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music
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Usher accused of sexual battery and fraud in lawsuit over herpes claimsThe R&B singer is accused of concealing an alleged herpes infection from people he had sexual contact with -
Two members of Pussy Riot detained in Russia for Oleg Sentsov protestFeminist punk group members Olga Borisova and Maria Alyokhina were held for several hours after protesting against the imprisonment of Ukrainian film-maker Sentsov
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Salt-N-Pepa's Push It‘An aquarium told us that when they put the song on, the sharks started mating’ -
CW Stoneking – wry revivalist makes party music for the presentThe droll Australian repurposes old trad jazz, blues, calypso and country sounds into fresh, absurdist entertainment
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Ronnie Wood rejected chemotherapy for lung cancerThe Rolling Stones guitarist opened up about his cancer scare, saying ‘by rights I shouldn’t be here’
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10 of the best songsWith Karen’s silky-smooth, heartfelt vocals and Richard’s genius as a songwriter and arranger, the brother-and-sister duo pioneered melodic, melancholic pop
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Your songs about lossThis week’s reader-curated playlist certainly wasn’t at a loss for suggestions – No Doubt, the Divine Comedy and Black Sabbath are among those making the cut
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Dizzee Rascal, Mount Kimbie and moreAlso this week: Jack Johnson has somehow become even more laid back, while Mount Kimbie bring a post-punk treat
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Nastia: ‘I love jazz and want more of it to be played out’The Ukrainian selector and label boss empties the contents of her psychic record bag
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George Harliono, 16-year-old piano virtuoso, to perform with Valery GergievTeenager invited to Russia to play Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto with conductor and Mariinsky Orchestra
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Despacito becomes most-viewed video in YouTube historyWith nearly 3bn views in seven months, the recording has surpassed Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth’s See You Again record after breaking the most-streamed score
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Björk announces new album: 'This is like my Tinder record'Icelandic singer marks a change in mood from her breakup album Vulnicura, saying her new songs are about being in love
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Brian Wilson – frail Beach Boy isn't made for these timesThe band are fantastic, the songs often euphoric – but Brian Wilson is a diminished and troubling presence at the heart of this Beach Boys revue
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Kate Nash – spry confessionals from pop prizefighterOn a self-funded tour to mark 10 years since her No 1 debut album, Kate Nash is as physical a performer as she is on Netflix wrestling drama Glow
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Brian Eno reissues – beautiful, astounding music that goes back to the futureAfter leaving Roxy Music, Eno created solo albums presaging everything from post-punk to My Bloody Valentine
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sleevenotesemail
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Post your questions nowHe topped the charts with Soft Cell, made records with Nico and once knocked Kylie and Jason off their perch. Ask Almond all about it when he visits the Guardian for a live webchat at 11.15am UK time on Monday 7 August
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Kandace Springs on Ella Fitzgerald at 100Her friends were listening to Jay-Z and Britney but for Kandace Springs it was all about Ella Fitzgerald. The jazz singer explains why she owes everything to the First Lady of Song
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video
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Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington dies aged 41 – video obituaryChester Bennington, the lead singer of Linkin Park, died at his home in Los Angeles County on Thursday morning in what is being treated as a suspected suicide
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Another world is possible, Corbyn tells Glastonbury – videoThe Labour leader speaks at Glastonbury festival on Saturday afternoon from the event’s main Pyramid stage
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Boy George covers YMCA to launch Australian youth campaign – videoThe Young Man’s Christian Association (YMCA) has aligned itself with the eponymous song, in Australia at least
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#grime4corbyn: 'I've never trusted a politician before'With several well-known British grime artists expressing support for Corbyn, the #grime4corbyn movement was born aiming to mobilise the youth vote. Iman Amrani speaks to young people at an event in north London about why they’ve been motivated to engage with the general election
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Liam Gallagher performs solo for Manchester attack fundraiser – videoLiam Gallagher goes solo for a fundraiser gig in Manchester, a week after 22 people in the city were killed by a suicide bomber
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Chris Cornell on stage just hours before his death – video reportMobile phone footage shows Chris Cornell performing as lead singer of Soundgarden for the last time. Cornell died hours later at a Detroit hotel. Police say the death of the singer is being treated as a possible suicide
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'Albino musicians could neutralise all the racial problems'
He was the musical genius who reinvented pop with the Family Stone – and threw it all away in a haze of drugs and paranoia. Now, at the age of 70, he tells Alexis Petridis in a remarkable interview about his planned comeback with an all-albino band
interviews
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On punk, reggae – and the day Joe Strummer stole his girlfriendThe film-maker, DJ and musician talks about the birth of punk, the power of reggae – and the day Joe Strummer ran off with his girlfriend
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The record company took my hard drive from meThe R&B singer endorsed by Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar explains why her much delayed album was finally – and forcibly – released
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When you're from outside London, you'd better be specialAfter an impoverished youth and a spell in jail, Bugzy Malone found an outlet in grime, giving Manchester a voice in a hitherto London-dominated scene. But, he says, the self-doubt is never far away
quizzes
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The house Elvis built turns 60: how much do you know about Graceland? – quizElvis Presley bought his Memphis mansion 60 years ago on Sunday. How well do you know the history of rock’n’roll’s White House?
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Were you paying attention? Classical music in 2016 – quizHow many of the classical world’s comings and goings, openings and closings, bouquets and brickbats do you remember from the past 12 months? Try our quiz
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How well do you know the Triple J Hottest 100? Try our infinite quizThis quiz features randomised questions dynamically generated from Hottest 100 data between 1993 and 2014
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How well do you know the life of Freddie Mercury? – quizIt’s the 25th anniversary of the death of the Queen frontman on 24 November – test your knowledge of his life and times
in pictures
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Bombay Bicycle Club's Jack Steadman: my trip around the worldAhead of recording his new soul album as Mr Jukes, Jack Steadman, frontman of Bombay Bicycle Club, made a global voyage of discovery from cargo ships to Japanese ‘kissas’. He shares his travel snaps
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Splendour in the Grass 2017 music festivalThe best images from Splendour in Byron Bay, Australia, where the XX, Queens of the Stoneage and LCD Soundsystem were among the acts
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All aboard Warpaint's world tourFrom cramped buses to Icelandic spas, the four women of experimental indie rock band Warpaint have tasted all sides of life on the road. Tour manager Robin Laananen captured it all through her camera, and shares her inside story
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Manchester's gay club heroesFrom sweaty encounters at the Haçienda to cross-dressing pageants in seedy pubs, Manchester’s music scene has always loved LGBT culture. The curator of new show Queer Noise talks us through its glorious moments – and golden codpieces
you may have missed
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I’m the one person who can say, Grime? Nah, I seen it, sorry!The rapper changed the face of British music before he went pop. His influence is stamped on the charts, but he’s not impressed by the current crop of stars – or #grime4corbyn
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How we made Ultravox's Vienna‘We were extremely arrogant and a bit too prog rock. We wanted to sound like Elgar and Grieg’
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How club culture went wild for wellnessWith non-alcoholic raves thriving and nightclubs serving up meditation and hip-hop yoga, a new breed of promoter is bringing mindfulness to the masses
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How Suicide rioted against plastic punkOne year after the death of Suicide’s Alan Vega, and amid a crop of new recordings, bandmate Martin Rev recalls their 1978 Brussels gig that turned into a riot in 23 minutes
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The strange world of folk singer Richard DawsonThe Newcastle singer meticulously researches the worlds he conjures up in song – and that can mean details of local history or the minutiae of medieval dyeing processes, he explains
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From Portishead to ScarfaceHe’s the rapper and former gang member who resists every gangsta cliche – so his music taste naturally extends from Depeche Mode to Lil Boosie and 99 Red Balloons
Music festivals David Cameron at Wilderness: a good reason to give up festivals