OLLY MURS has been the cheeky chap of the charts for more than a decade, but now he is changing things up for the next chapter of his career.
I can reveal he has parted ways with label RCA Records — after 12 years with them — and is the subject of a bidding war between other firms keen to snap him up.
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But they had better move quickly because he has been hard at work on his seventh album and wants to release new music later this year.
It will be his first album since 2018’s You Know I Know. A music insider said: “Olly was with RCA for 12 years which is a really long time.
“It felt like it was time to move on and try something new.
“He had a discussion with them and ultimately decided he wanted to shake things up a bit.
“He has been in the studio working on music for months now and wants to get it out soon.
Really excited
“As things stand, loads of labels have expressed their interest and now it’s just a case of finding the best deal which will work for him.
“Olly is really excited about the next chapter.
“He has had some time out and is raring to get going again now with a new team behind him.”
So far in his career, Olly has racked up four No1 singles, 18 Top 40 hits and four No1 albums to become one of the most successful acts to have emerged from The X Factor.
He came second on the series back in 2009 and has since tried his hand at other things, including hosting The X Factor and appearing as a coach on The Voice.
Olly is also hosting ITV’s new Saturday night entertainment show Starstruck, which also features Sheridan Smith, Jason Manford, Beverly Knight and Adam Lambert.
With talent like that backstage, he should have no problems finding people to collaborate with for his next record.
Mimi’s on fire
I WOULDN’T want to get on the wrong side of Mimi Webb given the theme of her catchy new song.
The Brit star posed in this photo after releasing House On Fire yesterday, about setting a boyfriend’s home alight after discovering he had cheated.
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She only released her debut single a year ago this month but has already had three Top 40 hits – and it sounds like this one will add to her tally.
Mimi is currently on tour playing shows all over the country and will jet to the US next month to support Tate McRae.
Grace’s lot of love for Tom
AFTER teaming up with Tom Grennan to write their new song Everything But You, Clean Bandit now want him to sing on their next collaboration.
In an exclusive interview, cellist Grace Chatto said they wanted to work again with the Little Bit Of Love hitmaker as soon as possible.
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Grace said: “Working with Tom was amazing. We are such fans of his music.
“He came into our studio and he said he had been at one of our early gigs about ten years ago. In that session we wrote a few different songs and this one, Everything But You, we had started already.
“He wrote the pre-chorus, which is one of my favourite bits. It was a ‘pinch me’ moment for us because his voice is so incredible and it is always so refreshing to work with someone so lovely.
“We really want to do a collaboration with him as well. We have one song we would love him to sing.
“It is a song we wrote before but we didn’t play to him on that day.
“These days, we try to write the songs with the singers. Otherwise it doesn’t feel organic when we make them and they sing them.”
The group’s new track is a collaboration with Swedish producer A7S (aka Alexander Tidebrink).
Grace said: “We met Alex through working with TOPIC on our last song, Drive.
“His voice is so beautiful. We are doing a few things with him now.”
Grace revealed she is working on two new EPs with her bandmates Jack and Luke Patterson , which would include plenty more mash-ups.
After that, the group plan to release their third studio album – their first since What Is Love? was released in 2018.
She said: “We want to release an EP with an eclectic mix of different styles of music.
“Towards the end of last year we did a remix of Drive with Wes Nelson and it took us back to our roots.
“We may release a couple of EPs and then end with the album at the end of this year.”
That sounds like the perfect Christmas gift for their fans.
Dua’s shock split
DUA LIPA has unexpectedly split from her management team – just days after kicking off her world tour.
The Levitating singer has parted ways with Tap Music, who first signed her when she was an unknown singer back in 2013 working as a waitress in London.
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They helped transform her into a global star but in a shock move she has now decided to leave, according to sources on her tour – with her dad Dukagijn stepping in as manager in the short term.
Dua kicked off her Future Nostalgia world tour in Miami last week and will spend the rest of the year on the road. Ellie Goulding, Lana Del Rey and Leigh-Anne Pinnock are among the other A-list artists on the books of her former management firm.
Her dad was previously in Kosovan rock band Oda but now works as CEO of a communications agency called Republika.
Hopefully it shouldn’t affect Dua’s music though, as she has spent months working on her third album.
Speaking last month about the record, she said: “It has a vision. It has a name, I think –for now. It’s just been fun experimenting.”
Kanye plans £200 album
HE is worth $1billion but Kanye West has moaned artists don’t make enough money from music.
Now he has decided to gouge his loyal fans for his next record.
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The rapper has said Donda 2 won’t be released on streaming services, CD or vinyl, and will only be available on his own device, Stem Player.
But the catch is that fans will have to pay £200 for it.
He wrote on Instagram: “Donda 2 will only be available on my platform, the Stem Player. Artists get just 12 per cent of the money the industry makes. It’s time to free music from this oppressive system.”
He added: “I turned down a $100million Apple deal. We set our own price for our art.”
I guess you do, but £200 is a stretch by anyone’s standards.
New musical debuts
ALANIS Morissette’s jukebox musical Jagged Little Pill will debut in the UK this year.
The show, which premiered in the US in 2018 and is now on Broadway, will launch on London’s West End in the autumn.
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It is based on Alanis’s 1995 album of the same name and tells the story of a family called the Healys who appear perfect but are struggling with issues including addiction and trauma
Mabel braves storm in B-Cup
MABEL looked more like she was off to the beach than into the biggest storm we’ve seen in years when she headed out in this clobber.
She wore the bra top with matching green trousers and overshirt to a dinner hosted by H&M in London after celebrating her first Valentine’s Day with her boyfriend, music executive Preye Crooks.
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He helps to run the Strawberries & Cream Festival in Cambridge, and clearly their relationship has paid off, as he has bagged Mabel as a headliner for the event in June.
By then, an outfit like this will be just right to perform in without getting too hot.
But with the gusts hammering Britain at the moment, she might want to invest in a coat in the meantime.
