Billboard UK
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Kasabian, Clean Bandit, Rag’n’Bone Man and more have been announced for Brits Week 2025, which will see a host of acts play intimate venues throughout London, Glasgow and Bexhill in February and March.
The concert series is organized in conjunction with the upcoming Brit Awards, which will will take place on March 1 at The O2 Arena in London. Nominees are expected to be announced in the coming weeks alongside news of this ceremony’s performers and host.
Brits Week will kick off on Feb. 17 with Cat Burns performing at east London’s Moth Club and continues with shows from Joy Crookes, Rachel Chinouriri, Frank Turner, Nova Twins, Blossoms, Tom Walker, Soft Play and more. See the full run of shows below.
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The Brits Week concert series was first held in 2009 with all proceeds of the shows benefitting War Child, a charity that supports young people caught up in conflicts across the globe. Since 2009, the Brits Week concert series has raised £7.4 ($9.02) million for the organization, according to a press statement.
Tickets for the events go on sale later this week, with a War Child presale taking place this Thursday (Jan. 16) before a general sale on Friday (Jan. 17) at 10 a.m. GMT.
Several huge acts have performed at Brits Week over recent years, including Ed Sheeran (2022), The 1975 (2023) and Coldplay (2016).
In December, Luton-born musician Myles Smith was announced as the recipient of The Brits’ Rising Star award for 2025, which tips rising stars for future success. Smith beat out competition from Elmiene and Good Neighbours to scoop the prize. Previous winners include Adele (2008), Sam Smith (2014) and most recently The Last Dinner Party (2024).
Brits Week 2025 lineup:
February 17 – Cat Burns – London, England @ Moth ClubFebruary 18 – Joy Crookes – London, England @ Islington Assembly HallFebruary 20 – Rachel Chinouriri – London, England @ OmearaFebruary 21 – Frank Turner – London, England @ 93 Feet EastFebruary 24 – Nova Twins – London, England @ OmearaFebruary 25 – Kasabian with Blossoms – London, England @ O2 Shepherd’s Bush EmpireFebruary 28 – Clean Bandit and Friends – London, England @ The PalladiumMarch 3 – Tom Walker – Glasgow, Scotland @ King Tut’s Wah Wah HutMarch 4 – Soft Play – London, England @ Village UndergroundMarch 5 – Rag‘n’Bone Man – Bexhill, England @ De La Warr Pavilion
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Chappell Roan has come first in the BBC Radio 1 Sound of 2025 list, an annual poll that recognizes rising artists with “the best chance of mainstream success.”
The pop sensation, born Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, was chosen as the winner by a panel of more than 180 music industry figures and artists, including global superstars Dua Lipa and Elton John. Further details of the panel and how the list was compiled are available via BBC Radio 1’s Sound of 2025 website.
Roan (Island Records) beat out jazz group Ezra Collective (Partisan Records), who came second, and Barry Can’t Swim (Ninja Tune), Myles Smith (RCA) and Mercury Prize winners English Teacher (Island). The achievement follows a breakthrough year for the 26-year-old, whose single “Good Luck, Babe!” peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September, five months on from its initial release.
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In the past 12 months, Roan has scooped the top new artist prize at the Billboard Music Awards; netted six Grammy nominations, including nods in each of the Big Four categories; toured the world over and drawn record-breaking crowds at festivals. Her 2023 debut LP, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, meanwhile, enjoyed a second wind and climbed to No. 2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart in August.
Roan will headline Primavera Sound in Barcelona, Spain, June 5-7 alongside Charli XCX and Sabrina Carpenter. She will also top the bill at Reading & Leeds Festival, England, Aug. 21-24 as part of a co-headline booking next to Hozier. Other festivals she is set to play through the summer include Oslo’s Øya Festival (Aug. 6), Budapest’s Sziget (Aug. 11) and Rock In Seine in Paris (Aug. 20).
BBC Radio 1 DJ Jack Saunders said: “No one deserves this accolade more than Chappell Roan. She was the most exciting artist of the last 12 months and is now set to be THE artist of the next 12 months. The success is all her own doing: standing tall in the face of the doubters and keeping her community close to fuel the energy of her shows and musical movements. Congratulations Chappell, 2025 is your year!”
Last year’s BBC Radio 1 Sound of poll was won by baroque-pop band The Last Dinner Party, with runners-up including Olivia Dean, Peggy Gou and Tyla. Notable previous winners include Adele (2008), Florence + The Machine (2009), Sam Smith (2013) and Sam Fender (2019).
The 2025 longlist, which was unveiled in November, was comprised of 11 acts, including Kneecap, Mk.gee, Doechii, Confidence Man, Pozer and Good Neighbours.
BBC Radio 6 Music announced a raft of changes to its morning lineup on Thursday (Jan. 9).
Beginning in February, Nick Grimshaw will take on the weekday breakfast slot permanently. Previous host Lauren Laverne will move back to a later mid-morning slot when she returns to the air following her recovery after a cancer diagnosis. Esteemed DJ Mary Anne Hobbs, who has been broadcasting on the BBC since 1996, will take a sabbatical and vacate the slot that Laverne will now host.
In August 2024, Laverne announced that she had been diagnosed with cancer “unexpectedly during a screening test” and would take a step back from the show. She has not specified the type of cancer she has been diagnosed with, but said that the treatment she received last year had been “successful” and that she would gradually return to broadcasting in 2025.
Laverne hosted the show from 2019 and also presents BBC’s Desert Island Discs, taking over the long-running franchise from Kirsty Young. In a statement, Laverne discussed the decision to leave the breakfast slot: “As listeners will know, I had a really tough 2024 and worried at times that I wouldn’t be able to return to the station I love so much.”
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She added: “During my recovery I learned all over again about the power of music, the people you surround yourself with and the emotional support and joy radio can provide. I’m so grateful to be able to get back to doing what I love and sharing those things with our brilliant listeners every day.”
Grimshaw, who previously hosted Radio 1’s daily breakfast show between 2012 and 2018, took on the slot following Laverne’s diagnosis. He will host the show on weekdays from February and said in a statement that, “I’m honestly honored to be asked to work there and can’t wait to continue supplying the best new music from the world’s most interesting artists.” He also hosts BBC’s Sidetracked podcast alongside fellow Radio 1 alumni Annie Mac, which delves into the week’s biggest music happenings.
Hobbs, meanwhile, will leave her slot from mid-morning to lunchtime on weekdays and return to the station with a new show later in spring. “My agenda has been to change daytime radio at BBC 6 Music,” she said in a statement. “It was David Bowie who taught me that creative life is progression. Once the work is complete.. stand at the edge of everything you know and ask a different question.”
In December the station announced that their annual 6 Music Festival will take place in Manchester between March 26-29; a lineup is yet to be announced. The station currently hosts show by musicians like Iggy Pop and Elbow’s Guy Garvey on a weekly basis.
Following a recent license review, London dance venue Drumsheds has been allowed to remain open but was ordered to enforce new safety measures at its events.
Located in Tottenham, a northern suburb of the capital, the 15,000-capacity venue was reported as being at risk of losing its license late last year. This followed a number of serious incidents on the premises and a subsequent investigation launched by Enfield Council.
On Oct. 12, 2024, a 27-year-old man died after attending a Drumsheds event, an incident believed to have been drug-related (as per The London Standard). On Dec. 7, a 29-year-old woman also died after a show by Belfast dance duo Bicep at the venue, with police stating the tragedy was also connected to drug usage. An emergency licensing review was called after the latter incident.
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In November, meanwhile, a man was stabbed inside Drumsheds, with emergency services called to the scene. No arrests have been made in connection with any of these three incidents. The stabbing was later confirmed by police to be non-fatal.
Following a meeting held by Enfield Council Tuesday (Jan. 7), it has been ruled that Drumsheds has permission to remain open, but will need to operate under specific safety measures going forward. The space — a repurposed IKEA unit — will now boast an increased police presence during events, and any serious incidents on the premises must be reported to emergency services immediately.
Issues with the organization of the venue were highlighted online last month, when a public petition was launched amid claims of “overcrowding” at Drumsheds events following a surplus of social media posts related to “unsafe queues.” This happened at the 15th anniversary celebration for U.K. bass label UKF, which took place on Dec. 13 and was headlined by Pendulum, Nero and Knife Party.
As per Mixmag, however, the review findings from the meeting have stated that the venue will not have to reduce its capacity, nor implement mandatory ID scanning and “bomb detection dogs.” It isn’t yet clear how the new measures will impact upcoming events at Drumsheds. The first scheduled event following the review, billed as Red Bull’s Culture Clash, is set to be held on Mar. 8. The line-up features London DJs Jyoty, Kenny Allstar and Teezee.
In December, Robbie Williams‘ film biopic Better Man (Paramount Pictures) was released in cinemas globally, telling the story of the British pop icon, albeit with Williams replaced by a CGI monkey.
The film covers Williams’ rise to fame as a teenager in pop band Take That, his decision to go solo in 1995, his various controversies and struggles with addiction, his recovery and time in the limelight. The film was directed and co-written by The Greatest Showman director Michael Gracey and divided critics and fans for its use of the CGI character instead of a traditional actor.
Better Man includes a number of Williams’ greatest hits including “Angels,” “Rock DJ,” and “She’s The One.” A new composition, “Forbidden Road,” is also featured in the movie, and last year was nominated for the Golden Globes as well as being shortlisted for best original song at the 2025 Oscars (March 2).
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That song, however, was eventually removed from the shortlist last month on the grounds that it incorporated material from an existing song that was not written for the film in which it appears. Williams co-wrote the song with Freddy Wexler and Sacha Skarbek, but the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences deemed that it shared similarities to “I Got a Name,” a 1973 ballad written by Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox for the Jeff Bridges film The Last American Hero. (The late Jim Croce had a top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with the song.) In a statement to its members about the removal of the track, The Academy said: “This is a decision that both honors our rules and protects the special nature of the Original Song and Score categories.”
The song remained a nominee for best original song at Sunday night’s (Jan. 5) 82nd Golden Globes, where Williams walked the red carpet. Speaking to Deadline, he responded to the disqualification of the song from the Oscars shortlist. Watch the full interview below.
“Listen, the rules is the rules and you have to go by them. It would have been nice, but also as an introvert, it’s another party I don’t have to go to,” he said. “I went through it, I’m on the other side. It’s all good.”
Williams’ song lost the award at the Golden Globes to “El Mal,” co-written by Clément Ducol, Camille, and Jacques Audiard for the film Emilia Pérez, which also scooped best motion picture, musical or comedy.
Later this year, Williams will embark on a massive European tour and recently told NME that he was working on a new album which featured contributions from Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi.
Jade Thirlwall has discussed her time on The X Factor as a member of pop group Little Mix, who won the eighth series of the British version of the talent show in 2011.
Alongside bandmates Perrie Edwards, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Jesy Nelson, the quartet were the first group to win the British version of the show. Little Mix went on to release six studio albums, most recently 2020’s Confetti. The band went on hiatus in 2022 and all members have pursued solo careers in the ensuing years.
Speaking to The Independent, Thirlwall said some parts of the show were “pretty f––ed up” while expanding on the pressures of appearing on the show, and the level of safeguarding contestants were offered. The British version of the show last aired in 2018, though other versions of the franchise continue to air elsewhere around the globe, including Denmark, Italy and Indonesia, among others.
“I think it had to end, I don’t think that kind of show can exist any more. We’re in a different place now,” Thirlwall said of the competition. “We wouldn’t put someone that’s mentally unwell on a TV screen and laugh at them while they sing terribly. The concept of a joke act on a show is just cruel. It’s all very Roman empire. But then at the same time, was it not the best training ever for me to enter the music industry?”
Thirlwall added: “I don’t know anyone that’s come off that show and not had some sort of mental health issue on the back of it, but also, even now, personally I’m conflicted criticizing [it], because it changed my life,” she said. “I was from a very normal working-class family up north, I had tried sending demos into labels, I’d gigged all over, I was doing everything I could to make it, and I needed a show like that to give me a chance.”
Thirlwall, who auditioned for the show three times, also spoke on the housing situation for female contestants who were placed in shared dormitories. “Even at 18, I knew there were people who weren’t mentally well in there, keeping everyone up at night,” Thirlwall said. “I don’t know if there was even security outside the house. It’s scary to think about now, but I was too young to realize that at the time.”
She continued: “I’d say five per cent of the people that went on there have come out of it not unscathed, but having survived; the other 95 per cent have suffered in silence,” she said. “How do you go from being on that show to back to your nine-to-five? How do you get signed to the label, think you’ve made it, and then once your song doesn’t hit the Top 10, you’re just dropped? It’s so savage, this machine that we’re a part of. Even back then, we knew how lucky we were every day that we were still signed.”
In 2023, Rebecca Ferguson, who was runner-up in 2010 to Matt Cardle in season seven, criticized the show and described her experience as “traumatic,” and implored broadcaster ITV to investigate. The show again came under criticism following the death of One Direction’s Liam Payne in October 2024, who also appeared on the show in the same season as Ferguson and faced numerous addiction and mental health battles throughout his career.
Later this week (Jan. 10), Thirlwall will release her latest solo single “IT Girl” via Sony Music. Her 2023 single “Angel Of My Dreams,” which tackled the industry’s darker side, featured in Billboard U.K.’s Songs of the Year list, and “showcased a fierce, focused artist ready to embrace every facet of her new solo era.”