Lily Allen dumped by record label following last year’s disastrous comeback and album flop
IT comes as little surprise – after last year’s disastrous comeback effort – that Lily Allen has been dumped by her record label.
Industry insiders tell me bosses at Parlophone opted not to offer her a new deal after her last album No Shame flopped badly, four years after her previous record Sheezus also failed to trouble the charts.
Of course, Lily is not the first pop star to see her career slide off a cliff after her moment in the sun came to an end — but in a bewildering new twist, nobody close to the famously outspoken singer is prepared to admit that that is what has happened.
Industry sources told me last week: “The writing was on the wall for a while after both of the last two records missed the mark.
“The pop scene has changed and that moment has gone — there’s no more to it than that, it’s just one of those things. The last album barely sold and the singles didn’t chart.
“It was a bit of an inevitability.”
There has been acrimony between Lily and Parlophone since her book tour last year, when she accused it of neglecting to promote her new album because she had accused an executive of sexual assault in her explosive autobiography.
She said: “My record label’s job is to promote and distribute my material and get me on to TV and on to the radio.
“None of these things have happened with this album campaign.”
She added: “My record label have a list of priority acts, pretty much all of which have a link to the person who did something to me.”
But rather than confirm the situation with the usual glossy press statement wishing each other well and glossing over the sales figures, Lily, her publicity team and a string of label bosses quickly set about passing the buck between them in a baffling chain.
It suggests that many music execs are too frightened to speak out for fear of unleashing one of Lily’s infamous tantrums.
Her publicist, PR firm Inside/Out, which also represents Lady Gaga and George Ezra, started the ball rolling by deciding it couldn’t comment on the situation.
Next, a string of executives at Parlophone refused to confirm or deny whether Lily remained part of its roster of artists — suggesting the communications team at its parent company Warner Music Group would be better placed to address the situation.
Would you believe it, it also professed to have no idea — pointing my team to another department dealing with corporate issues which it said may be able to shed light on whether it still had Lily on its books.
But unbelievably, that department also struggled to find an answer — and suggested I ask Lily’s personal publicist to help.
Never one to give up, I went back to her team to be told: “There will be no official comment here.”
Yesterday, a final reply came from Warner Music, which, after several days of enquiries, came to the conclusion: “We’ve been continuing to look into this for you and I’m afraid the only official response we can provide is ‘no comment’.”
So there you have it, folks — Lily has no idea which her record label is, and the record label has no idea whether she is one of its artists.
The good news in this mad saga is that it probably means there won’t be another album for quite some time.
Err, no comment.
Bizmeter
- FOO Fighters have revealed plans to release their tenth studio album next year. Drummer Taylor Hawkins said: “From what I’ve heard from our fearless leader Dave Grohl, he has a lot of demos that he’s worked on and I think we’ll start once this tour is over . . . we’ll have a new record by next year. We should.”
- Bastille reached new heights with their latest gig, when frontman Dan Smith sang the group’s hit Flaws from on top of a ride at a Swedish theme park. Instagram footage from Monday night showed him keeping his cool. Fans will hope he does the same when the band plays Reading and Leeds Festival this weekend.
- Downton Abbey actor Dan Stevens has joined the cast of Netflix’s upcoming film Eurovision, playing a Russian contestant named Alexander Lemtov. Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams star as aspiring musicians representing Iceland, while Pierce Brosnan will be Will’s on-screen dad Erick.
- Orlando Bloom says he feels “blessed” to have a flourishing sex life with fiancée Katy Perry. He said: “I would say that sex is a really important part of life because it’s a way to connect, to show intimacy. Intimacy is an incredibly important part of life. If you can be intimate with somebody, then you’re blessed.”
Bizbit
JAMES Corden has landed a huge £2million pay hike from his Late Late Show bosses at US broadcaster CBS to stay for another three years – after warning in June that he might quit Hollywood with his family.
A source said: “He knows a good deal when he sees one.”
Trauma over for Pink
AFTER spending nearly the whole of this year – and 2018 – on the road, Pink has finally wrapped up her 157-date Beautiful Trauma tour.
She looked as fresh as a daisy in a black catsuit on the final night of the mammoth series of gigs in Toronto on Monday.
After her set, Pink thanked her fans for supporting her, writing on Instagram: “Thank you to everyone around the world for a beautiful, magical, challenging, fun, emotional, soulful tour.
“This was two and a half years of blood, sweat and many tears. It has been an honour and a pleasure to play with you
“My team is hands down the best crew of any tour in the world. I am incredibly grateful to work with them. I love them with all of my heart, and I love all of you, too.”
Someone get this woman a glass of champers – and a bed, ASAP.
Luke's pipes dream
HE showed off his pipes singing in Disney live-action hit Beauty And The Beast two years ago – but now Luke Evans is taking his musical talents to the next level.
I can reveal the British actor is recording an album of show tunes, to be released for Christmas.
It follows his success in Hollywood blockbusters The Fast And The Furious, The Hobbit and The Girl On The Train over the past five years.
A source said: “Luke is hugely talented and record execs saw an opportunity to cash in on his film following. He will be in the studio next month.”
Hopefully it’ll be good enough to get him into the Top Ten in the albums chart.
Bizbit
AFTER flying into London at the weekend, Demi Lovato celebrated her 27th birthday at Ariana Grande's second gig at the capital’s O2 Arena on Monday.
She was joined at the concert by their manager Scooter Braun and shared clips of them giving her a cake later on.
Fleabag big brag
First night review
I SENT Bizarre theatre critic and Fleabag virgin Benjy Potter to check out Phoebe Waller-Bridge's sexed-up one-woman West End show.
The world has gone bananas for Phoebe yet somehow I’ve managed to swerve both series of her breakthrough TV phenomenon Fleabag.
But judging by what I saw on stage at London’s Wyndham’s Theatre last night, I’ve been seriously missing out.
Porn, drunken fumbles, dating and the F-word (feminism) are all on the agenda in this rollercoaster stand-up-cum-solo show which will have you laughing and crying in equal measure.
But many might be wondering why fans were queuing since 4am this morning to get their hands on a ticket, so here’s a quick round-up for the uninitiated:
Phoebe’s character Fleabag — first seen at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2013 — is dealing with the death of her best friend Boo while at the same time trying to keep her guinea pig-themed cafe afloat.
She’d be willing to prostitute herself to save the business, if society wasn’t judging her so much. In her words: “Why can’t I let a banker f*** me for £10,000?”
Her boyfriend Harry has left her, and her belief that he’ll be back within a fortnight is slowly waning.
Desperate for cash she tries a bank but the encounter turns sour, then she tries her high-powered sister to no avail.
There’s nothing quite like Phoebe’s quick- witted, sharp-tongued script which shocks at every turn.
Won-woman show
2013: Debuts at Edinburgh Fringe to mixed reviews. The Times calls it: “A tad contrived.” The Independent says: “I doubt if this material will spin into a long-running radio or TV series.”
2016: Fleabag is turned into a BBC3 series also starring Olivia Colman which later gets a repeat run on BBC2. US markets snap it up for Amazon.
2017: Phoebe wins a Bafta for Best Female Performance In A Comedy Programme for the first series.
2019: The second series is broadcast on BBC1 at the same time as BBC3. Gets nominated for 11 Emmys.
2019: A sell-out off-Broadway run which opens to rave reviews and gets extended due to huge demand.
2019: Phoebe announces a seven-week run of the show at London’s Wyndham’s Theatre – the last time it will be performed ever.
But it’s her over-the-top facial expressions, framed by her scraped-back hair, which steal the show. I’d have watched the whole thing on mute and laughed just as much.
She’s already earned herself a packed trophy cabinet from her work on the TV series of Fleabag and BBC1’s Killing Eve.
Now Bond bosses have snapped her up to work on the upcoming 007 film and modernise the script.
So it’s fair to say she’s in with a chance of a big awards haul for this one-woman theatre show at next year’s Oliviers — basically the London theatre Oscars.
MOST READ IN TV & SHOWBIZ
Phoebe can sit back, relax and have the last laugh, too.
One reviewer commented on her 2013 Edinburgh debut with Fleabag: “I doubt if this material will spin into a long-running radio or TV series.” They couldn’t have been more wrong.
But with Phoebe sadly confirming this live production will be Fleabag’s last outing, set your alarms, queue up early and do anything you can to get hold of a ticket.
★★★★
- Fleabag runs at London’s Wyndham’s Theatre until September 14.
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