Queen

It's true that the COVID-19 pandemic has not been kind to our bodies; many of us have found ourselves eating our way out of our slim-fitting clothes and if the prospect of a new diet seems daunting you are not alone. Today is all about letting go of that need to have that "summer body" the magazines always talk about and embrace the body you have.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

1. Perfect 10 - The Beautiful South

Continue reading: International No Diet Day: The Body Positivity Songs We All Need To Hear [Playlist]

When time is of the essence and you need a quick fix you require some succinct songs to get you through the day. On the shortest day of the year your time is precious but you don't have to forego anything, you just need to scale it down. When daylight is scarce and the temperature is dropping a short sharp super-charged dose of high octane music is just the ticket. To help you through the day we've put together a playlist of some of the best short songs we could think of. Our top ten has all you need and it comes in at less than 19 minutes in it's entirety.

 Blur

The White Stripes - Fell In Love With A Girl.

Continue reading: Short Songs For The Shortest Day: When Brevity Is A Necessity You'll Want This Playlist

It's thirty years ago this week that MTV banned Madonna's Justify My Love video. Back in 1990 it was deemed that chicly shot, arty portrayals of men and women enjoying a bit of casual BDSM in the luxury of a hotel room were all a bit too much for Joe Public to appreciate. Fast forward three decades and we're post Fifty Shades, still amidst a pandemic of none too subtle, highly suggestive twerking in almost every Hip-Hop video and nearly every new gritty drama worth it's weight seems to feel the need to throw in a vivid sex scene, full frontal nudity or even self-abuse. Obviously there is an issue of age ratings and watershed times to be considered when certain platforms make their decisions but we thought it high time we took a look back at five of our favourite, once banned videos. 

David Bowie

David Bowie - The Next Day.

Continue reading: Banned Music Videos: What's All The Fuss About?

Sadly, it was on this day back in 1991 that Queen's iconic front man, Freddie Mercury, passed away at the age of forty five. The very definition of a showman, Mercury could not win his battle against Bronchopneumonia. He passed away at his Kensington home, with Dave Clark by his side. 

Freddie Mercury at Live Aid / Photo Credit: PA Images

Mercury had not really been seen in public for more than a year before his death, and even then he had looked weak and pale. It was not the way he would have wanted to be remembered and neither should it be. Mercury's contribution to the world of music cannot be under estimated. He and his band Queen changed the face of British Rock and Pop and took performance to another level. 

Continue reading: Freddie Mercury: Gone But Never Forgotten

There's going to be a lot of movie nights over the coming weeks as the majority of us find ourselves lawfully confined to our homes. But with lists like this, we doubt you'll find too much to complain about...

1. Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)

Continue reading: Seven Greatest British Music Films Of All Time

Happy Father's Day to all the long-suffering dads out there. It's your dad's day to relax and annoy the rest of the family with his favourite tunes, and if your own father fancies himself as something of a 70s guitar hero, these tunes will be strangely familiar to you...

Rockin' All Over The World - Status Quo

Continue reading: The Ultimate Dad Rock Playlist For Father's Day

KANYE AND BOB DYLAN COLLABORATION?

In what must be the most unlikely prospective musical alliance in pop history, Kanye West has reached out to none other than legendary songwriter Bob Dylan to ask for a collaboration.

Finding time in his schedule between posting pictures of trees and reigniting his on/off feud with Drake, Kanye took to Twitter to ask Dylan to work together on something unspecified.

Continue reading: Music News Round-Up: Kanye Asks Dylan For Collaboration, Avril Lavigne Returns, Rock Hall Of Fame Inductions

A few months after the release of the massively successful biopic of the same name, Queen’s signature song ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ has been named the most streamed track of the 20th century.

The song, from the band's album A Night At The Opera and which reached no.1 in the UK upon its original release in 1975, and hit the top of the charts again in 1991 in the aftermath of lead singer Freddie Mercury’s death, has been streamed more than 1.6 billion times across all platforms, including Spotify and YouTube.

As such, it’s overtaken classics like Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ and Guns N’ Roses’ ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ to take the number one spot in Spotify’s list of the 20th century’s most streamed songs. Those two tracks are in second and third respectively, with the Gunners’ ‘November Rain’ taking the fourth spot and a-Ha’s pop classic ‘Take On Me’ finishing off the top five.

Continue reading: 'Bohemian Rhapsody' Named Most Streamed 20th Century Song

Rami Malek, the lead star of the forthcoming Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, has hit back at critics who have complained that the movie might be about to shy away from discussing frontman Freddie Mercury’s sexuality and AIDS battle.

37 year old Malek, the former star of ‘Mr. Robot’, plays the part of Mercury in the film, whose first trailers dropped earlier this year. However, some onlookers were disappointed that the trailer made no references to the singer’s bisexuality or illness - but did show Mercury in a romantic exchange with a woman.

Now, Malek has spoken out about the controversy in a new interview with Attitude magazine, saying that judging an entire film by its trailer is unfair.

Continue reading: Rami Malek Defends 'Bohemian Rhapsody' Over Criticisms About 'Erasing' Freddie Mercury's Sexuality

After Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler had to write a second cease-and-desist letter to Donald Trump asking him to stop playing their songs during his rallies this week – having already called him out for doing the same with ‘Dream On’ three years ago – we thought we’d compile some other famous moments when politicians got scolded by musicians for using their songs without permission.

Almost inevitably, such clashes come up when songs are used by right-wing or conservative parties and candidates. Musicians are a fairly liberal bunch, understandably, and they don’t want their messages and sentiments getting confused with those counter to their own beliefs and ideologies.

So, here’s seven other famous moments when politicians tried to get some credibility off pop stars.

Continue reading: 7 Times Politicians Tried To Use Pop Songs Without Permission