Posting a video on Instagram, he said that he’s been feeling an odd sensation since having his pacemaker fitted, asking his followers if they had any advice or knew anyone with the same experience.

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He said, “I’m in the hospital tomorrow for another check-up because I’ve been getting this flicking feeling in the left side of my chest. I’m actually getting it right now.” Reaching out to his fans, he asked “I was wondering if you guys knew what it might be or if you’ve experienced it yourself because the doctors aren’t too sure.”

Last month, the singer revealed that he’d been hospitalised after some tests found that he had issues with his heart. He sought help after feeling “really unwell”, and it was later confirmed that he’d need surgery for a heart condition. Later, he gave an update, explaining that he had a “2:1 block” in his heart – an issue with that makes it beat slower or more irregularly than it should.

He then underwent surgery to have a pacemaker fitted and was discharged from hospital on Christmas Day. He later shared an image after surgery, showing that his pacemaker was placed beneath a tattoo the reads ’04.08.1988’ – the birthdate of his former bandmate Tom Parker, who passed away in 2022 after battling brain cancer.

 

 

 

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In his first public appearance since having his pacemaker fitted, he was seen out yesterday, January 2, on a winter walk with his mother and his dog. After being discharged from hospital at Christmas, George spent most of his time at home with his girlfriend, actress Maisie Smith, before travelling to his mother’s home in Salford.

Recently in an interview with Lorraine, Max and his Wanted bandmate Siva Kaneswaran revealed plans for a music comeback as a duo, branding themselves “The Wanted 2.0”. The Wanted were originally a five piece, before taking a hiatus in 2014. The British-Irish boyband reunited for new releases and performances, before the passing of Tom Parker.

Speaking of the other bandmates, George said, “We had lots of conversations with the other boys and each other. The other boys are so happy doing what they’re doing and they’re really focussed on their lives and their careers. Me and Siva were just constantly like we want to get out there and continue the legacy of the band.” Kaneswaran added, “We missed being in the band… We really wanted to get back on stage.”

They also expressed that their comeback would honour their late bandmate Tom, saying they want to “have him with us the whole way”. The Wanted 2.0 have their first concert scheduled at Manchester Cathedral on Feb 27th – you can book tickets here.

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A press release from the charity provides further information, “The Wanted, Island Records, writers & producers will generously be donating all net proceeds to The Brain Tumour Charity to help us fund world-class research, raise awareness and provide support and information to people affected by brain tumours.”

As requested by Parker’s family, the softer rendition of the track was originally performed at the singer’s memorial. That night, the group decided to share the moving performance with their fans and the post quickly captured viewers’ hearts. Requests from the group’s loyal fanbase soon flooded in, this positive reaction led to the track’s official release.

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The charity single’s release comes nearly a month after Parker’s tragic passing; on 30th March 2022, the 33-year-old singer lost his life just 17 months after being diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour. The talented singer first rose to fame as a member of The Wanted, who formed in 2009 and quickly dominated the UK charts with their catchy pop hooks. The band’s debut single “All Time Low” was released in 2010 and debuted at number one, their self-titled debut album quickly followed the same year.

CEO of The Brain Tumour Charity Alex Lochrane has given the following statement concerning the new single, “Gold Forever (For Tom) is a beautiful song and a moving tribute to Tom – and we are profoundly grateful to The Wanted that donations from the sales of this single will help us fund world-class research and vital support services for anyone affected by brain tumours. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with Tom’s wife Kelsey, their children, family and friends at this saddest of times, as well as with fans of The Wanted worldwide.”

Lochrane continues to describe how sales of the single will help the charity to continue its good work, “By buying Gold Forever (For Tom), you’ll be helping fund pioneering research and trusted support services, to help us towards our goal to double survival rates and halve the harm that brain tumours cause on people’s quality of life. A cure can’t wait.”

Click here to stream/download/buy “Gold Forever (For Tom)“.

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Unlimited Love sees the band reunite with two previous creative partners; producer Rick Rubin who did not work on their previous album and former guitarist John Frusciante. Frusciante joined the band as a teenager and made his first appearance on the 1989 studio album Mother’s Milk. The musician would later depart in 2009 to focus on his solo career. The guitarist joins the present-day line-up consisting of frontman Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea and drummer Chad Smith.

Release on 1st April 2022 via Warner Records, Unlimited Love is the group’s twelfth studio album and was received well by critics. The album’s first single entitled “Black Summer” was released on 4th February 2022 and marked the first song in sixteen years which included Frusciante on guitar. The second track to be taken from the album was released on 31^st March 2022, “These Are The Ways” was released with an accompanying music video that featured a cameo from Flea’s wife.

This year also marks twenty years since the release of their first top-charting album, By The Way. The band’s eighth studio album was released in 2002 and became the American rocker’s first UK number one album. Two years later the band would score a second number one with Live in Hyde Park, the album was recorded in 2004 over three acclaimed concerts held at Hyde Park and was the band’s first live album.

The band would secure their third number one album with Stadium Arcadium, released in 2006. The album sired many hit singles including “Dani Californa”, the track was a huge success and became the song of the Summer. I’m With You became their fourth number one album and was released in 2011. The album was the first release to feature guitarist Josh Klinghoffer who was hired after Frusciante’s departure.

Along with several high climbers, Grammy fever is also evident within this week’s album charts. Following her success at last week’s ceremony, Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour has jumped five places to chart at number three. The singer scored multiple wins at the prestigious event, including Best Vocal Album for her debut album Sour. Rodrigo was also crowned Best New Artist and was awarded Best Pop Solo Performance for her debut single “Drivers Licence”.

Another high climber within this week’s album charts is Harry Styles’ second studio album Fine Line, the 2019 album leapt twenty-two positions to place at number six. The ignited interest in Styles’ album can be attributed to his success within the UK singles charts; “As It Was” debuted at number one and broke a sales record previously held by Sir John, Ed Sheeran and Ladbaby.

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Music fans were left in shock when the news of Tom Parker’s passing was announced last month; the 33-year-old singer had tragically lost his life to a brain tumour. Parker was best known as a member of the British boyband The Wanted and had been in the group since their inception. Due to the devastating news, the band’s greatest hits have re-entered the charts to place within the top forty. Most Wanted: The Greatest Hits has jumped an impressive eighty places to the position of number twenty-two and has been named this week’s highest climber.

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The boyband’s cover of the Christmas hit has coincided with this year’s festive period. Meaning, the group’s new release may be in the running for this year’s Christmas number one. Scoring a festive hit would be a triumphant return for the group who have reunited after a seven-year hiatus.

The band disbanded in 2014 and consists of members Max George, Tom Parker, Nathan Sykes, Jay McGuiness and Sive Kaneswaran. The group formed through a series of auditions which saw over 1,000 singers participate. The process took over nine months to cement the group and the winning members were signed to Geffen Records. Their debut album, The Wanted, was released on 22nd October 2010 and included their first number-one single “All Time Low”. Last year marked the group’s tenth anniversary, unfortunately, due to COVID-19 the celebrations were cancelled.

The original track was released on 21st November 1994 by East 17 via the record label London. East 17 were key players within the 90’s boyband movement which preceded the genre’s resurgence within the 00’s, which spawned such groups as The Wanted. The original release of the track became the Christmas number one for 1994 and was the group’s only number-one single. The single competed in a now-famous chart battle with the festive anthem “All I Want For Christmas Is You” by the Queen of Christmas Mariah Carey. Both were neck and neck in competition for the Christmas number-one single of 1994 but “Stay Another Day” won by outselling Carey’s beloved track.

The group’s festive cover has been released ahead of the band’s Greatest Hits album, set to be released on 12th November 2021. The upcoming collection is a compilation of the band’s most loved songs including such hits as “All Time Low”, “I Found You” and the 2012 megahit “Glad You Came”. Along with their back catalogue, the upcoming album also features the new track “Rule The World”. The single was released on 13th October 2021 and saw the band adopt a heavier dance sound. Also included within the upcoming album’s tracklist is the band’s Comic Relief Single “Gold Forever”, released in 2011 the track debuted at number three within the UK charts.

It has been reported that Parker’s health was one of the reasons which led to their reunion. Last Summer, the 33-year-old singer was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour. Since then, Parker has been raising money and awareness, he recently hosted a charity gig for Stand Up to Cancer. This week it was announced that Parker’s condition was improving and was now under control. In a press release, the singer spoke on the good news, “It feels amazing it is quite nice to be able to do something that is not related to treatment, it is like nothing has ever changed.”

The Wanted will be hitting the road later this month with a series of acoustic shows and Q&A sessions. The intimate tour will start on 12th November and will continue through the month with five more gigs, including two album signing dates. In 2022, the group will also be embarking on a 12 date headline tour across the UK.

The Wanted UK tour

12/11/2021 – Pryzm (With Banquet Records) – London
13/11 – HMV Birmingham (Album Signing) – Birmingham
14/11 – Gorilla – Manchester
15/11 – HMV Glasgow (Album Signing) – Glasgow
17/11 – Leeds Beckett (With Crash Records) – Leeds
18/11 – The Brook (With Vinilo Records) – Southampton
03/03/2022 – SSE Hydro, Glasgow – Glasgow
04/03 – Utilita Arena – Newcastle
05/03 – First Direct Arena – Leeds
07/03 – International Centre – Bournemouth
08/03 – Brighton Centre – Brighton
09/03 – Motorpoint Arena – Cardiff
11/03 – Motorpoint Arena – Nottingham
12/03 – Utilita Arena – Birmingham
13/03 – A0 Arena – Manchester
15/03 – The O2 – London
16/03 – Bonus Arena – Hull
17/03 – M&S Bank Arena – Liverpool

Click here to purchase tickets.

Click here to buy/stream/download “Stay Another Day”

Click here to pre-order Most Wanted The Greatest Hits.

Here we go!! We are MEGA excited to announce that we are BACK and will be releasing our Greatest Hits Album on November 12th!! We’ll also be performing LIVE at the @RoyalAlbertHall as part of @TomParker‘s ‘Inside My Head’ concert. It’s been far too long… Let’s do this! pic.twitter.com/8Zsq31jyVN

— The Wanted (@thewanted) September 8, 2021

The band was formed in 2009 with Max George, Tom Parker, Nathan Sykes, Siva Kaneswaran and Jay McGuiness making up the band’s lineup. The band’s debut single “All Time Low” released on July 25th 2010 reached number 1 in the UK Official Singles Chart and their self-titled debut album peaked at number 4 in the UK Official Albums Chart.

The single “Glad You Came” released on July 10th 2011 provided the band with their second UK number 1. The band also released popular singles “Heart Vacancy” (2010), “Lose My Mind” (2010), “Gold Fever” (2010) for Comic Relief and “Lighting” (2011). Following the band’s reality series, The Wanted Life they announced their hiatus on January 22nd 2014 to pursue solo projects.

George released solo singles “Barcelona” and “Better On Me”. Parker appeared on reality TV shows Celebrity Masterchef in 2015, The Jump in 2016 and also toured with the UK musical Grease in 2017. Sykes released solo singles “Kiss Me Quick” (2015) from his debut album Unfinished Business released on November 11th 2016 and also released singles “Over and Over Again” (2015/ 2016 Version with Ariane Grande) and “Give It Up” (2016). Sykes also supported Little Mix in 2016 during their The Get Weird Tour.

Kanswaran released his single “Breathe In” in 2017 and also wrote the UK 2016 Eurovision entry “You Are Not Alone”. Both George and McGuinness both appeared in Strictly Come Dancing. McGuiness won the show in August 2015. George appeared in the show in 2020 reaching the 4th round.

Parker sadly announced on October 26th 2020 that he was diagnosed with an inoperable Stage 4 Brain Tumour, his bandmates expressed their devastation following his diagnosis and are providing him with their support.

On January 7th Parker announced that the treatment that he has been receiving has significantly reduced his Brain Tumour. Parker has joined his bandmates for their reunion and stated, “It feels amazing it is quite nice to be able to do something that is not related to treatment, it is like nothing has ever changed.”

The charity concert was prompted by Parker when he discovered that only one per cent of the National Cancer research funding went towards researching Brain Tumours. The band were to reunite last year and placed their plans on hold due to the Covid 19 Pandemic.

Parker’s charity event also prompted the band to reunite and further support their bandmate. A brand new single penned by George is to follow the reunion. Speaking of the upcoming new single Sykes said, “It is really good, we are really excited” The new single is to be included on the band’s Greatest Hits Album.

The band released a video detailing their reunion and are said to be excited to have finally reunited and are hoping to recreate their previous magic.

The charity concert will be the band’s first performance together since their hiatus seven years ago. Liam Payne, Becky Hill, McFly, Sigrid and KSI are also set to perform at the concert. The band’s last album Word of Mouth was released on November 4th 2013 and their Greatest Hits Album will be their first studio album for eight years. The band has another announcement to make and have been urging their followers to listen out for an announcement tomorrow morning.

See The Wanted’s Most Wanted: The Greatest Hits Album pre-order link here

The Wanted will be performing at Tom Parker’s Inside My Head Concert at the venue below. Tickets are available here

20/09/21 Royal Albert Hall- London (The Wanted, Liam Payne, Becky Hill, McFly, Sigrid and KSI).