Entertainment News

The annual event which celebrates independent music and arts venues and the people who run them, Independent Venue Week is drawing to an end. Having ran throughout the week, the importance of playing live, especially at the beginning of any artist’s career, has been at the centre as local radio shows showed their massive support of their local singers, bands and independent venues.

The Saudi Motorsport Company (SMC) – Promoter of the Formula 1 STC Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2023 – is delighted to confirm that multi-award winning Superstar DJ and music producer Calvin Harris, will perform at this year’s event taking place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia from 17th-19th March 2023.

The Scottish singer-songwriter will be joining multiple Grammy nominated US rapper Travis Scott and legendary recording artist, producer, and DJ Afrojack on the weekend’s music line-up for biggest international sporting event of the year to take place in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The concert will take place on the Main Stage of the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, F1’s longest and fastest street circuit. 

The home of blues music in Birmingham is going ‘full metal’ to commemorate a milestone event in rock history. Velvet Music Rooms on the city's golden mile of Broad Street is hosting a special session of its Birmingham Rocks nights on Sunday 12 February.

The gig will mark the 53^rd anniversary of the release of Black Sabbath’s debut album, regarded as heavy metal’s coming of age.

Union leader Mick Lynch and West Midlands Mayor Andy Street have pledged their support for cultural venues serving Birmingham’s Irish community following separate visits to a Digbeth music venue and bar.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) General Secretary, and chair of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), visited the independent music venue and community bar Nortons Digbeth to speak to rail workers and business owners respectively, using the opportunity to praise work to ensure Irish heritage is celebrated in the city-region.

Fourteen-year-old singer Kairo McLean, is leading a star-studded list of superstars, including Kirk Diamond, Celena, multiple winner Exco Levi and multiple nominee Ammoye, who will all be competing in the Reggae Recording of the Year category of the upcoming 2023 JUNO Awards.

With the nominations just being revealed in Canada, McLean, who won the award last year, is nominated twice in the category with ‘In the Streets’ and ‘Reggae Party’ featuring Kirk Diamond and Finn.

Accomplished record label Acid Jazz & Other Illicit Grooves celebrate 35 magnificent years of trailblazing music with a series of residencies touring locations across the UK where Acid Jazz was arguably the strongest influence in Birmingham, Leeds, London, Bristol and Luton.

The Music, Arts, Dance & Culture Exhibition will host exclusive Q&As with Acid Jazz stalwarts of the scene, Eddie Piller (Acid Jazz Records/DJ), Dean Rudland (Acid Jazz Records/DJ), Omar (Singer), Snowboy (DJ), John Stapleton (DJ), Perry Louis (Jazzcotech dancer and DJ), Adam Regan (DJ), The Dig Family (DJs and promoters), Adrian Gibson (AGMP), with live performances plus many more guest artists, DJs and dancers TBA.

With just under four weeks to Dominica’s carnival celebrations, the excitement for ‘Mas an Lawi’ continues to rise. Three years have passed since the Caribbean’s most ‘original’ carnival last hit the streets of Dominica, so carnival lovers are ecstatic following the carnival’s official opening on January 14th.

One of the best family get-togethers of the year, Derby’s Sausage and Cider Festival, has today announced its final line-up of tribute’s best. Headliners Björn Again, Fleetwood Bac and Johnny 2 Bad will join Rob Lamberti as George Michael for a weekend of family-friendly mayhem. 

For the 8th edition of Derbyshire’s Sausage and Cider festival, James Dean Events proudly presents the globe’s finest tribute acts for a sizzling summer of sausage, cider and more.

Rick Astley is suing rapper Yung Gravy for using an alleged impersonation of his voice on a recent single.

The singer's 1987 worldwide hit Never Gonna Give You Up is interpolated in Yung Gravy's song Betty (Get Money). The song features an alleged imitation of Astley's vocals, something the singer said had not been agreed.

Babatunde Aléshé is one of the fastest rising stars in British Comedy. After recently warming the hearts of the nation with his incredible stint in the jungle as part of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, he today announces an third Autumn leg of his massive Babatunde Aléshé: Babahood debut UK headline tour due to phenomenal demand. The tour kicked off last night in Brighton.

Spanning classic jazz to world beats, the 2023 Saint Lucia Jazz & Arts Festival will again attract visitors from around the world as the lineup includes international, local and Caribbean music. Genres include Afro beats, jazz, gospel, Soca, reggae, Zouk, pop and an array of cultural beats and exciting rhythms. The iconic and historic Pigeon Island National Park is the waterside backdrop for the open air performances.

The world’s longest-running play, The Mousetrap, will play at The Belgrade from Monday 13 – Saturday 18 February, with a press performance on Monday 13 February. The genre-defining murder mystery from Agatha Christie, the world’s best-selling novelist of all time, is visiting Coventry as part of a UK tour celebrating the 70th anniversary of its premiere in 1952 and is visiting all the cities in which it originally played 70 years ago, including Birmingham, plus many more.

Back for the 7th year running, the UK’s most nostalgic festival, Back 2 Festival, is proud to announce the final lineup for this year’s throwback extravaganza. Superstar DJ Example and pop rock band The Hoosiers among others will join headline acts Boyzlife and Basshunter on Thursday 30th June – Sunday 3rd July 2023 for a riotous celebration of 00s finest. 

Earlier this week, stars of Birmingham Hippodrome’s Dick Whittington took a break from their final week on stage to visit children and their families at Birmingham Children’s Hospital.

TV Doctor and presenter Dr Ranj who plays Spirit of the Bells, Birmingham favourite Doreen Tipton who stars as Dick Whittington’s companion Doreen the Cat and Andrew Ryan who plays Felicity Fitzwarren helped bring some of the magic of panto to the hospital’s patients and staff.

This weekend, families in Birmingham are invited to visit The Entertainer for the exclusive chance to meet YouTube’s CoComelon star, JJ. On Saturday 28th January, fans will have the opportunity to meet and snap a photo with YouTube sensation, JJ, CoComelon’s fun-filled, musical lead.

The singing superstar, JJ, will be at The Entertainer in Birmingham Bullring store for one day only before he returns to his friends and family for another toe-tapping adventure.

GRAMMY Award-winning and multi-Platinum-selling Nigerian global superstar, Wizkid, has announced a London tour date for 2023 in support of his fifth studio album, More Love, Less Ego.
 
Wizkid, will be performing for the first time live at the incredible state-of-the-art Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday, July 29th, 2023. This marks Wizkid's return to London after his historic three-date sold-out run at the O2 Arena in 2021, which was described as “a triumph for African music’s increasingly globalized reach" – Evening Standard. “The Afrobeat superstar had the O2 Arena in the palm of his hand” – The Telegraph