News

In an age of AI and people pushing buttons to make music, independent blues guitarist Travis Koester keeps things real with the release of his latest solo EP titled Me and My Blue Shoes, streaming everywhere on February 6th, 2026.

Kylie Minogue has scored the UK’s Christmas number 1 for 2025 with her festive single XMAS, beating off stiff competition from perennial favourites including Wham! and Mariah Carey.

Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas Is You continues to dominate the holiday season nearly three decades after its release, with new data estimating the song has generated more than $8 million in Spotify royalties alone, making it the highest-earning Christmas track on the platform.

Sabrina Carpenter is pulling back the curtain on the making of her Billboard Hot 100 number one hit “Manchild” in the latest episode of Vevo Footnotes. Joined by music video co-directors Vania Heymann and Gal Muggia, Carpenter walks viewers through the creative process behind the visually striking video, from wardrobe decisions to hidden easter eggs and the challenges of production.

Irish singer songwriter Janet Devlin has launched a full length festive production titled My Little Christmas Special on her YouTube channel. The 45 minute performance was recorded live at George Ezra’s Hotel Québec Recording Studio in Hertford, UK, and brings together a blend of Devlin’s original Christmas songs, classic covers, and a lively duet of “Fairytale of New York” with collaborator Maddox Jones.

Nineties superstar Gabrielle is preparing to make a warmly welcomed return with a new single titled Sad Song, a collaboration with singer songwriter JP Cooper. The track is set to arrive on January 16 and marks a fresh chapter for Gabrielle, whose distinctive voice and heartfelt approach to music made her one of the defining artists of her era.

Lainey Wilson is leaning fully into the holiday spirit with a new animated video for her duet version of “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” with Bing Crosby. Created in partnership with Hershey’s, the clip brings both artists to life as charming Claymation-style characters that recall classic Rankin-Bass Christmas specials.

Portuguese pop star Diogo Piçarra is set to return to London next year, bringing his polished and emotionally charged live show to Islington Assembly Hall on Friday, 27 February 2026. The announcement arrives as welcome news for fans who have followed his rise from televised talent show champion to one of Portugal’s most influential contemporary artists.

All Time Low are no strangers to big moments, but their latest achievement feels especially sweet. The band’s recent single The Weather has officially climbed to Number One on the Alternative Radio chart, giving the Maryland quartet the third chart-topping single of their career. The track follows the success of Monsters and Sleepwalking, with Monsters famously spending 18 weeks at the top of Billboard’s Alternative Airplay chart, the longest charting run in the history of the format.

RÜFÜS DU SOL have reached a historic milestone following three sold out hometown headline shows in Sydney. The Grammy-winning live electronic trio were presented with a commemorative plaque by Live Nation and Untitled recognizing their Inhale / Exhale World Tour as the highest selling electronic tour of all time. The achievement crowns a record setting 2025 in which the group sold 750,000 headline tickets and performed to 1.5 million fans worldwide across festivals and headline dates.

Leona Lewis has achieved a major festive milestone as her hit One More Sleep has been officially named the most streamed British Christmas song of the 21st century. The track, released in 2013 and featured on her holiday album Christmas with Love, has now accumulated 190 million streams in the UK according to new data from the Official Charts Company.

Jordanian artist Haifa Kamal has released a new single titled “Ghanna Al-Hadi,” a reinterpretation of a traditional Palestinian folk melody. The song features lyrics by Hassan Sultan and a modern musical arrangement and production by Jordanian musician Rami Rais. This release is the latest step in Kamal’s ongoing artistic project, which seeks to breathe new life into Palestinian folk songs by presenting them in a fresh, contemporary style while preserving their authenticity and cultural roots.

Indie icons The Kooks will close out a major year with a performance on Jools Holland’s Annual Hootenanny, which airs on Wednesday 31 December on BBC Two and will also be available on BBC iPlayer. The annual show is a long-running New Year’s Eve tradition that brings together Jools Holland and his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra with a lineup of well known artists, rising talent and celebrity guests.

 

That which is left unsaid often speaks the most profoundly. Pianist and composer Barry DeGroot proudly announces the release of his new album, “Unspoken Conversations”—a richly textured, emotionally evocative collection of seven solo piano pieces that explore the quiet truths we share without ever speaking them aloud. Introspective, intimate, and incredibly inviting, the album offers solace to anyone who has ever felt something too deep to articulate.

In response to the widespread devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica, Grammy Award-winning artist Shaggy, through his Make a Difference Foundation, has partnered with Jamaica Strong NYC to present the Jamaica Strong Benefit Concert. The event is scheduled for Friday, December 12, 2025, at the UBS Arena in Queens.

St. Pancras International welcomed an unexpected burst of rock and seasonal cheer today when British rock legends The Darkness delivered a surprise live performance in the station’s main Arcade. (Watch the video below). The event arrives during a landmark week for the band as they celebrate the 20th anniversary of their second album One Way Ticket To Hell… And Back and announce their largest headline tour in twenty years, set for December 2026.

The Gospel Firestarter returns with a cinematic anthem of faith, resilience, and revival — Available on all platforms.

A new exhibition celebrating the work of photographer Dick Polak opened on Wednesday at the Gibson Gallery inside the Gibson Garage London. Titled Dick Polak: A 20th Century Boy, the show features rare and previously unseen portraits of major musicians from the 1960s and 1970s.

Russell Dickerson has wrapped his record setting 2025 Russellmania Tour after delivering a streak of sold out, high energy shows across the United States and Canada. The multi Platinum entertainer drew massive crowds with performances filled with dancing, sing along moments, and the confetti filled spectacle that has become his trademark. Powered by the success of his hit single “Happen To Me” and more than forty tour stops, the run became one of the most successful chapters of his career.

BFAlexanderMusic, the Los Angeles–based independent label group founded by songwriter-producer B.F. Alexander, announces a multi-label expansion along with new winter releases across classical crossover, trance, rock, and acoustic genres.

Epiphone has unveiled a new signature model that celebrates both punk rock history and a modern return to form. The Mike Dirnt Grabber G 3 is the company’s latest collaboration with the longtime Green Day bassist, created as a contemporary take on the classic Gibson Grabber G 3 that helped shape the sound of the band’s 1994 breakthrough album Dookie.