Music

The two-minute 1966 song Phil Collins declared “one of the best ever written”

• Collins praised ‘And Your Bird Can Sing’ as one of the best songs ever written.
• The Beatles’ Revolver was his favourite album of theirs.
• The track lasts about two minutes, longer than Collins recalled.

Phil Collins named The Beatles’ ‘And Your Bird Can Sing’ one of the best songs ever written, praising how much it achieves in a short time. His admiration reflects the band’s influence on his musical development and on his later success with Genesis and as a solo artist.…

David Coverdale lists his favourite British albums

• Coverdale’s favourites trace British blues and psychedelic rock.
• Mayall’s *Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton* ranked third.
• Hendrix’s two albums topped the list.

Whitesnake singer David Coverdale named his favourite British albums in a list for Classic Rock, highlighting the music that shaped his tastes. His choices span British blues and psychedelic rock, offering a glimpse of the influences behind his own musical career. John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers’ *Blues Breakers…

 The “horrible” 1985 number one that Brian Johnson admits “still makes me puke to this day”

• Johnson still detests Starship’s “We Built This City”.
• The 1985 hit sold over a million copies worldwide.
• AC/DC resisted pressure to alter its sound.

Brian Johnson has singled out Starship’s “We Built This City” as a symbol of the commercial rock sound he despised in the 1980s. His criticism reflects AC/DC’s resistance to pressure from music executives to reshape their sound for wider exposure. The song reached number one on the US…

In 1960, Jeff Lynne encountered the best song he’s ever heard. A lifetime later he says it “probably still is”

• Jeff Lynne first heard “Only the Lonely” as a teenager.
• He still calls it probably the best song he has heard.
• The song helped shape his approach to songwriting.

Jeff Lynne has said Roy Orbison’s “Only the Lonely” was the best song he had ever heard when he first encountered it as a teenager, and that it “probably still is”. The memory captures how a single radio broadcast helped shape Lynne’s musical ambitions and his admiration for…

In 2001, Daniel Craig gave an “absolutely terrible” audition. 11 years later, it paid off to the tune of $1,000,000,000

• Craig’s audition for *Road to Perdition* went badly.
• Mendes cast him despite the poor reading.
• Craig later helped bring Mendes to *Skyfall*.

Daniel Craig’s poor audition for director Sam Mendes’s 2002 film *Road to Perdition* did not end their professional relationship. Mendes saw Craig’s energy and charisma despite his awkward line reading, cast him as mobster Connor Rooney, and later became the director of *Skyfall* after Craig suggested him for…

Chinese Pop Star Chen Chusheng Commissions 14 Paintings From Artist Li Erpeng for ‘Wasteland of Wonders’ Vinyl (EXCLUSIVE)

• Li Erpeng painted 14 works for Chen Chusheng’s album vinyl.
• The artwork is designed to extend the album’s world visually.
• The vinyl earned QQ Music’s “Double Diamond” certification on pre-order day.

Chinese singer-songwriter Chen Chusheng commissioned Hong Kong-based artist Li Erpeng to create 14 paintings for the vinyl release of his album “Wasteland of Wonders”. The collaboration turns the physical record into a visual as well as musical experience, with the artwork intended to express the album’s emotions, fractures…

Guitars in September, bass in April: The My Bloody Valentine album that took over three years to record

• *Loveless* took years to record.
• Kevin Shields used 19 studios and over a dozen engineers.
• The album became a landmark of shoegaze.

My Bloody Valentine’s second album, *Loveless*, took years to record as frontman Kevin Shields pursued a particular sound through repeated studio and engineering changes. The drawn-out process slowed the band’s momentum and strained its relationship with Creation Records, but the finished album became a defining work of shoegaze.…

In 1999, Elvis Costello heard “the greatest incomplete couplet” in pop lyric history. Since then, it has been streamed 28,000,000 times

• Costello praised the lyric’s deliberate omission of an expected rhyme.
• He said the song’s music contradicts its words.
• “Hold On” later gained attention through *The Walking Dead*.

Elvis Costello praised Tom Waits’ “Hold On” for the restraint in its lyrics, calling two lines about dancing in the cold with no music “the greatest incomplete couplet” he could think of. His point was that leaving the expected rhyme unsaid makes the moment more affecting, while the…

Swift telescope hurtles towards Earth as Trump’s defamation case is dismissed

A Nasa observatory is expected to make an uncontrolled re-entry today. A judge has dismissed Trump’s lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal, while a former DJ Khaled flight attendant alleges harassment in a new lawsuit.

Australian Consumer Advocacy Group Blasts Ticketing Giants for ‘Fleecing Fans’

• Choice named Ticketek and Ticketmaster in its 2026 Shonky Awards.
• A premium ticket for a John Farnham tribute concert cost A$1,650.
• Ticketek said most tickets sold at unchanged prices.

Australian consumer group Choice has criticised Ticketek and Ticketmaster, naming both in its 2026 Shonky Awards for ticketing practices it says drive up prices and make costs harder to understand. Choice chief executive Monique Perry said tactics such as dynamic pricing, “in demand” tickets, concealed prices and short…