The documentarian further elaborated, “Like the first six Louis Theroux Interviews, each show mixes stylish master interviews with behind-the-scenes moments and actuality shot on location, so viewers have the double pleasure of a thoughtful in-depth conversation alongside a revealing look into the lives of the contributors: in the locker room post-fight with Anthony Joshua, Raye’s dressing room before her Glastonbury set, Joan Collins’ house in the south of France. The tone of the shows is always open-minded and generous-hearted, while hopefully being funny, and always mindful of the need to keep viewers interested. I like them, and I’m notoriously hard to please.”

Try to remain calm! The BBC was so happy with the first run of the Louis Theroux Interviews that they decided to commission six more episodes featuring entirely new guests! @anthonyjoshua, @AshleyWalters82, @xychelsea, @Joancollinsdbe, @petedoherty and @raye. Please join me as I… pic.twitter.com/mxN9Eo4GFZ

— Louis Theroux (@louistheroux) September 20, 2023

The first series in Theroux’s acclaimed show featured interviews with leading British musical artists Stormzy, Rita Ora and Yungblud. All six episodes of the first series of Louis Theroux Interviews can currently be viewed on BBC iPlayer.

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Ora’s long-term manager, Sarah Stennett has spoken on the singer’s new career chapter, “Rita has always been an artist and creator of ‘Firsts’. She started releasing music in her teens and has released some of the biggest hits of the decade. Her deal with BMG marks a new chapter for Rita where she can deploy the confidence and knowledge of her artistry and audience in navigating the next phase of her career with her at the helm. I’m so proud of the past 10 years we have worked together and I’m so excited for people to hear the music she’s been creating.”

BMG has become known as the label which takes care of its artists, the label’s roster is a testament to their reputation. The company combines the services of a music publisher and record label to deliver the best possible care for their artists. A statement on their site describes their mission statement, “Our radical approach to an often old-fashioned – and sometimes unfair – the music industry has been to focus our efforts on looking at things from the artist and songwriter’s perspective.”

Based in Berlin the music company was founded in 2008 and grew rapidly throughout its thirteen-year history. Ora joins a roster full of music’s most successful artists including British Icon David Bowie, fellow pop star Kylie Minogue, Bruno Mars and two of Britain’s most loved bands Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath. The label has also been responsible for the resurrection of many artist’s careers, as seen in Minogue’s comeback in the early 00’s.

BMG VP A&R UK, Jamie Nelson has provided the following statement concerning their new client, “Rita Ora is an exciting and enduring multi-talented artist with the ability to connect across many different platforms. We’re excited to get cracking.”

BMG President Repertoire and Marketing UK, Alistair Norbury has also commented on the company’s signing of Ora, “We are delighted that Rita, one of the smartest artists operating today, has chosen BMG’s distinctive approach which puts the artist in the driving seat. Rita is unique among UK artists in the breadth of her activities, from music to TV, film and business, something normally only associated with US artists like Lady Gaga and Beyonce. We look forward to helping achieve her ambitious goals.”

No further news has been announced concerning the singer’s third studio album, however news began to circulate In 2019 that Ora had begun work in the studio. Ora last released new material on 12th February 2021 with the EP Bang, which saw Ora collaborate with DJ Kazakh and producer Imanbek, siring two singles. The first single “Big” was released on 12th February 2021 and reached number fifty-three within the UK charts, “Bang Bang” was released the same day and features use of sampling.

The ‘Hot Right Now‘ singer took to Instagram to announce the news to her fans.

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It was reported earlier in the year that Ora had been working with British DJ Sigala, and now the duo’s greatly anticipated single has been released. The track was co-written by Ora’s creative partner and best friend, Charli XCX. The pair previously worked together in 2015, when Charli XCX released an alternative mix of Ora’s single ‘Doing It’.

British producer and DJ, Sigala, otherwise known as Bruce Fielder, has spoken out about the track and credits his team to the single’s upcoming success. “I’m so excited to release this track with the incredible Rita Ora. This track was co-written by pop genius Charli XCX, it’s euphoric, it’s happy, and I’m hoping it’s a sign of things to come.”

Ora has also commented on the trio’s new track, the singer has also described the song’s purpose and atmospheric nature whilst expressing her excitement over its release. “It’s been amazing to work with Sigala and making new music. The track is such a feel-good summer tune, I can’t wait for you all to hear it.”

Sigala uploaded a lyric video for the trio’s new track via his YouTube channel today, check out the video below.

The new track marks Ora’s first release since ‘Bang’, released 12th February 2021. The track saw Ora collaborate with Imanbek, the Kazakh producer responsible for the 2019 remix of ‘Roses’ by Saint Jhn. The producer won a Grammy award for the track, the win made him the first artist from Kazakhstan to win the award and marked the first Grammy win for an artist from the Commonwealth of Independent States. Earlier in the year Ora confirmed that she is working on her third studio album and promised fans something different than she has done before.

In other news, Ora’s partner Taika Waititi has spoken out about the photo which surfaced showing him acting affectionally towards Ora and ‘Thor’ actress Tessa Thompson. The Oscar Winning director spoke with The Sydney Morning Herald concerning the photo. In the interview he was asked if the leaked photo upset him, to which he replied: “Not really, I think in the world of the internet, everything goes away pretty quick. And also, ‘is it that big a deal? No, not really. I was doing nothing wrong. It’s fine.” As the photo was published during production for the director’s new film ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’, the Bafta award winner was chastised. The Daily Telegraph previously reported that the heads at Marvel were not entirely happy with Waititi after the image went viral and stated that it was “not exactly the image they’re looking to project in relation to one of their biggest franchises”.

Fans will not have to wait long to hear the new track, Ora is set to play Cinch presents TRNSMT 2021, the artist is included in the line up for the festival’s rescheduled event due to COVID-19. Ora will perform on Sunday 11th July 2021 at Glasgow Green, along with headliners Lewis Capaldi and Snow Patrol. With the new track’s ‘Summer vibe’ qualities and playful electronic instrumentation, it is sure to be the perfect festival track this Summer.

Click here to stream ‘You For Me’

Click here to purchase tickets.

The track entitled ‘You For Me’ was written by the ‘I Love It’ singer prior but she did not intend to release it for herself as a solo artist. Charli XCX then collaborated with DJ Sigala on the track, the British electro-dance producer and DJ responsible for such hits as 2016’s single ‘Say You Do’ and the 2018 release ‘Feels Like Home’. The finished track includes Rita Ora’s vocals and will be released as a single.

This is not the first time in which the singers have worked together, Ora had released a reworked version of Charli XCX’s track ‘Doing It’ on 12th January 2015. The track was taken from her second studio album ‘Sucker’, released on 15th December 2014 and peaked within the charts at number eight. Same track was featured within a Pepsi advert for the brand’s ‘Out of the Blue’ musical campaign and section of the song is sung by Charli XCX. The musical pair also worked together in 2018, were they performed with Cardi B and Bebe Rexha on ‘Girls’- a song that is charged with female empowerment and serves as an anthem for liberation and power.

A source has spoken with the Daily Star Newspaper concerning the duo’s recent collaboration on the new track. “Charli co-wrote You For Me a few years ago but never planned on it being for herself. She and Rita are best mates so naturally she loves that she is going to do her thing on it.”

Rita Ora has also previously discussed with NME regarding her new music, the singer spoke on her excitement concerning her upcoming third album. Ora spoke on what fans can expect from the ‘R.I.P’ singer’s follow up to her second studio album, ‘Phoenix’ released 2018.

She explained “People have been coming to studio sessions from all over the world. I’ve been working on this now for the past two year on and off. I have plans for this third album to be something I’ve never done before and I really want to experiment and come face-to-face with a bit of a bit of a challenge. So there are writers I’ve never worked with before and live instrumentation.”

In more recent news, Ora took to Twitter to celebrate the second-anniversary of her track ‘Ritual’. The track which saw the singer team up with Tiësto and British songwriter and producer Jonas Blue was released on 31st May 2019.

Rita Ora UK Tour Dates

10/09-12/09/2021 – Cinch presents TRNSMT 2021 – Glasgow

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Last week Ora made a public apology to her fans after she celebrated her 30th birthday in a restaurant in central London with a guest list exceeding 30 people. At the time of Ora’s party, England was in a national lockdown with meetings and gatherings like this one were not allowed. Ironically if she had waited just 2 days there would have been no lockdown, however, her party would still not been allowed due to the government’s tier system and London being in the second of the three tiers.

Ora’s second breach of the lockdown rules actually comes just before her 30th birthday party and has only just come to light today (07/12/2020). So what happened? Ora performed a private show at Cairo’s W Hotel in Egypt on the 21st of November with a six-figure sum. Not much is known about the show and who was in attendance aside from rumors. Ora has said that she would “donate her fee from the concert to charity.”. Instead of self-isolating after her return from Egypt on the 22nd, the following day,  she attended her birthday party 8 days later on the 30th.

In a recent statement Ora said “Upon my return to Britain, I should have followed government advice and isolated myself for the required period. As you know, I didn’t follow government advice and for that I apologised earlier this week. I apologise again, unreservedly.”. Her previous statement read “I’m deeply sorry for breaking the rules and in turn understand that this puts people at risk. This was a serious and inexcusable error of judgment.”  

Thank you sooo much to all of you!!
I would not be the person I am today without your unconditional love and support!! Thank you to my fans for riding this journey with me and your beautiful messages, I can’t wait to see you all again!!! https://t.co/acrMuRJUv2

— Rita Ora (@RitaOra) November 29, 2020

The UK went into a nationwide lockdown near the end of March this year (2020), as we left the lockdown we entered a three-tier system, after a second wave we entered a month-long lockdown in early November. Regardless of whether we were in a lockdown or the tier system gatherings over the number 6 (with an exception for funerals) went against the regulations and rules of the lockdowns and tier system. Those who get caught breaking the rules can be fined up to £10,000. It is unknown if Ora has paid any such fines but has promised to donate the payment from the private show to charity.

Current guidelines in England state that hospitality venues should only open for delivery and takeaway services, and people are prohibited from mixing either indoors our outside in groups exceeding six. London will only leave current lockdown restrictions on December 2nd, at which point it will still be subject to Tier 2 restrictions – under which restaurants will still not be permitted to open.

Ora’s party would also have been in contravention of current Covid-19 guidelines in all other parts of the UK: in Wales, the size of groups meeting in hospitality venues is limited to four people – unless they are from a single household – with stricter regulations coming into force this Friday. The so-called ‘rule of six’ – from up to two households – also applies in Scotland; whilst pubs and restaurants remain closed in Northern Ireland (other than for takeaway and delivery services).

Addressing fans on her Instagram account, the I Will Never Let You Down singer said “Hello all, I attended a small gathering with some friends to celebrate my 30th birthday. It was a spur of the moment decision made with the misguided view that we were coming out of lockdown and this would be OK. I’m deeply sorry for breaking the rules and in turn understand that this puts people at risk. This was a serious and inexcusable error of judgment. Given the restrictions, I realise how irresponsible these actions were and I take full responsibility.”

Following the Notting Hill debacle, Ora also took to Twitter to thank fans for their steadfast backing over a rocky few days. The singer, who was this year recognised in the Spotify Awards as the Most-Streamed EDM Female Artist, posted a video of fan tributes – including from her most longstanding supporters, parents Vera and Besnik Ora.

Whilst Ora may not be feeling so hot right now, the West London songstress is not the first artist reported to have fallen foul of lockdown rules. The Daily Mirror reported that publicity-shy rapper and recent wildcard Presidential candidate Kanye West was suspected of having breached lockdown rules by attending events in London with his daughter North West last month; while drill merchant M24 defied public health restrictions by hosting a mass gathering for a Brixton-set music video in April.

Other artists have also attracted understandable ire for their approach to public health measures during the virus. Scottish vocalist Lewis Capaldi was criticised for playing a concert to 11,000 spectators in Aberdeen  just hours before Scottish lockdown rules came into force in March, with the NME reporting that the singer addressed the crowd by saying “we’ve all probably got coronavirus” during the gig. The Stereophonics were also criticised for playing a sold-out show at Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena in the same week.

A vocal minority of British musicians have also been particularly flagrant in their disregard for the public health measures designed to stop the spread of the virus. The likes of Stone Roses frontman Ian Brown, fellow 1990s contrarian Noel Gallagher, legendary Northern Irish rock crooner Van Morrison and Italian singer Andrea Bocelli have all frustrated loyal fans with their vocal support for debunked conspiracy theories downplaying the impact of Covid-19. The NME lambasted Brown in particular for embracing ‘red pill rock‘ (aka ‘the dumbest protest genre ever’) in his critically-derided anti-lockdown track Little Seed Big Tree.

On my birthday I’m so happy to share my cover and shoot for @NumeroMagazine!! You’ve got this for now but stay tuned as I’ll probably be posting a hell lot more since it’s my birthday bitches!!! Thank u to the amazing team that put this whole shoot together pic.twitter.com/iKsfyDWRvO

— Rita Ora (@RitaOra) November 26, 2020

Despite having a successful music and television career, Ora has said that there is a long way still to go before women see equality in life. “We as women are fighting every day to have equal pay, to have an equal voice, to be able to not be judged, to express our femininity in a way where it doesn’t undermine our power. Those are things that we fight for every day. Gender equality is something that I stand for. I’m very passionate about it.”

Ora has said that she is very fortunate that her career is strong and stable enough to carry on, saying, “For me, the defining moment is sustaining my career. Being able to still sit here today, take incredible photos, be able to talk about my career 10 years on.” Still facing adversity, Ora takes solace and pleasure knowing that she’s still continuing despite the unfair nature of the industry based solely on her gender. Ora has been open about her fight for equal rights across all discrimination from racism to homophobia.  

 

 

 

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Earlier in the year (August 2020) Ora, alongside other musicians of the likes of Little Mix, Lewis Capaldi, and Nile Rogers, wrote an open letter for a call to end racism in the music industry. “We are at our worst when we attack one another,” was among the statements on the letter. It came after Grime artist Wiley’s anti-Sematic posts on social media. The letter went on to say “that love, unity and friendship, not division and hatred, must and will always be our common cause”. 

Ora has had a very successful career. Starting by featuring on DJ Fresh’s single ‘Hot Right Now’ (which reached number 1 in the UK), she later went on to release her debut album ‘Ora’ later that year (August 2012) which also reached number 1 in the UK. As well as music Ora has also seen a successful acting career, starring in movies like 50 Shades Of Grey and Detective Pikachu. Earlier this year (2020) Ora alongside Lewis Capaldi released a single ‘How To Be Lonely’

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Discrimination in any workplace is wrong, people need to speak out against it and Ora’s strong presence and stance on women’s rights is getting recognition. Hopefully, we can start to see a change for the better where we can be in an industry and a society with equal rights for everyone.

Fans are speculating that Dixie D’Amelio could be a possible feature on the new release because Apple Music credits her as a contributor under their search engine. However, this surprise has yet to be confirmed by Payne.

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A post shared by Liam Payne (@liampayne) on Oct 27, 2020 at 8:13am PDT

The release of Naughty List is set to drop this Friday, the day before Payne’s livestream concert ‘The Halloween Special’ is set to air. Tickets for the livestream event are on sale today and will be Act 3 of Payne’s YouTube series ‘The LP Show’.

In December of 2019 Payne released his first debut album as a solo-artist, LP1, which did not receive critical praise. However, off this album Payne released his first Christmas song called All I Want (For Christmas) which joined Strip That Down and Bedroom Floor as successful tracks amongst an unsuccessful album.

Following the release of LP1, Payne collaborated with Alesso on the 6 track EP Midnight, which did see critical acclaim for the 27-year-old artist in 2020. The title track Midnight was released with its accompanying music video in April and rose in the UK charts for the summer season.

 

 

 

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Thanks to everyone that has listened to #Midnight, 50 million plays on @spotify is really something. Special thanks to @alesso for inviting me onto this track with him

Payne’s short solo-career, follow the indefinite hiatus of One Direction back in 2016, saw peak success with the song Strip That Down which held the number 3 seat in the UK Charts in 2017. On this hit track Payne worked with Ed Sheeran who is credited as a cowriter. Sheeran is among big names such as Rita Ora, Zedd, Pharrell Williams and more who Payne has worked with during his solo-stint.

As well as being known as a renowned songwriter, having written over half the songs on the 3rd and 4th One Direction albums, he also works as a producer under the moniker Payno. Payne sits as a director for One Made Productions Limited which has most notably produced the alt-band 5 Seconds of Summer.

Payne has been unable to plan a tour for his first debut album due to safety concerns surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic, but as found success performing livestream events for The LP Show. Naughty List will be available this Friday, tickets are online for his upcoming livestream show ‘Halloween Special’ and his album LP1, as well as the EP Midnight, are available on all streaming platforms.

Coldplay, Dua Lipa, and Rita Ora are the leading names of the artists who will join forces in making this star-studded single. Meanwhile, other musicians who will appear in the song include 5 Seconds of Summer, AJ Tracey, Anne-Marie, Bastille, Biffy Clyro, Celeste, Dermot Kennedy, Ellie Goulding, Grace Carter, Hailee Steinfeld, Jess Glynn, Mabel, Paloma Faith, Rag’n’Bone Man, Royal Blood, Sam Fender, Sean Pual, Sigrid, Yungblud, and Zara Larsson.

This upcoming cover of “Times Like These” is a part of The Stay Home Live Lounge hosted by Radio 1. Grammy award-winning producer Fraser T. Smith is in charge of the production, which he promised to use pots, pans and acoustic guitars as “the trickery of an expensive recording studio”. In addition, the music video will be filmed at the homes of all artists involved.

Watch the preview from the post below.

ดูโพสต์นี้บน Instagram

We’ve brought together some of your favourite artists for a very special #StayHomeLiveLounge cover of ‘Times Like These’ by Foo Fighters, produced by Fraser T. Smith Listen this Thursday at 12pm on Radio 1 and see the video that evening as part of The Big Night In on @bbcone

โพสต์ที่แชร์โดย BBC Radio 1 (@bbcradio1) เมื่อ เม.ย. 20, 2020 เวลา 4:00am PDT

Entire profits earned from the single will be gathered up with those raised from BBC’s The Big Night In, and all will be split and sent to BBC Children In Need and Comic Relief to support those affected by the outbreak of COVID-19. In the meantime, money raised from any international platforms will support the WHO’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.

Tune in on April 23 for the premier of the “Times Like These” cover. The track will be on air throughout many radio stations, Radio 1, Radio 2, 1Xtra, 6Music and Asian Network.

BBC Radio 1:
Launching the biggest ever Live Lounge, with stars collaborating a cover of Foo Fighters’ “Times Like These”

Featuring: Dua Lipa / Chris Martin / Bastille / Ellie Goulding / Sam Fender / YUNGBLUD / Anne-Marie / Mabel / Royal Blood / 5SOS / Zara Larsson and more.

— Scott Bryan (@scottygb) April 20, 2020

“Times Like These” is a song from Foo Fighters’ 2002 record ‘One by One‘. The song is about frontman Dave Grohl’s yearning for an old good time when in the band after he and his mates taking a hiatus. It is no wonder why it is picked up to be a song for the cover, as it reminds us of a good time when we could go out and hang out with friends and family. While waiting for the cover to come, let’s hear the original and have fun again.

#TRNSMT2020 pic.twitter.com/mrtlqoKzHI

— TRNSMT Festival (@TRNSMTfest) March 19, 2020

“TRNSMT is still scheduled to go ahead as planned and we look forward to welcoming everyone to the event in 16 weeks. The health and safety of festival goers, staff and the surrounding community is our main priority and we are constantly monitoring the situation in accordance with advice from the World Health Organisation, Health Protection Scotland, UK and Scottish Government and local public health authorities. Love, TRNSMT x“

Currently, every corner of the world is undergoing such difficult time because of the outbreak of coronavirus. Apart from economy and politics, music industry has been equally affected by the pandemic. Numerous artists who planned to drop new music and musical events around the world have announced their postponement and cancellation in order to prevent the spread.

Glastonbury, for example, is one of the major music festivals that had to call off this year. In the long list of already cancelled events appear The Great Escape Festival, Download, Isle of Wight, Snowbombing, and even Eurovision, not to mention a plethora of concerts by many artists.

Amidst such tragedy and chaos in the music scene, TRNSMT decided to persevere in holding its third festival this year. Taking place in 16 weeks, the festival confirmed to kick off from July 10 to 12 in Glasgow Green, the huge park in the east end of the city.

The Courteeners are booked to headline the festival at the main stage on the first day, supported by Ian Brown, Sam Fender, and Blossoms. Meanwhile, the ex-Oasis Liam Gallagher will perform on the main stage as a headlining act on the second day, with Foals, Keane, and Vistas. Scottish sensation Lewis Capaldi will end the festival as the headline on the last day, joined by Rita Ora, Snow Patrol, and Dermot Kennedy. Check out the complete line-up here.

TRNSMT first happened in 2017 in Glasgow, Scotland. With about 120,000 attendees, the festival was crowned “Best New Festival” in December 2017 from the UK Festival Awards in London.

In 2019, the festival faced a backlash for its gender-unbalanced line-up, with only 20% of the performers being female. However, in spite of the aspiration to achieve 50-50 gender-balanced line-up, TRNSMT’s director Geoff Ellis said “it will be a while” because “there’s far, far less female artists”. Read the full story here.

Since the festival has determined to go on, those who wish to attend can get tickets from its official site. Standard tickets for Sunday 12th are now sold out.