Strictly Come Dancing fans will be faced with watching new hosts from next series and they have made their thoughts heard about who they would like to replace Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly
Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly announced they are leaving Strictly Come Dancing(Image: BBC)
Tess and Claudia have been the long-time faces of the hit BBC show. But their joint statement revealed this is to be their last series fronting the contest.
Now, a surprise pairing has been called out by fans to take over the baton. Commenting on a behind-the-scenes video from this year’s Pride of Britain Awards, fans have expressed their desire for the couple behind LadBaby to take centre stage on the contest.
LadBaby, whose real name is Mark Hoyle, and his wife, Roxanne, were suited and booted for the ceremony, and as they showed their unique personality in the sneak peek, fans were loving their energy.
One user gushed: “These two beautiful people are my pick for the new hosts to replace Tess and Rylan to replace Claudia on strictly.” A second agreed, saying: “Wow this was brilliant you two are amazing you presented this like real professionals , you both need to be grabbed up for your own show.”
Others didn’t specifically name Strictly, but insisted the pair deserved more time on the small screen. “You two are absolute naturals you should have your own morning show,” another penned.
And a fourth said: “You both make such fabulous hosts. So natural. Hopefully we will get to see you presenting more!” Claudia and Tess’ announcement sees the duo leave their roles after over a decade together. While the decision was a shock to some, it has long been hinted by the pair.
Tess recently revealed she wanted more weekends to herself. On the Happy Mum Happy Baby podcast she revealed how she would miss her children – Phoebe, 20, and Amber 16 – when they move away but it also would have its benefits.
And it was then that she spoke about the fact that in recent years she had missed out on lots of weekends away with pals due to being a mum as well as her Strictly commitments.
She said: “I’m not someone who goes for a day to the spa. I’m thinking, what do my kids need me to do today? Do you know what I mean?
“So I’m always making up for that. If I’ve worked for a day or two, then I’m like, now this time I need to do more for them because I was absent here. So I’m always trying to make up for that. So if I, you know, remove them from that picture.
“Yeah, I don’t know. I mean, it could be quite lovely. Could be really great. I could be on weekend breaks with my girlfriends to Ibiza. How about that? I might be back dancing on podiums.”
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta hails the performance of wingers Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke, who both chipped in with assists in a 3-0 victory against Nottingham Forest.
Mark Volman, the singer who co-founded the buoyant 1960s hitmakers the Turtles and was half of the humorous harmony duo Flo & Eddie, has died. He was 78.
Representatives for Volman confirmed the death to Rolling Stone, citing a “brief, unexpected illness.” In 2020, Volman was diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia, but continued touring and only announced his diagnosis in 2023.
When promoting his memoir “Happy Forever: My Musical Adventures with the Turtles, Frank Zappa, T. Rex, Flo & Eddie, and More” in 2023, Volman went public with his 2020 diagnosis of Lewy body dementia, a disease that results in a decline in cognitive ability, affecting reasoning, memory and movement.
In a People magazine story, Volman accepted his fate: “I got hit by the knowledge that this was going to create a whole new part of my life. And I said, ‘OK, whatever’s going to happen will happen, but I’ll go as far as I can.’”
Volman’s partner in both the Turtles and Flo & Eddie was Howard Kaylan, a high-school friend who turned into a lifelong creative partner. Sharing a taste for sweet melodies, cultural fads and unrepentant silliness, Volman and Kaylan adeptly navigated the cultural changes of the 1960s, steering the Turtles from surf-rock survivors to psychedelic freaks over the course of a decade.
The group’s sweet spot arrived in the second half of the 1960s, when they polished their Southern Californian folk-rock with studio savvy, creating hits — “Happy Together,” “She’d Rather Be With Me,” “Elenore” and “You Showed Me” — that appealed to mainstream listeners — they were the favorite band of Richard Nixon’s daughter Tricia, even playing the White House in 1970 — while winking at hipper audiences.
As they drifted away from the middle of the road, the Turtles could occasionally give the sense that they were too smart for the room; one of their best albums, 1968’s “The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands,” was constructed as a concept album where the group adopted a different guise and musical style for each track.
The Turtles in 1967, clockwise from top left: Al Nichol, Jim Tucker, Mark Volman, Howard Kaylan, Johnny Barbara and Jim Pon.
(Central Press / Hulton Archive / Getty Images)
Volman and Kaylan capitalized on this quirk when they rechristened themselves as Flo & Eddie, a moniker they devised after a bitter legal battle with their former record label left them without the right to perform either as the Turtles or using their own names. During this period, Frank Zappa invited Flo & Eddie to join his Mothers of Invention, giving the duo a boost that led to an enduring career.
Flo & Eddie specialized in providing harmonic support to high profile acts: they toured with Alice Cooper, sang on T. Rex’s landmark glam album “Electric Warrior” and were recruited to sing on Bruce Springsteen’s “Hungry Heart” when the Boss was looking for Beach Boys-like harmonies. On their own, Volman and Kaylan also honed their comedic shtick as recording artists, later taking their act to radio and, once they reacquired the rights to the Turtles moniker, on the road, playing the oldies circuit into the 2010s.
Unlike many other oldies acts, Volman and Kaylan possessed sharp business skills, acquired after their messy fallout with their record label, White Whale. Once they regained their master tapes, they licensed their catalog to reissue labels and kept a vigilant eye on how their recordings were disseminated in the marketplace.
On realizing that the Turtles’ “You Showed Me” provided a pivotal sample on De La Soul‘s 1989 debut album, “3 Feet High and Rising,” the duo sued the rap pioneers for $2.5 million in exemplary and punitive damages. The matter was settled out of court in favor of Volman and Kaylan; while the terms were not publicly disclosed, they reportedly were awarded $1.7 million in damages. The lawsuit and its fallout effectively ended the golden age of sampling in hip-hop.
Mark Volman during the 10th anniversary of the Happy Together tour at Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza in 2019.
(Scott Dudelson / Getty Images)
Born in Los Angeles on April 19, 1947, Volman grew up in a musical household in the neighborhood of Westchester. Even when he was young, relatives were struck by his exuberant personality. His aunt Ann Becker recalled in “Happy Forever”: “I can remember my mother shaking her head and saying, ‘That boy is so smart — he shouldn’t be so silly.’”
By the time he enrolled at Westchester High — his classmates included comedian Phil Hartman and Manson Family member Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme — Volman had gravitated toward irreverence.
Meeting New York transplant Kaylan in choir, Volman soon became part of the Crossfires, playing saxophone alongside his new friend in the surf-rock combo. The Crossfires had two singles to their name before they signed to the fledgling White Whale Records in 1965. Already in the process of abandoning surf for folk-rock — Volman and Kaylan swapped their saxes for lead vocals — the group’s members accepted their new label’s suggestion to rename themselves; they rejected the stylized spelling of the Tyrtles in favor of the Turtles.
Taking a cue from the Byrds’ hit version of Bob Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man,” the Turtles released a revved-up cover of Dylan’s “It Ain’t Me Babe” that squarely hit the zeitgeist, climbing into the Billboard Top 10 in summer 1965. Volman later remembered, “I graduated from high school in February 1965 and was on tour in June with a Top 10 record and on the Dick Clark Show.”
A couple of spirited sequels, “Let Me Be” and “You Baby,” kept the band in the Top 40 into 1966 but the Turtles’ hot streak quickly cooled, as a series of singles — including “Outside Chance,” written by White Whale staffer Warren Zevon — barely scraped the charts. “Happy Together,” a song rejected by a number of pop groups, revived the group’s fortunes, thanks in part to a sterling arrangement masterminded by new bassist Chip Douglas.
“Happy Together” topped the charts and would become one of the standards of its era, appearing often in commercials and films. In 1967, it propelled the Turtles back to the upper reaches of the charts, a place they’d stay through 1969, as they accumulated such hits as “She’d Rather Be With Me” and “Elenore.”
By far the biggest act on the small-scale White Whale, the Turtles were subjected to pressure by the label to record more commercial material, yet Volman and Kaylan kept pushing the band to make hip music. When the label suggested firing the rest of the Turtles, the singers arranged for the remaining three members to share songwriting credits on “The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands,” the first album they released after the success of “Happy Together.” On their final album, “Turtle Soup,” the Turtles hired Ray Davies as their producer; it was his first production outside his main band, the Kinks.
Tensions between the Turtles and White Whale escalated in 1970, leading the group to disband. In turn, the label exercised a clause in the band‘s recording contract that prevented the members from performing either “individually or collectively,” effectively barring Volman and Kaylan from continuing to work either as a group or as themselves. The pair decided to call themselves the Phlorescent Leech & Eddie, a name that would swiftly be shortened to Flo & Eddie; Volman was the former, Kaylan the latter.
Zappa brought the duo into his Mothers of Invention ensemble not long after the implosion of the Turtles. They stayed with him through an eventful year that included a concert in Montreux, Switzerland, that ended with the venue engulfed in fire; Deep Purple memorialized the event in “Smoke on the Water.”
Alice Cooper, second from left, with Mark Volman (drinking beverage) and bandmates in Copenhagen, Denmark, 1972.
(Jorgen Angel / Redferns / Getty Images)
Beginning with 1972’s “The Phlorescent Leech & Eddie,” Flo & Eddie released a series of increasingly facetious albums throughout the 1970s, but they had greater success singing harmonies for T. Rex and Cooper. “Hungry Heart,” Springsteen’s first Top 10 hit, served as a curtain call for this period of Flo & Eddie’s career. Soon, the duo put their days as recording artists to rest. While they still would contribute original music to animated television shows, including specials focusing on “Strawberry Shortcake” and “The Care Bears” series, the duo stopped writing and recording new Flo & Eddie music.
The move coincided with the duo finally winning back the rights to their names. Volman and Kalyan began this process in 1974, when they acquired the Turtles’ master recordings when White Whale assets were up for auction.
A decade later, they were able to tour as The Turtles … featuring Flo & Eddie, a billing they’d retain into the 2010s, until Kaylan retired from the road in 2018. With Ron Dante filling in for Kaylan, Volman continued performing as the Turtles as part of their regular Happy Together package tours.
Although Flo & Eddie embraced their status on the oldies circuit, they hadn’t faded entirely from modern music. When De La Soul sampled “You Showed Me” for their track “Transmitting Live From Mars” in 1989, the trio failed to clear the rights prior to release, so Volman and Kaylan sued the group, winning a large settlement that established a precedent for sample clearance in hip-hop.
The duo launched another major lawsuit in 2013 when they filed suit against Sirius XM for failing to pay sound recording royalties in California, New York and Florida. A California judge ruled in the duo’s favor in 2014, while a Florida judge ruled for Sirius XM in 2015. Although a settlement was reached in 2016, Sirius XM would win subsequent legal appeals in Florida and California.
Volman went back to school in 1992, pursuing a bachelor’s degree at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. After earning a master’s degree in screenwriting in 1999 at Loyola Marymount, Volman soon moved into teaching, eventually becoming an associate professor at the Mike Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn.
Volman is survived by his daughters, Sarina Marie and Hallie Rae, both from his marriage to Patricia Lee.
Running back Brian Bonner of Valencia High was handed the ball at the five-yard line and halted by Chaminade tacklers at the two. That’s when the pushing began. First there were three teammates, led by quarterback Brady Bretthauer, pushing the pile from behind. Soon there was five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10 teammates offensive players joining in making sure Bonner recorded a touchdown.
“That was fun,” Bonner said. “I didn’t have to do any work. They just pushed me into the end zone.”
It was that kind of a night for Valencia (2-0) in a 34-20 road victory over Chaminade. The Vikings got physical. Bonner, who has committed to Washington, rushed for 159 yards in 21 carries and scored two touchdowns. Bretthauer completed 12 of 16 passes for 244 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another.
“Win the push. That’s what we are all about,” Bretthauer said.
Coach Larry Muir pulled off a trick play his team had been practicing all week. Named “Snake,” Bretthauer took the snap, faked a handoff on a fly sweep, faked a handoff on a reverse and found a wide open Nico Funez for a 41-yard touchdown in the third quarter for a 27-14 lead.
Caysen Badawi led Valencia’s defense with two interceptions. Chaminade got some big plays, including touchdown receptions of 83 and 50 yards from Beau Lindus, but the physicality of the Vikings up front along the offensive and defensive lines made Muir scream to the players in a postgame huddle, “Listen — we got physical.”
Chaminde drove 80 yards at the end of the first half with less than one minute left to cut its deficit to 20-14 at halftime. Marquis Jones caught a five-yard touchdown pass from Cameron Pooley, who had 267 yards passing in the game. Jones rushed for 82 yards.
Otherwise, it was the Bonner show. He had a 32-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. He had a 44-yard run in the second half in which he turned on his afterburners.
The duo of Bretthauer and Bonner is going to be difficult to deal with all season. Bretthauer’s ability to run and pass, and make decisions when to give the ball to the speedy Bonner, offers options on offense.
“I think he’s a million bucks,” Muir said of Bretthauer. “He does everything well. Every intangible he’s off the charts — competitiveness, leadership, work ethic.”
Valencia is the clear favorite to win the Foothill League and gets a matchup against Bishop Amat next week.
It was a night of intriguing scores. Sierra Canyon’s defense continues to produce shutouts. The latest was a 63-0 win over Oaks Christian. Orange Lutheran rallied for a 27-24 win over Rancho Cucamonga. Orange Lutheran and Sierra Canyon meet Sept. 18. Chaminade (1-1) will next play Servite (1-1), a winner over Murrieta Valley.
No one really thought Clipse would get back together.
The duo, composed of brothers Pusha T and Malice, is well known for setting a new precedent for rap throughout the aughts. If you wipe the dust off and think back, you’ll probably remember them for hits like “Grindin’” or “When the Last Time,” both produced by the Neptunes — another duo, Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo — and both off of their debut, “Lord Willin’.”
At the surface level, Clipse was an insanely talented rap duo out of Virginia Beach, Va., closely linked to Pharrell, who would go on to be one of hip-hop’s most in-demand producers.
“I had just turned 8 when we moved from New York to Virginia,” Malice remembers. “I think it was a bit of a culture shock for me… I remember thinking how the people in Virginia just talked different.”
But the brothers, born Gene and Terrence Thornton, quickly noticed that a lot was happening around them. Malice remembers when they used to “congregate down at the ocean front” and freestyle: “everybody would come out there.”
It wasn’t long before they “bumped heads” with Pharrell, who was a friend of a friend.
“I had heard about Pharrell and he had heard about me,” Malice says. “One day, Pusha decided he wanted to rap on a song… it was called ‘A Thief in the Night.’”
“Pharrell was like, ‘Y’all should be a group.’ And we agreed, and it was easy… it all came together in Chad’s room in his attic.”
But their first brush with fame came even earlier than their debut, with the release of “The Funeral.” At the time, the brothers had struck a deal with Elektra Records with some help from Pharrell, but the company ultimately shelved their would-be debut “Exclusive Audio Footage,” which contained the song.
Clipse were released from their contract shortly after, but the project would live on through the love of fans — or, “family,” they say.
“For me, we were superstars when we shot ‘The Funeral’ video in ‘99 in Virginia… I mean, that was it; what else was there to do?” Pusha said. “The video debuted on HBO, and we shot it at home. For me, that was the Grammys.”
“That was the mountaintop,” Malice chimed in.
“That was the mountaintop!” Pusha echoed.
Those early Clipse days were special, and the duo saw themselves at the center of a cultural shift and as a driving force in the rap game at the time. And Virginia, oddly enough, is where it was all happening.
Malice, left, and Pusha T of Clipse have cemented themselves as legends of East Coast rap.
(Cian Moore)
It had a lot to do with Teddy Riley — the father of New Jack Swing — who set up camp in Virginia Beach along with his Future Recording Studios. That became a hub in the ‘90s for established artists like Luther Vandross and Whitney Houston as well as rising stars like Timbaland and the Neptunes.
“It was a time of creativity,” Pusha said. “Whether it was Pharrell and Chad up the street or my brother working with Timbaland in junior high school … the energy of Virginia was at an all-time high.”
“A lot of people in Virginia are very creative and aspire to make something out of this music thing,” Malice added. “And I think what we’ve done is show them that it is very tangible and doable and reachable.”
But it would all come to an end in 2010, when Pusha T and Malice went their separate ways. Albeit an amicable split, it was still abrupt, with the latter experiencing a spiritual reawakening that set a hard contrast to the drug-dealing-infused lyrics that often occupied their music.
It was certainly a shock to fans, but both would remain close. According to Malice, it had a lot to do with the lessons their parents bestowed upon them.
“The way our parents raised us, that family is absolutely everything … there is no bickering, there is no animosity,” he said. “My dad was really big on family, and not only family, but brotherhood. And I don’t even mean like, just biological brotherhood. I mean brotherhood and all that it entails.”
“We always used to say in the earlier Clipse days, ‘want for your brother what you want for yourself,’ and it’s something that we hang on to with both hands,” he added.
So, the door always remained open for a Clipse reunion. And there were hints.
They appeared on longtime collaborator Kanye West’s “Jesus Is King” in 2019, and Pusha T’s solo album “It’s Almost Dry” boasted an impressive Malice feature on track “I Pray for You” in 2022. On the latter, Malice is back, seemingly as if he never left the game:
“When I was in the mix / opened up your nose like I’m cuttin’ it with Vicks / Slavin’ over stoves like I rub together sticks / Paved another road so my soul would coexist / But Heaven only knows, I won’t dig another ditch.”
Malice made a rare guest appearance on Pusha T’s fourth studio album, “It’s Almost Dry,” in 2022.
(Cian Moore)
According to him, there were “quite a few baby steps involved” before an all-out Clipse project was underway. But an enlightening conversation with his father, who died in 2022, made it “make sense for my psyche.”
“One of the last conversations I had with my dad, I asked him what he thought about me rapping again. And why that was important to me was because my dad was definitely in a church. He was a deacon,” he recalls. “And just to hear him say that he thought that I had been too hard on myself, I didn’t even expect him to say anything remotely along those lines.”
“And he was like, ‘You know what to do now.’”
It took Clipse around two years to complete “Let God Sort Em Out,” befittingly, entirely produced by Pharrell. Its rollout led with “Ace Trumpets” and the infatuating “So Be It.” The latter track ingeniously flips an obscure sample of “Maza Akoulo” by Saudi Arabian musician Talal Maddah. Notably, it also takes aim at artist Travis Scott over his alleged disloyalty.
It highlights an ongoing dissatisfaction that the brothers have with the current state of rap, an overall landscape that they say is “flawed.”
“We were coming to set standard and reset the table,” Pusha says.
“We had many opportunities to come back and do something, but it just wasn’t the right time,” Malice adds. “Money’s not going to dictate anything we do. We don’t ever compromise our art for anything. Whatever we do is going to be done at the highest level, and it’s going to feel right.”
It was no surprise that the album featured verses from the West Coast’s Kendrick Lamar and Tyler, the Creator, who are some of the best wordsmiths out right now.
On “Chains and Whips,” Pusha T opens up lethally: “The question marks block your blessings / There’s no tombstones in the desert / I know by now you get the message.”
Malice follows suit, assuring “Your lucky streak is now losing you / Money’s dried up like a cuticle / You’re gasping for air now, it’s beautiful.”
[Warning: Video contains profanity.]
Lamar is a real stand out on the album, and it’s no surprise. Last year, he tore apart Canadian rapper Drake across four diss tracks, which hit its peak with “Not Like Us.” The track ended up hitting 1 billion streams in January 2025, won five Grammy Awards, and broke the internet with its performance at the Super Bowl.
Needless to say, the Compton-born rapper and longtime friend of Pusha T has been on a roll.
“Let’s be clear, hip-hop died again / Half of my profits might go to Rakim / How many Judases that let me down? / But f— it, the West mines, we right now / Therapy showed me how to open up / It also showed me I don’t give a f—.”
Of the collaboration, Malice says “when it comes to Kendrick, I think we are of the same mindset of how important the culture is and that we keep it in existence.”
Indeed, this is something that Clipse have always maintained and they’ve taken issue with in contemporary rap. Especially given the longevity they have — Malice and Pusha T have been in the game since the early ‘90s and are 53 and 48 years old, respectively.
“I don’t think people have been in the game this long and competed at this level, you know?” Pusha says. “I think it’s a new frontier. We’re at a point of really cracking the ceiling to longevity in rap.”
“Not only cracking the ceiling; I feel like we kicked down the entire door,” Malice jumps in. “Looking backwards over the years, rappers have been getting away with murder!”
“We’re here coming for the goal every time. And I think that’s the problem: A lot of people are in the game just existing,” Pusha adds. “Not competing, you’re just in it existing in a minor artistic way.”
If “Let God Sort Em Out” wasn’t impressive enough, Clipse are back on the road, playing sold-out shows across the country. On Saturday, they’ll touch down in Los Angeles at the Novo as part of their first tour as a duo in 15 years.
Malice, who refers to fans as “the family,” is eternally grateful to be back doing what he does best for the people he loves.
“They [the family] see through a lot of the circus acts that’s going on in hip-hop and they speak for us when they show up, when we have sold-out shows, in the record sales,” he says. “We don’t take none of that for granted. It’s a real thing and crucial to our existence.”
There’s no need to scout Palisades’ football team this fall. Everyone knows the passing duo of quarterback Jack Thomas and receiver Demare Dezeurn is going to be electric.
Dezeurn, who ran a 10.32 100 meters as a sophomore last season at Bishop Alemany, made his Palisades debut in a scrimmage Thursday. Several times he was used as a decoy, opening the door for receiver Harrison Carter to show his stuff.
Palisades kept Dezeurn under wraps. “We’re not showing anything today,” Thomas said.
Palisades opens against Washington Prep on Thursday. The team still doesn’t have a campus field because of repairs being made after the Palisades fire. Santa Monica College will be the site for several home games.
Receiver Demare Dezeurn of Palisdes.
(Steve Galluzzo)
Thomas is already predicting the Dolphins will play Birmingham to decide the City Section Open Division championship. Dezeurn still needs to be cleared by the City Section to play next week.
Chaminade faced Santa Margarita in a scrimmage on Thursday, and Eagles coach David Machuca said he was very happy with the play of his team’s offensive line considering that Santa Margarita’s strength could be its defensive line.
Chaminade faces Oaks Christian in an opener next week, with Santa Margarita playing Mission Viejo.
The Sierra Canyon-Corona Centennial scrimmage matched two top 10 teams and exposed issues both teams will need to improve on.
Sierra Canyon still has a competition going at quarterback, and that’s the position likely to decide how far the Trailblazers might advance in the Division 1 playoffs. Their defensive line is one of the best in the Southland. Centennial had trouble running the ball, something that needs to improve since the Huskies have a three-game stretch against Servite, Santa Margarita and Mater Dei in nonleague games.
Birmingham’s powerful soccer program has supplied three kickers to the football program, giving coach Jim Rose options with special teams. Kicking field goals will definitely be an option.
Making adjustments for multi-sport athletes, such as letting them leave early for a club practice, is something coaches must do if they want to attract the best athletes in school.
St. Francis quarterback Shawn Sanders suffered a broken collarbone in a scrimmage on Thursday and will be sidelined for a month or longer.
BY rights, I shouldn’t really be talking to The Black Keys duo, Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney.
But here they are on a Zoom call with me to discuss their thirteenth studio album, No Rain, No Flowers.
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The Black Keys discuss their thirteenth studio album, No Rain, No FlowersCredit: Supplied
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Last September, The Black Keys were supposed to start a North American arena tour in support of their previous albumCredit: Supplied
The 11 tracks are coming kicking and screaming into the sunlight earlier than expected — and for good reason.
Last September, The Black Keys were supposed to start a North American arena tour in support of their previous album, Ohio Players, noted for songs written with Noel Gallagher and Beck.
But, to their dismay, the dates were scrapped, prompting the pair to fire their management team.
Without going into detail, Auerbach says: “The first thing I wanted to do was kill somebody and the second thing I wanted to do was kill somebody.”
Carney adds: “I don’t want to get into it too much because we’ve gotten letters telling us not to talk about it by one of the most powerful people in the music industry.
“We got f***ed by the person who was supposed to be looking out for us.
“So, because of some bad advice, we were left with no plans for the summer. We had to take one on the chin.”
The situation was a rare mis-step in The Black Keys’ upward trajectory, which stretches back nearly 25 years.
Starting out in a dingy basement in Akron, Ohio, childhood friends Auerbach and Carney took their exhilarating mix of bluesy garage rock to the world stage, drawing on soul, hip hop, psychedelia, you name it, along the way.
Their new album, however, is the product of unplanned time on their hands. Still smarting from losing their tour, they convened at Auerbach’s Easy Eye Sound studio in his adopted hometown of Nashville — and set about turning adversity into triumph.
Scots promoter tells how an armada of Oasis fans arrived by boats and ripped up fences to attend iconic Balloch bash
‘Reminder of the power of our music’
“We realised that maybe we’d better do something positive with this free time,” says the singer/guitarist.
“So we dove head first into working with people we’d never met and trying things we’d never tried before as a band. Ultimately, it really helped us.”
For drummer Carney, it was a natural reaction to what had happened.
“When Dan and I are not on the road, we’re in the studio,” he says.
“So we thought, ‘Let’s just get back in there and reboot’.”
One thing that remains undiminished is the cast-iron bond between Auerbach and Carney.
The latter affirms: “We’ve been doing this together for almost 25 years — from the struggle to the big s**t.
We got f***ed… so we thought we should do something positive
Carney
“Dealing with being broke, dealing with getting money, headlining Coachella, dealing with getting married, getting divorced, having kids, we’ve been through it all.
“As screwed up as last year was, it had very little to do with us so we got back on it, to prove to ourselves what we can do.”
As we speak, The Black Keys have been back on tour — on this side of the Atlantic.
Carney says it can be “brutal chasing the festivals, sleeping on the bus or in hotel rooms.
“But getting out here and getting in front of these crowds has been the biggest reminder of the power of our music.
“Seeing the fans flip out has helped us to get our heads out of music-business bulls*t and back into what it’s all about”.
Auerbach agrees: “The show in London [at Alexandra Palace] was the biggest headliner we’ve ever played.
“It was great after the year we had. Whatever happens, we know the fans are still there for us.”
Another thrill was playing Manchester’s Sounds Of The City festival two days before the first Oasis homecoming gig at the city’s Heaton Park.
“The atmosphere was electric. Our audience was so up for it,” says Auerbach.
Noel and Liam are both incredible — we’re really happy for them
Auerbach
He credits Oasis with lifting the mood. “I feel like they’ve transformed the continent. We’ve never seen anything like it.”
And he couldn’t resist visiting the Oasis Adidas store. “I had one of the black soccer jerseys made — Oasis on the front and AUERBACH on the back. Had to do it, man, they’re the kings.”
It was in 2023 that The Black Keys visited Toe Rag Studios in Hackney, East London, to write three songs with Noel Gallagher, who they describe as “the chord lord”.
Auerbach says: “It was amazing. We just sat in a circle with our instruments and we worked things up from nowhere.
“Not too long after that we played a song with Liam [in Milan] and hung out with him afterwards. He gave us some really good advice about our setlist.
“Noel and Liam are both incredible — we’re really happy for them.”
‘We’d never written with a piano player’
We return to the subject of their new album, No Rain, No Flowers, which involved a new approach for The Black Keys.
Instead of big-name guests like Noel and Beck and, before them, ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, they turned to acclaimed songwriters — the unsung heroes — for their collaborative process.
Auerbach had encountered Nowels while producing Lana Del Rey’s 2014 third album Ultraviolence and had long been impressed with his keyboard skills.
He says: “We’d never written with a piano player before. After 20-plus years in the band, it was cool to try something new in the studio.”
Carney adds: “The way we worked with each one of these people was completely different.
“With Daniel, for instance, we’d start with a jam session. With Rick, it was all about getting the title of the song.”
And Auerbach again: “Scott’s all about instrumentation. He didn’t want to think about the words. He just lets you do that stuff afterwards.”
One of the co-writes with Nowels is the life-affirming title track which begins the album.
With lines like, “Baby, the damage is done/It won’t be long ’til we’re back in the sun”, you could be forgiven for thinking it reflects on the band’s recent woes.
Auerbach says it does, but only up to a point. “It started with the title and we built it from there.
“We tend to shy away from diary-type songs. It gives us ‘the ick’ when it sounds like somebody’s reading from their diary.
“But there’s a lot of truth in the song. It’s us trying to be positive, which maybe wasn’t how we were feeling.
“It was a nice thought to write a positive anthem but still have blood in the eye.”
If The Black Keys’ go-to sound has been the blues, this album is remarkable for its funky, airy and soulful vibe.
Auerbach says: “We were heavily influenced by soul growing up, maybe more than anything, and it really shows.
“With us, it’s all about the feel. When we started out, we didn’t know what the hell we were doing, but we knew when it felt right.”
Another strong touchstone has been hip-hop, which is why Auerbach and Carney are thrilled to have worked with Scott Storch, another dazzling keyboard player, who started out in the Roots and went on to work with Dr Dre, 50 Cent, Beyonce and Nas.
“We are a product of where we were raised,” affirms Auerbach. “We grew up in the golden age of hip- hop. That’s what pop music was for us.
“The first time I heard the Geto Boys was at the middle- school dance and it affected us.
That’s the s**t on those blues records I love so much. You hear Son House grunting when he’s playing slide guitar
Auerbach
“But then my mom’s family played bluegrass — I would listen to my uncles sing. And when The Stanley Brothers sing, it’s white soul music. I love it all.”
As for Storch, Auerbach continues: “We’ve obsessed over videos of him since we were in high school. Seeing him play all the parts of his hits makes our jaws hit the floor.
‘You can hear Scott physically grunting’
“The idea of getting him in the studio seemed crazy because he seemed like a larger-than-life figure.”
Auerbach was mesmerised by Storch when he arrived at Easy Eye Sound.
He says: “Scott’s a real player, an absolute musical savant. As a hip-hop producer, he tends to spend 99.9 per cent of the time in the control room.
“But we have all these acoustic pianos, harpsichords and analogue synthesisers. He was in heaven, and so were we watching him go from keyboard to keyboard.
“On Babygirl, he’s on an acoustic piano with microphones and you can hear him physically grunting in time with his playing. That’s got to be a first for Scott Storch on record.
“That’s the s**t on those blues records I love so much. You hear Son House grunting when he’s playing slide guitar.”
The No Rain, No Flowers album is loaded with hook-laden songs — the exhilarating rocker Man On A Mission, the psychedelic Southern rock swirl of A Little Too High.
One explanation for their eclectic approach is The Black Keys’ regular Record Hang in Nashville, which involves Auerbach and Carney hosting all-vinyl DJ dance parties.
For these, they scour online marketplaces and record shops for obscure but revelatory old 45s.
Carney explains: “We end up exposing ourselves to thousands of songs that somehow we’ve never heard.
“It’s really cool to be so deep into our career and uncovering all this incredible music. It’s totally reinvigorating — particularly when one of us finds a record that the other hasn’t heard and it’s a banger.” So check out Carney’s discovery Nobody Loves Me But My Mama by Johnny Holiday, which he describes as “f*ing insane — psychobilly fuzz rock”.
Then there’s Auerbach’s fave, Yeah Yeah by Blackrock, “a rare 45 instrumental which rearranged our minds. It still hits like crazy”.
We just fell right into it, started playing it and luckily we were recording
Auerbach
With The Black Keys, you always get a sense of passion for their craft, and for other people’s.
Auerbach says: “Pat and I were talking about this earlier — music can hypnotise you. You can use it for good or for evil. It’s a very powerful tool.”
And Carney: “It’s my biggest passion and it has been since I was 11.
‘Sensitive about what we listen to’
“I also think about the delicate balance you need when you do it for a living. You’re taking the thing you love the most but you never want to ruin it for yourself.
“Dan and I are very sensitive about what we listen to. We were at a music festival in a spot in between seven stages. It sounded horrible. I said, ‘This is the kind of thing that could make me hate music’.”
Finally, we talk about another of their own songs, the sublime, festival-primed anthem Neon Moon, which closes No Rain, No Flowers.
Written with Daniel Tashian, Auerbach modestly calls it a “first-take jam” but that doesn’t really do it justice.
“I think it just started with the ‘neon moon’ lyric,” he says. “We just fell right into it, started playing it and luckily we were recording.”
As the song gets into its stride, he sings: “Don’t let yourself get down too long.”
It’s a line that The Black Keys have taken to heart.
But it turns out that the older sister was being held back by her younger sibling — at least that’s what Venus Williams joked on Monday after winning her first match with new doubles partner Hailey Baptiste during the first round of the D.C. Open.
“I think, from the first point, I could see that we were going to be a good team,” Williams said during her on-court interview following the American duo’s 6-3, 6-1 victory against Eugenie Bouchard and Clervie Ngounoue. “We just should have started playing earlier, years ago, right? I think Serena was just in the way.”
After the capacity crowd of around 3,000 roared with laughter at the quip, Williams smiled and waved to the camera: “Sorry, Serena.”
Williams, 45, had every right to be giddy after a successful return to the court following a 16-month hiatus, during which she underwent a medical procedure to remove fibroids from her uterus last July.
“It’s just nice to be able to play,” Williams said during her postmatch news conference with Baptiste. “Where I am at this year is so much different than where I was at last year. It’s night and day, being able to be here and prepare for the tournament as opposed to preparing for surgery a year ago.”
She added: “Tennis is a game. It’s our life. It’s literally our obsession. … But at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter if your health is not there. So it definitely put it in perspective for me and maybe made it easier to make the decision to maybe come back out here and maybe play even freer.”
Williams’ comeback is just getting started. The seven-time major winner and one-time Olympic gold medalist is scheduled to face Peyton Stearns of the United States in the first round of the women’s singles tournament at 4:30 p.m. PDT Tuesday.
Later this week, Williams and Baptiste will face the winner of Tuesday’s match between Cristina Bucsa/Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Taylor Townsend/Shuai Zhang in the women’s doubles quarterfinals.
As for Serena Williams, the 23-time major singles champion hasn’t played since “evolving away from tennis” following the 2022 U.S. Open, where she and Venus lost in the first round in doubles and she advanced to the third round in singles before losing to Australian Ajla Tomljanovic in her final match.
“I keep saying to my team: The only thing that would make this better is if she was here,” Venus Williams said of her sister while speaking to reporters Sunday. “Like, we always did everything together, so of course I miss her.”
If it wasn’t already clear then it certainly is now. Usyk is the standout heavyweight of his generation.
Usyk has not just cleaned out his biggest rivals – Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Dubois – but he has gone all the way round the block and defeated each of them twice.
He dethroned Joshua in just his third fight as a heavyweight to become a unified champion and it has been an upward trajectory ever since.
The easy path is not one Usyk likes to explore.
After becoming the first undisputed heavyweight champion of the four-belt era by beating Fury in 2024, Usyk had the option to defend that status by accepting a mandatory defence of his IBF strap against Dubois.
However, he elected to vacate that title in order to pursue a rematch with Fury and record a second successive victory, before circling back to reclaim the IBF title from Dubois at Wembley.
“What he achieved today, it was designated by him a little bit more than a year ago,” Egis Klimas, Usyk’s manager, said.
“His decision was to vacate the title and let Dubois beat someone, and then to fight for a third time for undisputed. That was his plan a year ago. He is not just a good boxer but he is good mentally.”
Usyk is head and shoulders above any active heavyweight, with Fury offering his greatest test, while Joshua and Dubois are several rungs down the ladder.
AVP, the biggest and longest-running professional volleyball league, will play matches in an NBA arena for the first time this weekend in Inglewood.
A crew picked up 16 dump truck loads from a quarry in Palm Springs, delivering 300 tons of sand into the Intuit Dome for AVP League matches on Friday and Saturday.
The crew constructed a wooden sandbox barrier to protect the arena floor. The sand, pre-washed and compacted upon arrival, was dumped into an 18-inch wooden frame, with elements such as hospitality added to help remove debris from the air.
A worker prepares sand at the Intuit Dome ahead of an AVP tournament.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
“If all goes well, it’s about a six- to eight-hour build from start to finish with the court,” said Logan Dan, head of operations for AVP Professional Beach Volleyball Tours. “It takes about six hours to build the court specifically.”
Once the event concludes, the crew dismantles the frame and removes the sand using equipment that looks like a modified small tractor.
“We break the box open and use a skid steer with a box broom attachment — it sweeps up a lot of the sand,” Dan said.
Although indoor beach volleyball is unusual, the AVP’s new league model — introduced last year — has made it possible to bring tournaments to unconventional venues. The league is investing in creative ways to grow accessibility and exposure.
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1.One of many trucks makes its way through the Intuit Dome to deliver sand in preparation of an AVP league event.2.Workers slowly cover the floor of the Intuit Dome with sand.(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
“What that has allowed us to do is to bring volleyball into different areas that it might not be,” Dan said. “For instance, we’re going to New York next week, and we’ll be putting a court in Central Park, right in Wollman Rink, where they normally have ice skating in the winter and pickleball in the summer.”
Conditions for beach volleyball differ significantly between outdoor and indoor play. Sun, wind and heat heavily influence outdodor players’ performance and court dynamics. Indoors, the environment remains cooler and still, free from elements such as whipping winds or scorching sun.
“It’s so close and loud and intimate that it creates that very cool environment,” Logan said.
AVP declined to disclose what it costs to build courts in unconventional locations such as the Intuit Dome.
Logan said AVP staff hope fans will enjoy a fun, family-oriented community environment that features more seats close to the action than a typical beach volleyball court.
Workers cover the floor of the Intuit Dome with sand ahead of an AVP league event.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
The schedule
AVP League matches start Friday at 5 p.m. with the L.A. Launch playing the San Diego Smash in the first match.
Doors open Saturday at 4 p.m., with the Palm Beach Passion playing the L.A. Launch during the first match.
Tickets started at $43.50 apiece.
What’s at stake
The AVP League format differs from traditional tournaments. A men’s duo and women’s duo represent a city and their combined records determine position in league standings. At the end of league play, one of eight cities will be crowned the AVP League champion. The playoffs feature a postseason tournament seeded based on each duo’s record during the season. The tournament splits into male and female competition groups, with the winning duo in each group earning the top prize.
The top two teams in the league standings are the L.A. Launch and the Palm Beach Passion. L.A. Launch is undefeated, while Palm Beach Passion is 6–2.
Who is playing in Inglewood?
Four of the league’s eight city teams will be represented. The lineup includes numerous Olympians, USC alums and a former NBA player.
No. 1 L.A. Launch Men: Hagen Smith and Logan Webber | Women: Terese Cannon and Megan Kraft
No. 2 Palm Beach Men: Trevor Crabb and Phil Dalhausser | Women: Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson
No. 6 San Diego Smash Men: Chase Budinger and Miles Evans | Women: Abby Van Winkle and Geena Urango
No. 8 Miami Mayhem Men: Chaim Schalk and James Shaw | Women: Kelly Cheng and Molly Shaw
In every round of the competition, the match-ups are played as one-off doubles matches, and Clayton believes his and Price’s rugby experiences gives them an edge.
“We go out as a team, and I think the rugby background helps,” said Clayton.
“We’ve played in team games before, and I know rugby is completely different to darts, but it is the team mentality.
“We believe in each other and you have to believe in your team-mate.”
While both Clayton and Price have Welsh aspects to their standard darts jersey, ‘The Ferret’ says there is something special about representing the country at the World Cup.
“There’s no better feeling than representing Wales,” added Clayton.
“Being a Welshman, I’m so proud when I put that jersey on.
“No matter what sport you play, if you can represent your country there is no better feeling.”
