Already set to commence in North America in April, the highly anticipated tour will see two of music’s biggest names take the stage across the UK and Europe in July and August. Hosted by Live Nation, pgLang and Top Dawg Entertainment, the ‘Grand National’ tour will see the pair take over 13 stadiums across the UK and Europe, including shows in Glasgow, Birmingham, Cardiff and London. Fans can expect to witness worthwhile shows including the pair’s most notable tracks, fan favourites and their much-loved collaborations.

NEW SHOW Kendrick Lamar and SZA announce their co-headline Grand National Tour, coming to stadiums across the UK in July.

Tickets on sale this Friday at 9:00. pic.twitter.com/rUyANyd1t2

— ticketmasteruk (@TicketmasterUK) February 10, 2025

Lamar, who is nominated for ‘International Artist of the Year’ at this year’s BRIT awards, will return to the UK for the first time following his ‘The Big Steppers’ tour in 2022, whereas SZA last performed a headline slot at both Glastonbury and Hyde Park’s British Summer Time last year.

With a sonic relationship that spans over a decade, Lamar and SZA have collaborated seven times over the years, the first being in 2014 on SZA’s debut EP ‘Z’ with ‘Babylon’, which has garnered over 40 million streams on Spotify. Since then, the pair have brought enticing chemistry through seamless vocal delivery, perfectly conducted melodies and an extra layer of camaraderie to each of their collaborations. Most notably, their biggest hit featured in the 2018 Black Panther score, ‘All The Stars’, peaked at number 5 on the UK Official Singles Chart and has since gained almost 2 billion streams on Spotify. Most recently, SZA featured twice on Lamar’s newest number 1 album, ‘GNX’ on ‘luther’ and ‘gloria’.  It is evident, their collaborations are loved by fans, as much as the artists themselves, making the ‘Grand National’ tour a must-see for Lamar and SZA fans alike.

The announcement of the forthcoming tour followed the pair’s performance at this year’s Superbowl, where the hip-hop and alt-R&B artists performed a live debut of ‘luther’ before an effortless transition into much-loved favourite, ‘All The Stars’. As the pair continuously prove themselves as perfect collaborators, their ‘Grand National’ tour is in safe hands if their Superbowl performance is anything to go by! There is no doubt that tickets will high demand for this iconic tour of the summer.

@nfl #KendrickLamar and #SZA are the moment #NFL #AppleMusicHalftime @Apple Music @Roc Nation ♬ original sound – NFL

There will be various fan pre-sales taking place between Wednesday 12 February and Thursday 13 February, before general sale kicks off on Friday 14 February at 9am local time. Tickets can be accessed here.

1. Ed Sheeran – ‘Mathematics Tour Collection’

Sheeran does it again, releasing a collection of his biggest hits included in the set list of his record-breaking ‘Mathematics’ Tour which will resume this January in Asia and make its way back to Europe in the summer. The album debuted at number five and has spent 14 weeks in the UK top ten, peaking at number one for the first time this week. It marks Sheeran’s eight album to achieve this milestone, fourteen years after ‘+‘ had first reached the position.

2. Sabrina Carpenter – ‘Short n Sweet‘

We’re now used to seeing Carpenter dominating charts after she created new records with the singles off ‘Short n Sweet‘, which have altogether spent more than twenty weeks at number one. ‘Short n Sweet‘, released last August, has spent nineteen weeks charting and has never left the top three! It debuted at number one, where it spent two non-consecutive weeks. It is Carpenter’s first album to achieve the UK top ten and her sixth studio album overall.

3. SZA – ‘SOS‘

SZA’s highly anticipated second studio album, ‘SOS‘ was released in December 2022 and debuted at number two. It has spent 108 weeks in the top 100, recently making a big comeback in the top 10 thanks to the deluxe version ‘Lana‘ being released. It’s a big accomplishment for a second album, considering her debut ‘CTRL‘ had only peaked 45, and ‘SOS‘ will perhaps climb to number one once the physical copies of the deluxe are released: it will make the artist’s first ever number one album.

4. Chappell Roan – ‘The Rise and Fall of a Midwestern Princess‘

The album spends another 29th week in the UK top ten, charting for an overall of 38. It previously peaked at number one, and it’s Chappell Roan’s first album to do so as well as her first ever album to chart in the UK. The album was originally released in September of 2023, and Official Charts included the artist as one of those whose slow-burn career turned out to be worth it in 2024.

5. Charli xcx – ‘BRAT‘

Another slow-burn career, and the artists behind mxdwn UK’s best song of 2024. ‘BRAT’ debuted at number two and it took the album a good while to achieve the number one position but it eventually did. It has spent an overall of 30 weeks in the top 100 since its debut back in June of last year. It is the artist’s second number one album and her longest charting yet.

6. Elton John – ‘Diamonds‘

The collection of hits has spent 373 weeks in the top 100 since its debut in 2017, peaking at number two in 2023 for two consecutive weeks. British legend Elton John currently has eight albums peaking at number one, and, including ‘Diamonds‘, he has so far spent 1433 weeks charting in the UK top 100.

7. Billie Eilish - ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft‘

The album first appeared on charts in May 2024, with a strong debut at number one. Ever since, it has spent 25 weeks in the top ten and 33 in the top 100. It is Eilish’s third album to peak at number one, her first was back in 2019 when the artist was only 17 and broke the record for the youngest female artist in UK history to achieve a number one album.

8. The Weeknd – ‘The Highlights‘

Another collection album, which has spent 204 weeks charting and has peaked at number two, spending there many non-consecutive weeks. It is the artist’s sixth album to reach the UK top ten, three of which have achieved the number one position.

9. Taylor Swift – ‘The Tortured Poets Department’

Swift’s twelfth album to peak at number one and the biggest album of 2024 in the UK. It has spent 37 weeks on charts, ten of which at number one, since its release in April of last year.

10. Fleetwood Mac – ‘Fifty Years – Don’t Stop’

Peaking at number 5 and spending 320 weeks charting, it is the band’s 13th album to reach the UK top ten. It was released to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the band’s creation and includes their biggest hits, including UK number one ‘Albatross’.

Her debut performance at Glastonbury soon gained publicity after its occurrence due to photos and videos surfacing online depicting SZA performing to a sparse crowd, due to the festival’s scheduling conflicts with having James Blake, Justice, London Grammar and The National performing at the same time but at opposing stages. This came as a shock to many as the day prior SZA headlined a show at BST Hyde Park in London to an energetic and overflowing crowd.

Glastonbury is facing criticism for choosing SZA as a headliner after her set pulled in a smaller than average number of people for the Pyramid Stage.

While SZA would be a no brainer for a headlining act in the U.S., some Brits claimed that she’s not as well-known there.… pic.twitter.com/javBMzzrvV

— Mr. Pop (@MrPopOfficial) July 1, 2024

Solána Imani Rowe, known professionally as SZA, is an American singer-songwriter with over 65 million monthly Spotify listeners to her name.  She gained acclaim through the release of her second and third albums, respectively ‘Ctrl’ and ‘SOS’, which displayed her carefully conducted experimentation with alternative and minimalist R&B which delved into themes of sexuality and nostalgia. ‘SOS’ peaked at Number 2 on the UK Official Albums Chart, featuring the iconic tracks ‘Kill Bill’, ‘Snooze’, ‘Good Days’ and ‘Nobody Gets Me’.

The ‘Supermodel’ performer provided hindsight to her appearance at Glastonbury this summer. She revealed to British Vogue: “I just felt like nothing I could do would be enough for Glastonbury, no matter what I did”.

She continued: “It scared me. I was like, well, I wish I wasn’t doing it, but I couldn’t walk away from it… I want to be the second Black woman in history, but then it’s such a fucking tall order. It’s like, no matter what you do here, you will be subject to criticism. Because of who you are. But that’s life. That’s life, you know?”

SZA’s confession about the pressures artists face at festivals is telling. There is truth about no matter what artists deliver, the spectacle will always leave fans, spectators and critics demanding more. As musicians are stretched to their limits to provide exclusive and captivating sets during festival season, it can often leave a mental strain on artists when they feel like they aren’t doing enough as performers.

The ‘Saturn’ singer expanded on external pressures at Glastonbury and her attempts at finding solace during performances with attendees in the crowd. She recalled: “I’m like, I’m freaked out right now. I’m scared. I feel like I’m drowning on stage and I feel like I’m failing”. However, SZA’s discomfort on stage was minimised when she claimed she received a sign from African Goddess, Yemayá, which acted as a reminder that “your guardians are with you. Everyone’s here. Even beyond. Keep going.”

As Glastonbury’s 2025 tickets went on sale this weekend, SZA’s remarks about the festival provide a telling reality to critics, fans and attendees who await next year’s legendary performances from an array of musicians.

]]> https://www.mxdwn.co.uk/news/sza-reveals-she-was-freaked-out-and-scared-during-glastonbury-headline-set/feed/ 0 https://www.mxdwn.co.uk/news/glastonbury-announce-full-2024-line-up-and-set-times/ https://www.mxdwn.co.uk/news/glastonbury-announce-full-2024-line-up-and-set-times/#comments Tue, 04 Jun 2024 15:22:00 +0000 http://www.mxdwn.co.uk/?p=100672 Glastonbury festival has finally announced its full line-up for the 2024 edition of the historic festival. The festival will begin in just a few weeks running from the 26th to the 30th June 2024 and will see headline sets from Dua Lipa, making a first appearance at Glastonbury since 2017, Coldplay who are returning to headline the pyramid stage for the fifth time, and SZA, who is making her first ever appearance at the Somerset festival headlining the last day after Madonna fell through as a headliner and Bruce Springsteen being rumoured to take the final set of the Pyramid stage. The festival has been announcing set times for individual stages over recent weeks and has now confirmed the full line-up for all the stages with set times so Festival goers can fully plan out their weekend of music.

The full line-up for Glastonbury 2024 is here – with set times! Head to https://t.co/LV4LrFYHHl to see it.

Plus our official app launches this week!

Artwork by @StanleyDonwood pic.twitter.com/riEsu0gnY5

— Glastonbury Festival (@glastonbury) June 4, 2024

This year’s edition of Glastonbury will see a new stage introduced that is dedicated to south Asian talent called Arrivals, which will be part of the late-night Shangri-La area and has also been designed by a group of South Asian organisations.

We will also see a new design of Arcadia, which is called the dragonfly. The dragonfly will explore ideas around preventing climate change as well as being ‘a unifying symbol’. This new edition of Arcadia will see Dance music royalty, Fatboy Slim, opening the stage on Friday. As well as Scotland’s very own Barry Can’t Swim taking the stage on Saturday, followed by a big Sunday night for drum and bass heads, where Hedex will go back-to-back with Bou followed by Andy C closing the stage for the weekend.

Squeeze will open the Pyramid stage on Friday at noon led by the legendary song writing duo of Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook. LCD Soundsystem, Little Simz and Burna Boy are among the other acts playing on the main stage.

The Other stage sees drill rapper Headie one perform on Friday followed by Bristol’s own, IDLES closing the first day. Mike Skinner’s, the Streets play the penultimate set on Saturday with Soft Play returning to Glastonbury under their new name ahead of their upcoming album, Heavy Jelly, which is set to be released next month.

Fontaines D.C. will headline The Park Stage in the Friday night as they follow straight after King Krule. South Korean dance titan, Peggy Gou, headlines the stage on the Saturday, with post-punk outfit, Psychadelic Porn Crumpets playing on Sunday and London Grammar will be playing the closing set for the stage.

Legends Haircut 100 will turn out at Avalon stage on the Friday with reggae metal band Skindred Playing the Headline set on the first day. Indie rock outfit Flyte will also play on Avalon on Saturday. Billy Bragg headlines Left Field on Friday and Punk rap duo, Bob Vylan close out the stage on the Saturday, so expect political themes to be at the centre of these performances.

See the full line-up and set times here.

This year seems to have been one of the most competitive years in terms of tickets with the festival’s organiser Emily Eavis saying that 2024 had the “highest percentage of ticket balances paid ever!” since payment plans were introduced, leaving less tickets for the final resale which happened on 21st April.

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Emily Eavis (@emily_eavis)

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.

Sealing last year’s number one spot was none other than Miley Cyrus with her smash hit “Flowers”, which spent an incredible 10 weeks at the top of the Official UK Singles chart. “Flowers” was the lead single from Cyrus’ eighth studio-album Endless Summer Vacation, and went on to accumulate 198 million combined audio and video streams in the UK in 2023, making it the most-streamed song of the year. The 31-year-old’s single also went on to be the most-downloaded song of the year, with 91,000 UK downloads.

Joining Miley in a 10-week long reign at the number one spot were British rappers Dave and Central Cee with their single “Sprinter”. The track was a smash hit as it broke UK chart records as it clinched the biggest streaming week for any rap song in Official Chart history, and also claimed the title of the longest-running rap Number 1 in the UK. Since its release, the team duo have racked up 161 million UK audio and video streams, landing them the number two spot on the top songs of 2023.

The track claiming the number three spot in this list was originally the first Official Number One Single of 2023. When RAYE and 070 Shake’s track “Escapism” soared to number one, RAYE told Official Charts: “We are Number 1 in the UK! It’s the first Number 1 of the year, it’s my first Number 1 in my life. I’m an independent artist, this is sickening! This is proof you should back yourself, no matter what. Thank you, this is mad. These are happy tears!” 

Completing 2023’s top five was Taylor Swift’s resilient 2022 hit “Anti-Hero”, and collaboration trance track “Miracle” from Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding. Celebrating the success of the latter, Goulding told Official Charts: “This is just very cool. Thank you very much to everyone for listening to it and supporting it, Oontz, oontz…rave on!” 

The Official top 10 songs of 2023:

1. “Flowers” – Miley Cyrus
2. “Sprinter” – Dave & Central Cee
3. “Escapism” – RAYE feat. 070 Shake
4. “Anti-Hero” – Taylor Swift
5. “Miracle” – Calvin Harris & Ellie Goulding
6. “Calm Down” – Rema
7. “Kill Bill” – SZA
8. “Boy’s A Liar” – PinkPantheress
9. “As It Was” – Harry Styles
10. “People” Libianca

That’s a wrap on 2022, magical weekend #GopuffxWireless pic.twitter.com/wvYHH4PctL

— Wireless Festival (@WirelessFest) July 11, 2022

While I’m definitely not an event organiser, I imagine that – while you may try your best to account for everything – sometimes… things are out of your control. The weather for example, and thus how punters end up reacting to it. The UK are currently dead centre of a pretty significant heatwave, 30+C degree temperatures and give or take 50,000 people in the same place will always bring problems. On Sunday afternoon, the police were called to control crowds after many were reported to jump the park’s fences in order to avoid being trampled. It’s unknown as to whether those that jumped the fence had tickets… but it just makes sense. The Met issued a statement consoling fans by saying ‘As a result of this, security staff put in place a brief hold on people being admitted to the event to ensure the safe flow of people into the site. This caused a large crowd to form in the area around the site.’.

This wasn’t the only bad news, many artists like Burna Boy, Lil Durk, JI and Ruger all announced on very short notice that they wouldn’t be arriving. This, in conjunction with the 40-minute late start of headliner Nicki Minaj left a bit of a bad taste in many fans’ mouths after what was a particularly successful festival in the first 2 days.

Now, that’s all the bad news out of the way. The rest of the girlpower-centric festival was primarily considered to be a massive success. Day 1 headliner Cardi B highlighted the power couple dynamic by bringing out Offset for a brief Migos interlude: “Bad and Boujee”, “Coult”, and “Ric Flair Drip” all made an appearance – then it just seems right for Megan Thee Stallion to also arrive for the bombshell of a track that is ‘WAP’. Visibly Pregnant Summer Walker owned her time in the spotlight and even brought out Bree Runway for “Hot Hot”, and SZA proved she had what it takes to headline a festival with a seamless slot.

All in all, festivals will always come with their negatives. This one is very much proof that the circuit is back into full swing after a few years of doubt.

Per the New York Times, British-Liberian artist Lina Iris Viktor was previously contacted by representatives from Marvel about the possibility of using her work in both November 2017 and December 2017,  with the artist declining on both occasions.

However, it is not being claimed that images that starkly resemble some work from Viktor’s ‘Constellations‘ series, which can be compared to the image seen in the video at 2:59, seen above. NME now claims that Viktor’s lawyer Christopher Robinson has made contact with TDE’s CEO Anthony Tiffith, who produced the album that the song came from.

“It’s an ethical issue, because what the whole film purports is that it’s about black empowerment, African excellence—that’s the whole concept of the story”, Robinson told the New York Times.

“And at the same time they’re stealing from African artists.”

Lamar has recently embarked on a series of massive UK shows in support of his last full length LP DAMN., and performed the first of two dates at London’s O2 Arena last night.

NME reports that the track is part of a wider project, with Lamar linking up with Black Panther director Ryan Coogler to curate, write, and produce unique music to the film. Kendrick will also be assisted by Anthony ‘Top Dawg’ Tiffin, the head of the rapper’s label.

A press release on the matter states that the two “will collaborate with Coogler directly in the creation of music specific to the needs of the film.”

Not only is this Kendrick’s first film project, but also marks the distinguished occasion of this being Marvel Studios’ first time utilising multiple original recordings created specifically for a film.

Fans have been anticipating such an announcement since the release of the video to Kendrick’s track ‘LOVE.’ back in December. A slate in the video= which you can see below- read ‘B. Panter Soundtrack Coming Soon.’

Both Lamar and Coogler have issued statements in regards to Kung-Fu Kenny’s involvement.

Coogler, who has previously directed Creed and the oustanding Fruitvale Station, said “I am honoured to be working with such an incredible artist whose work has been so inspirational, and whose artistic themes align with those we explore in the film. I can’t wait for the world to hear what Kendrick and [Top Dawg Entertainment] have in store.”

Kendrick adds to these sentiments, stating “Marvel Studios’ Black Panther is amazing, from its cast to its director. The magnitude of this film showcases a great marriage of art and culture. I’m truly honoured to contribute my knowledge of producing sound and writing music alongside Ryan and Marvel’s vision.”

Photo credit: Sharon Alagna

Suspicions about Ronson and Parker collaborating have been running rampant since they premiered a new song featuring SZA during a DJ set at New York’s Governors Ball Festival.

After the new track sent fans into a frenzy, SZA herself has confirmed the project to the Los Angeles Times, and also took the time to discuss her musical influences.

“People grapple with labelling me as hip-hop, R&B or pop, and it’s interesting to me,”she mused. “I’m just making music. I listen to Stevie Nicks. I love classical jazz. I love folk. I love rap. I love Modest Mouse.

“I’m making an album with Tame Impala and Mark Ronson. When you try to label it, you remove the option for it to be limitless. It diminishes the music.”

The potential project with Ronson and Parker could be the California songstress’ second album in as many years, having released her debut full-length album Ctrl earlier this year, to much acclaim.

Ronson and Parker meanwhile, have been DJ’ing together at several festivals over summer, as working together on Ronson’s tracks ‘Daffodils’, and ‘Summer Breaking’. The pair also produced Lady Gaga’s popular single ‘Perfect Illusion’. Ronson also produced Queens of the Stone Age’s latest LP Villains.