Christmas Break 2023 - News

01 January 2024 - Press release

The RotD email will return on 2 January.
This page will be updated daily with the important news and features during the break.

*Almost all the stories that appeared here over the break have now been moved to the RotD email for the 2 January edition.

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NEWS

@chartdata tweets:
@fleetwoodmac's "The Chain" has now surpassed 1 billion streams on Spotify.
‘drivers license’ by @oliviarodrigo has now surpassed 2 BILLION streams on Spotify. It’s her 2nd song to achieve the milestone.
@Eminem and @Dido's "Stan" has now surpassed 1 billion streams on Spotify.
Michael Jackson's "Beat It" has now surpassed 1 billion views on YouTube.
Michael Jackson's 'Dangerous' has now surpassed 1 billion streams on Spotify.
‘telepatia’ by @KALIUCHIS has now surpassed 1 BILLION streams on Spotify.

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COMMENT
James Masterton's Chart Watch (JM) Week ending 28 December.

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MEDIA
Why Claudia Winkleman quit Radio 2. (Mail) 

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FEATURES
The 10 Biggest Music Business Stories of 2023 (Billboard)

Brit Beat: The Top 10 British Music Stories of 2023. (Variety - Mark Sutherland)

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Tate McRae counts Olivia Rodrigo as a close friend and has songs written by Billie Eilish. (SundayTimes - Blanca Schofield)

Say Now: Get ready for girl bands to rise again. (SundayTimes)

The real reason Cher is trying to take legal control of her troubled son's life... at 47. (Mail)

Mica Paris talks about the Black Lives Matter movement, fame in the 1980s – and her friend Whitney Houston. (Telegraph - Helen Brown)

Simon Napier-Bell on tussling with Sinéad O’Connor, George Michael's generosity and why the music industry thrives on ‘mental disabilities’. (Telegraph - Craig McLean)

Victoria Mary Clarke on her husband Shane MacGowan: ‘He gave up heroin and our connection deepened’ (Guardian - Tim Jonze)

Jul, Apache 207 and Sfera Ebbasta have topped Spotify’s most-listened charts in their home countries this year. (FT - Ludovic Hunter-Tilney)

John Oates opens up about Daryl Hall amid bitter legal battle: ‘I have moved on’. (Guardian - Sian Cain)

Taylor Swift and Bruce Springsteen lead the way for 2024 in what is set to be a blockbuster year for live music. (Mail - Adrian Thrills)

Chappell Roan, pop’s next big thing: ‘I grew up thinking being gay was a sin’. (Guardian - Shaad D'Souza)

Since the pandemic, Taylor Swift has supercharged her output, fame and fortune. (FT - Anna Nicolaou)

Shane MacGowan's wife Victoria Mary Clarke reveals how her bond with the Pogues singer endured despite all the ravages of fame, addiction and illness - and lives on even now. (Mail)

How Taylor Swift – and an aching sense of loss – dominated music in 2023. (Guardian - Alexis Petridis)

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Record sleeves of the year 2023 (CreativeReview)

The Best Australian Albums Of 2023 (TheMusic)

The best albums of 2023 (Guardian) 'False Lankum' by Lankum topped the list. 

The best albums of the year (Mail - Adrian Thrills) Jessie Ware leads the list.

The 10 best contemporary albums of 2023 (Guardian - John Lewis)

The best songs of 2023 (BBC - Mark Savage)

The best songs of 2023 … you may not have heard. (Guardian) 

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How we made: St Winifred’s choir's 'There’s No One Quite Like Grandma' (Guardian)

Life of a Song: New York, New York (FT)

Life of a Song: Driving Home for Christmas (FT - Helen Brown)

My culture fix: Dave Stewart (Times)

Fame and fortune: Jona Lewie (SundayTimes)

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Amp Fiddler, the storied Detroit musician and singer who played keys in Parliament-Funkadelic before moving into production and mentoring the likes of J Dilla, has died of cancer, aged 65. (Guardian)

Obituary: Richard Kerr - Songwriter whose hit singles for Barry Manilow included Mandy and Looks Like We Made It (Times)

Obituary: John ‘Rambo’ Stevens - Longtime manager and ‘pint-sized pugnacious protector’ of John Lydon. (Times)

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SHOWBIZ
In the past financial year, Elton John and David Furnish have pumped more than £57m into a single company of which they are the only two 'significant' shareholders but of which Furnish is sole director. (Mail)

Kanye West apologises to Jewish community for 2022 antisemitic remarks. (Guardian)

Dixie Chicks band founding member Laura Lynch died in a car crash. (BBC)

Is the Oasis feud finally resolved? Gallagher brothers 'closer than they have been for years' after Noel's split with wife. (MoS)

Percussionist Jordan Fish has left Bring Me The Horizon writing he was 'focusing for the meantime on songwriting and production.'. (Mail) 

Shane MacGowan's leaves behind '£4.3million fortune'. (Mail)

Michael Buble has said that he would like to go into 'movies and television'. (Mail) 

Liam Gallagher and John Squire collaborate for new song. (Times)

Shania Twain and Chaka Khan named as possibles for the Glastonbury Legends slot. (Mail) 

Analysis has found the Abba Voyage concerts at the 3,000 seater Abba Arena contributed £322m in spending, and £178m in extra economic activity in its first year. (Standard)

Lawyers for Lizzo have filed a motion to try to prevent a harassment lawsuit against her coming to court. (Guardian)

Céline Dion’s condition worsens as stiff person syndrome prevents return to stage. (Times)