POP stars don’t come much more high octane – or heart-wrenchingly honest – than Pink.
The US singer kicked off her Summer Carnival world tour in Bolton, Lancs, on Wednesday and opened up to the 35,000-strong crowd about her love life.
After singing her 2009 hit Please Don’t Leave Me, she talked candidly about her 17-year marriage to US Motocross veteran Carey Hart, telling fans: “This is what they teach in marriage counselling: Remorse, regret, resolution.”
Smiling impishly, she then added with a grin: “I’ll start that tomorrow.”
It became a family affair when Willow, the eldest of her two children, came out on stage to help her sing Cover Me In Sunshine.
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Laughing, Pink recalled how her son, Jameson, had been overcome backstage when he met one of her support acts, US singer Gayle.
She added: “My six-year-old is backstage singing A-B-C-D-E-F-U . . . ”
As well as baring her soul, Pink, who will play Sunderland and Birmingham next before headlining BST Hyde Park on June 24 and 25, performed some of her most daring and risky stunts to date.
Eighties workout gear
Kicking off the gig with her 2001 smash Get The Party Started, she came out of a huge pair of lips at the top of the Bolton Wanderers stadium before diving head first towards the stage on a bungee rope next to enormous silver palm trees.
She then pushed herself to the limit with her daring aerial stunts, clambering on to a hoop with silks, which was hoisted high into the air as she spun and sang at the same time.
She refuses to use safety straps to stop her from falling, and Pink admitted she was nervous.
After singing Heartbeat and coming back to earth, she said: “I’m feeling relieved. You’ve got to get the first one out of the way!”
She went through 11 outfits during the two-hour extra-vaganza, including a pink dress lowered on to her body from wires suspended in the ceiling, and a Kylie Minogue-style hooded gown for Never Gonna Not Dance Again.
Her backing dancers were just as colourful, moving around in Jane Fonda-inspired Eighties workout gear for Raise Your Glass.
After working her way through 26 of her biggest hits, Pink saved the best for last, belting out her 2008 track So What while repeatedly rotating 360 degrees.
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Bolton has never looked — and sounded — so exotic. Everywhere needs a little shade of this Pink.
SERENE LOREEN
LOREEN has a big smile on her face and it’s not hard to see why.
The Tattoo singer, who triumphed at Eurovision for Sweden for a second time, is now working on new music off the back of her victory.
In an interview with Rolling Stone UK, which you can read in full at rollingstone.co.uk, she said: “Every now and then I just think, ‘What the f* just happened? Did we seriously win that?’.
A year back if somebody told me, ‘You’re going to be on Eurovision, and you’re going to win’, I’d probably laugh my ass off, and say, ‘That is never gonna happen – no, I don’t think so’.
“But life changes so fast, I can hardly believe it. Now I’m here in London, doing what I love the most, meeting new people and creating music. What the f*, man?”
FOOS AHEAD IN No1 RACE
IT has been the tightest chart battle of the year, with the Foo Fighters and Noe Gallagher locked in a head-to-head race.
But it looks like Dave Grohl and his band are set to clinch top spot today – thwarting (for now) Noel’s run of ten consecutive No1 studio albums – despite them being behind earlier in the week.
I had a sneak peak at chart figures last night and they showed that the Foos had racked up sales of 35,692 for their record But Here We Are.
Meanwhile, Noel and his High Flying Birds' album Council Skies was 685 copies behind, with a total of 35,007.
If the American group do manage to hang on to their lead, it will be their sixth UK No1 album.
It would also be poignant, given it is their first since the death of drummer Taylor Hawkins last year – a tragedy that inspired the record’s emotional songs.
The album has been given a boost by plenty of chat about the band this week, after I revealed they will be making a surprise appearance at Glastonbury in a fortnight’s time under the pseudonym The Churnups.
Elsewhere in the charts, Sophie Ellis-Bextor looks set to go to No5 with Hana, which would be her most successful album since 2014.
She said: “When things do better than you’d expected, it’s a lot sweeter now because you’re more appreciative of the relationship between making music and the person at the other end.”
Real sight for Dawe eyes
NATHAN DAWE has been getting an eyeful during shows at his Ibiza Rocks residency because crowd members keep flashing him.
The Staffs-born DJ said: “We’ve got a camera that zooms in on the crowd to put people on the screens.
“The natural flashing of body parts has been the number one thing so far – it’s becoming a trend.”
Nathan, right, is hoping to hop islands after one of his shows to follow in the footsteps of Joel Corry and Craig David by DJ-ing in the Love Island villa.
He said: “A lot of my friends have done it so it’s always great to see the clips afterwards. It would be nice to go and get some more sun.”
Nathan has teamed up with Joel and Ella Henderson for 0800 Heaven, out today, after the success of previous hits 21 Reasons and Lighter with Ella.
In an exclusive chat, he said: “It’s the third one now, the hat-trick.
“I came up with the concept of if a loved one died and they had the chance to make a phone call from heaven, would you be the one they ring?
“We all got together and finished it off and it was a magical moment in the studio.”
Tat book idea for Yung’uns
POP punk star Yungblud wants to write a kids’ book.
The Doncaster-born singer, who is known for his out-there sense of style and being a big fan of body art, got the idea from his new song Lowlife, which has a children’s choir on it.
He said: “We got a real bunch of f***ing little brats to come into the studio.
"You all ask me to draw your tattoos so I came up with the idea of a kids’ book with tattoos that everyone can have.”
He also revealed plans for his next tattoo, adding: “I’m going to get horns on the back of my neck.”
Lowlife is his first release since his self-titled album topped the UK charts last year.
And talking about it during an Instagram Live, he said: “I think this is the best music I’ve ever put out and it feels like why I started Yungblud.
“The next couple of songs that are about to come out are going to be mental.
“Every time I went up to the mic I was like, right, let me get deep. It feels very much like the first EP and (debut album) 21st Century Liability so I’m buzzing.”
THE least likely hits often seem to have the greatest success.
And as Ben Elton's musical We Will Rock You returned to London’s Coliseum for its gala night ahead of a new 12-week run, its popularity is already out of control.
The show, set to the hits of Queen, was panned by boring theatre critics when it first opened in 2002.
Yes, those writers who frequent the sticky-floored corners of the West End, too scared to have fun in case fellow snobs turn up their noses.
Don’t Stop Me Now . . . I could go on.
The show went on to become a box office sensation and this run has already broken records for the best sales of advance tickets in the Coliseum’s history.
The plot is silly, the costumes are bright and the music is just sensational.
When all in the world seems a little bleak, We Will Rock You is the perfect antidote to the blues.
No matter what the naysayers write, The Show Must Go On.
And Ben and Co will be having the last laugh.
- Ellie Henman
CAUGHT LIVE
We Will Rock You @ London Coliseum
★★★★☆
Madge Popular
MADONNA will score her highest-charting single since 2009 today – and she has another potential hit on her hands.
Last week she teamed up with The Weeknd and Playboi Carti to release Popular, which is on course to go to No22.
Now she has released a collaboration with Sam Smith called Vulgar.
Madonna introduced Sam on to the stage at the Grammys in February and I’m told they got in the studio the very next day.
On the tune, Madge references her 1985 hit Into The Groove before dropping into an X-rated chant.
The pop icon sings: “Let’s get into the groove, you know just what to do/ Boy, get down on your knees ’cause I am Madonna/ If you f* with Sam tonight, you’re f*ing with me”.
Also out today is Drake and J Hus collab Who Told You and albums from McFly and Niall Horan.
Fox trots in as Jason’s new Expendables girl
THE Expendables are back, and the fourth instalment of the action franchise looks bigger and better than ever – and not just because Megan Fox has joined the cast.
She plays Gina, the new love interest of Jason Statham's character Lee Christmas, in the latest release, which comes nine years after the previous film in the series.
Called Expend4bles, it will hit screens on September 22 – and the new trailer shows it will be as explosive as ever.
The clip dropped on Wednesday evening and was viewed thousands of times as fans got a glimpse of the all-star cast.
Sylvester Stallone is back, with 50 Cent, Dolph Lundgren and Andy Garcia among other big names.