Welcome to the Daily Lowdown podcast from HELLO!. In this episode, we're talking about Taylor Swift breaking another major record – this time overtaking the King of Rock 'n' Roll, Elvis Presley's chart milestone.
Not only that, but Lewis Capaldi announced he will be continuing his live performing hiatus while also releasing an extended version of his album, Broken by Desire to be Heavenly sent, and grime legend Skepta is coming back with a new album.
Listen to the episode in full below…
Taylor Swift has officially taken over the King of Rock and Roll. The Cruel Summer singer has broken Elvis' record for most spent weeks at No1 on the Billboard album chart by a solo artist after reaching 68 weeks in total. Elvis' previous record was 67 weeks but thanks to Taylor's long stint on the charts, she's beaten him. However, overall, Taylor remains in second place to the Beatles who racked up 132 weeks at the top of the chart throughout their iconic career. Taylor has become a record breaker in a multitude of ways, as she also holds the record for most albums to debut at number one consecutively, and she is the first living artist to chart five albums in the top ten, something Prince only achieved after he passed away in 2016. It's Taylor's world we are just living in it.
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Lewis Capaldi has confirmed that he will be continuing his hiatus from touring due to his mental health. The Someone You Loved hitmaker announced he was stepping back from performing live last summer after struggling with his voice while performing at Glastonbury festival, and shortly before the new year arrived he explained that stepping back has helped his health enormously. Lewis said that he will continue to take time to look after himself but will endeavour to write some music at the same time, telling fans he wanted to make sure he is 100 per cent before going back to performing. However, there is good news for fans because he released an extended version of his hugely successful album, Broken By Desire to be Heavenly Sent, which featured five brand new songs, which Lewis described as tracks that mean the world to him.
Skepta is back. The UK grime legend is set to release his first studio album in five years after teasing his fans on social media. Skepta told his followers that his new record is called Knife and Fork which will officially drop later this year, but before that, he has a new song called Gas Me Up which will be out at the end of the month. The album will be his first since 2019 album Ignorance is Bliss, and Skepta said that he was grateful for all the love he was shown during his absence.
Nicki Minaj sparked a bit of a debate while performing at a huge gig in Florida to ring in the New Year. The rapper, who has just released her new album Pink Friday 2, took to the stage at Eleven Club in Miami when her 2012 hit song Starships began to play. However, the so-called Queen of Rap halted the song after just a few lines and said she doesn’t perform that song anymore because it's stupid. But the crowd were pleased to hear that instead, Nicki played her huge track, Super Bass, which went down a treat. Meanwhile, her new album has done well and she'll soon be starting her Pink Friday 2 world tour.
And music and television mogul Nigel Lythgoe has said he is "shocked and saddened" by the sexual assault allegations put forward by his former collaborator Paula Abdul. Paula filed a lawsuit against the American Idol producer claiming Nigal had assaulted her while they worked together. The singer also alleges that he subjected her to harassment, gender violence and negligence. Nigel furiously denied the allegations and claimed they are not only untrue but deeply offensive, adding he would fight the lawsuit with "everything he has".