He is the man behind the biggest-selling electronica record of all time, but the success of Moby’s album Play came with some unwanted side effects.
His fifth record, the album charted at 33 upon its release in the UK in May 1999, and fell out of the Top 40 after just a week. But despite the lacklustre initial response, Play started to pick up steam, slowly climbing the chart until it reached number one in April 2000.
It stayed there for five weeks and remained in the Top 40 until March 2001, re-entering the Top 100 several times over the next few years.
While Moby had experienced success with Go, the breakthrough 1991 single from his self-titled debut album, Play was next level. Even if you don’t know the album, you’ll know at least some of the songs – Porcelain, Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?, Honey, and Natural Blues. The record was ubiquitous and fame hard to escape.
Image: Pic: Adam Warzawa/EPA/Shutterstock
“I think fame and fortune are, probably, empirically two of the most destructive forces on the planet,” he says, speaking from his home in Los Angeles. “I mean, if fame and fortune fixed things, Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse would still be making records.
“I guess it’s a very easy system to buy into, especially in a place like… in New York, in Los Angeles, in these big cities that are driven by ostentation and consumption and the need for external validation. It’s hard to resist those temptations. But then… you look at the consequences of that.
“I’d rather try and live a rational life and not necessarily let other people’s concerns dictate what my concerns should be.”
Now sober and with a few years between him and those heady days of peak fame, in recent years Moby has been doing something few established stars in his position would do – giving his compositions away for free.
“I have a house, I have a car, I have some hoodies, I have food in the fridge, I don’t really need anything more,” he insists. “To live and work in a way where I’m not driven by money, why not use that as an opportunity?”
Selfless selfishness or selfish selflessness
Image: Pic: Wael Hamzeh/EPA/Shutterstock
Over a decade ago, the musician came up with the quietly radical idea of making a free music licensing platform, MobyGratis. The idea was simple and rather exciting, he admits – to allow anyone unrestricted access to hundreds of his compositions to use them however they wish. From film scores to remixes, whatever.
“It’s either selfless selfishness or selfish selflessness, meaning I’m giving these things away but the benefit to me is I get to see what people do with it,” he says.
“There are a lot of things about the current digital media climate that are terrifying and baffling and confusing, but one of the things I love is the egalitarian nature of it.”
The idea of giving his music away for free runs somewhat contrary to the AI copyright battle many artists are currently speaking out over, with the likes of Ed Sheeran and Damon Albarn calling for greater protections in law to prevent artificial intelligence software from scraping their work to learn from it.
Remix culture and creative processes
“I completely appreciate and respect the concerns that other people have,” says Moby. “I think they’re incredibly valid… but for me personally, I don’t know. Maybe it’s naive and stupid of me, but I kind of just ignore it.
“I put this music out there and you sort of hope for the best, which probably is completely dim-witted of me. Part of remix culture is seeing how people reinterpret your work; sometimes it’s mediocre, sometimes it is bad, but sometimes it is so inspired, and I can actually learn a lot from other creative processes.”
The dance artist also takes issue with how the act of giving and compassion more generally has come to be seen, and references Elon Musk‘s comments on Joe Rogan’s podcast in April, when the billionaire said: “We’ve got civilizational suicidal empathy going on.”
Moby says that while “we live in this world of fear, selfishness, desperation and viciousness”, he supports “anything that is a rejection of the manosphere… anything that rejects Elon and the idea that empathy is a weakness and reminds people that life can be simple and decent.”
He jokes: “I’m definitely becoming like the weird old guy that you’ll see in the mountains, sort of like not making eye contact and mumbling about chemtrails or something.”
This is a man who is aware his approach to fame, fortune and giving stuff away is somewhat out-of-keeping with the times we’re living in – but the thing is, Moby doesn’t seem to care.
Former Top Gear and Fifth Gear presenter Quentin Willson has died.
The Leicester-born car dealer and motoring journalist joined the BBC show in 1991, appearing alongside the likes of Jeremy Clarkson and James May, until the original format was cancelled 10 years later.
He then moved to Channel 5 to join its rival motoring show, Fifth Gear, and did not rejoin when Top Gear relaunched in 2002.
The 68-year-old died on Saturday following a short battle with lung cancer, his family said.
Image: Pic: PA
In a statement, they described him as a “true national treasure” who “brought the joy of motoring, from combustion to electric, into our living rooms”.
The broadcaster created and presented both Britain’s Worst Drivers and The Car’s The Star.
He went on to perform on Strictly Come Dancing in 2004, where he continues to hold the lowest score in the show’s history.
He was also an avid “consumer champion”, having advocated for a number of campaigns, including helping to freeze fuel duty with his FairFuel campaign.
He recently worked “tirelessly” to make electric vehicles affordable through his FairCharge campaign, his family said.
The statement continued: “Long before it was fashionable, he championed the GM EV1 and the promise of electric cars, proving he was always ahead of the curve.
“Much-loved husband to Michaela, devoted father to Mercedes, Max and Mini, and cherished grandfather to Saskia, Xander and Roxana.
“Quentin will be deeply missed by his family, friends, and all who knew him personally and professionally.
“The void he has left can never be filled. His knowledge was not just learned but lived; a library of experience now beyond our reach.”
Davina McCall has revealed she has had breast cancer, nearly a year after she had surgery to remove a brain tumour.
The TV presenter revealed the diagnosis in a video posted to her Instagram on Saturday, saying she was “very angry” when she found out, but now is in a “much more positive place” after undergoing surgery to remove the tumour three weeks ago.
“I found a lump a few weeks ago. It came and went but then I was working on The Masked Singer and Lorraine, the TV show, and Lorraine Kelly had put signs on the backs of all the doors saying ‘check your breasts’ and every time I went for a wee, I did that,” she said.
“It was still there, and then one morning I saw myself in the mirror and thought ‘I’m going to get that looked at’. I had a biopsy. I found out it was indeed breast cancer and I had it taken out in a lumpectomy nearly three weeks ago.”
McCall, 58, said the “lump” was “very, very small” and was discovered early.
Image: Davina McCall said she had surgery to remove the “lump” three weeks ago. Pic: PA
“I am so relieved to have had it removed and to know that it hasn’t spread. My lymph nodes were clear, I didn’t have any removed, and all I’m going to do now is have five days of radiotherapy in January as kind of an insurance policy,” she explained.
The former Big Brother presenter thanked her medical team, family and fiance for their support, before adding: “It’s been a lot. I was very angry when I found out, but I let go of that, and I feel in a much more positive place now.
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“I think my message is: get checked if you’re worried. Check yourself regularly. If you are due a mammogram, then get it done.
“I have dense breasts and I had a mammogram in August, and I was postponing the ultrasound; I just couldn’t find time to do it. Don’t do that. Get the ultrasound.”
Her breast cancer diagnosis came nearly a year after McCall revealed that she had a benign brain tumour, a colloid cyst, which she described as “very rare”.
Image: McCall revealed last November that she had a benign brain tumour. Pic: PA
She said in a video posted in November last year that chances of having it were “three in a million” and that she had discovered it several months previously after a company offered her a health scan in return for giving a menopause talk.
McCall rose to fame presenting on MTV in the mid-1990s, and later on Channel 4’s Streetmate, before becoming a household name as the host of Big Brother from 2000 to 2010.
She’s gone on to present programmes across the networks, and currently presents ITV dating show My Mum, Your Dad.
In recent years, McCall has spoken regularly on women’s health and the effects of menopause in a bid to break taboos around the subject. Her 2022 book, Menopausing, won book of the year at the British Book Awards.
Image: McCall’s brain cancer was found after she was offered a health check-up as part of her menopause advocacy work. Pic: PA
The same year, McCall fronted the Channel 4 documentary Davina McCall: Sex, Mind And The Menopause, and told the BBC that perimenopausal symptoms caused her difficulties multi-tasking and she considered that she had a brain tumour or Alzheimer’s disease at the time.
In 2023, she was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to broadcasting.
The presenter has previously raised money for Cancer Research UK by running the Race For Life in honour of her late sister, Caroline Baday, who died from lung cancer in 2012 at the age of 50.
Kendrick Lamar is leading this year’s Grammy nominations, up for nine trophies, including record, song and album of the year.
The 38-year-old swept last year’s awards, taking home five gongs for his hit dis track Not Like Us.
The varied bag of Grammynominees – featuring big names and a few surprises – also saw K-pop stars, a knighted British rocker and a Hollywood leading man make it into the Grammy competition.
Image: Lady Gaga earlier this year. Pic: AP
Lady Gaga (who is up for record, song and album of the year too), Jack Antonoff and Canadian record producer-songwriter Cirkut follow Lamar with seven nominations each.
Sabrina Carpenter got six nods, matching her nomination tally for last year.
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Alongside Lamar’s GNX, other albums to make it into the best album category this year include Lady Gaga’s Mayhem and Bad Bunny’s Debí Tirar Más Fotos (only the second all-Spanish language album to be nominated in the category, following the Puerto Rican rapper’s 2023 all-Spanish album Un Verano Sin Ti).
They are all potential first-time winners in the category.
Image: Sabrina Carpenter is up for six awards. Pic: AP
Also up for the top album prize are Sabrina Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend, Justin Bieber’s Swag, Clipse, Pusha T & Malice’s Let God Sort Em Out, Leon Thomas’s Mutt, and Tyler, the Creator’s Chromakopia.
Despite releasing a new album earlier this year, Taylor Swift, didn’t make it on to the best album nominees as The Life Of A Showgirl came out after the close of the eligibility period. The window ran from 31 August 2024 to 30 August 2025.
Image: Rosé from Blackpink. Pic: AP
K-pop gets its moment
With K-pop typically ignored by the Grammys (BTS are the only K-pop artists to previously get a nod) this year saw two K-pop tracks in contention for best song.
Golden, the lead track from global phenomenon KPop Demon Hunters and APT, the megahit by former Blackpink member Rosé alongside Bruno Mars, both made it on to the list.
Rosé got nods in four other categories, including best record, while KPop Demon Hunters got three other nominations, including in the best pop duo/group performance category.
Image: Lola Young is up for best new arist. Pic: Amy Harris/Invision/AP
British artist Lola Young, who is the niece of acclaimed children’s writer Julia Donaldson, got a nod in the best new artist category, alongside Olivia Dean. Both topped the UK charts this year.
They will compete against KATSEYE, The Marias, Addison Rae, sombr, Leon Thomas and Alex Warren. Last year the category was won by Good Luck, Babe! singer Chappell Roan.
Image: Sir Elton John in Never Too Late. Pic: Walt Disney Pictures
Timothée Chalamet is up for a Grammy
In less expected Grammy news, Sir Elton John also got a nod alongside US singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile for the song Never Too Late, which features on the soundtrack of the 2024 Sir Elton documentary of the same name.
Meanwhile, actor Timothée Chalamet got his first Grammy nod in the best compilation soundtrack for visual media category for his work on Oscar-nominated movie A Complete Unknown, in which he played Bob Dylan.
Image: Timothee Chalamet as Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown. Pic: Searchlight Pictures 2024
Nominations were announced by past Grammy winners, including Sabrina Carpenter, Doechii and last year’s best new artist winner, Chappell Roan.
Sharon, Kelly and Jack Osbourne came together to announce the rock and metal album nominationsin tribute to Ozzy, who died in July. He had previously won in both categories.
Image: The Osbournes announced the best rock and metal album nominations. Pic: Grammys/Recording Academy
The annual ceremony– which gives out a whopping 95 gongs in total – has four big categories: album, record and song of the year, and best new artist.
Following Beyoncé’s historic win for best album and best country album for Cowboy Carter, this year the country category has been divided into two: best traditional country album and best contemporary country album.
There’s also the new addition of a standalone category for best album cover.
Last year, Beyoncé made history as the Grammy’s most nominated artist, winning album of the year for the first time.
Winners will be chosen by the roughly 15,000 voting members of the Recording Academy.
The 68th Grammy Awards take place on Sunday, 1 February 2026, at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
Main category nominees
Album Of The Year DeBi TiRAR MaS FOtoS, Bad Bunny Swag, Justin Bieber Man’s Best Friend, Sabrina Carpenter Let God Sort Em Out, Clipse, Pusha T and Malice MAYHEM, Lady Gaga GNX, Kendrick Lamar Mutt, Leon Thomas CHROMAKOPIA, Tyler, The Creator
Record Of The Year DtMF, Bad Bunny Manchild, Sabrina Carpenter Anxiety, Doechii Wildflower, Billie Eilish Abracadabra, Lady Gaga luther, Kendrick Lamar with SZA The Subway, Chappell Roan APT, Bruno Mars and Rosé
Song Of The Year Abracadabra, Lady Gaga Anxiety, Doechii APT, Bruno Mars and Rosé DtMF, Bad Bunny Golden, EJAE, Audrey Nuna and REI AMI luther, Kendrick Lamar with SZA Manchild, Sabrina Carpenter Wildflower, Billie Eilish
Best New Artist Olivia Dean KATSEYE The Marias Addison Rae sombr Leon Thomas Alex Warren Lola Young