Carly Rae Jepsen RETURNS

Praise be to the Gods of Pop – Carly Rae Jepsen is back, giving us the first taste of her upcoming album with brand new single ‘Party For One’!

A song about self-love and independence, it’s the first new material that the Canadian pop star has released since May 2017, when she gave us the single ‘Cut To The Feeling’, originally intended to be on her last studio album, 2015’s Emotion. Jepsen’s new record is slated to be out early doors in 2019.

“To me ‘Party For One’ is an anthem of what it is to celebrate time with yourself, which is a hard thing for people to really enjoy sometimes, and it’s something I’m learning to do more and more,” Jepsen said in a statement. “This song represents a lot of what this album is about for me which is romantic love but self-love too.”

George Michael TRIBUTE CONCERT PLANNED

The late pop legend George Michael is to be honoured with a star-studded tribute concert, to mark what would be his 56th birthday.

According to The Mirror this week, the show will be held at London’s O2 Academy Brixton on June 25th next year – led by a line-up that includes his former backing singer Shirley Lewis, bassist Deon Estus and guitarist Michael Brown. The direction is to be under the aegis of Chris Cameron, who was previously at the helm as George Michael’s musical director for some of his biggest tours.

George Michael

Michael Jackson TOPS DEAD EARNERS LIST

For the sixth consecutive year, Michael Jackson has been named as the highest earning dead celebrity in the world, raking in well over £300 million during the last 12 months.

The 2018 list published by Forbes has placed the King of Pop at the top yet again. Measuring pre-tax earnings from 1st October 2017 to 1st October 2018, before deducting fees for agents, managers, lawyers and estate executors, the publication estimates that Jackson’s estate earned £313 million. The gargantuan figure, well ahead of Elvis Presley in second with £31 million, is largely due to the recent sale of his estate’s significant stake in EMI Music Publishing.

Michael Jackson

The Courteeners ANNOUNCE HUGE MANCHESTER HOMECOMING GIG

The Courteeners have announced a major headline show at Manchester’s Heaton Park to be held next summer, representing their biggest performance to date as well as an emotional homecoming.

Set for Saturday June 15th 2019, the Mancunian group have revealed veterans James as well as newcomers DMA’s and Pale Waves as their support acts. With an estimated sell-out of 50,000 fans, marking their biggest performance to date.

“It cements our place at the table,” the group’s lead singer Liam Fray told the NME in reaction. “Let’s face it, if someone was doing that in London at Hyde Park, the f***ing world would explode. I still have to pinch myself. I was talking to Paul Weller the other week and he said ‘F***ing good on you, because it’s fucking perseverance’.”

Courteeners

BRITISH MUSIC INDUSTRY ENJOYS RECORD YEAR

British music enjoyed a record year for growth in 2017, according to a new report from the music industry which credits the likes of Ed Sheeran, Dua Lipa and Harry Styles with the boom.

A newly published report from UK Music’s Measuring Music organisation reveals that export revenues grew by 7% to an all-time high of £2.6 billion, and that British artists constituted four of the ten biggest selling albums around the world in 2017.

The charge, of course, was led by Ed Sheeran’s third album Divide. However, newcomer Dua Lipa also became the most-streamed female artist around the world, and half of the world’s ten biggest selling tours came from British artists.

Dua Lipa

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