London music

London music

I was 10 years old when I started spending my pocket money on Gramophone magazine this is an extraordinary honour.

Four years ago the musical theatre titan was at low ebb: declaring he'd rather go to prison than allow his extremely mid new musical Cinderella to open with social distancing was not be any stretch of the imagination his finest hour. There has been no new musical since then, although him and Tim Rice have written the songs for this year's Birmingham Rep Christmas production, and a full scale new one called The Illusionist is now in the works.

On Sunday, Smith invited Depp (who sued The Sun, the British tabloid, after it referred to him as "wife-beater" but lost the case) to perform "People Have The Power" (the irony!) at her show. As she began her encore, Smith introduced her entire band to the audience, adding: "And Johnny? And Johnny Depp? The original Johnny." So, not only did Depp get an opportunity to play with the legendary singer,

A 40th anniversary concert of Les Misérables will be returning to the Royal Albert Hall next year, the same venue as their original 10th anniversary concert. It'll also mark the show's first return to the Royal Albert Hall since that original concert concept was created. What is now known as the "Arena Concert Spectacular" was developed from the Staged Concert, which played for over 200 performances in the West End and the 25th Anniversary performance at The O2.

I've spent my life determined to be one of a kind perhaps because I'm a twin. During our birth, my younger-by-two-minutes brother's umbilical cord wrapped around my neck. It cut off my air supply, which left me deaf, while his hearing was unimpaired. That's sibling rivalry for you. I use hearing aids and am a strong lip reader, as well as being fluent in British Sign Language. When I take my aids out to sleep,

Many years ago, I was rehearsing with a band in a rehearsal room in New York. From the next-door studio came the sound of a series of some of the biggest disco hits known to man. Within a few minutes we were happily chatting to the members of the legendary KC and The Sunshine Band. If you're not old enough to remember them, KC and The Sunshine Band were huge in the 1970s selling over 100 million records worldwide.

The gig will be the band's first performance together since a five-night run at the London Palladium in 2019.

Every now and again, a scene seems to be bubbling up out of nowhere, and all of a sudden, everyone is talking about it. That is what's happening with the U.K. underground right now. Fakemink is the rapper that you need to know from that world. You might have seen him popping out at Wireless Festival with Drake. This my dog right here.

Noughties emo titans My Chemical Romance have announced a huge UK tour to celebrate 20 years of landmark album The Black Parade. Gerard Way, Ray Toro, Frank Iero and Mikey Way are bringing their Long Live The Black Parade tour to stadiums around the world - and next summer there will be several dates here in London. Wembley Stadium will host the band's only UK dates in the Long Live The Black Parade tour, and the shows will be in July 2026.

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

Lad rock is officially back. And the return of beer-soaked, riff-heavy, chorus-yelled rock ain't ending when Oasis' final Wembley gigs wrap up this weekend: next summer Kasabian have announced their biggest ever London headline show at Finsbury Park. Serge Pizzorno and co will be in north London next July, and they're the first headliner announced for Finsbury Park's series of gigs next summer. In 2025 the park was headlined by the likes of Fontaines DC, Stereophonics and Slayer (plus Drake at Wireless).

I was living in fear of the next fucked-up experience, he says. Sitting in a store room above the London venue his band Militarie Gun will later fill with shoutalong aggro-pop energy, the singer is jetlagged but animated as he puts himself back there, his sandy hair peeking from beneath the hood of his sweatshirt. Twice, my bus pulled up as an ambulance pulled away from our house, he continues.

The Regent Sounds recording studio on Tin Pan Alley in London was famously used by Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie and the Rolling Stones between the 1960s and early 1980s. Now, having been walled up and lain silent for decades, it is being brought back to life through a multimillion-pound investment that will turn it into a landmark site for rock'n'roll, jazz and blues,

This autumn, the Magic Flute returns to the Royal Opera House stage in a revival of David McVicar's acclaimed production. Running from 10 October to 3 November 2025, the Royal Opera House celebrates the 400th performance of Mozart's The Magic Flute, one of the most popular operas ever written. Mozart's coming-of-age story about true love and the search for wisdom is a repertoire staple of The Royal Opera and is always a crowd-pleaser.

You know how it is. You got your phone, I've filmed it and gone, 'Look at the state of this garden. I'm going to sort this garden out'

After a year away, the ice rink is heading back to Somerset House for another winter of festive fun and they've got a whole new series of Skate Lates events on for 2021. As well as spinning around the rink during the day, you can take to the ice once night falls as they play host to an array of DJs, artists and clubs. It's a truly diverse programme with the likes of Jaguar, Foundation FM, and CLyde Built Radio taking to the decks.

The 19-year-old, part of an emerging wave of UK underground rap getting hyped up like the '03 NBA draft class, has bags under his eyes. His hair is in a messy bun. He's wearing a wrinkled white tee, a colorful scarf he bought off Depop, black skinny jeans, and house slippers with the heads of stuffed teddy bears on the top.

In an overcrowded pop market, where artists are encouraged to maintain a constant presence and stream of what's depressingly termed product, south London singer-songwriter Joy Crookes's career has progressed in a curious series of fits and starts. After releasing a series of EPs, she ended 2019 as a hotly tipped act: appearances on Later With Jools Holland, nominated for the Brits Rising Star award, placed high in the BBC's Sound of 2020 poll, invited to support Harry Styles on tour.

At 19 years old, Debsey Wykes stood in front of a sold-out crowd at London's Hammersmith Odeon, her knees literally knocking with fear, as she puts it. It was the end of 1980 and Dolly Mixture were supporting the Jam for a second time, having piqued the interest of Paul Weller. Despite the shaky start, the teen trio made it through the set to appreciative applause.

BST has had quite the run of huge-name country headliners over the last few years. Zach Bryan, Shania Twain and Morgan Wallen have all headlined the Great Oak Stage in recent editions. Brooks' concert next June will be his first appearance in the UK in nearly 30 years. That's right, three decades. That's a hell of a long time for the best-selling solo artist in US history to have not played the UK. He last performed here in 1998.

Swag Age is set in a fictional version of the Joseon Dynasty (Korea's last Imperial Dynasty that ended in 1910). The central theme is a classic one, with oppressed citizens using a subversive art form to rebel against their rulers. Yet it's one with contemporary. This is Swag Age's power and beauty: it's a creative collaboration between the old and the new, combining differing cultural references.

A teenage Marty McFly races to fix his parents' past and save his future in this thrilling, high-energy stage musical adaptation of Back to the Future. Winner of Best New Musical 2022, Back To The Future The Musical is a trip back to 1955. Normally at 2025 prices, there's a sale on at the moment, which means some performances are nearly half-price.