Music

Roberta Flack, soul and R&B icon behind Killing Me Softly, dies aged 88

Much-loved singer known for Killing Me Softly With His Song, The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face and duets with Donny Hathaway and Peabo Bryson, had suffered a stroke in 2016

Ben Beaumont-Thomas and Safi Bugel

24, Feb, 2025 @3:28 PM

The Capulets and the Montagues review – stylish staging sees ETO’s Bellini go gangster

Eloise Lally’s Little Italy take on Bellini’s Romeo and Juliet opera has, in Samantha Price and Jessica Cale, strong and powerful leads. In the pit however, things are less assured

Flora Willson

24, Feb, 2025 @2:27 PM

UK pop stars fail to reach global Top 10 albums and singles chart for first time since 2003

Global chart dominated by US acts including Benson Boone, Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish and Sabrina Carpenter, with K-pop bands also strong

Laura Snapes

24, Feb, 2025 @11:11 AM

Jerry Butler obituary

Singer nicknamed ‘the Iceman’ whose hits included Only the Strong Survive and Hey, Western Union Man

Richard Williams

23, Feb, 2025 @5:42 PM

‘I hope you enjoy the show. I hope I’m not dead’: how Feelgood star Wilko never saw the play about his life

The musician lived a wild story of many acts: Jonathan Maitland turned it into a play and read it to him just a year before he died. This is how their encounter went …

Jonathan Maitland

23, Feb, 2025 @3:39 PM

Fish review – euphoric opening to a prog hero’s farewell tour

The former Marillion singer was on rousing form as he delivered power ballads and intricate rock anthems spanning a career of more than four decades

Daniel Dylan Wray

23, Feb, 2025 @3:01 PM

Fatboy Slim: ‘I was in the same class as Keir Starmer – he’s one up on me now’

The electronic producer and DJ Norman Cook talks about learning the violin with Keir Starmer, his love for his label maker and crossing swords with Moby

Sian Cain

22, Feb, 2025 @7:00 PM

One to watch: Antony Szmierek

The Manchester wordsmith’s joyous blend of the surreal and the sentimental is winning admirers across the board

Sophie Williams

22, Feb, 2025 @2:30 PM

Joy Crookes review – an enthralling, intimate set from this rising London soul star

The twentysomething singer-songwriter brings classic Motown rhythms with a touch of hip-hop to a resounding set of anti-anxiety anthems

Shaad D'Souza

22, Feb, 2025 @2:00 PM

The late Gwen McCrae brought emotion to dance music like no one else

Spanning deep soul, disco and beyond, McCrae – who has died aged 81 – didn’t get the recognition she deserved for a discography charged with pain and wonder

Garth Cartwright

22, Feb, 2025 @1:27 PM

The week in classical: Mary, Queen of Scots; Academy Symphony Orchestra/ Wilson; James MacMillan: Ordo Virtutum – review

ENO’s forces excel in a mere two performances of Thea Musgrave’s turbulent, rarely seen 1977 opera

Fiona Maddocks

22, Feb, 2025 @1:00 PM

Berliner Philharmoniker and Herbert von Karajan: 1953–1969 Live in Berlin review – risk and adventure

Featuring 23 radio concerts under their charismatic chief conductor, this Berlin Phil box set ranges from Brahms to Tallis, Glenn Gould to Gundula Janowitz