pop

THIS 90s pop star looks unrecognisable 24 years after his hit single and name change.

The hitmaker is very different as he posted a new clip of him on stage at a performance in Liverpool.

The musician was seen belting out one of his tracks while holding a guitar.

The former solo singer was accompanied by his band, which was formed in 2019.

Some fans may not recognise him, not just because he looks so different, but also because he has a new name.

But have you worked out who this huge star is yet?

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It’s none other than Terence Trent D’Arby, who now goes by the name Sananda Maitreya, after changing it in 2001.

His singles Sign Your Name, If You Let Me Stay, and Wishing Well all stormed up the charts on both sides of the Atlantic.

Sananda created The Sugar Plum Pharaohs as part of his new identity and to separate from his past as Terence.

The band was featured on the 2019 live album Live From The Ruins. 

In a new post, Sananda shared a clip of the band performing at their latest gig.

He wrote: “The Sugar Plum Pharaohs & I would love to THANK THE DENIZENS OF LIVERPOOL for last evenings great hospitality.

“It is NEVER NOT A PRIVILEGE to entertain the Liverpudlian Spirit.
A Scouser’s embrace is a thing to cherish & hold close to the heart.

“We LOVE YOU, & hope to see you all again sooner rather than later.

“LONG LIVE THE RUTLES!”

PAST SUCCESS

His debut album Introducing The Hardline According To Terence Trent D’Arby went five times platinum, selling 1.5 million copies and earning him a Grammy.

And he had no bigger fan than himself.

In typically humble style he declared the work “the most important album since Sgt Pepper“.

But his follow up album, Neither Fish Nor Flesh, failed to hit the high notes and he fell out with his record company, blaming their “wholesale rejection of it” for its commercial failure.

He became Sananda Maitreya, a moniker which came to him in a series of dreams in 1995, and officially changed his name in 2001.

Claiming his second album had killed his stage persona, he said: “Terence Trent D’Arby was dead… he watched his suffering as he died a noble death.

“After intense pain I meditated for a new spirit, a new will, a new identity.”

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Speaking on another occasion about his name change, he said his alter-ego had joined the 27 Club, referring to the tragic artists who died at that age, including Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, and Amy Winehouse.

He said: “It felt like I was going to join the 27 Club, and psychologically I did, because that is exactly the age I was when I was killed.”

POP fans have only just realised that Sombr is secretly a nepo baby, following controversy over his performances.

Horrified fans worked out who his dad is and accused the pop star – real name Shane Michael Boose – of using his father’s connections to launch his music career.

Social media users looking into Sombr, who will be playing three nights at London’s Brixton Academy next March, have clocked that the singer is actually a nepo baby, whose dad counts some of the world’s biggest celeb names, including Elton John and Leonardo DiCaprio, as his clients.

The Back to Friends singer is the son of Andy Boose, 54, who founded luxury events company AAB Productions.

His company produces galas, concerts, fashion shows and charity events including fundraisers internationally.

Andy, who operates his company in cities including Los Angeles, London, Hong Kong and Venice, counts huge names among his client books.

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These include UNICEF, Elton John AIDS Foundation, amfAR, the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation and other high-profile organisations.

Social media users were shocked to learn of Sombr’s nepo baby status, and quickly spread the news on X.

One wrote: “I found out today that sombr is a nepo baby, I feel like I just got shot in the chest”.

Another blasted: “well the reason sombr has no stage presence is because he was never meant to be a performer.

“his father is a CEO of some sort of major music company & he’s a mega nepo baby”.

While one posted: “Sombr is a f***ing nepo baby i knew something was fishy about him”.

It’s the latest saga surrounding his music career after a concert goer called out inappropriate jokes and bizarre segments at his concerts.

Sombr played a show in Washington, D.C. earlier this month, which 25-year-old TikTok user Megan Tomasic attended.

She posted a video on Wednesday recapping the whole experience, calling it “genuinely the worst concert” she’d ever seen.

She quickly realised she wasn’t the target audience – describing “thousands of tweens running around like they were at a middle-school dance” at the concert.

She claimed the singer made “a bunch of niche meme references for like the 12-to-16-year-old age range” through large parts of the show.

“It was like brain rot on stage,” she added.

The video, which went viral on the platform, prompted Sombr himself to respond.

“Anyone who knows me knows I’ve never uttered a serious word in my life,” he said.

“And also, I make jokes for five minutes of the concert and the rest is music. Like, live a little, enjoy life.”

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“Every age, sex, sexuality, gender, race, everyone is welcome at my concert, and I mean everyone,” he said. “You guys need to find problematic people to hate on because I am just existing.” 

He ended his video with a “quick tutorial” where he touched grass, a Gen Z reference which essentially means ‘get a life’.

POP icon Nelly Furtado has announced at she’s no longer going to be performing her music after a huge comeback last year.

It comes after she hit back at a flood of cruel comments about her figure after returning to the spotlight.

Nelly proudly embraced her natural curves while headlining Manchester Pride earlier this year.

Taking to Instagram, the Grammy winner made an emotional post expressing gratitude for all her career gave her and that she feels it’s now time for her to “step down”.

She celebrated 25 years in the industry, before adding: “I have decided to step away from performance for the foreseeable future and pursue some other creative and personal endeavours that I feel would better suit this next phase of my life.

“I have enjoyed my career immensely, and I still love writing music as I have always seen it as a hobby I was lucky enough to make into a career. I’ll identify as a songwriter forever.”

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The star, 46, took over radio stations throughout the 2000s, well-known for her song Promiscuous as well as her feature on James Morrison’s ‘Broken Strings’.

SIR Elton John’s glasses firm owes a whopping £3.7million, latest figures have revealed.

The Rocket Man star’s glasses are available via his website and at high street giant Specsavers.

However, the firm that receives cash from the sale of the eyewear has substantial debts.

Accounts for Elton John Optical Company Ltd show that it is £3.7m in the red for the 12 months to the end of March this year.

The company has cash reserves of £308,173 and paid just £1,020 in Corporation Tax on its taxable income for the most recent trading period.

The bulk of the cash is owed to firms called William A Bong Ltd, J Bondi Inc and J Bondi LLP – outfits that form part of the star’s business empire.

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Elton, 78, offers fans two pairs of glasses for £130 at Specsavers.

Buyers are told: “Introducing the Elton John Eyewear glasses collection.
“Designed by the man himself, the Elton John Eyewear range is bursting with his love of individualism and flamboyant style. Inspired by Elton’s journey, you’ll find pops of colour, smatterings of glitter and twists on classic designs.”

He recently admitted that his eyesight was failing and he can now only sign autographs with his initials.

The pop legend lost vision in his right eye in July last year after contracting an infection on holiday in the South of France, and said his left eye is “not the greatest”.

In December, he explained he was unable to watch his new musical version of The Devil Wears Prada.

He added: “I haven’t been able to come to many of the previews because, as you know, I have lost my eyesight.

“But I love to hear it.”

And interviewed on Good Morning America, he said. “It kind of floored me, and I can’t see anything.

“I can’t read anything, I can’t watch anything.”

More than two decades after their peak, the music of Yellowcard is a pop punk message in a bottle. The note that washed ashore from a simpler time describes the image of a young, sharply-dressed band full of aspirations, thrashing on their instruments — violin included — in the echoey tomb of an underground parking garage in the music video for “Ocean Avenue” as the chorus kicks into overdrive.

“If I could find you now, things would get better, we could leave this town and run forever, let your waves crash down on me and take me away,” frontman Ryan Key sang ecstatically at the top of his lungs.

That hit song, the title track of 2003’s “Ocean Avenue,” created a tidal wave of success that changed the course of their career from struggling artists to a world-touring headliner and darlings of MTV’s Total Request Live.

“The first time it happened, we were really young,” Key said, gingerly grasping a spoon with his heavily tattooed hand while stirring a cup of hot tea. “We were quite literally a garage band one minute, and then we were playing on the MTV Video Music Awards and David Letterman and whatever else the next minute.”

It’s a moment that hasn’t escaped his memory 22 years later. Now, he and his bandmates — violinist Sean Mackin, bassist Josh Portman and guitarist Ryan Mendez — are far from the ocean but not too far from water as they look out at a sparkling pool from the window from a suite at the Yaamava’ Resort and Casino in Highland. A couple hours from now, the band will play a splashy pool party gig for 98.7 ALT FM. The set will include a raft of all the old hits, including “Ocean Avenue” of course, as well as their first new songs in almost a decade.

Before the release of the first singles for the new album, “Better Days,” it might’ve been easy to write off their 11th album as another release destined to be overshadowed by their early catalog. However, with the right amount of internal inspiration and outside help from Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker, who produced and played all the drums on the album, the result was a batch of new songs that haven’t simply been washed out to sea. Quite the opposite, actually.

Prior to the album’s release, the title track “Better Days” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Alternative Airplay chart. This achievement came after a 22-year wait since their first appearance on the chart with the “Ocean Avenue” single “Way Away.” Key also notes that it’s the first time fans are using the band’s new music for their TikTok videos instead of “Ocean Avenue.”

“That’s crazy,” Key said. “Everyone is using ‘Better Days.’ I don’t think we’re alone in that. I think for bands in our scene, new music is getting a lot of love and a lot of attention again, and it’s amazing to see.”

It’s been about three years since the band reemerged to play a reunion set at RiotFest in Chicago, following their 2017 farewell show at the House of Blues in Anaheim. At the point they were ready to call it quits, the band was struggling to sell enough tickets to their shows to keep the dream alive. For Mackin, fatherhood forced him to also consider his family’s financial stability, prompting him to enter the corporate workforce as a sales rep and eventually becoming a service director for Toyota. At one point, he was responsible for managing 120 employees. “I just thought that was going to be what I was going to do to take care of my family for the next 20 years,” Mackin said.

After Yellowcard’s hiatus, Key continued playing music in several projects that distanced themselves from the pop punk sound — including recording solo work under his full name William Ryan Key, touring with bassist Portman at his side. Key also produced a post-rock electronic-heavy project called Jedha with Mendez, and the pair also does a lot of TV and film scoring work. For a long time, Key and his bandmates mourned the loss of what they had with Yellowcard. It was the most important thing in Key’s life, though he said he didn’t realize how much the band truly shaped him until it was over.

During their hiatus, band members took day jobs. One member managed 120 Toyota employees before the 2022 Riot Fest reunion reignited their passion.

(Joe Brady)

“Ungrateful is not the word to use about how I felt back then. It’s more like I didn’t have the tools to appreciate it, to feel gratitude and really let things happen and and stay in the moment and stay focused. Because I was so young, I was so insecure about my place, my role in all of it,” Key said.

But after some time away, the raucous 2022 Riot Fest reunion show relit the band’s fire in a way they hadn’t expected. They followed up with a 2023 EP “Childhood Eyes” that pushed the band to take things further with a new full album. Along with these plans came the stunning news that Barker would sign on to produce and play drums for them on the project. For a band that grew up idolizing Blink 182 and Barker specifically as the band’s red-hot engine behind the kit who spent the last 20 years evolving into a music mogul, it was a surreal experience.

“We look at him like a general. It was never lost that the best drummer of our generation is playing drums with us,” Mackin said. “We know him as Travis now, but man, this guy is just oozing talent — he’s doing all these amazing things and he doesn’t seem overrun by it, not distracted one bit. While we were recording, he was right there with us.”

Key says he was initially intimidated singing in front of Barker in the studio and had a few moments where negative, self-conscious thoughts were getting the better of him in the vocal booth during recording. Instead of getting annoyed, he says Barker helped ease his anxiety with a few simple words.

“Travis came into the booth, closed the door, put his hand on my shoulder, and he said, ‘You’re gonna do this as many times as you need to do it. I’m gonna be here the whole time.’” Barker was truly speaking from experience. He told Key at the time that he’d just recorded 87 rough takes of his parts on “Lonely Road,” his hit song with Jelly Roll and MGK. “That was a real crossroads for me,” Key said.

The aspect of the album that feels most akin to “Ocean Avenue” was that Barker never really allowed them to overthink anything when it came to songwriting, a skill the band had unwittingly mastered as kids back in the “Ocean Avenue” days by writing songs on the fly in the studio with little time to care about how a song might end up before they recorded it.

“There’s something about the way we did this record with Travis, where we would walk in and did it in a way we haven’t done in 20 plus years with him saying ‘We’re gonna write and record a song today,’” Key said. “ It was a return to that style of songwriting where you have to kind of get out of your comfort zone and just throw and go.”

The final product moves swiftly over 10 songs, the track list starts with a flurry of energy from the bombastic opening drums of “Better Days” that propel a song on inner reflection on the past. It moves on to the high-energy heartbreak of “Love Letters,” featuring Matt Skiba of Alkaline Trio. Avril Lavigne lends her soaring vocals to the unrequited love song “You Broke Me Too.” Songs like “City of Angels” and “Bedroom Posters” track episodes in Key’s life where his band’s hiatus took a negative toll on his outlook on life but also about looking for a way back to rediscovering himself. The album wraps with the acoustic lullaby “Big Blue Eyes,” which Keys wrote as a tribute to his son.

Though the songs on “Better Days” frequently wrestle with self-doubt and uncertainty, the response from fans has been surprisingly supportive, Key said.

“I cannot recall seeing this level of overwhelming positive feedback. People are just flipping out over these songs,” the frontman said. “The recording was such a whirlwind. When I listen to it, it’s still kind of like ‘When did I write that song?’ It happened so fast, and we made the record so fast, but I’m glad we just did it.” Despite the success, Key is hesitant to label the band comeback kids, “probably because we are officially passed kids label,” he said.

“Maybe it’s the return of the gentlemen?” Mackin joked.

Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker produced the album, helping the band recapture the spontaneous energy that defined their 2003 breakthrough “Ocean Avenue.”

(Joe Brady)

Whatever they call themselves, coming back to the band after so many years of different experiences has made Yellowcard’s second shot at a career feel all the more rewarding.

“Because you feel like you know you’re capable of something other than being in this band, capable of connecting with your family in a way that you couldn’t when you were on the road all the time,” Mackin said. “There’s things that happened in that break that set us up for success as human beings, not just as creative people.”

For Key, it’s about taking all the lessons they’ve learned as a band and applying them to their future, realizing that the album’s title refers not just to the past behind them, but what lies ahead.

“This record needed to be the ultimate revival, the ultimate redemption song for our band,” Key said. “And so far it’s, it’s proven to be that.”

GEN Z are killing off terms like ‘grub,’ ‘sarnie,’ and ‘pop’ – in favour of ‘scran,’ ‘sub,’ and ‘soda.’

A poll of 2,000 adults has revealed how younger adults are driving a generational shift in food language – from breakfast to dinner.

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Using ‘tea’ to refer to the evening meal, ‘nosh’ to talk about food generally, and ‘cuppa’ for a hot drink are also out of favour among under-29s, along with ‘squash.’

While the term ‘sandwich’ is also in decline, with younger adults adopting American-inspired terms such as ‘hoagie’ and ‘hero’ Instead.

A spokesperson for McDonald’s UK&I, which commissioned the research to mark the launch of its new RSPCA assured pork patty Sausage Sandwich on the Saver Menu, said: “Language is constantly evolving, and food slang is no exception.”

The study also found the biggest influence on Gen Z’s food language is their family, which holds greater sway than the local area they grew up in and social media, which came second and third respectively.

Interestingly, more than any other age group, 49% of Gen Z also believe they use a greater number of regional food words than other generations do.

With nearly half (49%) claiming to use them ‘very often’ or ‘often.’

Across all ages, the main barriers to using regional slang include not hearing it enough in conversation (28%) or believing others won’t understand (17%).

However, 40% are curious to know what unfamiliar regional food terms mean, with 18% looking them up online.

Overall, the research, carried out through OnePoll, found 70% believe regional food terms – whether they relate to breakfast, lunch, dinner, or specific foods or drinks – should be preserved as part of cultural heritage, even if they are declining in popularity.

One of the biggest regional variations was what people call a bread roll.

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While the term was number one for all regions, ‘cob’ is popular among those living in the West and East Midlands (21% and 42%).

And ‘Barm’ is commonplace in the North West (26%), with Fam‘teacake’ frequently used in Yorkshire and Humber (18%).

The spokesperson for McDonald’s added: “Our Sausage Sandwich is already sparking its own naming debates – burger or sandwich.”

Although the research suggests a strong preference – when shown an image of this menu item, 76% of those polled described it as a ‘burger,’ with just 24% opting for ‘sandwich.’

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TAYLOR SWIFT has admitted she no longer believed in ­marriage and had given up on love after splitting from long-term boyfriend Joe Alwyn.

The superstar has used her new album The Life Of A Showgirl — out today — to document going from depression to being wooed back to life by her fiancé, Travis Kelce.

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Though in a move that is sure to get the world talking, Taylor savages a ­mystery person, believed to be singer Charli XCX, for mocking her.

Taylor and Travis started dating in the summer of 2023 before he popped the question in August this year.

On lead single The Fate Of Ophelia, Taylor sings: “And if you’d never called for me. I might have drowned in the melancholy.

Rediscovered love of life

“I swore my loyalty to me, myself and I, right before you lit my sky up.”

She adds: “You dug me out of my grave and saved my heart from the fate of Ophelia.

“And if you’d not come for me, I might have lingered in purgatory.

“No longer drowning and deceived, all because you came for me.”

The song is based on Shakespeare’s character Ophelia in Hamlet.

After being toyed with by rich and powerful men, Ophelia goes insane and kills herself by drowning.

The track acts as a bridge between the doom of Taylor’s 11th album The Tortured Poets Department and her new, rediscovered love of life, all thanks to her Kansas City Chiefs man.

On Eldest Daughter, Taylor pines for true love, admitting she feels played and betrayed by men her whole life.

She says: “I’ve been dying just from trying to seem cool. But I’m not a bad bitch.

“The last time I laughed this hard was on the trampoline in somebody’s backyard. I must have been eight or nine.

“The night I fell off and broke my arm. Pretty soon I learned cautious discretion. When your first crush crushes something kind. When I said I don’t believe in marriage, that was a lie.”

Vowing she still secretly pines for true love despite being hardened to disappointment, Taylor sings: “And I’m never gonna let you down. I’m never gonna leave you out. So many traitors. Smooth operators.

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“But I’m never gonna break that vow. I’m never gonna leave you now.”

Despite only being out today, thanks to pre-orders The Life Of A Showgirl is already the fastest selling album of the year.

Written during Taylor’s record-breaking Eras Tour last summer, the record peels back what life was like for the star away from the stage.

On song Elizabeth Taylor, she sings about dating Travis: “Sometimes it doesn’t feel so glamorous to be me.

“All the right guys promised they’d stay, under bright lights they withered away. But you bloom. Tell me for real. Do you think it’s forever?”

Despite the glitz and glamour, Taylor says she had “everything and nothing all at once” — pining for true love over material goods.

She sings: “Hey, what could you possibly get for the girl who has everything and nothing all at once?

“Babe, I would trade the Cartier for someone to trust.”

On Opalite, Taylor sings about “dancing through the lightning strikes”, a reference to her splitting with British actor Joe just weeks before embarking on the biggest tour of her career.

Storytelling best

Continuing with the theme of yearning for the simple things in life, Taylor uses Wi$h Li$t to double down on wanting love over material goods.

She pines: “I made wishes on all of the stars. Please, God bring me a best friend who I think is hot, I thought I had it right once, twice but I did not.”

She adds: “I just want you. Have a ­couple kids.”

For the title track, Taylor reverts to her storytelling best alongside fellow superstar Sabrina Carpenter.

The Life Of A Showgirl tells the brutal reality of life on the road chasing fame and fortune.

Taylor sings: “The more you play the more that you pay. You’re softer than a kitten so. You don’t know the life of a showgirl, babe

She continues: “I’m married to the hustle. And now I know the life of a showgirl, babe. And I’ll never know another. Pain hidden by the lipstick and lace.”

As a final nod to her record-breaking 24 months, the song —  and album —  fades out with live audio thanking fans as she takes her final bow on her Eras Tour.

CHARLI XCX

‘It’s sweet all the time you’ve spent on me‘

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THE most brutal track on the album is called Actually Romantic.

It appears to be a full take-down of Brit singer Charli XCX, who is friends with Taylor’s love rat ex Matty Healy.

Charli’s husband George Daniel is part of Matty’s band The 1975.

Taylor sings: “I heard you call me ‘Boring Barbie’ when the coke’s got you brave.

“High-fived my ex and then you said you’re glad he ghosted me.

“Wrote me a song saying it makes you sick to see my face. Some ­people might be offended. But it’s actually sweet, all the time you’ve spent on me.”

Charli has long been accused of glamorising drug use – even ­releasing a vinyl of her latest record Brat filled with white powder. Rather than being a flash-in-the-pan spat, the duo have a long ­history.

Charli supported Taylor on her 2018 Reputation Stadium Tour. But the Brit hated the experience.

She told Pitchfork mag in 2019: “I’m really grateful that Taylor asked me on that tour. But, as an artist, it kind of felt like I was getting up on stage and waving to five-year-olds.”

From then on things seemed to sour further – and Charli’s Brat album track Sympathy Is A Knife is believed to be about Taylor.

Charli sings: “This one girl taps my insecurities. Don’t know if it’s real or if I’m spiraling. Cause I couldn’t even be her if I tried.

“I’m opposite, I’m on the other side. I feel all these ­feelings I can’t control.”

SCOTT BORCHETTA

‘They don’t make loyalty like they used to’

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DESPITE plenty of floor fillers, Taylor’s new album is not all sweetness and light. As well as having a dig at Charli XCX, on Father Figure Taylor appears to round on Scott Borchetta.

He is the CEO of her first label Big Machine Records, who sold the rights to her first six albums in 2019.

The track features lines of George Michael’s 1987 single of the same name, as she seemingly talks about how Borchetta, right, boasted about being able to make her a star before stabbing her in the back.

“I’ll be your father figure, I drink that brown liquor. I can make a deal with the devil because my d’s bigger. This love is pure profit, just step into my office.”

She later adds: “They don’t make loyalty like they used to.”

Her reference to brown liquor is thought to be a nod to how Borchetta celebrated selling her masters to Scooter Braun over a glass of whisky.

In an open letter to fans about the sale, Taylor wrote: “These are two very rich, very powerful men.

“Then they’re standing in a wood-panel bar doing a tacky photoshoot, raising a glass of scotch to themselves.

“Because they pulled one over on me and got this done so sneakily that I didn’t even see it coming.”

Earlier this year, Taylor finally bought back her masters.

Hinting at her victory, she ends the track singing: “We drank that brown liquor. You made a deal with this devil. Turns out my d’s bigger. You want a fight, you found it.”

BIZARRE VERDICT

★★★★☆

THE Tortured Poets Department – for me the best Taylor album until now – was always going to be a hard act to follow.

But a drastic change of direction here has served the star well.

Lyrically, she continues at her best – with enough metaphors and coded literary references to keep fans speculating for ages.

Pop records are the hardest to perfect when it comes to both lyrics and melodies, but with producers Max Martin and Shellback by her side, Taylor has once again made magic.

With The Life Of A Showgirl, she proves yet again she’s the best in the business. Are there a couple of skips? Yes. But there’s also some of her best ever work.

Lead single The Fate Of Ophelia is an earworm of a track that’s perfect for both radio and dancefloors. It’s also possibly the most infectious Taylor lead single of all time.

Elizabeth Taylor, Ophalite and Cancelled! are also standouts.

Taylor’s reign atop the music industry is far from over.

Shares of hydrogen fuel cell company Plug Power (PLUG 14.29%) soared 16.1% through 1 p.m. ET Wednesday, but here’s the thing:

There doesn’t seem to be any good reason for the rise.

Image source: Getty Images.

Introducing Plug Power

Plug Power bills itself as “a first mover in the [hydrogen] industry,” manufacturing everything from electrolyzers to liquid hydrogen to entire “fuel cell systems, storage tanks, and fueling infrastructure.”

That’s both good and bad for investors.

The good side of being a “first mover” is that it promises early investors a ground-floor investment in what Plug predicts will one day become a “global hydrogen economy” replacing the use of traditional fossil fuels.

The bad news is you’re investing in a start-up that’s actually been “starting up” forever. Plug’s spent the last 28 years promising investors profits, without ever earning even one cent. It’s also supposedly a growth stock…but saw its revenues shrink nearly 30% last year.

Is Plug stock a buy?

Analysts who follow Plug Power stock do think Plug will turn profitable eventually — but no sooner than 2030. And the big risk for investors is that Plug will run out of money before it ever begins earning a profit.

Plug has only about $140 million in the bank right now, against nearly $1 billion in debt. It’s also burning more than $800 million per year. To keep this game going, Plug must either go deeper into debt or issue even more stock (its share count has doubled over the last two and a half years), diluting current investors out of even more of their hoped-for future profits.

To me, Plug Power stock looks a lot more like a sell than a buy.

EASTENDERS legend Rita Simons has married her “best friend” in a stunning rural wedding.

The BBC One show alum, 48, only revealed the pair had got engaged back in January, with a sweet Instagram upload.

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Now Rita, who is best-known for playing EastEnders‘ Roxy Mitchell, has tied the knot with Ben Harlow in the same year.

The actress took to her social media grid to reveal the happy news as well as a handful of snapshots showing her stunning boho bridal look.

Rita opted for an off the shoulder flowing cream dress adorned with a floral print for the ceremony in Carlisle, Cumbria.

She styled her blonde hair into waves and a half-up style with fresh make-up.

Her new groom Ben opted for a handsome beige suit and crisp white shirt.

The lovebirds shared images showing them enjoying a kiss while in front of a lake as well as holding hands when strolling through a park.

Rita also gave a snapshot of the ceremony, too, with the pair looking blissfully in love as they read their vows in a wood-floored barn.

She then hopped onto the stage with Blue’s Duncan James during the wedding reception to mark their special night.

In her emotional caption, the soap star wrote: “Well this happened yesterday!

“I married my best friend @benjyharlow. Just a little teaser before I have the good stuff from @the.event.editor content creator.”

She added: “I can’t even put into words how special our day was…mostly because we have the most incredible bunch of humans who love us unconditionally and who were prepared to travel to @hiddenriverbarn from all over the world to share our day.

“We love you all. You know who you are …sorry there’s gonna be a ton of pics to follow!

“The stars of the day were (apart from my babies @jaimee_silv @maiya.sammy ) @therocketscollective who rocked SO hard for the entire day and night! (Videos incoming!)”

She then told of All Rise singer Duncan’s role in the special day and added: “Thank you my darling @mrduncanjames for giving me away, I love you forever.”

EastEnders stars who QUIT

MICHELLE Collins has seen her second EastEnders stint boost her bank balance. Yet what stars have quit this year?

The Sun exclusively reported how Michelle, 62, was down to £20,000 in her company accounts when she agreed to a shock back-from-the-dead return to Albert Square last year.

Her character, Cindy Beale, was presumed dead off-camera in 1998.

Yet what about the 2024 exits?

Earlier this summer, loyal soap fans appeared to note how Stevie Mitchell had “quit” the long-running series.

It came after Alan Ford enjoyed just six-months on-screen.

Bobby Beale actor Clay Milner Russell also left this year after five years in Walford.

Fans also feared Martin Fowler actor James Bye would “quit out of boredom” over recent storylines.

Additionally, a host of stars have quit the BBC soap for Hollywood fame.

One of the most successful stars to come from the BBC One soap is Rob Kazinsky.

He played Stacey Slater’s brother Sean Slater from 2006 to 2009, he has starred in Hollywood blockbusters Pacific Rim and Captain Marvel.

Ben Hardy, who quit EastEnders as Bobby Beale almost a decade ago, went on to break Hollywood the following year, when he starred as Archangel in X-Men: Apocalypse.

Since then, he has played Roger Taylor in Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, and he starred in Michael Bay’s Netflix movie 6 Underground.

Michelle Ryan played Zoe Slater until 2005.

She starred as the lead in short-lived American series Bionic Woman from 2007 to 2008.

HAPPY ENGAGEMENT

The pair’s wedding comes just nine months after their engagement.

In the Instagram picture back in January, Rita can be seen showing off her engagement ring as she poses for the camera, while Ben beams for the camera as he sits beside her.

Captioning the post, Rita wrote: “… so this happened!”

The actress then added two sparkling ring emojis and an excited face.”

Rita and theatre actor Ben first met in 2017 when they both starred in the touring production of hit musical Legally Blonde.

They started dating a couple of years later after Rita split with her first husband of 14 years, Theo Silveston.

The former couple had met in 2004 and welcomed twin daughters together before they separated in 2018.

Their divorce was finalised in 2020.

Rita joined EastEnders as Roxy in 2007 and became a fan favourite before she was brutally killed off alongside on-screen sister Ronnie in a tragic New Year storyline in 2017.

She went on to appear on I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here in 2018 before joining Hollyoaks last year as Marie Fielding.

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Where: Carpenter Performing Arts Center
When: Nov. 8, 8 p.m.
Price: Starting at $38.75

POP royalty Anastacia has revealed she’s returning to the UK and Ireland for a huge new tour.

The singer, 56, will play nine dates in September 2026 as part of her #NTK tour next year, with European dates to be announced soon.

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This marks Anastacia’s return to London’s OVO Wembley Arena after last performing at the venue 22 years ago.

The upcoming tour will see the performer descend upon Belfast, Dublin, Glasgow, Manchester and Wolverhampton.

She will conclude her tour dates with three shows in Cardiff, London and finally Brighton.

Fans will be pleased to know that tickets will go on sale at 10am on Friday, 5 September via anastacia.com/live.

The American-native, who appeared on The Masked Singer announced the exciting news today on her Instagram as she posted the official tour poster.

She penned: “We’re coming back in 2026 with the #NTK Tour starting in the UK and Ireland. Europe dates to come soon.”

Loyal fans flocked to the comments section to share their excitement as one enthused: “Wembley Arena is where I saw Anastacia for the first time in 2005.”

Another fan commented: “I’m so happy that you are coming to Cardiff next year, my hometown and of course I’ll have to go to Wembley, the place I saw you live for the very first time.”

Someone else said: “Yes!!!! The tour that keeps on giving. The best celebration for an album ever,” and a fourth added: “Time to buy my first flight for the UK.”

Speaking about the upcoming shows, Anastacia, who revealed why she not to have children, said: “This tour is such a special moment for me.

“Returning to Wembley after so many years feels like coming full circle—and I can’t wait to celebrate these songs with the fans who’ve been on this journey with me since the very beginning.”

The Strictly Come Dancing star appeared on This Morning today and spoke to Rylan Clark and Josie Gibson about her 2026 tour.

She expressed: “Three weeks from now I will have done 70 shows this tour this year. I’m super grateful for it because it’s the 25th anniversary and you know it just seemed like people were really up for celebration and every crowd, every country was super excited about being there.

“When I got to the number 25, I actually was like, wow, yeah, that’s kind of cool. I do feel there is a place, they’re still playing my music, they actually like my music still. I feel good about it.”

The tour comes as Anastacia celebrates 25 years since the release of her chart-topping debut album, Not That Kind.

She played an incredible 64 shows across the UK and Europe earlier this year as part of her sold-out, Not That Kind tour.

In September, she will head to Australia for four shows and to commemorate the milestone in her career, she has released a special anniversary edition of her debut album.

Anastacia began her career back in 1993 and has gained commercial success with huge hits over the years including I’m Outta Love, Paid My Dues and Left Outside.

 After releasing her first album in 2000, the icon has gone on to release seven further albums, with seven worldwide tours.

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Asia’s popular culture wave that for two decades has been dominated by two giants. South Korea with its K-Pop wave and dramas, and Japan with its manga and anime, which is now undergoing a fundamental shift. A new force that is tough and colorful has risen from China, not through idol groups or ninjas, but through a small figure with pointed ears and a mysterious smile named Labubu. This figurine by Hong Kong artist Kasing Lung is not just a toy but the spearhead of a huge wave of Chinese popular culture that is ready to challenge and even dictate global tastes. Labubu and his predecessors and companions raise provocative questions about whether we will soon say goodbye to the dominance of K-Pop and manga.

Labubu, as a character from The Monsters line by the Pop Mart brand, is a real example of how China combines the power of storytelling, design, and a brilliant business model. Pop Mart, which was founded in 2010, has transformed into a multi-billion-dollar blind box empire. In 2022, the company reported operating income of 4.62 billion RMB yuan, or around 679 million US dollars, with a net profit of 539 million RMB yuan, equivalent to 79.3 million US dollars. Its global growth is even more astonishing, with revenue in overseas markets soaring 147.1 percent in the same year. As of June 2023, Pop Mart has opened more than 500 stores in 23 countries and regions, including fashion centers such as Paris, London, and New York. Global market research institute Frost & Sullivan explained that Pop Mart successfully leverages consumer psychology through a blind box model that creates a sense of anticipation, collection, and community. This model is more than just a toy; it is a social and cultural experience that changes the way people interact with cultural products.

When compared to Korean and Japanese popular cultural commodities, there are fundamental differences in business models and accessibility. The Japanese industry is based on long and complex narrative stories such as manga and anime, where consumers invest time and emotions to follow a series. The merchandise is often expensive and aimed at serious collectors. While South Korea focuses on idolization through K-Pop, where fans not only buy music but also merchandise, concert tickets, and albums in various versions to support their idols. These ecosystems are built around human stars. On the other hand, Chinese products such as Pop Mart and Labubu are more abstract and decorative. Consumers don’t need knowledge of complicated stories to have them. The price is relatively affordable, around 15 to 30 US dollars per box, so it is impulsive and easily accessible to Generation Z and millennials. This is a lighter and more visual form of cultural consumption.

In terms of global impact and cultural adaptation, K-Pop and Korean dramas have managed to export Korean values, fashion, and language to the rest of the world through the Hallyu wave with cultural ambassadors such as BTS and Squid Game. Japanese manga and anime became the foundation of global subcultures such as cosplay and conventions that influenced artists and filmmakers in the West for decades. Chinese pop culture for now exports less specific Chinese lifestyles and focuses more on aesthetics and business models. People buy Labubu because its designs are unique and funny, not because it represents a specific Chinese mythology, even though some characters are inspired by it. It is a subtle globalization of products with universally accepted Chinese design DNA. The role of the government is also a crucial differentiator. China’s National Bureau for Cultural Exports and Imports actively encourages the export of cultural products as part of the national soft power strategy. Meanwhile, Korean and Japanese industries are driven by private companies with government support that is more facilitative.

Labubu is just a symptom of a larger creative ecosystem that is exploding in China. Donghua, or Chinese animations, such as The King’s Avatar and Mo Dao Zu Shi, have a huge fan base and compete directly with Japanese anime on streaming platforms, with the number of views reaching billions. Novel web platforms such as China Literature have become repositories of intellectual property, with millions of titles adapted into dramas and successful games, creating vertical synergies resembling the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The mobile gaming industry in the hands of Tencent and NetEase is becoming a global giant. Games like Genshin Impact from miHoYo or HoYoverse are not only financially successful, with annual revenues reaching billions of dollars, but also win the hearts of global players through the quality of animation and awesome stories with a distinctively Chinese twist.

Ultimately, the rise of Chinese pop culture is not a sign to say goodbye to K-Pop and manga. This wave is precisely a powerful new challenger that is diversifying and democratizing global tastes. The market now has more options where a fan can love Korean dramas, collect Labbubu figurines, and play Genshin Impact and still look forward to the latest manga chapters at the same time. The dominance of popular culture is no longer held by just one or two countries. Labubu and its ecosystem are symbols of a new era where China is no longer a follower of pop culture trends but rather a trendsetter. They have learned the recipe for success from Japan and Korea in terms of content quality, merchandising, and fan community and added manufacturing strength, innovative business models, and strong state support. This is not a war to be won, but rather an evolution in which the global pop culture stage is expanded with new players full of confidence. The right greeting is not goodbye, but welcome to competition. For fans around the world, this is good news because there will always be more interesting things to love.

Next year’s Grammys will be yet another ceremony where a blockbuster Morgan Wallen album will not take home any awards.

The country music megastar declined to submit his bestselling “I’m the Problem” for Grammy consideration, according to Hits Daily Double and Billboard, who first reported the news. The LP, featuring singles like “Love Somebody” and “What I Want,” debuted in May at No. 1 and has spent 11 weeks and counting atop the Billboard 200 album charts.

Wallen did not give a reason for declining to submit the LP. Despite being the biggest contemporary star in a commercially ascendant genre, Wallen has always had a contentious relationship with Grammy voters.

A month after the 2021 release of his second studio album, the massive hit “Dangerous: The Double Album,” Wallen was filmed using a racial slur and was briefly shunned by the music industry. He later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in 2024 after throwing a chair off a rooftop bar in Nashville.

“I’ve touched base with Nashville law enforcement, my family, and the good people at Chief’s. I’m not proud of my behavior, and I accept responsibility,” he wrote on social media at the time. He more recently turned heads for a testy exit from the stage at a “Saturday Night Live” taping.

While he quickly returned to selling out stadiums and dominating pop and country charts, his records never regained traction with Recording Academy voters, even as country music redoubled its critical and popular acclaim in recent years. Wallen’s only previous nominations came from his duet with Post Malone, “I Had Some Help.”

Published on
20/08/2025 – 13:13 GMT+2

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Shares in Pop Mart soared over 12.5% in daily trading in Hong Kong on Wednesday after the Chinese company released stellar earnings.

The creator of the Labubu doll saw its revenue jump 204% year-on-year in the first half of 2025, coming in at 13.88 billion yuan (€1.66bn). Net profit soared 386% to 4.68bn yuan (€559.39 million), beating forecasts.

Around 40% of sales were made up by purchases outside of mainland China thanks to the international appeal of the firm’s Labubu brand, part of its “The Monsters” range.

“The Monsters” brought in 4.81bn yuan (€574.99mn) in the first half of the year, accounting for 34.7% of total revenue.

The elf-like dolls have become a viral sensation, boosted by the endorsement of celebrities like Dua Lipa, Kim Kardashian and David Beckham.

Part of the attraction is that the toys are sold in blind-box packaging. This means that customers don’t know what they have purchased until they open the product.

Although the firm was created back in 2010, Pop Mart launched its first blind-box series in 2016. The popularity of the range allowed the company to list in Hong Kong in December 2020, achieving a market capitalisation of around €6bn. Since the IPO, shares have risen by over 300%.

Pop Mart opened its first European store in London in January 2022, hoping to expand in overseas markets. Today, the company operates around 2,600 vending machines and almost 600 stores across the globe, meaning Labubu dolls can be bought in more than 30 countries. 

Given the demand for dolls, Pop Mart is now considering expansion in the Middle East, Central Europe, and Central and South America. The firm operates around 40 stores in the US, with 10 more sites expected to open by the end of 2025.

In an earnings call on Wednesday, CEO Wang Ning also said that Pop Mart would this week launch a new, mini version of Labubu that can be attached to phones.

Wang added that his firm was on track to meet its 2025 revenue goal of 20bn yuan (€2.39bn), noting that “30bn this year should also be quite easy”.

Some analysts have nonetheless raised doubts over the sustainability of the company’s rise, driven by social media sites like TikTok.

“The craze for the elf-like Labubu dolls is translating into big profit and cash flow,” said AJ Bell head of financial analysis, Danni Hewson. ““Consumers can be capricious when it comes to this type of fad though and Pop Mart will have to work hard to build on this success if it is to avoid being a one-hit wonder.”

THERE can be no cooler claim to fame than to be name-checked in one of the greatest pop songs ever written.

Waterloo Sunset by The Kinks, released at the height of the Swinging Sixties, featured a couple referred to only by their first names — Terry and Julie.

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Julie was Julie Christie, the drop-dead gorgeous actress, and Terry was Terence Stamp, her real-life boyfriend.

The accomplished actor died yesterday morning, aged 87, and last night his family led the tributes to him.

They said in a statement: “He leaves behind an extraordinary body of work, both as an actor and as a writer, that will continue to touch and inspire people for years to come.”

Along with a handful of other leading men from humble backgrounds such as Michael Caine and Albert Finney, Stamp epitomised a new breed of screen star.

Ruggedly handsome, uncompromising and from a tough working-class background, he shot to fame with his first movie.

But as the Sixties drew to a close, it looked as though the sun was also setting on his career — and it was almost a decade before he triumphantly reappeared.

The oldest of five children, he was born Terence Henry Stamp on July 22, 1938, in Bow, East London, to mother Ethel and father Thomas, a £12-a-week tugboat stoker.

‘I was in pain. I took drugs – everything’

That made him, according to the saying, a genuine Cockney — “born within the sound of Bow bells”.

His first home had no bathroom, only a tub in the backyard which he would be dragged into on Friday evenings.

He later remembered: “The first one in would get second-degree burns — and the last one frostbite.”

In 2016, he said of his childhood: “The great blessing of my life is that I had the really hard bit at the beginning. We were really poor.

“I couldn’t tell anybody that I wanted to be an actor because it was just out of the question. I would have been laughed at.

“When we got our first TV, I started saying, ‘Oh I could do that’ and my dad wore it for a little bit.

“After I’d said, ‘Oh I’m sure I could do better than that guy’, he looked at me and he said, ‘Son, people like us don’t do things like that’.”

As an 18-year-old, he tried to evade National Service — a year and a half of compulsory duty in the military — by claiming to have nosebleeds but was saved when he failed his medical because of fallen arches.

Determined to realise his dream, Stamp left home and moved into a basement flat on London’s Harley Street with another promising young Cockney actor — Michael Caine. The pair became firm friends and ended up in repertory theatre, touring around the UK together.

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Stamp’s performances soon brought him to the attention of acclaimed writer and director Peter Ustinov, who gave him the lead role in the 1962 historical drama movie Billy Budd. He was an overnight success.

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, he also won the hearts of millions of female fans. And with his first Hollywood pay cheque, the image-conscious actor celebrated by buying himself a Savile Row suit and bleaching his hair blond.

Stamp heeded the career advice Ustinov gave him — to only accept job offers when something he really wanted came his way.

That may explain why he made only ten movies between 1962 and 1977.

His most famous role was as Sergeant Troy in Far From The Madding Crowd in 1967 — where he met and fell in love with co-star Julie Christie.

While Stamp was fast becoming a screen icon, his younger brother Chris was making waves in the music biz.

I was someone who was desperately unhappy. I was in pain. I took drugs — everything

Terence Stamp

Stamp Junior managed The Who and Jimi Hendrix, and was friends with many music legends of the time.

Talking about The Kinks’ classic Waterloo Sunset, written by frontman Ray Davies, Terence said: “My brother was quite friendly with him.

“He asked Ray Davies about that lyric and Ray Davies told my brother that, yes, he was visualising Julie and me when he wrote the lyric.”

But by the end of the decade, Stamp’s career was on the wane — and he was devastated when his “Face of the Sixties” model girlfriend Jean Shrimpton walked out on him — beginning what he called his “lost years”.

He said: “I’d lost the only thing I thought was permanent.

“The revelation came to me then — nothing is permanent, so what was the point trying to maintain a permanent state?

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“I was someone who was desperately unhappy. I was in pain. I took drugs — everything.”

He clung on to a feeling that “the call would come” — but the wait was a long one.

It finally came in 1977 when he was offered the part of General Zod in Superman.

He took it — mainly because it gave him the chance to appear alongside his acting hero Marlon Brando.

The part brought him to the attention of a new audience — and last night fans paid tribute to his portrayal of the banished alien villain.

In a nod to his role as the evil leader who demanded his enemies show him deference, one fan wrote on X: “Thank you Terry . . . we will kneel today in your honour.”

Another wrote: “Terence Stamp was much more than Zod but at the same time one of the best comic book villains ever.”

‘My present was a box of Star Wars stencils’

Making up for lost time after the 1978 release of Superman, Stamp made dozens of films from then until 2021, showing off his huge range.

He won universal praise for his portrayal of an East End villain in The Limey (1999) and transgender woman Bernadette Bassenger in The Adventures Of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert. Stamp also played Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum in Star Wars: Episode 1 — The Phantom Menace, although the director George Lucas did not give him a huge payday.

He once cornered a producer during the shoot and complained about the pay.

He recalled: “I said, ‘Listen, you’re not paying much money and it’s making hundreds of millions. What goes down? What happens?’

“She said, ‘If the actors are really good, George gives them a present’.

“I thought, ooh, that’s all right. So when I leave the studio I go into my dressing room and there’s a box. It was a box of Star Wars stencils.

“That was my present. I just couldn’t believe it. I thought, may the Force be with you, George. I didn’t keep my stencils. I left them in the dressing room.”

Around that time, he said: “I moved from England some time ago because I wasn’t getting any work.

“I’m getting work in America and my films appear in France but for some reason I’m not getting any offers in Britain.”

But he kept himself busy by launching a successful parallel career as an author, writing five bestselling memoirs and two cookbooks.

He continued to select interesting roles and made a series of memorable cameo appearances, most recently, in 2021, in Edgar Wright’s psychological thriller Last Night In Soho.

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Although he dated some of the world’s most beautiful women, including Julie Christie, Brigitte Bardot and sisters Joan and Jackie Collins, he married only once — to Elizabeth O’Rourke.

The pharmacist was 35 years his junior and the marriage lasted from 2002 to 2008.

He admitted he was upset by the split but added: “I always said I’ll try anything once, other than incest or Morris dancing.

“I’d never been married and I thought I would try it, but I couldn’t make a go of it.”

Looking back on his career, he once said: “I’d be lying if I said I was completely indifferent to the success of all my contemporaries. There are parts I would love to have had a stab at, but I see the decisions I made as invaluable.

“I’m not just chasing an Oscar. I am learning how to die — how to build something within myself that does not become dust.”

DUA Lipa proves she is the golden girl of British pop as she soaks up the rays on holiday.

The Hotter Than Hell singer kicked back in a white two-piece with gold earrings and a studded bracelet.

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Dua, who will turn 30 later this month, shared the snaps on social media — but did not reveal where she was.

In another post, she wrote: “Resting meeee bones before I carry on dancing into my 30s!”

Dua recently posted pics from a trip on a boat off the coast of Sicily.

Actor fiancé Callum Turner, 35, was also beaming for a series of loved-up selfies on a day out to Palermo.

Callum has plenty to celebrate as he’s just become the favourite to take on the legendary role of James Bond.

According to new odds from Heart Bingo, it’s thought that Dua’s fiancé is being lined up as the next 007.

The actor claimed the highest share of positive posts with regards to becoming the next Bond.

Following his lead are stars James Norton, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Paul Mescal and former Superman Henry Cavill.

Twelve years after a breakup that didn’t stick — and one year shy of the 20th anniversary of its biggest album — My Chemical Romance is on the road this summer playing 2006’s “The Black Parade” from beginning to end.

The tour, which stopped Saturday night at Dodger Stadium for the first of two concerts, doesn’t finally manifest the long-anticipated reunion of one of emo’s most influential bands; My Chem reconvened in 2019 and has been performing, pandemic-related delays aside, fairly consistently since then (including five nights at Inglewood’s Kia Forum in 2022 and two headlining appearances at Las Vegas’ When We Were Young festival).

Yet only now is the group visiting sold-out baseball parks — and without even the loss leader of new music to help drum up interest in its show.

“Thank you for being here tonight,” Gerard Way, My Chem’s 48-year-old frontman, told the crowd of tens of thousands at Saturday’s gig. “This is our first stadium tour, which is a wild thing to say.” To mark the occasion, he pointed out, his younger brother Mikey was playing a bass guitar inscribed with the Dodgers’ logo.

So how did this darkly witty, highly theatrical punk band reach a new peak so deep into its comeback? Certainly it’s benefiting from an overall resurgence of rock after years dominated by pop and hip-hop; My Chem’s Dodger Stadium run coincides this weekend with the return of the once-annual Warped Tour in Long Beach after a six-year dormancy.

Then again, Linkin Park — to name another rock group huge in the early 2000s — recently moved a planned Dodger Stadium date to Inglewood’s much smaller Intuit Dome, presumably as a result of lower-than-expected ticket sales.

The endurance of My Chemical Romance, which formed in New Jersey before eventually relocating to Los Angeles, feels rooted more specifically in its obsession with comic books and in Gerard Way’s frank lyrics about depression and his flexible portrayal of gender and sexuality. (“GERARD WAY TRANSED MY GENDER,” read a homemade-looking T-shirt worn Saturday by one fan.) Looking back now, it’s clear the band’s blend of drama and emotion — of world-building and bloodletting — set a crucial template for a generation or two of subsequent acts, from bands like Twenty One Pilots to rappers like the late Juice Wrld to a gloomy pop singer like Sombr, whose viral hit “Back to Friends” luxuriates in a kind of glamorous misery.

Gerard Way, from left, Mikey Way and Ray Toro perform as My Chemical Romance.

(Etienne Laurent / For The Times)

For much of its audience, My Chem’s proudly sentimental music contains the stuff of identity — one reason thousands showed up to Dodger Stadium wearing elaborate outfits inspired by the band’s detailed iconography.

In 2006, the quadruple-platinum “Black Parade” LP arrived as a concept album about a dying cancer patient; Way and his bandmates dressed in military garb that made them look like members of Satan’s marching band. Nearly two decades later, the wardrobe remained the same as the band muscled through the album’s 14 tracks, though the narrative had transformed into a semi-coherent Trump-era satire of political authoritarianism: My Chemical Romance, in this telling a band from the fictional nation of Draag, was performing for the delectation of the country’s vain and ruthless dictator, who sat stony-faced on a throne near the pitcher’s mound flanked by a pair of soldiers.

The theater of it all was fun — important (if a bit crude), you could even say, given how young much of the band’s audience is and how carefully so many modern pop stars avoid taking political stands that could threaten to alienate some number of their fans. After “Welcome to the Black Parade,” a bearded guy playing a government apparatchik handed out Dodger Dogs to the band and to the dictator; Way waited to find out whether the dictator approved of the hot dog before he decided he liked it too.

Fans react as My Chemical Romance performs.

(Etienne Laurent / For The Times)

Yet what really mattered was how great the songs still are: the deranged rockabilly stomp of “Teenagers,” the Eastern European oom-pah of “Mama,” the eruption of “Welcome to the Black Parade” from fist-pumping glam-rock processional to breakneck thrash-punk tantrum.

Indeed, the better part of Saturday’s show came after the complete “Black Parade” performance when My Chem — the Way brothers along with guitarists Frank Iero and Ray Toro, drummer Jarrod Alexander and keyboardist Jamie Muhoberac — reappeared sans costumes on a smaller secondary stage to “play some jams,” as Gerard Way put it, from elsewhere in the band’s catalog. (Its most recent studio album came out in 2010, though it’s since issued a smattering of archived material.)

Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance performs.

(Etienne Laurent / For The Times)

“I’m Not Okay (I Promise)” was blistering atomic pop, while “Summertime” thrummed with nervy energy; “Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)” was as delightfully snotty as its title suggests. The band reached back for what Way called his favorite My Chem song — “Vampires Will Never Hurt You,” from the group’s 2002 debut — and performed, evidently for the first time, a chugging power ballad called “War Beneath the Rain,” which Way recalled cutting in a North Hollywood studio “before the band broke up” as My Chem tried to make a record that never came out.

The group closed, as it often does, with its old hit “Helena,” a bleak yet turbo-charged meditation on what the living owe the dead, and as he belted the chorus, Way dropped to his knees in an apparent mix of exhaustion, despair, gratitude — maybe a bit of befuddlement too. He was leaving no feeling unfelt.

Growing up in a small town in New Hampshire, Nora Princiotti lived two hours away from the nearest mall, so the Scholastic Book Fair was her lifeline to pop culture purchases.

In fall 2003, the then-9-year-old made a beeline to the fair and bought gum, glitter gel pens and “Metamorphosis,” the second studio album from “Lizzie McGuire” star Hilary Duff.

At that time, Duff was “the single most important person in the world to me outside my immediate family,” Princiotti writes in “Hit Girls: Britney, Taylor, Beyoncé, and the Women Who Built Pop’s Shiniest Decade.” “This is the first day of the rest of my life.”

This proclamation is no exaggeration. Duff’s CD was Princiotti’s gateway to the vibrant pop music universe of the 2000s — an era that “Hit Girls” thoroughly examines through the lens of some of the decade’s music icons.

The chronological book opens with Britney Spears reigniting industry interest in mainstream pop after the roaring success of her snappy debut single, 1998’s “…Baby One More Time.” Princiotti subsequently devotes chapters to Rihanna’s world-shifting dance music and savvy use of technology; the scrappy (and occasionally bumpy) pop-punk odyssey of Avril Lavigne; and the complicated relationship between indie rock and pop, exemplified by “American Idol” sweetheart Kelly Clarkson.

She also reexamines with a much kinder eye the music of Ashlee Simpson, whose career cratered after she was caught lip-syncing on “Saturday Night Live,” and then-tabloid fixtures Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton.

Princiotti, a staff writer at the Ringer who covers pop music and the NFL and co-hosts the podcast “Every Single Album,” says she was certain which artists needed to be included in “Hit Girls.”

“I had the idea a little bit before the Y2K resurgence that we’ve experienced over the last few years,” she says. “But it was trickling into the ecosystem. And I had this very clear idea that there are all these disparate segments of the pop star world and the version of that world that existed in the 2000s. … Even though that music is different, it all fit together to me really obviously, because I was the fan.”

Princiotti augments her rigorous research with colorful memories from this era, including chatting on AIM (her handle was mangorainbow99), digging up Taylor Swift rarities on YouTube and hearing Lady Gaga’s “Just Dance” at a high school dance.

Finding a cohesive story of the 2000s was more challenging. “The question that I had to answer [in the book] was, ‘Other than the audience — and other than having this feeling inside me that a book that covered the rise of Britney Spears also needed to cover ‘Rumors’ by Lindsay Lohan and also needed to cover Ashlee Simpson, because that’s how I lived it — what actually ties these artists together?’”

That uniting thread is Spears. The book deftly traces the parallels between the evolution of Spears’ career and how the decade itself unfolded — from the way her music broadened beyond teen pop (e.g. the electro-disco “Toxic”) to the negative impact the intense tabloid scrutiny had on her mental health.

“She is the artist of the 2000s,” Princiotti says. “If you think of the aughts as a whole, it starts with Britney, [and] she manages to keep it going. There’s so many things that I think just come back to that one woman.”

Princiotti also concludes that the female pop stars of the 2000s helped legitimize pop music.

“There’s something about what all of these women — because it is women in the book — did to chip away at the idea that pop is disposable and unserious music, that somehow got us to this place where it is more often recognized as a serious art form, something that moves culture [and] is worthy of real, deep criticism,” she says.

“You’re seeing every day where there are thesis-driven projects about Taylor Swift and the music of Taylor Swift, and [people asking,] ‘What does she mean to society?’ and ‘What does she mean to culture? The thing that struck me was, ‘Oh, we didn’t have that. It wasn’t like that — and now it is.’”

“I came away with an appreciation of just how early in her career she laid the blueprint of how she would develop her fan base,” Nora Princiotti says of Taylor Swift.

(Ballantine Books)

Given the book’s narrow time frame — “Hit Girls” starts just before Y2K and ends in the early 2010s — the book also takes a different spin on the careers of Swift and fellow superstar Beyoncé.

The latter was newly emerging as a solo artist with 2003’s “Dangerously in Love” after breaking through with Destiny’s Child. Princiotti argues that Beyoncé’s success on the pop charts opened doors for hip-hop and R&B artists, which had a seismic impact on culture as a whole.

Although these genres had started making massive inroads into the pop charts and mainstream music starting in the late 1990s, Princiotti observed in her research that magazine and tabloid covers still largely prioritized white artists.

“While there was a clear relationship between the interest in an artist like Britney Spears’s life and the interest in her music, that feedback loop did not exist for a lot of Black artists,” she writes. “Which meant that hip-hop could dominate popular music while being shut out of the elite celebrity spaces that promote true pop stardom.”

Swift, meanwhile, was an earnest country-pop wunderkind building her fan base one MySpace comment at a time — and even then happened to be a genius at understanding the psychology of fandom and the online habits of her followers.

“I came away with an appreciation of just how early in her career she laid the blueprint of how she would develop her fan base,” Princiotti says. “When it’s all said and done, we will look back at her artistic legacy, yes, as the songwriter of a generation, yes, as the poet laureate of young women.”

“But I do think that the legacy of Taylor Swift is going to start with the communities of people that she brought together within her fan base — and how powerful and sometimes scary and how mobilized that fan community has become, and how she built it to be that way.”

As with Swift, many of the artists in “Hit Girls” remain popular today. Lavigne and Beyoncé are currently on major tours; Clarkson has found success with her daytime talk show; Rihanna is a billionaire business mogul thanks to her brands Fenty Beauty and Savage X Fenty. And Duff, who now has four kids, starred in the TV show “Younger” and, most recently, the short-lived “How I Met Your Father.”

Near the end of “Hit Girls,” Princiotti explores the ongoing influence of these artists and this decade — from the current crop of young pop stars led by Olivia Rodrigo and nostalgia festivals like When We Were Young to fashion trends such as dark denim, “going-out” tops and butterfly hair clips.

Princiotti herself maintains a love of pop stars and offers solid theories about why this specific era remains such a fascination: a heady mix of nostalgia, second chances and perspective.

“For people like me who lived through at least some of it, it’s the ability to go back a little bit older and wiser,” she says. “We can take the best of it and then reexamine the worst of it with more open eyes. And there’s something to me that’s very satisfying about that.”

A player on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire had to use two lifelines on a tricky pop star question – but would you know it?

Hopeful contestants enter the iconic game show aiming to win the life-changing £1 million grand prize.

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Primary school teacher Ian Harrison was opposite host Jeremy Clarkson in the famous hotseat.

Ian found himself stumped on a question and had to use two lifelines.

Jeremy asked him: “Which singer, who was a trained gymnast as a child, is well known for using aerial dance and trapeze skills in her live shows?”

The four options presented were A) Paloma Faith, B) Shakira, C) Katy Perry and D) Pink.

Feeling unsure, Ian first opted to use his 50/50 lifeline to remove two possible answers.

This left Paloma Faith and Pink, but the player was still uncertain about which was correct.

He then used a second lifeline – Phone A Friend – to ask friend David for assistance.

Unfortunately, David wasn’t too sure either, saying it wasn’t his “specialist subject.”

Despite his dwindling options, Ian chose to take a gamble and gave Pink as his final answer.

This proved correct – meaning the contestant had just won £16,000 and climbed up the ladder.

Meanwhile, Ian’s good fortune continued as he ultimately walked away with £125,000.

It comes as another contestant recently lost out on a large sum due to a tricky tree question.

Jeremy welcomed player Amy, a tourism officer from Stroud, to the hotseat.

After struggling with a motorsport question, Amy got through and set her safety net at £32,000.

She then managed to get the £64,000 question right before taking on the £125,000 question.

It was: “Which of these species of tree lives the longest?”

As she debated about having a stab at it, Jeremy reminded her that if she got it wrong, she’d lose £32,000 but would go away with the £32,000 safety net.

Amy said: “I think I might as well go for it, no point in not doing it, right?”

She then decided to go for Oak and said “final answer” so it was locked in.

After a pause, Millionaire host Jeremy said: “You are unbelievably brave…but sadly wrong.”

The computer on screen then revealed that A) Yew was the correct answer.

He added: “Oh I am sorry Amy, but I just love your attitude, and you are leaving here with £32,000 which is pretty good.”

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire airs on ITV1 and ITVX.

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King Mala wants to put it all out there. And she is — at a breakneck pace.

The 26-year-old alt-pop singer released her (positively) nightmare-inducing debut album, “And You Who Drowned in the Grief of a Golden Thing,” on May 2. Since then she’s been on the road, touring along the West Coast from Vancouver to Los Angeles in support of Canadian singer Lights. After her recent appearance with Lights at the Roxy, King Mala will return to L.A. for her own headlining show at the Troubadour on June 26.

When joining a Zoom call with The Times, King Mala, whose real name is Areli Castro, admitted to running on fumes. Having just driven from Portland, Ore., to Seattle in the wee hours of the morning, Castro was contending with a central theme of her album in real time: the chasm between her dreams and the limits of her corporeal form.

“There’s this struggle between the things you want and the things you are,” said Castro. “I just love the idea of playing with grandeur and gods while still maintaining a very like human and gross and visceral vibe.”

Despite it all, she’s maintained a sunny disposition — a stark departure from the moody and dramatic feel of singles like “Ode to a Black Hole.” The macabre visuals from her current musical era evoke the same mystical energy as “True Detective” and 2024’s surprise horror hit, “Longlegs.”

Born in the border town of El Paso to a Mexican father and Puerto Rican mother, the musician grew up attending Catholic church and listening to a lot of soul music, a genre she now describes as her “bread and butter.” While she doesn’t feel stereotypically Texan, Castro still feels spiritually yoked to El Paso.

“El Paso is very, very non-Texas,” Castro said. “When I go to the rest of Texas, I’m like, ‘This isn’t my Texas.’ I grew up on [the] border — Southwestern vibes — and it’s so different than Austin or Dallas. I feel like a desert witch.”

That desert witchiness emanates from the mesmerizing sonic loops and negative space deployed in her songs, which she pairs with “found” footage inspired by ghost hunting shows, ornate Catholic crosses and sandy landscapes captured in her music videos.

Castro also spoke with The Times about how she mapped out her debut album and the life experiences that helped shape her gothic sensibilities.

This interview has been edited and shortened for clarity.

When it comes to the aesthetics of the album, it employs a lot of religious aspects. What was the intention with that?
I love religious metaphor. I find it so grand and ancient and fun to use as a vehicle to tell a story. I’m very obsessed with the collective unconscious and how we keep telling the same stories over and over and over. So using stories that I really admire as the vehicle for this was really fun. There’s just a power struggle in this album that I wanted to capture. And it felt like using the metaphor of God and humanity and of, “How do you exist as a powerful person, while also still maintaining your humanity?” That was the whole point of the album.

Does that attraction to religion and these grand ideas come from your own habit or was it a thing from when you were growing up that influenced you?
I grew up very Catholic, like cradle Catholic. My grandma always wanted us to go to Mass, so we adhered to that. But I was home schooled and the home school community is very Christian. And so I was sort of indoctrinated into that for a good amount of my formative years — middle school [and] early high school. It was very harmful and strange.

It was very interesting to see how predatory the religion is. It’s looking for kids who are lonely and scared and promising solace, which is nice, but then there’s always a backhand that’s like, “Oh, but you have to do this and you have to adhere to this and you have to follow our rules.”

Yeah, I’ve got a little bit of religious trauma to say the least. … Once I was out of that cycle and community, I realized it’s really all very similar to a cult. At what point does a cult transition into just a full religion? Is it just enough people believe it? I don’t know. So that was a bunch of the stuff that I was thinking about as we made this.

What are some media that you draw inspiration from?
I’m a big, big, big horror girlie. So that was a big inspiration. I love that being a human is so gross and I feel like we don’t realize that half the time because we’re so used to it. I love body horror. I love [movies like] “The Substance” and “The Witch.” I’m very obsessed with Robert Eggers and the way he makes beautiful, beautiful horror.

Going into [the album] I wanted to do it the way we did humanity. I wanted it to be very gross and visceral and real and if we were going to do sexy, I wanted it to be very raw. And if we were going to do body horror, I wanted it to be very intentional and intense.

Do you feel like the grossness of being human is kind of beautiful?
I love it. We’re so weird, especially our relationships to each other. It’s so sweet and strange and we love to hold hands and touch our mouths together. It’s so cute and gross and funny. I love thinking of us like we’re aliens. Like if some other creature saw us, they’d be like, “What the f— are they doing?” It’s really funny.

Are there musical acts that you drew inspiration from for this album?
For this record, we drew a lot of inspiration from “22, a Million” by Bon Iver, from Radiohead, from old school hip hop and rap. Kendrick Lamar and old Kanye West … We had a big playlist. Phantogram was on there, The xx is on there, Portishead, Little Simz — she was a big inspo — Doechii, Rico Nasty.

I was drawing from a bunch of different directions. [The production team] knew we had to create this sonic landscape before we started making the record. We wanted to do analog drums and hip-hop beats with reverbed-out, textural guitar, à la Mk.gee. We just wanted it to feel alive and analog.

What do you want people to get out of your live show?
I want people to ascend and join the character. I want it to feel like a movie. I want these songs to live and breathe and sort of experience themselves through everyone in the audience. I think live shows create like such an energy between people. I want it to feel like we’re going to church, like we’re going on a journey together. That’s the goal.