Ryan, aged 43, who is a founding member and has been the de-facto lead singer of Blue since 2000, had reportedly drunk a bottle of port before boarding the British Airways flight from Glasgow to London City Airport on 31 July 2022. The court heard his speech was slurred and he was staggering, and when he requested more alcohol aboard the plane, the air steward refused the request and asked him to sit down. He is alleged to have described the victim, a black woman, as like a “sweet chocolate chip cookie”, and physically restrained her by grabbing her wrists.

In January 2023, Ryan was found guilty of racially-aggravated common assault and behaving in an abusive way towards a member of cabin crew in a trial held at Ealing Magistrates’ Court. A further charge from the incident of assaulting a police officer by biting was dropped by the Crown Prosecution Services (CPS) in July 2023 after a plea that Ryan had followed “poor advice from his solicitor”. After receiving a 12-month suspended sentence in 2023, Ryan pursued an appeal at Isleworth Crown Court in 2024, which allowed an appeal on accusations of threatening a member of aircraft crew, but a refusal to contest the assault charges.

Dissatisfied, Ryan’s legal team challenged the Crown Court’s decision and attempted to push the case through to the High Court, but this was rejected and called “frivolous”. They then opened a new appeal at the High Court to contest this refusal, which was dismissed on Tuesday July 14 by Lord Justice Holgate and Mr Justice Johnson, citing inconsistencies between Ryan’s recounting of the incident on separate hearings. The Independent have referenced a quote from the High Court judges which reads “It was a case where the defendant had given one account at interview – an admission that he had grabbed Ms Gordon’s wrists, albeit without menace – but then gave an inconsistent account at trial – a denial that he had grabbed her wrists. His explanation for the inconsistency was rejected by the court.”

The BBC also published comments from the two justices referring to the judgment over clashing remarks from both Ryan and the victim – they read “The essential reasoning of the court was that it believed Ms Gordon, who had been sober at the time and who was a consistent and compelling witness, and they disbelieved Mr Ryan who had been drunk at the time and had been inconsistent.”

As the High Court have reinforced the decisions of the Crown Court, Lee Ryan will now await a further trial for sentencing.

Born Gaynor Hopkins on June 8 1951, Tyler was raised in the village Skewen, near Neath in Wales. From a young age she loved rock music, and held aspirations of being in a band while singing at rugby and working men’s clubs. In 1975, while performing at a club under the name Sherene Davis, she was identified by talent scout Roger Bell, who offered her a recording contract with RCA Records. From there, she chose the new stage name Bonnie Tyler, and stormed into number 9 on the UK Chart with her second single ‘Lost In France’.

Her biggest hit came when songwriter Jim Steinman, who composed Meat Loaf’s 14-times platinum 1977 rock opera ‘Bat Out Of Hell’, gave her ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’, an epic power ballad released in 1983. Tyler said of the song “The first time I heard it was when Jim Steinman just played it on the piano in New York, he sang the song all the way through and I was like, ‘Oh my god, this song is amazing. I can’t believe Jim is giving it to me’. The composition was originally a whopping 8 minutes in length, which led her to think “when I recorded the song, I thought no-one is going to end up playing this because it’s so long.” But when it was trimmed to a four minute radio edit, it spent 2 weeks as a Number One in the UK and 4 in the US, making her the first Welsh artist to top the American charts and selling over 1.2 million copies in the UK alone.

Her later singles included ‘Holding Out For A Hero’ from 1984, which was produced for the movie Footloose’s soundtrack, 1984’s ‘Here She Comes’, and 1986 track ‘If You Were A Woman (And I Was A Man)’. She released her 16th album ‘Rocks and Honey’ in 2013, and was chosen to perform its single ‘Believe in Me’ at that year’s Eurovision Song Contest. Her accolades include three BRIT nominations, three Grammy nominations, and an MBE which she received in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2022.

In May this year, Tyler was scheduled to begin a 30-date tour when she was rushed into emergency intestinal surgery in Faro, Portugal, where she lived. As a result, she was placed in a medically-induced coma to aid her recovery, which she came out of in June, though she struggled with her recovery as a spokesperson for her said she was “very unwell and in intensive care”. A statement was made this morning announcing that Bonnie Tyler had passed away aged 75 – it reads “Bonnie’s family and team are heartbroken to announce that Bonnie unexpectedly passed away last night in hospital in Portugal as a result of the illness that she was being treated for. We will issue a further statement shortly but for now ask for privacy to deal with this tragedy.”

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Tributes have poured out from across the world of music and culture today. One of the most heartfelt was from Welsh actress Catherine Zeta-Jones – Tyler’s husband who she is survived by, Robert Sullivan, is Zeta-Jones’ cousin, and Tyler performed ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ at her wedding to fellow actor Michael Douglas in 2000. On her post on Instagram, Zeta-Jones wrote “A one of kind artist, who so easily could have been a comedian because she was one of the funniest people I ever met. Thank you Bonnie for the joy you brought so many. Sleep tight beautiful lady.” Pop star Sir Cliff Richards described her as “another wonderful friend gone too soon. Bonnie’s infectious zest for life entertained so many around the world.” while rock singer Bryan Adams posted on X that Tyler “had such a great voice” and thanked her for her 1983 cover version of his song ‘Straight From The Heart’, which appeared on her album ‘Faster Than the Speed of Night’.

Her 2026 LP is the follow up to 2005’s ‘Confessions on a Dance Floor’, which saw Madonna blend both retro and modern dance music with electropop for singles including ‘Hung Up’, ‘Sorry’ and ‘Get Together’. At the time it was regarded as a fine return to form for the singer who defined so much of the sound and fashion of the ‘80s, scooping up the 2007 Grammy for Best Electronic/Dance Album.

Much like the original, ‘Confessions II’ has been co-written and co-produced by British artist Stuart Price. Companion piece Confessions II: The Film premiered on the 5th of June and is now available on Youtube – the 14 minute-long movie showcased 6 songs from the album with a cast of stars including footballer Cole Palmer, actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Richard E. Grant, as well as current pop trend-setter Sabrina Carpenter who appears on lead single ‘Bring Your Love’. The full 16 tracks for ‘Confessions II’ looks like this:

1. I Feel So Free
2. Good for the Soul
3. One Step Away
4. Bring Your Love (with Sabrina Carpenter)
5. Danceteria
6. Read My Lips (with Feid)
7. Everything
8. Love Sensation
9. Love Without Words
10. Bizarre
11. School
12. Fragile
13. My Sins Are My Saviour
14. Betrayal
15. The Test
16. L.E.S. Girl

Madonna announced the Club Confessions: London event today on her official website – so far all that’s known about the event itself is that it will be held at an unconfirmed venue in London on Thursday the 2nd of July, the day before ‘Confessions II’ releases worldwide. NME report that Stuart Price will be performing as a DJ on the night, and other guests will make appearance – however there is no confirmation whether Madonna herself will be in attendance. She did appear at a secret Club Confessions event in Los Angeles in April, where new material made its public debut.

‘Confessions II’ releases on Friday the 3rd of July through Warner Records. Pre-orders before 12pm on the 25th of June give access to the ticket sale for the Club Confessions: London night, which opens at 5pm the same day. Click here for terms and information on the ticket sale.

Birmingham pop rock superstars Duran Duran were one of the biggest acts in the UK’s New Romantic movement through the ‘80s, scoring UK Number One singles with ‘Is There Something I Should Know?’ and ‘The Reflex’, the latter of which was with a remix by Nile Rogers. They were inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022, have sold over 100 million records, and their classic 80s music videos saw them win two Grammy awards in 1984.

Duran Duran are still in fine form in 2026, releasing their 50th single ‘Free To Love’ in partnership with funk legend Nile Rogers back in April. The single was a complete throw-back to the heyday of Top Of The Pops with its disco-inspired sound and music video, which frontman Simon Le Bon described as “disco for the 2020s.” It was BBC Radio 2’s Record of the Week in May, and the band were invited to perform it on US late-night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live. In the past few weeks, the group have shared official remixes of the track by Horse Meat Disco and DJ White Shadow.

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With three versions of ‘Free To Love’ now out, the band have elected to announce a run of five UK arena shows for this October, sandwiched between several European gigs. After opening in Oslo, they’ll visit Stockholm, Hamburg and Cologne. Next, it’s back to the UK for Glasgow, Belfast, Birmingham, Liverpool and Leeds, before wrapping the tour with shows in Brussels and Paris. Support on all UK shows comes from Margate group Pigeon, who Duran Duran promise will bring their “post-punk, afro disco groove”. The full dates for the UK are below:

OCTOBER:

• 15 – OVO Hydro, Glasgow
• 18 – SSE Arena, Belfast
• 20 – Utilita Arena, Birmingham
• 23 – M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool
• 24 – First Bank Arena, Leeds

The band are already due to tour Europe this summer, starting with shows in Denmark, The Netherlands and more in June, before their massive summer headline at BST Hyde Park in London on the 5th of July. So far, the main support for that show comes from Scissor Sisters, but there are more to be announced.

Tickets for the UK October dates go on an exclusive pre-sale to Duran Duran’s VIP members at 8am on Wednesday the 3rd of June, with general sale opening at 10am on Friday the 5th – more information is available here.

Aqua’s careers began in Copenhagen in 1995 when the Danish members – multi-instrumentalists Søren Rasted and Claus Norreen, along with vocalist René Dif, enlisted Norwegian singer Lene Nystrøm to form a group called Joyspeed. In 1996 after Joyspeed’s debut tanked, the band left their label and changed their name to Aqua, signing a bigger deal with Universal Music Denmark as well.

Their first two singles from 1997 debut album ‘Aquarium’, ‘Roses Are Red’ and ‘My Oh My’ were both Number Ones in Denmark, but third time was the charm when ‘Barbie Girl’ dropped. The Eurodance beats thumping behind Dif’s low rumbling vocals and Nystrøm’s saccharine, girly pop singing made the song an instant classic, both on the radio and in clubs. ‘Barbie Girl’ peaked at Number One in the UK, Ireland, Australia and Norway among others, selling 8 million units. Its follow-up ‘Doctor Jones’ brought the same sound and energy, and also topped charts in the UK, Europe and Australia.

The year 2000 saw Aqua release second album ‘Aquarius’ before Barbie toymakers Mattel engaged the band’s label in a high-profile lawsuit over ‘Barbie Girl’, claiming it damaged the brand’s reputation. The trial went in the band’s favour, but following worsening chart performances, the group split in 2001. They came back in 2007, released third album ‘Megalomania’ in 2011, split again in 2012, and reformed for the last time in 2016 minus Norreen. Their last big hurrah came with Greta Gerwig’s movie ‘Barbie’ in 2023 – while ‘Barbie Girl’ did not make the soundtrack (despite lead actress Margot Robbie’s insistence), a reimagined version named ‘Barbie World’ was produced for the score, which sampled Aqua’s classic with vocals by Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice.

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After 30 years in the industry, Aqua signed off for the last time this week. Their post from the 19th of May on Instagram reads “Dear everyone. After many incredible years, we have decided to close the chapter of AQUA as a live band. AQUA has been such a huge part of our lives, and together we’ve had the chance to experience more than we ever dared to dream of.” It’s closed with a message from the three final members of the group “From the bottom of our hearts: thank you to everyone who has been part of this journey over the past 30 years. Thank you for the love, the energy, the support, and for all the moments we’ve shared together. Nothing but love and gratitude from here on. Endless love – Lene, René & Søren.”

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How do you follow an album like ‘Brat’? The 2024 electropop LP was a commercial smash hit around the world, won three out of the nine Grammy Awards it was nominated for, and spawned its own cultural era with ‘Brat Summer’.

Well, Charli XCX decided to immortalise this period of her life in film, with the 2026 release of her movie ‘The Moment’, a mockumentary with her as lead star, telling a fictionalised tale of her life after the album and preparing for its massive world tour. ‘The Moment’ released in cinemas at the start of the year, around the same time as Emerald Fennell’s cinematic retelling of ‘Wuthering Heights’, which Charli XCX wrote the soundtrack for.

With her big screen break established, Charli has returned the focus to her career as a singer-songwriter. In an interview published by British Vogue in April, she made several allusions to a drastic change in style for her upcoming musical releases. Demoing a track backed by distorted guitars with a lyric “I think the dance floor is dead, so now we’re making rock music” led to rampant speculation that she would be reinventing herself as a full-blown rockstar. During the interview, Charli suggested whatever came next, it wouldn’t be like ‘Brat’, saying “If I’d made another album that felt more dance-leaning, it would have felt really hard, really sad. What’s interesting for me is to bend the possibilities of what my perspective on that could be.”

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For those who expected an immediate reinvention as a hard rock artist, you may be slightly disappointed – Charli took to social media last week with a behind-the-scenes studio clip and the playful caption “a video of me making a song called “rock music” that is not actually rock music which is funny because i never said i was making a rock album. love you xx”. The footage shows her at Rue Boyer Studios in Paris last October, working with frequent collaborators Finn Keane and A.G. Cook on the new track ‘Rock Music’.

While ‘Rock Music’, which released on the 8th of May, does feature the electric guitars and the chorus refrain “I think the dance floor is dead, so now we’re making rock music”, rock music it is not. The track centres around her trademark autotuned vocals and pop energy, but with a stomping rock beat and lyrics about headbanging. The single comes with a black-and-white music video supervised by ‘The Moment’ director Aidan Zamiri, showing Charli engaging in heavy music clichés like moshing and crowd-surfing, as well chaotic band scenes with cameos from Keane, Cook, and Charli’s husband and The 1975 drummer George Daniel.

‘Rock Music’ might not be her ‘Stairway To Heaven’, but it’s a lot of fun, and Charli XCX is clearly enjoying making music right now. You can stream the song now, with new music from her as-yet untitled seventh studio album expected later in the year.

Rodrigo is currently one of the biggest names in pop music at the age of just 23, with four US and UK number one singles, and both of her albums also topping charts here. Singles like her debut ‘Drivers License’, ‘Good 4 U’ and ‘Vampire’ were all incredibly popular, with ‘Drivers License’ winning a Grammy for Best Pop Solo Performance and ‘Good 4 U’ taking home the Brit Award for International Song of the Year in 2022. Her debut album ‘Sour’, released in 2021, is still Spotify’s most streamed album by a female artist.

With third album ‘you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love’ due for release in June, Rodrigo’s continued chart-dominance shows no sign of letting up – its lead single ‘Drop Dead’ released two weeks ago, shooting straight to UK Number One last week. In an interview with British Vogue back in March, she says the album draws inspiration from time spent living in London, is packed with “sad love songs”, and will be her “most experimental” release yet. NME report that it will contain a darker sound and influences from acts such as The Cure, New Order and Joy Division, as well as a potential feature from Geese frontman Cameron Winter.

The ‘Unraveled Tour’ was announced today, a blockbuster lap of North America and Europe which will see Olivia Rodrigo perform 65 dates over 9 months. Support varies between dates, with a cast consisting of Devon Again, Die Spitz, Grace Ives, The Last Dinner Party, and Wolf Alice. It kicks off this September in Hartford, Connecticut, travelling across the US and Canada before touching down in Stockholm next March for the European leg. Before it wraps, she’ll play four nights at the O2 Arena in London, with Grace Ives opening. In a post on Instagram, Rodrigo said “i am so so excited to announce The Unraveled Tour!!! I am counting down the days till I get to sing all of the songs from ‘you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love’ with u guys!!!”

The ‘Unraveled’ tour will run from the 25th of September this year to the 2nd of May 2027. Dates at the London O2 Arena are on the 5th, 6th, 8th and 9th of April next year. For full world dates, check Olivia Rodrigo’s website, and expect more songs from ‘you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love’ before it releases on Geffen Records on the 12th of June.

Prince Rogers Nelson, known by various names but chief among them, Prince, was an enigmatic artist. An unparalleled savant and polymath, he was regaled for playing numerous instruments with a natural flair, as well as his ability to write music in nearly any genre with ease. Since 1978, he released a staggering 39 albums across numerous projects, as well as 5 films including 1984 multimedia-sensation ‘Purple Rain’, which won him an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score. His accolades count 7 BRIT Awards, 11 Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe, and a 2004 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

His passing in 2016 due to an accidental fentanyl overdose, with no signs of foul play, shocked the world of music. Since his death however, Prince’s musical releases have not let up – his unrelenting genius yielded a vault of previously-unheard songs, albums and live footage, as well as fully produced music videos that have still yet to see the light of day. While some items have been leaked as raw bootleg versions, others like 2021’s ‘Welcome 2 America’ received a full studio release through NPG.

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Today, in memory of 10 years since Prince’s death, his estate have released ‘With This Tear’ as part of their annual ‘A Day 2 Reflect | A Night 2 Remember’ observation of his life. The track was recorded in November 1991 at his Paisley Park home studio in Minnesota. It was originally written, recorded and mixed by himself, but has been remixed and mastered by former collaborator Grammy-nominated producer and engineer Chris James, best known for his work with Frank Ocean and Janelle Monáe. Prince gave the song to singer Celine Dion, which appeared on her 1992 self-titled album as a non-single track.

The music video is an emotional tribute to the great man, opening with a short clip of him saying “when I was younger I always said that, one day, I was going to play all kinds of music, and not be judged for the colour of my skin, but the quality of my work. And hopefully that’ll continue.” Footage of his vast career plays behind the gentle ballad, a reminder of how storied his time on his planet was and the still-growing trove of material he has left behind.

‘With This Tear’ is out now on NPG Records in association with Sony’s Legacy Records. It comes ahead of ‘Prince Celebration, 10th Anniversary Celebration of Life’, a vigil which will see 5 days of gathering and remembrance in Prince’s home of Paisley Park in Minneapolis, including performances by his former backing groups New Power Generation and The Revolution. More unreleased recordings by Prince are due to make their emergence later this year in an as-yet unnamed album project.

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PinkPantheress, born Victoria Walker makes history as both the first woman and the youngest recipient of the award. She recognised the honour saying  My music production is the thing I’m proudest of, and I’ve worked really hard at it, so I hope this inspires others to pursue their passion.”

Previous winners include Calvin Harris, A.G Cook and Fred Again. Similarly to PinkPantheress’ early win, Mark Ronson and Noel Gallagher have also been honoured for Outstanding Contribution To Music and Songwriter Of The Year respectively.

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After beginning her career through Soundcloud, PinkPantheress found notoriety through TikTok in 2020. In April 2021, she was signed to Parlophone and by October the same year, she had released her debut mixtape ‘To Hell With It’. Singles like ‘Pain’ and ‘Break it Off’ catapulted PinkPantheress into stardom. PinkPantheress has also toured supporting Halsey and Olivia Rodrigo and headlined three tours of her own.

PinkPantheress has previously been awarded for her music production skills receiving Producer of The Year at Billboard’s Women in Music in 2024. After winning Producer of the Year, PinkPantheress is also up for two other awards come February 28th; Dance Act and Artist of the Year.

Her debut album, ‘Heaven Knows’ was released in November 2023, which saw her capture mainstream attention resulting in 3 Brit nominations including Song of the Year and Best New Artist. Its primary single ‘Boy’s A Liar Pt 2. reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100. Her second project ‘Fancy That’ garnered two Grammy nominations, MOBO and Mercury Prize nominations and reached number three on the UK Albums chart.

Following the release of this project, PinkPantheress released an extended mixtape named ‘Fancy Some More’ which featured artists like Seventeen, Kylie Minogue, Ravyn Lenae and most significantly Zara Larsson. ’Stateside’ by PinkPantheress featuring Zara Larsson peaked in the top 20 of the Billboard Global 200 and its video has garnered over 20 million views.

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The Brit awards this year also sees Olivia Dean and Lola Young be nominated five times each, both artists being rewarded earlier this year at the Grammy’s for Best New Artist and Best Pop Solo Performance respectively.

PinkPantheress has referenced Kate Nash, Imogen Heap and Lily Allen as her biggest influences. Lily Allen has also been nominated at this year’s awards with four nominations; including competing against PinkPantheress for Artist of the Year.

Catch the Brits, this Saturday February 28th.

The singer acknowledged that fans were reimbursed by Ticketmaster and given a voucher by the company. But she went on to further offer those 65 affected fans free tickets to any future Raye show, as well as a complimentary signed vinyl.

The entire post of Raye’s apology is below.

pic.twitter.com/3kB1eBAMHw

— RAYE (@raye) February 17, 2026

Fans have come out in vocal support of this gesture.

A post on X from a fan calls this an example of Raye being a ‘genuinely kind human’ and how admirable it was for the singer to post about situation publicly. Another fan simply says, ‘what a gesture.’

This gesture to the affected fans is indicative of the rich sense of community the singer fosters within her fanbase, something which was felt by her in 2021 prior to the artist parting ways with her record label, Polydor.

Raye was signed to Polydor in 2014 at just 17 years old. There for six years, she released a series of singles, features, and EPs. But in June 2021, she took to X, formerly Twitter, to say the label had been withholding her debut album. She claimed that the release of her debut was now contingent on the success of her single, ‘Call on Me’ and opened up to fans on how the pressure of this negatively affected her. This show of vulnerability pulled fans closer to her. She said in one of her final posts that June evening, her fans had ‘made [her] feel heard.’ Raye stepped away from the spotlight after this, taking a brief hiatus. Almost exactly a year later, in June 2022, she released her first single as an independent artist, ‘Hard Out Here.’

Fast-forward to 2025 and Raye has been launched to a global level of notoriety after the success of her independently released 2022 debut album, ‘My 21^st Century Blues’ and its viral third single, ‘Escapism.’ Throughout it all, she has retained the bravery and honesty which fans admire from her. In response to the incident at her Paris show this Sunday, one fan says, ‘the fact that an independent artist is apologizing and literally paying for [T]icketmaster’s mistakes out of her own pocket before that f**ka** company even says anything.. raye you are so special to all of us.’

Raye continues her tour at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester tonight. Full UK/IE dates for This May Contain New Music Tour can be found below.

Raye’s This May Contain New Music UK/IE Tour Dates

18/2 – Co-op Live – Manchester, UK

20/2 – OVO Hydro – Glasgow, UK

21/2 — OVO Hydro – Glasgow, UK

23/2 — bp pulse LIVE — Birmingham, UK

24/2 — bp pulse LIVE — Birmingham, UK

26/2 — The O2 — London, UK

27/2 — The O2 — London, UK

1/3 — The O2 — London, UK

2/3 — The O2 — London, UK

4/3 — 3Arena — Dublin, Ireland

5/3 — 3Arena — Dublin, Ireland

19/5 — The O2 — London, UK

20/5 — The O2 — London, UK

1/8 — Pride on the Park — Brighton, UK

29/8 — Reading Festival, Richfield Avenue — Reading, UK

30/8 — Leeds Festival, Bramham Park — Leeds, UK