Latest news with #Shaggy
The Sun
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Popular UK festival attracting thousands per year is suddenly AXED as ‘devastated' organisers release statement
SUNDERLAND's Kubix Festival, one of the North East's most popular events, has been cancelled, leaving organisers 'devastated.' The festival, which has attracted thousands each year since its launch in 2018, will not take place this summer as planned. 4 4 4 Held annually at Herrington Country Park in Sunderland, right opposite the iconic Penshaw Monument, Kubix Festival became a major fixture in the region's entertainment calendar. It started with a bang in 2018, featuring acts like East 17, Peter Andre, B*Witched, and Ronan Keating. Over the years, the festival has attracted huge names such as Steps, Sugababes, and Busted, with last year's headliners being the Year 3000 trio. This year's edition had been eagerly anticipated, with reggae legend Shaggy set to headline and popular acts like A1, Louise, Liberty X, and Gareth Gates on the bill. The Dance Arena was also set to feature big names like Basshunter, Darren Styles, and N-Trance. But following speculation about the future of WannaSee, the company behind the event, organisers have confirmed that the festival will not be going ahead this year. On Saturday, Kubix posted a statement on Facebook: "We're heartbroken to confirm that Kubix Festival will not be going ahead this year. "Despite enormous efforts behind the scenes, recent developments have made it impossible to continue," the organisers said, also offering an apology to ticket holders. WannaSee Ltd, the company responsible for Kubix, also released a statement announcing the cancellation of several festivals, including Kubix and Monument Festivals in Sunderland, Wannasee Penrith and Wannasee South, among others. However, they confirmed that Lindisfarne Festival and Northern Kin would go ahead as planned. The statement from WannaSee went on to explain the company's struggles: 'Despite extraordinary efforts behind the scenes to secure the future of WannaSee's events, we've reached a point where continuing is no longer possible. "The impact of a difficult trading environment, combined with a sudden collapse in customer confidence, has left the business unable to recover." After nearly 100 independent festivals over the past 13 years, the company expressed deep regret at its closure. "We are devastated. We are proud of what we achieved and heartbroken to see it end this way," the statement continued. Kubix Festival's organisers ended their statement with a heartfelt apology: "To all of our ticket holders: we are truly sorry. "We understand your disappointment and frustration. Please contact your ticket provider or card issuer for refund information. "Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for being part of this journey." The cancellation has left many fans heartbroken, but organisers have promised to do everything possible to refund ticket holders. Many had been looking forward to the festival's return after a successful event last year. With the line-up featuring a mix of pop nostalgia and dance classics, Kubix had become a celebration of fan favourites and an annual highlight in Sunderland's events calendar. It's a difficult blow for the North East, which has long supported the festival. For local businesses and vendors, the news will also come as a disappointment, as Kubix has provided an economic boost to the area in previous years, attracting visitors from all across the UK. The festival's vibrant atmosphere had not only celebrated music but also boosted tourism, with Sunderland becoming a popular summer destination. As fans take to social media to express their sadness and frustration, there are many questions about what led to the festival's sudden axing. Some are hopeful that future editions of Kubix could be revived, but with the financial challenges facing the company, it seems uncertain when or if that will happen. As of now, organisers have assured ticket holders that they will receive refunds and have thanked everyone who supported the festival over the years. 4
ITV News
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- ITV News
Kubix Festival in Sunderland cancelled
The Kubix Festival in Sunderland has been cancelled, organisers have announced. The decision was confirmed on Saturday following increasing speculation about whether the pop and dance music event would go ahead this year. In a statement on social media, organisers said: "We're heartbroken to confirm that Kubix Festival will not go ahead this year." The statement added the decision has "not been taken lightly" but it was "impossible to continue." The event, which hosts some of the North East's most prominent musicians, as well as artists from further afield, had been due to take place in Herrington Country Park on Saturday 12 July this year. Shaggy, who performs hits such as 'Boombastic' was due to headline, while Basshunter, Blue and Lasgo were among others set to play. Organisers said they were "incredibly sorry" to fans looking forward to the event.
Daily Mail
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE A Place In The Sun's Laura Hamilton reveals she went on a date with Shaggy - and he made her pay!
Laura Hamilton has revealed that she once went on a date with Shaggy - and he made her pay! The A Place In The Sun presenter, 43, who split from husband Alex Goward, 44, in 2022 after a decade of marriage, shared details about her dating life in a new interview on Friday. Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, Laura confirmed that she was still single and having fun as she recalled a surprise date from over 20 years ago. Recounting meeting up with Shaggy, she explained: 'I met him for coffee and I had to pay for it. It was at Heathrow airport. 'I'd been working with him, and he said, 'I really want to meet up with you and talk about work opportunities.'' From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new Showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. Confirming that he made up a song and sang it to her, she continued: 'God, that was over 20 years ago. I'm not sure he'd recognise me now.' Adding of her dating life now, Laura said: 'I'm busy working and dating and having fun, and I prefer to find people naturally rather than being on dating apps. 'I like to go out and meet people who have common interests. I made a decision going forward that I want to keep that aspect of my life private. 'I think it's really important that if I'm dating people - and I have been dating people - if they're not in the public eye, then they have a right to privacy. 'Just because I'm in the public eye – you never know what their job is, and they might need privacy for security reasons, and so I'm always mindful of that.' Laura shares two children Rocco, 12, and Tahlia, 10, with her ex-husband Alex, they split after 13 years together. In a statement at the time, she wrote: 'This isn't something I ever thought I'd be saying but, after 13 years of being together Alex and I have separated. 'Our children are and always will be our number one priority and we would respect privacy for our family at this time.' She has been a presenter on A Place in the Sun since 2012 and regularly posts pictures from her sun drenched holidays and filming trips on Instagram. Laura also explained that her time on the Channel 4 show has seen her through so many life changes, notably her engagement, the births of her children and her divorce. The former Dancing On Ice star described feeling like she had 'failed' amid their separation, which saw Laura move out of the couple's Surrey family home. She said: 'We are co-parenting, and it works. But even that, you know, I kind of felt like I had failed.'
Times
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
Shaggy singer caught in court fight over father's £900k estate
A British singer who teamed up with Shaggy on his 2000 hit It Wasn't Me is caught in a family legal feud over his deceased father's £900,000 estate. Rickardo 'Rik Rok' Ducent, 52, is embroiled in a row between his mother and his penniless half-sister Sarah Ducent over assets in London and Jamaica. Ducent co-wrote the R&B single with Shaggy — real name Orville Burrell — and two others. The song topped the charts in 2001 with Ducent singing the main vocals on the track, which has since recorded around a billion plays on Spotify. The singer is in court as part of a family legal clash after Sarah claimed a share of their father's estate. The death of Herbert Ducent in 2007 at the age of 63, has pitting pitted Sarah against the singer's mother Dorothy Ducent, who had worked alongside her husband in his business. Ducent was previously a party to the dispute and gave evidence in court to support his mother's defence to her stepdaughter's claim. Central London county court was told that Herbert Ducent ran a successful construction company in Jamaica, and a bakery in Brixton, south London. His will had been drafted in Jamaica and named his widow the main beneficiary, leaving nothing to Sarah, with Ducent telling the court their father and Sarah were 'estranged'. However, Sarah, who said she lives 'on the breadline', is attempting to secure 'reasonable provision' from the estate in a claim she has said should be considered as she was dependent on her late father under the terms of the 1975 Inheritance Act. A complication involves her convincing the court that at the time of his death, her father was legally 'domiciled' in the UK. The judge, Ann Evans-Gordon, has been asked to rule on whether the English or Jamaican court has jurisdiction to deal with the claim. The court was told that while the father died 18 years ago, the legal wrangle had been delayed because of difficulty in finding his original will. Jian Jun Liew, a lawyer for the widow, rejected the claim that the businessman wanted to 'anchor' himself to the UK in his latter years. He highlighted the fact that in 1983 Ducent moved his family to Jamaica. That relocation, said the barrister, 'was wholly consistent with the loss of any domicile of choice of England and Wales on the deceased's part and the acquisition of a domicile of choice in Jamaica'. The judge reserved her decision to a later date.
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The Independent
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
‘It Wasn't Me' singer caught up in family court battle over dead father's fortune
The singer who teamed up with Shaggy for the number one hit 'It Wasn't Me' is caught up in a bitter family court battle over his dead father's £1m fortune. British-Jamaican vocalist Rickardo 'Rik Rok' Ducent co-wrote the 2001 smash with Shaggy. He sang the main vocals on the track, which was the best-selling single of the year in the UK and has since clocked up more than one billion plays on Spotify. In the song, Rik laments that he's been 'caught red-handed' cheating on his partner, while Shaggy urges him to tell her: 'It wasn't me'. The hit, which reached number one in 10 countries, carved out Rik Rok's name as a solo artist. However, the singer, now aged 52, is caught up in a fraught inter-family legal clash after his half-sister, Sarah Ducent, went to court claiming a fair share of the £900,000-plus fortune bequeathed by their father, Herbert Ducent. Herbert died in 2007, aged 63, leaving behind assets in both London and Jamaica. The clash at Central London County Court pits Sarah against Rik Rok's mother, Dorothy Ducent, who had worked alongside Herbert in his south London bakery business and inherited his wealth after his death. Rik, whose birth name is Rickardo George Ducent, was previously a party to the dispute. He gave evidence in court to support his mother's defence to her stepdaughter's claim. Herbert was an entrepreneur who established a successful construction company in Jamaica, as well as running the bakery in Brixton. His English estate mainly consisted of two neighbouring properties in Peak Hill, Sydenham, jointly valued at around £900,000. His Jamaican assets have yet to be quantified in the British courts, although his daughter Sarah said he owned significant real estate on the island. In his will, drawn up in Jamaica, Herbert named his widow Dorothy as his main heir, cutting out his daughter, Sarah, from whom Rik claims he had become 'estranged'. But Sarah, who says she is now living 'on the breadline', has gone to court in a bid to secure 'reasonable provision' from her father's estate in line with the terms of the 1975 Inheritance Act as his dependant. If she is to succeed, Sarah must first get over the legal hurdle of proving that her dad was legally resident or 'domiciled' in the UK at the time of his death, with her claim liable to be struck out otherwise. The key question for Judge Ann Evans-Gordon to now decide is whether the English courts have 'jurisdiction' to deal with the claim, or whether it is an issue for authorities in Jamaica. Although Herbert Ducent died 18 years ago, the case brought by Sarah has been held up due to multiple factors, including delays in finding his original will and a previous UK court dispute which was settled on the basis that Herbert had not died intestate (without making a will). In the witness box, Rik was asked by Sarah's barrister, Oliver Ingham, about his father's life in both Jamaica and the UK and his relationship with Sarah, with Rik noting that Herbert had multiple business projects on the go during his lifetime. Quizzing him about the father-daughter relationship, the barrister suggested that Rik would have had little direct knowledge about what went on between the pair. But Rik insisted that he had lived with Sarah at times during his childhood in Jamaica and added: 'My father and I were quite close so we talked about Sarah'. 'It's not correct that after leaving Jamaica to come to the UK for college she was estranged from Herbert or that she cut off relations with him,' Mr Ingham put to him. 'That's what he told me,' insisted Rik, also claiming that the family friend with whom Sarah was lodging had called up Herbert to "complain to my father about her behaviour". 'On his next trip to the UK, he confronted her about it and an argument ensued,' said the singer. 'My father told me that she declared she wanted nothing more to do with him and he said 'are you sure that's what you want because if we're done we're done'.' Sarah, however, insists that she and her dad stayed close over the years, describing him outside court as a 'brilliant man' and saying: 'I reject the idea of any estrangement'. The 1975 Inheritance Act covering Sarah's claim would only apply if Herbert was 'domiciled' in the UK, but her barrister claimed there was solid evidence that Herbert, although Jamaica-born, wished to base himself in London, having built up strong family ties and business interests here. 'Sarah Ducent asserts that the deceased, her late father, was domiciled – or had acquired domicile by choice – in the United Kingdom at the time of his death in 2007,' he told the judge. 'Her position is that the deceased spent extended periods residing in the UK, becoming increasingly involved in UK-based business ventures and investments, having family in the UK and owning property in England. 'According to Sarah, Jamaica effectively became a secondary residence for the deceased, primarily visited for occasional business checks or leisure.' He said Herbert's death had been registered in the UK in 2007 only a year after he renewed his British passport, suggesting he had recognised the UK as his domicile. The delay of nearly 17 years in his family's claiming Jamaican domicile for Herbert suggested a "shift in their position motivated by the litigation itself." 'Sarah refutes the assertion that the deceased permanently abandoned the UK after suffering a stroke in 1997," he continued. 'In conclusion, the claimant respectfully invites the court to determine that, at the date of his death, the deceased had acquired and retained a domicile of choice in England and Wales. 'The evidence presented demonstrates that the deceased's substantial personal, financial and familial ties were anchored primarily in England and Wales at the material time.' But Dorothy's barrister, Jian Jun Liew, rebutted the idea that Herbert ever wanted to 'anchor' himself to the UK in his latter years, focusing on the fact that in 1983 he had moved his entire family back to Jamaica after spending 20 years in London working at various trades. 'The relocation of Herbert's entire family to Jamaica in 1983 was wholly consistent with the loss of any domicile of choice of England and Wales on the deceased's part and the acquisition of a domicile of choice in Jamaica,' he argued. After two days in court, the judge has reserved her decision in the case. In past interviews, Rik, who grew up in London and rural Jamaica, has explained how his love of music was sparked by hearing his parents sing, naming his dad as an inspiration and a 'big reggae fan'. He has said he never gets tired of playing 'It Wasn't Me', which brought about a major life change for him. 'I was finally able to silence the detractors who thought I was wasting my life on this music nonsense and I also made my parents very proud,' he told the Jamaica Observer in 2023. 'I was able to travel the world and see places it's doubtful I would've seen otherwise. 'Over two decades later, I still get recognised [and] can't count the number of pictures I've taken and autographs I've signed for the nicest strangers you could ever meet … It's allowed me to basically retire and focus entirely on raising my beautiful family. Eternally grateful for that.' Meanwhile his sister, Sarah, says she is now living in poverty in London and that any cash from her dad's estate could transform her life. The former civil servant, who is now struggling to get back to work, said outside court: 'I am hurt by the whole thing and I've lost my whole family. "My dad died, but on the day he died I didn't think I would end up being in the position I am today going through all this heartache. I don't have a step-mother any more. 'This money would make a great difference in my life, I am on the breadline right now.'
