DAN'S DILEMMA
Danny O’Donoghue reveals real reason The Script decided not to split following bandmate’s tragic death
Mark Sheehan’s family will continue to profit from the band, which is another driving force in them staying together
THE SCRIPT’s Danny O’Donoghue is questioning the band’s decision to stay together following the death of guitarist Mark Sheehan.
The group, which also features drummer Glen Power, will on Friday release Satellites, their first album without guitarist Mark, who died last year.
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Asked if there was a conversation about ending the band, Danny said: “We talked about it for a long time and, to be honest, it’s still an open question.
"Myself and Glen, we sat down and had a good chat about it and we were like, well, I feel like he’d want us to finish what we started.
“Selfishly, I think I could ride off into the sunset easily. I think Glen could do the same thing right now.
"We’ve achieved everything we need to do in our lives musically, professionally, monetarily.
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"I think it kind of came down to the question, why are we doing this? And the answer to that is because we love music.”
But he also revealed Mark’s family, including his wife Rina and three children, will continue to profit from the band, which is another driving force in them staying together.
Danny added on the Smallzy’s Surgery podcast: “I still feel if we stopped today, I’d be all right, personally.
"But I still feel like monetarily, Mark is always part of the band.
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“His family benefits from everything we do moving forwards and I feel it’s the right thing to do.”
JADE ‘HELD BACK’ ON MIX MUSIC
JADE THIRLWALL felt held back in Little Mix because she could never write the tracks she wanted to sing.
'I went off the rails when Mark died. Drinking, smoking, I had a writers block,' says The Script's Danny O'Donoghue on bandmate's death
The Angel Of My Dreams singer said of being a solo performer: “It’s definitely liberating. That’s probably one of the things I’ve enjoyed the most about doing my own thing – that it’s all what I want to do. It’s great.
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“In a band, you have more generic concepts because it can’t just be about what you want to write about.
“So it was important to me, especially with the first record, to give people an insight into my story and my musical journey from the beginning to now.
“When you’re on your own, you can sort of push it a bit and be a bit cheekier. I can say what I want to say.”
But Jade added on radio in Australia: “You really appreciate, once you do your own thing, how lovely it is being in a group and having people around you to bounce off.
“Every decision is a joint decision, which is good and bad.
“If something doesn’t work, you can be like, ‘Well, it was all of us’.”
CELINE’S SINKING FEELING
CELINE DION wants Donald Trump to know he’s made a Titanic mistake by crossing her.
The I’m Alive singer has taken a public swipe at the former President of the United States – after he used her mega hit My Heart Will Go On from the blockbuster film during a rally in Montana over the weekend.
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Wasting no time speaking out, a post on her Instagram read this weekend: “In no way is this use authorised, and Celine Dion does not endorse this or any similar use.”
Mocking the fact Trump used a song that was the soundtrack to the sinking of the passenger liner, the message was signed off: “ . . . and really, THAT song?”
It’s not the first time performers have distanced themselves from the Republican Presidential candidate, either.
Earlier this year, Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr told the former Apprentice boss to stop playing the group’s songs after Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want was used at one of his rallies.
Sounds like someone is getting fired . . .
CHASE & STATUS’ collaboration with Stormzy is on track to debut at No1 this week.
Backbone is currently sitting ahead of last week’s No3 Good Luck Babe by singer of the moment Chappell Roan.
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Meanwhile, last week’s chart-topper, Charli XCX and Billie Eilish’s Guess, has slipped to No3.
Former Little Mix singer Jade Thirlwall is also looking to re-enter the Top 10 with her brilliantly crackers debut track Angel Of My Dreams, rising ten places to No8.
HEL OF A DRESS FOR BIRTHDAY BASH
HELEN FLANAGAN made sure she ruffled things up as she celebrated her birthday.
The actress went braless in this statement pink gown and bejewelled heels as she partied at Mnky Hse in Manchester at the weekend.
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Helen, who is on the upcoming series of Celebs Go Dating, says she has almost given up trying to find “the one”.
She said on Charlotte Dawson's Naughty Corner podcast: “There are some awful men out there.
“I used to have a celebrity dating app on my phone and my daughter Matilda used to sit next to me and want to look through all these boys.
“I would let her have a look. I don’t have it any more. I did go on a few dates from there, but no. It was hilarious at the beginning.”
Trust me, Helen, I can relate when it comes to awful men.
But keep the faith and you will find the right one.
NOEL: IT’S HIT ROCK BOTTOM
NOEL GALLAGHER says there are no bands at No1 in the charts at the moment as they are “s**t now”.
The 57-year-old reckons guitar music is dying out because there just aren’t any groups that can match what he did with Oasis – and they don’t have enough great songs.
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Noel doesn’t accept guitar music has gone out of fashion and is the reason for a lack of indie and rock in the singles and album charts.
He said on the Matt Morgan Podcast: “There’s the big debate now. Have you seen that thing – the 80s bands who spent weeks at No1?
“It was 146 weeks. In the 90s it was 141. In this decade, which we’re roughly halfway through, the No1 spot has been occupied by a band for three weeks. One of them was The Beatles, when they put that new tune out.
“One of them was Little Mix, which don’t count, and one of them was the Radio 2 All Stars, some charity single. “You’re not telling me that the greatest band of the last five years is sat somewhere undiscovered and nobody knows anything about it.
“Bands are dead because bands are st now. I just think that there’s not many great songwriters who are in bands.”
Noel doesn’t accept there is a new indie band with amazing songs just waiting to be discovered, because if they were good enough, someone would know about them.
He added: “I would struggle to accept that the gift that I had, I would just go and work in a f***ing garage and remain undiscovered or didn’t follow a certain path – ‘Oh, me uncle Noel died, he was 83, he was a great songwriter’.
“It’s inconceivable. The good always comes out in the end, always. It just does.”
HARRY SO HELPFUL
HARRY STYLES and James Corden's bromance is still going strong.
The singer sneaked into The Old Vic theatre in South London at the weekend for James’ final performance in stage show The Constituent.
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Before and after the performance, Harry was spotted backstage hanging out with the Gavin And Stacey actor before being snapped helping James carry some of his belongings out the back of the venue.
What a top lad.
LIAM IN A DARK MOOD
LIAM PAYNE looks serious on a date night with girlfriend Kate Cassidy in Santa Monica.
He kept things simple in an all-black outfit and white trainers while TikToker Kate opted for a slashed double-denim look.
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Liam is on an extended break in America after suffering health issues for the past 12 months.
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In February, the former One Direction singer released comeback track Teardrops but, since then, has put music on hold.
I’m told he’s now getting ready to return to the charts – and that fans should expect to hear new tracks before the year is out.
The week in bizness
TOMORROW: SHAWN MENDES will deliver an intimate performance of his new self-titled album at London’s Theatre Royal Drury Lane, ahead of its release in October. Among the tracks will be singles Why Why Why and Isn’t That Enough, which came out on Friday.
WEDNESDAY: Newly single Love Island host Maya Jama turns 30 and I’ve no doubt she will be planning a big blowout. She split from Stormzy last month but as a party lover, will surely be letting her hair down.
THURSDAY: TAYLOR SWIFT is back in the UK for five sold-out shows at Wembley Stadium. Following a string of concerts across Britain in June, she will bring her Eras Tour back to the capital with support from American rockers Paramore.
FRIDAY: Tune into singer and rapper Post Malone’s new album F-1 Trillion, which features collaborations with country acts including Morgan Wallen, Blake Shelton, Brad Paisley, Chris Stapleton and even Dolly Parton.
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