Olly Murs had the audience at the AO Arena Manchester sobbing last night after he paid tribute to his late friend, Caroline Flack.
The Heart Skips a Beat singer is best-known for his upbeat pop songs but took the time to honour his former friend with an emotional tribute.
He dedicated an acoustic version of Sweet Caroline to the presenter, who died in 2020.
Speaking to the crowd, Olly urged people to check in on anyone they thought might be struggling, saying: “Make the effort. Because you might be able to change what they decide to do.”
He described Caroline as ‘an amazing human’ and described her love for music and dancing.
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Olly also said: “The fact that she’s not here any more is horrible. I miss her every single day.”
The star then introduced his version of Sweet Caroline, saying ‘this one’s for you, Caz’.
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Fans who were there have reported sobbing their way through his speech and performance.
One person said: “Olly singing sweet Caroline had me sobbing. Cazza would be so proud of you @ollymurs!”
Another said: “Thank you so much for an amazing night! I cried and cried when you talked about Caroline, I lost my sister in April ’20 and I had tears streaming down my face when you talked about grief and loss. Thank you for a fab show! Good luck at your wedding.”
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As always, what a performance by @ollymurs 🤍 and what a tribute to Caroline Flack. 🌹 Sweet Carolineee Du Du Duuuu 🎶 it’s okay not to be okay, check in on those you know, you never know how someone is feeling on the inside. 😢💔 pic.twitter.com/cw25CTosKR
Someone else posted: “Olly Murs just did an acoustic cover of Sweet Caroline as a tribute to Caroline Flack and sobbed the whole way through it. Genuinely very lovely.”
Olly’s full speech about Caroline Flack said: “One of my good friends, in February 2020, took her own life. Miss Caroline Flack.
“It was a really difficult time for me. And it’s mad, because I was looking through some old Instagrams earlier, some old photos that we’ve got, and we used to spend so much time in Manchester because we used to do loads of filming for X Factor and loads of different things.
“So being here tonight is really really special.
“It was one of the lowest moments of my life. She was such an amazing human. We had our fights, we had our rows, we got on sometimes we didn’t, but she was always such a great person to be around, someone I loved very much.
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Olly Murs just did an acoustic cover of Sweet Caroline as a tribute to Caroline Flack and sobbed the whole way through it. Genuinely very lovely pic.twitter.com/vid6zRipqt
“So the fact that she’s not here any more is horrible. I miss her every single day.
“When you’re dealing with something like that it’s super super tough, and the only way that I could deal with it, with grief my way, is by music – by singing, and performing.
“That’s what she loved to do. You guys must have watched her on Strictly. She was incredible on Strictly, and not only that she was an incredible singer. So I wanted to do something on this tour to dedicate to her, a tribute to my lovely friend Caroline Flack who I miss every single day.
“So I’m going to sing this song for her. Before I sing it, if you know anyone who’s struggling real bad, or even if you don’t know it, if you think something’s not right, please speak to them, please give them a call, go round there and see them, make the effort. Because you might be able to change what they decide to do. Please please do it.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is my version of Sweet Caroline. This is for you, Caz.”
Review | Villanelle debut: Liam Gallagher’s son’s band release their first track – here’s our review
Danny Jones
Liam Gallagher’s son, Gene, and his band Villanelle, have officially released their debut single to the masses, and since we’re still very much immersing ourselves in everything even remotely to do with Oasis, we thought we’d give this first track a review.
Now, if you’re expecting a familiar Britpop vibe like his dad and uncle used to bash out back in the day, you’d be very wrong…
It’s one thing to settle into something similar to what you’ve grown up around and try to continue a lineage if you’re from a successful family – especially with a legacy as important and influential as the one left by Liam and Noel – but we’re glad to report they’ve done something pretty different.
24-year-old Gene Gallagher and his bandmates Ben Taylor (guitar), Jack Schiavo (bass), and Andrew Richmond (drums) haven’t just tried to do an impression of Oasis; instead, they’ve found their own sound, and while it does give somewhat of an old-school flavour, it’s not what we expected.
It takes literally milliseconds for you to click into realising the vibe they’re going for.
‘Hinge’ is a simplistic but hard-hitting, grungey and dark debut from Villanelle, who, despite having played a number of in-progress songs live over the last year or so, have only just dropped their first studio single.
In fact, they’ve actually taken the admittedly bizarre and unorthodox first steps of having already played live with Liam Gallagher on the Definitely Maybe 30th anniversary tour before they actually released anything people can easily listen to outside of their live performances.
Nevertheless, the young four-piece introduces Villanelle as the latest post-punk outfit amidst the ongoing revival of the classic rock genre.
That is to say that punk is a tried and true classic style of music, not that these lads are trying to sound like The Rolling Stones…
Anyway, we’re getting sidetracked: Villanelle draw plenty of influences from both original and contemporary examples of this sonic subculture, and while it isn’t explosive per se, ‘Hinge’ is short, direct and hits the same formulaic notes.
It’s also fair to say you can hear a bit of the recognisable LG whine in Gene’s vocals at times, too. Listen to it in full down below and see if you agree.
Even the basic found-footage style video fits into the same category.
To call it straightforward isn’t intended as any kind of a diss, by the way – some of our favourite tunes and best artists spearheading the renaissance of the punk scene write like this.
What we will say is that it looks like bloody good fun to both play and listen to in a small, sweaty room, with plenty of pits and people bouncing off the walls.
Gallagher Sr. might be surprised to see his son going for a slightly heavier, more hardcore route with his sound, but he can’t accuse him of forgetting his roots as the child of a ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll Star.’
The boys are actually hitting the road this winter, including a date at The Castle Hotel in the Northern Quarter, if you fancy grabbing a ticket.
You can grab your tickets to see Villanelle on tour HERE, and in the meantime, let us know what you think of their debut track down in the comments.
Johnny Marr teases his work on upcoming Gorillaz album
Danny Jones
Legendary Manchester musician Johnny Marr has revealed he features on the new Gorillaz album, adding even more interest in the highly anticipated release.
The Mountain is the ninth studio LP from the musical collective led by Damon Albarn, which is set to drop in early 2026, more than three years on from their last album, Cracker Island.
Although the virtual band made up of several real-life creatives (though the ex-Blur frontman and artist, Jamie Hewlett, technically remain the only two consistent core members) hasn’t been away for too long, each new project brings a wave of excitement.
With that in mind, we have no shame in admitting we have even more interest in Gorillaz’s latest album now that we know Johnny Marr is attached to it.
I’m pleased to share that I appear on four tracks on the upcoming Gorillaz album The Mountain. It’s a privilege to be a part of this record along with so many great artists. #Gorillaz#JohnnyMarrpic.twitter.com/KXVZxgyGg9
In the new rundown of tunes already posted earlier this month, the former Smiths songwriter and lead guitarist features on four different songs on the new record. You can see it in full down below:
Gorrilaz – The Mountain tracklist
1. The Mountain (feat. Dennis Hopper, Ajay Prasanna, Anoushka Shankar, Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash) 2. The Moon Cave (feat. Asha Puthli, Bobby Womack, Dave Jolicoeur, Jalen Ngonda and Black Thought) 3. The Happy Dictator (feat. Sparks) 4. The Hardest Thing (feat. Tony Allen) 5. Orange County (feat. Bizarrap, Kara Jackson and Anoushka Shankar) 6. The God of Lying (feat. IDLES) 7. The Empty Dream Machine (feat. Black Thought, Johnny Marr and Anoushka Shankar) 8. The Manifesto (feat. Trueno and Proof) 9. The Plastic Guru (feat. Johnny Marr and Anoushka Shankar) 10. Delirium (feat. Mark E. Smith) 11. Damascus (feat. Omar Souleyman and Yasiin Bey) 12. The Shadowy Light (feat. Asha Bhosle, Gruff Rhys, Ajay Prasanna, Amaan Ali Bangash, and Ayaan Ali Bangash) 13. Casablanca (feat. Paul Simonon and Johnny Marr) 14. The Sweet Prince (feat. Ajay Prasanna, Johnny Marr and Anoushka Shankar) 15. The Sad God (feat. Black Thought, Ajay Prasanna and Anoushka Shankar)
As you can see, the 61-year-old appears for the first time on song seven, ‘The Empty Dream Machine’, as well as ‘The Plastic Guru’, ‘Casablanca’, and the penultimate track on the album, ‘The Sweet Prince’.
It’ll be interesting to see how he fits into the captivating soundscape already teased by the group, with Gorillaz having now shared ‘The Happy Dictator’ featuring art pop duo Sparks.
A strong and politically loaded start.
Marr – who only released his fourth batch of solo material, Fever Dream Pts 1-4, back in 2022 – has continued to craft and produce with countless other artists over the past few decades, sharing the studio with fellow icons such as Noel Gallagher, Billy Bragg, Talking Heads and many more.
He even helped create the score for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 soundtrack with legendary composer Hans Zimmer.
That being said, we can only hope to hear some of his famous guitar tones sprinkled throughout this album, though it’s still unclear as to exactly how much input he had on The Mountain overall.
What we do know about the album is that it’s the first to be released via Albarn’s new record label KONG; it’s 15 tracks, and was largely made following extended recording sessions across India, with the likes of Ajay Prasanna, Omar Souleyman and Anoushka Shankar, joining IDLES, Jalen Ngonda and other collabs.
Perhaps most excitingly, the announcement of ‘Gorillaz no.9’ came alongside a series of tour dates, including one right here in Manchester. We can’t wait to see 2D, Murdoc Niccals, Russel Hobbs and Noodle ‘live’ in 0161.
Daisy Jackson -
6th May 2023 
