Latest news with #songwriter
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Beloved '80s Musician Makes Rare Statement About Future Career 'Plans'
Beloved '80s Musician Makes Rare Statement About Future Career 'Plans' originally appeared on Parade. has become revered as one of the most influential music stars since her '80s debut, but for the most part, she has kept an extremely low profile in recent years. Following the 37th anniversary of her legendary track "Fast Car," which was released in April 1988 and re-issued on vinyl last month in honor of the milestone, the singer/songwriter offered up rare comments about her future career plans—and despite her enduring influence, it likely doesn't come as a huge surprise for loyal fans. 'I'm still on a break,' she told the German press, per US Weekly. 'I have no plans to go on tour, and I have no plans to go into the studio. Who knows what might happen, but right now, there are no plans.' 🎬SIGN UP for Parade's Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox🎬 She does, however, seemingly still keep music creation at top of mind, revealing in a separate interview that if she was to set off on tour again, it would be linked to a brand new project vs. solely her past hits (though iconic). 'If I were to tour, I would tour for something new, new material, and in that process, I would, of course, play these songs, too,' she explained to Billboard. 'But that would be the thing that would be most interesting to me at this point. And that's always the case. Whenever someone asks, 'What's your favorite song?' It's always the one I'm writing at the time. I said it before, but maybe no one believed it, that I'm always playing and I'm always writing songs. I've been doing it since I was 8 years old. It's just part of my DNA. It's part of who I am.' The rarely-seen star has become known for leading an ultra-private life largely away from the spotlight, and only popping back into the public eye for occasional performances. At the 2024 Grammy Awards, she delighted with a poignant duet with Luke Combs that nearly brought fans to tears. Chapman's last project, Our Bright Future, was released in 2008. Next: Beloved '80s Musician Makes Rare Statement About Future Career 'Plans' first appeared on Parade on May 30, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade on May 30, 2025, where it first appeared.
BBC News
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Jacob Alon: Free-spirited folk singer is one to watch
Jacob Alon's fingernails are something left hand is beautifully manicured in sparkling purple and royal blue. On their right, the nails are like talons, sharpened to a menacing Scottish singer-songwriter nurtured those claws as a teenager, after discovering a dusty nylon-stringed guitar in a cupboard at their grandmother's house."I was always very clumsy with a plectrum," they say. "Growing out my nails changed entirely how I played the guitar.""It probably started with trying to copy Nick Drake from YouTube. I suddenly felt intimately connected to the instrument."It feels like the guitar doesn't stop – it extends into my anatomy. That visceral connection is very special to me."If you haven't heard of Jacob yet, it won't be long. When they sing, time stops. Tremulous vocals curl around the music like smoke, as the 24-year-old, who identifies as non-binary and uses they/them pronouns, traces poetic stories of romantic exploration and broken a writer, Jacob can be equally tender and ruthless. On Liquid Gold 25, named after a brand of poppers, they tackle the soul-crushing experience of queer dating apps like Grindr, singing: "This is where love comes to die."The fragile melody of Confession, meanwhile, captures the crushing confusion Jacob felt when an ex-boyfriend denied their relationship had ever happened."It was such a deep rejection," they recall. "I was so confused that [they] couldn't come to terms with how they'd felt once, under all the layers of tragic, tragic shame that are imposed on you by the world." That feeling of being trapped in limbo, controlled by a confusing dream-like logic, is a running theme of Jacob's debut titled In Limerence, referring to a state of romantic infatuation that the singer's often trying to escape."There can be a darker side to dreams as a prison of fantasy – especially within relationships," they explain."Sometimes you cling to dreams so tightly that you lose sight of the magic of the real world."On their debut single, Fairy In A Bottle, Jacob embodies that idea as a you idolise your partner, you can't really know them, "because you've trapped them in this mythical version of themselves," they explain."You look past all of their flaws, and reasons it would never work."The song is a realisation of that truth. "It's not your fault, it's my disease / And I must learn to set you free." University drop-out The musician learned those lessons the hard way – something that appears to have been a life-long in Fife, with its tawny beaches and sleepy fishing villages, a career in music was a distant dream."I remember a family member telling me, as a child, I'd be a poor fool to ever become a musician. And it stuck with me."Instead, they took the academic route out, enrolling to study theoretical physics and medicine at Edinburgh didn't go well."I was so miserable," they recall. "I'd always found school really fulfilling and satisfying but university was really stifling. I realised that a life within academia didn't foster the same sense of curiosity about the universe that I'd felt going in."It all came to a head when they crashed out on the floor of the university library, while desperately trying to cram for an exam."I remember sleeping between book shelves and the security guards kept waking me going, 'You can't sleep here, go home'."So I'd move to another room and they'd come and find me there too. I remember thinking, 'What am I doing with my life?'"On a whim, they dropped out and moved to London to make music."It was chaotic," they say, suggesting that then-undiagnosed ADHD prompted the move."I had a breakdown and called my mum from the middle of street outside John Lewis, crying, because I didn't know where I was or where to go."But even though London didn't work out, I realised I was going to make music regardless, because it was the only thing that consistently brought my life meaning." So they packed up their belongings, went back to Scotland, and started living in a van while touring the Edinburgh's folk circuit."I'd have to sneak into swimming pools to have a shower," they recall, "but that was really a time of gestation and discovering my voice."In the beginning, they mostly played covers – anything from Leonard Cohen to traditional Gaelic songs. But one night, in Edinburgh's cluttered and narrow Captain's Bar, a friend encouraged Jacob to play an original song they'd written for their younger sister, Stella."It's such a rowdy bar but people just stopped and fell silent and listened," Jacob recalls."Normally, I don't like it when everyone's looking at me – but it was such a powerful moment. It gave me a sense of self-belief that I'd never felt before."Soon, Jacob was consumed by writing new material, pouring their feelings onto the page while scraping a living in a local coffee and heartfelt, the songs charted a bumpy arrival into adulthood – forging a queer identity and figuring out what they wanted from life and relationships, while navigating a period where they were ostracised by their family."It was a very difficult time for my biological family," says Jacob, choosing their words carefully. "I was running away from a lot of pain. Fortunately, we're in a much better place now."The naked vulnerability of those songs set Jacob apart. Within months, they'd gained a manager and signed to Island Records. Last November, with only one single to their name, they were booked to appear on Jools Holland. On screen, they possessed a bewitching stillness, performing barefoot in a pair of golden feathered trousers like some sort of musical the surface, though, they were a bundle of nerves."I'd been playing a series of shows in the days before, and my voice had gone - but in the moment, something took over," they a moment that brought them back to childhood."I used to be a competitive swimmer when I was young, but I also have Tourette's."Sometimes, my tics would be unshakeable right up until the moment they said, 'On your marks'. Then, all of a sudden, this stillness would come over me.""I was really worried it would crop up on Jools – because sometimes when I'm playing live, something will start ticking in my hand. But again, that stillness came."It's hard to imagine a better metaphor for the way in which Jacob's music can soothe and heal. It possesses a magic that places them alongside folk nymphs like Nick Drake, Joni Mitchell, and Sandy is already incoming, and fast, but Jacob's learned the lesson of their own lyrics: This is a dream they won't get trapped in."A couple of billion years from now, the sun will expand, engulf the earth and maybe we'll be long gone – but there's a beautiful, optimistic nihilism in that," they explain."What's happening is happening now, so I just want to appreciate it, while I can feel the sun on my skin, and I can meet lovely people and converse and connect."
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Letter: Mike Berry obituary
Those of us in a back room at the Half Moon in Putney, west London, were lucky enough to see the singer, songwriter and sometime actor Mike Berry only a few weeks before his death. He was in good voice, still played a mean rhythm guitar, and did two wonderful sets of songs interspersed with entertaining chat, stories and reminiscences. He was also a thoroughly nice guy and clearly still enjoyed playing and entertaining people.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Roger Nichols, Grammy-Nominated Co-Writer of ‘We've Only Just Begun,' Dies at 84
Roger Nichols, best-known for co-writing such Carpenters hits as 'We've Only Just Begun,' 'Rainy Days and Mondays' and 'I Won't Last a Day Without You' with lyricist Paul Williams, died on May 17. He was 84. Williams confirmed Nichols' death in an extended, and deeply affectionate, post on Instagram. Williams didn't list a cause of death, though he reported the basic circumstances of the death. 'Roger Nichols passed away peacefully four days ago, at home with his beautiful family …his wife Terry and the daughters he was so proud of, Claire and Caitlin at his side.' (See full text of Williams Instagram post below.) More from Billboard Gone But Not Forgotten: Musicians We Lost in 2025 Julión Álvarez Postpones Stadium Show in Texas After Not Being Able to Enter the U.S. 7 Things We Learned From Talking to EDC Las Vegas 2025 Performers Nichols signed as an artist to A&M Records in 1968, a year before Karen and Richard Carpenter were signed to the Los Angeles-based label. His debut album Roger Nichols and the Small Circle of Friends was produced by Tommy LiPuma, engineered by Bruce Botnick, and featured session contributions from Van Dyke Parks, Randy Newman and Lenny Waronker. Although the album failed to crack the Billboard 200, A&M co-founder Herb Alpert thought there was something there and recommended that Nichols be hired by A&M's publishing company as a staff songwriter. It was during this period that he was introduced to Williams. That was a characteristically astute call on Alpert's part. Williams and Nichols were one of the hottest pop songwriting teams of the early 1970s. Williams and Nichols took off as songwriters in the fall of 1970, when they had two songs in the top 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time. On the charts dated Oct. 17 and 24, Carpenters' version of 'We've Only Just Begun,' a ballad which had originated as 'soft-sell' commercial for Crocker-Citizens National Bank, was in the top five (on its way to a No. 2 peak). Three Dog Night's 'Out in the Country' was holding at its No. 15 peak. The Carpenters smash, an instant standard, was lushly romantic. The Three Dog Night hit was a fresh-sounding mix of pop, rock and folk. Having two simultaneous hits by two different acts in two different styles caught the industry's attention. 'We've Only Just Begun' went on to receive two Grammy nominations – for song of the year and best contemporary song — at the first live Grammy telecast in March 1971. (It lost both awards to Paul Simon's 'Bridge Over Troubled Water.') The Carpenters' recording of the song was voted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998. Williams and Nichols continued writing songs for the Carpenters, including 'Rainy Days and Mondays,' a superb and remarkably adult ballad which reached No. 2 (it took Carole King's letter-perfect 'It's Too Late' to keep it out of the top spot), 'Let Me Be the One' (another first-rate ballad that the duo never got around to releasing as a single), and 'I Won't Last a Day Without You,' a 1972 album track that was finally released as a single in 1974, when it climbed to No. 11. Barbra Streisand covered 'I Won't Last a Day Without You' on her ButterFly album later in 1974. On her following album, Lazy Afternoon, she recorded another Williams-Nichols song, 'I Never Had It So Good.' Both of those albums went gold. Art Garfunkel recorded a tender Williams-Nichols song, 'Traveling Boy,' for his first solo album, 1973's Angel Clare, which made the top 10 on the Billboard 200. The song was released as the third single from the album, and bubbled under the Hot 100. Nichols also had some successes with other collaborators. He teamed with William Lane to write 'Times of Your Life,' which Paul Anka recorded in 1975. Like 'We've Only Just Begun,' this song was also adapted from a popular TV commercial – for Kodak. Anka's recording reached No 7 on the Hot 100 in February 1976. Nichols retired soon afterwards, but his songs live on. R.E.M. covered 'Out in the Country' as a B-side for their 2003 single 'Bad Day.' Rumer covered 'Traveling Boy' on her 2012 album Boys Don't Cry. Nichols was honored during Florida Chapter Presents The Recording Academy Honors 2006 at Loews Miami Beach Hotel in Miami. He was nominated for the Songwriters Hall of Fame on Nov. 12, for the class that will be inducted on June 12. He wasn't elected (the competition is fierce every year), but the ballot listed the five songs that are probably his most famous and enduring: 'We've Only Just Begun,' 'Rainy Days and Mondays,' 'I Won't Last a Day Without You,' 'Out in the Country,' 'Times of Your Life' In a comment on Williams' Instagram post, Nichols' daughter Claire wrote, 'My mom, Terri, and my sisters, Caroline and Caitlin, are all so proud of the man he was, and are in awe of the legacy he leaves.' Here's the full text of Williams' Instagram post announcing Nichols' death. 'The first song, Roger Nichols and I wrote was called 'it's hard to say goodbye. '… Sadly, we hit the nail on the head. Roger Nichols passed away peacefully four days ago, at home with his beautiful family …his wife Terry and the daughters he was so proud of, Claire and Caitlin at his side. They were his dream come true. His greatest joy'Roger was my writing partner and my music school… a collaboratorfor years and a friend for life. I was an out of work actor looking for a career in music when I was signed by A&M records publishing. They were looking for a lyricist for Roger Nichols. An industrial strength, lucky break that changed my life.'We wrote almost every day for several years. He was as disciplined as he was talented. I had the attention span of a sea otter… I was ready for a break after three hours and Roger would plunge ahead for another four or five. The words were born of the beauty in his completed melodies.I wrote what I heard, note for note…word for word. The lyrics waiting in the emotion already in his music. He made it easy.'After many wonderful productive years, I wanted us to write songs for movies. He had another dream. He said I wanna go fishing … wanna go back to Montana. He smiled and said something about having a family and maybe making a home by a nice little river… it was clear that he was already gone. A few years ago, I visited him and met Terry and the girls at the house by the river …and I knew he found his dream.'One last story. Roger was really excited when his daughter Caitlin was getting married last September. He chuckled and asked, 'can you picture me wheeling down the aisle in my wheelchair, holding my daughter's hand?''Of course, I said yes then …. and right now Roger, I can picture thousands of proud dads and their beautiful daughters that walked down the aisle to your gorgeous music or danced their father and daughter dance to We've only just begun… picture them standing and applauding what you brought to their lives and to mine. You brought love and beauty into this world, and we will never forget gratitude with much love… Paul' Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Janet Jackson's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart
New York Times
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Billy Joel Announces Brain Disorder and Cancels All Concerts
Billy Joel, the arena-filling everyman singer-songwriter, has canceled all of his upcoming concerts, including a large-scale tour scheduled for this year and next, because of a brain disorder known as normal pressure hydrocephalus, or N.P.H., he announced in a statement on Friday. 'This condition has been exacerbated by recent concert performances, leading to problems with hearing, vision, and balance,' said the statement, which was posted to the singer's social media accounts. 'Under his doctor's instructions, Billy is undergoing specific physical therapy and has been advised to refrain from performing during this recovery period.' Joel, 76, added, 'I'm sincerely sorry to disappoint our audience, and thank you for your understanding.' A pop music mainstay since the early 1970s, Joel is best known for songs like 'Piano Man,' 'Scenes From an Italian Restaurant,' 'She's Always a Woman' and 'Big Shot' — just a sampling of the crowd-pleasing singalongs in his catalog, which included 43 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
