All five One Direction albums back in UK top 40 after death of Liam Payne

Published

9 months ago

October 25, 2024

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All five of One Direction’s studio albums have returned to the UK top 40 following the death of former member Liam Payne.

The singer died at the age of 31 after falling from a third-floor balcony of the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, last week.

The band’s 2013 album, Midnight Memories, which contains hit songs like Best Song Ever and Story Of My Life, returns at number 13 on the UK albums chart, while their last album, Made In The AM (2015) has landed at 21, according to the Official Charts Company.

At 22 is the band’s 2014 album Four. Take Me Home (2012), is at 25, and their 2011 debut album Up All Night, at 38.

Two One Direction songs have re-entered the top 10 with Night Changes reaching a new peak on the singles chart at number six and Story Of My Life re-entering at number nine.

Payne’s 2019 solo album LP1 returns to the top 100 at 62.

Dozens of celebrities and fans have paid tribute to Payne since the news of his death was announced last Wednesday, including his former partner, Cheryl, his bandmates and music mogul Simon Cowell.

The latest includes US singer Nicole Scherzinger, who was a judge on The X Factor when Payne auditioned and helped form One Direction on the show in 2010.

In an Instagram post on Friday, the former Pussycat Doll posted a photo of her, Payne and Destiny’s Child singer Kelly Rowland. The trio had been filming this summer for a new Netflix show called Building The Band, on which they were all judges.

“Dear Liam, I will forever cherish and treasure the time we shared together, from 15 years ago when One Direction was born, right up until just a few weeks ago,” Scherzinger wrote.

“It was such a blessing to get to work with you recently. We shared the same love and passion for music and I will forever remember the meaningful and joyful conversations we had.”

She ended the tribute saying: “I will ‘miss you’ my friend and carry you in my heart.”

Thousands of fans also tearfully remembered the late singer at memorial events across the UK over the weekend, including in London’s Hyde Park, as well as in the US and Buenos Aires.

Payne previously admitted he struggled with alcoholism, describing hitting “rock bottom” to The Diary Of A CEO podcast host, Steven Bartlett.

Entertainment

Snoop Dogg becomes co-owner and investor of Swansea football club saying it’s ‘an underdog just like me’

Published

3 days ago

July 18, 2025

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Snoop Dogg becomes co-owner and investor of Swansea football club saying it's 'an underdog just like me'

Snoop Dogg has become a co-owner and investor of Swansea, with the US rapper hailing the Welsh football club as “an underdog that bites back, just like me”.

The former Premier League club, which plays in the English second tier, confirmed the US rapper and producer plans to use his own money to invest in it, Sky Sports reports, although it didn’t disclose financial details.

“My love of football is well known, but it feels special to me that I make my move into club ownership with Swansea City,” the music icon said in the announcement.

“The story of the club and the area really struck a chord with me,” he added. “This is a proud, working class city and club.

“An underdog that bites back, just like me.

“I’m proud to be part of Swansea City. I am going to do all I can to help the club.”

Swansea’s American owners, led by Brett Cravatt and Jason Cohen, are trying to grow the Championship club’s global brand and increase commercial revenue.

Snoop Dogg, 53, who has 89m followers on Instagram and more than 20m on X, helped launch the team’s 2025-26 home shirt last weekend.

The club ownership group said: “To borrow a phrase from Snoop’s back catalogue, this announcement is the next episode for Swansea City as we seek to create new opportunities to boost the club’s reach and profile.”

Luka Modric, who recently signed with AC Milan from Real Madrid, joined Swansea’s ownership group in April.

Entertainment

Police taking no further action after investigating Kneecap’s Glastonbury show

Published

3 days ago

July 18, 2025

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Police taking no further action after investigating Kneecap's Glastonbury show

Police are taking no further action over Kneecap’s performance at Glastonbury.

Officers said they had investigated “comments about a forthcoming court case made during Kneecap’s performance” at the festival on 28 June.

However, after Crown Prosecution Service advice, they decided there is not enough evidence “to provide a realistic prospect of conviction for any offence”.

The Avon & Somerset force started investigating the Irish group’s show last month, as well as comments by punk-rap duo Bob Vylan.

It said they were looking at a possible public order incident.

Police said on Friday that the investigation into Bob Vylan’s performance was ongoing.

The London duo were widely criticised – and caused a BBC crisis – after leading on-stage chants of “death to the IDF” (Israel Defence Forces).

Kneecap posted a photograph on Instagram, which the group said was an email from police announcing the case was being dropped.

They said their packed Glastonbury gig was a “celebration of love and solidarity” and reporting used “wildly misleading headlines”.

Fears over what Kneecap might do or say during the performance had prompted the BBC not to show it live.

The group said: “Every single person who saw our set knew no law was broken, not even close… yet the police saw fit to publicly announce they were opening an investigation.”

“There is no public apology, they don’t send this to media or post it on police accounts,” they added.

The police statement on Friday said they had informed Kneecap of their decision to drop the case.

One of the group’s members appeared in court in June charged with a terror offence.

Liam Og O hAnnaidh is accused of displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah, a proscribed organisation in the UK, at a gig last year.

He was released on unconditional bail ahead of a second court appearance in August.

Entertainment

Tomorrowland: ‘Devastating’ blaze destroys main stage at major festival – two days before it was due to begin

Published

4 days ago

July 17, 2025

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Tomorrowland: 'Devastating' blaze destroys main stage at major festival - two days before it was due to begin

A huge fire has destroyed the main stage of a major festival in Belgium – two days before it was due to begin.

Tomorrowland is a dance music event as big as Glastonbury – and David Guetta was due to perform.

Footage showed flames and thick plumes of black smoke engulfing the stage and spreading to nearby woodland on Wednesday.

The annual festival in the town of Boom, north of Brussels, is one of the biggest in Europe and attracts about 400,000 people over two consecutive weekends.

It is famous for its immersive and elaborate designs and attracts big names within dance music – including Guetta, best known for tracks When Love Takes Over and Titanium.

Dutch DJs Martin Garrix and Charlotte de Witte were also due to perform, along with the likes of Swedish House Mafia, Eric Prydz and Alok.

The festival’s website described the creative elements which went into the elaborate main stage.

The theme, described as Orbyz, was “set in a magical universe made entirely out of ice” and “full of mythical creatures”.

Organisers said no one was injured in the blaze but confirmed “our beloved main stage has been severely damaged”, adding they were “devastated”.

Spokesperson Debby Wilmsen added: “We received some truly terrible news today. A fire broke out on the Tomorrowland site … and our main stage was essentially destroyed there, which is truly awful.

“That’s a stage that took years to build, with so much love and passion. So I think a lot of people are devastated.”