Singer who has had record-breaking Brit awards success adds to haul thanks to massively ambitious big-band album

Raye is the winner of the 2026 Mercury prize, for her second studio album, This Music May Contain Hope.

Her win – for a hugely ambitious 73-minute record that spanned big band jazz, power balladry, funk and more – caps an ongoing renaissance for a British singer who at one point was in the doldrums, lashing out publicly at her record label for not letting her release a studio album.

Florida-born singer-songwriter had major hits with Swingin’, Seminole Wind and Straight Tequila Night

John Anderson, the traditionalist US country singer whose extensive body of work included five No 1 hits on the country charts, has died aged 71.

The news was announced on social media by his family, who said: “To the world, he was a gifted country music singer whose voice and songs touched countless lives. To us, he was so much more. He was the heart of our family, the one who made us laugh, loved us fiercely and made every ordinary moment feel special.”

City’s Beatles Story museum to move to 100,000 sq ft new home and official ownership, along with Yellow Submarine makeover of Liverpool’s second-tallest building

Liverpool is to unveil a new 100,000 sq ft visitor attraction about the Beatles, in plans hailed as “extraordinary” by Paul McCartney, and by Andy Burnham as having “the kind of ambition I want to see more of across Britain”.

Opening in 2028, the project is a huge upgrade for the Beatles Story, a museum which opened in Liverpool’s Royal Albert Dock in 1990. Ownership will now pass to the Beatles company Apple Corps, making the Beatles Story the band’s first official fan experience in their home city.