Madonna asks Kanye West to collaborate as she reveals plans to make R&B record
MADONNA has constantly evolved during four decades in music – but her next move could well be the most surprising yet.
The Hung Up singer went on a night out with Kanye West in Los Angeles this week and has asked him to collaborate with her again, after deciding she wants to make an R&B album.
They performed together on her song Beat Goes On in 2008, he produced several tracks on her 2015 album Rebel Heart and he featured in the video for a song from that album called Bitch I’m Madonna.
Now I’m told that while hanging out with Ye and several others at a party in LA, she spoke openly of her planned new musical direction, following 2019 album Madame X that was inspired by time living in Portugal.
A party-goer said: “Madonna and Kanye talked about collaborating again and she expressed interest in exploring R&B again, after doing the same with BabyFace on her 1994 album Bedtime Stories.”
Madonna has shown plenty of admiration for Kanye over the years, most recently in October when she gave a gushing review of his latest album.
She raved: “The only thing that I’ve heard recently that has inspired me is Kanye’s record Donda.
“I can’t say that I agree with all of his politics and the way that he thinks of women, or unmarried people having sex, or the gay community.
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“But his work is on the razor’s edge, and it’s inspiring and it’s rare.
“Everybody was waiting so long for his record to come out and then finally when it came out, everybody else’s record came out, too. And he still stood out.”
Meanwhile, Madonna also dropped a hint she is interested in working with Kanye’s new girlfriend, Italian-American actress Julia Fox. Madonna has spent much of the past year working on a script for her biopic and suggested Julia, who previously starred in the 2019 crime thriller movie Uncut Gems, could take the main role.
Posting photos online of herself with Julia, Kanye and US boxing great Floyd Mayweather, Madonna wrote: “Went to dinner with Julia to talk about my movie and some other folks showed up.”
How the other half live.
Rebel Anais bares her Sol
NOEL GALLAGHER has done more outrageous things in his life than most of us could dream of.
But when it comes to his daughter Anais, I doubt he’ll be so eager to see her rebelling quite so much – such as posting nude photos online like the one above.
The photographer posed topless for this selfie, which she shared on Instagram hours before attending a Cirque du Soleil London premiere in a rather conservative outfit.
To add insult to injury, the online picture caught the attention of Lewis Capaldi – who liked the snap – almost three years after Noel said his music was “destroying the youth”. Jessie J was also at the Royal Albert Hall on Thursday night for the launch of Cirque du Soleil’s Luzia show, which is on until February 27.
She attended the premiere ahead of a small acoustic show she will play in the capital on Monday. Other famous faces at the launch included Boy George, Mel B and daughter Phoenix Chi, and Dani Dyer, who made her red-carpet debut with her new boyfriend, West Ham forward Jarrod Bowen.
SCARLETT LOVE LOW
SCARLETT MOFFATT had given up on love before meeting long-term boyfriend Scott Dobinson.
The former Gogglebox favourite celebrated her third anniversary with the policeman this week – but said failed past relationships had left her convinced she would be single for ever.
Scarlett said: “Honestly, this sounds really sad, but I never thought I would find true love.
“I don’t know whether it’s because I just met people who were a***holes, or what it was, or if I was giving a certain energy off. But I was just like, ‘Nah, I don’t think love is for me’.”
Scarlett added on her Moffatt Wants To Believe podcast: “I thought I’d just have to find love with my family and my friends because I wasn’t going to get it in a romantic way.
“But then when I met Scott it all changed. He’s such a kind person.”
Perrie goes solo again
LITTLE MIX won’t be going their separate ways for months yet but Perrie Edwards is getting a headstart on her solo career ahead of their Confetti tour.
The singer has been in the studio this week and enlisted the help of singer-songwriter Fred Again, who helped mastermind Ed Sheeran’s recent No1 album Equals.
He co-wrote and produced the hit singles Shivers, Bad Habits and Overpass Graffiti with Ed, and Perrie is clearly hoping that magic rubs off on her own record. Fred, who is also an artist in his own right and will perform at America’s biggest festival, Coachella, in April, has also worked with a slew of other big names including Stormzy, Halsey and Eminem. As well as Fred, Perrie has been writing with another singer-songwriter, Kamille, who has helped pen the majority of Little Mix’s biggest hits and has frequently been referred to as their fifth member.
I previously told that her bandmate Jade Thirlwall was in talks to sign a deal with Atlantic Records, had taken on the same management as Harry Styles and already recorded a track with Jax Jones. Meanwhile, Leigh-Anne Pinnock is working on music and now shares a manager with another major British pop star, Dua Lipa.
The group, which became a trio after Jesy Nelson quit, announced in December they would be going on a hiatus once their tour ends in the middle of May.
A summer of solo songs from these ladies seems inevitable.
SIS WARS
THERE is no mending Britney Spears’ relationship with her sister Jamie Lynn, after the singer laid into her again.
The actress has courted controversy by writing about Britney in a memoir and giving TV interviews – and has had death threats from fans of her big sis.
Reacting to the latest round of media appearances, Britney said in a statement posted on Twitter: “I see that my sister did her interview to promote her book. The two things that did bother me that my sister said was how my behaviour was out of control.
“She was never around me much 15 years ago at that time, so why are we even talking about that unless she wants to sell a book at my expense.” The Toxic singer added: “She never had to work for anything. Everything was always given to her. I always was the bigger person. Hope your book does well Jamie Lynn.”
Miserable in Milan
NEWLY engaged Machine Gun Kelly and Megan Fox looked far from thrilled after their romantic holiday in Puerto Rico came to an end.
The pair seemed miserable in Milan yesterday as they stepped out for lunch, with Transformers actress Megan in a vampish black outfit.
The rapper, in a more low-key red jumper, proposed on Tuesday – and they drank each other’s blood to cement their promise to one another.
Think I’ll stick to champagne, guys.
CHARTS
SINGLES
1. Abcdefu – GAYLE
2. Easy On Me – ADELE
3. We Don’t Talk About Bruno – DISNEY’S ENCANTO
4. Fingers Crossed – LAUREN SPENCER- SMITH
5. Seventeen Going Under – SAM FENDER
6. Peru – FIREBOY DML & ED SHEERAN
7. Overseas – D- BLOCK EUROPE ft.CENTRAL CEE
8. Surface Pressure – JESSICA DARROW
9. Coming For You – SWITCHOTR ft. A1 & J1
10. Sacrifice – THE WEEKND
US teen GAYLE has the first non-British No1 in 29 weeks. Disney’s Encanto has two songs in the Top Ten – We Don’t Talk About Bruno and Surface Pressure.
ALBUMS
1. Dawn FM – THE WEEKND
2. Equals – ED SHEERAN
3. 30 – ADELE
4. DS4EVER – GUNNA
5. Toy (Toy:Box) – DAVID BOWIE
6. Between Us – LITTLE MIX
7. Sour – OLIVIA RODRIGO
8. Home Alone 2 – D-BLOCK EUROPE
9. The Highlights – THE WEEKND
10. Voyage – ABBA
THE WEEKND has now achieved his third No1 album with Dawn FM, and has another record in the charts because his greatest hits collection The Highlights is at No9. DAVID BOWIE’s posthumous release Toy (Toy:Box) is his 28th Top Five album.