Welcome to your Daily Lowdown from HELLO! In today's episode, we're discussing Taylor Swift making a surprising announcement about her next music release, and Ed Sheeran has been named the most-played artist for the sixth time. Not only that, but legendary music producer Quincy Jones is also recovering after a trip to the emergency room, and Robbie Williams was recently forced to halt a gig.
Listen to today's episode below...
Taylor Swift has announced some big news about her upcoming new single – and it might come as a surprise to her fans! The Anti-Hero singer took to the stage in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania recently where she told the crowd that her next single release will be Cruel Summer, a track from her 2019 album, Lover.
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Fans might be pleasantly surprised at the release since it's not from her more recent albums, but the track has been rising in the streaming charts recently – leading her label to make the decision to drop the song as an official release at the time of the album release. Taylor told the crowd that she was so grateful to fans for giving Cruel Summer so much love in recent times, despite the grammy-winner not releasing the song at the time. Meanwhile, Taylor fans are clearly being spoilt because she's also due to release her version of Speak Now on the 7 July.
Ed Sheeran has been named as the most played artist in the UK for the sixth time in eight years. The music licensing company, PLL, has dropped their annual Most Played chart data for 2022 and the A-Team hitmaker has once again come out on top. The data comes from the use of music on radio, TV and in public places throughout the UK. Although Ed didn't drop a new album in 2022, the success of his late 2021 album, Equals, meant that many of his songs from the record dominated the charts throughout the following year including hits like Bad Habits, Shivers and Overpass Graffiti. Meanwhile, Ed reached the top of the list with other big names like Dua Lipa, David Guetta and Harry Styles coming in just behind him.
Quincy Jones is now recovering after being rushed to hospital at the weekend over a worrying food reaction. The 90-year-old composer and legendary music producer was taken to the emergency room after paramedics attended his home in Los Angeles due to Quincy's bad reaction to something he ate. The grammy-winner was checked over by doctors and medical professionals and a representative then told TMZ that he soon received the all-clear and was sent home to recover. The representative also said assured that fortunately Quincy is in great spirits.
The Weeknd has shared a fresh batch of songs from the HBO show, The Idol, following the release of the drama's third episode. The singer, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, has dropped Get It B4 which was co-written and performed by singer Mosey Sumney, meanwhile, the Blinding Lights star also dropped the songs A Lesser Man and Take Me Back. Abel also stars in the show in the leading role as Tedros, but the series has come under fire in recent weeks due to low ratings and its explicit content. It was also revealed recently that The Idol would not be returning for a second season.
And Robbie Williams was forced to pause his recent gig in the Netherlands due to his health. The former Take That singer was on stage at the Pinkpop music festival when he was overcome with exhaustion. Robbie paused just as he was about to perform the track, Monsoon, telling the audience that he was struggling due to long Covid. Fortunately, Robbie resumed after a quick break and sang hits such as Rock DJ and Angels.