Exclusive
BACK WITH A BANG
Jessie J secretly teams up with Adele’s favourite songwriter for first album in seven years
Plus, scroll down to learn about Ariana Grand's plans for new movies following the success of Wicked
JESSIE J is preparing to make her comeback after teaming up with Adele’s favourite songwriting partner Ryan Tedder, I can exclusively reveal.
It’s been seven years since the Bang Bang singer last dropped an album.
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But an insider said: “Jessie has recorded a string of new songs and has her fifth album ready to go.
“She’s been through some seismic changes in her life over the past couple of years, most notably becoming a mum, and it’s inspired her to get back into the studio.
“Jessie spent time writing with Ryan, who wrote her song I Want Love, and they’ve come up with some amazing new tunes.
“It has been a long time coming but the timing had to be right.
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“She didn’t want to keep churning out record after record, and wanted it to feel authentic and real.
“Jessie couldn’t be more excited to share what she has been working on with her fans and she will be announcing her first song in the spring.”
Jessie’s last album, R.O.S.E, was released in four parts in 2018 but failed to have the impact the ex-Voice UK coach had hoped for.
In 2023, she split from Republic Records after 17 years and told fans she was looking for a fresh start.
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Becoming a mum to son Sky was also a driving force.
She said at the time: “There’s no negative spin, nothing’s happened, it’s not dramatic.
Jessie J reveals she's 'unemployed' as she quits pop job after 17 years and having first baby-
“It’s just me literally saying, ‘This doesn’t feel right’ and it hasn’t for years.”
My insider has heard a few snippets of her upcoming single and says that she is sounding better than ever.
Jessie, we’re so pleased to have you back.
Grande plan for movies
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Ariana Grande looked Wicked in pink as she joined fellow former child star Selena Gomez at a movie bash.
They were both honoured at the Virtuosos Award gala as part of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, after Ariana revealed she is hoping to stick around on screen.
She is nominated for Supporting Actress at the Oscars for her turn as Glinda in Wicked, and is hoping to get another role after the sequel Wicked: For Good comes out in November.
The Positions singer said: “I would love to exist in this space for a while longer.
“I love finding characters that make people feel seen and human. I’d love to continue on this road.”
Meanwhile, Selena spoke out at the festival after her Emilia Perez co-star Karla Sofia Gascon was criticised when a raft of hate-filled historic tweets surfaced.
Admitting it has tarnished her awards experience, Selena said: “Some of the magic has disappeared.
“But I choose to continue to be proud of what I’ve done, and I’m just grateful and live with no regrets.”
“I would do this movie over and over again if I could.”
Becks $1bn fakes win
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Posh and Becks will be cracking open a bottle of their favourite Chateau Mouton Rothschild this week after David won his $1billion lawsuit against counterfeiters ripping off his name.
I revealed last May his firm DB Ventures, which looks after the former footballer’s big-money deals, had launched two lawsuits in the US.
It was to clamp down on nearly 500 vendors who were flogging fakes of his gear.
The cases were aimed at counterfeiters selling knock-off clothes, watches, perfume, sunglasses, video games, toys, footballs and sports gear via sites including Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Temu and Walmart.
Now a judge in the States has ordered that every penny the sites have made from dodgy goods be transferred back to his business.
There is also now a permanent injunction in place to stop anyone from making money on copycat products.
Becks, described as a “fashion icon” in the paperwork, will now have the cash transferred back to DB Ventures, which is backed by its rights management firm Authentic Brands Group.
It’s a massive victory for Becks, who also won a £240million case against counterfeiters last year.
An insider told me: “Authentic Brands want to stamp out this issue and stop people from selling fakes of David’s products.
“They pride themselves on the quality of their products and people are being ripped off without their knowledge.”
Ecko sound so promising
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If Kasabian and Oasis had a baby, you’d end up with Ecko.
They are a rock band from Ayrshire who also have a flavour of Arctic Monkeys – and I’m hooked.
Bizarre reader David Adams, who describes himself as a persistent NHS nurse, sent me a link to their new track Play Pretend and urged me to take a listen.
And I wasn’t disappointed, with big things to come for this as-yet-unsigned Scottish four-piece.
Frontman Jamie Warden has all the swagger of Kasabian’s Serge Pizzorno and backs it up with killer vocals, alongside bandmates Matthew Welsh on guitar, drummer Jonny Armstrong and bassist Liam O’Connor.
I’ve had Let Go on repeat since David told me about them, so give them a listen as soon as you get a chance.
Alex Spencer is also a name to watch.
The Mancunian rising star has a new single, Wake Me Up, following the release last year of his EP There’s Gotta Be More.
Alex will play the Camden Assembly in London on April 10.
Kendrick Lamar and Sza are bringing their joint headline tour to the UK.
It starts in the US in April and will come to stadiums and parks in Glasgow, Birmingham, Cardiff and London in July, having both previously played dates at The O2 Arena separately.
Paul’s a big hit in West End
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Paul Mescal crashed his bike into an Uber cab after a West End performance.
He had been on stage at the Noel Coward Theatre in London in A Streetcar Named Desire, and was seemingly heading home at 3am when it happened.
Paul appeared to be unscathed, but unbeknown to him, Aussie influencer duo Bel & Em were in the Uber and recounted the story on TikTok.
They said: “This is why you should just always go out.
“Paul Mescal rode his Lime bike into our Uber.
“That’s not a joke.
“I said, ‘Hi Paul!’.”
They added: “At 3am no less, there was a big thud in the back of our Uber and our driver yelled at him.
“We were like, ‘Don’t worry Paul’.”
In their video, they shared a snippet where the Gladiator II actor said: “If there’s damage, I’ll happily pay whatever.”
Tom Jones will headline Camp Bestival alongside Sugababes and Basement Jaxx.
The Zutons, Annie Mac and the Lightning Seeds are also booked to play the four-day festival at Dorset’s Lulworth Castle, which runs from July 31 to August 3.
Letter of the law for Rob
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Robbie Williams’ Better Man biopic has ruffled more feathers.
Rob took a deep dive through his rise to the top, with him changing the script for Gary Barlow, after the Take That frontman said he came off “worse than Darth Vader in Star Wars”.
But Take That’s former manager Nigel Martin-Smith was twitching about the prospect of the film.
He apparently had a letter sent to Rob’s team to remind him of the settlement following their legal row in 2007, when Rob, above, had to apologise for suggesting Nigel ripped off Take That on his song The 90s.
There is clearly a lot of water under this bridge and it’s always going to be murky.
As Rob said in an open letter to Nigel in November: “Even though I find you hard to like, I don’t hate you.”
Beyoncé has announced two more shows at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, before the first four have even gone on sale.
She was already due to perform there on June 5, 7, 10 and 12, but has also now confirmed June 14 and 16.
Pre-sale for the original dates starts today, but general release for the shows will be from noon on Friday.
Sabrina all set for Brits night
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I told last month how Sabrina Carpenter was set to perform at the Brit Awards – and now the cat is formally out of the bag.
The US singer has been confirmed as a guest for the biggest night in British music, where she will sing live and receive the Global Success award.
Sabrina will fly over for the show on March 1 at London’s O2 Arena before kicking off the European leg of her Short N’ Sweet tour in Dublin two nights later.
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She joins a list of artists including Ed Sheeran, Adele and One Direction to have won the award, although most notably, she’s the first non-Brit to get it.
That sort of defeats the point of a night celebrating British talent, but hey-ho.
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