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Adele has announced she will play in Europe for the first time since 2016, with four nights booked in Germany.

The Grammy-winning singer shared on social media that she will be performing in Munich’s Messe exhibition centre – which boasts a capacity of 80,000 – in a booking she called “a bit random”.

At the end of 2023, she was asked if she wanted to perform a summer run of shows in Germany, saying: “I’ve been content as anything with my shows in London’s Hyde Park and my residency in Vegas, so I hadn’t had any other plans.”

Adele explained however that she was “too curious to not follow up and indulge in this idea” to come back to Europe.

“A one-off, bespoke pop-up stadium designed around whatever show I want to put on? Ohh!?,” she said.

“Pretty much slap bang in the middle of Europe? In Munich? That’s a bit random, but still fabulous!

“Right after the Euros? Come on England! With the Olympics next door? Go on Simone! And some of my favourite artists playing shows too? Why…YES!! I haven’t played in Europe since 2016!”

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Adele performs in North Rhine-Westphalia on December 6th, 2015 Pic: Henning Kaiser/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images
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Adele performs in North Rhine-Westphalia on 6 December, 2015 Pic: Henning Kaiser/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images

She signed off the post saying “Guten Tag babes,” and shared a link where fans can register for tickets.

The ‘Someone Like You’ hitmaker will perform at Munich Messe on 2, 3, 9 and 10 August.

According to setlist.fm, which tracks live performances, Adele has played in Germany just 14 times.

Her last show in the country was on 15 May 2016, at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne. Her first ever was at the Stage Club in Hamburg back in 2008.

Adele is also performing the last leg of her Las Vegas residency Weekends With Adele, which runs through to mid-June.

Ticket registration for the Munich shows is open now at Adele.com and closes on 5 February. General sale then opens to the public on 9 February.

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Paul Weller suing former accountants after they stopped working with him over Gaza statements

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Paul Weller suing former accountants after they stopped working with him over Gaza statements

Paul Weller is suing his former accountants after they stopped working with him after he alleged Israel was committing genocide in Gaza, according to a legal letter.

The former frontman of The Jam, 67, has filed a discrimination claim against Harris and Trotter after the firm ended their professional relationship.

Lawyers for Weller say the singer-songwriter was told in March that the accountants and tax advisers would no longer work with him or his companies.

According to the letter, which was seen by the PA news agency, a WhatsApp message from a partner at the firm said: “It’s well known what your political views are in relation to Israel, the Palestinians and Gaza, but we as a firm are offended at the assertions that Israel is committing any type of genocide.

“Everyone is entitled to their own views, but you are alleging such anti-Israel views that we as a firm with Jewish roots and many Jewish partners are not prepared to work with someone who holds these views.”

Israel has vehemently denied claims of genocide.

But lawyers for Weller claim by ending their services, the firm unlawfully discriminated against the singer’s protected philosophical beliefs, including that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and Palestine should be recognised as a nation state.

Weller said: “I’ve always spoken out against injustice, whether it’s apartheid, ethnic cleansing, or genocide. What’s happening to the Palestinian people in Gaza is a humanitarian catastrophe.

“I believe they have the right to self-determination, dignity, and protection under international law, and I believe Israel is committing genocide against them. That must be called out.

“Silencing those who speak this truth is not just censorship – it’s complicity.

“I’m taking legal action not just for myself, but to help ensure that others are not similarly punished for expressing their beliefs about the rights of the Palestinian people.”

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The legal letter says Weller will donate any damages he receives to humanitarian relief efforts in Gaza.

Cormac McDonough, a lawyer at Hodge Jones and Allen, which is representing Weller, said his case “reflects a wider pattern of attempts to silence artists and public figures who speak out in support of Palestinian rights”.

Mr McDonough added: “Within the music industry especially, we are seeing increasing efforts to marginalise those who express solidarity with the people of Gaza.”

Sky News has contacted Harris and Trotter for comment.

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BBC and Channel 4 should ‘merge’ to survive, Sir Phil Redmond says

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BBC and Channel 4 should 'merge' to survive, Sir Phil Redmond says

One of Britain’s most legendary TV dramatists, Sir Phil Redmond, is no stranger to tackling difficult issues on screen.

Courting controversy famously with his hard-hitting storylines on his children’s show Grange Hill for the BBC in 1978, before he switched over to Channel 4 to give it its two most prominent soaps, Brookside (1982) and later Hollyoaks (1995).

He’s been a pivotal figure at Channel 4 from its inception, widely considered to be a father to the channel.

Sir Phil Redmond says the BBC and Channel 4 should team up to survive
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Sir Phil Redmond says the BBC and Channel 4 should team up to survive

While he’s been responsible for putting some of TV’s most impactful storylines to air for them – from the first lesbian kiss, to bodies buried under patios – off-screen nowadays, he’s equally radical about what should happen.

“Channel 4’s job in 1980 was to provide a platform for the voices, ideas, and people that weren’t able to break through into television. They did a fantastic job. I was part of that, and now it’s done.”

It’s not that he wants to kill off Channel 4 but – as broadcasting bosses gather for Edinburgh’s annual TV Festival – he believes they urgently should be talking about mergers.

A suggestion which goes down about as well as you might imagine, he says, when he brings it up with those at the top.

He laughs: “The people with the brains think it’s a good idea, the people who’ve got the expense accounts think it’s horrendous.”

Some of the original Grange Hill cast collecting a BAFTA special award in 2001. Pic: Shutterstock
Image:
Some of the original Grange Hill cast collecting a BAFTA special award in 2001. Pic: Shutterstock

A ‘struggling’ BBC trying to ‘survive’

With charter renewal talks under way to determine the BBC’s future funding, Sir Phil says “there’s only one question, and that is what’s going to happen to the BBC?”

“We’ve got two public sector broadcasters – the BBC and Channel 4 – both owned by the government, by us as the taxpayers, and what they’re trying to do now is survive, right?

“No bureaucracy ever deconstructs itself… the BBC is struggling… Channel 4 has got about a billion quid coming in a year. If you mix that, all the transmissions, all the back office stuff, all the technical stuff, all that cash… you can keep that kind of coterie of expertise on youth programming and then say ‘don’t worry about the money, just go out and do what you used to do, upset people!’.”

Brookside's lesbian kiss between Margaret and Beth (L-R Nicola Stapleton and Anna Friel) was groundbreaking TV. Pic: Shutterstock
Image:
Brookside’s lesbian kiss between Margaret and Beth (L-R Nicola Stapleton and Anna Friel) was groundbreaking TV. Pic: Shutterstock

How feasible would that be?

Redmond claims, practically, you could pull it off in a week – “we could do it now, it’s very simple, it’s all about keyboards and switches”.

But the screenwriter admits that winning people over mentally to his way of thinking would take a few years of persuading.

As for his thoughts on what could replace the BBC licence fee, he says charging people to download BBC apps on their phones seems like an obvious source of income.

“There are 25 million licences and roughly 90 million mobile phones. If you put a small levy on each mobile phone, you could reduce the actual cost of the licence fee right down, and then it could just be tagged on to VAT.

“Those parts are just moving the tax system around a bit. [then] you wouldn’t have to worry about all the criminality and single mothers being thrown in jail, all this kind of nonsense.”

Original Brookside stars at BAFTA - L:R: Michael Starke, Dean Sullivan, Claire Sweeney and Sue Jenkins. Pic: PA
Image:
Original Brookside stars at BAFTA – L:R: Michael Starke, Dean Sullivan, Claire Sweeney and Sue Jenkins. Pic: PA

‘Subsidising through streaming is not the answer’

Earlier this year, Peter Kosminsky, the director of historical drama Wolf Hall, suggested a levy on UK streaming revenues could fund more high-end British TV on the BBC.

Sir Phil describes that as “a sign of desperation”.

“If you can’t actually survive within your own economic basis, you shouldn’t be doing it.

“I don’t think top slicing or subsidising one aspect of the business is the answer, you have to just look at the whole thing as a totality.”

Mark Rylance (L) and Damian Lewis in Wolf Hall: The Mirror And The Light. Pic: BBC
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Mark Rylance (L) and Damian Lewis in Wolf Hall: The Mirror And The Light. Pic: BBC

Since selling his production company, Mersey Television, two decades ago, much of his current work has focused on acting as an ambassador for the culture and creative industries.

Although he’s taken a step away from television, he admits he’s disappointed by how risk-averse programme makers appear to have become.

“Dare I say it? There needs to be an intellectual foundation to it all.”

The Hollyoaks cast in 1995. Pic: Shutterstock
Image:
The Hollyoaks cast in 1995. Pic: Shutterstock

TV’s ‘missing a trick’

He believes TV bosses are too scared of being fined by Ofcom, and that’s meant soaps are not going as far as they should.

“The benefits [system], you know, immigration, all these things are really relevant subjects for drama to bring out all the arguments, the conflicts.

“The majority of the people know the benefits system is broken, that it needs to be fixed because they see themselves living on their estate with a 10 or 12-year-old car and then there’s someone else down the road who knows how to fill a form in, and he’s driving around in a £65k BMW, right? Those debates would be really great to bring out on TV, they’re missing a trick.”

While some of TV’s biggest executives are slated to speak at the Edinburgh Television Festival, Redmond is not convinced they will be open to listening.

“They will go where the perceived wisdom is as to where the industry is going. The fact that the industry is taking a wrong turn, we really need somebody else to come along and go ‘Oi!'”

When I ask if that could be him, he laughs. Cue dramatic music and closing credits. As plot twists go, the idea of one of TV’s most radical voices making a boardroom comeback to stir the pot, realistic or not, is at the very least food for thought for the industry.

Edinburgh TV Festival runs from 19 – 22 August.

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Noel Gallagher praises ‘amazing’ Liam for Oasis reunion tour

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Noel Gallagher praises 'amazing' Liam for Oasis reunion tour

Noel Gallagher has said he is “proud” of his brother Liam after the pair reunited for this summer’s Oasis Live ’25 tour.

The highly anticipated reunion was announced in August last year, after the brothers seemingly put the feud which led to their split in 2009 behind them.

At the time, Noel said he “simply could not go on working with Liam”, but having just completed the UK-leg of their comeback tour, he has nothing but praise for his younger sibling.

“Liam’s smashing it. I’m proud of him,” Noel told talkSport in his first interview since the tour began.

“I couldn’t do the stadium thing like he does it, it’s not in my nature. But I’ve got to say, I kind of look and I think ‘good for you, mate’. He’s been amazing.

“It’s great just to be back with Bonehead [Paul Arthurs] and Liam and just be doing it again.”

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‘We need each other’: Oasis back on stage

When asked if he has felt emotional during the tour, Noel added: “I guess when it’s all said and done we will sit and reflect on it, but it’s great being back in the band with Liam, I forgot how funny he was.”

He went on to say he was “completely blown away” after the band’s opening night in Cardiff, and “grossly underestimated” what he was getting himself into when first signing up for the shows.

Fans in Manchester don Oasis merch. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Fans in Manchester don Oasis merch. Pic: Reuters

The brothers at Wembley, London. Pic: Lewis Evans
Image:
The brothers at Wembley, London. Pic: Lewis Evans

He said: “It was kind of after about five minutes, I was like, ‘all right, can I just go back to the dressing room and start this again?’

“I’ve done stadiums before and all that, but I don’t mind telling you, my legs had turned to jelly after about halfway through the second song.”

Pic: Big Brother Recordings
Image:
Pic: Big Brother Recordings

“Every night is the crowd’s first night, you know what I mean?” he continued. “So every night’s got that kind of same energy to it, but it’s been truly amazing. I’m not usually short for words, but I can’t really articulate it.”

Having played to packed crowds in Cardiff, London, Manchester, Dublin and Edinburgh, Oasis have scheduled dates around the world including in major cities across the US, Canada, Mexico, Australia, and Japan.

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It’s rumoured the band will continue their run of shows next year, when it marks 30 years since they played two sell-out nights at Knebworth Park to an estimated 250,000 people.

When quizzed on the rumours on talkSport, Noel quickly changed the subject, saying: “Right, let’s talk about football.”

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