Exeter

12/01 and 13/01- The O2- London

15/01- Resorts World Arena- Birmingham

Tickets are still on sale and can be purchased here.

English Pop singer, Ellie Goulding makes a comeback following the release of her fifth studio album, Higher Than Heaven which will be released on February 3rd 2023. Her album is preceded by three singles: “Easy Lover”, “All By Myself ” and “Let It Die”. Out of all her three singles, the lead single is “Easy Lover” which was released on July 15 2022. The song features American Rapper, Big Sean who is also one of the co-writers of this lead single.

The concept of her album started around the time she performed at Rock in Rio in Lisbon, Portugal in June 2022. She announced in July, she will release new music and temporarily deactivate her socials, just like The 1975 did. On July 4 2022, she announced the release of “Easy Lover”. 3 months later, following the release of  “All By Myself”, on October 7 and “Let It Die” twelve days after the second single. The musical style in Higher Than Heaven is mainly focused on Electropop and Dance-pop elements.

.@elliegoulding says “Easy Lover” has been a long time coming. Watch the English pop singer kick off her new era in music with her @bigsean collaboration.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
▶️ https://t.co/u1ZAu5H2na pic.twitter.com/A0CZKJryPx

— Vevo (@Vevo) July 16, 2022

Following the release of her new single on February 3rd, she will also perform at KOKO in London on February 7 and 8.

On sale tomorrow // After selling out her first show at London's Koko, @elliegoulding has added a second night, set to take place on 7th February 2023.
Click the link below at 10am tomorrow for tickets:https://t.co/a7Bp9IDah5

— Ents24 (@Ents24) December 8, 2022

Tickets will be available here.

The artist shared her excitement on social media, revealing that the shows will be intimate, and distances. “The feeling I get from my new album is that people get to immerse themselves into a world of hope despite everything being so bleak, you have to tear through your own demons to get to the other side but also realising that you can free yourself from toxic relationships!”, she explained, continuing, “Looking forward to finally being able to see you all and be with you once again.”

Excited to announce my first run of intimate shows for 2021. Pre-order any format of the album from my store by 5pm BST on Tues June 30 for exclusive presale access. You’ll receive your code by 8pm BST on Tues June 30 & the pre-sale starts on Weds July 1. https://t.co/qGQMGuYRLz pic.twitter.com/JWzK5g4f2F

— Ellie Goulding (@elliegoulding) June 29, 2020

Tickets will go on sale Friday 3rd July, but there will be a pre-sale on Wednesday, 1st July for those who pre-order the new album. Amongst all the cancellations due to the coronavirus, this news is especially joyful.

‘Brightest Blue’ Track Listing:

1. ‘Start’ (feat. serpentwithfeet)
2. ‘Power’
3. ‘How Deep Is Too Deep’
4. ‘Cyan’
5. ‘Love I’m Given’
6. ‘New Heights’
7. ‘Ode to Myself’
8. ‘Woman’
9. ‘Tides’
10. ‘Wine Drunk’
11. ‘Bleach’
12. ‘Flux’
13. ‘Brightest Blue’
14. ‘Overture’
15. ‘Worry About Me’ (feat. blackbear)
16. ‘Slow Grenade’ (feat. Lauv)
17. ‘Close to Me’ (feat. Swae Lee)
18. ‘Hate Me’ (feat. Juice WRLD)

The four day event will take place from 4th-7th March and consists of over 20 shows from various artists, and a conference held at Camden House on 6th March. At the conference, guest speakers will discuss “the most urgent and pertinent themes affecting the music industry today” according to the official website. There will also be a chance to network and ask questions on the day.

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AMP London is a four day celebration of music, encompassing 20 gigs across the city and a CONFERENCE! If you are passionate about our music industry, come and join us on Friday 6th March at Camden House in London! Featuring the top level CEOs and MDs, the most exciting entrepreneurs and the most creative minds, I’m really proud to be able to gather these people into one space on one day and I think there is real opportunity here to push things forwards. The ticket link is in my bio. I hope to see you there xx @anniemacpresents

A post shared by Annie Mac (@anniemac) on Feb 11, 2020 at 4:45am PST

When talking about the music industry and the event, Annie Mac makes an incredibly well-put point, saying “It’s a really exciting time. There are still, however, huge sticking points for me”. She went on to mention the representation and diversity which is still lacking in the music business, as well as the lack of mental health support and climate action. These are all topics need to and will be covered at AMP London.

Some of the important current topics include Women In Music; LGBTQ+ Artists; the Growing Impact of Cultures in Music; Sustainability in the Industry; Mental Health, for which Ellie Goulding will join the panel. Artists Mahalia and Raye will speak at the Artistic Differences panel – the full list of panels can be viewed on the AMP London website.

The line-up of artists features the amazing Lianne La Havas, Sam Tompkins, Joy Crookes, and The Ninth Wave, with Annie Mac playing a set herself. Check out the full line-up below and purchase tickets on the website and SeeTickets. More names are still to be announced.

AMP (Annie Mac Presents) has been holding events, parties and festivals for 10 years, with the AMP Lost & Found Festival to run from 30th April to 3rd May 2020 in Malta. Find further details on the Lost & Found homepage.

Annie Mac started out as a producer at BBC Radio 1 before getting her first live set on Big Weekend in 2006 and kicking off her career with Radio 1, where she continues to work. Annie Mac now hosts many programmes on the radio station including ‘Future Sound with Annie Mac” and ‘Dance Party with Annie Mac’. She has also appeared on podcasts as well as other radio and TV shows.

The annual spectacular, that is Capital’s Summertime Ball, will be returning to Wembley Stadium, on Saturday the 8th of June 2019. Among the names announced, this morning (May 01) was Rita Ora, Anne Marie, Sigala, Tom Walker, Jax Jones, and, Norwegian singer and BBC Sound of 2018 winner, Sigrid.

Today, we announced that these stars are performing at the #CapitalSTB:
@AnneMarie,
@SigalaMusic,
@thisissigrid,
@IamTomWalker,
@JaxJones,
@RitaOra

But which huge name are we gonna reveal tomorrow? Keep your eyes on the Ballboards. pic.twitter.com/ZYWH5Xf5Da

— Capital (@CapitalOfficial) May 1, 2019

Sigrid has described playing the iconic London landmark, that is Wembley, as “insane”. Meanwhile, Speaking about her performance at the Summertime Ball, in June, Sigrid, said: “I’m going to love it. I probably should say that I have a masterplan but I think we’re going to run up and have fun and play our favourite songs.”

They will share the stage with the recently reunited US pop group the Jonas Brothers, with their appearance at the Summertime Ball marking their first UK show in ten years. The band recently dropped new track ‘Sucker’, taken from their forthcoming album, ‘Hippieness Begins’, which will be released the day before the Summertime Ball – Friday the 7th of June 2019.

The series of big reveals kicked off, on Monday (April 29), with the first six artists being revealed including Halsey – who won the Rising Star award at this year’s Global Awards. Among the other names announced, on Monday, were Mark Ronson, 5 Seconds of Summer, Ellie Goulding, and Khalid.

Today, we announced that these stars are performing at the #CapitalSTB: @MarkRonson, @5SOS, @elliegoulding, @thegreatkhalid, @jonasbrothers, @halsey But which six names are we gonna reveal tomorrow? Make sure you’ve got your eyes on the Ballboards. pic.twitter.com/GMgNu5ag6z — Capital (@CapitalOfficial) April 29, 2019

Six more acts will be revealed everyday of the week until the full line-up is revealed. Meanwhile, on Tueday (April 30), Roman Kemp revealed that Maroon 5; Jess Glynne; Ava Max; Lauv; Jonas Blue; and Mabel, will be heading the Summertime Ball, next month. It has been revealed that one final massive name will be revealed on Thursday, (May 02), morning’s show.

Today, we announced that these stars are performing at the #CapitalSTB:
@maroon5,
@JessGlynne,
@avamax,
@lauvsongs,
@JonasBlue,
@Mabel

But which six names are we gonna reveal tomorrow? Make sure you’ve got your eyes on the Ballboards. pic.twitter.com/8ofos7nJGM

— Capital (@CapitalOfficial) April 30, 2019

Today’s reveal comes after Capital announced, at the weekend, that they would be using billboards across the UK to reveal the acts that will be performing at this year’s Summertime Ball. They also revealed that they would be enlisting the help of listeners to reveal the acts that were on the billboards, by getting them to get in touch with the station, by sending in photos of the names displayed on the billboards.

Speaking about the series of big reveals, Founder & Executive President of Global, Ashley Tabor OBE, said: “Today we kicked off our massive reveal week on Capital Breakfast by announcing some of the world’s biggest artists for Capital’s Summertime Ball.

“We are especially excited to confirm the news that so many fans have been waiting for – the Jonas Brothers are returning to the UK and playing the Ball. We’re only just getting started and we can’t wait to reveal yet more huge acts for the UK’s hottest summer party on Capital Breakfast with Roman Kemp tomorrow morning!”

Full list of confirmed acts to perform at Glastonbury 2016:

Coldplay

Muse

Adele

Beck

Foals

Jeff Lynne’s ELO

Stormzy

Chvrches

M83

Jack Garratt

Bring Me The Horizon

Jess Glynne

Cyndi Lauper

LCD Soundsystem

PJ Harvey

ZZ Top

Disclosure

Underworld

James Blake

Bastille

Kurt Vile

Wolf Alice

Two Door Cinema Club

Of Monsters & Men

Roisin Murphy

Years & Years

Ezra Furman

Gregory Porter

Madness

Baaba Maal

Ernest Ranglin

New Order

Earth, Wind & Fire

Savages

Floating Points

Laura Mvula

Art Garfunkel

Daughter

Little Simz

Vince Staples

John Grant

Band Of Horses

Carl Cox

Nao

Fatboy Slim

Richard Hawley

The Lumineers

Lady Leshur

Rokia Traore

The Last Shadow Puppets

Ellie Goulding

Skepta

The 1975

Santigold

Dua Lipa

Unknown Mortal Orchestra

Bat For Lashes

Protoje

Jake Bugg

Mac DeMarco

St Etienne

Blossoms

Grimes

Annie Mac

Guy Garvey

Kamasi Washington

Explosions In The Sky

Alunageorge

Hinds

Sigur Ros

Ronnie Spector

The Syrian National Orchestra

Stanley Donwood, known for his work on Radiohead’s album artwork amongst other things, designed 2016’s poster. See it below:

This exciting news re-enforces Glastonbury’s reputation as being the most diverse and distinguished festival in the UK – and incites regret among those of us who were unable to get tickets before they sold out upon their release in October last year.

Glastonbury 2016 kicks off on 22nd June and finishes on 26th June. See the official website for more details.

I am not quitting music, I've come too far for that! Just having a break. It's been seven years since I had time off…. Love you all

— Ellie Goulding (@elliegoulding) March 10, 2016

Nominated for many awards, it would have been confusing for fans to think she would quit so suddenly. Nominated for two MTV Music Awards for the outstanding, ‘I Need Your Love’ (featuring Calvin Harris) and the popular summer anthem of last year, ‘Love Me Like You Do’, Ellie Goulding has a distinguished discography to build on. Her timely break – her first admittedly for seven years – will help her to have a fresh start and build an anticipated come back.

After a hefty ten nominations for the World Music Awards, including World’s Best Song and World’s Best Video for ‘Burn’, Goulding will hope to achieve here upon her return to the music scene – there will certainly be a gap without her presence.

This October will see the completion of her world tour, Delirium. Goulding is currently in the UK:

Ellie Goulding then flies to Vancouver before continuing her world tour in the USA throughout April, May and June. Delirium ends in Perth, Australia 12/10.