Kind Pink splashes £16k on gig tickets for huge Brit pop star at auction before donating them back
PINK was feeling in a very generous mood at the O2 Silver Clef Awards in London.
The American superstar forked out £16,000 on Harry Styles tickets during the auction on Thursday, only to hand them back to the charity — so they could have someone bid on them again.
An onlooker said: “Pink paid £16,000 to win the lot. She then donated it back. It was an incredibly generous gesture.”
Pink wasn’t the only one to dig deep at the bash — which raises money for music therapy charity Nordoff and Robbins — with Jessie J pledging £500 while Icon Award winner Lily Allen handed over £1,600.
Price Tag singer Jessie was handed the Outstanding Achievement award and opened up about her breast cancer diagnosis in her acceptance speech.
She said: “The last 18 months has been the most incredible, the most magical of my life. Also the hardest. But I believe we find the truest parts of ourselves in hard times.
“So when you are faced with them, it’s life trying to teach you something.
“To become a mum after not thinking I would, having one tt just get chopped off out of nowhere. “You never know when a tt is going to be taken from you, so enjoy your t*ts while you’ve got them.”
Encouraging other celebs to get their cash out and raise some money, Jessie added: “You’ve obviously been invited because some of you are rich as f***, don’t be a vibe killer.
“I know I wrote Price Tag, but if you’ve got money now is the time to get it out.” It was an evening of revelations too, with John Bishop telling the crowd he had renewed his vows with wife Melanie.
The pair split for 18 months in 2000, but rekindled their romance after she went to watch one of his stand-up shows.
As he handed David Gray his Silver Clef gong, John said: “I could never have imagined that I’d get the opportunity to say thank you to this artist. “My marriage had failed, everything had gone s***.
“When I was at my lowest I was introduced to David Gray and he’s been a constant part of my life ever since.
“He was there at the lowest point of my life but then when me and my wife reconciled and went on to renew our wedding vows we played Sail Away as we walked down the aisle.”
Melanie C was handed the Global Impact Award and paid tribute to her Spice Girls bandmates, after a feud put paid to a proper celebration of their 30th anniversary of Wannabe earlier this week.
She said: “We’re all in touch obviously, all of the girls, we’re so grateful and respectful of each other.
“We came together, and we achieved our wildest dreams, and we changed our lives forever, and the world forever, some would say.”
ELLIE OF A GAME FOR OUR BOYS
ELLIE GOULDING has thrown her support behind the Three Lions as we take on Norway in the World Cup quarter-finals.
The Burn pop star announced she had been booked to perform during the clash.
Ellie shared the news on Instagram last night and added: “Performing at half time for England vs Norway has me feeling like truly anything could happen.
“I already know the boys will make England proud. It’s coming home.”
Insiders confirmed that Ellie would play a medley of songs inside the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.
KASABIAN are giving fans an early Christmas present – with five huge shows later this year.
The band, fronted by Serge Pizzorno, will kick off their run at Birmingham’s Utilita Arena on December 11, followed by gigs in Glasgow, Cardiff, London and Manchester.
The announcement comes after their sold-out headline date in front of 45,000 fans at London’s Finsbury Park last weekend.
SCHULTZ: TRACK IS PERSONAL
CAGE THE ELEPHANT’s new single has special meaning for frontman Matt Schultz.
The US rockers, who supported Oasis on tour in America last year, released Beaches In Tennessee yesterday – their first new music for two years.
Matt, said: “It’s no secret I went through a mental health crisis a few years back. This song symbolises me finally being able to move past it.
“I was hospitalised for nearly three months, and the song addresses it by creating a fictionalised account of it.
“It was my attempt at reclaiming the ability to write about something serious that happened in my life, from a place of genuine experience.
“As a band, we were able to reclaim the ability to write a song rooted in a difficult and turbulent real-life event, but do it in a lighthearted way.”
TEN FANS ON SIDE
DECEMBER 10 celebrated the launch of their debut EP, On Your Side, by playing two intimate gigs at Circuit in Kingston upon Thames.
The fast-rising group – Nicolas, John, Josh, Sean, Cruz and Hendrik – celebrated the release as more than 1,000 fans packed the south-west London venue across the sold-out shows.
The six performing members, with Danny currently taking some time out, treated the crowd to stripped-back versions of tracks from the EP including Angel and Run My Way.
AHEAD of Iron Maiden’s historic show at Knebworth tonight, support act The Hu went on a sightseeing trip.
The Mongolian metal band, whose third studio album, Hun, drops on July 24, visited Buckingham Palace and Big Ben in London before heading to the venue.
Temka, who plays a traditional Mongolian guitar called a tovshuur, is a huge Chelsea fan and is thrilled to be performing here while the World Cup is on.
He said of tonight’s game: “I hope England play Argentina in the semi-final. Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham are great, and Anthony Gordon.”
GOLDEN GIRL ZARA
IT’S taken Zara Larsson over ten years since her debut hit, but she is a now a true pop superstar after this sizzling show.
She oozed charisma in this strappy gold top and denim shorts at Madrid’s Mad Cool Festival on Thursday night.
Zara was lifted into the air by her dancers to sing Midnight Sun.
She then did the splits during Ain’t My Fault, drove a car on stage for Hot & Sexy and also got a fan up to do her viral Lush Life dance with her.
With amazing vocals and dance moves, Zara deserves to be the biggest pop star in the world.
Mad Cool also hosted Lorde, Jennie, Cmat and Florence + The Machine, proving female pop music is thriving.
MATTY TO KICK OFF STAG DO
IT is turning into the summer of celebrity weddings – and I’m told Matty Healy will tie the knot with American model Gabbriette a week today.
The 1975 rocker will kick off the festivities in LA with a huge stag do tonight.
Matty and his pals will watch England play Norway in the World Cup quarter-final – and hopefully they will still be celebrating by the time the final whistle blows.
On Instagram last week, Gabbriette shared a video of the couple watching England take on Mexico, where her mum is from.
Thankfully, they were still on good terms afterwards.
The pair started dating in 2023 after Matty’s split from Taylor Swift – but their nuptials will be a lot more low-key than Taylor’s which took place earlier this month.
A source said: “They are flying out their nearest and dearest but it’s an intimate ceremony.
“The spectacle of Taylor’s wedding isn’t their thing.”
His bandmate George Daniel with his wife Charli XCX will be there, along with Matty’s mum Denise Welch – so I’m sure there will be plenty of tales to tell.
TAYLOR TOY OSCAR BID
FRESH from her five Emmy nominations, Taylor Swift is now being backed for Oscars glory, with her Toy Story 5 song, I Knew It, I Knew You.
Insiders said Pixar are pushing for the track to land a nomination for Best Music (Original Song) at the ceremony in Los Angeles next March.
A source said: “There is a full-on drive to get Taylor to the Oscars and win the golden prize.
“There is such excitement at how well the film has been received and how beloved the song has become in a very short space of time.
“One beautiful factor in this is that Taylor has such a deep connection to these movies.”
If she lands a nod, it will be the first time newlywed Taylor has received an Oscars nomination.
CAUGHT LIVE
Johnny Marr @ Castlefield Bowl, Manchester
★★★★☆
JOHNNY MARR was at his mercurial best for his sellout homecoming gig in Manchester.
There were plenty of Smiths classics, a couple of seriously decent new singles and a stunning disco-ball moment that turned the baked concrete of Castlefield Bowl into a club dancefloor.
It was the indie icon’s biggest solo show to date, ahead of the release of his fifth album The Age Of Everything in October.
Marr kicked off with Generate! Generate!.
It was a rousing opener, but it was the second track, The Smiths’ Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before, that got the crowd going.
New Town Velocity, from his 2013 album The Messenger, was a welcome moment of reflection while new track Spin went down a storm.
The finale was epic. The juddering riff of How Soon Is Now brought the curtain down on the main set, before a trio of classics – Panic, Iggy Pop’s Passenger, and There Is A Light That Never Goes Out – culminated in arms wrapped around shoulders.
DAN CAIN