Weekend 50 pic.twitter.com/r1TETEGWMY

— Adele (@Adele) November 24, 2024

“I will miss it terribly and I will miss you terribly. I don’t know when I’m going to perform again.” The singer said at her final show in Las Vegas.

#Adele bids farewell to fans at the final night of her Las Vegas residency: “I will miss you terribly. I don’t know when I’m going to perform again.” pic.twitter.com/Wv8F4yMsFe — All Tea All Shade (@TeaTimeTips2) November 24, 2024

Adele’s Las Vegas residency faced significant challenges when it was initially postponed in January 2022, just a day before it was scheduled to begin. The singer then tearfully announced the postponement in a video posted on social media. She apologized to fans, citing delays due to COVID-19 and logistical issues that made the show incomplete.

The last-minute announcement upset many fans who had already traveled to Las Vegas and incurred expenses for tickets, accommodations, and flights. Some criticized the timing of the decision, while others expressed understanding given the circumstances. After the postponement, Adele and her team worked to address the issues. The residency eventually began on November 18, 2022, at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace

The Grammy-winning singer is known for her long breaks from music. She took an extended break from the music industry after her ‘25’ album release in 2015. Her hiatus lasted several years during which she focused on personal growth and her family.

Adele returned to music in 2021 with ‘30’, an album that delved deeply into her personal life and emotions, including her divorce and its impact on her and her son. The album was critically acclaimed and commercially successful, affirming her status as one of the world’s most beloved artists. Adele’s ‘Easy on Me‘ had an impressive run on the charts, it stayed at No. 1 for seven weeks and remained on the UK Singles Chart for 23 weeks in total.

At her last show in Munich, the singer said: “It has been amazing. I just need a rest. I have spent the last seven years building a new life for myself and I want to live it now.”

Although the singer has announced her well-deserved break from music, she promised a tour of her upcoming, not-yet-made album.

Adele has confirmed that she will do a worldwide tour for next album last night at #WeekendsWithAdele.

— “I just don’t think I’m gonna write an album for quite some time… But next time I do, I’ll come to wherever it is you live.” #A5 pic.twitter.com/UtMeVpqcju

— Adele Daily (@adeledailynet) January 28, 2024

Way back in 2022, a study by Yard, a sustainable marketing agency, showed that the 34-year-old singer’s use of private jets was one of the worst contributors to climate change and CO2 emissions. People were quick to criticise and make jokes about Swift after speculation that this will be her mode of transport to watch the Kansas City Chiefs take on the San Francisco 49ers.

Taylor Swift on her way downstairs to grab her Door Dash order (which she also had delivered via private jet/helicopter)pic.twitter.com/CEPCxsECIM

— Stogna Bologna (@1000waystoRy) February 7, 2024

I will stop tracking taylor swifts private jet when she pledges to offset carbon emissions by paying off my student loan and credit card debt

— alexa (@mariokartdwi) February 7, 2024

There were some however who came to Taylor’s defence and supported her throughout the critiques. British singer-songwriter Adele publicly spoke out at one of her Las Vegas residency shows Weekends With Adele and told the haters to “get a f**king life.” The “Hello” singer went on to say “I want the 49ers to win but I also want the Chiefs to win. I think I want the Chiefs to win just because Taylor Swift goes for them…and all of you that are complaining about Taylor Swift being at the games, get a fucking life! It’s her fucking man! She’s actually made it a bit more enjoyable to watch, because like I said I have no idea what’s going on.”

| At her show tonight Adele shared she will be supporting the Chiefs tomorrow because of Taylor Swift;

“I think I want the Chiefs to win just because of Taylor Swift’s boyfriend and all of you that are complaining about Taylor Swift being at games get a f*cking life” pic.twitter.com/YQA446PCr5

— Taylor Swift Updates

Swift had also received backlash from NFL players Rob Gronkowski and Tony Dungy for appearing at games too frequently and being shown too often. Kelce’s brother Jason supported the American Sweetheart’s actions by saying: “She’s the quintessential artist right now in the world, singer-songwriter, immensely talented, unbelievable role model for young women across the globe. So I think that the NFL would probably be foolish not to show her and be a role model for all the young girls out there.”

The single had been heard briefly when the band were shooting the music video at their surprise concert earlier this month (September 16th) at the Plaza Hotel in Las Vegas, where up to 250 fans and extras congregated in the city’s Fremont Street for the special occasion. An apt setting for the music video to take place, as “Atomic City” is Vegas themed song, with lyrics such as “I’m free, so unexpectedly. I’m free from what’s in front of me!” and “I’ve got the key to the cages, waiting for my dice. I came here for the fight/I’m front row in Las Vegas. And there’s a big one on tonight”.

The new single was produced by Jacknife Lee and Steve Lillywhite and recorded at Sound City in LA, and as Bono told the audience at the band’s surprise Las Vegas show, “This is the world premiere of ‘Atomic City,’ a rock’n’roll 45-inch tradition of late 70s post-punk if you are interested…Blondie, The Clash.”

The song’s title is also a direct nod to the famous Nevada city, as ‘Atomic City’ was a nickname for Las Vegas in the 1950’s due to how close it was to the Nevada Test Site – dedicated to the testing of nuclear devices.

“Atomic City” was dropped on the same day (September 29th) U2 begin their very special residency at Las Vegas’ brand new MSG Sphere venue, where, throughout their run of shows, the Irish rockers will be performing their 1991 album Achtung Baby in full. U2’s residency will be the first shows played on the new Vegas stage.

In addition to U2’s residency at the MSG Sphere, the band also launched the immersive ‘Zoo Station: A U2:UV Experience’ recently on September 28th. The experience is a fan portal that aims to help fans gather a deeper understanding of Achtung Baby.

It is not yet known whether “Atomic City” will feature on U2’s as of yet unannounced upcoming album, however the band’s guitarist The Edge has created excitement around their new music as he shared with Guitar Player magazine “I’ve been working a lot on new guitar music, and I’m very excited about it. It’s at that prototype stage where … who knows?. I’m finding myself for the first time in a little while getting very excited about the electric guitar again. Maybe it’s something to do with the lockdown, having the time to not do very much.”

The Irish quartet took to the stage for a surprise show in front of the Plaza Hotel in Las Vegas on Saturday 16th September. During the show, the band played a brand new Vegas-themed song, “Atomic City”, and filmed a music video. The band, fronted by Bono, played through the song repeatedly in a downtown area of the Nevada city.

“Atomic City,” is the song, all about #VegasVille … A first look @U2#Vegas#RJNow@reviewjournalpic.twitter.com/OVkPyHNn65

— John Katsilometes (@johnnykats) September 17, 2023

“Atomic City” is set to be released before U2 embark on their upcoming residency at the new MSG Sphere in Las Vegas. The band are scheduled to start their shows at the Sphere, which will be the first shows ever played at the venue, on Friday 29th September.

The upcoming shows are titled “U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere”, and will see four-piece perform their 1991 album Achtung Baby in full.

Despite being present at the surprise Las Vegas show and music video recording, drummer Larry Mullen Jr is not performing with the band for the first few shows of the residency while he recovers from surgery.

In an interview with the Irish Mirror, bassist Adam Clayton said “The whole band and I’m sure the audience are going to be very sad and miss Larry. He wants to come back, he wants to be able to have a long career and continue his drumming so he’s taking care of those injuries.”

Clayton also explained that whilst the U2 drummer is recovering, Krezip drummer Bram van den Berg will be filling in throughout the first portion of the “U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere” tour. A decision the band came to together after having Larry Mullen Jr’s blessing.

In addition to the Las Vegas Residency tour, U2 have announced an immersive experience for fans ahead of their upcoming shows.

‘Zoo Station: A U2:UV Experience,’ the immersive fan portal, opens at The Venetian in Las Vegas on September 28.

Explore ‘Achtung Baby’ through interactive experiences – Zoo TV Cinema (curated by The Edge), the Anton Corbijn Gallery, limited-edition merchandise, VIP lounges,… pic.twitter.com/35GlOxw81n

— U2 (@U2) August 30, 2023

Opening on September 28th, “Zoo Station: A U2:UV Experience” is an immersive fan portal designed to help U2 fans to gain a deeper understanding of the Irish rocker’s 7th LP, 1991 acclaimed album Achtung Baby.

As stated on her official site; “Access will be limited with priority given to fans who held tickets for the original show dates or had previously registered and been waitlisted for the ‘Weekends With Adele’ Verified Fan Presale.” Further information on dates and tickets can be found here.

In a message to her fans via social media, Adele said; “Words can’t explain how ecstatic I am to finally be able to announce these rescheduled shows. I truly was heartbroken to have to cancel them. But after what feels like an eternity of figuring out logistics for the show that I really want to deliver, and knowing it can happen, I’m more excited than ever! Now I know for some of you it was a horrible decision on my part, and I will always be sorry for that, but I promise you it was the right one. To be with you in such an intimate space every week has been what I’ve most been looking forward to and I’m going to give you the absolute best of me. Thank you for your patience, I love you, Adele.”

Words can’t explain how ecstatic I am to finally be able to announce these rescheduled shows. I truly was heartbroken to have to cancel them. pic.twitter.com/PQLiaPVYgO

— Adele (@Adele) July 25, 2022

When appearing on The Graham Norton Show, Adele commented; “I tried my hardest and really thought I would be able to pull something else together in time, and that was why it was so last minute,” she said. “I regret that I kept going until that late in the day. But it just wasn’t ready. It just would have been a really half-arsed show, and I can’t do that. People will see straight through me, up on stage being like, ‘She doesn’t want to be doing this.’ And, I’ve never done anything like that in my life. I’m not going to start now, you know? I’m obviously gutted.”

When asked why she couldn’t allow the shows to go on as planned despite the setbacks, Adele said: “I’m not going to try do a stadium show in a theatre – but it’s Vegas. It can’t just be me on my fucking guitar.”

.@Adele, @katyperry and @johnlegend have all recently signed up for residencies https://t.co/Unnf0AmHp4

— NME (@NME) December 29, 2021

Barlow said: “Just before lockdown we were so close to signing contracts to do a residency in Vegas and we want to do that…It won’t be next year, but we’re hoping for 2023. It’s something we all want to do and I think our fans would love it.”

If this does indeed go ahead, group will be joining a pantheon of big names who have signed up for Vegas residency, including Adele, who announced last month that she will be taking up a 12-week residency, and will be playing shows at The Colosseum and Caesars Palace Hotel. Other artists who have signed up for residency include Mariah Carey, John Legend and Boyz II Men.

Presently, Take That are on a break, and Barlow took that time to work on a Christmas album entitled The Dream of Christmas, which was released on the 26^th of November through Polydor Records. The album features a mixture of original songs (including the titular track “The Dream of Christmas”) and classic Christmas tunes such as “Winter Wonderland” and “It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year”.

Whilst it has not been covered by publications such as NME or Rolling Stone, the album has been well-received by fans and has garnered praise from a number of different entertainment blogs, such as Love London, Love Culture who said of the record: “It has to be said that one of the album’s main strengths is that it is not simply made up of festive songs that we have heard many versions of over the years – but also features some original songs that allow Barlow to show off his song writing skills to the full…Overall, this is an album that is perfect to listen to when you are just cozying up around the fire at the end of the day with the family. It is gently enjoyable.”

The album is available via all streaming services, and physical copies can be purchased here.

In other news regarding Take That, the group reunited earlier this year for a virtual show, that featured a one-off reunion with former Take That member and revered British singer Robbie Williams. The show included performances of fan favourites such as “The Flood” and “Back For Good”.