Blur debut new songs live and perform rare deep cuts for first time at intimate Hammersmith gig

Gemma Atkinson certainly had that new mum glow about her as she was spotted out and about for the first time with her baby son, Thiago.The 38 year old former Hollyoaks star gave birth to her second child towards the end of July. She shares him and her four year old daughter, Mia, with Strictly pro Gorka Marquez, 32.

Blur‘s Damon Albarn has hit out at AI, branding it “absurd”.He criticised covers of the band’s hits featuring AI versions of Frank Sinatra, Michael Buble and Snoop Dogg.Albarn told The Sun: “It’s absurd. Anyone who has so much time to sing songs through a Michael Buble filter and put them on the internet is a fucking idiot.

Blur bassist Alex James has launched his own brand of ‘Britpop’ sparkling wine.The musician and professional cheesemaker announced the news of his latest venture on social media yesterday (August 2) – sharing a clip of himself on Twitter (X), showcasing the finished product.“Britpop sparkling wine. Perfect for the good times,” James began in the clip.

Meghan Markle is set to break cover in a new appearance alongside Prince Harry at the Invictus Games in Dusseldorf in September.

“near catastrophic car chase” in New York.The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will be out together next month to host the Invictus Games in Düsseldorf, Germany.The event will start on Sept. 8 — just a day after the first year anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s death.The sports games will continue on Sept.

The world's tallest bodybuilder tried Irn Bru for the first time and was less than impressed with the unique flavour.

Molly-Mae Hague struggled to hide her smile - and her gigantic engagement ring - as she appeared on camera for the first time since getting engaged. It's been just over a week since the influencer sent fans wild by revealing her boyfriend Tommy Fury had popped the question - and that she'd said 'YES!'

Blur bassist Alex James played to the band's biggest-ever crowds at Wembley this summer - but he says it was nothing compared to raising five children.The 54-year-old shares Geronimo, 19, twins Artemis and Galileo, 17, and daughters Sable, 14, and 13-year-old Beatrix with his wife Claire Neate, and the whole family live on a 200-farm in Oxfordshire. As of Beatrix's birthday in June, Alex is now officially the dad of five teenagers, all of whom were at home when OK! visited his farm for a sneak peek at his life off-stage. "“Playing bass in a rock band is the easiest f*****g job in the world,” he told us.

Alex James was a rockstar of the nineties with his Britpop band Blur , crafting the soundtrack to a decade with the likes of Parklife and Girls & Boys. Life now is very different though, he tells OK! in an exclusive chat and walkabout his farm, as he spends his days tending to the land, feeding his army of five teenage children, and organising their annual on-site music festival.

Bronny James is back on his feet after suffering cardiac arrest earlier this week. On Friday, one day after the 18-year-old was discharged from the hospital, he and his family were photographedgoing out to dinner at Giorgio Baldi in Santa Monica, California.Bronny, wearing a white hoody and black pants, was seen walking with his dad, LeBron James, mom, Savannah, and siblings Bryce and Zhuri outside the Italian hotspot.The day after his son was released from the hospital, the 38-year-old Los Angeles Lakers star took to Instagram to reflect on his family's challenging time.In his post, LeBron is focused as he plays basketball with his 16-year-old son, Bryce.

Blur‘s Damon Albarn has shared his love for Arctic Monkeys‘ Alex Turner, saying he sings “a lot like him” on the band’s new album.Albarn and his band released new LP ‘The Ballad Of Darren’ this month, their first since 2015’s ‘The Magic Whip’.In a new interview with Musikexpress, Albarn has discussed his admiration for Turner, and how he influenced the Britpop heroes’ new album.Asked what he thinks of Turner, Albarn responded: “I think he’s great, I sing a lot like him on the new album.“You know our producer James Ford?” the frontman added. “He also worked with the Arctic Monkeys, I mentioned that to him.

Blur have shared two new songs that are featured in the deluxe version of their latest LP ‘The Ballad Of Darren’. Listen to them below.The two new tracks, ‘The Rabbi’ and ‘The Swan’, both have that signature Blur sound with the latter being a mellow ballad and ‘The Rabbi’ being a bright, upbeat song.

Alex James has claimed that he found returning to Blur a lot more “relaxing” than parenting.In recent weeks, the 54-year-old musician has played countless shows across the UK and Europe – including two mammoth dates at Wembley Stadium – and released his ninth studio album with Blur, ‘The Ballad Of Darren’.However, according to a recent interview, the process of being back in the band is more manageable and laid-back than that of being a full-time parent.Appearing on the Parenting Hell podcast, he reflected on one of his previous quotes, where he claimed to have once spent “a million pounds on drugs and booze” while in the band, before going on to become a cheesemaker on his Cotswolds farm.“I kind of made it up and everyone believed it. But that is coming back to haunt me now,” he began.“Playing the bass in a rock band is the easiest thing, compared to parenting,” he added.

Follow OK! on Threads here: https://www.threads.net/@ok_mag Jamie Fox has spoken out for the first time in months after going to "hell and back" when he was hospitalised for a "medical complication." The actor took to his own Instagram page to share an update with his fans about his recovery, after being silent on the matter since April.The 55-year-old's daughter first shared the news that her dad was receiving treatment three months ago but said that he was “already on his way to recovery." The health scare happened while the actor was filming the Netflix movie Back in Action in Atlanta. At the time, she didn’t provide many details on the health scare. Even now, addressing his fans in a video months later, Jamie has yet to reveal the nature of the complication but addressed the severity of his condition when he was in the hospital.

Bombay Bicycle Club have teamed up with Holly Humberstone on their latest track ‘Diving’ from their forthcoming album.According to a press release, the collaboration stemmed from Humberstone asking the band’s frontman Jack Steadman to work on some writing for her own music. Knowing that Humberstone was a fan of the band, they knew who to ask when they needed someone to accompany Steadman on the track.“’Diving’ is a song about that summer you have when you’re 15, the memory of which conjures up such a unique feeling,” said Steadman.

A popular family attraction is making a return to Blackpool after a three year break. Claremont Gala was last held in 2019 before being suspended due to the Covid pandemic.

Blur performed a special gig at the BBC Radio Theatre for Radio 2 last night (July 18) – debuting new song ‘Barbaric’, showcasing their new album ‘The Ballad Of Darren‘ and inviting Phil Daniels on-stage for ‘Parklife’. Check out photos, footage and the setlist below.Following on from playing to 90,000 fans per night at their two massive Wembley Stadium shows last week, the Britpop heroes returned to the capital to perform a much more intimate show for just 300 lucky competition winners and media.

Madonna has left her fans gobsmacked as she shared a new snap for the first time since speaking out on her scary hospitalisation. The 64-year-old US superstar spent several days in intensive care earlier this month for what her manager said was a "serious bacterial infection".

Blur‘s ‘Coffee & TV’ with his son, Harrison, and shared the results in a video shared with fans.The Inbetweeners actor, who played Jay Cartwright in the hit ’00s E4 sitcom, posted a clip of himself playing guitar and singing while his son shows off his skills on the bass.“We’ve had Blur fever in the house, but Harrison especially has found a new appreciation for Alex James [Blur bassist],” Buckley opens with in the video. He said that his son has been “working really hard on it”.The pair are then seen performing a short section from the 1994 hit, although only Harrison’s fingers are in view, noodling around the bass’ fretboard, while Buckley is seen fully on camera.A post shared by James Buckley (@buxtagram)But in a nod to the cheekiness of his character, Jay, he tells his son that he has a solo to show him at the end – and then pranks him by farting.“Harrison is brilliant, fart was impressive,” commented one fan on the Instagram video.

Blur’s Dave Rowntree has shared his opinion of Labour leader Keir Starmer in a new interview with NME.The Britpop veteran was taking part in the latest installation of NME’s Does Rock N’ Roll Kill Braincells?! series when he was asked to recall key moments from throughout his career, including his work in politics.Alongside his role as the drummer for Blur, Rowntree has also had a successful career in politics throughout much of the 21st Century – even going as far as to be elected as a Labour Councillor in Norfolk in 2017.Now, following his time in the role, which came to an end in 2021, the musician revealed his thoughts on current Labour leader, Keir Starmer.“Well, the test is at General Elections,” he began, discussing how well he thinks the figurehead is faring with the public. “If he wins the General Election, he’ll be widely touted as the most visionary Labour leader of modern times and will join the incredibly small number of Labour leaders who’ve gone on to become prime minister.”“If he loses, he’ll be regarded as an idiot who wrecked the Labour Party and achieved nothing,” he continued.