NEWS
Florence Welch joined Taylor Swift on stage in Miami last night – watch footage below.
The ‘Reputation’ singer brought out Welch for a duet of ‘Florida!!!’ in Miami on Friday (October 18), with the Florence + The Machine musician joining her during the second verse of the ‘The Tortured Poets Department‘ track.
This is the second time the pair have performed the song, having sung it together in August to round off the final night of the European leg of the ‘Eras Tour’.
That night also saw Jack Antonoff – who has worked with Swift since 2014’s ‘1989‘ and has since produced ‘Reputation‘, ‘Lover‘, ‘Folkmore‘, ‘Evermore‘, ‘Midnights‘ and ‘The Tortured Poets Department’, as well as her re-recorded albums – make a surprise appearance.
Swift’s costume changes during last night’s Miami gig, most notably her new ‘Reputation’ bodysuit, have sparked rumours she may be set to announce another Taylor’s Version album.
Ahead of kicking off the final leg of her record-breaking, career-spanning world tour yesterday, the pop star announced an official book to commemorate the ‘Eras Tour’, as well as the physical editions of her ‘Anthology’ album.
Writing on social media, Swift said it was “hard to comprehend” the lengthy trek coming to an end. “This tour has been the most wondrous experience and I knew I wanted to commemorate the memories we made together in a special way,” she wrote.
“Well, two ways actually. Excited to announce that The Official Eras Tour Book, filled with my own personal reflections, never-before-seen behind-the-scenes photos [and] all the magical memories you guys brought every single night.”
A preview video revealed that the hardcover 256-page book will contain over 500 photographs from the tour, “from start to finish”.
Swift’s ‘Eras Tour’ was also documented in a 2023 live movie, which earned the biggest-ever opening weekend for a concert film. Disney+ later released ‘Taylor’s Version’ of the film globally.
The pop star is due to end the mammoth tour in Vancouver, Canada in early December. She’ll play three gigs in Miami this week ahead of further stops in New Orleans, Indianapolis and Toronto.
Elsewhere, it recently emerged that she met up with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer while she was in the country. Per The Guardian, the Labour leader and his family met Swift for around 10 minutes while backstage at her show at Wembley Stadium on August 20.
It comes after Number 10 initially declined to comment as to whether or not the Prime Minister had met the singer, after he and his family were invited on August 16 to one of her numerous concerts at the venue.
Meanwhile, Florence + The Machine have announced a brand new live album, ‘Symphony Of Lungs’, with Jules Buckley. Last month, Florence Welch made her debut at the BBC Proms at the iconic Royal Albert Hall alongside Jules Buckley and his Orchestra.
The performance saw her celebrate the 15th anniversary of her seminal debut album ‘Lungs’. Accompanied by two harpists, four percussionists, a string section, a woodwind section and more, the singer and Buckley reimagined the songs from the 2009 LP as sweeping orchestral pieces.
Now, ahead of the performance being aired in full on BBC Two and iPlayer today (October 19), the ‘Dog Days Are Over’ singer and the composer have announced that a live album of the show titled ‘Symphony of Lungs (BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall)’ is set to be released digitally on Friday (October 25) and will be available on both vinyl and CD on March 14, 2025. You can pre-order / pre-save the album here.
NEWS
Harry Styles paid tribute to the late David Hockney and reflected on his time in One Direction last night (June 12), as he kicked off his record-breaking residency at Wembley Stadium.
Hockney – whose painting of Styles was displayed at the National Portrait Gallery in 2023 – died on June 11, aged 88, and the musician honoured him during his set by sharing a quote from the painter on the big screens.
“What an artist is trying to do for people is bring them closer to something, because of course art is about sharing,” the quote read. “You wouldn’t be an artist unless you wanted to share an experience, a thought.”
Styles’ gig last night marked the first of 12 gigs at Wembley, which will see the star break the record for the most shows at the venue in a single tour. Coldplay previously held the record, delivering 10 gigs at the stadium last year as part of their Music Of The Spheres tour.
The London residency follows the Together, Together tour beginning in Amsterdam in May, and will be followed by stops in São Paulo, Mexico City, New York, Melbourne and Sydney. He will be supported by a different artist in each city, joined by Shania Twain in London, who delivered a set of hits and new tracks from her upcoming album, ‘Little Miss Twain’.
As the sounds of Simon And Garfunkel’s ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ played over the stadium PA, Styles made his way to the stage, kicking off his set with ‘Are You Listening Yet?’, from his latest album, ‘Kiss All The Time. Disco Occasionally’. Between renditions of ‘Golden’ and ‘Adore You’, he addressed the crowd for the first time, saying: “Our job tonight is to entertain you. Your job is to have as much fun as you possibly can.
“If you want to sing, if you want to dance, please feel free. Please feel free to be whoever it is you’ve always wanted to be tonight. We’ve got each other’s backs.”
Throughout the night, Styles subtly reworked some of the songs on the setlist. He dedicated ‘Taste Back’ “to all the ravers in the house”, as a snippet of Underworld’s ‘Born Slippy’ was interpolated into the song, while a brief burst of Talking Heads’ ‘This Must Be The Place’ was introduced to ‘Treat People With Kindness’. During ‘Dance No More’, the pop star’s band played part of the groove from Happy Mondays’ ‘Step On’, while Styles sang a snatch of Gorillaz’s ‘Clint Eastwood’.
There were also nods to Styles’ days in One Direction early in the set. As the musician left the stage after ‘Fine Line’, the string section on stage played a medley featuring clips of the group’s hits ‘Night Changes’ and ‘History’, plus Styles’ own track ‘Falling’. After ‘Keep Driving’, he took the time to reflect on Wembley’s connections to his and the boyband’s journeys.
“Just outside of this building, just next door, is Wembley Arena, and 16 years ago, my sister brought me to London for the very first time for my X Factor audition,” he said. “So driving here today, and any time I come through Wembley, means so much to me, ‘cause right in that building next door, I was put into a band. We were called One Direction.
The Together, Together setlist features a different surprise song each night at the start of the encore. Last night, Styles treated the Wembley audience to ‘Little Freak’, taken from ‘Harry’s House’, for the first time since 2023. After the song, he spoke to the audience for the final time, saying: “I don’t know if you’ve been listening to me for a week, or a month, or a year, or five years, or 10 years, or 16 years, or whatever it is, but you have changed my life over and over again. Thank you so much for being here and allowing us to do these shows. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
“Finally, 16 years ago, my mother signed me up for the X Factor without my knowledge. I wouldn’t be here today if she hadn’t done that. She’s here today – thank you so much. You’ve changed my life, all of you.” Referencing a lyric in ‘Dance No More’, he added: “Remember – respect your mother.”
‘Are You Listening Yet?’
‘Golden’
‘Adore You’
‘Watermelon Sugar’
‘Music From A Sushi Restaurant’
‘Taste Back’
‘Coming Up Roses’
‘Fine Line’
‘Italian Girls’
‘American Girls’
‘Keep Driving’
‘Ready, Steady, Go!’
‘Dance No More’
‘Treat People With Kindness’
‘Pop’
‘Season 2 Weight Loss’
‘Carla’s Song’
‘Aperture’
‘Little Freak’
‘Sign Of The Times’
‘As It Was’
The Together, Together, London residency continues at Wembley Stadium tonight, with further dates on June 17, 19, 20, 23, 26, 27, 29 and July 1, 3, and 4. Visit here for any remaining UK tickets and check out doors and stage times here.
The gigs will see Styles donate £1 from every ticket sold to LIVE’s levy to help protect UK grassroots music venues and support emerging talent, and before Styles’ headline performance, the big screens at the venue encouraged fans to support Music Venues Trust.
The tour is in support of the star’s latest album, ‘Kiss All The Time. Disco Occasionally’, which was released in March. In a four-star review, NME described it as “an album that you’ll really want to spend a lot of time with, letting all its layers envelope you”. It added: “It’s the most exploratory album of his career so far, trying out new things and steering his ship in new directions.”
Meanwhile, Styles has also curated this year’s Meltdown Festival at the Southbank Centre. The line-up chosen by the star includes Stephen Fretwell, Nilüfer Yanya, Orlando Weeks, Bar Italia, Dev Hynes, Jon Hopkins, Getdown Services, LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy, Soulwax and more, as well as an intimate gig from Styles himself.
The festival kicked off earlier this week (June 11) with a performance from Los Angeles’ Warpaint, whose show was their first in nearly two years. During the gig, they shared fan favourites like ‘Love Is To Die, ‘Billie Holiday’ and ‘Disco//Very’, plus a cover of Kate Bush’s ‘Running Up That Hill’.
