When Prince comes to the Montreux Jazz Festival, all bets are off. On his third visit to the Swiss Riviera for the 47th edition of the event, he was given carte blanche over three consecutive, sold-out evenings and appeared determined to cover as many bases as possible.

Glastonbury organisers Michael Eavis and his daughter Emily took a chance on turning Mumford and Sons into a headline act; with just two albums released to date, it’s early in the band’s career. But the four-piece folk-rock band, with Brit and Grammy awards to their name, more than rise to the prestigious post. It’s an even more triumphant performance, following the brain surgery and happy recovery of their double bassist Ted Dwane.

So how can you possibly top that set from The Stones? A dream Saturday night headline set from the biggest rock band in the business was always going to a tough act to follow. Respect then to Bath-based The Heavy whose midday set on The Other Stage was a perfect start to the final day of this year's Glastonbury festival.

Michael Jackson's eldest son Prince Jackson told a court that his late father had feared the gruelling rehearsal schedule for his This Is It Tour would be the death of him.

Less approachable than Staff Benda Bilili, not as sonically challenging as Konono No1, this new contender for best Congolese band on the planet is fronted by one-time Damon Albarn collaborator Jupiter Bokondji.

Their fifth album finds The Strokes continuing the search, begun on 2011's Angles, for ways to tackle the future.

Liverpool art-rockers Wave Machines return, after three years, with a chiselled record of synth pop, rich with squiggles and shimmer.

The blunt, vulnerability of Sinead O’Connor’s shorn head appears stark as she stands on a large stage in the beautiful converted church of St Luke’s. But Ireland’s wild child, no stranger to controversy, who happily says “I’m as dry as a nun’s…” in a chapel, can lay her emotions bare more powerfully now than when her cover of “Nothing Compares 2 U” was number one in 14 countries in 1990.

If the new wave of US r’n’b really is all about existential angst and conflicting emotions, no one has told Miguel Pimentel, an exponent perfectly happy to rip off his vest to show off an admirably toned physique to please an excitable audience. 

‘There’s a fair chance that this line-up would be a train wreck’

This bewitching take on Cinderella – first seen last year at the Tobacco Factory in Bristol – bounces off the Brothers Grimm adaptation of the story rather than the Disney-influencing  Perrault version.

The Prince of Wales paid tribute to Gary Barlow as the Take That frontman was honoured at a prestigious music industry bash.

The eternal curse of rock histories is their earnestness. Every incident is weighted with wearying significance, because if the author doesn't take his subject seriously, who will?

Never believe anything anyone tells you in January. The month of second-guessing and self-fulfilling prophecies, it's the period when the music industry and media send out suspiciously samey lists of Bright New Hopes for the year ahead, almost always as cautious as they are tedious. But just occasionally, like a broken clock, they get it right.