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The Wanted’s Tom Parker pulls out of tour dates due to ongoing cancer treatment

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 3rd March 2022

The Wanted’s Tom Parker says he’s ‘gutted’ to miss some of the band’s tour dates due to his ongoing cancer treatment.

The Bolton-born singer is currently in Spain receiving treatment for brain cancer.

He was due to be back home in time for the start of The Wanted’s hotly-anticipated reunion tour, but his journey home has been delayed while they wait for tests and results.

The pop star first revealed he had been diagnosed with an incurable and inoperable grade 4 glioblastoma in 2020.

Tom Parker is undergoing treatment in Spain. Pictured here with his family. Credit: Channel 4

But he’s been beating the odds and is due to be back on the stage with his bandmates Max George, Siva Kaneswaran, Jay McGuiness and Nathan Sykes on a huge UK arena tour.

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The tour begins tonight in Glasgow with a date at the AO Arena Manchester on 13 March.

He said yesterday that he thinks Manchester will be ‘an emotional night’ when a fan asked him which show he was most looking forward to.

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Tom will now miss the first few shows, saying he’s ‘gutted’ but knows his ‘boys will hold the fort down’.

He wrote: “So, as most of you know, I’ve been out in Spain on a treatment programme for the past couple of weeks.

“It was only meant to last 20 days but due to a couple of logistical changes with tests and results it won’t be complete until the end of the week now which has delayed our journey home.

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Read more: From battling brain cancer, to being back on stage | Tom Parker – Manc of the Month November 2021

“I’m obviously gutted that I’ll be missing the first few shows but as I’m sure you will understand, I have to complete my treatment cycle.

“I know that the show will be incredible and that my boys will hold the fort down until I’m back x”

Featured image: Instagram (@tomparkerofficial)

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The story behind Sâlo: the rising Georgian-born Salford artist set be one of the region’s next stars

Danny Jones Danny Jones Salo singer songwriter Salford musician asylum seeker

We always love stories of people moving to Manchester to be more creatively engaged, but tales of entire families relocating here for a better life and art being born out of it is something truly special – and besides her obvious talent, that’s what has attracted us and plenty others to Sâlo.

This up-and-coming Salfordian artist may have been born around the border between Eastern Europe and Western Asia during a particular fraught time for her country, but she’s been raised and moulded like so many of us by this city’s rich music culture and wider artistic heritage.

She came to the UK with her family as a baby, with her parents fleeing poverty and lingering friction in Georgia following the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 90s, and their journey as asylum seekers eventually brought them here to the North West.

It was clear from a young age that Sâlo (short for Salome) had a gift for the piano, but it was when her family moved to the Greater Manchester area that her own interest in genres and styles began to develop. Here’s a little snippet of her recent performance at the stunning Stoller Hall.

This short video was taken from her feature in a recent episode of Manchester: Unplugged, the web series by StreamGM that launched just last year and spotlights local songwriters.

Honing in on one of her newest releases, ‘Set Me Free’, which taps into that pure love for the keys.

While this clip shows a stripped-back version of the fully-fledged electronic studio version, with production playing a key role in defining her sound, she blends everything from classical music and jazz to neo-soul as well as drum and bass.

You hear the phrase ‘genre-bending’ thrown around a lot these days, but if this mid-20s star in the making isn’t the epitome of that term, then we don’t know who is.

Speaking more about her background in the short documentary film, which aired on YouTube this week, she talks about her first memory of visiting Forsyth Music Shop in Manchester city centre, and the inspiration behind the track in question.

You watch the Sâlo episode of Manchester: Unplugged in full here.

Detailed in the description of the newest edition of the online show, “Classically trained from the age of four, Sâlo’s journey runs through some of Manchester’s most important music spaces”, including time spent at the RNCM and Chetham’s School of Music and more.

As for the tune itself, not only do the lyrics revolve around a difficult patch in a personal relationship – this being one of the first times she felt like she’s fully opened up and not held back on letting people know what she’s speaking about – but it’s also the first track she’s produced and mixed entirely on her own.

Painstakingly mastered from a small studio at home, she almost “fell out of love” with the song altogether, but getting back to that simple joy of playing piano helped revive her passion for it.

With a stunning voice, natural musical talent when it comes to her instrument, and a great blend of different analogue and digital influences, Sâlo is definitely one to watch moving forward.

A new online series spotlighting Manc songwriting is set to debut this month
Fancy finding out more about Unplugged? Look no further.

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For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — StreamGM (supplied)

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Tracey Neville appointed as Managing Director of brand new Stockport County Women’s team

Danny Jones Danny Jones Stockport County Ladies being renamed SCFC Women from next season

Stockport County FC have finally and officially launched their new women’s team in what they are hailing as a “new era” for the female football in the area.

Moreover, they’ve hired an experienced international coach to head up the department, with Tracey Neville MBE selected as the Managing Director of the new outfit.

Sister to footballing brothers Phil and Gary Neville, but with an oft-overlooked impressive reputation of her own – having not only won bronze at both the 1998 Commonwealth Games and World Netball Championship in ’99 before going on to coach her national team – she arrives with plenty of pedigree.

Now swapping her discipline for a different set of nets, Tracey Neville will lead the pre-existing Stockport County Ladies setup into their next modern chapter as the SCFC Women.

Writing in a short announcement on social media, the Hatters said: “The club is delighted to announce the launch of Stockport County Women, marking an exciting new era for women’s football in our town.

“Founded in 1989 as Stockport County Ladies, the team has spent 37 years as a volunteer-led community club, providing opportunities for women and girls across the borough.

“From the 2026–27 season, the team will compete as Stockport County Women, reflecting the growth of the women’s game and the club’s commitment to equality and opportunity.”

Also confirming the appointment of an experienced women’s and international sports personality, Tracey Neville, as the new MD, they’ve issued a clear mission statement.

Put simply, she and the rest of her staff are going to be tasked with creating “a clear pathway from grassroots to elite women’s football for Stopfordians.”

Commenting on her new role in a lengthier club statement, Neville said: “I am incredibly proud to be joining Stockport County at such a pivotal moment for the club and for the women’s game.

“My career in elite sport has shown me what is possible when there is a clear vision, strong leadership and a genuine commitment to developing talent from the ground up. Women’s football is at a defining point, and Stockport has the opportunity to do something special.

She goes on to add: “This is a community club with deep roots, and my focus will be on creating a clear, credible pathway for girls and women to progress, while building the standards, culture and infrastructure needed to compete at the highest level.”

“We want young girls in Stockport to believe that they can reach the top of the game without leaving their community. That’s how you build something powerful, sustainable and truly representative of the people it serves.”

This comes following another major announcement with the news of the next phase of the infrastructural development, with the wider football club set to take control of Stockport Sports Village (SSV) and turn it into the home not only of the youth academy, but County Women and grassroots club Stockport Town.

You can read more HERE.

As for Stockport County Women, it was only last year that they were playing against Liverpool’s female senior first team at Edgeley Park, and with all the investment happening in and around the organisation, you can expect more dates like these in the near future.

Stockport County Ladies become Women from next season onwards.

Read more:

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Press shots via Stockport County Football Club/Life Leisure UK (supplied)

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