There seems little chance Raye will face the classic “difficult follow-up album”, as she promises the unexpected with her second release.
Last month the singer’s debut album, My 21st Century Blues, won her six Brit Awards, the most ever received by a single artist in one year. But since its release Raye, 26, has had a multi-platinum hit with Prada, and co-wrote Riiverdance, one of the standout tracks on Beyonce’s new album Cowboy Carter – so we can probably assume her second album will showcase even more of her talents.
Performing at the Coachella festival in California, she told the crowd: “This next piece of music I’m going to put out, I’m so proud of it and I just need you to know. I can’t wait for you to hear it, it’s not what you expected.”
It comes after Little Mix singer Perrie Edwards said the pair bonded during a recording session at her home while recording for her album, where they discussed being petty during a row and turned it into a song – surely, turning a petty spat into a hit is the ultimate win. Perrie, 30, told Apple Music 1: “Raye is the most talented human I’ve ever witnessed in the flesh – it’s scary.”
Female artists dominated the Coachella festival, with Billie Eilish making an appearance during Lana Del Rey’s set. One of Billie’s compliments involved her referring to Lana as “the reason for half of you b******’ existence, including mine”. Not literally, you’d hope.
Taylor Swift's next studio album revealed after tenth release broke recordsOther highlights in this weekend's The Diary with Ashleigh Rainbird include:
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce at Coachella
Meanwhile, Taylor Swift and boyfriend Travis Kelce – sweetly (or grimly, depending on your tastes) known as TNT – made another appearance at Coachella. The loved-up duo had gone to see her pal Jack Antonoff’s band Bleachers play their set at the Californian festival.
The singer, 34, is on a break from her world tour, ahead of its European leg starting in Paris next month. Before that, her Londoner ex-boyfriend Joe Alwyn will be covering his ears when her new album, filled with songs about him, comes out on Friday. He may be able to hear her giving him a piece of her mind from the stadium stage during her Wembley dates in June.
The co-stars of Mission: Impossible actress Rebecca Ferguson urging her to clarify they were not the “angry idiot” who made her walk off set went about it a pretty silly way – by targeting her with angry phone calls.
That’ll clear their name, surely...
She groaned: “I got calls from amazing co-stars who I’ve worked with going, ‘You understand what you’ve done, right?!’ I was like, ‘Oh my God. No, I didn’t think.’ It’s not my responsibility.” She told them: “‘You’re great, but my story is my story, and if you’re a good person, then don’t worry about it.’”
You’ve got to admire that attitude.
Chloe Stroll's gig at the London Arts Club
There was a starstudded turnout for Chloe Stroll’s gig in London last week, and that was just her family. Father Lawrence – owner of the Aston Martin F1 team – came, as did her racing driver brother
Lance. Husband, Olympic snowboarder Scotty James, also came to support Chloe, above, at the gig at London’s Arts Club. No doubt she’ll soon race up the top of the charts with singles including Dizzy.
Finney business for Tom Hiddleston
For an early acting role, playing the angry son of Hollywood legends Albert Finney and Dame Vanessa Redgrave was quite the task. But The Night Manager’s Tom Hiddleston fought off the jitters while filming 2002’s The Gathering Storm. He says: “I had these big scenes with both of them, and I was so nervous because I revered them.
Khloe Kardashian mistaken for Taylor Swift as she debuts dramatic new look“I tried to calm my nerves by saying to myself, ‘A son isn’t nervous of his mum and dad, so just walk out there and argue with them’.”
He says he owes Murder on the Orient Express star Albert much of his career for advising him to follow in his footsteps by studying at RADA, asking: “What’s three years if you’re going to do it for the next 60?” Tom, 43, says: “I owe that to him, because I don’t know if I’d have thought of it as carefully as I did.”