‘The Tudor von Trapps, the Royalling Stones’: How Six, the smash hit musical about Henry VIII’s wives, was born
Six is less the staging of a traditional historical musical than an indoctrination into the cult of the superfan
Lily Allen
Ed Sheeran has the closest thing to a song of the summer. Is that a ‘recession indicator’?
Summer music falls into two broad categories: songs that make you feel better about the life you have and songs that offer a fantasy of a more glamorous, more exotic existence that is somehow as magically affordable as the drinks at Club Tropicana
Kate Nash: 9 Sad Symphonies – Swoonsome strings, emotionally cathartic lyrics
Beautiful arrangements are in abundance here, although many of Nash’s lyrics sound like the aural equivalent of an exposed nerve
Lily Allen on working with Martin McDonagh: I would say things that might shock people, and he would be smiling
Allen, who stars in McDonagh’s play The Pillowman, on turning to acting, dealing with addiction and her disillusionment with the music industry
Sharon Horgan and Lily Allen’s Dreamland promised lots of laughs. We barely got one
Television: Horgan and Allen’s new dramedy has a big problem: it’s just not funny
Oops! AI did it again: the inexorable rise of music machines
Tech tools can be used to ingest the creativity of artists, learn from it, then spew out music and lyrics at scale. That’s not ideal
Róisín Ingle: The only Mother's Day playlist you need this Sunday
Matriarchal music, from John Lennon’s tribute to his mother Julia to the Spice Girls' magnificent Mama
‘Having a daughter stunted my creativity’: How pop stars cope with fatherhood
Pop’s mums have told of guilt, loneliness and prejudice. Do men face the same problems?
The week’s best rock and pop gigs
All Saints at Leopardstown, Carnival of Funk in Cork, and Another Love Story in Meath
Gig of the Week: Love Sensation at Royal Hospital Kilmainham
There’s an undeniable buzz about the country’s first festival for LGBTQ+ community and its friends
‘Making music keeps me alive, being in the music industry almost killed me’
After overnight fame led Kate Nash to a breakdown and bankruptcy, the singer has found a new lane
Maisie Peters: Our New VBF
18-year-old singer from West Sussex whose folk-pop songs feel like snapshot in time
Lily Allen, Clean Bandit to headline new Kilmainham festival this summer
The capital’s newest festival is aimed at the LGBT+ community and friends
Myspace loses all content uploaded before 2016
Social network blames faulty server for loss of text, photos, video and 50 million tracks
Maggie Rogers: Our New VBF
Singer-songwriter has a voice that’s as distinctive on record as it is in real life – it’s about time we properly listened
The doubly talented Proclaimers performing in Dublin? I’m on my way
Rock & pop gigs of the week: Frank & Walters, Damien Dempsey, Villagers, Lily Allen
Soak it up: How to take advantage of the rising tide of bathtub elegance
A deep, hot bath is one of life’s luxuries and can even take the form of an uber-massage or hydrotherapy
Mercury Prize 2018: Wolf Alice win for Visions of a Life
The band beat acts including Arctic Monkeys and Lily Allen to take this year’s prize
Lily Allen: ‘I was pretty brazen with all my behaviour. I just didn’t care’
Fame, failure, assualt, getting high: nothing is off limits in the singer’s memoir
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill: 20 years on
Almost nothing else from this era can match the mythology or legacy of this work
Mercury music prize: Another appalling British snub for Irish artists
It’s three years since an Irish act was nominated for the British-centric award
Mercury prize 2018: full list of nominations for album of the year
Arctic Monkeys, Lily Allen, Noel Gallagher, Florence + the Machine among nominees for album of the year
Lily Allen: Our New VBF
The straight-talking pop star cuts out the BS, proving why you want her as your friend and not your enemy
Lily Allen: No Shame review – unflinchingly honest snapshot of her life
The one-time jaunty pop star is candid about her failings without sliding into self-pity
Sean Hughes funeral reflects man who never lost capacity for friendship
Comedian laid to rest to the sound of ‘Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now’ by The Smiths
Ed Sheeran steps back from Twitter. Maybe we should all do the same
Social media has shown us that when humans gather with no rules, savagery prevails
Kate Nash: ‘That’s why people love debuts. You’re not jaded in any way’
Kate Nash on music industry failings, fighting sexism, and women’s wrestling
Leonard Cohen captured ‘essence of human life’, President says
Lissadell co-owner says 2010 concerts made up ‘one of most incredible weekends in my life’
Robbie Williams: 'At least two times I went out in Ireland and woke up in London'
The singer has just announced a live date in Dublin's Aviva Stadium next year. Here, he recalls his hedonistic years and why he changed his mind and finally gave family life a go
Tributes paid to Prince following his death
Legion of entertainers express their sorrow and pay tribute to late singer
Lily Allen suffers minor burns in caravan explosion
Allen warns of dangers of gas stoves after explosion in caravan
Monaghan: big views from little hills
One of the quietest counties in Ireland has started to sing its own praises in a major way. The homeland of Patrick Kavanagh is getting active, luring in tourists and anglers
Uptown Funk: Mark Ronson flexes his superpower
Mark Ronson is having another one of those zeitgeisty moments thanks to “Uptown Funk”. He talks to Jim Carroll about how Stevie Wonder, Michael Chabon and Memphis contributed to the making of new album “Uptown Special”
Hozier in good company as he picks up Brit Award nomination
Bray singer up against Beck, Jack White, John Legend and Pharrell Williams
Sparkles, sin and spite: how to dress for the three big Christmas parties
From the minefield of the office party to the passive-aggressive mire of family gatherings and on to debauched gatherings with close friends, here’s how to rise – or sink – to the occasion
Please don’t run for office, Angelina Jolie
Jennifer O’Connell: It’s one thing celebrity activists lecturing us about the things we should be concerned about, and quite another them deciding they would like to legislate on it too
Kanye kick it? Protest music marches to a new beat
Every generation has a soundtrack of its struggle. Ian Maleney marches on, shouting slogans and carrying the banner of music into a new dawn. Are we ready to rock the system?
Bob saw it coming – the times they have changed, changed utterly
Let’s take a quick look at the bleak future facing all forms of popular music
Gates open for the biggest Electric Picnic festival
Some 40,000 music fans expected to attend sold-out event this weekend
Kate Bush makes triumphant return to stage after 35 years
Singer kicks off 22 show residency at Hammersmith Apollo
2fm seeks sponsor for ex-Westlife star’s show
‘The Nicky Byrne Show with Nicky and Jenny’ deal offered at €245,000 for 12 months
Glastonbury-goers bring the wellies as rain threatens
Arrivals advised to get tents up as quickly as possible before rain forecast
Tom Odell is playing for keeps
Tom Odell is a hard one to pin down – the newest pop kid on the block, with an Ivor Novello award in his back pocket and the musical world at his feet but with little interest in the impending stardom. Ahead of his Dublin gig, the Songwriter of the Year talks Elton John, Lily Allen and Leo Tolstoy
Moola for music? Lily’s learned that if you don’t schmooze, you lose
As La Allen’s comeback shows, launching a new bottled water is more lucrative than having a hit song
Festivals worth the trip
No need to wait until your favourite acts do the festival circuit in Ireland. Get our continental drift? Lauren Murphy’s top 10 European festivals
Revolver: Taxing matters for Take That – and others
‘Pop stars have about as much respect for tax laws as they have for their fans’
Foxes: Louisa Rose Allen’s brush with stardom
Louisa Rose Allen, the woman behind the Foxes pseudonym, has already tasted major success as a guest vocalist on an EDM hit. Now she’s striking out on her own with a Glorious debut album
Iceland calling Irish musicians and fans
A cutting-edge music festival where the sun does shine . . . and shine
Rebecca Storm: ‘I don’t know if I’d be able to start a career as a singer now’
The singer reveals how she got the ‘Blood Brothers’ gig 30 years ago, and why she’s no fan of TV talent shows
Arctic Monkeys and Haim lead NME nominations
One Direction are nominated in worst band category alongside The Wanted
Crosswords & Puzzles
Crosswords & puzzles to keep you challenged and entertained
Stardust
Inquests into the nightclub fire that led to the deaths of 48 people
Common Ground
How does a post-Brexit world shape the identity and relationship of these islands
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Weddings, Births, Deaths and other family notices