20 most viewed news stories of the week (June 23)

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Dance-rockers Pendulum have decided to call it quits, with frontman Rob Swire revealing that the Australian group had split up after a 10-year career which spawned three albums (June 19). Swire, who said the band have no plans to play live or record another LP together, will now focus on his side-project Knife Party.

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Floods have hit the Isle Of Wight Festival site, causing the main car park for this weekend’s event to become waterlogged and also affecting bus services. The festival, which will be headlined by Pearl Jam, Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen, officially kicks off tomorrow (June 22) and runs until Sunday.

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We’re celebrating 60 years as the world’s greatest music magazine by picking the 100 greatest tracks of our lifetime. Joy Division’s ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ tops NME‘s list of what we reckon are the most essential songs of the last six decades, from Elvis to Azealia Banks, via The Beatles, Bowie, The Smiths and The Strokes.

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Ian Brown reportedly wiped his bottom with an English flag onstage in Denmark during a Stone Roses gig on June 16. A Danish website claimed that the frontman saw one fan waving an English flag and asked him to throw it onstage, before describing it as “the fucking pope’s flag” and miming the wiping of his backside with it.

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Canada Radiohead Stage Collapse

Radiohead’s drum technician, Scott Johnson, is killed after a stage collapsed before the band’s concert in Toronto (June 16). Four companies – including the band’s Ticker Tape Touring – have since been asked to comply with an investigation by the Canadian government.

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Representatives for The Rolling Stones were forced to quash rumours that the legendary outfit were planning on retiring next year with a headline slot at Glastonbury. The veteran four-piece denied that they would be taking their “final bow” at Worthy Farm in 2013, while a spokesman for the festival said that no conversation between them and the band about playing next year’s bash.

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Lady Gaga has landed herself in hot water with authorities in Thailand, after the country’s Culture Ministry said the ‘Born This Way’ star had “hurt the feelings of the Thai people”. Gaga sparked outrage after donning traditional Thai headdress and a bikini, as well as sitting on a motorbike with a Thai flag tied to it, during her live show in Bangkok last month (May 25).

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Radiohead pay tribute to Scott Johnson – the drum tech killed in their Toronto stage – with drummer Philip Selway describing him as a “lovely man”, adding: We will miss him very much. Our thoughts and love are with Scott’s family and all those close to him.” Johnson, from Doncaster, had also worked with Keane and White Lies.

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Teen-pop sensation Justin Bieber has admitted that he considered quitting his music career because of the false paternity claims that plagued him last year. Mariah Yeater had claimed that he had fathered one of her children but subsequently withdrew the allegation. Bieber’s new album ‘Believe’ was released earlier this week (June 18).

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The row between Frances Bean Cobain and her mother, Hole singer Courtney Love, rumbles on. Lawyers suing the rocker for defamation have issued a writ requesting her 19-year-old daughter make a statement clarifying her meaning when she said: “Twitter should ban my mother.”

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Get ready to man the phones: it was confirmed earlier this week (June 20) that tickets for next summer’s Glastonbury Festival will go onsale on October 7 at 9am. Registration is open now at Registration is open now at Glastonburyfestivals.co.uk and must be completed in advance of attempting to purchase tickets.

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A new exhibition featuring photos of The Beatles’ first tour of America has opened in New York. The Unseen Beatles exhibit, which is currently taking place at the Morrison Hotel Gallery in Soho, New York, captures the Liverpool legends’ first journey to the US and the height of the Beatlemania craze in the early 1960s.

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Jack Osbourne has revealed that he suffers with multiple sclerosis. The son of Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne, who was diagnosed after tests were taken when he lost 60% vision in his right eye earlier this year, subsequently claimed that he was fired by a US reality TV show after they found out.

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Cheryl Cole breaks 2012 UK Single Chart record with her latest offering ‘Call My Name’. The song, which is her first release under the name of simply Cheryl, debuted at Number One earlier this week (June 17).

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US right wing blogger Debbie Schlussel sparked controversy after accusing One Direction’s Zayn Malik of “enciting jihad” and “pimping Islam” to young female fans in a savage online attack.

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Viva Brother have relaunched themselves as boyband Lovelife, ditching guitars and gritpop for soft, synth-led pop. The band posted three tracks online titled ‘Brave Face’, ‘She Makes It Look So Easy’ and ‘Love Rush’, and are currently based in Brooklyn, New York.

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Bloc Party have announced plans for a full UK tour in October 2012, with Kele Okereke and co lining up eight dates for the jaunt which will take in dates in various cities including Glasgow and Manchester. The band are due to release ‘FOUR’, their first album since 2008, on August 20

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Arctic Monkeys, The Beatles, Amy Winehouse and Muse are all reportedly being lined-up to feature on the official soundtrack to the opening ceremony of the London Olympic Games. A leaked document also suggested that film director Danny Boyle was also planning on using The Jam, The Beatles, Happy Mondays M.I.A and Adele, as well as the theme tunes from Doctor Who and Eastenders.

20
Music – Wham!

The internet was buzzing with excitement on June 20 after rumours spread that Wham! were planning a one-off reunion. Sadly, however, a spokesperson for singer George Michael said there was no truth to the speculation that he was planning on working again with Andrew Ridgeley.

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