‘It’s like being on a love boat’: the dance trio embraced by Sam Smith and Madonna
After choreographing the video for Unholy and the queen of pop’s Celebration tour, French collective (La)Horde are taking a wildly eclectic show to London
December 2023
From Renée Rapp to Anohni – the year in queer pop
LGBTQ+ artists dominated in 2023, with club tracks, protest songs and gay anthems
July 2023
The best original photographs from the Observer
Original Observer Photography
The best original photographs from the Observer commissioned in June 2023
June 2023
Kitty Empire's artist of the week
Christine and the Queens review – grief, lust and transcendence
Performed live, the pop auteur’s latest album is a magnificent – if occasionally frustrating – fever dream of religious imagery, existential loneliness and oceanic feelings
Christine and the Queens review – phantasmagoric drama and musical transcendence
A two-hour rock opera version of their new album – which is in turn inspired by Tony Kushner’s Aids drama Angels in America – the band’s feverish Meltdown performance was overwhelming
Christine and the Queens: Paranoïa, Angels, True Love review – heavy emotions and heavenly longing
The Guide newsletter
The Guide #90: Through grief, breakups and transition, Christine and the Queens keeps getting better
Christine and the Queens: Paranoïa, Angels, True Love review – a grief-stricken masterpiece
March 2023
Christine and the Queens announces artists for 2023 Meltdown festival
French pop singer invites Sigur Rós, Jim Jarmusch and more for June festival at London’s Southbank Centre
November 2022
Kitty Empire's artist of the week
Christine and the Queens Presents Redcar review – heartbreak, passion and a pile-up of props
Christine and the Queens review – a glittering solo circus
Alexis Petridis's album of the week
Christine and the Queens: Redcar les Adorables Étoiles review – clouds of sorrow from the artist’s new persona
‘I’m changing and I don’t think society helps at all’: Christine and the Queens’ journey to becoming Redcar
October 2022
Ranked
The 100 greatest BBC music performances – ranked!
As the Beeb celebrates its centenary, we take a look at its most memorable pop moments, from the birth of grime to the first sightings of Bob Dylan and Bob Marley, plus TOTP goes Madchester and countless classic Peel sessions
March 2022
Alexis Petridis's album of the week
Charli XCX: Crash review – subverting pop’s rules, or just playing by them?
Torn between chart success and the pop vanguard, the artist self-consciously set out to make a ‘major label album’ – but it’s full of mixed messaging
March 2021
'Magic happens, often': Christine and the Queens, Haim, Nile Rodgers and more on the joy of live music
Musicians on the thrill of playing live – and what we can expect when gigs return
November 2020
Best music of 2020
The 20 best songs of 2020
Our writers considered hundreds of contenders – and here are their picks of the year. Listen to all 390 tracks they voted for on our playlist
August 2020
The music essay
Will the UK ever love foreign-language pop?
Three summers ago, Despacito’s lilting Spanish lyrics dominated the UK charts, but since then nearly all pop hits have been in English. Is it just a language barrier – or a sign of a narrow culture?
May 2020
Lockdown listening
Sophie Ellis-Bextor's lockdown listening: 'A child could understand it – stay at home'
David Bowie, Adele and Beyoncé: BBC unveils Glastonbury coverage
