Caroline Sullivan
Caroline Sullivan started at Melody Maker and currently writes for The Guardian. Caroline also occasionally appears on TV and various outposts of BBC Radio. She has also written for The Times, The Independent, The Telegraph and various women's magazines.
List of articles in the library by artist
Ryan Adams: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, November 2008
DESPITE WHAT Ryan Adams tells us tonight, it wasn't true that this was the first time he had ever played London "without being chemically challenged". ...
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, November 2007
... and Lily, and Kate: there's a new star in town. Adele Adkins is only 19, but her voice has bewitched everyone from Jools Holland ...
Adele, Duffy, Laura Marling: Adele, Duffy et al: This Year's Vintage
Report by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, January 2008
Caroline Sullivan on 2008's big female voices ...
All Saints: When The Saints Go Marching Out
Retrospective by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, January 2001
THEY'VE BEEN on the verge of it before, but this time it looks as though All Saints are finally splitting up. Caroline Sullivan laments the ...
All Saints: Saints Preserve Us
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, April 1999
All Saints keep marching on as Girl Power's most credible models. They talk to Caroline Sullivan about the good side of being bad ...
All Saints, Bananarama, The Spice Girls, The Supremes: Girl Groups: Smash Hits
Report by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, August 1999
So Mel C thinks Geri H is untalented, does she? When girl bands break up, says Caroline Sullivan, the pops get personal ...
Marc Almond: The Astoria, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, January 1988
WHERE HAVE these vulpine goths acquired their taste for this Brechtian melodrama? A brush with The Collected Isherwood? ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, September 2014
"I'M A FEMALE rebel," insists Miley Cyrus's disembodied voice, piercing the opening song of Alt-J's show. Stripped of twerking and tongue associations, the sampled line floats in ...
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, August 1985
At last AMAZULU have a hit. But can they hang on to their sanity? Caroline Sullivan talks to Claire and Nardo ...
Peter Andre: Fairfield Halls, Croydon
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, March 1997
And it's one for the tummy Caroline Sullivan gets all worked up about Peter Andre ...
Peter Andre: Putting Away the Six-Pack
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, October 1997
With his doe eyes and firm stomach, Peter Andre was a classic teenybop chart success. Now he's set on R&B cred, and has some impressive ...
Arctic Monkeys: Whatever They Say They Are, That's What They Are
Report by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, January 2006
EARLIER THIS week, the Times dealt the Arctic Monkeys the backhanded compliment of labelling them "spotty poets". It's the "poets" that concerns us here. ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, 2013
ASH HAVE BEEN rock stars for 12 years and four albums, yet, as singer Tim Wheeler has noted, they're still younger than some of the ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, March 1997
Boys enjoy early night ...
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, January 1987
ANITA BAKER, the new queen of soul, discusses the dos and dont's of the bigtime with a sympathetic Caroline Sullivan. ...
Bananarama: Girls Together Outrageously
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, July 1990
Ten years on from their ramshackle beginnings, BANANARAMA are the most successful female pop group in the world. They've got wit, flair and great shoulders. ...
Gary Barlow, Take That, Robbie Williams: Gary Barlow: Gary Takes it All
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, July 1996
The least fancied member of smash-hit boy band Take That was the one with the bona fide music training. Now, Gary Barlow is writing songs ...
Barry White: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, March 1992
BARRY WHITE has based an entire career on his notion of himself as a 100-horsepower love machine. ...
The Bay City Rollers, Courtney Love: Courtney Love: Love Will Tear Us Apart
Comment by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, February 2003
I WISH I'D saved the emails. There were eight, spanning December 1999 to April 2002, all written in unpunctuated lower-case. ...
Beck: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, April 2003
AS A PROFESSIONAL ENIGMA, Beck Hansen has a reputation to maintain, and it is tiring work. He feels compelled to stay one step ahead of ...
Bettie Serveert, Jeff Buckley: Jeff Buckley, Bettie Serveert: Astoria 2, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, January 1995
WHEN JEFF Buckley's debut album, Grace, was released last year, it received ferocious acclaim and spawned a resurgence of interest in Jeff's folk singing father, ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, September 2006
LIKE MOST American singers of her magnitude, Beyoncé speaks in life-coach soundbites that portray recording an album as a spiritual rite of passage. ...
Justin Bieber: NIA, Birmingham
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, March 2011
JUSTIN BIEBER fans will tell you there are two only kinds of people in the world: "Beliebers" and the rest of us. For those who ...
Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie, MC Shan: Cold Chillin' Records: The Big Chill
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, April 1988
COLD CHILLIN' HAVE COMPILED A ROSTER TO CHALLENGE DEF JAM'S HIP HOP SUPREMACY. CAROLINE SULLIVAN MEETS A TRIO ON THE WAY TO THE TOP ...
Bikini Kill, Huggy Bear: University of London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, March 1993
RIOT GRRRL, a radical feminist frock movement originating in Washington state, is generating much controversy in the US. Even the New York Times has published a chin-stroking ...
Bjorn Again, The Bootleg Beatles, Gary Glitter: Hark! The Faded Popsters Sing
Report and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, December 1994
As Christmas approaches, turkeys aren't the only ones preparing to hop into the silverfoil. Ageing pop stars too come out but once a year ...
Mary J. Blige: "My Boyfriend Was Trying To Kill Me. There Were Weapons."
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, February 2002
THE WORLD LOVES a troubled diva, and for 10 years Mary Jane Blige has provided her public with a continuous flow of what her friend, ...
Mary J. Blige: Mary J Blige: From the Bronx to the Big Time
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, November 1997
Caroline Sullivan has an audience with Mary J Blige, queen of hip hop soul ...
Blur: Time for the Blur to Fly — Blur: NEC Arena, Birmingham
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, November 1995
Blur a flagging, studenty band? Those memories are now long gone as screaming teenyboppers everywhere fight to hear their heroes ...
Boney M: The Fridge, Brixton, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, January 1993
WHAT MIXTURE of whimsy and misanthropy persuaded Arista Records to release a "Boney M megamix"? It appears to be part of a bizarre masterplan to ...
Bon Jovi: Alan McGee meets Jon Bon Jovi
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, November 2009
When Creation boss and Oasis mentor Alan McGee confessed his admiration for veteran rocker Jon Bon Jovi on a Guardian blog, we just had to ...
Bon Jovi: Search for a New Faith
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, November 1992
Jon Bon Jovi jumped off rock's roller-coaster and started to look around. What he saw has changed what he is ...
Boomtown Rats: Dominion Theatre, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, March 1985
IT'S INTERESTING to speculate how responsible Geldof's recent visibility is for landing the Rats two sold-out nights at this 2,000-seater. ...
David Bowie: Hanover Grand, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, June 1997
Bowie wants to meet his public so he plays a small London club – heaven or what? Some fans paid 100 pounds for a ticket. ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, September 2003
LIKE ALL PROPER Dave albums, Bowie's 26th has at its core a concept, around which 11 songs uneasily cluster to articulate the master's daft vision. ...
Boyz II Men: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian Unlimited, January 2012
"I'VE NEVER HAD to say this to a crowd before," says Shawn Stockman, the tenor who puts a great deal of the quivering oomph into ...
Bernard Butler: He Won't be Suede
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, September 1999
Since leaving Suede in 1994, Bernard Butler has taken the battering of his life just for being "different and eccentric". But the strong and silent ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, January 1986
THE MANDATORY credit to God is featured in the small print on the sleeve of Cameo's eleventh album and, when you consider how many cruddy ...
Belinda Carlisle, The Go-Go's: Belinda Carlisle!
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Smash Hits, January 1991
• She used to live in the untidiest house in Hollywood!• She plays music to her plants!• She's had about half an hour's holiday to ...
Catatonia At The Brixton Academy
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, March 1999
'EVERY MORNING when I wake up, I thank the Lord I'm Welsh,' sings Catatonia's Cerys Matthews, and 3,000 people sing it back to her, voices ...
Catatonia: Glowing In The Dark
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, May 1999
RED DRAGON flags, rugby shirts and the strains of 'Road Rage' drifting across the moist night air — it could only be Wales's second-biggest band ...
Chaka Demus and Pliers, General Levy: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, July 1994
THE RANKS of policemen who materialise outside Brixton Academy during shows by black artists were absent Friday night. Clearly, they had been informed that no ...
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Smash Hits, July 1991
THIS ALBUM, earthlings, is one exhausting experience. ...
Desmond Child, Diane Warren: Tracks Of Their Tears
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, May 1992
Caroline Sullivan hunts down the US songwriters responsible for the junk ballad ...
Christina Aguilera: Koko, London ****
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, July 2006
MAKING AN ENTRANCE worthy of Kylie, Christina Aguilera looks stunning. Having reined in her penchant for leather and cleavage and adopted a look inspired by ...
The Clash, Joe Strummer: Joe Strummer: Definitely Not Admitting Defeat Yet
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, September 1999
"I THINK GOOD manners will come back. In America, kids saw punk rock as a licence to be as rude as possible. I didn't like ...
Report by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, December 1996
They're mad, bad and dangerous to know, and the apple of their mothers eyes. Caroline Sullivan examines the closest of all relationships... ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, October 2012
A RECENT bit of rebranding has seen Cheryl Cole styling herself as just "Cheryl", the inference being that she's reached a level of fame where ...
Natalie Cole, Nat King Cole: Natalie Cole: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, May 1992
'UNFORGETTABLE', Natalie Cole's "duet" with her father, Nat "King", cleaned up this year's Grammy awards. The song, wherein Natalie's voice was grafted onto Pop's 1951 ...
Cookie Crew, Salt-N-Pepa, Sister Souljah: Sisters Are Rapping It For Themselves
Report and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, January 1992
In the misogynistic world of rap, anybody who's not one of the boys is a whore or more genially a bitch. But even the female ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, January 1996
Gangsta takes rap to new level ...
Credit to the Nation: Credit To The Nation: Rapped by Rappers
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, April 1994
Matty Hanson — aka Credit To The Nation's MC Fusion — has come under fire for his views on the values of gangsta rappers. Is ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, December 2007
CANSEI DE Ser Sexy (as they initially were until they gave in to the English-speaking world's lack of enthusiasm for other tongues) have already grasped ...
Jamie Cullum: Bright Young Thing
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, September 2003
At 24, Jamie Cullum has a £1m record deal and a Mobo nomination. He talks to Caroline Sullivan about Nirvana, Prince William, and his mission ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, October 2014
THE FIRST TIME Culture Club played this basement nightclub, Smash Hits' reviewer Neil Tennant didn't see much of a future for them. ...
Daisy Chainsaw, The Nymphs, Shakespears Sister: Rock's Savage Sorority
Report and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, February 1992
Caroline Sullivan on how women are using music to cope with rape, abortion, drugs. ...
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, August 2005
Once upon a time the Dandy Warhols lived a spartan existence, struggling from gig to distant gig. Then someone made an unflattering documentary about them. ...
Depeche Mode: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Smash Hits, December 1990
A "STOCKY" BLOKE in white jeans and perv-o-sparkle glitter jacket! A fright-wigged blonde bloke in a chain-mail mini skirt! A bespectacled bloke who stands grimly ...
The Dixie Chicks: Dixie Chicks: 'We Had A Song At No 1. The Next Day It Was At No 70'
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, June 2006
NATALIE MAINES has a little cluster of black teardrops tattooed on her lower leg, trickling from her ankle down to her foot. Dixie Chicks' poised ...
Dizzee Rascal: Roundhouse, London ****
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, October 2009
"DIZZEE RASCAL for prime minister, yeah?" As if to emphasise that he is more than just an east London grime MC these days, Rascal ended ...
Jason Donovan: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, September 1990
IT MUST have been sheer devilry that inspired someone to play Prince over the PA directly before Jason Donovan came on stage. Even Jason, awaiting ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, May 1994
Snoop Doggy Dogg comes over like a pup at the Brixton Academy ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, July 2008
The biggest-selling artist in Britain this year? That would be Wales' Aimee Duffy, sales of whose Rockferry album passed the million mark a few weeks ...
Sheila E: Romance 1600 (Paisley Park/WB)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, September 1985
Fun and games ...
East 17, PJ & Duncan, Shampoo, Take That: The New Bottom Line
Report by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, October 1994
There was a time when sex in pop meant a shuttlecock down the jeans. The days of innocence are over. The steam age has begun. ...
Erasure: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, September 2007
THE UK TOUR that ended with this Albert Hall show saw Erasure touch down in Preston and Grimsby – towns at the bottom of most ...
Faith No More at The Brixton Academy
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, June 2009
FAITH NO MORE's first gig in 11 years starts on a promisingly high note. A keyboard tinkles a lullaby melody, a spotlight picks out singer ...
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, September 2006
THE THREE GIRLS on the south London station platform couldn't have been more than 13, and as they waited for the train, they were singing, ...
Florence and the Machine: Hackney Empire, London ****
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, October 2011
PARENTS WHO worry that their teenage daughters have few pop role models other than the intemperately sexual Rihannas of the world should be pleased that ...
Foo Fighters: At the Brixton Academy
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, November 1999
The number of rock drummers who've realised they were destined for headier things at the front of the stage can be counted on two fingers: ...
Samantha Fox: The Best Girls Are Always In The Maker!
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, July 1985
Dumb blonde or shrewd businesswoman? Whatever your viewpoint, you've got to envy Sun Page Three girl SAMANTHA FOX. Still a teenager, she stands to earn ...
The Fratellis: "We don't want to be a pop band"
Report and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, June 2008
IT'S LATE AFTERNOON outside Amsterdam's Paradiso club, and the small group of teenagers hanging around on the steps have just seen something to get excited ...
The Fugees: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, October 1996
Incredibly hiphop: If the Fugees were any bigger, they'd explode. Caroline Sullivan finds out why ...
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, May 1998
'Only Happy When It Rains', 'Queer', 'Subhuman'. And those are just the titles of Garbage's harrowing songs. Caroline Sullivan on a band with a troubled ...
Lisa Germano, Sarah McLachlan, Saint Etienne: Stalkers: Ever-Present Possessive
Report by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, January 1995
Business is booming in the protection business. Now many of those being protected are women pop stars targeted by dangerous stalkers ...
Thea Gilmore: "It's sad the lengths girls go to, pouting on the cover of their CD"
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, October 2003
Thea Gilmore has released five albums, received rave reviews and turned down endless offers from major labels. And she's still only 23. She talks to ...
Girls Aloud: Brighton Centre ****
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, May 2008
GIRLS ALOUD long ago ceased to be a guilty pleasure, and are now just a pleasure. It defies the laws of reality TV that they're ...
Girls Aloud: How I Became a Girl Aloud
Report by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, September 2004
Caroline Sullivan spends a week in the shoes — the very painful shoes — of the UK's number one girl band ...
Good Charlotte: Astoria, London **
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, July 2003
THE MALADJUSTED young of the 1980s looked for comfort to the Smiths, whose main role was to assure British youth that, no matter how miserable ...
Guns N' Roses: Chopper rock — Guns N' Roses: National Bowl, Milton Keynes
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, May 1993
Guns N' Roses, high on attitude, bring their macho moves to Milton Keynes ...
Gwen Stefani: Love. Angel. Music. Baby. ***
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, November 2004
A GENUINE CHARACTER — which immediately distinguishes her from 90% of other successful pop females — Gwen Stefani has made a solo debut that's as ...
Gwen Stefani: The Sweet Escape (Polydor) ****
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, December 2006
THE NO DOUBT SINGER'S solo output should be the blueprint for any aspiring pop star who doesn't want to sacrifice credibility for the sake of ...
Gwen Stefani, No Doubt: Gwen Stefani: "We'll make one more album, then I'll get pregnant"
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, February 2002
Gwen Stefani and No Doubt are back. But maybe not for very long. She talks to Caroline Sullivan ...
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, January 2005
Hanson want to be taken seriously as an alt-rock band. But will anyone forgive their teeny-bop past? By Caroline Sullivan ...
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, June 2007
Calvin Harris had a solid career in fruit and veg to look forward to. Then the charts, fame and Kylie Minogue got in the way. ...
Debbie Harry: Rockbird (Chrysalis)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, November 1986
FIVE YEARS is nigh on an eternity in pop, and Debbie Harry has returned to a changed world — a world in which the Lower ...
Ofra Haza: Yemen They Couldn't Hang
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, May 1988
AFTER ERIC B AND RAKIM ABDUCTED HER EXOTIC VOICE FOR THEIR HIT SINGLE 'PAID IN FULL', EVERYONE KNOWS WHAT OFRA HAZA SOUNDS LIKE. CAROLINE SULLIVAN ...
hear'say: Hear'Say, Gone Tomorrow
Comment by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, October 2002
In it for the fame, the manufactured popstars didn't have so much as a slogan to fall back on when the going got tough. Caroline ...
Hole: Civic Hall, Wolverhampton
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, April 1995
In the name of Love: Caroline Sullivan on a stunning start to Hole's tour in Wolverhampton ...
Hot Chip: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, November 2008
"WELCOME TO the Hot Chip show," shouts guitarist Al Doyle, as if priming the crowd for a Vegas cabaret act rather than five Londoners whose ...
Hot Hot Heat: The Next Skinny Thing
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, November 2003
They're polite, prefer video games to groupies - and they're Canadian. Can Hot Hot Heat really be the new Strokes? Caroline Sullivan meets them. ...
Hot House: Town & Country Club, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, March 1989
THERE ARE, oh, a thousand or so people in London who know that Hot House have nothing to do with Chicago, or with Liam O'Maonlai ...
Obituary by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, February 2012
Superstar singer credited as the first 'pop diva', whose compelling talent was lost to drug addiction ...
Husker Du: Hüsker Dü: Hüdü Gurus
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, September 1985
"WHAT KIND of strings do you use on your axe, man?" ...
Ice Cube: Respectability? It Can Wait
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, August 2006
He went from gangsta notoriety to Hollywood stardom. Now Ice Cube has returned to the studio – to show today's rappers where they've gone wrong. ...
Profile by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, March 1993
He's armed and he's dangerous: Ice Cube's lyrics are about race hate, the Los Angeles gangs and the glory of the gun. He's America's worst ...
Imagination: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, June 1986
FOR ME, the high point of the set by this precision-dancing disco collective was the moment when Leee slipped off his gold lame jacket to ...
Dana International: (Wo)man of the Summer: Dana International
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, June 1998
Caroline Sullivan gets past the girl talk with Eurovision winner Dana International ...
Obituary by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, June 2009
The self-styled King of Pop, whose musical gift was overshadowed by his private life ...
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, October 2002
Caroline Sullivan is left breathless by Tom Jones's hip-hop makeover ...
Carly Rae Jepsen: Kiss (Polydor) **
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, September 2012
THIS Canadian Idol runner-up's super-hit 'Call Me Maybe' — the UK's second-biggest single of 2012 — was a polarising experience. ...
Jessie J: iTunes festival, Roundhouse, London ***
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, September 2014
Naff, good-hearted and prone to motivational guff, Jessie J has a big-sister kindliness that gets the fans bouncing ...
JLS: 'We Became An Unshakable Force'
Report and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, October 2009
X Factor runners up don't usually win Mobos — but JLS were always meant for more than talent shows ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, January 1995
Hot crotch buns ...
Grace Jones: "Born To F*** — I should get a tee-shirt saying that"
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, April 1990
THE ICE QUEEN MAY BE MAKING A CONSCIOUS EFFORT TO MELT HER IMAGE AND BECOME MORE FEMININE, BUT SHE WAS STILL HARD ENOUGH TO BURY ...
Justin Timberlake: Justified (Jive) **
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, November 2002
SOME SAY in all seriousness that this album of generic R&B crotch-grabbing will establish Britney's former squeeze as the new Michael Jackson. ...
Kaiser Chiefs: The Forum, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, October 2008
IN 2005, Kaiser Chiefs squeezed into a pop scene that was fixated on arch art-rockers. Today, the band are a neo-Britpop fixture, seemingly sent to ...
Katy Perry: Water Rats, London **
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, September 2008
KATY PERRY has found the best way to ensure her debut UK gig is a sellout. Although she has had the No. 1 single for ...
R Kelly: Hammersmith Apollo, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, April 2011
IT HAS been more than a decade since R Kelly, the self-proclaimed King of R&B, last passed through London – time enough for his original ...
R Kelly: R. Kelly: Hammersmith Apollo, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, March 1994
WITH RAP the genre of choice of so many young American black musicians, traditional soul looks endangered. Twenty five-year-old R Kelly offers one answer to ...
Kings of Leon: Electric Ballroom, London ***
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, July 2003
THE SUREST SIGN that Kings of Leon are having a moment is the 180 requests for this show's 40 press tickets. ...
Kiss: Overblown, Overpaid And Over Here
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, May 2008
For the headliners of Download heavy metal festival, there are millions to be made, fans to ogle (and sometimes sleep with), and platform boots to ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, April 1992
L7: THE FIRST artistically-credible female heavy metalists, or rock vixens with more decibels than sense? The question divided the electorate at Thursday's sold out show. ...
La Roux, Lady Gaga: Lady Gaga, La Roux: Slaves To Synth
Report and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, December 2008
The male guitar band is dead. The future is electro, female, DIY – and very in your face. Caroline Sullivan talks to the solo acts ...
LCD Soundsystem: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, April 2010
HAVING VOWED to disband LCD Soundsystem when he turned 40, James Murphy – who reached that milestone in February – is currently on his (presumably) ...
The Lemonheads: National Ballroom, Kilburn, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, April 1993
Pop's tangy new taste ...
Comment by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, November 2005
When You Can't Really Function You're So Full Of Fear, A Digital Downloader Is Something To Be ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, November 2013
Pop's nearly woman evokes Kylie and Lady Gaga, but ultimately brings a wide-eyed intensity all her own ...
Lostprophets, No Devotion: Lostprophets: "He Said He Was Innocent"
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, July 2014
When lead singer Ian Watkins pleaded guilty to 13 child sex offences, his former bandmates went into a state of shock. Now, still angry and ...
Manic Street Preachers: Bible Of Hate: Manic Street Preachers: The Astoria, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, December 1994
SINCE achieving cult fame in 1990, the Welsh quartet have preached nihilism juiced up with arty quotes from the Situationists and literary figures. The not-entirely-novel ...
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, February 2008
"THERE'S A LOVELY Welsh word, cynefin, which means 'habitat'. It's the idea that there are factors in your environment that have an influence on you ...
Johnny Mathis: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, September 1996
Play Misty for us again, ole buddy ...
Michelle McManus: The stars in our eyes
Comment by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, December 2003
Pop Idol winner Michelle McManus may claim to be happy with her size, but pop's obsession with image could well put an end to that, ...
Mercury Rev: Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, January 1999
IF YOU'VE chanced upon the term 'post-rock' and wondered what it meant, refer to Mercury Rev, who — at a guess — are the very ...
Milli Vanilli: The Award Sinners
Report by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, August 1991
The Milli Vanilli affair rocked the secretive world of pop. CAROLINE SULLIVAN on the scandal of stars who don't sing — and the judge with ...
Kylie Minogue: The Butt Stops Here
Comment by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, November 2003
So she's 35, but does that really mean Kylie should cover up, asks Caroline Sullivan ...
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, September 1994
From wholesome soap star to scantily clad sex kitten — Kylie Minogue has changed her image more times than she might care to remember. But ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, October 1999
"WE," DECLARED the blonde girl in the DJ booth, "are the Moloko sound system." This was bad news indeed. Every band currently has what it ...
Moloko, Roisin Murphy: Roisin Murphy: Her Time Is Now
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, May 2005
When Moloko split up, Roisin Murphy found herself without a band, a plan or a partner. She tells Caroline Sullivan how half an hour of ...
M People: Just Pedestrian — M People, Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, November 1997
M People may do a lot for Peugeot, but Caroline Sullivan is not moved ...
My Chemical Romance: I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love (Polydor) ***
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, April 2004
ALTHOUGH My Chemical Romance have tried to spice up their image by nicknaming their patch of suburban New Jersey "the Crimezone", it would be surprising ...
My Chemical Romance: Brixton Academy, London ***
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, November 2006
AT 9:45 ON SUNDAY MORNING, it wasn't surprising to see a queue already straggling down the side of Brixton Academy. ...
Nas: Hip-Hop Violence: Pop Goes The Weasel
Report by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, March 2005
FOR THE RECORD: guns don't go bang but pop, a noise a lot like a jumbo bottle of champagne being opened. As this was a ...
Sinead O'Connor: Sinéad O'Connor: "I define success differently"
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, March 2012
From her public search for a husband to attempted suicide and hospitalisation, the Irish singer has had a turbulent year even by her own standards. ...
Earl Okin: The Unluckiest Man In Pop
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, May 2004
After 35 years in the business, Earl Okin is about to release his first album. He tells Caroline Sullivan why it's taken him so long ...
One Direction: Hammersmith Apollo, London ***
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, January 2012
"SCREW BIEBER FEVER," tweeted a fan on the afternoon of this boy band's first London headline gig, "I've got a One Direction infection." ...
Alexander O'Neal: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, April 1991
ALEXANDER O'NEAL'S last British tour was famed for the moment during the concert when a double bed was wheeled on stage and a young laydee ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, February 2013
IF SIMON COWELL is in the house tonight as One Direction start their first UK arena tour, he might have to conclude that his earthly ...
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, July 2006
For Peaches, the famously X-rated rapper, the personal has just got political. Caroline Sullivan hears about her beef with Bush ...
Elvis Perkins: All About My Mother: Elvis Perkins
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, June 2007
Elvis Perkins tells Caroline Sullivan how the tragic deaths of his famous parents have shaped his melancholy pop. ...
Katy Perry: Hammersmith Apollo, London ****
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, March 2011
KATY PERRY is strutting across the stage, a giant spray of feathers fanning out from her tiny backside, and she's singing, "I wanna see your ...
Madeleine Peyroux: "I'm an outcast"
Report and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, August 2005
Madeleine Peyroux could be the new Norah Jones – if she didn't find the idea insulting. She tells Caroline Sullivan about walking out on her ...
George Pringle: The Social, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, November 2007
"JUST WAIT till my husband gets out of prison," sulks the skinny girl, poking a pinky into her mound of frothed hair. The audience titter ...
The Rapture: A New York State Of Mind
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, September 2003
Out of time, ahead of fashion – the Rapture are the real sound of New York. If they can make it there, says Caroline Sullivan, ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, November 2011
LANA DEL REY may become the most recognised stage name since fellow New Yorker Lady Gaga, but it's just as possible it will end up ...
Boyd Rice, Frank Tovey, Sonic Youth: Sonic Youth/Frank Tovey & Boyd Rice
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, New Musical Express, March 1985
AAAAH! CATHARSIS time again! ...
Damien Rice: Palladium, London ***
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, June 2005
THE MANY superlatives dished out to Damien Rice stem primarily from his ability to wow live crowds. ...
Mark Ronson and the Business Intl.: Hackney Empire, London ***
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, September 2010
IT'S NO LONGER UNUSUAL for producers to become artists in their own right, but Mark Ronson looks like he hasn't quite thought the whole thing ...
Diana Ross: Miss Ross the Boss
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, December 1993
Singer, actress, businesswoman — Diana Ross has always been in control in 30 years of show business ...
Salt-N-Pepa: Salt 'N' Pepa: Short Back and Asides
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, April 1990
SALT 'N' PEPA are about to curl up and dye. The first of their chain of Salt 'N' Pepa beauty salons will soon open at ...
Scarlet Fantastic: Phantasmagoria
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, January 1988
ARE SCARLET FANTASTIC LEADERS OF THE NEW GLAM MOVEMENT OR MERELY HIPPIES DRESSED IN SATIN AND SEQUINS? CAROLINE SULLIVAN SEPARATES THE MAGIC FROM THE MANIFESTO. ...
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, September 2007
Scissor Sister Ana Matronic idolises Siouxsie – so we brought the two together to discuss punks, parents and the male ego. By Caroline Sullivan ...
S Club 7: Warning: They're Part Spice Girl, Part Monkee...
Report by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, April 1999
Seen the show, read the book, got the T-shirt? You soon will have. Caroline Sullivan prepares for S Club 7, coming to your TV screen ...
Jill Scott: Brixton Academy, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, December 2011
"I HAD AN album out this year," Jill Scott informs a chokingly full Brixton Academy. The congratulatory bellows have hardly faded before she tartly adds: ...
Tupac Shakur: Afeni Shakur: The Kick Inside
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, July 1998
It is two years since gangsta rapper Tupac Shakur's short life ended in a hail of bullets. Caroline Sullivan talks exclusively to his mother about ...
Ed Sheeran: iTunes festival, Roundhouse, London ****
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, September 2014
Choirmaster builds to a climax... but keeps his shirt on. The multimillion-selling star stretches English self-deprecation to the limits while creating a whole band's worth of ...
Sia: King's College, London ***
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, December 2007
A GOOD HALF-DOZEN VOCALISTS have passed through the career-development lab that is Zero 7 (the dance act also known as producers of soft-furnishings pop to ...
Snoop Doggy Dogg: Cocking a Leg at Society
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, February 1994
To Snoop Doggy Dogg, the hard man of rap, women are 'bitches' and 'niggaz with attitude' like him pack a pistol. CAROLINE SULLIVAN talked to ...
Snow Patrol: The O2, London ***
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, February 2012
WHEN SNOW PATROL released Fallen Empires, the 2011 album that comprises a substantial part of this gig, singer Gary Lightbody revealed that the new record ...
Sounds of Blackness: The Sounds of Blackness: Hammersmith Apollo, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, April 1993
IT WAS hard to believe that a gospel choir spawned the lubricious soulster, Alexander O'Neal, until you saw the ensemble in question. Minneapolis's 40-piece Sounds ...
Spandau Ballet's Reunion: Once More With Girdles
Report and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, October 2009
With 10 top 10 hits, Spandau Ballet were the epitome of 80s pop. After much bitterness and a court case, the band are reunited again ...
The Spice Girls: Girls Just Wanna Be Loaded
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, July 1996
LAST WEEK, the world was as it should have been. Gary Barlow was number one, the summer's foreign novelty hit, 'Macarena', was panting just behind ...
The Spice Girls: Spice: The Final Frontier
Report by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, December 1997
The tabloids have turned on them, their fans are leaving them — even Smash Hits readers voted them Worst Group. Is this the end for ...
The Spice Girls: Abdi İpekçi Arena, Istanbul, Turkey
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, October 1997
Oriental Spice: Sponsor power, not bazaars, draws the Girls to Turkey ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, October 1992
BARELY six months old, Suede are attracting extravagant hyperbole. The London foursome have been deemed the best British guitar band since the Smiths, and their ...
Sugababes: 'We Took Our Eye Off The Ball'
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, July 2009
After a brush with self-doubt, the Sugababes are back on form. Keisha Buchanan, Amelle Berrabah and Heidi Range talk about their new album, Get Sexy ...
Taylor Swift: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London ***
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, May 2009
COSY PLACES SUCH AS the Shepherd's Bush Empire can't figure much in Taylor Swift's schedule these days — the US's top-selling artist of 2008 must ...
Swing Out Sister: Dog Day Afternoon
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, April 1989
TWO YEARS AGO THEY HAD TWO TOP 10 SINGLES AND A NUMBER 1 ALBUM. THEN THE TRIO OF SUAVE POPSTERS DISAPPEARED. CAROLINE SULLIVAN REPORTS ON ...
Take That: Then There Were Four — Take That: Manchester Arena
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, August 1995
Caroline Sullivan on how a Robbieless Take That fare at Manchester Arena ...
Lewis Taylor: Lewis Taylor (Island) **** £9.99
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, August 1996
BRITISH SOUL stars are invariably compared to some American counterpart. Mark Morrison is derided as an R Kelly imitator and Seal as a composite of ...
Tanita Tikaram: "I Was An Odd Kid"
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, June 2005
SEVENTEEN YEARS AGO, during her first flush of success as a precocious young songwriter, Tanita Tikaram was lampooned by 'Smash Hits'. Under a photo of ...
Justin Timberlake: Hammersmith Palais, London ***
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, July 2006
WHEN Janet Jackson's bosom slipped out mid-song at the 2004 Super Bowl, only one person came out of the affair unscathed. ...
The Ting Tings: The Day-Glo Duo: The Ting Tings
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, February 2009
"ALL I'VE BEEN thinking about," says Jules De Martino, the male half of the Ting Tings, seated in a swish Manchester restaurant, "is steak and ...
KT Tunstall: Wilton's Music Hall, London ***
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, September 2007
KATE TUNSTALL uses her initials for the same reason Joanne Rowling became JK — she thought a female name would generate preconceptions. Her music also ...
Turin Brakes: Ether Song (Source) ****
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, February 2003
THIS MERCURY- and Brits-nominated duo have a patina of hipness, but their appearance on the launch night of BBC3 unmasked them as aspiring David Grays, ...
Ike Turner: Ronnie Scott's, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, February 2002
IF YOU didn't know Ike Turner was 70 before this show, you certainly did within minutes of his swaggering entrance. ...
Luther Vandross: The Language of Love
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, February 1987
So what does LUTHER VANDROSS, sex god to millions, do on a date? Does he even date at all? And what the hell happened when ...
Wendy And Lisa: Wendy & Lisa: Satisfy Yourself
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, August 1989
AFTER THEIR JUICY FRUIT AT THE BOTTOM LP GOT THE ECSTATIC REVIEWS IT SO RICHLY DESERVED, IT WAS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE WENDY AND LISA ...
Barry White: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, March 1992
Lurve and kisses: Caroline Sullivan on the night Barry White made the earth move ...
Wild Beasts: Sex-Obsessed and Scrupulously Polite
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, May 2011
ON A BALMY APRIL MORNING in east London, Hayden Thorpe is remembering the night last September when Wild Beasts failed to win the Mercury Prize ...
Robbie Williams: The Show-Off Must Go On — Robbie Williams: The Waterfront, Norwich
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, October 1997
Robbie Williams doesn't need to get his kit off to impress, says Caroline Sullivan ...
Obituary by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, July 2011
Singer with a soul-steeped voice whose instantly successful Back to Black album reflected her tormented experience of love ...
Amy Winehouse: Bloomsbury Ballroom, London
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, September 2006
WHILE AMY Winehouse has been off making the follow-up to her 2003 Mercury-nominated debut album, Frank, her role as the new kid on the block ...
Amy Winehouse: Bush Hall, London ***½
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, December 2003
YOU WAIT ALL millennium for a commercial but unembarrassing British female singer, then two come along within weeks of each other. ...
Womack and Womack: Womack And Womack: Starbright (Manhattan)
Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, January 1987
Rhyming Couplets ...
Live Review by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, May 1989
THE NEWS Of The World was uppermost in my mind as a deafening, amphetamined version of the Batman theme presaged Yazz's arrival. Did you see ...
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, April 2006
No one expected the Zutons to make it big - least of all themselves. Caroline Sullivan meets the best sci-fi trash-rock band in Britain. ...
List of genre pieces
A Single-Minded Pair: Rescuing Radio 1's Official Chart Show
Report and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, February 2005
Tuned-in kids are turning off Radio 1's chart show. Can a new double act help it shake off its staid image, asks Caroline Sullivan. ...
Julie Burchill: The 'Sweetest Girl'
Profile and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Melody Maker, November 1985
JULIE BURCHILL has torpedoed more sacred cows than a pop star has brain cells, though she likes (among other things) Sade and the Maker. Caroline Sullivan ...
Report and Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, November 1992
Most senior citizens hate pop. But a few still thrill to the sound of a synthesiser ...
Unsound Moves in the Print Trade
Report by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, April 1991
Caroline Sullivan investigates the long-standing malaise afflicting the weekly music press after last week's closure of Sounds and the merger of Record Mirror with Music ...
Interview by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, May 2002
"IF YOU LOOK right through the centre of the Pyramid stage," says Michael Eavis, waving at the steel framework that squats surreally in the middle ...
Glastonbury: Pop Feast Kicked Off By Football
Report by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, June 1998
Caroline Sullivan sorts fab from drab ...
Report by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, September 2003
Juggling a baby and a career is difficult enough for anyone – but how do you manage it when you're a pop star? Caroline Sullivan ...
Live Music: Is This The End Of The Road?
Report by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, November 2008
Gigs have been shoring up the ailing music industry – but they're not as popular as they once were. Caroline Sullivan reports on growing anxiety ...
Live8: Just Another Gig – With Added Feelgood Factor
Comment by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, June 2005
NEARLY EVERY A-lister worth the name is doing their bit, making Live8 the first truly all-star charity show since Live Aid. Madonna! U2! Coldplay! You ...
Rock Journalist Carol Clerk Broke the Mould
Obituary by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian Unlimited, March 2010
Former Melody Maker news editor Carol Clerk, who died last week, was a role model for female music writers. She loved old-school rock – and ...
The Costa del Sol: Elvis Has Left The Cantina
Report by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian, The, July 2006
ELVIS PRESLEY is having a grand time. He is cuddling up to tipsy girls and giving them individual verses of 'Return to Sender' as they ...
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