Tony Hadley thinks Sam Fender has key Frank Sinatra quality

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Tony Hadley has compared Sam Fender to Frank Sinatra and Boy George.

The former Spandau Ballet frontman is a huge fan of the 'Seventeen Going Under' hitmaker, and insisted like many iconic singers, his "voice is instantly recognisable".

Asked which current artists could have Spandau's longevity, he told the Metro newspaper's 60 Seconds column: "I'm always thinking about voices.

"Whether it's Sinatra or Boy George - when you put their records on, you know exactly who it is, It's about character.

"Sam Fender's voice is instantly recognisable. I love his music and the [Bruce] Springsteen influences."

Tony - who discovered Sam while presenting BBC Music Introducing on BBC Three Counties - also had some praised for rising star Piers Nolan.

He added: "I'm championing an artist called Piers Nolan. Instantly recognisable, incredible range and a great songwriter.

"We've got an album. The thing is what do you do with new artists now?

"Forget TikTok and all that rubbish - Piers needs to tour like Sam did."

Tony is returning later this year with a 2025 Big Band Tour, and he has recalled actually getting to meet Sinatra himself during his teenage years.

He said: "I met Sinatra when I was 17 at the Royal Albert Hall and he was really sweet. Years later, when I was doing my first solo album, I thought it would be great to get him in the video.

"I phoned his office and left a message saying, 'Hi, this is Tony Hadley. You probably won't know who I am.'

"'I'm the guy who sang True and I met Frank when I was 17. I'm gonna make a video and I'd love it if he could be in it.'"

The 64-year-old star revealed Sinatra's team phoned back to apologise that the timings wouldn't work because the 'My Way' crooner was heading on tour.

Tony added: "I could have swung from a chandelier - Frank Sinatra's office phoned Big Tone!"

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Ellie Goulding Reveals She Can’t Recall Recording Higher Than Heaven After Becoming a Mother

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Ellie Goulding has admitted she has little recollection of creating her 2023 album Higher Than Heaven, saying she felt like a “robot” after becoming a mother for the first time.

The Burn singer, who worked on her fifth studio record roughly a year after welcoming her son Arthur in 2021, said she returned to the studio before she felt fully ready and now struggles to remember much of the process.

“Music and performing is the thing that keeps me going. I have two children now so the first time I went back in the studio, I was kind of a robot. I made this 2023 album called Higher Than Heaven and I don't remember it,” Ellie said during an appearance on Later... With Jools Holland, according to the Daily Star.

“Any woman that's had a baby can relate to that postnatal phase of, 'What the hell just happened to me?' So I wrote all this music,” she continued. “Someone heard a song from it the other day and was like, 'I thought this was AI, that's the new thing.' And I was like, kind of, because I was like a robot and didn't know what I was doing for a time.”

The Love Me Like You Do artist, 39, recently welcomed her second child, daughter Iris, in March and is preparing to release her upcoming album I Know Too Much in September, only six months after giving birth.

She said that returning to music this time has felt noticeably easier compared to her earlier experience.

“Now I'm much more human and I have done it already, so this time around I'm a lot more equipped to get back into that mindset,” she added.

Goulding shares her son Arthur with her former husband Caspar Jopling, and daughter Iris with her partner, American actor Beau Minniear.

She released her latest single Black Prada Dress on Friday, with the full album set to arrive on 4 September.

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