‘I’m feeling pretty good’: Tom Parker announces The Wanted comeback after brain tumour diagnosis
The Wanted have announced their comeback – with bandmate Tom Parker telling Sky News he is feeling “pretty good” following treatment for a brain tumour and excited about performing with the group once again.
The chart-topping boyband will play together for the first time in seven years later in September, at a charity gig organised by Parker, 33, to raise funds for research into brain cancers.
Along with his bandmates – Max George, Siva Kaneswaran, Nathan Sykes and Jay McGuiness – he said he also wanted to raise awareness, with the group’s announcement feeling particularly poignant following the death of Girls Aloud star Sarah Harding, who was also diagnosed with cancer in 2020.
Parker (second from left) announced in October 2020 that he had an inoperable brain tumour, but has told Sky News his health is good at the moment
Parker, who appeared on reality TV show The Jump alongside Harding in 2016, said: “We are doing all we can to try and beat this disease but there’s no guarantees with it… so [I’m] just doing what I can, raising awareness.”
The Wanted formed in 2009 and first topped the charts with their debut single All Time Low the following year. They went on to release three albums before they announced an indefinite break at the beginning of 2014.
Now, they are returning with a greatest hits album, two new songs and previously unreleased live recordings.
A lot has changed since they last worked together, not least Parker’s diagnosis.
The singer, who has two children with wife Kelsey, revealed in October 2020 that he was receiving treatment for a grade four glioblastoma – an aggressive cancer that can occur in the brain or spinal cord – and said he had been told it was inoperable.
But in January, there was good news, with the star announcing there had been a “significant reduction” in the size of his tumour, following hospital treatment.
“Tom has had stability or reduction of the tumour every single time and his trajectory is looking really, really good,” McGuinness confirmed to Sky News at the reunion announcement.
However, Parker said that even two months ago, he might not have felt well enough to say yes to reuniting with his bandmates. Now, he is in a much better place and feeling “pretty good, surprisingly”.
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He continued: “I think a lot of people are quite surprised by it. I think with this disease, you get quite a natural decline, but if anything it seems to be on the incline. I feel a lot better than I did a couple of months ago.
“When we had the initial conversation [about reuniting], I was like I’m not sure I will be able to do it, just for my health. But with my health getting better, here I am sitting today.”
He also said his bandmates had helped him get through the past year, saying: “The boys have been a fantastic supporting system.”
A comeback had initially been planned for 2020, but plans were put on hold due to the pandemic.
During that time, they worked on other projects, and McGuiness performed on stage in Sleepless In Seattle alongside Girls Aloud’s Kimberley Walsh.
Both Parker and McGuinness paid tribute to Girls Aloud star Sarah Harding, who died earlier in September after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020
Like Parker, McGuinness paid tribute to Harding – who went public with her breast cancer diagnosis just two months before The Wanted star – saying he had been in contact with Walsh following her death earlier in September.
He said he believed the Girls Aloud star would see the humour in the boys’ reunion, adding: “Sarah is laughing at us right now for trying to do this again.”
Most Wanted – Greatest Hits will be released on 12 November. Inside My Head – The Concert, in aid of Stand Up To Cancer and The National Brain Appeal, takes place at the Royal Albert Hall on Monday 20 September
Despite The Who’s Quadrophenia being set over 60 years ago, Pete Townshend’s themes of identity, mental health, and modern masculinity are just as relevant today.
The album is having a renaissance as Pete Townshend’s Quadrophenia A Mod ballet is being brought to life via dance at Sadler’s Wells East, and Sky News has an exclusive first look.
As Townshend puts it, the album he wrote is “perfect” for the stage.
Pete Townshend
“My wife Rachel did the orchestration for me, and as soon as I heard it I said to her it would make a fabulous ballet and we never really let that go,” he tells Sky News.
“Heavy percussion, concussive sequences. They’re explosive moments. They’re also romantic movement moments.”
If you identify with the demographics of Millennial, Gen Y or Gen Z, you might not be familiar with The Who and Mod culture.
But in post-war Britain the Mods were a cultural phenomenon characterised by fashion, music, and of course, scooters. The young rebels were seen as a counter-culture to the establishment and The Who, with Roger Daltry’s lead vocals and Pete Townshend’s writing, were the soundtrack.
Quadrophenia the album is widely regarded as an essay on the British adolescent experience at the time, focusing on the life of fictional protagonist Jimmy – a young Mod struggling with his sanity, self-doubt, and alienation.
Townshend sets the rock opera in 1965 but thinks its themes of identity, mental health, and modern masculinity are just as relevant today.
He says: “The phobias and the restrictions and the unwritten laws about how young men should behave. The ground that they broke, that we broke because I was a part of it.
“Men were letting go of [the] wartime-related, uniform-related stance that if I wear this kind of outfit it makes me look like a man.”
Paris Fitzpatrick and Pete Townshend. Pic: Johan Persson
This struggle of modern masculinity and identity appears to be echoing today as manosphere influencers like Andrew Tate, incel culture, and Netflix’s Adolescence make headlines.
For dancer Paris Fitzpatrick, who takes on the lead role of Jimmy, the story resonates.
Paris Fitzpatrick, who takes on the lead role of Jimmy in the ballet
“I think there’s a connection massively and I think there may even be a little more revival in some way,” he tells Sky News.
“I love that myself. I love non-conforming to gender norms and typical masculinity; I think it’s great to challenge things.”
Despite the album being written before he was born, the dancer says he was familiar with the genre already.
“I actually did an art GCSE project about Mods and rockers and Quadrophenia,” he says.
“I think we’ll be able to bring it to new audiences and hopefully, maybe people will be inspired to to learn more about their music and the whole cultural movement of the early 60s.”
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In 1979, the album was adapted into a film directed by Franc Roddam starring Ray Winstone and Sting but Townshend admits because the film missed key points he is “not a big fan”.
“What it turned out to be in the movie was a story about culture, about social scenario and less about really the specifics of mental illness and how that affects young people,” he adds, also complimenting Roddam’s writing for the film.
Perhaps a testament to Pete Townshend’s creativity, Quadrophenia started as an album, was successfully adapted to film and now it will hit the stage as a contemporary ballet.
It appears that over six decades later Mod culture is still cool and their issues still relatable.
Quadrophenia, a Mod Ballet will tour to Plymouth Theatre Royal from 28 May to 1 June 2025, Edinburgh Festival Theatre from 10 to 14 June 2025 and the Mayflower, Southampton from 18 to 21 June 2025 before having its official opening at Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London on 24 June running to 13 July 2025 and then visiting The Lowry, Salford from 15 to 19 July 2025.
Russell Brand has been charged with rape and two counts of sexual assault between 1999 and 2005.
The Metropolitan Police say the 50-year-old comedian, actor and author has also been charged with one count of oral rape and one count of indecent assault.
The charges relate to four women.
He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday 2 May.
Police have said Brand is accused of raping a woman in the Bournemouth area in 1999 and indecently assaulting a woman in the Westminster area of London in 2001.
He is also accused of orally raping and sexually assaulting a woman in Westminster in 2004.
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Ashna Hurynag discusses Russell Brand’s charges
The fourth charge alleges that a woman was sexually assaulted in Westminster between 2004 and 2005.
Police began investigating Brand, from Oxfordshire, in September 2023 after receiving a number of allegations.
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The comedian has denied the accusations and said he has “never engaged in non-consensual activity”.
He added in a video on X: “Of course, I am now going to have the opportunity to defend these charges in court, and I’m incredibly grateful for that.”
Metropolitan Police Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy, who is leading the investigation, said: “The women who have made reports continue to receive support from specially trained officers.
“The Met’s investigation remains open and detectives ask anyone who has been affected by this case, or anyone who has any information, to come forward and speak with police.”
Tom Cruise has paid tribute to Val Kilmer, wishing his Top Gun co-star “well on the next journey”.
Cruise, speaking at the CinemaCon film event in Las Vegas on Thursday, asked for a moment’s silence to reflect on the “wonderful” times shared with the star, whom he called a “dear friend”.
Kilmer, who died of pneumonia on Tuesday aged 65, rocketed to fame starring alongside Cruise in the 1986 blockbuster Top Gun, playing Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky, a rival fighter pilot to Cruise’s character Maverick.
Tom Cruise said ‘I wish you well on the next journey’. Pic: AP
Val Kilmer in 2017. Pic: AP
His last part was a cameo role in the 2022 blockbuster sequel Top Gun: Maverick.
Cruise, on stage at Caesars Palace on Thursday, said: “I’d like to honour a dear friend of mine, Val Kilmer. I can’t tell you how much I admire his work, how grateful and honoured I was when he joined Top Gun and came back later for Top Gun: Maverick.
“I think it would be really nice if we could have a moment together because he loved movies and he gave a lot to all of us. Just kind of think about all the wonderful times that we had with him.
“I wish you well on the next journey.”
The moment of silence followed a string of tributes from Hollywood figures including Cher, Francis Ford Coppola, Antonio Banderas and Michelle Monaghan.
Kilmer’s daughter Mercedes told the New York Times on Wednesday that the actor had died from pneumonia.
Tom Cruise at Caesars Palace on Thursday. Pic: AP
Diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014, Kilmer discussed his illness and recovery in his 2020 memoir Your Huckleberry and Amazon Prime documentary Val.
He underwent radiation and chemotherapy treatments for the disease and also had a tracheostomy which damaged his vocal cords and permanently gave him a raspy speaking voice.
Kilmer played Batman in the 1995 film Batman Forever and received critical acclaim for his portrayal of rock singer Jim Morrison in the 1991 movie The Doors.
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He also starred in True Romance and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, as well as playing criminal Chris Shiherlis in Michael Mann’s 1995 movie Heat and Doc Holliday in the 1993 film Tombstone.
In 1988 he married British actress Joanne Whalley, whom he met while working on fantasy adventure Willow.
The couple had two children before divorcing in 1996.
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