Rock legend Gavin Rossdale reveals dream of returning to Glasto and why he needs to be on his best behaviour
'I've been thinking about the kind of people who would pay to do me in,' Gavin laughs as I join him at the Sound Studio in London to celebrate the release of Bush 's tenth record, I Beat Loneliness.
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'I'm at the point where I'm a really successful working musician.
'I can never go anywhere where I'm anonymous.
'My behaviour has to be really excellent at all times because there's always someone with a camera phone — but I'm not like Kanye West.'
The record, with brilliant tracks like The Land of Milk and Honey and Everyone Is Broken, is an ode, Gavin says, to Bush's fans, who have been with them since they broke into the scene in 1995.
'I wanted to make a record for the people who have gotten stuff from our records,' Gavin explains.
'It's about me, but I realised that I'm no different than anyone else.
'I think that everyone is just fighting different battles at all times. But it's important to have so much fun in life.
Keep him grounded
'Life is beautiful, but it has its kind of moments where just out of nowhere, people will just f**k with you or life f**ks with you and things happen to you, to people you love.
'So writing a record that spoke to that experience just seemed the most valuable thing to do.'
He adds: 'Plus, I don't have any stories of holidays on yachts. So I didn't know what to write about.
"Every time I look at Instagram, I go, 'Why is that not me?' Leo [DiCaprio ] has never invited me anywhere.'
Gavin is now based in the US but he returned to the UK to walk his model daughter Daisy Lowe down the aisle this month.
Back in the US, it's his sons, Kingston, Zuma and Apollo, from his marriage to Gwen Stefani, who keep him grounded.
'My recording room is in the bedroom between two of my kids' rooms,' Gavin says.
'I did a remix of Machinehead, one of our earliest songs, and to be honest, I was impressed with myself.
"And my 17-year-old son, who's a really good guitar player, walks in and he goes, 'You're not releasing that?'
'I was like, 'What do you mean?' He goes, 'You're taking legend and you're really destroying it.''
Recalling another grounding incident from Kingston, Gavin adds: 'We were on holiday and I was going on tour two days later.
"I had guitars in the house that had been used by the kids and I didn't get a chance to practice.
'I started to play one of the songs and he walked in and he goes, 'Do you want any help with that?'
'I took the bait. I was like, 'Look at this house. This is how we got here!'
'I was super defensive. But he was right. I hadn't been playing so I was a bit fingers and thumbs.
"He caught me on an upswing. I was like, 'Come to see our second night on tour and then you'll see, son.''
Bush's new album is the perfect follow-up to 2022's The Art of Survival with Scars and I'm Here to Save Your Life proof that Gavin is still a killer songwriter.
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He says: 'When you've made a lot of records you do think, does anyone need any more.
'But then you have people say, 'Please don't stop making records.' A girl said this to me outside the back of a gig.
'And that stuck with me.'
Next in the works for Gavin and Bush is a UK tour, which will hopefully become a reality next year after they've finished supporting Volbeat.
'The idea of doing that Volbeat tour is to sort of stoke the fires,' Gavin says.
'It's a wild, competitive world. And if you don't take things personally, like for me, I haven't played enough of those festivals.
'But instead of moaning about it, it's just sort of like, get out there, make a great record, do a great show all across Europe and then see what happens.'
Glastonbury 2027 could also be in the pipeline — with the festival's next date coinciding with the 25th anniversary of Bush last playing there.
'I thought we did quite well when we played there, but we never went back so it could be time,' says Gavin.
'I would love to play Glastonbury. I still remember that show.
'It's brilliant and it would be 25 years . . .'
All the more reason to get Emily Eavis on the blower then, Gavin.
Lott of reasons to smile
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Pixie Lott did the best rendition of her 2009 hit Mama Do at We Are Wirral Festival.
The pop star, who is seven months pregnant, took off her shoes and danced like crazy in this chic animal print dress at the event.
Pixie announced she was expecting her second baby with husband, model Oliver Cheshire, last month.
She thrilled fans by revealing the news live on stage at Mighty Hoopla by grabbing her tummy and shouting: 'I'm having another baby.'
Her first son, Bertie, was born in 2023 and by the time his third birthday rolls around – there should be another member of the Lott family in the fold.
Two kids under three is a challenge for any parent, Pixie – you got this.
Sophie sweet on pop album
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Sabrina Carpenter, Dua Lipa and Chappell Roan have helped make pop cool again, but Sophie Ellis-Bextor insists she isn't riding on anyone's coattails.
She is making a spectacular return with her album Perimenopop, which will be out in September, but said she isn't capitalising on the resurgence of fun tunes, or a result of Murder on the Dancefloor becoming a viral sensation.
In an exclusive chat, Sophie said: 'I was already planning to make a pop album before I released my last record, because my last record.
"It was a little bit more escapist and introverted, so I thought right, it's time to bounce to the other side now, the extrovert side.
'What happened with Murder was just a lovely bit of serendipity that made me feel like my instincts were in the right space.'
And it sounds like she has fulfilled all her dreams when it came to making it, after teaming up with MNEK and Cathy Dennis, who wrote Toxic for Britney Spears and Can't Get You Out of My Head for Kylie Minogue.
She said: 'Do you know what, I went to the full pop sweet shop for this album and I filled up my bag with as many sweets as I could, so I think I got my fill, actually.'
She worked with her husband, the Feeling's Richard Jones, on the record too, but they still have fun away from the music.
Sophie added: 'Richard and I just had our 20th wedding anniversary, which is pretty cool.
'We got married in Italy, so we went back to Italy, just the two of us, for a few nights without the kids.
'To do something that was just about us and not about gigs or delegating stuff with the family was really nice.'
Selena's love for Tay
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Selena Gomez celebrates her 33rd birthday today and she's in a reflective mood.
The American singer shared a series of never-before-seen snaps from a pre-birthday get-together with her pals, including Taylor Swift and her fiancé Benny Blanco.
Selena said: 'This past year has truly been the most beautiful year of my life, and I owe so much of that to all of you. Thank you for your unwavering love and kindness.
'Whether you cheered me on from the sidelines, shared in my highs and lows, or simply offered a listening ear, you have made this year unforgettable.
'I am extremely humbled and insanely appreciative of all your love.'
I'll be raising a pint to you tonight, Selena. Not that I ever need much of an excuse.
Giggs gig hits summer groove
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Somerset House saved the best until last with one of my favourite rappers, Giggs, invited to close their Summer Series.
Waterloo Bridge would have been shaking on Sunday night after he took to the stage in front of a massive crowd as the London venue celebrated its 25th anniversary of concerts.
Last week he dropped a new song with his son ML which touches on their experience of autism.
Own Motion, which was originally written and released by ML, tells his story of feeling like he didn't fit in.
Giggs is now on a remix of the song and opened up about his experience of the condition – admitting his autism saw him being labelled a 'troublemaker' when he was young.
He said: 'I was always getting in trouble.
'I always used to answer back, get kicked out of class every single day until I just thought: 'Well, I'm bad'.'
More tearjerkers from hitmaker Capaldi
Lewis Capaldi has said his upcoming EP will be his most personal music to date – which is really saying something given he already has two albums of tearjerkers under his belt.
He marked his return by topping the charts earlier this month with comeback single Survive. While his new songs will tell all about his two-year hiatus from showbiz and his mental health struggles.
Speaking to a US radio station, he explained: 'I'm trying to sing different, on different songs, and I feel like the new stuff is a bit more personal.
'A lot of it is about the last two years and what I've been going through and stuff. The music is more about me than relationships and stuff.
'I'm really pleased with it. I like it. It's definitely harder.
'I got to a point where writing songs about relationships became really… I don't want to say easy, it wasn't easy, it's never easy writing songs.
'I find writing songs really difficult these days but writing songs about stuff you're still processing perhaps and the stuff you don't like talking about has been really hard.'
Ellie has plenty of six appeal
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Ellie Goulding is preparing to bare her soul on her upcoming sixth album.
She opened up to her fans as she celebrated the fifth anniversary of her No1 album Brightest Blue and said: 'If you guys liked this album I fear the next might be your new favourite . . . I've been working on it for so long.
'Guitars, bass, strings, harmonies for days, saddest words I ever wrote, best writers and musicians in the world – I am so lucky – and refusing to sound like anything else out there.
'Going to be interesting for sure.'
Ellie saw her last record, Higher Than Heaven, go straight to No1 in 2023 and I've no doubt her sixth record is sure to hit the same dizzy heights.
Fans of Avatar are in for a treat – as the first trailer for the next instalment, Fire and Ash, is going to be shown across cinemas from today.
Film buffs heading to watch The Fantastic Four: First Steps will be the first to see the clips from the new James Cameron epic - which is out on December 19.
Charli's hall date sees rise
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If you're getting married soon and are considering a town hall venue – you might have to get in there quick.
After Charli XCX and George Daniel had their first formal ceremony at Hackney Town Hall at the weekend, I'm told demand for these venues is already getting out of hand.
According to new research there has been a 156 per cent increase in Google searches for 'town hall wedding' – with a massive spike on Sunday after we revealed the details of Charli and the 1975 drummer George's very brat big day.
I'm getting wed in 2027 but luckily for me, I've already booked my little village church.
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My audience with Frankel — king of racehorses
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2 hours ago
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Norwegian rocker Glam apologises to Julia Morris and says he was 'blind drunk' when shock Eurovision 2005 groping incident occurred
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