OHMYGOSSIP — Take That’s Gary Barlow believes that singers who don’t write their own songs can struggle to find their identity.
The 52-year-old singer has released music as a solo artist and as part of the group – who have had 28 Top 40 songs in the UK Singles Chart, including 12 Number Ones – and he believes that creating your own music is integral to having your own voice as a recording artist.
Speaking to Sky Italy, he said: “Identity is everything for an artist and I feel like when you’re a songwriter you give everything it’s identity, because you are coming up with the music.
“It must be hard if you’re not coming up with the music to find an identity. I think that is really challenging, but we are lucky, because we write our own songs.
“So we create what is in here [our hearts] not waiting for someone to do it for us, we do it ourselves.”
Bandmate Mark Owen agrees with Gary and he believes the reason for the band’s multiple hits is that they write music that they want to listen to themselves.
He said: “We are blessed. I think that is because we make the songs. It’s maybe [because] we like our own songs, we are fans of the songs that we make, so that works well.
That That were created in 1989 by music manager Nigel Martin-Smith who wanted to make the British version of boy band New Kids On The Block and the line-up was originally comprised of Gary, Mark, Howard Donald, Jason Orange and Robbie Williams
Howard insists Take That – who released ninth studio album ‘This Life’ in 2023 – have massively “evolved” since their 1992 debut LP ‘Take That and Party’.
He said: “When we first began, obviously we were put together and the idea was to be like New Kids on The Block, that was the manager’s vision, but that was back then.
“But now, I think we have evolved obviously, and as much as we still dance on stage, and we love dancing and if we come off stage and we’re not sweating, then we don’t feel like we’ve done a good enough show.
“I think now, we see ourselves as a like a vocal harmony group, because on this latest album, we have decided to put more harmonies, more vocals into each track.
“I’m not sure how we’d compare ourselves to other groups now. The fact that there is only three of us and not five, like there was originally, makes it actually difficult to compare ourselves to anybody else at the moment. But obviously through the ’90s, everybody seemed to compare those groups to Take That, we were kind of like the first one around in the UK and Europe, so maybe that’s a good thing.”

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OHMYGOSSIP — Salt-N-Pepa’s relationship is “like a marriage”.
The duo – comprising Cheryl ‘Salt’ James and Sandra ‘Pepa’ Denton – have been performing together since 1985 but have managed to remain great friends and business partners by knowing when to give other another space.
Salt told Us Weekly magazine: “We’re with each other more than we are with our own families so it’s important to give each other space. It’s like a marriage.
“Sometimes we sleep in the bed together and sometimes Pep sleeps on the couch.”
The ‘Push It’ hitmakers also revealed winning a Grammy Award in 1995 was a career high for them, especially after they protested the lack of hip-hop on the televised version of the ceremony by boycotting in 1989.
Asked their career highlight, Pepa said: “Winning the Grammy in 1995. We boycotted the Grammy in 1989 because we’d been nominated but hip-hop was never televised. We were really fighting for our music to be visual and seen. To go on to win and be received a few years later, it felt good.”
The duo recently admitted they were proud to have “stood out” in a male-dominated genre, even though they were often “skipped over”, despite selling more records than men in hip-hip.
Pepa told Refinery29’s Unbothered platform as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the genre: “For us, coming up in hip-hop as female MCs, it’s a male-dominated field. It was very hard knowing that we were charting so hard and more than the male rappers but still wasn’t getting that respect or the acknowledgment that we deserved.
“We were skipped over when someone was selling [as much as us] so it was frustrating and that hurt. But we kept going.”

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OHMYGOSSIP — Chaka Khan has retired from touring because she wants to spend more time with her great-grandchildren.
The 70-year-old music legend has been on the road regularly since launching her career in the 1970s, but she has now decided she wants to take more time off to focus on her family so she won’t be heading out on any more tours.
She told Rolling Stone: “Some people, that’s [music] all they have, you know? I got this rich-ass life. I’ve got great-grandchildren I want to get to know better. So I will not do another tour.”
However, Chaka is adamant she will still perform one-off shows which give her plenty of time off inbetween.
She added: “I’ll do dates, but it won’t look like a tour. They’ll be far enough apart that I can have time to sleep in between.”
When asked if she will ever retire completely, she joked: “Well, I might do that three or four times, like other b****** do.”
Chaka added of her legacy: “I don’t really care. I would hope that some of my [stuff] has some longevity, but if it doesn’t, that’ll be because hopefully somebody better has come along.
“I just hope that the art form doesn’t get so screwed up with stupid [stuff] – kids today think that every instrument can be played on a keyboard. Instruments have to be introduced once again to these kids.”
Chaka’s big news comes amid rumours she’s being lined up for a huge gig at Britain’s Glastonbury Festival next summer. A recent report suggested she’s going head-to-head with Shania Twain for the event’s coveted Legends slot.
A source told The Sun newspaper’s Bizarre column: “Talks have been ongoing for months and months with both Chaka and Shania. Organisers have left it far later than usual to nail down the festival’s three headliners and that has meant no decision has been made about who to choose for the Legend slot.
“But Chaka and Shania are top of the list, have each said they would be interested and are both keeping the date free. It would be an incredible honour for either of them – and the hits would please everyone.”

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OHMYGOSSIP — Billie Joe Armstrong immersed himself in British culture by attending football matches while recording Green Day’s new album in London.
The rockers laid down most of the tracks for their new record ‘Saviors’ at RAK Studios in the UK capital and Billie Joe made the most of his time in the city by heading to watch teams including Arsenal, Fulham and Millwall to get a glimpse into how Brits follow sport.
He told the Guardian newspaper: “I went to a lot of football games: Arsenal, Leyton Orient, Fulham. I went to The Den to see Millwall. That was amazing.
“Man, if you really want to experience British culture that’s what you should do.
“Football is like a … religion. It’s like being at a big rock concert. You practically need earplugs! I’ve always wanted to check out all the different divisions, not just the world-class teams like Arsenal and Man City.
“I wanted to go to some of the lower-league games – especially Millwall, which has that gritty, [angry], underdog, ‘no one likes us and we don’t care’ vibe. It reminds me of being an Oakland Raiders fan.”
Billie Joe went on to talk about the new album and its theme criticising American society. He added to the publication: “When we released our last album … everybody was a pundit. Everybody had an opinion and everybody hated [Donald] Trump.
“It was such an obvious, easy thing to jump on that bandwagon, but at the same time completely ineffective. So just allowing time to pass by and seeing how the world has changed, and how America has changed – especially through social media and conspiracy theories and then COVID hitting – allowed me to collect my thoughts about everything going on in the last five years and how things have become so divisive.”
‘Saviors’ is due for release on January 12 and will be followed by a huge stadium tour across Europe and North America.

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OHMYGOSSIP — Camila Cabello has dropped a huge hint she will be releasing new music in 2024.
The pop star’s last album ‘Familia’ was released in 2022 and she’s now teased fans about her next project by sharing an image of herself in a recording studio on Instagram and declaring: “Mostly the year of this … See you next year, b******.”
She also added a screenshot of a message sent to her mother in which she wrote: “It’s slutty, but it’s art.”
It comes after Camila admitted she’s been “scheming” about her new album, but refused to divulge any further details.
During an interview with Rolling Stone, she was asked if she has started planning her fourth album and she replied: “Oh darling, of course. I’m always scheming but I won’t say too much about it because I love a calculated surprise … Oop! Can’t say, can’t say anything.”
She went on to explain a bit more about her creative process, adding: “It always has to be about challenging myself and doing something new. So really consuming a lot of new art and a lot of new references.
“A lot of new music, new movies, new novels, new photography. To me, what produces different output is having new input. That’s what’s inspired me.”
Camila is the latest artist to hint about a 2024 release after both Ariana Grande and Billie Eilish seemingly confirmed plans to return to the charts next year.
Ariana shared pictures and video of her studio sessions with producer Ilya Salmanzadeh on Instagram and told fans: “See you next year” while Billie opened up about her new album during a recent appearance on ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’.
Billie told the host: “We are almost done with this new album we’re working on … So, at some point, you will know more, but I’m not going to say anymore now.”

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OHMYGOSSIP — Micky Dolenz didn’t care about having no control over The Monkees’ first two albums.
The 78-year-old singer was cast in the band alongside Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork and Davy Jones for a TV sitcom, also called ‘The Monkees’, and while he admitted some of his bandmates were frustrated over the lack of input they were allowed into their careers, he was happy to just do what was asked of him.
Micky – the sole surviving member of the band – told Record Collector magazine: “They put everything together. I don’t remember having any control, nor do I remember wanting much.
“I mean, that was the big bugbear especially for Nesmith.
“I can only speak for myself. I was cast into this as a singer, a guitar player – they made me the drummer.
“We had no control over the song selection, the musicians, who was going to sing what.
“Who knows why they made the choices they did? We had very little, if any control over the first two albums.
“Nez managed to write and play on a couple of things.
“Sometimes after 12 hours of filming, I would do a couple of lead vocals at night.
“I don’t remember having any control over the artwork, the liner notes, the sequencing, the song selection, nothing.
“Having said that, I’m very, very proud of those first two albums.
“I put an enormous amount of that material in my shows because they were the big hits.”
Despite their frustrations, the group loved to play live.
Micky said: “Nez used to say, when we hit the stage live playing this music, that it was like Pinocchio becoming a real little boy and it was.
“There’s a wonderful CD out, ‘Monkees Live in 67’ that was not recorded to be an album.
“Somebody found the tape and it’s really raw. We were a garage band.
“But funnily enough, that’s what ‘The Monkees’ was about – the TV show was about a garage band, before the term even existed.”

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OHMYGOSSIP — Robert Trujillo is ready to step up and sing for Metallica again if they need him to.
The 59-year-old bassist had his first “official semi-solo vocal” on ‘You Must Burn!’ on the group’s latest album ’72 Seasons’ and while he didn’t realise that’s what he’d be doing on the track, he’s happy to repeat the process again in the future.
He told Metal Hammer magazine: “I’m always there for what the band need!
“I was expecting to just do gang vocal-type things, adding a bit of texture and presence to the recording, but I didn’t realise I’d get a semi-solo moment!
“I always do my best whatever I’m asked to though, man, and these are the moments you can cherish.”
2023 saw the group embark on their hugely ambitious ‘M72’ world tour – which saw the group play two shows in each destination, with a different setlist every night – and the ‘Enter Sandman’ rocker admitted it was “really challenging” to pull things together how they wanted to, but they were delighted with the results.
He said: “Taking that record out on the road with this enormous stage and basically docking in each city was really challenging but I think we found our stride with it.
“You need to figure out how to work out different terrains, especially given how big the stage is and how huge the Snake Pit is.
“It was like, ‘How do we connect with our fans the way we want to?’ Thankfully, we still did.”
And Rob and bandmate Kirk Hammett had fun composing a song for each venue on the tour.
He said: “Kirk and I would have these moments where we’d write a song for each city -an instrumental – and oftentimes that would be just me and him rehearsing in a vehicle on the way to a venue, coming up with a two-minute song that we put together.
“It could be punk-influenced, funk, speed metal… There’s a lot of cool little gems that’ve contributed to this live show.”

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OHMYGOSSIP — Little Mix star Jade Thirlwall has reportedly been writing songs with Bastille’s Dan Smith.
The pair are believed to have formed a songwriting partnership after attending a writers retreat together with a new report suggesting they have come up with a number of tracks which have been offered out to other artists.
A source told The Sun newspaper: “Jade and Dan have met each other a few times over the years when they’ve been at the same events.
“But they weren’t really mates until they ended up on this retreat together with a load of other songwriters and they teamed up to come up with ideas.
“They hit it off and produced some strong tracks. Some of them have already been offered to other artists, so it’s only a matter of time before they get snapped up.”
Jade is said to be working on her debut solo album after Little Mix went on hiatus while Dan is believed to be busy with Bastille’s next record, and the source suggested some of the songs they have written together could end up being used.
The insider added: “They have both been busy writing for their own projects too, with Jade making her debut solo album and Dan shaping Bastille’s fifth LP, so they could well pop up with those records too.”
The news comes after Jade’s Little Mix bandmate Leigh-Anne Pinnock hinted the band will reunite in five years’ time after going on hiatus in 2022 after their ‘Confetti Tour’ came to an end.
Speaking on the ‘Happy Place’ podcast, Leigh-Anne teased: “We will definitely do a reunion. How can we not? Let’s enjoy this time now but in five years’ time we’ll get back together, make a load of money.”
In a previous appearance on The Face podcast, Leigh-Anne said of the band’s break: “I think, as I say, 11 years in a group, there’s gotta come a time where you spread your own wings and sort of just stand on your own two feet.
“I think we all came to that sort of mutual decision and I think we’re just ready to see what the world has to offer for us just solo and individually.
“Also, me and Perrie [Edwards] having children, I genuinely I don’t know how it would work in that group dynamic with kids now. I just don’t understand how.”

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OHMYGOSSIP — Shane MacGowan’s widow has insisted she and the singer “loved” George Michael – despite Wham! beating The Pogues’ ‘Fairytale of New York’ to the Christmas No1 spot.
Victoria Mary Clarke – who was by Shane’s side when he died aged 65 on 30 November after suffering a string of illnesses including pneumonia – saw his iconic festival classic fail to claim the honour due to late performer George’s group’s ‘Last Christmas’ hit landing it
Amid Pogues’ fans huge disappointment, she said on X alongside a link to the Wham! track: “I love Wham!!! We loved George.”
Wham! claimed the top spot on 22 December for the first time after 39 years.
It made history as having the longest-ever journey to the UK Christmas Number One, after being held off from reaching the top when it was original released in 1984 by Band Aid’s ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’.
Victoria had been backing a campaign to get ‘Fairytale; to the top, telling BBC Radio 4 she was “very much in favour” of the track topping the charts – adding: “It would be nice, wouldn’t it? It should be the Christmas number one. It absolutely should.”
Wham!’s Andrew Ridgeley, 60, said about ‘Last Christmas’ getting to No1:
“George would be beside himself after all of these years, (that we have) finally obtained Christmas Number One.
“Yog (George’s nickname) said that he wrote Last Christmas with the intention of writing a Christmas Number One. It’s mission accomplished!”
‘Last Christmas’ was streamed 13.3 million times in the week leading up to it claiming the top spot, according to the Official Charts Company.
It made it the most-streamed Christmas Number 1 ever during Christmas week.
Along with ‘Last Christmas’ and ‘Fairytale’, contenders for this year’s festive No1 included Sam Ryder’s ‘You’re Christmas to Me’ and Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want For Christmas is You’.

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OHMYGOSSIP — Dolly Parton’s husband warned her not to cover ‘Stairway to Heaven’ – but she was determined to prove him wrong.
The country legend has taken a new direction with her latest album ‘Rockstar’ and she admitted there was one track in particular her spouse Carl Dean urged her not to cover because he feared she’d be hit with a wave of criticism.
She admitted to Classic Rock magazine: “My husband is a huge fan of Led Zeppelin and thinks ‘Stairway To Heaven’ is one of the classic songs of all time.
“So he was kind of concerned about me doing it.
“He said, ‘I don’t know if you need to mess with that, because I think you’ll get a lot of criticism. People don’t want other people messing around with that song.’
“But I did it anyhow. And he made a joke about it at first, ‘I think that was more like ‘Stairway To Hell’ than ‘Stairway To Heaven.’ “
But Dolly – who had previously covered the track with a “countrified” edge on her 2002 record ‘Halos and Horns’ – was determined to do the song anyway because she wanted to prove herself.
She said: “I’ve taken some rock things off and on over my career and countrified them.
“I did the first ‘Stairway To Heaven’ in the bluegrass gospel field.
“But I decided, for this album, I wanted people to know that I could sing it in its original form.
“And I wanted, more than anything, for Carl to know that I could do that too. So I decided to be true to its form.”
Fortunately, Carl wasn’t afraid to admit Dolly had proven him wrong.
She added: “I have to add that Carl said [afterwards], ‘Y’know, that’s pretty good.’
“That’s really something coming from him.”

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OHMYGOSSIP — Jennie from BLACKPINK has launched the new label, Odd Atelier.
The 27-year-old K-pop star is embarking on a “solo journey” next year and has her own label to put new music out on.
She announced on her Instagram Story: “This year was filled with many accomplishments, and I’m so thankful for all the love I’ve received.
“I’m also about what’s to come, as I start my solo journey in 2024 with a company that I have established called OA. Please show lots of love for my new start with OA and of course BLACKPINK.”
On the label’s Instagram Page, she wrote: “OA, which stands for ODD ATELIER, is a space that aims to create new things that attract attention in a different way from what is usual or expected. It is a label founded by artist JENNIE in November 2023.”
The girl group – also comprising Jisoo, Lisa and Rosé – are still to negotiate their solo contracts with YG Entertainment.
Amid much speculation about their future at the label, a filing by the company earlier this month confirmed the ‘Pink Venom’ hitmakers will remain at the agency.
YG said: “The board has completed a resolution about renewing the contracts with Blackpink’s four members.”
The firm’s founder Yang Hyun Suk added: “We are pleased to continue our relationship with Blackpink.
“Blackpink will continue to do its best to shine even brighter in the global music market as an artist representing not only our company but also K-pop. […] And we send our unwavering support and faith to [fans].”
Fans of the four-piece had been concerned with reports they could go elsewhere after their contract was up for renewal after seven years.
However, each member’s solo contracts are still “said to be under negotiation”, according to Variety.
As the most successful Korean girl group internationally, Blackpink were recently honoured by King Charles during a state banquet at Buckingham Palace.

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OHMYGOSSIP — Shaznay Lewis is to relaunch her solo career next year.
The All Saints star, 48, has been busy in the studio working on new material and is said to be eyeing a return to music to coincide with the 20th anniversary of her debut solo album ‘Open’ in July.
A source told The Sun newspaper’s Bizarre column: “Shaznay is really well respected in the pop world because of her distinctive voice and talent for writing a brilliant tune.
“She has quietly been writing for quite a while now, and given All Saints aren’t active at the moment and the anniversary is approaching of her first solo record, it felt like the perfect time.”
A month earlier, Shaznay will play Mighty Hoopla Festival at South London’s Brockwell Park.
As well as co-writing All Saints’ chart-topping singles, ‘Bootie Call’, ‘Pure Shores’, and ‘Never Ever’, Shaznay has helped to pen tracks for the likes of Little Mix and Stooshe.
In 2019, she co-wrote the theme music for the Netflix original series ‘Turn Up Charlie’ with Idris Elba.
All Saints also includes Melanie Blatt, 48, and sisters Natalie, 50, and Nicole Appleton, 49, and they last reunited in 2020 to release a cover of ‘Message in a Bottle’ with Sting.
Meanwhile, Shaznay previously opened up about the racism she has faced in the music industry and recalled being told by All Saints manager John Benson that her music wouldn’t have been as successful in the charts if she wasn’t in a group with three white women.
She told Music Week in 2020: “I owe [London Records founder] Tracy Bennett and [All Saints manager] John Benson a great deal, they were really good to me. John is a dear friend and I remember him saying, ‘If you’d released those songs either by yourself or with an all-black female band, they wouldn’t have done as well.’
“He wasn’t saying it with malice, he was just being honest. I probably was shocked, but 20 years later I completely understand what he meant, and it is a fact … Things are unbalanced and a lot of it has to do with money. Sometimes people don’t have time to do what’s fair because they just want to do what sells. What that has done is educate people less and make black people in the industry feel alienated.
“My position is quite strange because I’m a black, female writer, but I’m in a band with three white women that are possibly the reason why I’ve done so well, I don’t know. I’m glad the lid has been opened. Knowledge is power.
“If we don’t educate ourselves, then we can’t change the future.”

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OHMYGOSSIP — Chris Shiflett finds being a solo artist “challenging”.
The Foo Fighters guitarist released his third solo record, ‘Lost at Sea’ this year, but he admitted it took a lot of time to adjust to being the sole figure in the spotlight.
Asked how it was transitioning from sideman to frontman, he told Classic Rock magazine: “Challenging.
“Guitar playing is my comfort zone.
“But to be the singer and then also have to talk to the crowd, I had to work at that.
“What you realise is that people want to have a good time.
“They’ve hired a sitter, bought tickets, bought a few drinks,maybe bought a t-shirt, they’ve invested in the evening.
“So that’s my job up on stage, to provide them with a good time.
“Once I figured that out, things got a lot better.”
The 52-year-old musician also hosts two podcasts, ‘Walking The Floor’ and ‘Shred With Shifty’ and he admitted he was driven by a desire to always be busy and not waste time.
He said: “To be honest, I’m not good at downtime.
“I have to be playing, learning something new all the time…
“The older I’ve gotten, I’ve been sort of gripped by this feeling of, ‘Damn, I wasted so much time when I was younger!’
“And you never get that back.
“I’m lucky that I’ve been able to do music full-time. And I want to keep doing it.”
When it comes to writing music, Chris is determined not to get too nostalgic.
He said: “I think we’re all overly nostalgic and kind of overly sentimental.
“With songwriting, I’m constantly digging into earlier periods in my life.
“And I find myself pushing back against that because too much nostalgia is a dangerous thing.
“I try to write in the present.
“I have a pretty happy life, but I’m not comfortable with happy-go-lucky, zip-a-dee-doo-dah songs.
“There’s real life stuff that happens over time – friends dying, thoughts of mortality – and some of these songs really sort of speak to that.”

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OHMYGOSSIP — Paramore have wiped their social media profiles clean and taken their official website offline.
Speculation is rife after the pop rock trio – comprising Hayley Williams, 35, Zac Farro, 33, and Taylor York, 34 – took down all the posts and profile images on their Facebook, Instagram and X profiles, and their site loads with the 404 error code.
Only Hayley has stripped her personal accounts and website.
Some fans are concerned the group is splitting up; however, it’s also been suggested that the ‘Hard Times’ hitmakers could be simply marking the end of their contract with Atlantic Records.
In a recent interview with Uproxx, Paramore admitted there is a “level of uncertainty” about their future.
Hayley said: “The only thing that matters is we will still get to be each other’s community.”
Zac added: “I just hope we can keep building the Paramore empire and then rule the world.”
The ‘Misery Business’ rockers were forced to cancel a bunch of shows on their North American tour after singer Hayley suffered a lung infection, but she confirmed they had been making new music.
The band shared studio photos with their Instagram followers, and Hayley said on Discord: “We’ve been off the road for a couple weeks now… mainly in LA.
“Thankfully got some downtime but we put some work in too. It felt good to get back into a studio. More of that once we get home to Nashville.”
The trio were keen to “get back to making things” after releasing their sixth album ‘This Is Why’ earlier this year.
She added: “Zac, Taylor, and I just want to get back to making things. We’ve been craving that for a while now.
“Not only the creative process but the layer(s) of insulation that can come with the creative process.”
Paramore are due to support Taylor Swift when her ‘Eras Tour’ hits Europe in 2024.

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OHMYGOSSIP — Billy Porter has insisted the music industry has “always” been homophobic.
The 53-year-old singer-and-actor insisted it hasn’t always been easy to “just be” who he is as he wouldn’t have been accepted in the earlier days of his career.
When asked about his success, he told Gay Times magazine: “Everybody says ‘just be who you are!’ It’s easy to be who you are when who you are is what’s popular.
I’ve always been queer; it’s always been a homophobic business. Period. The end.”
The ‘Pose’ actor found recording his latest album, ‘Black Mona Lisa’ to be truly “healing” and he’s very proud of the record.
He said: “Putting together this album after a life’s work has been really healing, inspiring and one of the things I am most proud of in my whole life.”
The singer also revealed that the original idea for the album was to create something that was similar to Beyonce’s ‘Renaissance’, which was a homage to dance, disco, house and club culture because of his own background.
He said: “I found a home in the clubs. It was a gay church.
“It was the space we went to on the weekends to have community, love one another and recharge for the rest of the fight. We were fighting for our rights, we were fighting to stay alive.
“It was the last time pre-AIDS that the world was free.”
And Billy believes disco was unfairly vilified in the 1980s.
He said: “If we think about the sexual and cultural freedom of the 1960s and 1970s, we were on a road to a euphoric society, and then AIDS happened. Disco took the hit.
“Whether subconsciously or consciously, it was blamed and lumped into that plague era and dismissed unduly.”

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OHMYGOSSIP — Taylor Swift has helped send sales of vinyl records soaring to one of their highest levels ever.
The ‘Bad Blood’ singer, 33, who has three of her releases in the UK vinyl top 10, is being hailed for the phenomenon of LP sales in Britain being at a peak not seen since 1990.
Ut’s been reported by The Sun the sales are up 11.7 per cent this year, marking the fastest growth rate so far this decade for vinyl – after a rise of only 2.9 per cent in 2022.
Taylor’s re-recordings of her ‘1989’ and ‘Speak Now’ albums, plus her ‘Midnights’ record, are at numbers one, four and eight in the UK album charts.
The Rolling Stones – who have just released their new album ‘Hackney Diamonds’ and Fleetwood Mac’s classic ‘Rumours’ are also high in the vinyl charts, along with releases by Olivia Rodrigo, 20, and 27-year-old Lewis Capaldi.
BPI chief executive Dr Jo Twist said: “Led by vinyl, the resurgence of physical product underlines the resilience of the UK music market at a time when streaming continues to hit record levels.”
Full annual sales for vinyl editions will be revealed on 3 January, but industry body the BPI said more than 250,000 vinyls were sold in the seven days before Christmas, which The Sun said would make it the best week for the format’s sales this century.
More than four fifths of recorded music listened to in the UK is now made up of streaming – yet more than 11 million CDs have been sold this year.
A retro boom has also seen cassette tape sales top 100,000 for the fourth consecutive year.
Also in the UK vinyl top 10 is Lana Del Rey’s ‘Did You Know that There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd’ and Blur’s ‘The Ballad of Darren’, along with Pink Floyd classic ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’.

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