Instead of my usual silly intro hijinks, I want to tell you about Peabo Bryson, who passed away age 75 this week. You might not have seen his name before, but you’ve definitely heard his voice, as the singer behind Disney hits ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and Aladdin’s ‘A Whole New World’.

Peabo Bryson (such a great name, right?) started out as an R&B singer, but it was his ‘90s Disney duets that cemented his legacy and touched generations of audiences. ‘Beauty and the Beast’ secured Bryson and his collaborator Celine Dion a Grammy, and went on to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

He then recorded another Grammy/Oscar winning duet with Regina Belle for Aladdin. In March 1993, ‘A Whole New World’ reached number one on the U.S. Billboard chart – the first original song from a Disney animated film to do so.

A statement from his family this week said: “Peabo’s extraordinary voice served as the soundtrack to some of life’s most cherished moments. His music carried generations through joyful celebrations, great love stories and enduring moments of comfort and inspiration”.

“We love the passion you have for the show… we just ask that while the drama unfolds, everyone remembers there are real people behind the screen.”
Love Island UK released a statement on the eve of its season 13 premiere, pleading with fans to be respectful of contestants in their online commentary. Love Island USA shared a similar message ahead of last week’s cast reveal, when viewers were urged to “keep it kind”.

26,700.
The number of Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) customers who may have been impacted by a data breach, after hackers targeted its ticket provider Ferve. Personal information that may have been affected includes names and addresses, but the festival said “no credit card information was accessed”. MIFF apologised “for any worry or inconvenience this incident may cause” as investigations continue.

Dua Lipa and Callum Turner got MARRIED (!!!) at London’s Old Marylebone Town Hall this week. A small group of friends and family attended the civil ceremony, ahead of a rumoured three-day wedding extravaganza in Sicily this weekend. Yes please.

Indulge me in a little experiment. I want you to go to the video section of your camera roll and have a look for footage from live gigs.

Found some? Me too.

Now, ask yourself how often you watch those videos. Are there some you’ve never watched? If your phone was lost to the Pacific Ocean tomorrow, would you miss them?

On the flip side, most of us have probably been to a gig where someone else’s filming habits got in the way of our own enjoyment or experience.

Phones are a reality of live music in 2026, but a growing number of artists are putting their foot down.

Beatles legend Sir Paul McCartney returned to the stage in March to play two intimate concerts in LA. He decided to ban devices from the performances, to encourage fans to be more present.

The result? Something “really special,” McCartney said.

“Normally people are just not watching your show, they’re just holding their phones up and they'll watch it when they get home,” he told NME.

“It was like an old gig, like how everyone used to play.”

Bruno Mars has a strict no-phone policy at his Las Vegas residency shows, while Adele and Alicia Keys have also asked fans to stop filming during their gigs.

Social media and smartphones have changed the live music landscape. A stadium tour can take on a life of its own online, with a show’s viral opening seconds, celebrity cameos, costume changes, choreography, and fan participation becoming a staple on TikTok.

Writer Jason Okundaye went viral in 2023 when he shared a video from the first stop of Beyoncé’s Renaissance world tour in Sweden to X.

In an op-ed for the Guardian, he said: “I got thousands of likes and retweets and people commenting… But what was the point of doing that, really? While I still had fun, I was distracted by my phone during a concert by one of my favourite artists, all for the sake of some ephemeral internet buzz. I haven’t even looked at any of those clips again.”

The idea that we feel more connected and present at a gig when phones aren’t involved is hardly a revolutionary one. So why can’t we stop bringing them out at gigs?

The habit has become so commonplace, it’s easy to feel left out if you’re the only one not filming. The Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde summed it up well when she said: “It’s like a weird compulsion that people can’t control.”

However, U.S. researcher Dr. Linda Henkel found excessive phone use during live events can impede our ability to form memories.

“When people rely on technology to remember for them, counting on the camera to record the event and thus not needing to attend to it fully themselves, it can have a negative impact on how well they remember their experiences,” she explained.

Okundaye’s advice is to limit yourself to “one or two clips for the Instagram story, then lock your phone away”. As he points out, dedicated fans will always share the best moments “for you to scroll past later.”

I’m not suggesting you should regret every single clip you’ve ever filmed. There are some that I cherish. But could I have filmed less over the past several years? Absolutely.

Reporting by Emma Gillespie.

Nobody does it quite like Lizzo - and she's back tomorrow

Her third studio album BITCH drops June 5, and yes, the latest single is an interpolation of Meredith Brooks' iconic track of the same name. A bold opener... we’d expect nothing less.

This is the same woman who made history at the 2023 GRAMMYs, being the first Black woman to win Record of the Year since 1994. Four GRAMMYs, an Emmy, collabs with Doja Cat, SZA and Charli xcx, plus that Harry Styles moment at the BRITs that we still haven't moved on from. Stream BITCH from tomorrow.

If your algorithm is anything like mine, you will have seen a lot of coverage about a lawsuit from outdoor gear brand Patagonia against a drag queen named ‘Pattie Gonia’.

Patagonia alleges Pattie (real name Wyn Wiley) is infringing on its trademark. Pattie says Patagonia is trying to “erase her advocacy”.

Let’s unpack this very full hiking backpack.

Patagonia: Founded in 1973 by Yvon Chouinard. The craftsman supplied climbing equipment before starting his own company, which he eventually named after the region in South America.

In 2022, Chouinard signed a deal to give the Holdfast Collective, an environmental non-profit, 98% of the company. While Patagonia continues to operate as a business, its profits support the Collective’s environmental work.

Pattie Gonia: Environmental activist and drag queen, who also says her name is inspired by the South American region. She once hiked 100 miles (161km) in drag to raise funds for a group of non-profits. After a park ranger lost their job for flying a trans pride flag at Yosemite National Park, she made a dress from the flag and wore it on a red carpet.

If you’re like me, you’re thinking: this company and this drag queen seem to have the same goals. Why are they fighting? Put your Elle Woods glasses on, it’s time for a lesson in trademark law.

In September 2024, Pattie started a website called pattiegoniamerch.com. The site sold T-shirts screen printed with phrases like Pattie Gonia Hiking Club’.

The following year, Pattie filed a trademark application for ‘Pattie Gonia’. The applications must specify what you’ll be doing with the trademark. Pattie’s application said she would be promoting environmental causes, and selling clothing and stickers, among other things.

Patagonia has active trademarks for a number of goods and services, such as environmental activism and education, and selling clothes and stickers.

A person posting under a username that is the name of a brand, or sounds like one, is not considered an infringement under U.S. trademark law. It’s when they start selling similar goods and services that a company needs to take action. If they wait too long, a court could actually rule a brand allowed its trademark to be eroded, and therefore should lose its case.

In a case where a company acts quickly, the defendant can argue they used the mark as parody or fair use, i.e. for non-commercial purposes.

Patagonia filed a legal complaint in January alleging Pattie was infringing on its trademark with her web store. (Based on a look through the Wayback Machine, the URL of Pattie’s site changed to pattiemerch.com shortly afterward.)

Patagonia alleged Pattie’s store meant she was no longer using “a persona to engage in activism,” but intending “to launch a wide-ranging commercial enterprise,” which it said was a bridge too far, “even when it supports or agrees with [her] views, message, or objectives.”

It said it was suing Pattie for $US1, and asked the court to find that she should pay its lawyers’ bills.

The legal filing says Patagonia had already spoken to Pattie about making sure her “advocacy work might continue” without infringing on its operations at a meeting in early 2022. It includes an email exchange with Pattie summarising the meeting, where she agreed that Patagonia asked her not to use its logos “or any substantially similar designs”.

Patagonia then submitted a screenshot of a re-designed version of its logo featuring a rainbow and Pattie’s name on a sticker. The drag queen didn’t sell these stickers, but they were given to people who donated to one of her fundraisers.

Across several Instagram and TikTok posts, Pattie said Patagonia was trying to take away her name, and get her to pay more than $1 million in legal fees, which she said was “a corporation trying to erase an activist.”

Pattie said she had been trying to settle the lawsuit for several months, which she claims “cherry-picks a few examples of playful parody and fan art” that weren’t for sale.

She also said Patagonia had chosen “this exact moment in the height of anti-LGBTQ attacks” to launch its suit, saying “ if Patagonia wants to celebrate Pride Month [June] by taking a queer climate activist to federal court, then I am here to fight for myself”.

However, she said she would “drop the trademark” application, in exchange for Patagonia dropping the lawsuit.

Patagonia then posted to Instagram saying it could drop the lawsuit if she withdrew her application, stopped “using our logos,” and no longer sold clothes and other products “as Pattie Gonia”.

Pattie responded by saying she could agree to the first two points, but not the third, because it would stop her from making money “to pay for the education, advocacy and activism that me and my team do.”

Looks like they’re ‘gonia go to court.

Reporting by Lucy Tassell.