View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Official Charts (@officialcharts)

Placing at number two within this week’s UK singles chart is “As It Was” by Harry Styles; much like its partnering album Harry’s House, the singer’s single remains a chart favourite. This week’s number three single has been confirmed as “Green Green Grass” by George Ezra; the 29-year-old singer’s track is the second song to be taken from his former number one album Gold Rush Kid.

Nigerian-born singer and producer Burna Boy has also placed within this week’s top 5 UK singles charts, “Last Last” reaches its peak position at number four. This week’s chart position marks the singer’s first top 5 single as a solo artist, Burna Boy last placed high as a featured artist on the Stormzy and Ed Sheeran hit “Own It“. This week’s top 5 is closed by “Break My Soul” by Beyonce, co-written by the singer’s husband and creative partner Jay-Z. The track was released on 20th June 2022 via Parkwood/Columbia and is the lead single from Beyonce’s upcoming album Renaissance.

Elsewhere within the charts, “I Ain’t Worried” by OneRepublic has hit its peak position with the UK singles charts. The movie theme for the recent blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick has placed at number 13. Another movie theme peaked in this week’s UK singles chart, “Las Vegas” by Doja Cat, which climbed to number 24. The track is the lead single taken from the soundtrack for Elvis, a biopic of Elvis Presley by Baz Luhrmann. This week’s charts also contain another peak placement, “Stay The Night” by Sigala and Taila Mar has charted at number 15. Also obtaining a new best is “No Excuses” by Derbyshire-based rapper Bru-C; this week sees the single place at number 17, marking the artist’s first top 20 track.

American R&B singer Steve Lacy has climbed an impressive 44 places this week with the single “Bad Habit“, the track has charted at number 25, marking the singer’s first UK Top 40 hit. This week’s highest new entry has been awarded to Calvin Harris, Justin Timberlake, Halsey and Pharrell Williams for the single “Stay With Me“. The track has entered the UK singles chart at number 25; the chart position marks Harris’ 38th UK Top 40 hit single.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by George Ezra (@george_ezra)

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:

With relative urgency, singer-songwriter superstar (and general cutie-pie) George Ezra announced his appearance at the festival’s Park Stage at 2PM. A whole 3 hours of preparation for the appropriately named “Gold Rush Kid” to gather enough curiosity, and then perform a secret set. Some artists are just built for Glastonbury, whether it be the laid-back attitude, hooky-as-hell songwriting or just general British summertime demeanour, Ezra has what it takes. The rumours began to spread about Ezra early, but after pulling out of a show in Denmark earlier this week due to illness, many were sceptical. But no more!

SURPRISE! @glastonbury see you 2pm on the John Peel Stage for a big old party pic.twitter.com/Gft01Zj77O

— george E Z R A (@george_ezra) June 26, 2022

Next on the major last-minute announcement list in today’s proceedings, all-round icon; Jack White. The initial advertisement for White’s show came in the festivals often overlooked “Glastonbury Free Press”. An advertisement in the local paper read, “Exciting opportunity in the field of audience science”, I’m interested, “Musician Jack White is seeking 10,000 lively and loud individuals to participate in a top secret experiment of musical concertry. Qualified applicants must apply in person on 26 June, at 6PM, at The Park Stage”. Now, if anyone had to call a secret Glastonbury set this year, I’d argue that Jack White was probably never a million miles away from being guaranteed. After opening the doors to his new store, Third Man London, and then performing a secret set in the streets of Soho that night, it confirmed that all of the shenanigans White normally gets up to in the states are very much transferable.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jack White (@officialjackwhite)

As the final day of the festival kicks off we, as punters have unsurprisingly had a lot of special treats over the duration. Beatles legend Paul McCartney was joined on the Pyramid Stage last night by Dave Grohl, in his first onstage appearance since the tragic passing of Taylor Hawkins, for a version of “Saw Her Standing There” and “Band On The Run”, and then none other than The Boss for “Glory Days” and “I Wanna Be Your Man”. The pair then returned one final time together to close the set with “The End”. As festivals go, this one always relishes in its surprises, and despite the fact that this is the last day, I see no reason why they’ll slow down today.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Sports Team (@sportsteam)

The last slide on the post seems to possibly reveal the much speculated Glastonbury secret sets and even some of the stages you can see them on. Artists and stages named included George Ezra on The Park Stage, Anderson Paak on the West Holts Stage, Arcade Fire on the John Peel Stage, Green Day on the BBC Introducing Stage, Chemical Brothers on the Arcadia Stage, Megan The Stallion playing with Due Lipa, and even… Drum roll please… Billie Eilish joining Harry Styles on stage. None of this has been confirmed, and knowing Sports Teams playful notoriety, none of it has probably been permitted by the powers that be at Worthy Farm either. One thing is for sure though, if any of it possesses even a glimmer of truth then Sports Team have just dropped a serious spoiler. With collaborations like Billie Eilish and Harry Styles possibly in the pipeline, it’s fair to say Glastonbury just got that little bit more interesting.

The world renowned festival is now well underway, with Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis opening the gates on Wednesday 22 June and revellers pitching their tents and flocking to Worthy Farms luscious fields in preparation for the main lineup to begin tomorrow. This years headliners include Gen Z superstar Billie Eilish, Beatles legend Paul McCartney, and American lyrical sensation Kendrick Lamar, all of whom are due to grace the historic Pyramid Stage throughout the weekend. It marks the first time the festival has opened its gates in 2 years due to the perpetual cancelations and delays caused by the pandemic, but back with a bang now, everyone attending seems to be enjoying themselves, happy and grateful to return after years of government enforced lockdowns and distancing measures.

To those there right now, we sincerely hope the rumours listed above are true, and if so, that Sports Team don’t get into too much trouble either.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by George Ezra (@george_ezra)

The album has proved a huge commercial success with over 44,000 chart sales, a large percentage of the figures owing to physical sales, 79% of the album’s sales are attributed to physical formats. Due to these incredible statistics, the album has also topped the Official Vinyl Album Chart and Official Record Store Chart. Whilst accepting his award, Ezra spoke to OfficialCharts.com concerning his win, “Officially Gold Rush Kid, thanks to you beautiful people, is Number 1 and that means the world to me. I hope you’re well, see you soon!”

This week’s number one album was released on 10th June via Columbia Records and was proceeded by three singles. The first track to be taken from the album was “Anyone For You (Tiger Lilly)”, the single was released on 28th January 2022 and debuted at number 32 within the UK singles charts. The second track taken from the chart-topping album was released on 22nd April 2022, “Green Green Grass” charted at number 6 on the UK charts and marked the singer’s seventh track to land in the top ten. The third single to be released, “I Went Hunting” was released on 2nd June 2022 and is the eighth song on the album’s tracklist.

Ezra’s latest hit album marks his third consecutive UK number one album, both of the singer’s previous albums also placed high within the UK album charts. The 29-year-old artist first saw chart success with his debut album Wanted On Voyage, the album was released on 30th June 2014 and debuted at number three on the UK charts. Due to the album’s great popularity, several months after its release the album jumped two positions to place at number one. The singer’s second studio album was released in 2018, Staying at Tamara’s secured its number one position soon after its release and contain the number one single “Shotgun”.

Elsewhere within this week’s charts, Styles’ second studio album has re-entered the album charts, Fine Line has charted at number six. Placing below Styles’ newest album is = by Ed Sheeran, the album has proved its staying power by positioning at number three. Placing at number four this week is What Came Before by Chase & Status, the electronic duo’s sixth studio album was released earlier this year to great applause. Closing the top five is American artist Post Malone’s Twelve Caret Toothache, the rapper’s fourth studio album was released on 3rd June 2022 and peaked at number three last week.

Line-up revealed for BBC Radio 2 Live festival in Leeds https://t.co/fN8UMYW0oE

— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) June 14, 2022

Leader of the Leeds City Council, Councillor James Lewis has given a statement concerning the event’s new home, “It’s hugely exciting to see such a star-studded line-up of world-class artists being announced and we can’t wait to see them in Leeds for what will be an incredible occasion for music lovers and for the city as a whole. It’s also a massive endorsement for Leeds and its growing reputation as the place to see some of the biggest names in music. Temple Newsam is the ideal stage for this kind of spectacular event too and we can’t wait to give these amazing acts a proper Leeds welcome.”

The impressive line-up announced by veteran DJ Zoe Ball reads like a who’s who of popular music, set to take the stage on Sunday are Melanie C and Mark Owen. Joining the Spice Girl and former Take That band member are George Ezra, Nile Rodgers & Chic, Emeli Sandé, Olly Murs and M People frontwoman Heather Small. Further legendary British artists are set to perform on Saturday, scheduled to perform on the event’s first day are Simple Minds, Tears For Fears, iconic girl group Bananarama, Ella Henderson, “Ruby” hitmakers Kaiser Chiefs, Craig David and Sophie Ellis-Bextor.

Concerning the upcoming event, Head of Music for Radio 2 Jeff Smith has given the following statement, “We’re so pleased to be announcing the stellar artist lineup for Radio 2 Live, as our annual event spreads its wings for the first time across the UK. This year we will be in Leeds with two days of incredible music from an amazing lineup of musicians. Having been without it for so long we all really appreciate how important live music is to all our lives and so we invite everyone to join us for Radio 2 Live in Leeds at Temple Newsam Park or to listen or watch our weekend via BBC Sounds or iPlayer.”

JUST ANNOUNCED

JUST ANNOUNCED
BBC Radio 2 Live is heading to Leeds! Don’t miss…
Simple Minds
Tears for Fears
Nile Rodgers & CHIC
… and many more!

Temple Newsam Park
17 and 18 September.

On sale this Thursday 08:00 >> https://t.co/NsIQyQDJiM pic.twitter.com/WfDJF9JgpW

— ticketmasteruk (@TicketmasterUK) June 14, 2022

br>BBC Radio 2 Live is heading to Leeds! Don’t miss…
Simple Minds
Tears for Fears
Nile Rodgers & CHIC
… and many more!

Temple Newsam Park
17 and 18 September.

On sale this Thursday 08:00 >> https://t.co/NsIQyQDJiM pic.twitter.com/WfDJF9JgpW

— ticketmasteruk (@TicketmasterUK) June 14, 2022

The annual event will be returning to a traditional live format this year after the COVID-19 pandemic forced previous years to be reconfigured to meet the then-established guidelines. In 2020 and 2021 the event was renamed BBC Radio 2 Live at Home and consisted of concerts held in Cardiff, Manchester, Belfast and Glasgow. Further details concerning the lineup are yet to be announced, BBC radio 2 have established that two more acts for both dates will be confirmed in the coming weeks.

For those unable to attend, the event will be broadcasted live across the BBC’s network stations. The live music extravaganza will also be made available to watch on-demand via BBC Sounds and BBC iPlayer. Music fans will also be able to catch the festival’s highlights on 24th September 2022 via BBC Two. Tickets will be available to purchase from Thursday 16th June 2022 at 8 am via this link.

Actual @Harry_Styles is headed to the Summertime Ball and we are S C R E A M I N G!!! #CapitalSTB pic.twitter.com/jBq8Uua3j7

— Capital (@CapitalOfficial) April 25, 2022

Advertised as Capital’s Summertime Ball with Barclaycard, more names for the event are due to come tomorrow, so if you’re a morning person then try this link from 7 am Tuesday.

The ball will be taking place on June 12^th in London’s Wembley Stadium, and you can get your tickets from 9 am on Thursday from here, only via Global Player. If you fancy being ahead of the crowd on this one, a special pre-sale is available to those who’ve signed to Capital’s app and will happen tomorrow at 9 am.

The presenters announcing the good news were Roman Kemp, Sonny Jay and Sian Welby. Kemp has said in an official statement that “We’re back! After a three-year break, we’ve never been so excited to be back at Wembley Stadium for this huge show. I just know our Capital listeners are going to love this incredible line-up, it’s filled with all our favourite artists we play at Capital. Grab your sunnies and get ready for the UK’s biggest summer party!”  

Fans of George Ezra and Harry Styles may be pleased to find out that both have new albums due out soon. Ezra’s is coming out just two days before the Summer Ball on June 10^th and is titled Gold Rush Kid. You can hear his new single “Green Green Grass“ below. As for Styles, Harry’s House is due out a bit earlier on May 20^th. His recent single, “As It Was”, can also be heard below.


Styles has definitely been keeping up the momentum when it comes to performing as of late. Aside from his two appearances at Coachella in California (which you can read about here), he’s also been announced this morning as the headliner for Radio 1’s Big Weekend. He’s got his own tour around Europe and the UK coming up soon, despite having had to postpone it due to covid. He’ll be visiting the likes of Dublin, Glasgow and London’s Wembley Stadium for two nights along the way. You can find tickets and dates through this link.

Hello As you can see, I’m pretty under the weather right now with chicken pox so I’m sorry to say that I’m going to need to move my upcoming shows.

The rescheduled dates will be:
April 12 – London Palladium
April 13 – Manchester Opera house
April 14 – Edinburgh Usher Hall pic.twitter.com/tjrJPYygCo

— george E Z R A (@george_ezra) February 22, 2022

“As you can see, I’m pretty under the weather right now with chickenpox so I’m sorry to say that I’m going to need to move my upcoming shows.” Ezra explains, adding, “As we’ve had to change the venue in Edinburgh all tickets will be refunded. However, if you had tickets to the original date then you will have first access to tickets for the new show at Usher Hall and will receive an email over the course of the week including a presale link.” And finally concluding, “All tickets for London and Manchester are valid for the new dates. I hope you’ll be able to join me for the new dates! I can’t wait to be back on stage.”

In the video, Ezra elaborates that he hasn’t performed since 2019, so was “much looking forward to getting back up there and swinging [his] hips”. But aside from all of the disappointment, he now says that “Even more than ever, [he] now cannot wait to see you”. With the shows only being pushed back another month and a half, fans of Ezra will be hotly anticipating his return.

While we have been made to wait for his triumphant return to the stage a little while longer, those of you that may have tickets to his headline show at London’s Finsbury Park can still sit tight in the knowledge July 17^th is slowly getting closer. With additional support from indie legends Blossoms, and singer-songwriter-newcomer Holly Humberstone, the show is guaranteed to fulfil pretty much anyone’s quota for summer vibes. Additional ticket information can be found here.

Until we get there though you’ll have to make do with Ezra’s latest offering to quell any needs you may have. Released last month, ‘Anyone For You’ stands toe to toe with any of Ezra’s other bangers and (obviously) comes with the promise of new tunes to come on June 10^th. You can look into pre-ordering Gold Rush Kid here, and listen to the new single below.

George Ezra’s rescheduled your dates:

12/4/22 – The Palladium – London
13/4 – Opera House – Manchester
14/4 – Usher Hall – Edinburgh

The 28-year-old artist teased the release through a countdown timer on his website, and then officially confirmed the new single’s release date. The singer then took to social media to announce the good news; the post included the new single’s release date and teased that more information was to come, stating; “This Is Just the beginning”.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by George Ezra (@george_ezra)

“Anyone For You” will give fans a taste of what to expect from his forthcoming third studio album. No further information was given concerning the singer’s next album. Although a new website called Gold Rush Kid has launched, the site seems to support the singer’s new material and allows fans to sign up for a newsletter.

Ezra’s upcoming album will follow from Staying at Tamara’s, the singer’s second studio album was released on 23rd March 2018 via Columbia Records. The album reached number one within the UK album charts and was named the best-selling album of 2018 within the UK. The release sired five singles including “Shotgun”, which was released on 18th May 2018 and gave Ezra his first UK number-one single. Ezra’s most recent album has been certified triple Platinum due to its impressive sales record, and was nominated for British Album of The Year at the 2021 Brit awards.

Last December the English singer-songwriter spoke with Metro Newspaper for their Guilty Pleasures column concerning how his creative process has changed since his second album. Ezra opened up about his struggles with OCD and anxiety whilst discussing how the pandemic personally affected him; “I’m having a lot of fun at the moment and I feel like, let’s turn it up a gear. Having missed out – all of us having missed people, experiences – it’s just, lean into them, now knowing what it feels like without them. When opportunities arrive, grab them.”

He continued, “I ended the last album wired, I was quite wound up. I was an uptight person, which I had never been before. It was an idea of control – and lack thereof. I’ve only ever known this thing as being full-on, all-consuming madness. At this point though – I don’t want my manager to hear this – I’m up for it. I feel so fortunate with the conversations going on. We’re talking about future shows and different artworks and what a show might look like. I don’t know what it is that’s changed in me, but something has. I go, ‘This is real life, this is what you get to talk about’. It’s a really beautiful thing to wake up and be involved in something creative.”

Fans will get the chance to catch Ezra live this year, the singer will return to the stage this summer with two appearances. On 17th July 2022, Ezra will perform his first live set since the pandemic at London’s Finsbury Park. The summer date will be the singer’s largest show to date and will feature support from Blossoms and Holly Humberstone. When announcing his appearance at the London event, Ezra stated in a video message, “I want you to be there. I need you to be there. It’s gonna be a party.”

Ezra is also billed to perform at Cornwall’s Boardmasters festival 2022, The singer is set to headline the festival along with Disclosure and Kings of Leon. Ezra will take the stage on Friday 12th August 2022. The celebration of surf and music is set to take place between 10th-14th August 2022.

Click here to purchase tickets.

Click here to pre-save “Anyone For You“.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Official Charts (@officialcharts)

The annual festive race sees artists from all genres of music duke it out to be crowned Christmas number one. Contenders from all avenues of the entertainment industry have competed for the prize. With the rise of social media, a new form of public figure can now enter the festive competition. Last year saw YouTuber Mark Hoyle claim the top spot for the third year, otherwise known as LadBaby the husband and father won with his single “Don’t Stop Me Eatin”.

The contenders for this year’s Christmas number One includes a varied list of legendary artists and rising stars.  It was reported earlier this year that Sir Elton John had joined forces with Ed Sheeran to compete. Both have experienced festive chart success before, Sheeran scored a Christmas number one in 2017 with “Perfect” and Sir John placed at number eight in 1973 with “Step Into Christmas”. The single has remained a festive favourite and has re-entered the charts this year.

This year has seen a comeback for Disco icons ABBA, the “Dancing Queen” singers scored a number one this year with their album Voyages. They are also hoping to claim another hit with their upcoming track “Little Things”. The track is their first Christmas single and will be released on 3rd December 2021 accompanied by a music video. This year has also seen Adele dominate the charts, certain tracks from her newly released album 30 are being tipped as this year’s number one.

A reimagined version of the 1960 Charles Brown single, “Come on Home For Christmas” has also joined the race. The new version has been recorded by English singer-songwriter George Ezra and has been released alongside Amazon Music.  Much like previous years, a celebrity duet has also been released to compete. Former Take That member Gary Barlow and actress Sheridan Smith have teamed up to release the single “How Christmas Is Supposed To Be”.

British rockers The Lathums have also released a festive single , the track entitled “Krampus” was released on 12^th November 2021. The track serves as an anti-Christmas track and is named after a festive folklore figure. Often depicted as the evil counterpoint as Santa Claus, Krampus is shown in popular culture as a villain. Another Christmas contender is Olivia Dean, the up-and-coming artist is set to storm the charts with her cover of the Nat King Cole standard “The Christmas Song”.

Other artists who have thrown their hat in the ring include Gypsy Pistoleros and the controversial act The K**ts. The results will be published by The Official Chart via an announcement on BBC Radio 1 on Christmas Eve from 4 pm. The show will not just announce this year’s Christmas number one single but will also reveal the official Christmas top 40. Music fans will also be able to catch the countdown on Top Of The Pops broadcasted on Christmas Day on BBC One. The full official top 100 Official Christmas Singles and Albums chart will be published via OfficialCharts.com.