Guy Pratt: Last News

Pink Floyd are on course for a rare top 20 appearance in the charts, making it their first in 42 years.Released in March this year, ‘Hey, Hey, Rise Up!’, the band’s first original material since 1994’s ‘Division Bell’ album. The track was released to draw attention to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and to raise funds for those affected by the war, with all proceeds from the song donated to Ukrainian Humanitarian Relief.The song peaked at number 49 in the charts in April following its digital-only release.Now, after the rollout of physical copies of the track, it’s looking to be at number 18 according to ‘First Look’, which ranks songs based on their sales and streams (via Billboard).If it continues to sell and stream at a similar pace to now, it means Pink Floyd will have their first top 20 appearance in the charts since 1979’s ‘Brick In The Wall’ this week.‘Hey Hey Rise Up’ was recorded in March of this year.

The Who‘s Pete Townshend thinks “somebody needs to occasionally slap” producer Rick Rubin over his polarising ideas about creativity.Rubin, who has previously worked with the likes of Adele, The Strokes and Red Hot Chili Peppers, published a best-selling book detailing his ideas about creativity called The Creative Act: A Way Of Being last year. Notably, he suggested that art is only ‘pure’ if made for the artist themself and not for an audience.In an appearance on Gary Kemp and Guy Pratt’s Rockonteurs podcast, a discussion about creativity led Townshend to criticise Rubin’s philosophy, or more specifically the idea of having any sort of doctrine around the process of making art.“You see a lot of stuff on YouTube and Instagram, people nagging you about the way that you have to be creative,” Townshend began. “Somebody needs to occasionally slap Rick Rubin, because, one minute he’s telling us that we need to do whatever we like, and then, on the other hand, he’s telling us that we mustn’t do this, and we mustn’t do that.”“The book of rules for me is… I’ve dabbled with all of those methods.

Nick Mason has expressed his desire to use AI to create new Pink Floyd songs.The drummer recently gave an interview to The Sunday Mirror (via Music News), where he discussed the potential to forge a Pink Floyd reunion via AI. David Gilmour declared the band to be over in 2015, saying that the iconic prog-rock band had “run its course.”“It would be fascinating to see what AI could do with new music,” Mason told The Sunday Mirror.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic David Gilmour, who has often given off the appearance of being happily retired, hasn’t been keeping himself from the studio after all. The ex-Pink Floyd singer-guitarist has announced his first album in nine years, “Luck and Strange,” and he’s giving everyone time to prepare for it, with the release not coming till Sept.

Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan has revealed how Iggy Pop helped him through a “bad mushroom trip” when he was a teenager.While appearing on the Rockonteurs podcast, hosted by Spandau Ballet’s Gary Kemp and esteemed session musician Guy Pratt, McKagan opened up about the event that occurred when he was 14 years old and how the former Stooges frontman helped him out.“Iggy Pop got me through a bad mushroom trip. I went to an Iggy show way too high on mushrooms, thinking I was going to have to go to the hospital, freaking out,” MaKagan told kemp and Pratt.He continued: “I just watched Iggy the whole, just tripping way too much on psychedelics.

David Gilmour‘s wife, Polly Sampson, has been sharing photos on social media of her husband working on a “new album” in the studio.The Pink Floyd guitarist has been spending time working at his Brighton recording studio. His recent studio visits have been documented by his wife, who is an author and lyricist, and shared on her personal Instagram.In the photos, Gilmour is seen with various artists such as Brian Eno‘s brother, Pianist Roger Eno and Guy Pratt – who has worked with both Pink Floyd and Gilmour on various occasions.A post shared by Polly Samson (@pollysamson)Other artists seen in the photos include drummer Adam Betts, who has worked with Pulp and dance acts including Pete Tong, Goldie and Squarepusher, bassist Tom Herbert, who has played with Mercury Prize nominated bands The Invisible and Polar Bear, and producer Charlie Andrew whose credits include Alt-J, James, Wolf Alice and London Grammar.Though there is no exact reason as to what Gilmour’s studio sessions are for, the Pink Floyd fansite Neptune Pink Floyd reported that Samson had told Romanian entertainment website Zile si Nopti that Gilmour is working on an album of original material.A post shared by Polly Samson (@pollysamson)A post shared by Polly Samson (@pollysamson)Gilmour’s “new album” would mark his first LP since 2015’s ‘Rattle That Lock’.

Robert Plant has performed the Led Zeppelin classic ‘Stairway To Heaven’ live for the first time since 2007. Find footage of the moment below.The solo artist and former Led Zeppelin frontman revisited the iconic 1971 track – taken from the band’s ‘Led Zeppelin IV’ album – during a charity concert on Saturday night (October 21).Held for The Cancer Platform, the live show was developed by the Cancer Awareness Trust and organised by former Duran Duran guitarist Andy Taylor.

Alex James has shared a video of him playing ‘Vindaloo’ at Wembley Stadium before Blur’s headline show at the venue.The 1998 football song was co-written by James, actor Keith Allen and bassist Guy Pratt. The track served as the band Fat Les’ (Alex James, actor Keith Allen and artist Damien Hirst) debut single and was recorded for the 1998 FIFA World Cup.James took to social media to share a video clip of him playing ‘Vindaloo’ on the Wembley Stadium stage during Blur’s soundcheck for their show on July 9.

Pink Floyd have announced a physical release date for their Ukraine benefit single ‘Hey Hey Rise Up’, which marked the rock titans’ first new song in 25 years when it arrived digitally back in April.The new song will be available as both a seven-inch vinyl and CD single on July 15 in the UK, Europe and other markets, while it will be released on August 3 in Japan. In North America, Canada, Australia and Mexico, it will arrive on October 21.The B-side will feature a reworked version of ‘A Great Day For Freedom’, from Pink Floyd’s 1994 album ‘The Division Bell’, reimagined by David Gilmour based on the original tapes for the track.‘Hey Hey Rise Up’ was recorded in March of this year.

Pink Floyd are heading towards their first Top 10 single in the UK for 43 years. 

Pink Floyd have come back together and released a new track in order to raise funds for Ukraine Humanitarian Relief. The track is called ‘Hey, Hey, Rise Up’ and features a sample of Andriy Khlyvnyuk, singer with the Ukrainian band Boombox.From the classic Pink Floyd line-up, David Gilmour and Nick Mason are both involved in the new recording.

Pink Floyd have reunited to release their first original music in nearly 30 years today. 

saw an Instagram video of the musician in military gear singing a protest song in Kyiv’s Sofiyskaya Square and then felt inspired to do something about it. “I thought: that is pretty magical and maybe I can do something with this,” Gilmour told the Guardian. “I’ve got a big platform that [Pink Floyd] have worked on for all these years.

Pink Floyd are set to release their first new music in 28 years tomorrow (April 8) to aid the relief effort in Ukraine.The new track, titled ‘Hey, Hey, Rise Up’, features a sample of Andriy Khlyvnyuk, the singer of Ukrainian band Boombox, and is the band’s first original music to be released since their 1994 album ‘The Division Bell’. All proceeds from the song will go to Ukraine Humanitarian Relief.A press release reveals that Pink Floyd – who comprise David Gilmour, Nick Mason, Guy Pratt (bass) and Nitin Sawhney (keyboards) for the song – recorded ‘Hey, Hey, Rise Up’ on March 30 this year, and that an accompanying video directed by Mat Whitecross has also been shot.Discussing the new song in a statement, Gilmour said: “I hope it will receive wide support and publicity.

Chris Willman Music WriterPink Floyd has announced that a newly recorded single under the band banner, “Hey Hey Rise Up,” will come out Friday, with lead vocals not by David Gilmour but rather a Ukrainian singer, whose a cappella vocals from an Instagram post shot in Kyiv’s Sofiyskaya Square have been set to music by the veteran band.The music for the new song was recorded March 30 by longtime members Gilmour and Nick Mason, along with longtime bass player Guy Pratt and keyboardist Nitin Sawhney. (Roger Waters, who split from the group in the mid-1980s, did not participate.)The vocalist grafted into the new Pink Floyd track is Andriy Khlyvnyuk of the Ukrainian band Boombox.

Graham Coxon has said that Blur will “always be capable” of reforming whenever the time is right.Speaking to Gary Kemp and Guy Pratt on their Rockonteurs podcast, Coxon said that Blur’s 2009 reunion to headline Glastonbury was a real turning point on his view of the band, and – having settled his differences with Damon Albarn – there is always the possibility that they’ll do more together.Of that Glastonbury set, he says: “It was great because I played [the songs] in a completely different way. I didn’t feel forced to play them and I felt more grateful for the situation, and PAs had come on a long way … So you could hear yourself clearly, it was less of a struggle in that way, the audiences were huge and happy, and I thought ‘well, this is a flipping good job, I’m playing a lovely guitar through a Marshall that’s cranked right up, I’m singing and I can hear myself’.

Elvis Presley was once tasked with spying on John Lennon by then-US president Richard Nixon, according to legendary music presenter and DJ ‘Whispering’ Bob Harris.In a new interview on the Rockonteurs podcast, Harris spoke of how Nixon “loathed” the Beatles star due to his public and vicious criticism of the Vietnam War.During the interview with hosts Gary Kemp and Guy Pratt, Harris claimed that Nixon recruited Presley, who was a “great friend” of the late President, to spy on Lennon, adding that if Lennon ever left the United States during Nixon’s tenure, he wouldn’t be allowed back in.“It sounded like it was almost a figment of [Lennon’s] imagination when he was saying, ‘My phone was tapped, I get followed everywhere’ — but it was true;

Marianne Faithfull is still suffering with the after-effects of Covid-19.The 74-year-old musician was in a London hospital for three weeks in April 2020 as she received treatment for coronavirus symptoms, and she is still struggling with memory loss and fatigue, while her lungs haven’t fully recovered.During an appearance on the Rockonteurs podcast, she had to end the chat after 23 minutes because she was feeling tired.‘I can’t do much more,’ she admitted, before saying she wanted to stop the interview.

David Bowie, Freddie Mercury and Mick Jagger during his pre-fame days.Appearing on Gary Kemp and Guy Pratt’s Rockonteurs podcast, the Bon Jovi frontman spoke about the time he spent working at The Power Station recording studio in New York when he was just 18 years old.“They paid me $50 a week to be the gofer and if it was a weekend or a late, late night, I could go in and record,” he remembered.Bon Jovi went on to reveal that he spotted Bowie and the Queen frontman at the studios one night as they recorded their 1981 collaboration ‘Under Pressure’.