Joy Crookes: Last News

So, after a month’s delay – due to the death of the Queen on the night when this was originally supposed to happen – Little Simz was last night handed this year’s Mercury Prize for her album ‘Sometimes I Might Be Introvert’. As we all knew it would be. I mean, imagine if they hadn’t given it to Little Simz.Even though it was obvious that none of the others would win, they all still turned up to the ceremony at the Hammersmith Apollo. All except Harry Styles, who couldn’t be fucked.

Jools Holland‘s traditional New Year’s Eve show on BBC2 has been announced.Jools’ Annual Hootenanny will see the likes of Rod Stewart, Joss Stone, Olivia Dean, Paul Jones, P.P. Arnold, RAYE, Sugababes and The Mary Wallopers seeing in 2024.Other guests include Boogie Woogie Queen, Ruby Turner and as always, the Pipes & Drums of the 1st Battalion Scot Guards will feature, as the hour strikes midnight.Details of which songs the artists will perform on the night are yet to be announced.This year’s show will air from 11.30pm GMT on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer this Sunday (December 31).

Joy Crookes has announced plans to play a charity show in London to raise money for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The R&B singer will perform at Hackney Church in the capital on December 5, with the money raised going towards the non-governmental organisation Choose Love, who work closely with refugees and are involved on the ground in Gaza. Tickets for the show went on sale on Wednesday (November 22), and have already sold out.

Labrinth has announced the arrival of his third child in a sweet Instagram post. The musician, 34, shared a video of a sonogram to Instagram as he confirmed the little one’s name as Aura Sapphire. In the caption, Labrinth - whose real name is Timothy McKenzie - wrote in the caption: “I celebrate something bigger than me today.

London rapper Little Simz won big at last night's Mercury Prize ceremony as she was awarded with both the Album of the Year and Best New Artist trophies.In her acceptance speech for Album of the Year, she told the ceremony she was "very overwhelmed and grateful" to win the Mercury Prize.The rapper was up against Yard Act, Wet Leg, Self Esteem, Sam Fender, Nova Twins, Kojey Radical, Joy Crookes, Jessie Buckley and Bernard Butler, Harry Styles, Gwenno and Fergus McCreadie for the coveted award.She was crowned winner at Hammersmith Apollo in London on Tuesday night (October 18), after the ceremony was delayed by a month following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September.The judging panel said: "In a year that has, to put it mildly, presented rather a lot of challenges, British and Irish music has thrived more than ever."When it came down to it, the judges were so impressed by Sometimes I Might Be Introvert by Little Simz that everyone could get behind it."But who is Little Simz and what did she do before she became a rapper? Here's everything you need to know:Little Simz, whose real name is Simbiatu "Simbi" Abisola Abiola Ajikawo, is an award-winning rapper from Islington in London.She was raised on a council estate by her mother and father alongside her siblings .Little Simz rose to fame with the independent release of her first three albums, A Curious Tale of Trials + Persons (2015), Stillness in Wonderland (2016) and Grey Area (2019).When Grey Area was released, it was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize and won the awards for Best Album at both the Ivor Novello Awards and the NME Awards.

Little Simz has won the 2022 Mercury Prize for her album ‘Sometimes I Might Be Introvert’.The London rapper was favourite to take the prize and beat off competition from fellow favourites Self Esteem and Wet Leg at a live ceremony at the Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith tonight (October 18).Accepting the trophy, she said: “Wow, I’m very, very overwhelmed. I’m very grateful, glory to God.

Sam Fender has announced two huge gigs in Belfast and Dublin next summer.The singer-songwriter will headline Belfast Belsonic festival on Friday, June 23 and Dublin’s Malahide Castle on June 25, 2023.Tickets for both shows will go on sale this Friday (October 21) at 10am and can be purchased here.Fender also said a pre-sale will be held prior to the general sale and will be sent out via his mailing list.A post shared by Sam Fender (@sam_fender)Both shows will follow his forthcoming double header at Newcastle United’s St.

The Mercury Prize has announced details of its rescheduled 2022 ceremony, which is set to take place next week – the original show having been pulled at the very last minute due to the death of the Queen last month.Eleven of this year’s nominated artists – Fergus McCreadie, Gwenno, Jessie Buckley & Bernard Butler, Joy Crookes, Kojey Radical, Little Simz, Nova Twins, Sam Fender, Self Esteem, Wet Leg and Yard Act – will perform live.Harry Styles will be the only absence, because he just can’t be bothered. Also, he’s on tour in the US. I suppose thats a fairly good excuse.

Mercury Prize have confirmed the line-up of live performers for this year’s rescheduled award ceremony.The 2022 prize had been due to be presented last month at the Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith, London, but the ceremony was called off on the night (September 8) following the death of the Queen.The 2022 Mercury Prize ceremony will now take place on Tuesday (October 18), with the show set to be hosted by Lauren Laverne and broadcast on BBC TV and radio.This morning (October 13), the Mercury Prize organisers have confirmed the line-up of live performers on the night.

Queen Elizabeth II died peacefully at the age of 96 at Balmoral, ending her 70-year reign.News of her majesty’s death came after it was announced on Thursday lunchtime that she was under medical supervision and ‘comfortable’.In light of the news, the Mercury Prize will not go ahead as planned today, however will be rescheduled for a later date. A spokesperson said in a statement: ‘Tonight’s Mercury Prize event has been postponed at this time of great national sorrow.

Mercury Prize have been released, with Self Esteem, Little Simz and Wet Leg among the favourites.The 12 albums that have been shortlisted for the Album Of The Year award were announced earlier this summer.Self Esteem’s ‘Prioritise Pleasure’ is currently favourite to clinch the prize on aggregate bookies’ website Oddschecker, with odds of 27-10, closely followed by Little Simz’ ‘Sometimes I Might be Introvert’ at 3-1 while Wet Leg’s self-titled debut album has odds of 9-2.Gwenno’s ‘Tresor’ is further back at 12-1 while Yard Act’s ‘The Overload’ is 14-1. Nova Twins’ ‘Supernova’ is coming in at 16-1 while Kojey Radical‘s ‘Reason To Smile’ is at 22-1, closely followed by albums by Sam Fender, Jessie Buckley & Bernard Butler.Harry Styles’ ‘Harry’s House’ is tied at 28-1 with Joy Crookes‘ ‘Skin’ while Fergus McCreadie currently has odds of 40-1 with ‘Forest Floor’.Speaking about her nomination, Self Esteem recently told NME.

Sam Fender, Wet Leg, Self Esteem and more are all set to perform at next month’s 2022 Mercury Prize ceremony in London.Last month (July 26), the 12 albums that have been shortlisted for the Album Of The Year award were announced, including Harry Styles’ ‘Harry’s House’, Little Simz’s ‘Sometimes I Might be Introvert’, Sam Fender’s ‘Seventeen Going Under’, Wet Leg’s self-titled album and Yard Act’s ‘The Overload’.Also on the shortlist are Self Esteem (‘Prioritise Pleasure’), Joy Crookes (‘Skin’), Kojey Radical (‘Reason To Smile’), Nova Twins (‘Supernova’), Fergus McCreadie (‘Forest Floor’), Gwenno (‘Tresor’) and Jessie Buckley & Bernard Butler (‘For All Our Days That Tear The Heart’).11 of the 12 nominees have now been confirmed to perform live at the September 8 ceremony at London’s Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith. Only Harry Styles is unable to attend, and will instead pre-record a special performance that will be broadcast at the ceremony.The 2022 Mercury Prize ceremony will be hosted by Lauren Laverne and broadcast on BBC Four from 9pm-10.15pm BST.

Charli XCX and AJ Tracey have been announced by Reading & Leeds Festival as replacements for Måneskin and Jack Harlow.Earlier this week, the festival organisers released a statement saying they were “saddened” after it emerged that Måneskin and Harlow had pulled out of this year’s festival in order to attend the MTV VMAs.Harlow had been due to perform alongside Arctic Monkeys on Leeds Festival’s final day, with Måneskin appearing before Rage Against The Machine on Reading’s closing day (August 28) – the same day as this year’s VMAs in Newark, New Jersey.“We are working on some exciting replacements to join Arctic Monkeys, Dave, Bring Me The Horizon, The 1975, Halsey, Megan Thee Stallion, D-Block Europe, PinkPantheress, Joy Crookes, Fontaines DC, Bastille, Willow, Wolf Alice, Glass Animals, Hybrid Minds and many others at Reading & Leeds Festivals this August Bank Holiday weekend, watch this space!” R&L organisers said in their statement.The festival organisers have now announced that Charli XCX and AJ Tracey will be the acts replacing Jack Harlow and Måneskin on the line-up.You can see the amended line-up here:6 DAYS TO GO

VMAs, the music festival has said in a statement.The musicians were confirmed to play at the annual festivals, set for August 26 to 28, but have now been added to the line-up for the awards show in New York City on August 28.Reading and Leeds organisers issued a statement on the cancellation, saying: ‘We are saddened to hear that Jack Harlow and Maneskin have decided to perform at an award show the same weekend that they were confirmed to playing Reading & Leeds.‘We are working on some exciting replacements to join Arctic Monkeys, Dave, Bring Me The Horizon, The 1975, Halsey, Megan Thee Stallion, D-Block Europe, PinkPantheress, Joy Crookes, Fontaines DC, Bastille, Willow, Wolf Alice, Glass Animals, Hybrid Minds and many others at Reading & Leeds Festivals this August bank holiday weekend, watch this space!’Maneskin announced last week that they would not be performing at Reading and Leeds ‘due to unforeseen scheduling conflicts’.‘We love and miss the UK and all of our beloved UK fans and we’re absolutely gutted to no longer be able to play these shows,’ they added.‘We’re really excited for the year to come and want to thank you for your support and patience, we’ll hopefully be back in the UK soon and we can’t wait to see you at the O2 Arena in London next year.

Reading & Leeds Festival organisers have said that Måneskin and Jack Harlow pulled out of this year’s festival to play an awards ceremony.This year’s R+L falls on the same weekend that both acts will be performing at the MTV Video Music Awards.Harlow had been due to perform alongside Arctic Monkeys on Leeds Festival’s final day with Måneskin appearing before Rage Against The Machine on Reading’s closing (August 28) – the same day as this year’s VMAs in Newark, New Jersey.Måneskin, however, announced earlier this month that they were pulling out of this year’s Reading & Leeds due to “scheduling conflicts”.In a statement issued at the time on social media, the band wrote: “We are sad to announce that unfortunately due to unforeseen scheduling conflicts, we are no longer able to perform at Readings & Leeds festival this year.

Irish alt-pop upstart April has announced the details for her debut, major-label mixtape STARLANE, as well as sharing a brand new track, 54321.

Megan Thee Stallion has confirmed that her next album is now finished.The Houston rapper shared the news on her Instagram Stories alongside a picture of herself working in the studio.“So happy abt my album,” she captioned the picture, before adding: “it’s finished.”She went on: “it’s honest, it’s me, it’s real” and said “it’s for the hotties”, in reference to her fans.In another story slide, Stallion also teased a collaboration with fellow Houston artist Sauce Walka, after tagging the rapper in the post.You can see the posts here:Earlier this month, Megan Thee Stallion confirmed that she will play London’s Brixton Academy ahead of her headline slot at this year’s Reading & Leeds Festival – get tickets here.Megan is set to perform at the 4,921-capacity venue on Thursday, August 24.Megan Thee Stallion’s headline show at Brixton Academy follows on from appearances at both Wireless Festival (where she joined Cardi B onstage for ‘WAP’) and Glastonbury.Megan is due to close Reading’s Main Stage West on the Friday night (August 25) before appearing at Leeds on the Saturday (26).

Mercury Prize have been sharing their excitement over being shortlisted for the prestigious award.This morning (July 26), the Mercury Prize – in partnership with mobility app FREE NOW – confirmed that Harry Styles‘ ‘Harry’s House’, Little Simz‘ ‘Sometimes I Might be Introvert’, Sam Fender‘s ‘Seventeen Going Under’, Wet Leg‘s self-titled LP and Yard Act‘s ‘The Overload’ are among the 12 records in the running for the annual Album Of The Year statue.The rest of the list is made up of Self Esteem (‘Prioritise Pleasure’), Joy Crookes (‘Skin’), Kojey Radical (‘Reason To Smile’), Nova Twins (‘Supernova’), Fergus McCreadie (‘Forest Floor’), Gwenno (‘Tresor’) and Jessie Buckley & Bernard Butler (‘For All Our Days That Tear The Heart’).The winner will be announced during an event at London’s Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith on September 8.Reacting to the nod on Twitter, Wet Leg – aka Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers – wrote: “We’re so freakin lucky that we got to make the album that we made. These past couple of years have been full of surprises and unexpected adventures.“Here’s perhaps one of our fave surprises so far…Our debut album has been shortlisted for a @MercuryPrize!?”Elsewhere, Sam Fender said he was “so chuffed” that ‘Seventeen Going Under’ (NME‘s album of the year 2021) had made the Mercurys list.

Mercury Prize shortlist for 2022 Album Of The Year has been revealed.At 11am today (July 26), the Mercury Prize – in partnership with mobility app FREE NOW – confirmed that the 12 albums that have been shortlisted for the Album Of The Year award include Harry Styles’ ‘Harry’s House’, Little Simz’s ‘Sometimes I Might be Introvert’, Sam Fender’s ‘Seventeen Going Under’, Wet Leg’s self-titled album and Yard Act’s ‘The Overload’.You can find the entire list of albums shortlisted for the coveted award below.The awards show for the event will take place on September 8 at London’s Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith. Tickets for the event are now available for purchase here.It was announced yesterday (July 25) that a handful of musicians including Anna Calvi, Lanterns On The Lake’s Hazel Wilde, Loyle Carner and Jamie Cullum helped judge this year’s prize, alongside a range of broadcasters and critics.The Mercury’s official website has also noted that the 12 nominated artists will “receive a specially commissioned ‘Album Of The Year’ trophy, with the overall winner also receiving a winner trophy and a cash prize of £25,000”.This year’s Mercury Prize has also announced that it’s new headline sponsor is the FREE NOW mobility app as part of a “multi-year commitment from FREE NOW to support British music”.Last year, Arlo Parks walked away with the 2021 Mercury Prize for her album ‘Collapsed In Sunbeams’.

This year’s Mercury Prize shortlist has been announced, rounding up the twelve absolute best British and Irish albums of the last year. No question. Actually, before you get all annoyed, it is a very strong list this year.

Joy Crookes caught up with NME backstage at Glastonbury 2022, where she gave us the lowdown on what it was like to make the jump to Pyramid Stage, as well working with England football squad, The Lionesses.While upset that she was “still in a tent” while staying at the festival, the 23-year-old singer was proud to have made the jump to the main stage. “I played at the Pussy Parlour in 2019 before the pandemic and it’s mad I’m on the Pyramid stage this time,” she told NME.”When asked what it’s like to play on the world’s most important festival stage, she replied: “Funny, if you should put it like that. It was surreal, absolutely surreal.