ALFIE Boe – one of the nation’s favourite tenors – will be unleashing his inner rock god on new album Face Myself.
The record, out on April 10, is inspired by his love of the Madchester era and was produced by Myriot, who previously worked with Primal Scream.
In an exclusive chat, Alfie revealed the album’s title track pays tribute to late Stone Roses bass player Gary “Mani” Mounfield.
The classical singer said he spent his weekends travelling up to Manchester as a teenager to immerse himself in the music scene, where the Stone Roses launched hits such as I Wanna Be Adored. Alfie said: “At the time I was writing that song, Mani passed away.
“So I had to put a tribute in the song. I changed the lyrics to say, ‘For good old Mani, he played it right’.”
The high-energy track, which is released today, also name checks Liam and Noel Gallagher’s childhood home on Cranwell Drive and celebrates the Madchester spirit.
On the track he sings: “Dreams are grown in Burnage sky, a golden past that made us cry.
“The prom is glorified with lights, for good old Mani, he played it right. Those Cranwell boys, they sang along.”
As a teen, Alfie, who has clocked up 12 Top Ten albums including four No1s, joined an indie band and later found himself exploring classical music.
“I was in an indie band called The English Roses,” Alfie said with a laugh. We were going to go on tour and I was going to be the drummer. But there was school to attend, which was fine, but then I joined lots of other little bands.”
Alfie’s new album is made up of mostly original material and he was inspired to start writing by his pal, The Who’s Pete Townshend.
And the Les Miserables stage fave says the record is all about facing his past, adding: “I thought, what is it about me I have to face?
“It was my childhood, my teenage years, and what got me to where I am today. It’s been a wonderful journey.”
Dua’s full of beans
Dua Lipa has a hefty cheque coming her way, plus a lifetime’s supply of coffee I imagine.
She’s signed up to be global ambassador for Nespresso and posed in blue co-ords to promote the new tie-in. Dua also had a snap with George Clooney, long-time face of the brand.
Greg heading to £2m…but pleads for Wills’ help again
Greg James continues his mammoth 1,000km cycle ride for Comic Relief after getting the royal seal of approval from Prince William.
He was given a boost on Tuesday, when the Prince of Wales hopped on the back of the Radio 1 DJ’s tandem.
As I caught up with Greg yesterday from the Yorkshire Moors, he said he wished William had stuck around.
Greg, resting up on a wall, below, said with a laugh: “I could’ve done with his legs today. Wills, if you’re reading this, help.”
He has remained incredibly upbeat despite the physical and mental toll the challenge is taking.
And he has been buoyed by the incredible donations from the public, which last night was creeping towards the £2million mark. Greg, who set off from Dorset last Friday and is pedalling all the way to Edinburgh, said: “The hills are very, very difficult today.
“But there was a really nice crowd of people shouting at me at the top.
“The good news is we’ve raised over £1.5million, which is an absurd amount. I’d be happy with that if it was the final total but we’ve got three days left.”
He starts his ride from Sunderland this morning with two full days to go.
Tomorrow he will begin his final push, cycling from Galashiels in the Borders to Edinburgh, where he is set to arrive in time for Comic Relief to start on BBC One at 7pm. You can do this, Greg!
Go to comicrelief.com/ride to make a donation.
Placebo are making a comeback for the 30th anniversary of their debut album, which they have reworked into a new version.
Placebo re:created will be out on June 19.
They will then kick off a European tour this September playing songs from their first two albums, with dates in Nottingham, Glasgow, Dublin, Manchester, London and Cardiff in November and December.
Big cat in Africa
Doja Cat showed her wild side in clashing animal prints while on stage in Rwanda.
The Say So rapper, who wore a blue wig with a tiger-striped bodysuit, was performing at Global Citizen’s Move Afrika concert.
She sounded great, despite her carefree lifestyle.
In a new interview with Vogue yesterday, Doja admitted she’s had to curb bad habits for the sake of her live shows.
She said: “I love trash – I’m Oscar the Grouch. I love to eat garbage, and I love to drink, and I love to party.
“Not too hard, obviously. I don’t do any drugs.”
Doja, who had a romance with actor Joseph Quinn in 2024, went on to reveal she is a serial dater, adding: “I’m 30, so I’m ovulating and horny.”
At least she tells it how it is.
Mosh-pit memories with trust
The Teenage Cancer Trust is staging a photo exhibition at the Royal Albert Hall to mark the joys of mosh pits.
Musicians including Yungblud, Wolf Alice, Fontaines DC and The Sex Pistols ft Frank Carter are featured in the show, called Good Energy.
It highlights “good energy”, which is the code used by fans to look after each other in the crowd. Frank said of his pic: “It was taken in the Royal Albert Hall.
“To play there with the Sex Pistols was a dream come true. Seeing a mosh pit inside such a venue felt like the definition of Good Punk Energy.
The exhibition runs until April 9. Buy signed copies of the prints at teenagecancer trust.org/good.
One direction’s Louis Tomlinson confessed the band’s debut No1 single, What Makes You Beautiful, was his least favourite track. He told Scott Mills’s Radio 2 show: “Performing it was always really eggy.”
Louis also took aim at the handling of 1D’s split, adding: “Hiatus, what a horrible word. It’s cringey, screams management.”
Princess is really made up
Harper Beckham has competition from another nepo baby when it comes to her upcoming beauty brand – Katie Price and Peter Andre’s daughter Princess.
The Sun told last week that Harper had taken part in a photoshoot for beauty brand Hiku by Harper, which is expected to launch in the coming months. Now Princess is following suit.
She said on the Not My Bagg podcast: “I’ve been working on it for ages. I was in Liverpool three days ago.
“I went up for a photoshoot for my beauty brand, which is so good. It’s being released this year.
I’m so excited. I’ve always wanted to be involved in some sort of business. Make-up, I love, so it had to be that.”