Watch Ed Sheeran play a surprise opening set for The Darkness

Dream Theater‘s Mike Portnoy, who recently returned to the band following a 13-year absence, has played ‘Pull Me Under’ for the first time in 13 years on Drumeo. Portnoy was recently featured in a 14-minute video for the YouTube drum education resource, Drumeo, depicting him discussing and playing through the band’s iconic ‘Images And Words’ cut, ‘Pull Me Under’.The video begins with Portnoy speaking about the significance of the track to Dream Theater’s career, describing it as “the song that put Dream Theater on the map”.“It’s pretty safe to say, if we didn’t write that song, I wouldn’t be sitting here today,” he said.

NME about how 2023 was the “worst year for venue closures” – calling upon the upper echelons of the industry to contribute and for the government to introduce a mandatory ticket live on arena and stadium gigs.Earlier this year, it was revealed that the UK was set to lose 10 per cent of its grassroots music venues in 2023. An MVT report from January warned that grassroots gig spaces in the UK were “going over a cliff” – shutting off the pipeline of future talent without urgent government action and investment from new large arenas.The latest stats from the MVT show that this year saw 125 grassroots venues shut down in 2023 – causing a loss of 4,000 jobs, with 14,500 events no longer possible and 193,230 opportunities lost to musicians.One of the more high-profile gig spaces to shut its doors was Bath Moles.

Encore Musicians, Ed Sheeran‘s 2017 single ‘Perfect’ was the most popular track to be played on couples’ special days across the nation over the past 12 months.It was found that 16 per cent of newlyweds in the UK this year had the ‘÷’ (‘Divide’) track play as they enjoyed their first dance.Encore Musicians – which describes itself as “the UK’s largest and fastest musician bookings platform” – used a base of more than 3,000 events to conduct the study, per Clash.Coming in at second and third place were John Legend‘s ‘All Of Me’ (2013) and Elvis Presley‘s ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’ (1961), respectively.Sheeran made another appearance on the list, with his 2014 ballad ‘Thinking Out Loud’ occupying fourth place. Jason Mraz’s ‘I’m Yours’ (2008) claimed fifth place ahead of Adele‘s ‘Make You Feel My Love’ (2008) at Number Six.Also making it into the top 10 were tracks by Earth, Wind & Fire, Etta James, Bruno Mars and Stevie Wonder (via Express).The top 10 most popular songs for first dances at UK weddings in 2023 were as follows:1) Ed Sheeran – ‘Perfect’2) John Legend – ‘All Of Me’3) Elvis Presley – ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’4) Ed Sheeran – ‘Thinking Out Loud’5) Jason Mraz – ‘I’m Yours’6) Adele – ‘Make You Feel My Love’7) Earth, Wind & Fire – ‘September’8) Etta James – ‘At Last’9) Bruno Mars – ‘Marry You’10) Stevie Wonder – ‘Isn’t She Lovely’Recently, Ed Sheeran was named as Spotify’s fifth most-streamed act in the UK of 2023.

Wham! taking the lead for the peak position on the charts.The news follows a neck-and-neck race between the iconic ‘80s pop duo Wham! And Eurovision star Sam Ryder over the past week, with their respective songs ‘Last Christmas’ [1986] and ‘You’re Christmas To Me’ [2023].At the first look at the race last week, just 42 chart units stood between the two taking the top spot on the UK charts, however, this week it has been revealed by the Official Charts that Wham! are in pole position, and have widened the gap between Ryder’s Amazon Music original track – which remains at Number Two.However, it doesn’t seem likely that the charts will stay this way until Christmas, with Ryder set to play a fan-exclusive gig tonight (December 19) in Shoreditch, London, in a push to promote the song in time for Christmas Day.Similarly, today (December 19) The Pogues are sharing a special, limited-edition physical run of their own iconic Christmas song ‘Fairytale Of New York’ in a push to climb the charts.Originally released in 1988 and featuring Kirsty MacColl, the track is being reissued in memory of the band’s late singer Shane MacGowan, who died “peacefully” in hospital from pneumonia on November 30. He was 65 years old and his funeral took place in Nenagh, County Tipperary on December 8.All proceeds from the reissue will be donated to the Irish charity Dublin Simon Community, and the release also arrived alongside a fan campaign to get Fairytale of New York to Christmas Number 1 for the first time.The push for the top position on the charts has also been endorsed by Shane MacGowan’s widow, Victoria Mary Clarke.

Simon Cowell's appearance during the latest Royal Variety Show left viewers baffled - and it appears for the same reason. The former X Factor judge and Britain's Got Talent boss appeared during the pre-recorded entertainment show on ITV on Sunday night (December 17).

The Royal Variety Performance returns to ITV tonight (Sunday December 17) with a spectacular line-up of stars. Hosted by The Chase presenter Bradley Walsh, the gala showcases the best talent from Britain and beyond across music, theatre and comedy.

EXCLUSIVE: BAFTA winner and Emmy nominee Kari Skogland has been set to direct live-action feature The Age of Legends, the first installment in the planned trilogy of films that will explore the origins of Robert Jordan’s bestselling book series The Wheel of Time.

Justin Hawkins has admitted that he still feels regret over the time The Darkness split up before reuniting again in 2021.Despite the huge success of their debut album in 2004, ‘Permission To Land’, the band split up after their 2005 release, ‘One Way Ticket To Hell…And Back’ while Hawkins, who is the lead singer, guitarist and frontman of the band, was battling addiction.During the group’s ongoing UK tour to celebrate two decades of their debut, Hawkins told fans at a concert in Manchester on Tuesday (December 12) that he “felt really bad” for his bother Dan in the band following the break up.He described his brother as the “brains” of the operation before adding: “Silly old Justin took all the drugs and [messed] it up” (via Music News).He said he “had to live with the consequences of that”, referring to the split.Hawkins recently said he thought he was “too old” to be a rock star at 18. The musician told Metro newspaper that he thought he wouldn’t make it as a musician once he reached 18 and started to study music and work behind the scenes instead.He said: “I remember when I got to about 18 and I saw bands like Ash coming up and thinking, ‘Well this is over, I’m already too old!’ But I still wanted to be in music, so I went and studied music technology and got a job in a recording studio,” (via Yahoo).He then went on to reflect on his journey and being signed by a label, aged 25.

Jack Black made a surprise appearance at the Jonas Brothers‘ concert in New York last night (December 9), to perform ‘Peaches’ from The Super Mario Bros. Movie.The track, which is sung by Black’s character Bowser in the movie, entered the Billboard Hot 100 earlier this year.During the intermission at last night’s show at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Black came onstage dressed as Bowser and sang Peaches live.

Charlize Theron and Daniel Craig are teaming up for a heist!

Brent Lang Executive Editor Apple Studios has emerged victorious in a bidding war for “Two For The Money,” a hot package that has attached Oscar-winner Charlize Theron and ex-007 Daniel Craig. Justin Lin, who oversaw several “Fast & Furious” films, is set to direct and produce.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Winterstone Pictures has secured the rights to “The Dark Between Stars” and “Love Her Wild,” by the bestselling author Atticus, who is also known as the world’s most “mysterious poet.” Ashley Avis, director of Disney’s “Black Beauty” and the upcoming film “City of Angels” for Warner Bros., is set to write, direct and produce under her own banner. The feature film will draw inspiration from the true story of the enigmatic author, who chose to remain anonymous after the death of a close friend.

Lewis Capaldi has seen off competition from Sam Smith and Central Cee to become the most-viewed UK artist account on TikTok for 2023.

The Darkness have paid tribute to the late Shane MacGowan at a recent show in Dublin by leading the crowd through a sing-along of The Pogues’ signature song, ‘Fairytale of New York’. At the band’s show at Dublin’s 3Olympia Theatre on December 3, they performed the cover towards the end of the set, with frontman Justin Hawkins singing minimally, frequently pointing the microphone towards the crowd as an invitation to lead the sing-along, against sporadic guitar accompaniment.The band posted a clip of the performance on X yesterday (December 7), writing: “Thanks for the sing-a-long Dublin.

Viewership for the fourth Republican debate fell since the last event, drawing more than 4 million for Nexstar’s NewsNation and its simulcast on The CW.

Jenny Bradley (Sally Ann Matthews) and Daisy Midgeley (Charlotte Jordan) decide to get the Rovers Return Inn back no matter what in latest Coronation Street spoilers. Jenny and Carla Barlow (Alison King) try and fail to persuade Audrey Roberts (Sue Nicholls) to hand over Stephen Ried’s (Todd Boyce) journal, leaving them at a loss with how to hack into his laptop. When downtrodden Jenny returns home, Daisy tells her not to give up telling her that she deserves a chunk of money considering what she went through with Stephen.

TikTok has revealed which are the most popular artists and songs of the year.Hot on the heels of this year’s instalment of Spotify Wrapped, TikTok has revealed which are the best-performing artists of 2023 on the platform.Shared today (December 6) as part of a new report, the social media platform has revealed which artists are the most popular in the UK, and which songs dominated the music scene throughout 2023.According to the results, 13 of 16 Number One tracks on the UK Official Singles Chart since January had a viral moment on TikTok, and 13 of 18 Billboard Hot 100 Number Ones were driven by significant trends on the platform.Lewis Capaldi was one of the top-performing artists of the year and took the top spot as the most viewed artist on the platform throughout the year. He was also followed by other famous faces in pop including Sam Smith, Anne Marie, Ed Sheeran and more.As for the top songs of the year, it was drill anthem ‘Sprinter’ by Central Cee and Dave that claimed the peak position, racking up over 665,000 videos since its release in June. Other contenders for the most popular song on TikTok for 2023 include ‘Collide’ by Justine Skye and Tyga, ‘Cupid – Twin Ver.’ by FIFTY FIFTY and ‘Green Green Grass’ by George Ezra.Find the full list of results below.1. Lewis Capaldi 2. Sam Smith 3. Central Cee4. Anne Marie 5. Ed Sheeran 6. Prinz 7. KSI8. The Rolling Stones 9. Pink Pantheress10. Calvin Harris1. ‘Sprinter’ – Dave & Central Cee (655.3k videos)2. ‘Collide (more sped up)’ – Justine Skye ft. Tyga (3.3M videos)3. ‘Cupid – Twin Ver. – Sped Up Version’ – FIFTY FIFTY (6.2M videos4. ‘Green Green Grass (Sped-Up)’ – George Ezra (1.5M videos)5. ‘Makeba’ – Jain (1.7M videos)6. ‘Pretty (Sped Up)’ – MEYY (1.9M videos)7.

After the production team at Studio Ghibli disbanded, cinematographer Atsushi Okui worked as a freelance artist for a while. But when director Hayao Miyazaki began working on The Boy and the Heron, Okui was excited to be called back to the team.

The Trafford Centre is already packed with shoppers in the run up to Christmas, and now the mall has announced its extended opening hours over the festive period. It will include a week of late night shopping in the run up to Christmas to 11pm.

A father in California was arrested after allegedly helping his own underage daughter sell nude pictures of herself online.