Latest news with #Madonna
Daily Mirror
7 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Abbott Lyon's ‘gorgeous' watch looks like Princess Diana's go-to Cartier one for over £7k less
If you want to get the designer look without the hefty price tag, you're in luck, as Abbott Lyon's 'gorgeous' watch looks just like Princess Diana's Cartier one for thousands less First created in the 1980s, Cartier's Panthère Watch is an iconic design loved by many celebrities, from Madonna to Gwenyth Paltrow and even royalty such as Princess Diana. Prices can range anywhere from £4k to £128k and up, meaning it is definitely a luxury investment that not many can part with. However, we're here to help you out with an alternative version that's well over £3k+ cheaper. The watch we've spotted is the Essence Gold Sunray 19 Watch from Abbott Lyon, which is priced at £149, making it roughly £7,851 less than the standard Panthère de Cartier watch. Abbott Lyon's Essence watch features a square pink champagne dial set against an 18k gold-plated five-link strap. Finished with Quartz Seiko movement, water resistance and a two-year quality guarantee, it's a thoughtful gift for a loved one or yourself. Its sleek silhouette, square face, and elegant look remind us of the Panthère de Cartier, but luckily for us, without the four-figure price tag. There's only a few reviews so far, with the shopper writing: "Gorgeous watch, small and dainty, goes so well with all jewellery and amazing quality". Currently there are no negative reviews. If the gold links and pink champagne dial aren't really your style, the same watch is also available in a two-toned silver and gold colourway. The mixed metals option features a stunning pearlescent dial, and is so versatile whether you want to dress up or down. A second shoppers raved about the mixed metal option writing: "I haven't worn a watch in many years aside from my sports watch but I had treated myself to a little birthday gift. I wore my new watch at the weekend and received so many compliment's. A few people even assumed it was a high end luxury watch. Definitely looks more expensive than it was. Such a simple but pretty piece." In other watch sales, Debenhams has slashed the price of hundreds of watches by thousands of pounds in its summer sale. The GV2 Milan Swiss Quartz Diamonds Silver Dial IPYG and Stainless Steel Watch is currently £189.75 down from £2,995. Similar to the Cartier watch and the Abbott Lyon, this is a mixed metals timepiece featuring a square face, but with a little extra galm from the diamonds around the dial. And H. Samuel has slashed the price of Citizen's Eco-Drive Ladies' MOP Dial Two Tone Stainless Steel Bracelet Watch from £279 down to £149. If you're not a fan of the square dial, this one will be right up your street, with its round and pearlescent dial and chic look.
Telegraph
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Madonna hasn't had a fresh idea in decades
'The future, the future, the future,' trills Madonna, on stuttering repeat in her latest album, Veronica Electronica, out Friday. And if you think the future of which she sings sounds suspiciously like Madonna's own past, well, that might be the point. Veronica Electronica is a remix album featuring tracks from her 16-million selling 1998 blockbuster Ray of Light. Now that was a moment when Madonna really did sound like the future, working with British ambient electronic producer William Orbit to create a thrilling, sinuous mix of science fictional synthetic sound with dance-floor beats drawing on trip-hop, drum & bass and techno interweaving with lyrically rich songcraft, engaging with parenthood and personal growth through a mystical new age lens. Madonna was turning 40, a dangerous age for a mainstream pop star, with its implications of dawning middle age in a youth-obsessed medium. Yet Ray of Light was a triumph. After the oversexed experiments of 1992's Erotica and 1994's Bedtime Stories, Madonna found a way to make grown-up pop music that still sounded at the cutting edge of things. I think it remains her most mature work, and features her most accomplished singing, a consequence of vocal training she underwent for her starring role in the 1996 film Evita. It spawned five global hit singles, propelling her towards a further imperial period, albeit with fun but less progressive albums such as Music (2000) and Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005) casting her as reigning Queen of the Dance rather than bold pioneer of new pop frontiers. It is curious that Madonna is revisiting Ray of Light now. It is not an anniversary, and there seems to be no pressing reason for its release. Indeed, it is not even new. Veronica Electronica features seven re-edited and sequenced B-sides and DJ mixes from the 1990s, plus one extra demo presumably tagged on to make completists feel like they are getting something previously unavailable. The disembodied repetition of the phrase 'the future' on a remix of Nothing Really Matters seems misleading when shorn of context. The original line from which it was taken was 'Nothing takes the past away / Like the future.' And here she is, nearly three decades later, fetishising her own past. Perhaps that is all pop is capable of now, when everything is arguably a remix, remodel or reformatting of things that have gone before. There is a confluence of reasons for that, mainly bound up with the rise of streaming as the dominant distribution method and its emphasis on algorithmic curation as the chosen way of organising music. The slow death of old music media (magazines, radio) has contributed to a homogenisation of musical discovery, with algorithms predicated to deliver similar-sounding tracks to keep listener retention high, reinforcing familiarity rather than innovation. At the same time there has been a weird blurring of genres, with an emphasis on mood and contextual lifestyle playlists serving audiences whose access to the entire history of music at the press of a button has arguably led to less tribal division. In the modern musical soundscape, anything goes and everything mixes together. Throw into that the growing influence of AI creation tools – which by their very definition are only ever going to regurgitate what has come before – and you have a situation where past and contemporary music are becoming indistinguishable. Here we are, a quarter of the way through the 21st century, and the most notable new musical trend of recent years has been the rise of country music. Rock (a genre long written off as on the verge of death) is experiencing the strongest new listener growth according to a mid-year report from American entertainment data company Luminate (whilst Christian / Gospel music is also surging). Meanwhile, the top trending stars in the world right now (via industry statistics site Chartmetric) look very familiar, including four pop facing singer-songwriters (Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, Billie Eilish and Bruno Mars), two dance pop superstars (Rihanna and Lady Gaga, both of whom owe a considerable debt to Madonna), one veteran rapper (Drake) and a durable teen idol (Justin Bieber). Madonna herself currently registers as the 58 th most popular artist in the world, which might not seem impressive on her imperious terms until you consider that she is one of only six artists in the top 100 who was making music before the internet was unleashed upon us (the others being Michael Jackson at 39, Queen at 71, AC/DC at 75, Elton John at 80, The Beatles at 94 and Fleetwood Mac at 98). There is, of course, a relentless deluge of new musical artists vying for attention, yet nothing feels like a distinctive break with the past. It would be nice to think that her remix album shows Madonna reorienting herself by focussing on her finest work, except it is shoddily done, a repackage of old remixes that are already out of date and add nothing to her story. Really, I suspect it is just about releasing product, because the only way to stay visible and competitive in this relentless smorgasbord of endless choice is to keep providing content for algorithms to gorge on. It has been six years since Madonna released a new album (the underwhelming Madame X) but in that time she has completed two world tours, released a major compilation, and is currently developing a Netflix TV series about her life (most likely starring Jennifer Garner). If you have nothing new to offer, just remix the past. Everybody else is doing it. On my radar Earth: The Legendary Lost 1969 Tapes (Big Bear Records). With weirdly prescient timing, Ozzy Osbourne 's first known recordings are soon to be released, with the group that would become Black Sabbath. This is a set of demos recorded at Zella studios in 1969, that demonstrate what a wildly inventive and fearsome band Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward already were, conjuring something between heavy blues and frenetic free jazz. Add a dose of the occult, and heavy metal was born later the same year. Ozzy was ultimately laid low by Parkinson's disease. Coincidentally, I have been reading an advance copy of The Tremolo Diaries: Life on the Road and Other Diseases by Justin Currie, in which the Del Amitri band leader offers an acerbically entertaining and unsentimental account of touring whilst struggling with a Parkinson's diagnosis. He describes it as 'the uneasy feeling another man is growing inside of me and is slowly seizing the means of control.' It will be published by New Modern on Aug 28. I was much taken with this passage by Justin on his experience of hearing modern pop in a shopping mall: 'I'm staring down the barrel of Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran's weirdly thin music. It ticks all the boxes that pop needs to tick – pretty tunes, catchy hooks, lyrics with a modicum of real feeling. It just feels like all the guts have been taken out. At the end, we'll be living underground, drinking the filtered urine of the rich while Elon Musk transmits this sonic anaesthetic from his throne on the moon.' I don't think he's a fan. How do you solve a problem like Kanye West? Unarguably one of the most influential artists of our times, the reportedly mentally ill rapper-producer has made himself persona non grata in pop culture with his embracing of Nazi symbology, blatant anti-Semitism and self-hating racism. He's got new music coming this week, dropping more weirdly lo-fi tracks for his album in progress Bully. Don't expect to read many reviews of the most controversial man in pop, yet whilst researching my article about Madonna, I was surprised to find West is still ranking incredibly high on Chartmetric's assessment of currently trending artists. He appears at no 33 on their chart, with over 60 million monthly listeners on Spotify, and 105 million monthly views on YouTube. Cancellation is clearly not what it used to be.
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Madonna hasn't had a fresh idea in decades
'The future, the future, the future,' trills Madonna, on stuttering repeat in her latest album, Veronica Electronica, out Friday. And if you think the future of which she sings sounds suspiciously like Madonna's own past, well, that might be the point. Veronica Electronica is a remix album featuring tracks from her 16-million selling 1998 blockbuster Ray of Light. Now that was a moment when Madonna really did sound like the future, working with British ambient electronic producer William Orbit to create a thrilling, sinuous mix of science fictional synthetic sound with dance-floor beats drawing on trip-hop, drum & bass and techno interweaving with lyrically rich songcraft, engaging with parenthood and personal growth through a mystical new age lens. Madonna was turning 40, a dangerous age for a mainstream pop star, with its implications of dawning middle age in a youth-obsessed medium. Yet Ray of Light was a triumph. After the oversexed experiments of 1992's Erotica and 1994's Bedtime Stories, Madonna found a way to make grown-up pop music that still sounded at the cutting edge of things. I think it remains her most mature work, and features her most accomplished singing, a consequence of vocal training she underwent for her starring role in the 1996 film Evita. It spawned five global hit singles, propelling her towards a further imperial period, albeit with fun but less progressive albums such as Music (2000) and Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005) casting her as reigning Queen of the Dance rather than bold pioneer of new pop frontiers. It is curious that Madonna is revisiting Ray of Light now. It is not an anniversary, and there seems to be no pressing reason for its release. Indeed, it is not even new. Veronica Electronica features seven re-edited and sequenced B-sides and DJ mixes from the 1990s, plus one extra demo presumably tagged on to make completists feel like they are getting something previously unavailable. The disembodied repetition of the phrase 'the future' on a remix of Nothing Really Matters seems misleading when shorn of context. The original line from which it was taken was 'Nothing takes the past away / Like the future.' And here she is, nearly three decades later, fetishising her own past. Perhaps that is all pop is capable of now, when everything is arguably a remix, remodel or reformatting of things that have gone before. There is a confluence of reasons for that, mainly bound up with the rise of streaming as the dominant distribution method and its emphasis on algorithmic curation as the chosen way of organising music. The slow death of old music media (magazines, radio) has contributed to a homogenisation of musical discovery, with algorithms predicated to deliver similar-sounding tracks to keep listener retention high, reinforcing familiarity rather than innovation. At the same time there has been a weird blurring of genres, with an emphasis on mood and contextual lifestyle playlists serving audiences whose access to the entire history of music at the press of a button has arguably led to less tribal division. In the modern musical soundscape, anything goes and everything mixes together. Throw into that the growing influence of AI creation tools – which by their very definition are only ever going to regurgitate what has come before – and you have a situation where past and contemporary music are becoming indistinguishable. Here we are, a quarter of the way through the 21st century, and the most notable new musical trend of recent years has been the rise of country music. Rock (a genre long written off as on the verge of death) is experiencing the strongest new listener growth according to a mid-year report from American entertainment data company Luminate (whilst Christian / Gospel music is also surging). Meanwhile, the top trending stars in the world right now (via industry statistics site Chartmetric) look very familiar, including four pop facing singer-songwriters (Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, Billie Eilish and Bruno Mars), two dance pop superstars (Rihanna and Lady Gaga, both of whom owe a considerable debt to Madonna), one veteran rapper (Drake) and a durable teen idol (Justin Bieber). Madonna herself currently registers as the 58th most popular artist in the world, which might not seem impressive on her imperious terms until you consider that she is one of only six artists in the top 100 who was making music before the internet was unleashed upon us (the others being Michael Jackson at 39, Queen at 71, AC/DC at 75, Elton John at 80, The Beatles at 94 and Fleetwood Mac at 98). There is, of course, a relentless deluge of new musical artists vying for attention, yet nothing feels like a distinctive break with the past. It would be nice to think that her remix album shows Madonna reorienting herself by focussing on her finest work, except it is shoddily done, a repackage of old remixes that are already out of date and add nothing to her story. Really, I suspect it is just about releasing product, because the only way to stay visible and competitive in this relentless smorgasbord of endless choice is to keep providing content for algorithms to gorge on. It has been six years since Madonna released a new album (the underwhelming Madame X) but in that time she has completed two world tours, released a major compilation, and is currently developing a Netflix TV series about her life (most likely starring Jennifer Garner). If you have nothing new to offer, just remix the past. Everybody else is doing it. On my radar Earth: The Legendary Lost 1969 Tapes (Big Bear Records). With weirdly prescient timing, Ozzy Osbourne's first known recordings are soon to be released, with the group that would become Black Sabbath. This is a set of demos recorded at Zella studios in 1969, that demonstrate what a wildly inventive and fearsome band Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward already were, conjuring something between heavy blues and frenetic free jazz. Add a dose of the occult, and heavy metal was born later the same year. Ozzy was ultimately laid low by Parkinson's disease. Coincidentally, I have been reading an advance copy of The Tremolo Diaries: Life on the Road and Other Diseases by Justin Currie, in which the Del Amitri band leader offers an acerbically entertaining and unsentimental account of touring whilst struggling with a Parkinson's diagnosis. He describes it as 'the uneasy feeling another man is growing inside of me and is slowly seizing the means of control.' It will be published by New Modern on Aug 28. I was much taken with this passage by Justin on his experience of hearing modern pop in a shopping mall: 'I'm staring down the barrel of Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran's weirdly thin music. It ticks all the boxes that pop needs to tick – pretty tunes, catchy hooks, lyrics with a modicum of real feeling. It just feels like all the guts have been taken out. At the end, we'll be living underground, drinking the filtered urine of the rich while Elon Musk transmits this sonic anaesthetic from his throne on the moon.' I don't think he's a fan. How do you solve a problem like Kanye West? Unarguably one of the most influential artists of our times, the reportedly mentally ill rapper-producer has made himself persona non grata in pop culture with his embracing of Nazi symbology, blatant anti-Semitism and self-hating racism. He's got new music coming this week, dropping more weirdly lo-fi tracks for his album in progress Bully. Don't expect to read many reviews of the most controversial man in pop, yet whilst researching my article about Madonna, I was surprised to find West is still ranking incredibly high on Chartmetric's assessment of currently trending artists. He appears at no 33 on their chart, with over 60 million monthly listeners on Spotify, and 105 million monthly views on YouTube. Cancellation is clearly not what it used to be. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Justin Bieber Charts 16 Songs on Hot 100 From ‘Swag' — And Ties This Legend for 10th-Most Top 10s
Justin Bieber returns to Billboard's charts in a big way thanks to his new surprise album, Swag. Released July 11 via JRC/ILH/Def Jam/Republic, the set debuts at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 (dated July 26) with 163,000 equivalent album units earned in the United States in its opening week, according to Luminate. Announced just 10 hours before its release, the album was only available in digital and streaming formats in its first week — meaning no physical editions were available, a typical limitation for surprise album drops. More from Billboard Justin Bieber's 'Swag': All 21 Tracks Ranked Stevie Wonder Says He'll Never Give Up Performing: 'You Don't Have to Retire' Nick Cave Reflects on Lessons of Grief on Anniversary of Son's Passing Bieber also makes a major impact on the Billboard Hot 100, debuting 16 songs on the chart, let by 'Daisies' at No. 2. Here's a full breakdown: Rank, Title:No. 2, 'Daisies'No. 17, 'Yukon'No. 18, 'Go Baby'No. 21, 'All I Can Take'No. 33, 'Way It Is,' with GunnaNo. 35, 'Things You Do'No. 37, 'Walking Away'No. 49, 'Butterflies'No. 56, 'Devotion,' with DijonNo. 57, 'Sweet Spot,' with Sexyy RedNo. 59, 'First Place'No. 70, 'Swag,' with Cash Cobain & Eddie BenjaminNo. 79, 'Too Long'No. 83, 'Glory Voice Memo'No. 84, 'Dadz Love,' with Lil BNo. 86, '405' The only Swag cuts to miss the Hot 100 are 'Zuma House,' 'Forgiveness' (by Marvin Winans) and the three skits with Druski: 'Soulful,' 'Therapy Session' and 'Standing on Business' (non-music-focused tracks are generally ineligible to chart). The 16 debuts up Bieber's total to 121 career entries — the 10th-most of all time. He also helps Dijon, Eddie Benjamin and Lil B score their first career entries on the chart. 'Daisies' earns Bieber his 27th career Hot 100 top 10, and first new top 10 since 'Ghost' in 2022. He ties Janet Jackson for the 10th-most top 10s in the chart's nearly 67-year history. He also pushes his totals to 43 top 20 titles (tying the Beatles and Rihanna for the eighth-most) and 58 top 40 hits. Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Four Decades of 'Madonna': A Look Back at the Queen of Pop's Debut Album on the Charts Chart Rewind: In 1990, Madonna Was in 'Vogue' Atop the Hot 100 Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
La Adictiva Takes the Lead on Regional Mexican Airplay Chart With ‘Cuídala'
La Adictiva forges ahead on Billboard's Regional Mexican Airplay chart with 'Cuídala,' as the song soars 7-1 on the list dated July 26. It's the group's first champ since 2024 and its 14th overall. 'Cuídala' lands at the summit after a 64% gain in audience impressions, equating to 7.3 million, earned in the United States during the July 11-17 tracking week, according to Luminate. Four Univision stations emerged as the song's strongest supporters during the tracking week. Leading the pack is KSCA-FM in Los Angeles, followed by WOJO-FM in Chicago, KLNO-FM in Dallas, and KSOL-FM in San Francisco rounding out the group. More from Billboard La Adictiva & Luis R. Conriquez Unite Atop Regional Mexican Airplay Chart With 'JGL' Ciara Talks 'CiCi' Album & Why She Shouldn't Make Music With Russell Wilson ('Dad Is Crazy!') in Chat With 8-Year-Old Daughter Bad Bunny Gets Adam Sandler's Stamp of Approval as 'Funnier Than Me' in 'Late Night' Chat About 'Happy Gilmore 2' With 'Cuídala,' La Adictiva achieves its 14th No. 1 hit on the Regional Mexican Airplay chart, and its first chart-topper unaccompanied by a collaborator in over three years. The group's previous solo No. 1, 'Ya Solo Eres Mi Ex,' reigned for four weeks in December 2021 through January 2022. The group last hit No. 1 through 'Bandida,' a three-way collab by La Adictiva with Grupo Marca Registrada and Montana in June 2024. 'Cuídala' is the opening track from La Adictiva's 35th anniversary album, Antes y Ahora 35 Aniversario, released March 19 on Anval Music. Thanks to the new achievement, indie label Anval picks up its 12th No. 1 on Regional Mexican Airplay. It last achieved a ruler through 'Bandida.' Beyond its Regional Mexican Airplay coronation, 'Cuídala' earns La Adictiva a 16th top 10 on the overall Latin Airplay chart, where the song flies 22-3, marking the second-biggest jump to the top 10 in 2025, after Yuridia and Alejandro Fernández's 'Un Bendita Día' rallied 25-2 in April. All charts (dated July 26, 2025) will update on tomorrow, July 21. For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram. Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Four Decades of 'Madonna': A Look Back at the Queen of Pop's Debut Album on the Charts Chart Rewind: In 1990, Madonna Was in 'Vogue' Atop the Hot 100 Solve the daily Crossword
