Singer Alison Moyet is to be honoured at annual music event the Silver Clef Awards.

Singer Alison Moyet is to be honoured at annual music event the Silver Clef Awards.

i Newspaper
 
TheIPaper
The Independent around the web
E-break Time
Independent Crossword

Valeriya: Russia’s greatest export (after gas and oil)

She has sold 100 million records in her native land and Vladimir Putin adores her. Now Valeriya – superstars don’t need surnames – wants to make it over here. But is Britain ready for Moscow’s favourite pop phenomenon? Shaun Walker joins her at her summer home on the shores of Lake Geneva to find out

Editor-At-Large: Eco-towns are just vandalism dressed up in a trendy green coat

Who wants new communities when thousands of existing houses stand empty? Even builders agree – government plans are potty

Terence Blacker: These elderly pop stars have a right to feel miffed

The prejudice has less to do with the music than the way its performer looks, or his views

Come on over, Valeriya: Meet 'Russia's Madonna'

She's had 17 number one hits in her homeland, but the so-called 'Russian Madonna' has remained unknown in the UK – until now

Baby, baby, bay-BEE!...The greatest sreaming singers

Sometimes a singer just can't resist unleashing an almighty, no-holds-barred, throat-scraping, take-no-prisoners scream. Anthony Quinn selects his favourite lung-busters

Record labels that rocked our world

It's not all platinum discs and private jets. As executives at EMI discovered to their cost this week, the record industry can be a cruel mistress. But what of the other labels that made musical history? Rock's back catalogue is full of hits and misses... announced plans for 2,000 job losses. Does the digital revolution spell doom for the record labels that built rock 'n' roll?

Leading article: The tectonic plates below British politics are shifting

Tony Blair gave a speech yesterday in which he insisted that civil servants must "learn from business". David Cameron, meanwhile, was accusing his own party of failing to appreciate the hard work done by public-sector employees. You know we are living in interesting times when a Labour Prime Minister comes to bury the public service ethos and a Conservative leader to praise it. And, as our poll of polls today confirms, the tectonic plates below British politics are indeed shifting. For the first time since 1992, the Conservative Party has a consistent lead in the key indicators of public opinion.

Rock star steps into the fray as one more music icon in Liverpool faces bleak future

An unprepossessing 19th-century converted warehouse on Liverpool's Parr Street has long been the unlikely source of some of Britain's most memorable musical creations.

The Worms Can Carry Me to Heaven, by Alan Warner

The rules of seduction and storytelling

Maurice Gibb: Singer and bass player with the Bee Gees

As a founder member of the Bee Gees, Maurice Gibb was a vital part of one of the most successful groups in pop history. Together with his twin brother, Robin, and their older brother Barry, Maurice helped create a unique vocal sound that unleashed a string of influential hits, spanning four decades. As a singer and bass player, he made an important contribution to a remarkable musical enterprise that took the brothers from childhood “wannabe” entertainers to international stars.

Pop: Schmaltz from the heart

CELINE DION WEMBLEY STADIUM LONDON

THE CRITICS: ROCK & POP: Whinge on, Alanis

Alanis Morissette Arena, Newcastle Celine Dion Don Valley Stadium, Sheffield

Kissinger fury at Paxman grilling

AFTER EXTRICATING American troops from Vietnam and inaugurating the peace process in the Middle East, Henry Kissinger knows a thing or two about conflict resolution.
Career Services

Day In a Page

Independent Travel Shop See all offers »
Lake Como and the Bernina Express
Seven nights half-board from £749pp Find out more
Dubrovnik and the Dalmatian coast
Seven nights half-board from only £859pp Find out more
Prague city break
Three nights from only £199pp Find out more
Budapest city break
Three nights from only £229pp Find out more
Paris by Eurostar
Three nights from £259pp Find out more
'To farm I have to rape the countryside. It’s got to be wrong': The true effect of the badger cull

The true effect of the badger cull

'To farm I have to rape the countryside. It’s got to be wrong'
Theatre review: Daniel Radcliffe gives an admirably honest performance in Michael Grandage's The Cripple of Inishmaan

First night: The Cripple of Inishmaan

Daniel Radcliffe gives an admirably honest performance in Michael Grandage's comedy
Girls Guides drop religious reference but pledge to self and the Queen

Guides drop religious reference but pledge to self and the Queen

After 103 years, organisation changes oath to welcome 'all girls, of all faiths, and none'
Steve Tongue: Joe Kinnear was one of the boys and a breath of fresh air... 21 years ago

Steve Tongue

Joe Kinnear was one of the boys and a breath of fresh air... 21 years ago
Chris Froome: Free from 'pain in neck' after Bradley Wiggins' exit

Chris Froome: Free from 'pain in neck' after Wiggins' exit

Sky's lead rider says he is in fantastic form for the Tour and happy pecking order debate is over
Hannah England: I've got the right times – now to focus on the chess

Hannah England: Keeping Track

I've got the right times – now to focus on the chess
Beards, brawn and body art

Beards, brawn and body art

Meet London’s new batch of male models
Scandi-geeks descend on Nordicana for fan-convention

Scandi-geeks descend on Nordicana for fan-convention

British love of shows such as The Bridge, Borgen and The Killing shows no sign of fading
Behind the rhetoric what is really being done to combat desertification?

The Great Green Wall of Africa,

Behind the rhetoric what is really being done to combat desertification?
Laughter Inc: the cheering growth of the chuckle industry

Laughter Inc

The cheering growth of the chuckle industry
The bad science scandal: how fact-fabrication is damaging UK's global name for research

The bad science scandal

How fact-fabrication is damaging UK's global name for research
To the manor born: The female aristocrats battling to inherit the title

Female aristocrats battle to inherit the title

A passionate protest is gathering pace among the women of Britain's aristocracy, who believe that men should no longer automatically inherit the family pile and title.
Love struck: Photographs of JFK's visit to Berlin 50 years ago reveal a nation instantly smitten

In pictures: JFK's visit to Berlin in 1963

Photographer Ulrich Mack accompanied Kennedy on the entire trip. The results are an astonishing record of a watershed moment.
Eat shoots and leaves: Mark Hix gets creative with fresh peas, mangetouts and sugar snaps

Mark Hix gets creative with English peas

English peas and their offsprings, such as mangetouts and sugar snaps, are great tossed into a salad, says our chef.
Ceviche with a smile: Chef Martin Morales has turned South America's elegant cuisine into one of London's hottest food trends

Chef Martin Morales: Ceviche with a smile

Morales has turned South America's elegant cuisine into one of London's hottest food trends