THEY say good things come to those who wait, so I have high expectations for Roger Sanchez’s first studio album in two decades.
And as he gears up to release the 13-track record, Spectrum, on June 5, the superstar DJ reveals he’s thrown fans a curveball after teaming up with Melanie C on his song I Don’t Wanna Know.
“That’s one I didn’t have on my dance card,” Roger tells me after popping into Bizarre HQ, where he takes his tea “milky, two sweeteners”.
“When the Spice Girls first came out, I always felt she was underrated. There was such a power in her voice and I didn’t feel in the Spice Girls she got her due for how powerful her voice is.
“She’s the bubbliest one of the group. She’s a powerhouse.
“I had this track and I was talking to my team about artists who people wouldn’t expect me to work with.
“My manager was like, ‘How about the Spice Girls?’ and I said, ‘Well it’s got to be Mel C if we’re going to do it.’
“We sent the track that I had originally done to her team, and she loved it. And so she sent me back the song that she wrote. And I was like, let’s go.”
Sanchez has scored numerous hits in the European and World Charts with both his own music and the remixes he has created for an array of superstars including Diana Ross, Kylie Minogue, Daft Punk, Madonna, The Police, No Doubt and Maroon 5.
Like us, Roger is now waiting to hear Madonna’s new album Confessions On A Dancefloor: Part II after previously working with her on remixes of her songs.
“You don’t ever count Madonna out,” Roger explains.
“I know she’s been around for quite some time.
“And as somebody who’s been around for a minute myself, I can say creative forces like that are probably becoming a little more rare as time goes on, because of just the way things are done now.
“You just never count her out because she’s always brewing something
“And it’s always going to be something that moves the needle somehow.”
Just days after Roger drops Spectrum, he will head to his spiritual home in Ibiza to take up a residency at super club Pacha, after spending weeks in the UK finishing the record.
“I started forming where I wanted a body of work to go around 2020. Before we dove into the hell that was known as Covid.
“Coming out of that, the UK was one of the first markets to reopen so I started touring.
“I wound up spending a lot of time in London and I’ve got a flat in Shoreditch.
“The UK became a real central point for me. I connected with a lot of writers and artists here. This is a London album.”
Spectrum is packed with dance bangers including my favourites Midas Touch, Come My Way and How Do We Say Goodbye with Karen Harding, which will be the next single to be released.
And Roger is hoping to return to Glastonbury one day to play the record, after a killer headline set at NYC Downlow back in 2016.
“That was my first kind of performing experience at Glastonbury,” Roger explains.
“It felt like a 1989 rave in the UK. Very, very dark and very loud.
“And people weren’t on their phones. They really plugged into the moment.
“I’ve played a few times since. I did one for Glitterbox and I did another for Greenpeace in a tree.
“There’s a little door opening in the base, and you climb up a bloody ladder.
“You feel like you’re a hobbit. It felt a bit like Gandalf walking into Bilbo Baggins’ home.”
SPICE IT UP
MELANIE C teamed up with another special someone at the weekend – Spice Girls bandmate Mel B.
They sang Spice Up Your Life for the first time since the group’s 2019 tour at a concert in Leeds.
Mel C played the gig to celebrate the release of latest solo album Sweat, which is on course to go to No2 this Friday.
TENSIONS between Gordon Ramsey and Brooklyn Beckham were high back in February after the famous chef fired a warning shot to the wannabe over his feud with his parents.
Now it seems Gordon is coming for Brooklyn in business.
Gordon has trademarked Hotter Than Hell by Gordon Ramsay – the name given to the spicy relishes he uses in some of his restaurants.
But it appears he could be preparing to flog bottles of the sauce to customers and if he goes ahead with the venture, he will be competing with Brookylyn’s Cloud 23 hot sauce, which he launched back in 2024.
“If Gordon is launching his own sauce he’ll be going up against Brooklyn in that market,” an insider told me.
“Things will get spicy if they end up clashing over it.”
In February, Gordon told our newspaper he thought Brooklyn had got carried away by his marriage to Nicola Peltz.
Asked about how Posh and Becks were coping after their son’s acid-tongued Instagram statement about them, Gordon said: “Victoria is upset, and I know 24/7, seven days a week, just how much David loves Brooklyn.
“Brooklyn and I have messaged a little bit. Our relationship is solid. I love him.
“His heart is incredible. But it’s hard, isn’t it, when you’re infatuated?
“Love is blind. It’s easy to get up on that rollercoaster and get carried away. But it will come back.”
Awkward.
Moment in the sun
PROMISING British pop star Bellah Mae is having her moment in the sun after signing a record deal in the States.
The Birmingham-born singer posed on a lounger in a snap to promote her new single Salt And Sugar from her upcoming EP, Keep It Peachy, which will be out on May 29.
It’s the first release for Bellah, who is currently on tour across the US, with her new label Sony Nashville.
She told me: “I’ve been coming to Nashville to write since I was 19 years old and knew I wanted to eventually spend more time here from the first time I came over, so to be one of the first UK artists signing to Sony Nashville and be here is a lot of dreams all coming true.
“I wanna bridge the gap between the UK and US country-pop worlds and take over the space one song at a time… the British Hannah Montana!
“The new era is fun, flirty and confident.”
Shakira loves a Brazilian
SHAKIRA made history on Saturday as she played one of the highest attended concerts of all time.
More than 2million fans saw the Colombian superstar play a free gig at Copacabana Beach in Rio De Janeiro.
During the spectacular show, the She Wolf singer wore ten costumes, many of which were made by local designers – including a jumpsuit with Swarovski crystals in the pattern of the Brazilian flag.
More than 1,500 drones lit up the sky before Shakira took to the stage.
And the singer was later joined by Anitta to perform their new single, Choka Choka.
Shakira’s Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran Tour will come to Europe in September, where she will play 11 nights at the purpose-built Shakira Stadium in Madrid.
GRAHAM DRINKS IN EURO FUN
GRAHAM NORTON has told how he turns to drink to survive the madness of Eurovision.
The BBC star, who will be commentating on the song contest in Vienna on May 16, said the live final is such a slog, he needs a drink to get through it.
On Alan Carr’s Bottoms Up! podcast, Graham said former host Terry Wogan called him before his first ever contest in Moscow with some tips.
He said: “The only bit of advice he gave me was, ‘Don’t have a drink before song nine’.
“But I’m drinking whatever I can lay my hands on because it’s a long old stretch.”
Graham also admitted that refreshments are not easy to source at the venues, saying “normally, it’s smuggled in”.
But he knows better than to overdo it during the live show.
Given the quality of some of the songs, I’m amazed he can wait until number nine.
OLIVIA RODRIGO mocked Jake Paul as she hosted Saturday Night Live in the US.
Speaking about the boxer, who she starred with on the Disney show Bizaardvark a decade ago, Olivia said: “We’d always talk about our futures, me and Jake.
“I’d say, ‘I wanna create music that explores the complexities of girls my age’, and he’d say, ‘One day I wanna beat up old guys on Netflix’.”
LIAM AND NOEL NOT IN TUNE
LIAM GALLAGHER has admitted he’s in the dark when it comes to the new music his brother Noel has been writing – and whether it could be for Oasis.
Last month, Noel revealed he had been “in the studio, noodling away” on new tunes.
But when asked about it on X at the weekend, Liam was none the wiser.
He said: “I’ve not heard anything unless he’s doing a solo album, which would be a real shame, I mean really good.”
When someone else commented: “So he just doesn’t tell you his plans?” he replied: “Pretty much.”
Given how much Liam spouts off online, I can’t really blame Noel for keeping schtum.
Spotted looking chic
NICOLE SCHERZINGER is spotted in Kentucky – 4,000 miles away from her Pussycat Dolls bandmates back in London.
While Nicole looked chic in a polka dot dress as she sang the US national anthem at Saturday’s Kentucky Derby, Ashley Roberts and Kimberly Wyatt were busy going through their paces during rehearsals.
The Dolls, who are now a trio, kick off their reunion tour in California in a month’s time, before shows on this side of the Atlantic in September.
If their tour is anything like their shows back in the day, they will have a lot of dance moves to learn between now and then.
THE WEEK IN BIZNESS
TODAY: Beyonce chairs the glitzy Met Gala in New York, where she is expected to tease details of her highly anticipated new album.
TUESDAY: Spanish singer/songwriter Rosalia brings her critically acclaimed Lux Tour to London’s O2 Arena for two nights.
WEDNESDAY: Rockers No Doubt return to the stage for the opening night of their Las Vegas reunion residency at state-of-the-art music venue, Sphere.
SUNDAY: The Bafta TV Awards take place at London’s Royal Festival Hall, where Adolescence leads the nominations. The show, hosted by Greg Davies, airs on BBC One.