From Murder On The Dancefloor and Perfect to Babylon and Unwritten: Why music is heading back to the noughties
“One, two, three, four – let me hear you scream if you want some more…”
Anyone who got within a sniff of a dancefloor in the mid-noughties will know the lyrics, the hypnotic electro beat, possibly the gymnastics-inspired video typical of chart-friendly club tracks of the era (because if it didn’t look like a sexy work-out, were you even making dance music?)
Twenty years later, it’s happening all over again. Princess Superstar’s Perfect returned to the charts in the UK earlier this year – and entered the Billboard chart in the US for the first time ever – thanks to its part in the viral film Saltburn.
“I was like, oh sh*t, that’s my song,” Princess Superstar, aka Concetta Kirschner, tells Sky News, chatting on Zoom on an early morning call from LA. After Saltburn’s release, Perfect was suddenly all over TikTok and Instagram. “I mean, [the filmmakers] had asked for it, but I had no idea what it was going to become.”
Back in the day, it was the mash-up of Perfect with Exceeder, the electro house track by Dutch DJ and producer Mason, which became a hit, and it’s this version again that has found a new audience in the 2020s.
It isn’t the only song revived by Saltburn, which is set around Oxford University in 2006 and features a range of nostalgia-fuelled hits for those of a certain age – from MGMT’s Time To Pretend and The Killers’ Mr Brightside, to Girls Aloud‘s Sound Of The Underground and Flo Rida’s Low. Sophie Ellis-Bextor‘s Murder On The Dancefloor, which soundtracks the final very naked scene (avoid at work/with your parents), rose to number two in the UK chart once again some 22 years after its release.
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With the entire back-catalogue of pretty much every song ever recorded now available at a phone swipe, it’s a phenomenon that has been happening more and more in recent years – most notably with Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill topping the chart for the first time ever in 2022 (37 years after its release – a record) thanks to its use in a particularly memorable scene in the hit sci-fi series Stranger Things.
And like Ellis-Bextor, British noughties stars Natasha Bedingfield and David Gray have also seen some of their biggest hits resurrected in recent months; Bedingfield’s 2004 track Unwritten entered the charts again for the first time in 19 years – all thanks to the Sydney Sweeney rom-com Anyone But You – while Gray’s Babylon has become a TikTok favourite.
‘I sort of faded away – now I’ve got record deals coming at me’
Princess Superstar’s dance track Perfect is a hit once again. Pic: Joseph Cultice
For Princess Superstar, the noughties female rapper known for her raunchy lyrics, now married and a mum to a 12-year-old, Perfect (Exceeder)’s newfound popularity isn’t just a nice passing trend – it has relaunched her career. “I never stopped making music, it’s just it never was really popular [anymore], I sort of faded away,” she says. “And then I had a baby and things slowed down.”
The singer, also known for her 2002 track Bad Babysitter, describes Perfect’s second-time-around success as “akin to winning the lottery” for a musician. “I’ve got record deals coming at me, and tours, and all the things I used to do are back again.”
When she was asked if her song could be used in Saltburn, she says she didn’t think about it too much. “I remember not really recognising any of the actors’ names, except for Richard E Grant.” She didn’t get a “tonne of money” for it at the time, she laughs, but she never expected to. “It’s fun to say that because you just think, oh, okay, that’s a cool thing to do, having no idea it would completely relaunch my career.”
Saltburn, starring Barry Keoghan, has revived a number of classic noughties hits. Pic: MGM/Amazon Studios
Now, she says, she owes writer and director Emerald Fennell a thank you, maybe a fruit basket, Hollywood-style. “I’ve been making music for 30 years, I started in 1995, and I’ve never been on the Billboard charts in the US [until now],” she says. “It’s only ever been the UK and Europe that really embraced me.”
Perfect has now also been remixed by David Guetta, one of the most successful DJs of all time, and her social media sites are filled with appreciation – from young fans who have only just discovered it to those who loved it the first time around. “Back when I was famous last, we only had MySpace – I was everybody’s MySpace song, that’s what they say in the comments of my TikTok. What an amazing world we live in today… that music distribution can happen that way.”
She is pleased for Ellis-Bextor, too. “How amazing – ladies in our 40s and 50s, getting to have that success in pop music is really rare. I love it because I feel like it helps normalise ageing.”
It’s Murder On The Dancefloor… again
Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s Murder On The Dance Floor charted at number two in 2001 – and again earlier this year. Pic: Laura Lewis
Ellis-Bextor, who had already enjoyed a revival in recent years thanks to her kitchen discos held online during the pandemic lockdowns, is now even closer to national treasure status. At the BAFTAs earlier this month, she performed Murder On The Dancefloor in front of A-listers including Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper.
Like Princess Superstar, she didn’t know much about how the song would be used in Saltburn until she saw it. “I knew it was going to be all of the song and none of the clothes, and that was about it,” she told Sky News on the BAFTAs red carpet. “Naked dancing, count me in!”
Fennell chose songs that perfectly tap into the nostalgia of the era, Ellis-Bextor added. “Music’s so clever, isn’t it? There’s nothing else like music that can transport you through time.”
And unlike some artists who get bored of their decades-old hits, the singer says she has always been on “good terms” with hers. “So for me, this is like an old friend taking me out for another spin… I mean, TikTok wasn’t around when it came out first time around. It’s a real privilege to see how people are interacting with my music. Long may it continue.”
So why is this happening now?
Wham!’s Last Christmas returns to the charts every December – and finally made Christmas number one in 2023
The obvious answer to that question is streaming, and streams being accepted by Official Charts in the UK. But while the resurgence of older tracks does seem to be happening more and more, it isn’t a completely new phenomenon.
“I’m old enough to remember in the 1970s there was a song by Laurel and Hardy which got into the charts called The Trail Of The Lonesome Pine, and that was from one of their films from about 40, 50 years before,” says Martin Talbot, chief executive of Official Charts. “And the first single I ever bought, in fact, was a single by The Goons called The Ying Tong Song, which was re-released in the early ’70s but actually was originally recorded in the 1950s.”
Both tracks became popular once again after being picked up by radio presenters, he says – so much so that the records were repressed and re-released.
“The difference now, and what makes it exciting now and why it gets so much attention, is because these days it’s instantaneous… If you go back to pre-digital, you would have to find a record shop, hope they had something in stock you wanted, then you’d have to buy it and take it home [to play]. There was a big delay with all this stuff.”
Kate Bush topped the charts with Running Up That Hill in 2022, decades after the song was first released
Official Charts first started accepting streaming for singles in July 2014, with 100 audio streams equating to one single purchase, and for albums in March 2015. Video downloads and streams were added for singles in 2018, and in January 2023 for albums.
Since then, more and more older Christmas classics have returned each December – with Wham!’s Last Christmas finally charting at number one for the first time in 2020, and at Christmas number one for the first time last year. It also happens now following the deaths of very famous stars.
This still happened, pre-digital, Martin says – it just took a bit longer. “When Elvis died in 1977, and when John Lennon died in 1980, it took a few weeks, two or three months in some cases, for the old tracks to come back into the charts again, because none of those records were available [immediately].
“[Pre-digital] that demand would have to persist and would have to remain for some time for a record label to get around to pressing the vinyl again, pressing the CD, getting into shops. There was a big commitment upfront and investment required to respond to the demand.”
Never Gonna Give Him Up: The revival of Rick Astley
Rick Astley made his debut on the Pyramid stage at Glastonbury in 2023. Pic: Sky News
For living artists, or former artists, if their songs get picked up in films or TV shows they can then go viral on social media. And if it’s viral enough it can mean a career revival, as it has for Princess Superstar. Take Rickrolling – the internet phenomenon which started in the mid-noughties, with links posted online for one thing, but unexpectedly directing those who clicked to a video of Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up instead.
“Rick Astley suddenly came to everybody’s attention for the first time in quite a long time and suddenly became cool with a generation of fans,” says Martin. “With all due respect to Rick Astley – and he would admit this himself – he wasn’t thought of as cool when he first broke through.”
This led to a full Ricknaissance when, last year, the musician performed on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury – showing off his talents by throwing in Harry Styles’ As It Was and drumming to AC/DC’s Highway To Hell among his own hits – before performing a surprise set of Smiths covers with Blossoms.
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Now, in an era in which pop is embraced, music is less tribal, and Astley’s talents as a musician are obvious, he has become an icon. “I think music is way less separate and people’s tastes are way more eclectic [now],” Astley told Sky News before his Glastonbury set last year. “I think they’re quite as happy to go and see the biggest rock band in the world, then go and see Elton on the last night, maybe catch someone like myself, you know, at 12 o’clock.”
On the flip side, all this makes it much harder for new artists to break through, says Martin. A rock act today, for example, is competing not just with their contemporaries, but with the greatest of all time, from Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin to Foo Fighters and Queens Of The Stone Age. However, despite the resurgence of old hits becoming more common, the charts boss says he cannot ever envisage a time when the entire Top 40 is made up of them.
“The charts, particularly the singles chart, is all about the youth audience, and every young person wants their own thing,” he says. Because what teenager doesn’t enjoy the rebellion of turning up loud that new band or artist loathed by their parents?
“Absolutely – and so it should be,” says Martin. “That’s what it’s all about.”
Entertainment
Giles Martin on AI plans: ‘It’s like saying you can burgle my house unless I ask you not to’
Producer Giles Martin has said plans to allow AI firms to use artists’ work without permission, unless creators opt out, is like criminals being given free rein to burgle houses unless they are specifically told not to.
Martin, who is the son of Beatles producer George Martin and worked with Sir Paul McCartney on the Get Back documentary series and the 2023 Beatles track Now And Then, spoke to Sky News at a UK Music protest at Westminster coinciding with a parliamentary debate on the issue.
Under the plans, an exemption to copyright would be created for training artificial intelligence (AI), so tech firms would not need a licence to use copyrighted material – rather, creators would need to opt out to prevent their work from being used.
Creatives say if anything it should be opt-in rather than out, and are calling on the government to scrap the proposals and stop AI developers “stealing” their work “without payment or permission”.
Giles Martin at the 2025 Grammy Awards. Pic: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
“If you create something unique it should be unique to you,” says Martin. “It shouldn’t be able to be harvested and then used by other people. Or if it is, it should be with your permission… it shouldn’t be up to governments or big tech.”
Sir Elton John and Simon Cowell are among the celebrities who have backed a campaign opposing the proposals, and Sir Paul has also spoken out against them.
“This is about young artists,” says Martin. “If a young Paul McCartney at the age of 20 or 22 wrote Yesterday, now… big tech would almost be able to harvest that song and use it for their own means. It doesn’t make any sense, this ruling of opting out – where essentially it’s like saying, ‘you can burgle my house unless I ask you not to’.”
‘I’m not anti-AI – it’s a question of permission’
The Beatles’ track Now And Then was written and recorded by John Lennon in New York in the late 1970s, and AI was used to extract his vocals for the 2023 release. The Get Back documentary also used audio restoration technology, allowing music and vocals to be isolated.
AI was used to release The Beatles’ track Now And Then in 2023. Pic: Apple Corps Ltd
“I’m not anti [AI], I’m not saying we should go back to writing on scribes,” Martin said. “But I do think that it’s a question of artist’s permission.”
Using AI to “excavate” Lennon’s voice was with the permission of the late singer’s estate, he said, and is “different from me getting a 3D printer to make a John Lennon”.
He added: “The idea of, for example, whoever your favourite artist is – the future is, you get home from work and they’ll sing you a song, especially designed for you, by that artist, by that voice. And it’ll make you feel better because AI will know how you’re feeling at that time. That’s maybe a reality. Whoever that artist is, they should probably have a say in that voice.”
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Crispin Hunt, of 1990s band The Longpigs, who also attended the protest, said “all technology needs some kind of oversight”.
“If you remove the ability for the world to make a living out of creativity, or if you devalue creativity to such an extent that that it becomes a hobby and worthless to do, then humanity in life will be far less rich because it’s art and culture that makes life richer,” he said. “And that’s why the companies want it for free.”
The Data (Use and Access) Bill primarily covers data-sharing agreements, but transparency safeguards were removed at committee stage.
Critics say changes need to be made to ensure that companies training generative AI models disclose whether work by a human creator has been used and protect creatives under existing copyright rules.
In February, more than 1,000 artists and musicians including Kate Bush, Damon Albarn, Sam Fender and Annie Lennox released a silent album in protest at the proposed changes.
At that time, a government spokesperson said the UK’s current rules were “holding back the creative industries, media and AI sector from realising their full potential – and that cannot continue”.
The spokesperson said they were consulting on proposals that better protect the “interests of both AI developers and right holders” and to deliver a solution “which allows both to thrive”.
Entertainment
Radiohead star Jonny Greenwood hits out at ‘censorship’ and ‘intimidation’ after shows cancelled following ‘credible threats’
A member of rock band Radiohead has hit out at “censorship” and “intimidation” after shows he was due to play with an Israeli musician were cancelled following “credible threats”.
Guitarist and keyboardist Jonny Greenwood had been due to play two shows with Israel-born rock musician Dudu Tassa at Bristol Beacon’s Lantern Hall and London’s Hackney Church in June.
But on Tuesday, they confirmed the gigs would no longer go ahead after the venues decided it was “not safe to proceed”.
Greenwood has collaborated with Tassa for more than a decade and released the album Jarak Qaribak with him in 2023.
The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (Pacbi), a member of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, welcomed the cancellations, claiming the performances would have “whitewashed” the war in Gaza.
A statement from Greenwood, Tassa and their musicians said: “The venues and their blameless staff have received enough credible threats to conclude that it’s not safe to proceed. Promoters of the shows can’t be expected to fund our, or our audience’s, protection.”
It said the “cancellation will be hailed as a victory by the campaigners behind it, but we see nothing to celebrate and don’t find that anything positive has been achieved”.
It went on: “Forcing musicians not to perform and denying people who want to hear them an opportunity to do so is self-evidently a method of censorship and silencing.
“We believe art exists above and beyond politics; that art that seeks to establish the common identity of musicians across borders in the Middle East should be encouraged, not decried; and that artists should be free to express themselves regardless of their citizenship or their religion – and certainly regardless of the decisions made by their governments.”
Pic: Lior Keter
It said the show also featured singers from Syria, Lebanon, Kuwait and Iraq, with “each of the members brought together by a shared love of Arabic song, regardless of where exactly they all happened to be born”.
The statement also said: “We find ourselves in the odd position of being condemned by both ends of the political spectrum.
“For some on the right, we’re playing the ‘wrong’ kind of music – too inclusive, too aware of the rich and beautiful diversity of Middle Eastern culture. For some on the left, we’re only playing it to absolve ourselves of our collective sins.
“We dread the weaponisation of this cancellation by reactionary figures as much as we lament its celebration by some progressives.”
Read more: Why are Kneecap so controversial?
The musicians also referenced Northern Irish rappers Kneecap, and recent calls to cancel their shows after one member appeared to call for the death of British MPs. Another video of the band appeared to show a member shouting “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah”. Both claims are being investigated by counter-terrorism police.
The statement said: “We have no judgment to pass on Kneecap but note how sad it is that those supporting their freedom of expression are the same ones most determined to restrict ours.
“We agree completely with people who ask ‘How can this be more important than what’s happening in Gaza and Israel?’ They’re right – it isn’t. How could it be? What, in anyone’s upcoming cultural life, is?”
Greenwood also faced opposition from pro-Palestinian groups last year after performing in Tel Aviv amid the war in Gaza.
Radiohead performed at Yarkon Park in Tel Aviv in 2017.
The Diocese of London, whic looks after the Hackney Church venue, told Sky News the promoter had contacted them on Friday to say the 25 June gig wouldn’t be going ahead. They said those who had bought tickets would receive a full refund.
Sky News has also contacted Bristol Beacon and the promoters for comment.
Entertainment
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs in court as high-profile trial begins with jury selection in New York
The trial of hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs has begun, with the process to pick the jurors who will determine his fate now under way.
Combs, wearing a white shirt with a black crew-neck sweater, grey trousers and glasses, his hair and goatee now grey, hugged and shook hands with all his lawyers as he arrived at the federal courtroom in Manhattan, New York, for the start of the proceedings.
The 55-year-old has been held in detention in Brooklyn since he was arrested and charged in September 2024, accused of engaging in sex trafficking and presiding over a racketeering conspiracy over two decades.
He has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges, said all his sexual relationships and encounters were consensual, and strenuously denied all allegations of wrongdoing.
The Metropolitan Detention Center, where Combs is incarcerated. Pic: AP/ Yuki Iwamura
Due to the high-profile nature of the case, the jury selection process is expected to last all this week, with opening statements by the lawyers set to begin next week.
Unlike some other high-profile trials in the US, this one won’t be broadcast live because federal courtrooms, unlike some state courtrooms, don’t allow electronic recordings inside.
Judge Arun Subramanian started proceedings shortly after 9am on Monday (2pm UK time), first making several rulings on what issues experts will be allowed to testify on when they take to the witness stand.
He then gave an overview of the case and began the questioning of prospective jurors one by one – a process known as “voir dire” – with the aim of finding a panel of 12 jurors and six alternates who can be fair and impartial despite heavy media coverage of the case.
There are no cameras in court. Sketch: Elizabeth Williams via AP
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Jurors are being asked if they have any views on the prosecution or the defence, if they or someone close to them has been a victim of crime, and their beliefs on hiring sex workers, the use of illegal drugs, hip-hop artists and law enforcement.
They are also being questioned on whether they have heard of names included on a list of individuals, including celebrities, who may be mentioned during the trial. The list is long, the court heard, with the judge saying it reminded him of Lord Of The Rings.
What have potential jurors been asked?
Combs embraced his attorneys in court. Sketch: REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg
One prospective juror said they had heard of actors Michael B Jordan and Mike Myers, but this would not prevent them being fair and impartial should they be selected. Another said they had heard of Kanye West.
The context in which Jordan, Myers, West and other people may be mentioned is not yet known.
Other names that came up included Aubrey O’Day and Dawn Richard – former members of girl group Danity Kane, who were signed to Bad Boy – and singer Michelle Williams.
Several prospective jurors indicated they had seen news reports about Combs, and one prospective juror described a still image she had seen as “damning evidence”. She was rejected from consideration.
Another potential juror was excluded because she said a family member had experienced something that made them feel uncomfortable about hearing the case.
At one point during proceedings, Combs asked for a bathroom break, telling the judge: “I’m sorry your honour, I’m a little nervous today.”
One potential juror said they had seen a joke on social media about baby oil authorities say they found in Combs’ residences during searches in March 2024. They said they could remain impartial.
Throughout the day, as potential jurors were questioned, Combs appeared to express his approval or disapproval, either with a nod or by shaking his head no, to his attorneys.
Brian Steel, one of Combs’ attorneys, pictured outside the court. Pic: REUTERS/David Dee Delgado
What is Combs accused of?
In the indictment listing the formal charges against the rapper, he is accused of a pattern of abusive behavior over two decades, allegedly with the help of people in his entourage.
Prosecutors say he manipulated women into participating in drug-fuelled sexual performances with male sex workers, which he called “Freak Offs”.
Combs and his associates resorted to violent acts, including beatings, kidnapping and arson, when he didn’t get his way, they allege.
Lawyers for Combs say any group sex was consensual, that there was no coercion involved, and nothing that happened amounted to a criminal racket.
If convicted, he faces the possibility of decades in prison.
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What is Sean Combs on trial for?
The Cassie video
One issue likely to be featured in the trial is an incident in 2016, when a security camera recorded Combs allegedly kicking and hitting his then girlfriend Cassie Ventura in a Los Angeles hotel hallway.
Cassie filed a lawsuit in November 2023 saying Combs had subjected her to years of abuse, including beatings and rape, but the case was settled the following day.
The hotel footage emerged in May 2024. Shortly afterwards, Combs released a video apology, saying his behaviour in the video was at a time when he had “hit rock bottom” but nonetheless was “inexcusable” and that he was “disgusted” with himself.
One of his lawyers, Marc Agnifilo, has said Combs was “not a perfect person” and that there had been drug use and toxic relationships, but that all sexual activity between Combs, Cassie and other people was consensual.
Jury selection continues today and throughout this week, with the trial expected to last about eight weeks.
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