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There’s no shortage of bands commemorating their glory days as decade anniversaries of albums fly by. Yet few landmark releases feel not only fresh but forward-thinking 20 years after they were recorded. My Morning Jacket stumbled onto this kind of brilliance in October 2004 when it released its fourth studio album “Z.” Across 10 tracks of lush, euphoria-driven rock ‘n’ roll, the band captured a notable tone shift in its sound that melded Southern rock, haunting folk, psychedelic soul laced with jam band energy. It’s a set of songs that still make up a huge chunk of the bands live show. In September the band performed the album in its entirety to a sold-out Hollywood Palladium for its 20th anniversary.

“We still play these songs all the time,” said frontman and principal songwriter Jim James in a recent conversation. “So it’s not like we broke up after we released ‘Z’ and then we got back together 20 years later to play these songs, and it’s such a trip. We’ve been playing them nonstop for 20 years.”

Shortly after the release of its 10th studio album “is,” the band put out a deluxe reissue of “Z” that includes four B-sides and a whole album’s worth of demo versions of songs like “Wordless Chorus,” “Off the Record” and Dodante. Recently James spoke to The Times about the enduring power of “Z” and the joy of going back to the beginning of the album’s origins to give himself and his fans a new appreciation for the groundbreaking sound the band created.

The rerelease of “Z” was prefaced earlier this year with a full-album show at the Palladium. What was it like revisiting the album on stage first before it came out (again) on vinyl and streaming?

This is our fourth album now to hit the 20-year mark. So we’ve got some experience now doing these album shows. And it’s funny because some of the earlier albums we don’t play all the songs from them so we had to go back and relearn a lot of songs. But the songs from “Z” we pretty much play all the songs all the time. So it’s pretty hilarious how it involved no effort. It just involved playing them in that order of the sequence of the album. But we kind of laughed about that. We’re like, man, we don’t really even have to do any research or anything. We were all kind of reflecting just on how grateful we are that we like playing all the songs still. It’s such a great feeling to play songs for 20 years and never really get tired of them. People still want to hear them and there’s still excitement there, and they still feel fresh. It’s really a beautiful thing.

This was your first album using an outside producer. What was that like for you as the songwriter to step in the studio with John Leckie to help you realize your vision with “Z”?

It was so great, because I really needed somebody who could work with me and not let our egos clash too much. John was just really great about coming in and respecting what I wanted to do, but also voicing his opinion and what he liked and what he didn’t like and when he thought we could do better. And it was just really so refreshing and so good for us to have him there. I mean, his track record speaks for itself, he’s somebody who you can trust right off the bat, just because of all the things they’ve done in the past. He’s such a soft-spoken gentleman but he also has this hilarious, brutal honesty about him, which was always really great.

Your lineup had also changed between the previous album “It Still Moves” and “Z” — adding keyboard player Bo Koster and guitarist Carl Broemel who are still in the band today. So was that like stepping in the studio with the “new guys” for the first time?

It was really nerve-racking and really exciting all at once. We had some touring experience under our belt with Bo and Carl, so we kind of knew that it was working out on that level, but we’d never really recorded before, so it was a real test for all of us. And I think we all knew that. So everybody brought their A game to the session and we took it really seriously, but we also had a lot of fun and just really kind of got to know each other. That was good to do that out in the middle of nowhere, out there in the Catskills, up at the studio. It gave us some time to really bond without a lot of the real-world stuff coming in or other people coming in. So I think that was really important, that we did it that way.

Do you remember what song came out of the sessions first?

“It Beats 4 U” was the first one, because that was one we had already played live before we started recording. So I think that was the first song that we started messing with. But I think they all were kind of coming to life around the same time. So by the time we got in there to start unpacking them, I had already written them and kind of made the demos of them and stuff.

It’s great that you included so many demo versions of your songs on this rerelease. What was the process like of locating these, sifting through and sequencing which ones you wanted to put on the album?

Well, I love demos for a lot of my favorite bands — I love it when I get to hear the demos from the albums. So I’m always saving all that stuff; with my own stuff I’m always compiling all the demos, because that’s half the fun to me. Because sometimes you get this just like a beautiful glimpse into the song. Quite often, I end up liking the demo more than I like the actual album, song because you get a whole, whole new view of it. It’s also interesting when you’re sequencing for vinyl, because you don’t have unlimited time so you kind of got to pick and choose, and that kind of forces you to just choose the best. There’s a whole other round of band demos and then there were my demos, so there were a lot of things to choose from. But it kind of helps me to look at it in vinyl format. There’s still something about the vinyl time limit that helps with quality control. Just kind of pick the ones that I feel are most effective and then try and make a fun sequence so that hopefully, if somebody’s into them, it’s kind of like you get a bonus album that you can listen to.

We had four true songs, B-sides, that we really love too, that weren’t demos. So that was really nice to finally get those out, because those had been on different soundtracks. And then one wasn’t even released. So I don’t think that those weren’t even on streaming or anything for years and years. So it’s really cool to have those out kind of everywhere now, because I’ve always liked all those songs and been proud of those songs too. And I think most bands know the feeling of you know when you make a record. Sometimes songs just don’t fit the record, even if you still love the songs.

MMJ during the “Z” era.

(Sam Erickson)

Were you playing any of those live at the point where you released the album the first round, or did you shelve them for later?

We’ve always played “Where to Begin” live — off and on. We’ve also tried “Chills” a couple times, and I think we did “How Could I Know” a couple times. We’ve never played “The Devil’s Peanut Butter,” we kinda forgot that one existed until this whole [album rerelease] process started, and I found that song again. So we’ll probably play that one somewhere out on the next leg.

Was this process something that you enjoy doing, like, in terms of your how to, sort of like, reexamine an album?

I really love it because I just feel so grateful that anybody even gives a s–, you know? I mean, so there’s that part of me that’s just so grateful to even still be in the game, talking about this. But beyond that, it’s really cool for me because it’s like jumping in a time machine and going back and looking at that point in my life and getting perspective on where I am now, and seeing how I’ve grown and asking “where have I changed? Where have I not changed?” I look back and with all of these albums as they come up to this 20-year mark, and I see I’ve always been really mean and hard on myself, on Jim, but I know that Jim was doing the best he could at each time. That’s the one thing I’ve always kind of been able to see, to get myself through, to not be too hard on myself. I know I was giving it everything I had, so whether I would change things about it as I am today or not — we all look back on the past, and maybe there’s things we’d do differently, but it gives me a lot of comfort to know that I was trying as hard as I could, and all the guys in the band were trying as hard as they could. It really makes me feel proud of us for just putting in the time and effort.

Damon Albarn has opened up about his emotional journey while recording Gorillaz’ upcoming album.

The singer and his bandmate Jamie Hewlett poured the grief of losing their dads into their ninth record, The Mountain, and Damon revealed he scattered his father’s ashes in India while making the collection.

“Both Jamie and I lost our fathers,” Damon said.

“We did two quite amazing, magical trips to India.

“India is a very interesting place to carry grief, because they have a very positive outlook on death.

“England is just really bad at dealing with death.

“In a way, I think this record is in that tradition of celebrating their lives.

“I did things I’d never done before. I swam in the Ganges in Varanasi.

“I watched the bodies being burnt on the banks of the Ganges.

“In England when we cremate a body we don’t even look at the bodies, it’s covered up immediately and then it’s put in the fire, the little curtains close and that’s it.

“On the banks of the Ganges, every family is there with the body wrapped in a shroud and they’re burnt, and it’s going on everywhere. It goes on 24 hours a day and it’s been going on for thousands of years.

“I took my dad’s ashes there and I cast them in the river. It was very beautiful.”

Indian culture helped shape the record — which will be released in March — with the album’s cover art featuring the title in Devanagari, a script used to write the Indian Sanskrit language.

And this time around the pair will not make their famous, animated music videos and instead are creating a one-off production.

Damon added: “We’re making a full eight-minute thing.

“This is why there are no videos at the moment, because it’s serious stuff. It’s really great that Jamie is concentrating on doing one animated thing.

“It’s a big amount of work, any animation. It’s kind of our Achilles’ heel because no other band has to spend that kind of time just to produce one small thing.

“So let’s make it a piece of art in itself and not really rely on it for the promotional aspect of things and let it breathe in its own way.

“I think fans are going to love every aspect of this record.”

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Personally, I cannot wait.

Jen’s perfect pairing

Jennifer Lawrence put on her poshest frock to party in the Big Apple after promoting her new film, Die My Love.

The Hunger Games star appears alongside Robert Pattinson in the black comedy, out this Friday.

And the pair coordinated their outfits for the New York premiere at the AMC Lincoln Square Theater.

J-Law then changed into a blue gown before heading out for a night on the town with her pals.

The actress has a busy few months coming up. She is starring in and producing upcoming murder-mystery movie The Wives, before kicking off a new project with legendary director Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Jen and Leo are set to play the leads in a terrifying film adaptation of Peter Cameron’s ghost story, What Happens at Night.

She did the chart double last month but Olivia Dean is keeping her feet firmly on the ground.

The singer scored No1s with her album The Art of Loving and single Man I Need, becoming the first British solo female artist to top both charts simultaneously since Adele in 2021.

Asked whether she’s let her success go to her head, she said: “I don’t think so. I feel like I try really hard and think all the time about not becoming a p***k. That would just be horrible.

“I’ve met some and it’s just like, ‘Oh no, it got to you’.”

On how success depends on the people around you, Olivia continued: “A lot of people work really, really hard. It’s really important to recognise that yes, you’ve worked on your skill or your craft, but all the people around you had to believe in it and be there to make it happen as well.

“It takes a village of people to make an album or do a campaign. There’s a lot that people don’t see.”

It sounds like Olivia has a lot of goals in the future, though – including headlining Glastonbury and releasing an album of standards.

On the And The Writer Is… with Ross Golan podcast, Olivia was also asked if she had written a musical yet.

She said: “No, but I would like to in the future. It’s definitely on the bucket list for me.”

Time to say ’ello to Eli

Hot prospect Eli released debut album Stage Girl at the weekend, jam-packed with infectious melodies.

It looks like her label, RCA Records – also home to Britney Spears, P!nk and Shakira – has unearthed another gem.

But her collection of tunes also features references to a battle with her identity, which the American singer has now overcome.

In an exclusive interview, Eli, who is a trans woman, said of her album: “It was made in a flow state.

“But that was after a year or two of complete wits’ end, last straw, end of the rope, repressing everything under the sun as a human being for 20 years of my life.

“I was just like, ‘I need this joy and I need this super-extravagant pop’.”

Part of her journey of discovery is related to listeners in album highlights Girl of Your Dreams and Falsetto, and Eli now hopes that her music will help people to accept those in the queer community.

She explained: “I like the idea that this is going to play in Walmart in Kansas, for the lady who thinks I’m the spawn of Satan.

“And she’s going to be like, ‘Wow, this song is so good’.

“I feel like there is a sort of trickle-down effect of awareness of my humanity and trans humanity in general.”

Eli is already feeling the love following her album release – Mark Ronson, Demi Lovato and Zara Larsson have all voiced their support and her fan base is growing and growing.

Eli added: “I feel so excited by the community I’m existing in in LA right now.

“I feel like everyone is so supportive of each other.

“And it’s so refreshing and so cool.”

Dazzled by Doja

Doja Cat looked a true member of the glitterati as she joined A-listers for a night out.

The rapper sported a sparkly orange dress at the LACMA Art+Film Gala in Los Angeles and completed the ensemble with a curly blonde wig in a nod to Marilyn Monroe.

This is not the first time she has gained inspiration from the Hollywood legend. At the 2022 Grammys, she wore a custom-made crystal Versace gown – which took 475 hours to make.

Doja attended the fundraising bash alongside a host of stars, including actresses Demi Moore, Salma Hayek and Cynthia Erivo all of whom dazzled in their ’fits.

Keep sparkling, ladies.

Robyn’s return so sexi

Singer Robyn is planning to drop a new single in the next few weeks, then her ninth album in 2026.

It is seven years since the Swedish-born star put out her last collection, Honey, and an industry insider tells me the new one, with alluring title Sexistential, promises to be bigger and better than ever before.

They said: “Robyn has spent years working on this music and has been really inspired by loads of up-and-coming artists.

“She has worked with some very cool people and all the stops are being pulled out for this to be her biggest record in decades.”

Robyn has joined Gracie Abrams and Charli XCX on stage for surprise performances over the past year.

But by the sounds of it, next year she will likely be performing plenty of big gigs of her own.

Cat Burns opens up about losing her grandad and breaking up with a long-time girlfriend on her new album How to Be Human.

The singer and Celebrity Traitors star told The Sunday Times’ Style mag: “While grieving, a quote that stood out to me was: ‘Grief is just love with no place to go’. That helped guide the message of the album.”

A Brum deal for Benson

Benson Boone is due back on stage tonight at London’s O2 Arena after he was forced to cancel his Birmingham show on Saturday.

The Beautiful Things singer, who is on his American Heart World Tour, told fans he wouldn’t have been able to put on the show at the Utilita Arena due to problems with his voice.

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In a statement, he told fans: “Birmingham I am so so sorry but I will not be able to perform. I have tried everything I can to revive my voice, but I cannot give you the show I’d like to be able to give you with the condition of my throat right now.

“I’m working with my team to find a date to reschedule as soon as possible. I promise I will do everything in my power to make it up to you. I love you guys so much.”

We’re sending you our best, Benson, and we hope you can make the show tonight.

Elliot Zwiebach was 62 years old when he sang in front of a live audience for the first time.

The retired reporter had always loved show tunes, but he’d never considered singing in public before.

“I sang for my own amusement, and I wasn’t very amused,” he said recently.

But one night, after attending a few open mic nights at the Gardenia Supper Club in West Hollywood as a spectator, he got up the nerve to step onto the stage and perform a tune backed by a live band.

For his first song, he picked the humorous “Honey Bun” from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical “South Pacific.” It was frightening and he didn’t sing well. And yet, the following week he came back and did it again.

Newbie Ian Douglas, left, and longtime singer Elliot Zwiebach look over a sign-up sheet at the Gardenia’s long-running open mic night.

Sixteen years later, Zwiebach, now 78, is a core member of what the event’s longtime host Keri Kelsey calls “the family,” a group of roughly 25 regulars who sing jazz standards, show tunes and other numbers from the Great American Songbook at the longest-running open mic night in L.A.

“It’s very much like a community,” Zwiebach said on a recent evening as he prepared to sing “This Nearly Was Mine,” another song from “South Pacific.” “Everyone knows everyone.”

For 25 years, the small, L-shaped Gardenia room on Santa Monica Boulevard has served as a musical home for a diverse group of would-be jazz and cabaret singers. Each Tuesday night, elementary school teachers, acting coaches, retired psychoanalysts, arts publicists and the occasional celebrity pay an $8 cover to perform in front of an audience that knows firsthand just how terrifying it can be to stand before even a small crowd with nothing more than a microphone in your hand.

“You are so vulnerable up there with everyone staring at you,” said Kelsey, who has hosted the open mic night for 24 years and once watched Molly Ringwald nervously take the stage. “But it’s also the most joyous experience in the world.”

Director and acting coach Kenshaka Ali sings “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” by Rahsaan Roland Kirk.

The singers are backed by a live, three-piece band led by guitarist Dori Amarilio. The rotating group of musicians — a few of them Grammy winners — arrive not knowing what they will be playing that night. Some singers bring sheet music, others chord charts. And there are those who just hum a few bars and allow the musicians to intuit the key and melody enough to follow along. Poet Judy Barrat, a regular attendee, usually hands the evening’s piano player a copy of the poem she’ll be reading and asks him to improv along with her.

“It’s totally freeform,” said Andy Langham, a jazz pianist who toured with Natalie Cole and Christopher Cross and often plays the Gardenia. “I read the stanzas and try to paint pictures with the notes.”

Keri Kelsey, singing “Mack the Knife,” has hosted the Gardenia’s open mic night for 24 years.

The Gardenia, which opened in 1981, is one of the few venues in L.A. specifically designed for the intimacy of cabaret. The small, spare room has table service seating for just over 60 patrons and a stage area beautifully lit by an abundance of canned lights. Doors open at 7 p.m. on Tuesday nights, but those in the know line up outside the building’s nondescript exterior as early as 6 p.m. to ensure a reasonable spot on the night’s roster of singers. (Even though there is a one-song-per-person limit, the night has been known to stretch past 12 a.m.) Nichole Rice, who manages the Gardenia, takes dinner and drink orders until the show starts at 8:30 p.m. Then the room falls into respectful silence.

Pianist Andy Langham and guitarist Dori Amarilio perform live music accompaniment for each open mic participant at the Gardenia.

“This is a listening room,” said singer-songwriter Steve Brock, who has been attending the open mic night for more than a decade. “I’ve been to other rooms where I’m competing with tequila or the Rams. Here, when anyone goes up in front of that microphone, everyone stops.”

On a recent Tuesday night, the show began as it always does with an instrumental song by the band (a piano, guitar and upright bass) before an opening number by Kelsey. Dressed in a black leather dress and knee-high boots, she had this time prepared “Mack the Knife.” “This may be one of the loungiest lounge songs ever,” she said. “Maybe that’s why I really like it.”

People begin to line up outside the Gardenia at 6 p.m. to get a spot for the Tuesday open mic night.

The first singer to take the stage was Trip Kennedy, a bearded masseur who performed “The Rainbow Connection” in a sweet tenor. When he finished, Kelsey shared that she was cast as an extra in “The Muppets Take Manhattan.”

“It was the most ridiculous thing,” she said, filling time as the next singer consulted quietly with the band. “I was a college student who dressed up as a college student for the audition.”

Dolores Scozzesi, who sang at the Hollywood Improv in the ’80s between comedy sets, performed a moody arrangement of “What Now My Love.” “This is a [chord] chart from 2011,” she told the audience before she began. “I want to try it because these guys are the best.”

Monica Doby Davis, an elementary school teacher, sings the jazz standard “You Go to My Head” at the Gardenia.

Zwiebach performed a medley of two Broadway hits, “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face” (which he altered to “his face”) and “This Nearly Was Mine,” easily hitting all the notes. After, his young friend Ian Douglas, a relative newbie who started attending the open mic night in the spring, sang the jazz standard “You Go to My Head.” Zwiebach praised the performance.

“I know that song very well and you did a great job,” he said.

Monica Doby Davis, who once sang with the ’90s R&B girl group Brownstone and now works as an elementary school teacher, also performed “You Go to My Head.” Although she had left the entertainment business decades ago, she said finding the Gardenia open mic night 13 years ago “brought music back to my life.”

Tom Nobles, left, sings alongside bassist Adam Cohen, center, and pianist Andy Langham at the Gardenia.

There were many beautiful, intimate moments that night, but perhaps the best was when Tom Nobles, an actor and retired psychoanalyst in a purple knit cap and thick plastic glasses, forgot the words to “Lost in the Masquerade” by George Benson.

He stumbled for a moment, a bit perplexed, before turning to his friends for help.

“Whoever knows the words, sing it with me,” Nobles said to the crowd.

Quietly at first and then louder and stronger, the whole room broke out into song.

We’re lost in a masquerade. Woohoo, the masquerade.

The marriage between Arcade Fire’s indie-rocker spouses Win Butler and Régine Chassagne has flamed out.

The longtime collaborators and romantic partners split “after a long and loving marriage,” the Canadian “Reflektor” group announced Thursday in a statement shared on social media. Butler, 45, and Chassagne, 49, married in 2003 and will “continue to love, admire and support each other as they co-parent their son,” the band said.

The Grammy-winning rock group, founded in 2001 and known for songs “The Suburbs” and “Wake Up,” announced the singers’ separation years after several people accused frontman Butler of sexual misconduct in 2022.

Four people came forward about their alleged experiences with Butler in a report published by Pitchfork in August 2022. Three women alleged they were subjected to sexual misconduct between 2016 and 2022 when they were between the ages of 18 and 23. The fourth, gender-fluid accuser alleged Butler sexually assaulted them in 2015 when they were 21 and he was 34.

Amid Pitchfork’s report, Butler denied the misconduct allegations in a statement and said he “had consensual relationships outside my marriage.” Chassagne, who gave birth to her son with Butler in 2013, remained firm in her support for her now-estranged husband in 2022. The “Sprawl II” singer said, “I know what is in his heart, and I know he has never, and would never, touch a woman without her consent and I am certain he never did.”

She added at the time: “He has lost his way and he has found his way back. I love him and love the life we have created together.”

Arcade Fire rose to prominence in the 2000s for its anthemic rock, cementing its place in the Montreal indie scene with its Grammy-winning 2010 album “The Suburbs.” The group has been nominated for 10 Grammy Awards and has played some of music’s biggest stages including the Coachella and Lollapalooza music festivals. The group released its seventh album, “Pink Elephant,” in May.

Thursday’s statement clarified that Butler and Chassagne’s “bond as creative soulmates will endure, as will Arcade Fire.” The estranged spouses will also continue their charity work in addition to caring for their child.

“The band send their love and look forward to seeing you all on tour soon,” the statement said.

Times staff writer Stacy Perman contributed to this report.

A COUPLE from a huge rock band have SPLIT after 22 years of marriage and historic “sexual misconduct” allegations.

The two members of a Canadian indie group have decided to call time on the relationship after over two decades together.

The couple in question are Arcade Fire‘s Win Butler and Regine Chassagne, who wed in 2003.

The pair announced their shock split on the band’s official Instagram page.

The statement read: “After a long and loving marriage, Win & Regine have decided to separate. They continue to love, admire and support each other as they co-parent their son.”

They added that their “bond as creative soulmates will endure, as will Arcade Fire. The band send their love and look forward to seeing you all on tour soon.”

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Their split comes three years after Win was hit with misconduct claims from three women and a gender fluid individual.

The allegations included the sending of unsolicited explicit messages, coercive control, emotional abuse and physical assault.

Win responded to the allegations in 2022, admitting to having had relations with all of the claimants, however, he insisted each was consensual.

In a statement given to Pitchfork, he said, “While these relationships were all consensual, I am very sorry to anyone who I have hurt with my behaviour.

“As I look to the future, I am continuing to learn from my mistakes and working hard to become a better person, someone my son can be proud of. […]

“I’m sorry I wasn’t more aware and tuned in to the effect I have on people – I f**ked up, and while not an excuse, I will continue to look forward and heal what can be healed, and learn from past experiences.”

The band’s avant-garde sound has always been an acquired taste, though they have conquered the mainstream, headlining festivals such as Glastonbury and scoring three number one albums in the US.

It comes after Arcade Fire were recently slammed when they appeared on US TV show, Saturday Night Live.

The band performed two tracks from their forthcoming sixth album, Pink Elephant, in what was their second appearance on the show this series.

However, musically, their performance on May 10, left many viewers cold.

Others weren’t comfortable with the band getting such a prominent television gig after the troubling claims.

One person wrote on X, “If different people accusing you of sexual misconduct is not enough to prevent you being on this show twice in one season, how many people is?”

Another said, “Arcade Fire landing on SNL in the big 2025 is wild. Who the hell did Win Butler pay?”

What is there left to know about Paul McCartney in 2025? Actually, quite a bit. The octogenarian megastar is seemingly ever-present, popping up on social media feeds with his affable avuncularity, his relentlessly sunny, two thumbs up ‘tude. Yet despite the steady trickle of Beatles scholarship that continues to be published, including Ian Leslie’s insightful book, “John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs,” earlier this year, McCartney is a cipher, a blank page. He has masterfully created the illusion of transparency, yet his life remains stubbornly opaque. Does the man ever lose his temper? Has he ever cheated on his taxes? If there is a chink in McCartney’s armor, we are still looking for it.

Denny Laine, Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney and Denny Seiwell in Osterley Park, London, in 1971.

(Barry Lategan / MPL Communications )

Yet according to this new book, an oral history of McCartney’s band Wings, there is still much to be excavated from what is the most examined life in pop music history, especially when it comes from the horse’s mouth. The book is ostensibly “authored” by McCartney even though it is an oral history that has been edited by Ted Widmer, an estimable historian and a former speechwriter for Bill Clinton. Widmer has also written third-person interstitial information to guide the reader through the story.

Stitching together interviews with McCartney, his wife Linda, erstwhile Beatles, and the various musicians and other key players who found themselves pulled into the Wings orbit across the nearly decadelong tenure of the band, “Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run” is a smooth, frictionless ride across the arc of McCartney’s ’70s career, when he continued to mint more hits, and secured a lock on a massive career that is presently in its 55th year.

Joe English, Jimmy McCulloch, Linda McCartney, Paul McCartney and Denny Laine in 1976.

(Clive Arrowsmith / MPL Communications)

Hard as it is to fathom, McCartney has had pangs of doubt concerning his art and career, never more so than in the immediate aftermath of the Beatles’ breakup in 1970, when he found himself at loose ends, unsure of how to follow up the most spectacular first act in show business history. In the immediate aftermath of that epochal event, McCartney retreated to a 183-acre sheep farm on the Kintyre Peninsula in Argyllshire, Scotland, with his wife Linda and their young family. According to the book, there was uncertainty about his ability to write songs that could stand alongside his Beatles work. Hence, his first solo offering, “McCartney,” was mostly tentative, half-baked notions for songs, interlaced with a few fully realized compositions like “Maybe I’m Amazed,” all recorded by McCartney in his home studio.

Home recording sessions for the McCartney album in London, 1970.

( Linda McCartney / © 1970 Paul McCartney under exclusive licence to MPL Archive LLP)

But the gentleman farmer couldn’t stay down on the farm for long. Eventually, the old impulse to be in a band and to perform became McCartney’s new imperative, but he would go about it in an entirely different way. No more camping out in Abbey Road studios, the Beatles’ favorite laboratory, hiring out string sections and horn sections, ruminating over tracks for as long as it took. McCartney would instead take an incremental DIY approach, starting modestly and progressing accordingly. Instead of meticulously recording tracks, records would be dashed off spontaneously. Bob Dylan became a kind of North Star for how to approach a record: “Bob Dylan had done an album in a week,” says McCartney in the book. “I thought, ‘That’s a good idea.’’’

Paul McCartney, Wings Over the World tour, Philadelphia, 1976.

(Robert Ellis / MPL Communications)

It was around this time that McCartney hired Denny Laine, who became (aside from wife Linda) the only full-time member of Wings for the duration of the band’s life. The two had met years earlier, when the Beatles were partying in Birmingham with Laine and his band the Diplomats. “Truth be told, I needed a John,” McCartney admits in the book. The first Wings album, “Wild Life,” recorded in a barn on McCartney’s Scotland farm, was critically savaged, but listening to it now, it retains a certain homespun charm, the amiable slumming of a master musician tinkering with various approaches because he can and because it’s fun. A short tour of universities around the U.K. further contributed to the low-key vibe that McCartney was intent on maintaining; he was waiting for the right time to pounce on the American market, specifically, and reclaim his mantle as the King of Pop.

1973’s “Band on the Run” would be the album that cracked it wide open again for McCartney, but he was still in a rambling mood, this time eager to try one of EMI’s studios in Lagos, Nigeria. “It wasn’t the sort of paradise we thought it would be,” McCartney is quoted in the book, “but it didn’t matter, because we were basically spending a lot of time in the studio.” Once in Africa, Paul, Linda and Denny Laine were mugged, their tapes stolen. Another night, they were guests of the master afrobeat musician Fela Kuti, who invited the three to his Afrika Shrine club for an indelible performance: “It hit me so hard,” says Paul. “It was like boom, and I’ve never heard anything as good, ever, before or since.”

McCartney II recording sessions, Lower Gate Farm, Sussex, 1979.

(Linda McCartney / © 1979 Paul McCartney under exclusive licence to MPL Archive)

“Band on the Run” became an international smash and McCartney once again found himself playing arenas and stadiums with yet another iteration of Wings. It is also at this point that the story of Wings settles into a more of an “album-tour-album” narrative, save for a harrowing drug bust for pot in Japan on the eve of a Wings tour in January 1980, when McCartney spent nine days in jail. “I had all this really good grass, excellent stuff,” explains McCartney, who had cavalierly packed it in his suitcase. Once in jail he had to “share a bath with a bloke who was in for murder,” organizing “singsongs with other prisoners” until his lawyers arranged for his release. The bust would presage the dissolution of Wings; McCartney would release a solo album, “McCartney II,” in May.

Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney, Denny Seiwell and Denny Laine. Promotional photo shoot for “Wild Life,” 1971.

(Barry Lategan / © 1971 MPL Communications)

How you feel about the albums that Wings made after 1975’s excellent “Venus and Mars” will perhaps affect your judgment of the back half of “Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run.” But even a charitable fan will have a hard time making a strong claim for the albums that followed 1975’s “Venus and Mars,” which includes “London Town,” “At the Speed of Sound” and “Back to the Egg.” The book’s best stuff is to be found at the start, when the superstar was making his first baby steps toward renewed relevance, and then found it.

Weingarten is the author of “Thirsty: William Mulholland, California Water, and the Real Chinatown.”

AN ICONIC British pop band has been forced to scrap an upcoming performance amid one member’s battle with a mystery illness.

The Year 3000 hitmakers were due to take to the stage in Bradford for the Radio 1 Anthems show in the Yorkshire city.

Yet even though the gig isn’t until next month, Busted have revealed they’ve pulled out already.

It comes amid founding member James Bourne‘s ongoing, but as yet not disclosed, medical battles which have left the guitarist “really f**king sick.”

On a message posted to Busted’s official Instagram page, the band wrote: “We are sorry to say that we will no longer be performing at Radio 1’s Anthems Live in Bradford on November 15.

“James’ health is our priority and having discussed as a band we agree it wouldn’t feel right to do this without him.

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“We love Radio 1 and thank them very much for their understanding.”

They added: “We look forward to being back performing as a full band when the time is right.”

SHOW GOES ON

Just days before the arena run of tours was due to begin, James announced that he had been forced to pull out due to a health issue.

None of the boys wanted to let fans down and so they decided to push ahead with a replacement on guitar.

At the time, bassist Matt told the Birmingham crowd: “You may have noticed our best friend is not here tonight.

“James Bourne is really f***ing sick and we love him and we miss him.

“This is the first show we’ve ever played without him and it’s really weird but we’re going to do the best we can.

“This happened really fast, y’know, health is wealth.”

He explained how they asked James whether or not they should continue and he told them: “You should totally do it”.

They then introduced a familiar face to the stage.

Matt said: “You might recognise this little guy from the Year 3000 video. This is James’s brother Chris Bourne.”

Chris then appeared from the wings and was greeted by cheers.

During another show, Matt choked back tears on-stage as fan concern grew.

JAMES’ SAD STATEMENT

In a message to fans, James admitted he “wasn’t in good enough health” to perform on tour, in a series of gigs where the band had scheduled to teamed up with McFly.

The current run of live shows will wrap at the Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham on November 8.

In his statement, James cited health problems and said he “hoped to come back further down the line”.

He wrote: “The VS tour kicks off tomorrow night in Birmingham and as excited as I’ve been all year for this tour to begin, I’m really sorry to say that over the last 8 days it has become clear that I am not in good enough health to play these shows,”

Although he didn’t disclose what the health issue is, James said: “There’s a lot of information I still don’t have about my condition but my bandmates, management and I are unanimous in deciding that I should focus on medical stuff for now.

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“I really hope I can be in a position to come back further down the line.

“It’s still going to be an amazing show and I will miss being there!”

Jack DeJohnette, the prolific and versatile jazz drummer who played with Sonny Rollins, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Charles Lloyd, Bill Evans, Freddie Hubbard and Miles Davis — including on Davis’ groundbreaking 1970 album “Bitches Brew,” which helped kick off the jazz fusion era — died Sunday. He was 83.

His death was announced in a post on Instagram, which said he died at a hospital in Kingston, N.Y., near his home in Woodstock. DeJohnette’s wife, Lydia, told NPR the cause was congestive heart failure.

As a member of Davis’ band in the late ’60s and early ’70s — a group that also counted Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter, Keith Jarrett and Billy Cobham among its members — DeJohnette pumped out psychedelic rock and funk rhythms that put Davis’ music in conversation with that of artists like James Brown and Sly Stone. In addition to “Bitches Brew,” which was inducted this year into the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry, DeJohnette played on Davis’ “At Fillmore,” “Live-Evil” and “On the Corner” albums, the last of which was panned by critics when it came out but now is regarded as a jazz-funk landmark.

DeJohnette won two Grammy Awards on six nominations; in 2012, he was named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment of the Arts.

Living Colour’s Vernon Reid, who played on DeJohnette’s 1992 album “Music for the Fifth World,” called DeJohnette “the GOAT” on social media on Monday and wrote that his “influence & importance to Jazz, and contemporary improvised music can not be overstated.”

DeJohnette was born Aug. 9, 1942, in Chicago. Encouraged by an uncle who worked as a jazz radio DJ, he learned to play piano as a child and went on to play with Sun Ra as he circulated among the forward-looking artists of Chicago’s Assn. for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. He moved to New York in the mid-’60s and joined Charles Lloyd’s quartet before collaborating with Evans and then with Davis.

“We couldn’t wait to play,” he said of his tenure in Davis’ band in a 1990 interview with The Times. “Miles developed our talents by allowing us to progress naturally, having us play his music and accept the responsibility that goes with discipline and freedom. He learned from us, and we learned from him.”

After leaving Davis’ band, DeJohnette continued collaborating with Jarrett, the influential pianist; the two formed a long-running group known as the Standards Trio with the bassist Gary Peacock that focused on material from the Great American Songbook. The drummer also led the bands New Directions and Special Edition and formed groups with Ravi Coltrane and with John Scofield.

In 2016, he released “Return,” a solo-piano album that served as a sequel of sorts to 1985’s “The Jack DeJohnette Piano Album.” According to the New York Times, DeJohnette’s survivors include his wife, who also managed his career, and their two daughters.

FORMER Sugababes star Amelle Berrabah has confirmed she’ll “reveal secrets” about the band after being ousted from the reunion.

The popstar, now 41, joined the girl group in December 2005 as a replacement for Mutya Buena and stayed with the band until they went on hiatus at the end of 2011.

When the Sugababes came to end, Amelle was singing alongside Heidi Range, who joined the group in 2001, and last recruit Jade Ewen, who came on board in 2009.

Whilst with Heidi and Jade, Amelle released the Suagbabes seventh album Sweet 7 before the band “fizzled out”.

At the same time, the band’s original line-up, Mutya, Keisha Buchanan and Siobhan Donaghy began performing together again and by 2019 won a legal battle to re-gain the band name Sugababes – essentially preventing the other three from ever reuniting.

Now Amelle is getting her own back on being ousted from the band’s reunion.

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She is set to spill “secrets” in an explosive new BBC documentary called Girlbands Forever.

Posting about the doc on Instagram, she wrote: “Had such a wonderful time chatting all things girlbands for the BBC show ‘Girlbands Forever’.

“It brought back so many amazing memories — from my time in the Sugababes to the incredible era of pop that shaped so many of us.

“So grateful to have been part of it all, and to share a few laughs (and maybe a few secrets 😜) along the way!

“Sending love to all the girlbands who paved the way and to all the music lovers who still keep the music alive!

“Girlbands Forever promises a nostalgic trip through that time in pop music history.”

It comes as The Sun asked Amelle last year if she ever saw any of the Sugababes stars anymore.

She admitted she hadn’t heard from any of the original three and revealed that there has been virtually no contact with them ever.

The star, who is the only Sugababe to achieve a solo number one away from the group, said: “I’ve never met Siobhan, I’ve heard great things, though.

“Mutya, the only day I’ve ever met her was to wish me luck for CDUK and we had a little chat and a cuddle.

“That’s literally the only time I’ve ever met her.

“And then Keisha, we haven’t spoken in a few years to be honest.”

Girlbands Forever airs on BBC Two and the BBC iPlayer on November 1 at 9,20pm

Sugababes – over the years

Siobhan Donaghy (1998-2001, 2013-present)

Keisha Buchanan (1998-2009, 2013-present)

Mutya Buena (1998-2005, 2013-present)

Heidi Range (2001-2011)

Amelle Berrebah (2005-2011)

Jade Ewen (2009-2011)

THIS the stuff of Dreams for millions of fans across the globe and now there’s fresh hope for a Fleetwood Mac reunion.

The group have not performed together since 2019 and they were left devastated when Christine McVie died in 2022.

But I’ve been told that there are serious discussions behind the scenes about a series of projects involving all of the remaining members to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their album Rumours, which is among the best-selling and most critically acclaimed records of all time.

At the centre of the plans is said to be Mick Fleetwood, who is leading peace talks between former couple Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, as well as John McVie.

A one-off show, a TV special and a documentary about the making of Rumours are among options being discussed for the 2027 milestone.

And Warner Records is also preparing a special re-release of the album featuring unheard material from the original studio sessions.

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A source close to Mick in the US said: “Fleetwood Mac are discussing new projects and how to mark Rumours’ big 5-0. For certain there is a special edition version of the album coming, which the band and label have been secretly looking at.

“But also there is a significant hope that it is time for the definitive documentary on all the chaos in the studio that created the magic on record.

“John and Christine were divorcing and she was dating their lighting guy. Stevie and Lindsey were over just before she and Mick enjoyed a brief fling. And drugs and booze were everywhere.

“The desire is for everyone to sit down and present their side of events on screen.

“And then of course comes the potential for a stage reunion and concert. That is the goal from Mick.

“Stevie has said it would not feel right being on stage without Christine, but also she and Lindsey are on a healing journey right now, which could be the path to a new show.

“However there is a desire to pay tribute to Christine in some way and a live show around Rumours seems a very fitting way.

“The gig would fill a stadium dozens of times because of the love they command.

“But unless some major shift happens, a tour is unlikely at this stage.”

Aaron Bay-Schuck, co-chairman and CEO of Warner Records confirmed at LA’s City of Hope gala that “some very special” music leftover from the making of Rumours had been found.

He said: “We will do everything in our power to respect that anniversary as long as they’ll let us.”

Last month, Stevie and Lindsey suggested relations had thawed when they reissued their 1973 Buckingham Nicks album.

And in March, Mick admitted: “I always have a fantasy that [Stevie] and Lindsey would pal up a bit more and just say everything’s OK for them both.”

They are beloved by an entirely new generation now thanks to social media, so there will be millions around the globe hoping they can patch things up for one last hurrah.

Aaron Bay-Schuck was at City of Hope’s Spirit of Life gala to celebrate co-chairman and Warner Records COO Tom Corson, who was honoured at the event.

It is the centrepiece of the music, film and entertainment industry’s annual philanthropic campaign and raised nearly $6million.

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Funds from the campaign are fueling leading research and survivorship programs for young adults, including music therapy.

Michael Buble, Cher and members of Linkin Park were among other guests who were there in LA last week.

OASIS have confirmed the replacement for guitarist Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs after he left the band’s tour to have cancer treatment.

The Manchester rockers have brought in Mike Moore from frontman Liam Gallagher‘s solo band for gigs in Asia and Australia.

A source told the Mirror: “Mike Moore has been playing for Liam since 2017 and so he knows plenty of the Oasis tunes from the solo gigs.

“It’s not a full time slot in the band and everyone wants Bonehead well and back but it’s a huge privilege for Mike and he’s excited to get on the stage.”

Moore has a long list of credits to his name including contributions to records by Baxter Dury, Duffy, Trampolene, James Arthur and Peter Doherty.

At the beginning of the month, Bonehead told fans in a social media post that he had been responding well to treatment for prostate cancer after being diagnosed at the start of 2025.

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The musician, 60, said he was moving onto the second phase of his treatment and as a result needed to miss a leg of the reunion tour.

His statement read: “Early this year I was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

“The good news is I’m responding really well to treatment, which meant I could be part of this incredible tour.

“Now, I am having to take a planned break for the next phase of my care, so I’ll be missing the gigs in Seoul, Tokyo, Melbourne and Sydney.

“I’m really sad to be missing these shows but I’m feeling good and will be back ready to go in time for South America.

“Have an amazing time if you’re going this month and I’ll see you back onstage with the band in November.”

He is due to return to the stage on November 15 in Buenos Aires for the first of the final five concerts of the tour.

Oasis shared the statement on X and added: “Wishing you all the best with your treatment Bonehead – we’ll see you back on stage in South America.”

Noel Gallagher’s daughter also Anais wished him well, commenting on Instagram: “We love you so much bonehead!” while Liam’s daughter Molly Moorish wrote: “Sending love!”

Bonehead was in the band from 1991 to 1999 and played on some of their biggest hits.

The musician then rejoined when they reunited for their hugely lucrative Oasis Live ‘25 Tour.

Bonehead, who has two children with his wife Kate, previously told in 2022 how he had been diagnosed with tonsil cancer, although he was later given the all-clear.

Sam Rivers, the founding bassist of the band Limp Bizkit, has died at age 48, the band announced Saturday.

“Today we lost our brother. Our bandmate. Our heartbeat,” the band wrote in an Instagram post. “Sam Rivers wasn’t just our bass player — he was pure magic. The pulse beneath every song, the calm in the chaos, the soul in the sound.”

The post did not cite a cause of death.

Formed in Jacksonville, Fla., Limp Bizkit and lead singer Fred Durst rose to prominence in the late ’90s and early 2000s with its mix of rock and hip-hop.

Rivers also sang backup vocals for the band, which topped radio charts with songs including “Break Stuff,” “Nookie,” “Re-Arranged” and “My Way.”

“From the first note we ever played together, Sam brought a light and a rhythm that could never be replaced. His talent was effortless, his presence unforgettable, his heart enormous,” the band wrote in the post. “We shared so many moments — wild ones, quiet ones, beautiful ones — and every one of them meant more because Sam was there.”

The tribute was signed by Durst, along with band members Wes Borland, John Otto and DJ Lethal.

“He was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of human. A true legend of legends. And his spirit will live forever in every groove, every stage, every memory,” it said. “We love you, Sam. We’ll carry you with us, always. Rest easy, brother. Your music never ends.”

In a comment on the post, Leor Dimant — also known as DJ Lethal — asked people to “please respect the family’s privacy at this moment.” He added that fans can “give Sam his flowers” by playing his bass lines all day.

“Rest in power my brother,” Dimant wrote. “You will live on through your music and the lives you helped save with your music, charity work and friendships.”

SAM Rivers, bassist for rock-rap group Limp Bizkit, has died aged 48, according to an emotional statement from the band.

His fellow band members paid tribute to their “brother” on social media after he passed away on Saturday evening.

Announcing the news to fans on Instagram, the band wrote: “In Loving Memory of Our Brother, Sam Rivers. Today we lost our brother.

“Our bandmate. Our heartbeat. Sam Rivers wasn’t just our bass player — he was pure magic.

“The pulse beneath every song, the calm in the chaos, the soul in the sound.”

They added: “From the first note we ever played together, Sam brought a light and a rhythm that could never be replaced.

“His talent was effortless, his presence unforgettable, his heart enormous. We shared so many moments — wild ones, quiet ones, beautiful ones — and every one of them meant more because Sam was there.”

“He was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of human. A true legend of legends,” the statement continued.

“And his spirit will live forever in every groove, every stage, every memory.”

The band concluded: “We love you, Sam. We’ll carry you with us, always. Rest easy, brother. Your music never ends. — Fred, Wes, John & DJ Lethal.”

The 48-year-old’s cause of death is yet to be revealed.

In 2015, Rivers left the band after being diagnosed with liver disease due to excessive drinking.

He revealed that he had undergone a liver transplant before rejoining the band in 2018.

Rivers was a founding member of Limp Bizkit, having formed the band with Fred Durst and John Otto in 1994.

The band then added guitarist Wes Borland and DJ Lethal in 1996.

The group dropped six albums, including critically-acclaimed “Significant Other” and “Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water”.

Rivers has played on all six albums, four of which have been certified platinum or multi-platinum.

Limp Bizkit are best known for songs including “Behind Blue Eyes” and “Take a Look Around.”

A SONG by Pulp was wrongly subtitled with lines from Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple in a BBC blunder.

Phrases such as “Morning, Miss Marple. How’s the leg?” accompanied Jarvis Cocker.

Hard-of-hearing viewers were baffled as the frontman belted out Spike Island at the Mercury Prize awards ceremony on Thursday night.

Subtitles as he prowled the stage included, “Oooh then… Then the secretary girl came up with Heather Babcock”.

He also appeared to sing, “Dr Haydock, I would be very distressed if I thought you believed”, as well as “On and on she went” and “Honestly, she did go on so!”

Jarvis, 62, later posted snaps online, and wrote: “It appears our performance was accompanied by…… the subtitles to an episode of Miss Marple!”

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The singer, quizzed by police when he wiggled his bum at Michael Jackson at the 1996 Brit Awards, wrote: “Whodunnit?”

He added: “I suspect the butler….”

Fans lapped it up, with some saying they could be real Pulp lyrics.

Another joked, in the style of 1995 classic Common People: “Miss Marple from St Mary Mead she had a thirst for sleuthing.”

Christie’s 1980 movie The Mirror Crack’d, with Angela Lansbury as Miss Marple, was shown earlier on BBC4.

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Ace Frehley, who played lead guitar as a founding member of the face-painted, blood-spitting, fire-breathing hard-rock band Kiss, died Thursday in Morristown, N.J. He was 74.

His death was announced by his family, which said he’d recently suffered a fall. “In his last moments, we were fortunate enough to have been able to surround him with loving, caring, peaceful words, thoughts, prayers and intentions as he left this earth,” the family said in a statement.

In his alter ego as the Spaceman, Frehley played with the original incarnation of Kiss for less than a decade, from 1973 — when he formed the group in New York with Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons and Peter Criss — until 1982, when he quit not long after Criss left. Yet he was instrumental to the creation of the band’s stomping and glittery sound as heard in songs like “Detroit Rock City,” “Rock and Roll All Nite,” “Strutter” and “I Was Made for Lovin’ You.” In the late ’70s, those hits — along with Kiss’ over-the-top live show — made the group an inescapable pop-cultural presence seen in comic books and on lunch boxes; today the group is widely viewed as an early pioneer of rock ’n’ roll merchandising.

A member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Frehley rejoined Kiss in 1996 for a highly successful reunion, then left again in 2002 to return to the solo career he’d started in the early ’80s. In 2023, Kiss completed what Simmons and Stanley called a farewell tour with a hometown show at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

This obituary will be updated.

A Grammy Award for best new artist. Four top 10 hits since September 2024. Sold-out gigs packed with admirers in pink cowgirl hats wherever she goes.

At 27, Chappell Roan has unquestionably become one of pop’s new queens. But let it never be said that this powerhouse singer and songwriter rules without mercy.

As her band vamped on the intro to her song “Hot to Go!” on Friday night, Roan surveyed the tens of thousands spread across the leafy grounds surrounding the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

“We’re gonna teach you a dance,” she said, though few in the audience probably needed the lesson at this point in Roan’s ascent. For more than a year, social media has been awash in video clips of Roan’s fans doing a “Y.M.C.A.”-like routine in time to the frenzied chorus of “Hot to Go!”

But wait a minute: “There’s a dad in the crowd that’s not doing it,” Roan reported with practiced disbelief. The band stopped playing. “There’s a dad that’s not doing it,” she repeated — less incredulous than reproving now.

“But he looks really, really nice, so I’m not gonna do anything about it.”

Roan’s show Friday was the first of two in Pasadena to wrap a brief U.S. tour.

(Brian Feinzimer/For The Times)

Friday’s show, which Roan said was the biggest headlining date she’d ever played, was the first of two at Brookside at the Rose Bowl to conclude a brief run of U.S. concerts she’s calling Visions of Damsels & Other Dangerous Things. The performances in New York, Kansas City and Pasadena can be seen as something of a victory lap after the slow-building success of her 2023 debut album, “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess,” which beyond “Hot to Go!” has spun off numerous other hits including “My Kink Is Karma” and the inescapable “Pink Pony Club.”

That last song, which has more than a billion streams on Spotify and YouTube, documents a young queer woman’s sexual awakening at a West Hollywood gay club; Roan’s music sets thoughts of pleasure, heartache and self-discovery against a gloriously theatrical blend of synth-pop, disco, glam rock and old-fashioned torch balladry.

Having spent this past summer on the European festival circuit, she’s said that Visions of Damsels represents “the chance to do something special before going away to write the next album”; the mini-tour also keeps her in the conversation as nominations are being decided for next year’s Grammys, where she’s likely to vie for record and song of the year with “The Subway,” one of a handful of singles she’s released since “Midwest Princess.”

Yet as clearly as it showcased her natural star quality — the stage was designed like a gothic castle with various staircases for Roan to descend dramatically — this was really a demonstration of the intimate bond she’s forged with her fans, many of whom came to the show dressed in one of the singer’s signature looks: harlequin, majorette, prom queen, construction worker.

An hour or so into her 90-minute set, Roan sat in a giant throne with a toy creature she called her tour pet and recalled her move to Los Angeles nearly a decade ago from small-town Missouri.

“I had a really, really tough time the first five years,” she said, adding that she’d lived in Altadena when she first arrived. (In a bit of now-infamous Chappell Roan lore, she was dropped by Atlantic Records in 2020 after the label decided “Pink Pony Club” was not a hit.) She talked about how much she loves this city — “F— ICE forever,” she said at one point to huge applause — but bemoaned the “weird professionalism” she can feel when she’s onstage in L.A.

“I know there’s a lot of people in the music and film industry here, and I don’t want you to think about that,” she said. “Don’t f—ing talk about it. Don’t talk about work here. I just want you to feel like you did when you were a kid — when you were 13 and free.” She laughed.

“I’m just gonna shut up — I’m so dumb,” she said. Then she sang the lovelorn “Coffee” like someone confessing her greatest fear.

Roan said Friday’s show was the biggest headlining date she’d ever played.

(Brian Feinzimer/For The Times)

Though the castle set was impressively detailed, Roan’s production was relatively low-key by modern pop standards; she had no dancers and no special guests and wore just one costume that she kept removing pieces from to end up in a kind of two-piece dragon-skin bikini.

But that’s because at a Chappell Roan show, Chappell Roan is the show: a fearsomely talented purveyor of feeling and attitude whose campy sense of humor only heightens the exquisite melancholy of her music.

Her singing was immaculate yet hot-blooded, bolstered by a killer band that remade songs like “Good Luck, Babe!” and “Red Wine Supernova” as slashing ’80s-style rock; Roan covered Heart’s “Barracuda” with enough strutting imperiousness to compete with Nancy Wilson’s iconic guitar riff.

“The Giver” was a stomping glitter-country hoedown, “Naked in Manhattan” a naughty electro-pop romp. For “Picture You,” which is about longing to know a lover’s secrets, Roan serenaded a blond wig plopped atop a mic stand — a bit of absurdist theater she played completely straight.

The heart of the concert was the stunning one-two punch of “Casual” into “The Subway,” Roan’s most grandly emotional ballads, in which her voice soared with what seemed like total effortlessness.

After that is when the singer noticed that kindly dad shirking his duties in “Hot to Go!” Maybe the poor guy was just too dazzled to take part.

After 15 years, four records and a buzz-making barrage of shows, tours and festivals, the moody, multifaceted music of north London’s Wolf Alice is huge in the U.K., thanks to uniquely seductive soundscapes, visceral live shows and a relentless hunger for experimentation that melds rock, shoegaze and alternative pop.

With their latest studio album, “The Clearing,” the members are primed for the next level of success in the U.S., and it comes via songs that reflect their growth as individuals and as a collective.

Consisting of lead singer Ellie Rowsell, guitarist Joff Oddie, bassist Theo Ellis and drummer Joel Amey, Wolf Alice provides both feminine and masculine perspectives on life that feel resonant and real, with sonic approaches that can go from raging one moment to restrained the next. They’ve honed their sound even as they’ve continued to experiment with it. The result is exciting for them and for fans, now more than ever.

“This tour has been incredible. It’s definitely been the busiest and had the biggest shows we’ve ever played in America,” Ellis tells The Times via Zoom, noting that the band’s upcoming Wiltern date in Los Angeles on Oct. 13 is almost sold out.

Wolf Alice’s connection to Los Angeles is especially significant at this phase of its career. “The Clearing” was recorded here with famed producer Greg Kurstin (Adele, Miley Cyrus), who brought his pop sensibilities to the project, even as he encouraged the band to follow its own eclectic instincts, dipping into synthy, dancy elements and balladry with bite.

“We’ve had a different producer every album, so every experience has been quite different,” says drummer Amey, who joins our Zoom later. “He was just a very calm and positive force in the studio that made all of us feel very comfortable, to be able to be the best versions of ourselves … And it did come at a time where maybe even the four of us were second-guessing ourselves. We’d been in this headspace for a while about how we wanted to treat the sonics of the record. You can get stuck in that cycle … But he was so positive that he could help us get there, and he did.”

As Taylor Swift’s latest record brings scrutiny to the construction and thematics of pop music and its presentation, Wolf Alice’s seductive sway and wistful grit feels comparatively effortless, even if it’s just as accessible.

Buzz in the U.S. started after a killer set at Coachella 2016, but we caught Wolf Alice the following year at Dave Grohl’s Cal Jam in 2017. Its emotive alt-rock melodies and charisma more than held its own next to headliners including fellow-Brit Liam Gallagher and the Foo Fighters themselves (who the band has also toured with). The material, largely off its first and second albums, “My Love Is Cool” and “Visions of a Life,” respectively, offered a compelling blend of sharp riffage and dreamy textures, which reminded us of everyone from Smashing Pumpkins to Cocteau Twins at the time. Standout tracks we noted included the dissonant “Yuk Foo” and the sassy hit “Don’t Delete the Kisses.”

After another shimmering genre-blending release, 2021’s “Blue Weekend,” and now “The Clearing,” it’s almost a decade later, and the band is even harder to codify. The members are also bonafide touring and festival vets.

“In the U.K., festival culture is, like, a whole thing. The U.S. is kind of getting more like that too,” Amey says. “But European and U.K. festival culture is a rite of passage for a teenager … it’s ingrained. If you’re starting a band, you’re thinking about festivals at some point. So we love playing them. We played Glastonbury this year, and it just felt like a really wonderful way to say, ‘We’re back, here’s some new stuff,’ and also a celebration of the old stuff.”

Old or new, creative imagery has been a consistent component of Wolf Alice’s expression. Building upon the cinematic qualities of its music, its videos elevate not only its narratives but also its rock-star personas as well.

“This album explores themes of performance which I think is prevalent in the music videos and musically, in rock ’n’ roll which we also explore,” frontwoman Rowsell shares by email. “In the past Wolf Alice have shied away from performance videos so this marks a new vibe for us.”

“Bloom Baby Bloom,” which features an “All That Jazz”-style dance sequence (with choreography by L.A.’s Ryan Heffington, known for his magical movements on the Netflix cult fave “The OA” and in Sia’s “Chandelier”) brings out the drama and audacious expression of the song, especially Rowsell’s soaring vocals. It also highlights the band’s maturation and liberation as established artists at the height of their performing powers.

Similarly, “Just Two Girls,” a sweet ode to female friendship that’s a cool, ’70s soft-rock filler track on record, becomes more of a defiant anthem for feminine freedom on video.

“It’s a wonderful license of expression in which you can kind of do whatever you want,” reflects Ellis on the videos. “It’s absurdist in its nature and there are really interesting formats to explore. We’ve had some great experiences in America making them.”

The band has also had memorable moments on Amercian late-night TV, including “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” turning in wild appearances that reflect its name (inspired by a book about feral children raised by wolves).

And while good old-fashioned live performance has helped its popularity grow, the band acknowledges that the music industry is different — even from when it started 15 years ago, with streaming’s domination and platforms like TikTok exposing music to new audiences. For a band driven by its own interpersonal chemistry, interactions and influences, it’s not top of mind.

“We’re not concerned with how it’s going to be distributed to people fundamentally, as we’re creatively trying to satisfy ourselves,” Ellis says. “I don’t think the mechanics of [music discovery] are affecting what we’re making in the studio or the creative process. There’s so much for a band to create nowadays, and to worry about … from our perspective, the music is what comes first and then everything else is hopefully just kind of a fun way of presenting it to the world.”

A HUGE rock band has split after a decade together – and fans are completely gutted over the news.

Irish rockers Kodaline, known for their hits such as Brother, All I Want, and Moving On, have announced that they will soon be parting ways.

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Taking to social media to share the sad news, the band, which formed in 2005, wrote: “After over a decade, it’s time to say goodbye.

“With all our love. VSMJ.”

The caption accompanied a video, which saw the band performing on stage with a voiceover that played over the top.

In the voiceover, the band members could be heard saying: “After over a decade together we’ve made the difficult decision to say goodbye to Kodaline. 

“It might come as a surprise, and it’s definitely bittersweet for us too.

“What we’ve shared has changed our lives forever. 

“From busking on the streets of Dublin to playing shows across the world, it really has been the stuff that dreams are made of.

“We want it to end on a high, so before we say goodbye, we’re heading into the studio one last time to record our fifth and final album as Kodaline. 

“We are, and always will be, forever grateful for your love and support.”

They went on: “It’s been a journey that we’ll never forget and we hope that the music stays with you long after we’re gone. 

“With all our love Vinny, Steve, Mark and Jay.”

Fans rushed to the comments to react to the heartbeaking news.

One person wrote: “Nah why you gotta ruin my week like this.”

“Please don’t,” pleaded another.

“Thank you for being there for so many of us through your songs,” added a third.

A fourth said: “Through every heartbreak and healing, your songs stayed. I’ll always love you—honestly, completely, endlessly.”

While a fifth penned: “NOOOO PLEASEEE i’ve never been to your concert wdym i’ll never have the chance to see you guys live.”

And fellow Irish musicians Jedward added: “You can never fully say goodbye to Kodaline so we’ll see ya in the year 2030 something.

“Cause your to iconic not to come back and slay once again.”

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The surviving members of progressive rock titans Rush will reunite for a 50th anniversary tour in 2026.

Rush co-founders Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson will play 12 dates in honor of the band’s late drummer Neil Peart, whose monumental percussion talents made Rush a defining act in prog rock. The tour will begin June 7 at the Kia Forum — the site of the band’s last show with Peart in 2015.

“After all that has gone down since that last show, Alex and I have done some serious soul searching and come to the decision that we f— miss it,” Lee said in a statement announcing the tour. “And that it’s time for a celebration of 50-something years of Rush music.”

The question of a Rush reunion without Peart, who died of brain cancer in 2020, was a fraught one. Even up to last year, Lifeson had told Rolling Stone that “there’s no chance that we’re going to get a drummer and go back on the road as the rebirth of Rush or something like that.”

For this tour, the band will be joined by Anika Nilles, a German drummer acclaimed for her work with Jeff Beck.

“As we all know, Neil was irreplaceable,” Lee said in the band’s statement. “Yet life is full of surprises, and we’ve been introduced to another remarkable person; an incredible drummer and musician who is adding another chapter to our story while continuing her own fascinating musical journey. Her name is Anika Nilles, and we could not be more excited to introduce her to our loyal and dedicated Rush fan base, whom, we know, will give her every chance to live up to that near-impossible role.”

In their own statement, Peart’s wife Carrie Nuttall-Peart and daughter Olivia gave their blessing for the tour: “We are thrilled to support the Fifty Something Tour, celebrating a band whose music has resonated and inspired fans for generations, and to honor Neil’s extraordinary legacy as both a drummer and lyricist.”

On a recent Friday afternoon in London, Jarvis Cocker, 62, is musing over the suit he’s just picked up from the Portobello Road Market: “I’m quite pleased with it,” he says.

He’s also grabbed some clogs — not to wear but to look at — and he notes that his wife “hates them,” but he’s happily in awe of the pair.

The outing represents a blissful break for Pulp’s leading man; it’s been a little more than two months since the group’s eighth studio effort, which debuted at No. 1 on the U.K. album charts. “More” comes more than two decades after their last project, “We Love Life,” released in 2001.

“I’ve come to realize over 24 years that I enjoy making music,” Cocker says. “It’s a main source of enjoyment. I mean, I enjoy being with my wife and stuff like that. But in terms of creativity, it’s my favorite thing to do.”

When Cocker first started making music — around “15 or 16” — he saw forming a band as a way for him to “navigate the world at a safe distance.”

“I was always quite a shy kid, so it was difficult for me to talk to people,” he recalls. “To talk to people from a stage, rather than to their faces… that worked to a certain extent.”

Though generally considered the “underdogs” of Britpop, Pulp produced some of the most intriguing sounds of the ’90s.

(Tom Jackson)

But the band’s early attempts to make the grade had fallen flat on its face. Unlike some of the group’s Britpop peers, Pulp had been around since the ’80s — Blur, Oasis, and Suede all released their debuts in the first half of the ’90s.

“It” came out as a mini-LP of sorts, under Red Rhino Records, with a short 31-minute run time over eight tracks.

“It was a deafening silence,” Cocker says of its reception. “It really didn’t sell anything at all … We played a few concerts, and then the band fell apart.”

He adds that at that point, he was considering giving up music, shipping off to Liverpool and studying English. He’d been offered entry into a program there, but two months before he was due to start, he got a call from Russell Senior.

“[He] asked me what I was doing, and I said, ‘Oh, I’m giving up music, it’s not working out’” he says. “We had a rehearsal just him, me, and Magnus Doyle [brother of Candida Doyle, Pulp’s eventual keyboardist], and it was exciting.”

Notably, he remembers thinking, “I don’t want to go read English. I’m going to stay in Sheffield and see what happens.”

Though the group would inch closer to what we now know as Pulp’s lineup, the musicians faced similar problems: They “didn’t sell anything” and were “quite ignored.” In fact, it wasn’t until Cocker went off to college to study filmmaking at Central Saint Martins — taking a sabbatical from Pulp and then returning in 1991 — that the band was asked to play a concert in ’92 and gained some traction.

Later that year, Britpop fame followed, as they were asked to play a Parisian festival alongside some would-be familiar faces: Blur and Lush.

“It was like we had some friends at last,” he jokes.

A historic run of releases came in the following decade, with “His ‘n’ Hers,” “Different Class” and “This Is Hardcore” all concocted in a period of four years.

“Having been a real … wilderness for a long time, and feeling very out on a limb … to be considered part of a movement, at least at first, was exciting,” he recalls.

“Once we actually got a chance to become popular, especially after ‘Common People’ had been a hit … then we had to record ‘Different Class’ very quickly to kind of capitalize on that.”

But the grind began to slow down to a halt. He confesses that after Pulp released “This Is Hardcore” in 1998, he began contemplating whether he “should still be in a band.” In the face of growing popularity, Cocker’s image became more well known, and the lens began to close in.

“It just put me into a different kind of social situation that I didn’t really enjoy,” he remembers. “So, I was conflicted.”

Around 2002 — one year after the release of “We Love Life” — the group quietly disbanded. In the more than two decades in between, Cocker positioned himself as a bit of a renaissance man, while pulling away from the Pulp lifestyle and delving into a solo career.

He waded into broadcast media, serving as a host on BBC Radio 6 Music’s “Jarvis Cocker’s Sunday Service,” wrote a memoir titled “Mother, Brother, Lover,” and made a cameo in “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” in 2005 as part of the fictional band the Weird Sisters. His bandmates? Jonny Greenwood, Jason Buckle and Pulp bass guitarist Steve Mackey.

“I have written a book, and I presented radio shows, and I enjoy those. But music, to me … it’s a way of me making sense of what has happened to me in my life,” he says. “I write about things that have happened, and I, in a way, dramatize them by putting music to it.”

“I fell in love with music at a very early age, and so it feels like a magical thing to be able to make something that you like so much,” he adds.

In this lengthy love affair with music, it was inevitable that he would return to his first love: Pulp.

“More” returns to the band’s sonic roots, with thoughtful tunes such as “Grown Ups” and “A Sunset.”

(Tom Jackson)

When the band began working on “More,” Cocker’s main concern was that his bandmates would have thought they were “being sentenced to three years’ jail time.”

“I was loath to say to the band, ‘Let’s make an album,’ just because the last two Pulp albums that we’ve done, ‘This Is Hardcore’ and ‘We Love Life,’ had taken so long to record,” he explains.

For further context, “This is Hardcore” took around three years to record. “More” would only take three weeks and was released on June 6.

“There were songs that I knew could be good, but we’d never managed to realize them properly,” he says. “And then there were newer songs, and some songs that I’d done that I tried to play in the band, “Jarvis,” but hadn’t quite worked out.”

“The thing that makes a song good … You can’t control it, and sometimes it works easily, and sometimes it doesn’t work at all … we were just lucky, maybe because we’d left it for a long time.”

He also credits the album’s swift completion to working with music producer James Ford, who previously refined tracks for a seemingly endless list of artists. Some recent highlights include Blur’s “The Ballad of Darren,” Fontaines D.C.’s “Romance” and “Forever, Howlong,” by Black Country, New Road.

“He created a really good environment for us to record in, and everybody felt quite relaxed,” Cocker says. “It seemed like it was ready. So, it was just, ‘OK, it’s ripe. Just pick it from the tree and eat it.’”

Fresh off the June release, Cocker also kick-started a tour with dates across the U.K. and Ireland. In September, he landed in Atlanta for its North American leg, which features two shows in Los Angeles.

In particular, these stand out because Pulp will play alongside LCD Soundsystem at the Hollywood Bowl on Thursday and Friday. Simply put, Murphy said, “We’re playing at the Hollywood Bowl, would you like to come play with us?” — to which Cocker replied, “That would be good.”

It’s all been going relatively swimmingly for him, who simply sticks to his ways. But who is Jarvis Cocker in 2025?

He pauses a moment before speaking.

“It’s hard to put it into words, but I came to the realization that I wanted to live, or attempt to live, more in a world of feelings than in a world of ideas,” he says, thoughtfully. “So yeah, that’s my experiment at the moment. I’ll let you know how it goes.”