From awol to A-lister: how pop stars from Charli xcx to Addison Rae found the fun in fame again

Despite their predecessors stressing the horrors of pop success, a new cohort are hungry for it, reflecting the ambitions of spotlight-hungry gen Z and the shamelessness of Trump 2.0 lifeOn Lorde’s 2021 album Solar Power, the New Zealand pop star ditched fame. She threw her phone in the sea, sang “if you’re looking for a saviour, well, that’s not me” and advised looking to nature for answers instead. But her sun-bleached third album proved divisive, so much so that just a year later, she placated fans by promising she was making “bangers” again. This April, her comeback single What Was That returned to the incandescent synth-pop of her beloved 2017 album Melodrama; her new album Virgin opens: “It’s a beautiful life so why play truant? / I jerk tears and they pay me to do it.” Lorde was back roaming the streets, swapping Auckland fishing trips for New York Citi Bike rides, addicted to her phone again, playing Glastonbury at 11.30am and then disappearing to get high at Four Tet.Where Solar Power was introverted, Virgin is hungry for experience and connection, sticky with sweat and other bodily fluids. But it’s also still preoccupied with the cost of finding fame at the age of 16 and how to carry it at age 28. The erratic album has divided critics again: is the sometimes spindly sound and lyrical status anxiety another attempt by Lorde to push listeners away? Or are the intermittent Melodrama 2.0 bangers her giving in to expectation? Ever alert to her own myth, she said recently: “I just am this person who’s meant to make these bangers that fuck us all up.” Continue reading...

Comments

Culture

Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters ‘bores’ viewers despite star getting bitten in first episode

Metro

Comments

Culture

Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters ‘bores’ viewers despite star getting bitten in first episode

After Julie's mortifying moment in college, a classmate knew just how to help

Poet and performance artist Andrea Gibson dies aged 49 four years after cancer diagnosis

Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters is bizarre but unexpectedly moving reality TV

Masterchef star John Torode reveals racist language allegation in Gregg Wallace review

BBC viewers have days to watch ‘genius’ series ahead of fourth season

Musician and Spinal Tap star David Kaff dies aged 79

MasterChef presenter John Torode says allegation he used racist language upheld in report

John Torode says allegation he used racist language upheld in MasterChef report

Watch: Timeline of the allegations against Gregg Wallace

'Pee-wee as Himself' is a portrait of a private man and his public alter ego

HBO's new Billy Joel documentary is revelatory — even if it pulls some punches

Even bites can’t make Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters exciting

‘Hidden treasure’ music biopic finally arrives on Amazon Prime Video

BBC staff at Glastonbury had power to cut Vylan feed

BBC's twin-crises prompt apologies and promises - but will it work?

Where to start? This week's new releases are an all-you-can-read buffet

Who was Tom Noakes and what happened to killer Hayden Fitzpatrick?

Harry Potter: Every actor cast in the new HBO TV adaptation as filming begins

Beverly Hills, 90210 star Ian Ziering breaks silence on Shannen Doherty’s death one year later

How Black artists are reclaiming the American flag

What is Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters? All you need to know about ITV’s death-defying show

Celine Dion fans shocked by ‘how badly Ellen DeGeneres show has aged’ after resurfaced clip

BBC staff with authority to cut Bob Vylan livestream were present at Glastonbury

Can BBC learn from Gaza documentary controversy?

Why the latest season of 'Love Island USA' became the internet's obsession

Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters cast in full

BBC staff who had authority to cut Bob Vylan livestream ‘were at Glastonbury’

Harry Potter: Every actor cast in the new HBO TV adaptation as filming begins

Baby Reindeer creator Richard Gadd reveals eighth episode was cut from show

Bilbao BBK Live 2025: A shapeshifting, eclectic event of ambitious scale

Supernanny star Jo Frost, 55, reveals she suffers from ‘life-threatening’ medical condition

Gregg Wallace is awful – but the BBC has another problem to tackle

Harry Potter TV reboot reveals first look at boy wizard with more cast confirmed

First Harry Potter image released as production begins

Wrongly convicted, he became 'The Jailhouse Lawyer' — and helped free himself

Through comics, 'Essex County' creator shows us the struggles, triumphs of his career

More Woody Guthrie Songs? Yes, From a Trove of Homemade Recordings.

Fanny Howe, Poet of Unsettled Dreams, Is Dead at 84

Legendary 70s horror film that was almost never released now streaming completely free

Ellen DeGeneres makes rare political comment in support of Rosie O’Donnell after Trump threatens her citizenship

Damien Hirst accused of stealing idea for breakthrough artwork

‘I’m camping for 8 days to see Billie Eilish – I promise I don’t stink’

BBC unsure whether it’ll air MasterChef series hosted by Gregg Wallace before firing

James Gunn’s Superman soars past $215 million box office open amid rave reviews

Fantastic Four actor Julia Garner addresses fan backlash to ‘gender-swapped’ casting

Ncuti Gatwa says Doctor Who was taking a ‘physical, emotional and mental’ toll on him

Gregg Wallace says he is ‘deeply sorry’ after 45 MasterChef allegations are upheld

Richard Gadd reveals he cut Baby Reindeer episode to make Netflix drama ‘even darker’

Rachel Riley: ‘I’d rather swim with great white sharks than do Strictly again’

Inside MasterChef star Grace Dent’s career and private life as she ‘replaces Gregg Wallace’

Superman’s iconic kiss scene censored in India, leaving DC fans furious

Love Island USA: Season 7 winners revealed after scandalous season comes to an end

Will we ever know why Bryan Kohberger murdered the Idaho Four?

One of Pride and Prejudice’s most iconic scenes ‘won’t be in Netflix reboot’

‘Nobody’s got $4,500,000’: The moment a Beatles legend saved Monty Python

BBC breached editorial guidelines over Gaza documentary narrated by son of Hamas official

Drake sparks upset as final Wireless set ends after just 40 minutes - star says 'needs time to process'

The Couple Next Door Season 2 on Channel 4 review: a dully conventional cul-de-sac thriller

Salome at the Barbican review: a gripping performance from a dream cast