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LONDON — Events firm Brockwell Live have confirmed that a series of festivals set to take place in south London’s Brockwell Park will go ahead as planned.
On Friday (May 16), a high court in the capital ruled against Lambeth Council’s decision to approve events including Field Day and Mighty Hoopla over planning permission concerns.
The legal case originated with local residents group Protect Brockwell Park, which challenged regulations stipulating that festivals can only use public parks for 28 days annually without additional planning permission. Campaign leader Rebekah Shaman argued that the planned Brockwell Live events would occupy the park for 37 days in 2025.
Protect Brockwell Park raised over £40,000 ($53,589) last month for a judicial review of the approvals they called “unlawful.” They contended that yearly festivals keep the park closed for too long. They also called for “full public consultations, evidence-based impact assessments and proper evaluation of the long-term impact on the park.” The campaign was also backed by Oscar-winning actor Sir Mark Rylance.On Monday (May 19), however, Brockwell Live announced that the festivals will take place, insisting that the aforementioned ruling only dealt with “a particular point of law and whether an administrative process had been carried out correctly.”
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Wide Awake, the first event in the Brixton park this year, is scheduled for Friday (May 23). In a statement posted to Instagram, Brockwell Live said: “We wish to make it clear that no event will be cancelled as a result of the High Court’s decision.
“We take our stewardship of Brockwell Park seriously. As we prepare to deliver these much-loved, culturally significant events, we remain fully committed to its care, upkeep, and long-term wellbeing. With setup nearly complete, we look forward to opening the gates and welcoming festival goers later this week.”
In a further update this morning, Lambeth Council explained that an application for a new certificate of lawfulness had been submitted following the High Court ruling. A spokesperson said: “Summer Events Limited has applied to Lambeth Council for a new certificate of lawfulness, for 24 days, following the High Court ruling last week on the previous certificate. The council is urgently considering that application. That consideration does not stop the events proceeding.” Summer Events Limited manage the Lambeth County show, using infrastructure from Brockwell Live.
Irish hip-hop trio Kneecap will headline Wide Awake, before the program of events continues with electronic festival Field Day on May 24. Cross The Tracks, City Splash and Brockwell Bounce take place on May 25, 26 and 28 respectively.
Mighty Hoopla will take place over the weekend of May 31 and June 1, with Ciara, Kesha and JADE booked to perform. The Lambeth Country Show will round out the programme, with the festival taking place from June 7 until June 8.
Nessa Barrett is set to return to Australia in December for her biggest headline shows to date, building on a breakout global run that’s seen her grow from rising star to certified pop contender.
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The Aftercare artist will perform three major headline dates, starting Dec. 9 at Melbourne’s Margaret Court Arena, followed by Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion on Dec. 10 and Brisbane’s Fortitude Music Hall on Dec. 16. The run complements her previously announced appearances at all four dates of the 2025 Spilt Milk Festival, where she joins a lineup that includes Kendrick Lamar, Doechii, Dominic Fike, Sombr and more.
The new shows follow Barrett’s sold-out Australian debut in 2023 on her Church Club for the Lonely Tour, which formed part of her first global tour. That trek spanned 60 dates and saw the singer perform to over 83,000 fans across North America, Europe, and Australasia, as well as appearances at major festivals such as ACL Main Stage, Reading & Leeds, and Pukkelpop.
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Barrett’s second studio album Aftercare, released in late 2024, introduced a more refined electro-pop direction while retaining the confessional songwriting that built her initial fanbase. The record includes singles “PASSENGER PRINCESS” and “MUSTANG BABY,” a collaboration with breakout U.K. artist Artemas.
With more than 2 billion global streams, Barrett has quickly carved out her space in a new class of Gen Z artists balancing streaming success with live impact. Her debut album Young Forever helped solidify her early buzz and featured viral singles like “i hope ur miserable until ur dead” and “la di die” with jxdn and Travis Barker.
Barrett was named to Billboard’s 21 Under 21 list in 2024, earned a slot on Billboard’s Emerging Artists chart and made her debut on the Billboard 200 with Young Forever in 2022.
Tickets for the AFTERCARE Australian tour go on sale Friday, May 23 at 1 p.m. local time, with a Frontier Members presale beginning Wednesday, May 21 at 12 p.m.
Breakout singer-songwriter Sombr will head down under this December for his first-ever headline shows in Australia and New Zealand, Frontier Touring announced on Thursday (May 16). Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Dubbed The Late Nights & Young Romance Tour, the rising star will kick things off […]
Eddie Vedder paid tribute to Bruce Springsteen during Pearl Jam’s concert in Pittsburgh on Friday night (May 17), performing a solo acoustic rendition of “My City of Ruins” in what appeared to be a quiet but powerful response to Donald Trump’s recent public criticism of Springsteen.
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Vedder did not reference Trump directly and did not mention Springsteen by name before performing the song. But the choice was likely intentional, as Springsteen has been performing the 2002 track during his tour alongside fiery speeches condemning what he describes as attacks on civil liberties by Trump and his allies.
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During the kickoff of his European tour on May 14, Springsteen told the audience, “In my home, the America I love, the America I’ve written about, and has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous administration.”
Trump responded on Truth Social on May 16, calling Springsteen “highly overrated,” “dumb as a rock,” and “a dried out prune of a rocker.” He also threatened to bar the musician from returning to the U.S. after his tour, writing, “Springsteen ought to keep his mouth shut until he gets back into the country. Then we’ll all see how it goes for him.”
Springsteen did not back down. “Things are happening right now that are altering the very nature of our country’s democracy, and they’re too important to ignore,” the rocker said to the crowd in a three-minute speech on Manchester’s Co-op Live stage on Saturday, as heard in a video posted by the L.A. Times.
“In my home, they’re persecuting people for their right to free speech and voicing their dissent. That’s happening now,” Springsteen said, echoing what he’d spoken about at his May 14 show. “In America, the richest men are taking satisfaction in abandoning the world’s poorest children to sickness and death. That’s happening now. In my country, they’re taking sadistic pleasure in the pain they inflict on loyal American workers.”
Springsteen continued, “They are removing residents off American streets without due process of law and deploying them to foreign detention centers as prisoners. That’s happening now…They have no concern or idea of what it means to be deeply American.”
Eight years on from the unexpected passing of Chris Cornell, Soundgarden‘s Ben Shepherd has teased the release of an unreleased album of new material in a tribute post to his late bandmate.
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In the post shared on Saturday (May 17), Shepherd reflected on the legacy of Cornell, noting he had been reflecting on an unheard song written by the late musician alongside drummer Matt Cameron. “Its a song Chris and Matt wrote ‘The Road Less Traveled’ for our album that has yet to be named,” he explained.
“Just hearing Chris’ voice helps, I know he did that for everyone he knew… help them, he did for me, filled with self doubt and indebtedness and in just his tone knew what I was going through and forgave me like he always did even when he was older,” Shepherd continued. “It’s at this point of recording all of our previous albums I’d get this overwhelming hit of awe, camaraderie, power of creativity, majesty even, and love, from the music, and my bandmates… and I guess just pure life force.”
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Soundgarden disbanded following Cornell’s passing on May 17, 2017, though they have since performed on a handful of occasions with guest vocalists. Most recently, they performed as Nudedragons in December 2024, with Shaina Shepherd on vocal duties.
In 2023, the surviving members of Soundgarden reached an “amicable out of court” agreement with Cornell’s widow Vicky to end a four-year legal battle centered around seven unreleased audio recordings made by the singer before his death.
Upon the conclusion of the legal dispute, the band noted that their newfound “reconciliation marks a new partnership between the two parties, which will allow Soundgarden fans around the world to hear the final songs that the band and Chris were working on.” To date, no further update has been given in regard to when this unheard music may arrive.
In April, Soundgarden were one of the many acts announced as the 2025 inductees into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Speaking to Billboard, guitarist Kim Thayil said he feels confident Cornell would “definitely be stoked” about the induction.
“He’s the one who convinced me how appreciative the fans and our peers and the Soundgarden community — that includes the people that we work with and work for us — would be about it,” Thayil explained. “He realized how important that was, and he understood that would be important to us because it’s important to people who cared about us and helped us and supported us all along.
“That’s how I believe Chris would respond to this. I think he’d be very appreciative and thankful to all the people who have believed in him and believed in the work he did and the work that we all did, collectively.”
The 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction will be live on Saturday, Nov. 8 at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles. The 2025 ceremony will once again stream live on Disney+, with a special airing on ABC at a later date and available on Hulu the next day. It currently remains to be seen whether the surviving members of Soundgarden will perform at the ceremony.
Jelly Roll brought the big surprise to Post Malone’s Big Ass Stadium Tour stop Sunday night at Detroit’s Ford Field.
Having already paid homage to one Motor City hometown hero, Bob Seger, with a bit of his “Old Time Rock and Roll” during his direct support set to Malone, Jelly Roll did the same for Eminem by starting the rapper’s Academy Award-winning “Lose Yourself;” the football stadium erupted when Slim Shady himself joined the proceedings for the second verse on through the end of the song.
Sporting a military-style hooded jacket and baseball cap, Eminem joined Jelly Roll in loping down a ramp that led to the middle of the stadium floor, mugging for each other and for the video camera.
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“Detroit, what up?! Make some noise for Jelly Roll!” Eminem shouted to the crowd of over 46,000 at the end of the song. “Long time, no see. I love y’all. Peace!” As he exited, Jelly Roll declared, “If you can’t tell, that was a childhood dream come f–king true, Detroit. This is the greatest show I’ve ever had in my f–king life.”
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He noted that Eminem’s music “helped me through the darkest moments of my life” and also shouted out Eminem’s manager Paul Rosenberg, who he said “believed in me” early in the tattooed Tennessee star’s career.
Jelly Roll incorporated Eminem’s backwards E logo and a sign for Mom’s Spaghetti, the rapper’s take-out restaurant just a few blocks from the stadium, into his visual presentation on Sunday.
The surprise duet came just under 11 months after Eminem and Jelly Roll first joined forces on stage for “Sing For the Moment” at the nationally televised Michigan Central Open concert – curated by Eminem and Rosenberg – last June 6 in Detroit, accompanied by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Jelly Roll also appears on “Somebody Save Me,” the closing track from Eminem’s Billboard 200-topping 2024 album The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce).
It was Eminem’s first on stage appearance since last Dec. 12, when he headlined at the Soundstorm Festival in Ryadh, Saudi Arabia. He also made a guest appearance at Ford Field with Ed Sheeran on July 15, 2023, performing “Lose Yourself” and “Stan” to an equally effusive hometown crowd.
On Sunday, meanwhile, Jelly Roll joined Malone for their regularly scheduled performance of “Losers” from the latter’s latest album, F-1 Trillion. Malone also brought out Houston rapper BigXthaPlug for a performance of his 2022 hit “Texas.”
Sunday’s show was the eighth stop of the Big Ass Stadium Tour, which next plays Tuesday in Minneapolis and runs through Sept. 14 in Lisbon, Portugal.
Jane’s Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro has apparently put to bed any hopes of further shows from the group, claiming there’s “no chance” of them playing live together again.
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Navarro’s comments came about in a recent interview with Guitar Player where the famed musician looked back on the best and worst gigs of his career.
In the latter category, Navarro turned to the band’s last run of shows in 2024, noting that some of those gigs were his favorite, with the group working together in perfect unison. “If you combined Grateful Dead and Radiohead, there were moments like that — just weird, experimental jams that we’d never done before as a band,” he claimed.
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However, it’s Jane’s Addiction’s final performance, at Boston’s Leader Bank Pavilion on Sept. 13, that takes the dubious honor of being his least favorite. That show made headlines last year when frontman Perry Farrell threw a punch at Navarro during a rendition of “Ocean Size.”
Navarro walked off stage following the incident, ending the show early, and soon after, Jane’s Addiction announced the cancellation of the remainder of their tour dates. The announcement included a statement signed by Navarro, bassist Eric Avery, and drummer Stephen Perkins highlighting the “behavior and the mental health difficulties of our singer Perry Farrell”.
According to Navarro, the incident is “still very tender and unresolved,” with the guitarist taking care not to be “naming names and pointing fingers” while speaking to Guitar Player.
“There was an altercation onstage, and all the hard work and dedication and writing and hours in the studio, and picking up and leaving home and crisscrossing the country and Europe and trying to overcome my illness — it all came to a screeching halt and forever destroyed the band’s life,” he explained. “And there’s no chance for the band to ever play together again.”
Much of the sadness around the unexpected and unfortunate end to Jane’s Addiction relates to the fact that the shows prior to their final performance were some of Navarro’s favorite.
“I’ll just say that the experience prior to that gig, when we were in Europe and gelling, really, for the first time — because at our ages, in our 50s and 60s, everybody’s done what they’re gonna do, and we weren’t competitive with each other — we were getting along,” he explained. “There was no ego issue; it was just four guys making great music, just like we did in the beginning. I was just us on a stage, with people going f–king crazy.
“And that gig, September 13th, in Boston, ended all of that,” he added. “And for that reason, that is my least favorite gig that I have ever played.”
In the wake of Jane’s Addiction’s final gig, Navarro, Perkins and Avery have reportedly been working on new music together, though it’s unclear exactly what form this will take.
Weeks after he was fired and subsequently rehired by The Who, Zak Starkey has announced he is once again no longer drumming for the band.
Starkey’s membership saga began in April when a spokesman for the group claimed that “the band made a collective decision to part ways with Zak after this round of shows at the Royal Albert Hall,” referring to a pair of gigs the month prior. A report from those shows claimed that vocalist Roger Daltrey had stopped several songs mid-performance, citing difficulty hearing the band over the drums.
Starkey later issued a statement noting he was “surprised and saddened” by the news, though guitarist Pete Townshend later claimed Starkey was back in the band following the resolution of “communication issues.”
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While fans were eager to reference “meet the new boss, same as the old boss” in regard to Starkey’s reinstatement, the entire saga appears to have started all over again, with the band announcing a new drummer ahead of their forthcoming farewell tour.
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“After many years of great work on drums from Zak the time has come for a change,” Townshend shared on social media on Sunday (May 18). “A poignant time. Zak has lots of new projects in hand and I wish him the best. Scott Devours who has worked with Roger’s solo band will join The Who for our Final shows. Please welcome him.”
Starkey himself responded to the announcement via social media hours later, making it clear it was not his decision to leave the band.
“I was fired two weeks after reinstatement and asked to make a statement saying I had quit the who to pursue my other musical endevours this would be a lie,” he wrote. “I love the who and would never had quit.
“So I didn’t make the statement ….quitting the who would also have let down the countless amazing people who stood up for me (thank you all a million times over and more) thru the weeks of mayhem of me going ‘in an out an in an out an in an out like a bleedin squeezebox x.”
Both Townshend and Daltrey also issued a more formal statement regarding Starkey’s ousting via The Who’s website, reiterating Devours’ nascent role in the band and referring to Starkey’s myriad other projects as the reason behind the lineup change.
“The Who are heading for retirement, whereas Zak is 20 years younger and has a great future with his new band and other exciting projects,” they wrote. “He needs to devote all his energy into making it all a success. We both wish him all the luck in the world.”
Notably, despite The Who’s reference to Starkey being “20 years younger” and a need to focus on his other projects, Devours is himself 15 months younger than Starkey, with a similarly-busy schedule.
Starkey is the son of Beatles drummer Ringo Starr and Maureen Starkey, and has also enjoyed a fruitful career outside of The Who, playing with Oasis, Johnny Marr, Paul Weller and Graham Coxon. He currently performs in the recently-formed supergroup Mantra of the Cosmos, also featuring Shaun Ryder and Bez of the Happy Mondays and Black Grape, and Andy Bell of Oasis and Ride.
“None of this has ever interfered with The Who and was never a problem for them,” Starkey added in his social media post. “The lie is or would have been that I quit the who- i didn’t. I love the who and everyone in it.”
Werenoi, the rapper who became France’s biggest-selling music artist in recent years, has died at age 31, his record label and producer said.
The artist, whose real name was Jérémy Bana Owona, was the No. 1 album seller in France in 2023 and 2024 according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry’s (IFPI) ranking, which includes in-store and e-commerce sales as well as plays on streaming services.
“It’s with immense sadness that we’ve learned of Werenoi’s passing,” his record company Believe said on Instagram. “All our thoughts are with his family, loved ones, his team and everyone who knew him.”
“Rest in peace my brother, I love you,” his producer Babs posted on X.
French media reports Werenoi died early Saturday (May 17) in a Paris hospital. The cause of his death has not been made public.
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Werenoi first became known to the French public in 2021 when he posted his song “Guadalajara” on YouTube and it was viewed hundreds of thousand times.
He released three albums, Carré in 2023, Pyramide in 2024 and Diamant Noir in 2025, making him one of the biggest names in French rap.
Several French rappers posted tributes on social media.
French-Malian pop star Aya Nakamura, who featured on Werenoi’s second album, wrote: “Rest in peace my dude. A news that saddens me and courage to the loved ones especially.”
“He made a difference for the quality of his songs, his melodies and his punchlines,” singer Pascal Obispo, who had accompanied Werenoi on the piano at a 2023 Paris concert, told French newspaper Le Parisien.
Caleb Moore never thought he’d release “Comeback Kid.” But in a warmly-lit townhouse above a clothing store in Manhattan Friday (May 16), a crowd cheered and whistled so loudly for the song’s music video that applause for that night’s historic Knicks victory, hours later, paled in comparison.
The “Comeback Kid” video release party on the second floor of Lingua Franca felt like summertime’s grand entrance, complete with chilled wine and beers, smoke breaks on the balcony, live music and a movie projector for the main event. A crowd of about 50 close friends, family and industry colleagues — including actor Billy Crudup, designer Cynthia Rowley and comedian Dan Toomey — dotted sofas and stood or sat cross-legged around Moore, son of actress Julianne Moore and director Bart Freundlich, who seems to move with his own gravitational pull.
Caleb Moore performs at his “Comeback Kid” video release party in NYC on May 16, 2025.
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With his guitar on his knee, the 27-year-old alternative R&B artist — who recently released his debut EP, Doing Better, and opened for Barry Can’t Swim at the Surf Lodge — delivered a raw, acoustic performance to kick off the night.
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Moore started with “Paranoia,” his first release of 2025, followed by his March single “Bad Guy,” a harmonious collaboration with NYC indie-pop artist India Thieriot, who joined Moore at the mic to perform it together for the first time. Commanding the audience with a gleaming smile, Moore riffed and joked between songs, injecting his set with lightheartedness, laughter and gratitude. The crowd sang along to “Sunshine,” a fan-favorite at Moore’s local shows, and quieted to absorb “Burn It Down,” an unreleased single.
An intimate crowd cheers for Caleb Moore at his “Comeback Kid” video release party in NYC on May 16, 2025.
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Finally, before screening the “Comeback Kid” music video, Moore played it live for the first time. The song is a reflective ballad that Moore says comes from the realization that he used to hold a “‘keep your chin up’ attitude almost to a fault.” Initially, he thought the song lacked broad appeal.
“The one you don’t think anyone will want to listen to ends up being the one they like the best,” Moore mused before settling into the song’s meditative melody. Moore wrote, produced, mixed and mastered “Comeback Kid,” which he says is his most stripped down song yet, featuring only vocals, guitar and bass.
Its video mirrors that vulnerability. Filmed on 35mm in one continuous take, the nearly five-minute shot follows Moore through the bustle of Lower Manhattan in the early morning light as he sings “Comeback Kid” to himself with mounting vigor. Between budget constraints and the rising sun, the crew — directed by NYC filmmaker Giles Perkins — only had two tries to get the shot right. Their first take became the final cut. Once the credits rolled, the room erupted.
With his music video officially out in the world, Moore, a native New Yorker, promptly replaced it on the projector with the Knicks game and assured everyone that pizza was en route. Moore grew up attending home games with his family — even during the Knicks’ especially painful losing years — so not even his own show was going to stop him from catching the game. The crowd stuck around, too, and joy for Moore melded with joy for the city as the Knicks clinched victory, making it into the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 1999. What a night for a comeback.
