Damon Albarn makes surprise Glastonbury appearance with Bombay Bicycle Club
Damon Albarn has made a surprise appearance at Glastonbury – addressing politics and the Israel-Hamas war as he turned up on stage to perform with Bombay Bicycle Club.
The band performed on the Other Stage this afternoon, ahead of artists including Anne-Marie, D-Block Europe and Idles.
Blur and Gorillaz star Albarn features on Bombay Bicycle Club’s 2023 song Heaven, and speculation he would join them had been rife ahead of their Glastonbury set.
They had teased a special guest, without revealing a name, and the @secretglasto Twitter account hinted beforehand that the mystery artist “could make Bombay Bicycle Club’s set go by in a Blur”.
Albarn headlined the festival with Blur in 2009 and again with Gorillaz the following year, as a last-minute replacement for U2 due to frontman Bono injuring his back.
After joining Bombay Bicycle Club at this year’s festival, he spoke on stage about Palestine, the general election, and world politics.
“Three things: you have to show me how you feel about it – are you pro Palestine? Do you feel that’s an unfair war?” he said.
“The importance of voting next week – I don’t blame you for being ambivalent about that but it’s still really important. And thirdly – maybe it’s time we stopped putting octogenarians in charge of the whole world?”
Speaking to Sky News about their collaboration, Bombay Bicycle Club said it had all been unexpected.
“We were never expecting to have him on the record or to be playing a show with him, but… we just kind of asked, and he was really up for it. You don’t ask, you don’t get.”
There wasn’t much time to rehearse, they added, with about an hour to get things right for the live performance. “But, you know, with him, that’s all you need.”
Read more on Glastonbury:
The greatest secret sets of all time – and this year’s rumours
Russell Crowe: Forget the other job – we’re monster musicians
Kasabian, Liam Gallagher, Harry Styles, Kings Of Leon and Pulp are all among the artists rumoured to potentially make surprise appearances on stages around the festival site throughout the weekend.
Bombay Bicycle Club are among the music acts kicking off the first full day of the festival, which will be headlined by Dua Lipa.
Squeeze opened the show early on Friday, with K-pop act Seventeen, Olivia Dean and The Snuts also among the early performers.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Elsewhere, just days after the birth of his fourth child, Joe Wicks led a fitness session – and set his sights on taking his workouts to the Pyramid Stage.
“You don’t often think about a fitness workout being at a music festival but yesterday I did a workout and about 2,000 people turned up and it was amazing,” he told Sky News, ahead of a second session on Friday.
Wicks says people still want to look after themselves at festivals.
“It’s hard sleeping in a tent so if they’re awake, I’ve said, come and join me, start the day right.”
Coldplay will headline tomorrow, while Shania Twain fills the Sunday afternoon “legends slot” and SZA closes the weekend.
British drama Adolescence has seen its lead stars all nominated for Golden Globe awards.
The drama, starring Stephen Graham, depicts the aftermath of the stabbing of a teenage girl, as a 13-year-old boy from her school is arrested for her murder. It was one of the most talked-about shows of the year.
Young Owen Cooper is up for best supporting actor. Pic:Netflix
Graham, along with Owen Cooper, Ashley Walters and Erin Doherty are all up for gongs. It follows a host of wins at the Emmys in September.
Receiving five nominations in total, the Netflix limited series was only beaten by HBO’s White Lotus, which got six nods, coming top in the TV category.
Cynthia Erivo was nominated for her role in the Wicked sequel, Wicked For Good, while British stars Gary Oldman, Helen Mirren and Aimee Lou Wood also got recognition for their roles in Slow Horses, Mobland and The White Lotus, respectively.
Mirren will also be awarded one of the Globe’s two lifetime achievement awards, the Cecil B DeMille Award, announced a few days before the ceremony in the New Year.
Emily Blunt picked up a surprise nomination for her role in The Smashing Machine, opposite Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson – who also got a nod for the sports biopic.
Tessa Thompson was recognised for her role in Hedda, a modern re-telling of Henrik Ibsen’s classic play.
Irish stars Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley were both nominated for Hamnet, the adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s book about William Shakespeare and his wife Agnes. The movie isn’t out in the UK until January.
Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo at the London premiere for Wicked: For Good
Ryan Coogler (L) and Michael B Jordan at the Sinners premiere. Pic: AP
Films, TV – and podcasts
Unlike other awards, the Globes cover both TV and film and are split by genre, falling into either the drama or comedy and musical category – meaning a wealth of nominees are in the running.
This year, there are 28 categories.
In the film category, One Battle After Another, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, led the nominations with nine, followed by Norwegian comedy-drama Sentimental Value with eight, and vampire horror Sinners with seven.
Leonardo DiCaprio in a scene from One Battle After Another.
Pic: Warner Bros/AP
KPop Demon Hunters continued its world domination with three nominations – best animated film, cinematic and box office achievement and original song – making an Oscar nod further down the line look more and more likely.
New to this year’s nominations is a category for podcasts. Selected from a long list of the 25 most-listened to shows, Good Hang With Amy Poehler, Armchair Expert With Dax Shepard and Call Her Daddy were among the casts that made the cut.
Sarah Jessica Parker will be honoured with the Carol Burnett Award.
Now in comeback mode, the Globes had previously faced criticism over a lack of diversity in the organisation, which led to the event being held behind closed doors in 2022.
The 83rd Golden Globes ceremony will take place in LA on 11 January, and will be hosted by US comedian Nikki Glaser for the second year running.
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