Michael Hann

Magnificent: Stevie Wonder at BST Hyde Park reviewed The highs of Stevie Wonder’s Hyde Park show were magnificently high. The vast band were fully clicked into that syncopated, swampy funk, horns stabbing through the synths, the backing singers adding gospel fervour. And Wonder – now 75 – sang like it was still the 1970s, his voice raspy one minute, angelic the next. Anyone

I reviewed Stevie Wonder and Heavenly. www.spectator.co.uk/article/magn...

What I saw at Ozzy’s last gig At his final gig at Villa Park on 5 July, I watched from the Doug Ellis Stand. I’ve seldom seen someone so obviously overwhelmed.

Yet more of me on Ozzy. www.spectator.co.uk/article/what...

I was at Ozzy Osbourne's final gig - it was the perfect goodbye At a show that rivalled Live Aid in scale and execution, the Black Sabbath frontman, who has died at 76, reminded the world of his legacy

More of me on Ozzy. inews.co.uk/culture/ozzy...

Sabbath, Satanism and solo stunners: Ozzy Osbourne’s 10 best recordings From his desolate wail on Black Sabbath’s doomy 70s masterpieces, to the twisted self-awareness of his huge-selling solo albums, Osbourne’s vocal style influenced generations of heavy metal

I picked 10 great Ozzy recordings for the Guardian. www.theguardian.com/music/2025/j...

YouTube video by Skylyr Noose Black Sabbath / Hole in the Sky - Don Kirshner's Rock Concert 1975

RIP Ozzy youtu.be/uIXRfQvCqAU?...

The Coldplay thing … I found it distressing that none of the chortling articles or posts thought of the humiliation they were heaping on the families. I presume no kids went to school yesterday, and that the partners can’t face leaving the house. But that’s a fair price to pay for some quick lolz.

A delight: Sabrina Carpenter at BST Hyde Park reviewed We all know, at heart, that economic theories of rational behaviour are rubbish. And that their application ruins so many areas of life. Football supporters, for example, are not ‘customers’; they are...

Reviewed the fantastic Sabrina Carpenter show and pondered a) the vfm or otherwise of outdoor shows and b) pop shows’ relationship to musical theatre. www.spectator.co.uk/article/a-de...

YouTube video by Dave Hogg Angel witch, Angel witch HD promo Video 1980

Sad to hear that another of the wonderful people I spoke to for Denim and Leather has passed away. RIP Kevin Riddles, bassist of Angel Witch and Tytan. youtu.be/bR4gK6tmIvQ?...

Iron Maiden review – 50th anniversary tour as near as uncompromising band get to greatest hits show The newest song might date from 1992 but that matters little to fans of their fast and intricate heavy metal

I reviewed Iron Maiden. www.theguardian.com/music/2025/j...

Can’t believe Ya Kid K never won a Best International Female Brit.

#HitchcockCorrie R Marnie (v specific reference to Raquel’s abortive modelling career)

#HitchcockCorrie Torn Chintz Curtain

#HitchcockCorrie North by North West Tonight

#HitchcockCorrie Rear Sitting Room

The charm of Robbie Williams What could it possibly feel like to be a sportsperson who gets the yips? To wake up one morning and be unable to replicate the technical skills that define you. To suddenly find the thing you do well ...

Reviewed Robbie and Cat Power. One put on more of a show. www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-...

Going to set up a hipster Nepalese restaurant. The Justified Ancients of MoMo.

Anyone irritated by Springsteen's speeches hasn’t been paying attention No one who went to see Bruce Springsteen’s Broadway residency a few years back came away disappointed because they knew what they were getting: a tightly scripted show, in which there was more speech ...

I reviewed Eric Church at the RAH, Springsteen in Lille and Tyler Ballgame at the Social. www.spectator.co.uk/article/anyo...

‘I terribly wanted to be liked. Still do’: Status Quo’s Francis Rossi on money worries, his deepest neuroses – and sounding like Nellie the Elephant Lampooned by critics but loved by fans, Quo turned boogie into blockbuster rock. As a live album captures their 70s peak, their frontman remembers late friend Rick Parfitt – and reconsiders his whole ...

Spoke to Francis Rossi, John Coghlan and Bob Young about the glory years of Quo, with an unexpected diversion at the end … www.theguardian.com/music/2025/m...

A triumphant show: Self Esteem, at Duke of York's Theatre, reviewed The most compelling character in the newish documentary One to One: John & Yoko isn’t either John or Yoko. It’s one A.J. Weberman, inventor of ‘Dylanology’ and ‘garbology’. He’s shown practising both ...

I reviewed amazing shows by Self Esteem and Father John Misty. www.spectator.co.uk/article/a-tr...

Divorce are the best young British band I’ve seen in an age Can we talk business for a moment? When reviewers like me go to big arenas, we get the best seats in the house, with fantastic sightlines and excellent sound (a PR who used to work for U2 told me she ...

Reviewed Divorce and Usher www.spectator.co.uk/article/divo...

‘The Citizen Kane of rock movies’: glam rockers Slade and their bid for cinema greatness Fifty years ago, the Black Country legends made Slade in Flame, about a band screwed by the music business. It tanked and almost finished them. Now, as it’s re-released, the film is being seen as a pr...

I wrote about Slade in Flame at 50. www.theguardian.com/music/2025/a...

Everyday people: the parking wardens, estate agents and more who inspired classic songs After the death of Joe DePugh, the high school baseball player hymned in Springsteen’s Glory Days, we look at the ordinary inspirations for extraordinary hits

Wrote about everyday people in famous songs. www.theguardian.com/music/2025/a...

Someone, please, put Lee Dixon out of our misery.

Not sure Justin Hawkins calling Mumford and Sons neo-Nazis from the stage, then imploring the crowd to “march like Mumford and Sons at a Nuremberg rally” is all that great. Hate Winston Marshall’s politics but he’s not been in the band for some years.

Carrie Bradshaw at laptop

And then I wondered … had Pete Hegseth really meant to text me the state secrets?

The death of touring Touring’s not what it used to be. When I were a lad, even big bands would do 30 or 40 shows around the UK to promote their new albums, stopping in places such as Chippenham Goldiggers, Hanley Victoria...

I wrote about Bob Mould and Eddie Chacon. www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-...

Black Medal of Honor recipient removed from US Department of Defense website Page honoring Charles C Rogers for his Vietnam war service is now defunct with letters ‘DEI’ added to website address

This stuff is just insane. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Gaping hole in the new Old Trafford plan is the lack of any cheese storage. Spurs showed new builds need that.

Finneas has little to offer without his sister Billie Eilish No truth is more self-evident than that there are those whose best emerges only when they are paired with others: Lennon and McCartney, Morecambe and Wise, Clough and Taylor. And it’s perhaps even har...

I reviewed Finneas and Mdou Moctar playing live in America. www.spectator.co.uk/article/finn...

Just found the wildest pizza menu of all time, from Francine's Pizza Jungle in Portland, 1957