Get all your news in one place.

100's of premium titles.
One app.

Get all your news in one place.

100's of premium titles. One news app.

MYSTERIOUS: Martin carthy | Mind Blowing Facts

“Rock ’n’ roll is an old person’s game now – there’s still loads of people 10 years older than me who are doing it. I imagine they’ve got personal trainers and better health regimes than I do”: The inimitable Robyn Hitchcock on the enigma of songwriting

The psych-folk pioneer tells us about the “sprawling mess” of his songwriting, the hell of forgotten tunings, and the Telecaster that almost broke his back

Guitar World

Mercury Prize 2026: Paul McCartney becomes first-time nominee in thrilling shortlist

Established in 1992, the prestigious award honours the best album released by a British or Irish artist each year. For the 2026 nominees, RAYE, Nia Archives and Florence + The Machine will face off, while music legend Paul McCartney bags his first ever nomination at the tender age of 84.

Euronews

Sam Fender wins Mercury prize: ‘Geordie Springsteen’ is voice of a UK ravaged by industrial decline

The Mercury prize almost always produces surprises – among them, Gomez not The Verve in 1998, and English Teacher not Charlie XCX in 2024 – but perhaps the biggest surprise is that the prize has survived for so many years. That it has been won this year by Sam Fender…

The Conversation

From analysis to the latest developments in health,
read the most diverse news in one place.

Sam Fender wins 2025 Mercury prize for his album People Watching

Geordie singer-songwriter’s album reached No 1 on the UK album chart, and led to a series of stadium-sized concerts this summer

The Guardian - UK

How to watch Mercury Prize 2025: live stream for free, with Fontaines D.C., FKA Twigs & Sam Fender performing

All the ways to watch Mercury Prize 2025 live streams, with FKA Twigs' "Eusexua" and Sam Fender's "People Watching" in contention at Newcastle Arena.

Tom’s Guide

Martin Carthy at EartH: 'Bob Dylan's appearance drew gasps at tribute to English folk hero'

5/5 Barney Whittaker re[orts on a remarkable event paying tribute to Martin Carthy which featured appearances from an array of legends

Evening Standard

“The scrutiny we were under lent itself to the atmosphere of the record. We really had to come out swinging”: Jake Kiszka and Chris Turpin on conjuring old-school guitar magic for Mirador’s debut – and the difference between US and UK guitar players

The Greta Van Fleet x Ida Mae collab is a 21st-century exercise in rock classicism, bringing the ancient and the modern together, using high volume to bind, and to relieve some of the pressure, too

Guitar World

Read news from The Economist, FT, and more,
with one subscription

Mercury Prize 2025 shortlist revealed: Key takeaways and who should win

Who's nominated? Who's broken records? Who should win this year's coveted Mercury Prize? Here's the lowdown on this year's Mercury Prize contenders.

Euronews

Rock acts Fontaines DC, Sam Fender and Wolf Alice shortlisted for the 2025 Mercury Prize

An Irish act could win for the first time in Mercury Prize history, with both Fontaines DC and pop singer CMAT shortlisted, while North Shields singer-songwriter Fender will be hoping for a homecoming triumph as the ceremony takes place in Newcastle

The Independent UK

Pulp, CMAT and Sam Fender among artists nominated for 2025 Mercury Prize

Britpop band Pulp previously won the prize in 1996 for Different Class.

Evening Standard

CMAT, Pulp and PinkPantheress among Mercury prize shortlist light on new names

Only two debut albums – among them the ‘token’ jazz release – feature among this year’s list of nominations for the coveted UK and Irish music prize

The Guardian - UK

Wizz Jones obituary

Guitarist, singer and songwriter who performed with John Renbourn, Bert Jansch and Ralph McTell

The Guardian - UK

Keith Dewhurst obituary

Writer for stage and screen whose work included the TV police series Z-Cars and several plays at the National Theatre and Royal Court

The Guardian - UK

After he had his first hit at 15 years old, Paul Simon became one of the all-time great songwriters, but he’s a remarkable guitar player, too – and he learned his precise fingerstyle approach from the English folk masters

There is a case to be made that Paul Simon is one of the most underrated players ever, but maybe that's because he always foregrounds the song. This lesson shows just what a clever player he is

Guitar World

Get all your
news in one place.

100's of premium titles.
One news app.

Guitar World

He taught John Lennon to fingerpick, shaping future Beatles classics, while the ’60s music press compared him to Bob Dylan – why Donovan is an under-appreciated acoustic guitar great

As legend tells it, he was the man who taught John Lennon to pick. And he sure could write a song. We pay tribute to the flying Scotsman of the Swinging Sixties, Donovan Phillips Leitch, with this lesson in his folk-informed style

MusicRadar

“Our generation owes him our artistic lives – because he opened all the doors in Nashville”: The Bob Dylan album that helped change country music

On his last studio album of the '60s, Bob Dylan embraced country music and unveiled a surprising new vocal style

MusicRadar

"How do you tune a B string? You can't." What Blur’s Graham Coxon learned – and didn't learn – from folk legend Bert Jansch

The Blur guitarist and solo artist on the pressures of playing – and even tuning-up – in front of your heroes

The Guardian - UK

Simon Emmerson obituary

Founder of the bands Afro Celt Sound System and the Imagined Village, who produced albums by Manu Dibango and Baaba Maal

Get all your
news in one place.

100's of premium titles.
One news app.

The Guardian - UK

Eliza Carthy: ‘Folk music is sexy and filthy and at the end of the night you fall over. That’s how I live’

She was the pink-haired fiddler who punked up folk, but Covid almost sank her and her famous family. Eliza Carthy talks about going broke, bereavement and the healing power of boozy, bawdy music

The Guardian - UK

Norma Waterson was one of folk’s greatest voices – and greatest people

The British folk singer, who has died aged 82, was proud of the music she made – and her warmth as well as her toughness sang loudly in her songs

The Guardian - UK

Norma Waterson obituary

Celebrated singer of traditional English folk music whose embrace of other musical styles won her a wide following

Daily Mirror

Folk singer Norma Waterson dies at 82 with Billy Bragg leading tributes

Mercury Prize-nominated Norma Waterson had been hospitalised with pneumonia before her death

The Guardian - UK

Norma Waterson, celebrated British folk singer, dies aged 82

Musician acclaimed for work with siblings and husband Martin Carthy in the Watersons had been suffering from pneumonia

People

From analysis to the latest developments in health,
read the most diverse news in one place.

Organisations

Read news from The Economist, FT, and more,
with one subscription

Topics

Places

Fourteen days free

Download the app

One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.