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Liam Payne revealed recently that One Direction’s members have been talking a lot more lately as their tenth anniversary approaches. He neither confirmed nor denied a reunion, but if one happens, a big question is whether or not Zayn Malik, who left the group in 2015 and has stayed largely out of the public eye since then, would want to participate. Payne spoke about that in a recent interview, saying that fans shouldn’t assume Zayn would be on board.
Payne explained that Zayn much prefers making music to promoting it out in the world, saying, “Some people are made for this thing, but Zayn enjoys the side of the music where he just gets to make music. I don’t think he enjoys what comes with it. I think he has to be very careful where he treads. He likes to make songs and his songs do very well, but at the same time, he doesn’t really like to go out and perform the songs. He doesn’t really like going out and doing the press stuff that surrounds it in the crazy little world that we live in.”
He also revealed that Zayn’s mother actually made him audition for The X-Factor, the show that spawned One Direction. He believes this foreshadowed Zayn’s discontent with and eventual departure from the group:
“We always kind of knew that there were moments when One Direction was really Zayn and then there were moments when it really wasn’t. You have to imagine when you go into these talent shows you often are a teenager. The only thing you are in the show for is to impress someone around you. You actually don’t really know what you want from life.
I started at 14 and when I was that age I hadn’t got a bloody clue what I wanted to do. My parents found it exciting and they thought I was good so I thought I would try it out — but you don’t know what you want. I remember Zayn telling us the story that it was his mum [who] got him to go to the audition the day he didn’t want to go, and that was literally what we saw all the way through One Direction.”
Read the full interview here.
During this year’s Golden Globes (yes, the Golden Globes where Succession won Best Drama happened this year, not 13 years ago, as it feels), host Ricky Gervais did his Ricky Gervais thing, roasting Leonardo DiCaprio for his dating history and spreading the conspiracy theory that Jeffrey Epstein didn’t kill himself. “I know he’s your friend,” he told the crowd of billionaires and millionaires, “but I don’t care.” He ended his monologue with a message: if you win an award, “don’t use it as a platform to make a political speech. You’re in no position to lecture the public about anything. You know nothing about the real world. Most of you spent less time in school than Greta Thunberg.”
It’s not that Gervais has anything “against anyone being a celebrity or being famous,” as he told the New York Times, he just thinks “that people are just a bit tired of being lectured to.” In that same interview to promote season two of his Netflix series After Life, the comedian was asked whether the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has soured people’s taste for celebrity culture, especially after that tone-deaf “Imagine” video:
“Now celebrities think: ‘The general public needs to see my face. They can’t get to the cinema — I need to do something.’ And it’s when you look into their eyes, you know that, even if they’re doing something good, they’re sort of thinking, ‘I could weep at what a good person I am.’ Oh dear.”
Gervais later explained “the mistake” people make when they hear his jokes. “They think that every joke is a window to the comedian’s soul — because I wrote it and performed it under my own name, that that’s really me,” he said. “And that’s just not true. I’ll flip a joke halfway through and change my stance to make the joke better. I’ll pretend to be right wing, left wing, whatever wing, no wing… I’ve got to be a court jester, but a court jester’s got to make sure that he doesn’t get executed as well.” It sounds like Ricky is pitching his next Netflix series, where he plays a court jester. It will run for eight seasons.
(Via New York Times)
It was revealed recently that a heaping handful of big-time artists would be teaming up to cover Foo Fighters’ classic 2003 single “Times Like These” for the BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge. The recording is out now, and it turns out Foo Fighters members Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins decided to take part as well.
We’ve brought together some of your favourite artists for a very special #StayHomeLiveLounge cover of ‘Times Like These’ by Foo Fighters, produced by Fraser T. Smith
Listen Thursday at 12pm on Radio 1 and see the video that evening as part of The Big Night In on @BBCOne pic.twitter.com/AIvb91YzCd
— BBC Radio 1 (@BBCR1) April 20, 2020
The performance, which is more on the acoustic side than the original recording, is credited to the “Live Lounge Allstars,” and it also features appearances from a number of artists recording their contributions from their homes. Aside from Grohl and Hawkins, the list includes 5 Seconds Of Summer, Anne-Marie, AJ Tracey, Bastille, Biffy Clyro, Celeste, Coldplay’s Chris Martin, Dermot Kennedy, Dua Lipa, Ellie Goulding, Grace Carter, Hailee Steinfeld, Jess Glynne, Mabel, Paloma Faith, Rag N Bone Man, Rita Ora, Royal Blood, Sam Fender, Sean Paul, Sigrid, Yungblud, and Zara Larsson.
The rendition comes as part of The Big Night In, a fundraising special from BBC and Comic Relief that is set to air today. UK proceeds from the song will be split between BBC Children In Need and Comic Relief, while international net profits will go towards the World Health Organization’s COVID-19-Solidarity Response Fund.
The recording was produced by Fraser T. Smith, who is known for his work with artists like Adele and Stormzy. He said of producing the track:
“It’s humbling to have been asked to produce this amazing single, taking the Foo Fighters’ classic, ‘Times Like These,’ with the Radio 1 Live Lounge team and the incredible collective of artists who have come together to record whilst in isolation. Our vision was to create a stay at home version using phones, pots, pans, and acoustic guitars that would honor the brilliance and honesty of the artists and song, rather than the trickery of an expensive recording studio. We tried to make this single in a totally different way artistically, relevant to today. The lyrics particularly resonate with us all at this challenging time, and I sincerely hope that money raised can help the plight of the unified battle against COVID-19 around the world.”
Listen to the “Times Like These” cover above.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
