Table of contents for December/January 2026 in Rolling Stone UK

MELANIE LEHMANN Photographer I started dressing my friends up and taking pictures of them when I was around 16 years old. Who would have thought that years later I’d have a career in photography and shoot not one, but three covers for Rolling Stone UK. I was a huge party girl in my teen years. I would skip school and party all night until the night that I went to Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Ball. I was so struck by the creativity of the show that from that moment on I decided that my party days were over and it was time to work on becoming a creative. WILL RICHARDS  Senior Writer Somehow, we’ve arrived at the third annual ZYN Rolling Stone UK Awards. By the time you read…

It’s early morning in LA, and Absolutely – real name Abby-Lynn Keen – is in the midst of plans. Her partner is hosting a party, she tells me, as she slips into a car. At the age of 21, the musician has had an unprecedented year. She’s had a massive online hit, supported her older sister RAYE, who headlined All Points East, and now she’s got a new album on the way. Absolutely’s second album, Paracosm, is thoughtful, compelling and a window into her quirky, emotionally honest universe. Onstage, the singer dresses with intention, donning outfits that feel fit for a Tim Burton movie. Today, however, she presents herself as Abby, rather than Absolutely. Her vibrant colours are toned down and she’s wearing an elegant, satin-looking dress in soft grey,…

It was while touring with The Beautiful South last year and this summer that the 26-year-old Rianne Downey proved that she has one hell of a voice to be reckoned with. The story behind that collaboration began in 2020, when the band’s frontman Paul Heaton complimented a cover Downey had uploaded of The Beautiful South song ‘Rotterdam (Or Anywhere)’. Three years later, when Heaton was looking for a new co-singer after his frequent collaborator Jacqui Abbott stopped touring, he asked Downey if she would sing with him on tour. Now, Downey is releasing her own music, and on debut album The Consequence of Love, her voice really shines. After over a decade busking and posting covers on YouTube, it’s the first chance for her to show what she’s all about.…

When you were a kid, did you ever pick at cracked paint on a wall until it flaked away beneath your fingernail? The disassociated satisfaction of a small destruction, the curiosity about what lived beneath. That’s what it was like for Tahliah Debrett Barnett aka FKA twigs when she found herself at a rave in Prague in 2022, while in the country filming The Crow. She’d never thought of herself as someone who belonged in a club, yet there she was, caught in the surge of other hypnotised bodies, her limbs moving without instruction. ● Maybe it was the shock of being allowed to exist in anonymity, but something like transcendence shot through her. “When I picked the crack in the paint, a beam of light shone through,” she tells…

Miley Cyrus. Yungblud. The Killers. Chappell Roan. Hayley Williams. Royel Otis. All of the above, alongside countless others, have covered songs by The Cranberries in recent years, marking the Limerick band’s resurgence as one of the coolest and most frequent reference points for a new generation of stars. It makes this the perfect time to present the band with The Icon Award, supported by Visit West Hollywood, at the ZYN Rolling Stone UK Awards 2025. Formed in 1989 by brothers Noel and Mike Hogan alongside Fergal Lawler under the name The Cranberry Saw Us, they renamed themselves The Cranberries a year later when they were joined on vocals by the inimitable Dolores O’Riordan. Over the decade that followed, the quartet became one of the most important and distinctive bands in…

‘ The first time was so nice… we had to do it twice,” came the words of grinning England forward Chloe Kelly back in late July after her penalty in the final of the European Championship clinched victory over Spain for the Lionesses, allowing the team to retain the trophy they had first won in 2022. For the back-to-back tournament wins and their ability to raise the profile of the women’s game to levels never seen before in the UK, there can be only one winner of The Trailblazer Award at the Rolling Stone UK Awards: The Lionesses. It might be the first time that Rolling Stone UK has ever awarded such an accolade to a sporting side, but we think they share nearly every single attribute with our other…

Awise person once said that the comeback is always greater than the setback, and we’re firmly of the opinion that no one embodies that more in 2025 than Lewis Capaldi. Two years ago, he won The Gamechanger Award at our inaugural awards event after he stood on Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage that summer and bravely showed the reality of what it’s like to be overwhelmed by an episode of Tourette syndrome, a neurological condition which causes a person to make involuntary sounds and movements called tics. We’d have loved Capaldi to have been there on the night, but he was on a career break to focus on his wellbeing after that Glastonbury moment, which meant his good pal Roman Kemp collected the award in his absence. Now, two years later, we’re…

Track the evolution of our award-winners through five of their most important and transformative gigs, as remembered by frontman Simon Neil The old adage is true of Biffy Clyro more than most artists: you’ve really got to see it live to get it. From sweaty basement shows where they made their name and grafted hard, to sold-out arenas and Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage, the band’s rise to becoming one of the UK’s biggest and best has been built on the foundations of their superb live show. As we crown them the winners of The Live Act Award, supported by VYRA, at the ZYN Rolling Stone UK Awards 2025, frontman Simon Neil tracks their evolution as a live band via five particularly important, memorable and transformative gigs in their journey. 10 July…

If you talk to Florence Welch on any given day, it’s safe to assume she’s feeling a little anxious. “Anxiety is the constant hum of my life,” she says. “Then I step out onstage, and it goes away.” ● Luckily, that’s where she is right now: draped in a long white dress, sitting comfortably in front of a 150-person audience at New York’s beautiful Cherry Lane Theatre, a storied downtown venue known as the birthplace of off-Broadway theatre. It’s a week before the release of Everybody Scream, the excellent sixth album she made with her band, Florence + the Machine ● During the interview and a stripped-down, spellbinding performance, the energy in the room is as electric as the new album – even when the subject matter is not necessarily…

Unapologetic in their drive for inclusivity, Girls Don’t Sync are redefining the gender balance of lineups and dance floors across the UK and beyond. In their time together, these four friends have evolved from a DJ collective into full-scale artists. With their radical reshaping of ye olde sausage fest, they could well be the Slits of the rave scene, urging the unseen, unheard, misgendered, violated and abused to claim their space. They’re sparking a movement, platforming new talent and mentoring the next generation of women and gender minority DJs to step up to the plate. Girls Don’t Sync are Matty Chiabi, Sophia Violet, Hannah Lynch and Gaia – aka G33. In their sets, they tear through house, UK funky, dancehall, drum ’n’ bass, techno, UK garage, Afrobeat, Bollywood, Middle Eastern…

“Really, that’s me. Motherfucker, that’s me!” What’s it like being back in London, Jon? It’s been fabulous. I did a few things that I’ve never done before and I’ll tell you what’s weird – I’m seeing things I’ve never seen before. In 40 years of coming to London, just silly stuff like different restaurants and bars. I love it. You’re playing Wembley Stadium next summer. Always a big deal? It’ll be great. We have a history in the building which dates back to the mid-90s, when we were the last band to play the old place. We were meant to open the new one, sold it out a couple of times and they couldn’t put people in the building, so we had to move it to Milton Keynes. That wasn’t…

Welcome to our fourth Rolling Stone UK Awards issue, published as the last gong is handed out on the night of our third awards event. As we return to the definitively iconic Roundhouse in Camden for our biggest awards ceremony yet, we have assembled an impressive selection of award recipients, nominees and guests that showcase some of the finest artists in British and Irish music. While politically and socially it’s been a challenging year for the UK, it’s testament to the real heart and soul of our nation’s identity that across the arts – as evident through these awards – inclusivity still reigns in our creative industries. It’s something Rolling Stone UK is proud to showcase with these awards and across this issue, putting the ‘United’ firmly at the forefront…

Skye Newman has always known she could sing. In primary school, she was performing solos onstage, and the feeling of it made her realise this was what she wanted to do with her life. “I got to just escape,” the south-east London singer-songwriter gushes over a video call. “I felt like I was literally in a world of my own. It just felt very peaceful – it made me fall in love with it.” After finding a fanbase online, Newman has exploded onto the scene, with her raw, powerful voice serving up diaristic musings on life as she’s experienced it. This year saw her release disarming debut single ‘Hairdresser’, which incisively dissects a one-sided friendship, and then her breakthrough ‘Family Matters’ (certified gold in the UK at the time of…

In conversation, as on their phenomenally popular Off Menu podcast, Ed Gamble and James Acaster are the ideal double act, ducking and weaving between each other’s observations with perfect comedic timing. Across the seven years of the podcast – where guests from the world of entertainment choose their dream meal for the zany Acaster and his straighter sidekick Gamble – it has been downloaded nearly 200 million times and become the topic of many a pub chat (you have your own dream menu written out somewhere, be honest). Next year, Gamble and Acaster will bring Off Menu to the Royal Albert Hall for six sold-out gigs launching their new Tasting Menus segment, where a guest rates a surprise set of dishes. Ahead of the gigs, the pair discuss the expansion…

‘I can remember just kind of looking out over the crowd. It’s such a big room and it’s quite dark in there,” recalls Wunderhorse leader Jacob Slater of the band’s sold-out show at Alexandra Palace earlier this year. “My memory is of scanning the crowd all the way to the back, looking up, and there’s that crazy stained-glass window at the back of the venue. It was still quite bright outside, and you had the last of the light coming through that window and shining down on the crowd. The result was like a weird celestial vision or something. There was something religious about it.” It’s an apt vision, given that Wunderhorse have spent the past year on the kind of upward trajectory that has left many wondering whether they’re…

Compared to the heavy hitters of 2024 (think Charli xcx, Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter), in early 2025 the pop world was feeling relatively stale. All the personality, experimentation and fun seemed to have vanished. But that all changed when a certain British singersongwriter and record producer reintroduced herself to us with ‘Illegal’. “My name is Pink and I’m really glad to meet you,” sings PinkPantheress in her unique, soft, slightly pitched-up vocals. While she may have started the Fancy That mixtape era back in spring with the glittery pop of ‘Tonight’, it was ‘Illegal’ that gave PinkPantheress her next viral moment, which sits among countless others and makes her, deservedly, a two-time winner of The Song of the Year Award at the Rolling Stone UK Awards. To define “viral”,…

Titling her new EUSEXUA companion album Afterglow might have suggested that FKA twigs was set to use her second album of 2025 to take things from the pulverising, euphoric beats of the club towards contemplative, hazy conversations back at hers for the afters. Press play on opening track ‘Love Crimes’, though, and it seems she has simply stepped outside for a cigarette break, before returning inside to be smacked in the face with techno bass even harder and more ferocious than anything on the first album. Inspired by her experiences clubbing in Prague while filming for The Crow, EUSEXUA was a dazzling techno-pop reinvention for twigs, with both her most sugary pop hooks and hardest beats. Across her first two albums, LP1 and MAGDALENE, twigs became the UK’s most enigmatic…

ON THE MOVE Spanish craft meets Swiss engineering in Ons’ collab with Loewe. The limitedrelease Cloudsolo trainers are sure to pique every footwear fanatic’s fancy, but don’t sleep on the ready-to-wear. Flocked anoraks and cargo trousers channel the luxurious tactility of Loewe runway collections, pairing seamlessly with outerwear staples. Technical tops double as perfect base layers for both gym and home. It’s a masterful marriage of high-fashion flair and athletic functionality, blending runway luxury with everyday, performance-ready style. onsclothing.com STAR-STUDDED Duke + Dexter have California dreams on the mind with their Ace High II collection inspired by the American West. While best known for loafers with a wink (think dollar bills and pin-up printed vamps), the brand’s latest star is the Plus Duke trainer. Riffing on classic cowboy boots, each…

LIFE OF A STAR Elton John: Icon, the new photobook from ACC Art Books, tracks the evolution of one of this country’s most transgressive and beloved stars. From his first photoshoot as Reginald Dwight to becoming the chartconquering, Glastonbury-headlining egastar that we know and love, the book brings together live shots, portraits and unseen glimpses into a life in the spotlight, all narrated by the photographers who captured them. PRACTICAL PERFORMANCE While RIMOWA’s aluminium luggage remains the gold standard for jetsetters, the German brand’s Never Still Flap Backpack proves its mastery extends beyond the airport. Available in supple leather, durable canvas or recycled nylon, it’s designed for modern movement – from weekday commutes to weekend escapes. A secure laptop compartment, padded back and luggage-attachment strap make it a seamless travel…

While perhaps known to most as the label responsible for Adele, The xx and latter - day Radiohead releases, XL Recordings have spent their 2025 releasing the very best in new and innovative UK dance, rap and beyond. It’s why we’ve crowned them with The Record Label Award at the ZYN Rolling Stone UK Awards 2025. To celebrate their win, we track five essential 2025 releases from the boundary-pushing label. BLAWAN SickElixir Barnsley-born producer J a m i e Roberts, aka Blawan, has become a pioneering figure in UK techno over the past 15 years. New album SickElixir sees him continue to veer away from the genre and into a more wideranging sound that pulls from each and every corner of dance music. Within this sonic experimentation and commitment to…

“ON THIS TOUR, I REALLY HAVE BEEN TRYING TO TAKE LOTS OF RISKS AND BE PLAYFUL” Jacob Alon describes ‘find ur ppl’, their new collaborative song with jasmine.4.t, as like “taking a selfie with a friend at the top of a mountain”. Both Alon and their fellow Rolling Stone UK Awards 2025 nominee have released superb debut albums this year, fostered vital queer communities online and in person, and emerged as two of the scene’s most essential new voices. The view from the top of the mountain looks pretty sweet. “I just feel so certain that this is where I’m meant to be,” Scottish singer Alon told Rolling Stone UK at the end of 2024 in an interview for our Play Next series. One year later, via the release of…

Dog Race are: vocalist Katie Healy, drummer Jed Healy, guitarist James Kelly, bassist Will McNab and keys player Dillon Willis Our tours start the same way as those of any other rock’n’roll band, with meticulous planning and rigorous logistical roadmapping. As a self-managed group, admin responsibilities are divided up and tackled by the most organised members. It’s then the job of the less organised members to try their hardest to ruin those plans. As a group made up of full-time, nine-to-five workers, any band activities are stuffed into the moments we can find: evenings are spent rehearsing, weekends are spent writing and performing, and tours have to be booked off in advance, meaning there hasn’t been much room for non-band-related holidays in the past two years. This also adds a…

FKA TWIGS EUSEXUA Rolling Stone UK’s Album of the Year for 2025 is a record built around a made-up word that became a binding principle. Eusexua, to FKA twigs, feels like “when everything moves out the way, everything in your mind is completely blank and your mind is elevated”. In musical terms, it’s presented on a third album that’s a dizzying whirlwind of techno beats, pop hooks and pure euphoria. Without sacrificing one bit of her musical depth or artistry, twigs makes her most accessible record yet. WILL RICHARDS THE LAST DINNER PARTY From the Pyre There’s no signs of the feared difficult second album syndrome here. Instead, The Last Dinner Party smash that notion out of the park entirely with a record that contains songs that sound as big…