September 22Sep 22 Author NEWSRobbie Williams hoping to deliver hit song to The Lottery WinnersThe Lottery Winners have turned to Robbie Williams to help them score a big hit.The pop band has bagged two UK number one albums - 2023's Anxiety Replacement Therapy, and 2025's KOKO - but now Thom Rylance (vocals/guitar), Robert Lally (guitar/vocals), Katie Lloyd (bass/vocals), and Joe Singleton (drums) need to add a smash-hit song to their list of achievements. Frontman Rylance told the Daily Star newspaper's Wired column: "I've been writing with Robbie."To be candid and to be honest, the one thing we are missing as a band is that huge hit, and that is my absolute determination to make that happen." The You Again hitmaker was in awe of Williams, 51, when they were working together in the studio. Rylance shared: "I don't know how he does it, like we'll sit down, and I'll play like a piece of music, and then he just sings, but what he sings is incredible lyricisms that's poignant, funny and rhymes like straight off the top of his head."Coming off the back of touring with the former Take That boy band member, The Lottery Winners have secured a homecoming gig at Leigh Sports Village Stadium, Leigh, Greater Manchester, which takes place on May 30, 2026. And Rylance is feeling nervous about the fact that they will be the first band to play there - following in the footsteps of Sir Elton John, 78, and Lionel Richie, 76, who have already performed at the venue.He said: "I am petrified. I don't know why we're doing it."We're idiots. We are always too ambitious, we're far too ambitious for our own good sometimes." Despite feeling the nerves, Rylance says it has been his childhood dream to perform for people in a stadium. He explained: "My earliest memory of seeing any kind of live music, although it was on a VHS tape, was Queen live at Wembley, and that's what I thought concerts looked like. "My gran Mavis used to make me outfits that Freddie wore, I had the yellow jacket and the white pants with the red line on it, and I used to dance around the living room, and that carpet was my Wembley. "So I always had in my head that I would be stood in a stadium singing to people, and we have been doing it this summer - but now I want to be at the top of that poster!"Robbie Williams hoping to deliver hit song to The Lottery Winners - Music News | Music-News.com
September 22Sep 22 Author Greater Manchester music superstars announce HUGE homecoming show set to be the 'best night ever'The Lottery Winners say they want their Leigh gig to be 'bigger than Queen at Wembley'Adam Maidment What's On and LGBTQ+ Writer10:00, 22 Sep 2025Greater Manchester music legends The Lottery Winners have announced a huge homecoming show(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)A Greater Manchester band has announced details of a HUGE homecoming show that will mark their biggest headlining gig ever.The Lottery Winners, who hail from Leigh, will headline the 12,000-capacity Leigh Sports Village Stadium in May 2026 where they will be joined by a host of special guests, including Frank Turner and Reverend and the Makers.The four-piece broke onto the music scene with their first album in 2020. They have since gone on to achieve two number one albums in the UK, worked with the likes of Shaun Ryder and Stephen Fry, and supported Robbie Williams on a huge international tour.Made up of vocalist Thom Rylance, guitarist Robert Lally, bassist Katie Lloyd and drummer Joe Singleton, The Lottery Winners will play the Leigh stadium on Saturday, May 30, 2026 with support from Scouting For Girls, The Lilacs and DJ Katie Owen.“We’re headlining our own stadium - it’s crazy,” Thom tells the M.E.N. from a tattoo parlour in the Isle of Man as he and the band (bar drummer Joe, because he’s ‘too soft and scared’) get matching rocket tattoos to represent their time on tour with Robbie.“It’s stupid really, I don’t know why we do it. We’re far too ambitious, that’s our problem. We’ve become too ambitious, we could have done something easy like The Ritz but, no, we’ve always got to push it too far and now we’re doing a 12,000-cap venue. What idiots!“In our minds, we’re still just some stupid kids who are just messing about and somehow getting away with it. So, yeah, in all honesty, it’s really nice and such a big achievement. We’re gonna show a lot of people what Leigh has got to offer.”Tickets for the show go on pre-sale on Wednesday (September 24) at 10am before general sale begins on Friday (September 26) at 10am. Tickets will be available via Ticketmaster and Live Nation.The show will mean that The Lottery Winners are the third act after Elton John and Lionel Ritchie to headline the stadium - doing so in 2014 and 2018 respectively. But they’re also the first band to ever do so too."I’m just hoping that the town gets behind us because we don’t get much here,” Thom says. “Elton and Lionel performed here a good few years ago and there’s not been a big gig there of this scale for a while."We’ve got a lot up our sleeve - we’re bringing a lot of special guests to Leigh so I think it will be really, really cool. We have some very big names in our pockets that we aren’t revealing just yet.”The announcement of the tour comes just as The Lottery Winners gear up to finish their epic run of shows supporting Robbie, which began back in May. Thom says the band have become especially close with the superstar in the four months of touring.“It’s been wild - we’ve seen so much of the world, we've played in so many stadiums and built a fanbase because of Robbie,” Thom says. “I’ve got a soulmate in Robbie now, which sounds quite syrupy but it’s true. He really is one of the most inspiring, lovely and creative people that I’ve ever met. His creative output is so ridiculously high."He added: "I’m in a weird position where I’ve kind of got to know two different Robbie Williams. There’s the stage performer full of bravado and showmanship, but I also know the Rob who will sit with me in his underpants eating crisps and watching Alan Partridge.”Thom says he has also been able to see another side to the performer that many fans rarely see outside of the superstar persona on stage - and it’s inspiring him and the band to better themselves as musicians too.“Robbie’s inspired me forever,” Thom explains. “He’s one of the real showmen. He calls himself a King of Entertainment and I think that’s true. Every show we’ve done, I've watched him from the side studying him because why wouldn't I? It’s a masterclass.“I want to take a little bit of what I’ve learnt from Robbie Williams and put it into our shows. He’s the King of Entertainment, but maybe we can be the Understudies of Entertainment.”And Thom promises that the band are really stepping things up with their homecoming show next year. They are going big, he insists, and are going to make sure it’s a moment both for diehard fans who have travelled to Leigh and the locals who have supported them from day one.Asked what fans can expect, Thom says: “It’ll be the best night of their entire lives. They can expect a lot of love, laughs and lives. They can’t have their money back if they don’t like it, but I will be willing to accept complaints.“It’s going to be a full night of pure entertainment, sing-songs, surprises, confetti and pyro. We’re literally going to throw everything at it.“It’s great to celebrate our hometown but we do need people to come from outside of Leigh too please, because I don’t think there’s enough people in Leigh to actually fill the stadium!”Greater Manchester music superstars announce HUGE homecoming show set to be the 'best night ever' - Manchester Evening News Edited September 22Sep 22 by Sydney11
October 14Oct 14 Author @random_garo·8hRobbie Williams was right all along. Reality did kill the video star.@PopCraveMTV is shutting down its music channels across Europe by December 2025 as the network shifts focus to reality TV.
October 14Oct 14 Author With MTV music closing it's Channel here's a little reminder from 2006 Rudebox / Rock DJBritish singer Robbie Williams accepts his award for best international pop artist at the MTV Latin America awards in Mexico City October 19, 2006. (Tomas Bravo/Reuters)Video thanks to https://www.youtube.com/@TakeThatUcozru
October 15Oct 15 Author Pictures as Take That themed musical takes centre stage at the Gaiety Theatre‘It promises a fun, nostalgic, and uplifting night out’By Adam Morton Wednesday 15th October 2025 9:54 am'The Band' at the Gaiety Theatre (All pictures: Ciaran Broad) (Ciaran Broad)Centre Stage Productions are currently presenting The Band, a jukebox musical featuring the hits of Take That.The show began on October 10, and it will continue until Saturday, October 18.Unlike a tribute show, the musical incorporates the band’s songs into an original story about friendship, memory, and growing up.Set in the 1990s, the narrative follows five teenage girls who bond over their shared love of a boy band. 25 years later, they reunite for a trip to Prague after one of them wins concert tickets.Pictures as Take That themed musical takes centre stage at the Gaiety Theatre | Isle of Man Today
October 15Oct 15 Author The Divine Comedy: “I mean, everything you go through is part of the next record. But also, there are a few songs that date back as far five to 11 years”The Divine Comedy’s Neil Hannon discusses his masterful new album Rainy Sunday Afternoon, soundtracking Hollywood smash Wonka, and collaborating with Robbie Williams.For my money one of the finest acts ever to hail from Ireland, throughout their career, the Divine Comedy have broadly had two gears: uproarious pop anthems and, on the flip-side, introspective, Scott Walker-style torch songs. As may be gleaned from the title alone, DC’s latest offering, Rainy Afternoon, leans heavily toward into the band’s more plaintive side. “Oh it does,” says main man Neil Hannon. “I feel this one owes a lot to the stuff I liked on the record player at home, especially during lockdown, which was Glen Campbell and Neil Diamond, to an extent. Particularly Neil Diamond’s country-inflected records, which use the orchestra as a big, lovely landscape. I really wanted to use the studio in that way, and not go half-arsed on it – I needed it to sound like the best possible thing it could be. “Which was weirdly not the case in the past; I have tended to kind of go, ‘Ah, that’s grand’, and move on. Whereas this time – I think it’s because I’m getting older and there might not be too many of these left! – I just went for it. When we were doing Wonka, we did most of it in Abbey Road 3, and I was thinking, ‘I just wanna make one record here before I die.’ So I did and it was great.”I wonder if there’s an autobiographical element to the record, with the past few years having seen the sad passing of Neil’s father, Church of Ireland minister Brian Hannon.“Oh yeah, it’s all part of it,” he says. “I mean, everything you go through is part of the next record. But also, there are a few songs that date back as far five to 11 years. So it definitely runs the gamut of my middle age. But I guess, ever since lockdown, things have been a little bit gloomy generally. “Also, it sounds terribly superficial, but we remodelled the house a bit and I was stuck in rented accommodation for a year. It messed with my head – I really wanted to go home. It’s like, ‘Be careful what you wish for!’”The title track is a standout, capturing the uniquely painful moment that follows an argument in a relationship – albeit offset with a beautifully jaunty melody. “That is about a matter of no importance, in a way,” says Neil of the song. “It’s raison d’être is to be a slight grumbly muttering. It’s like, ‘I’ve just had a tiff with the wife and everything in the world is wrong!’ You know how you feel after an argument – it’s like nothing can ever be nice again (laughs). So I was trying to capture that; it’s more of a Carole King mood in the music.”BIGGEST MOVIE STARIt’s been a particularly successful few years for Hannon, with he and bandmate Joby Talbot composing the music for the 2023 blockbuster Wonka, starring possibly the biggest movie star in the world currently, Timothée Chalamet.“I was absolutely astonished to be a part of it,” reflects the singer. “It shows, if you just cling on by your fingernails long enough, something will come good (laughs). Cos I always jokingly said to people, ‘I can’t help but feel there’s somebody out there, a Divine Comedy fan, who will eventually attain a position of great power and they’ll come looking for me. And lo, it came to pass – it was incredible. So good old Paul King, I owe him a lot. “In terms of the writing, it was so different from one song to another. With some, the first thing I did, they all went, ‘Yeah, great.’ And then the next one, I did about 15 versions before they were into it, so it really depended. There was one song that I did so many versions of – and then they cut the scene! But I recycle – these tunes are always repurposed in the end. “And with Timothée Chalamet, I felt very lucky they cast somebody who can sing, and who was really good in it.”I first became a big Divine Comedy fan in the mid-’90s, when Hannon was was about to have a major moment in the limelight, commencing with the 1996 album Casanova, and continuing with UK top 10 hits like ‘National Express’ and ‘Generation Sex’, in a period which also saw him famously write the music for classic sitcom Father Ted.Was he definitely shooting for pop star status?“Was I?” asks Neil rhetorically. “Despite the fact my first two albums were quite weird, there were still pop tunes in there. I’d grown up on Top Of The Pops and Radio 1, and I really wanted to be a pop star from about the age of 14. I gradually convinced myself that it would happen. It was only after it had all dissipated that I started to go, ‘Oh my god, there were so many instances where that might not have happened.’ “And I looked down – it was awful. At that time I was just like, ‘Yep, I’m there, it’s gonna happen.’ I remember vividly being in the back of a cab in Paris, and the girl from the record company had just got off the phone. She said, ‘You’re number 14 in the charts with ‘Something For The Weekend’.’ I just sat back and went, ‘It is done!’ In a way, that’s when I could relax finally and get on with it.”I subsequently caught Divine Comedy in Dublin Castle in 2001, when they were touring that year’s album Regeneration. In a bid to reinvent his image, Hannon had shed his trademark foppish attire in favour in favour of a classic indie look – a shift emphasised by the fact there were no hits in the set. Certainty, it was a big swing. “That was the bit of the wobble, really,” Hannon admits. “I apologise for my 31-year-old self. You’ve got to have these moments. I actually rate the album – a lot of people like it and that’s nice. But it was a bit of a cul de sac creatively. It’s always like, ‘I just know I could be as good as Radiohead if I put my mind to it.’ (Laughs) So we got Nigel Goodrich in! “Because suddenly we were on a major label and they paid for him – and I think those three albums on Parlophone, they’re still trying to pay off. But it’s all for a good cause, which is trying to work out what to do next, and along the way you get some good tunes.HOT STREAKGoing back to the ’90s, Hannon’s hot streak also saw him providing backing vocals on the Robbie Williams hit ‘No Regrets’, alongside that other great Neil, Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys.“All I really remember was thinking I’d done a really good job, and then hearing that Neil Tennant had had the brainwave of going to the mix and saying, ‘Turn up my vocals.’ So you can just about make me out! It’s mostly the other Neil you can hear (laughs).”Robbie was obviously a big fan.“He kind of was, and I enjoyed basking in his reflected glory,” says Neil. “But the reason ‘National Express’ was such a big hit was because we did a whole Robbie Williams arena tour at that time. Playing to 3000 people every night up until the release of the record really did the trick.“I must say, the most delightful thing happened after Wonka came out. There were a few people sending me videos of their kids singing the songs, and I found that adorable. And then, I got one from Robbie with his daughter singing ‘Scrub Scrub’. It was so weird, but so lovely.”The Divine Comedy: “I mean, everything you go through is part of the next record. But also, there are a few songs that date back as far five to 11 years” | Hotpress
October 30Oct 30 Author Laura. Max Beesley wss one of the sittrrs on Skys Portrait Artist Of The Year this week....
Wednesday at 12:041 day Author New album releases 2026: Dates for Gorillaz, Robbie Williams, Leigh-Anne and moreBy Max Persad | 05 November 2025Here at Official Charts, we're always looking towards the future of pop.The future, in this case, is 2026, and the new music we can expect at the dawn of the year. What albums from your favourite musicians are on the way? Which release will help you discover a new favourite pop act? And which surprise releases could change everything?Keep up to date with all the albums coming out across the whole of 2026 below.New albums coming in 2026:January 9 Blue - ReflectionsThe Cribs - Selling A VibeZach Bryan - With Heaven on Top January 16 Courtney Marie Andrews - ValentineMadison Beer - locket Sassy 009 - Dreamer + Sleaford Mods - The Demise of Planet XJanuary 23Ari Lennox - VacancyCrystal Lake - The Weight of SoundLouis Tomlinson - How Did I Get Here? Megadeth - Megadeth The Paper Kites - If You Go There, I Hope You Find ItJanuary 30Buzzcocks - Attitude AdjustmentCast - Yeah Yeah Yeah Miles Davis - The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965February 6 Joji - Piss In The WindRobbie Williams - BRITPOP February 13 Cardinals - MasqueradeMumford & Sons - Prize Fighter February 20 Leigh-Anne - My Ego Told Me ToNew Found Glory - Listen Up!The Enemy - Social Disguises 6 March Charlie Puth - Whatever's Clever! 20 March Gorillaz - The Mountain 27 March Nicki Minaj - Pink Friday 3 17 April Tiga - HOTLIFE 24 April Reverend and the Makers - Is this Happiness Feels? 1 May Melanie C - SweatNew album releases 2026: Dates for Gorillaz, Robbie Williams, Leigh-Anne and more | Official Charts
