British music has been widely recognized and loved around the world since the early 1950s. And sixty years on, each successive decade has proved to be a beast of its own, unique making. The British Music Experience charts these six decades of music in an interactive and entertaining way.

The British Music Experience is a permanent exhibition at the O2 in London. It has made a home in the O2 Bubble, just one small part of the huge complex formerly known as the Millennium Dome, which now has the O2 Arena at its heart.
The British Music Experience opened in March 2009, …read more

Some album covers are instantly forgettable, and only there to liven up an otherwise boring piece of plastic. But some go beyond their intent, and become art that inspires people and sums up periods in their life. And the Royal Mail are now celebrating these album covers with a new collection of stamps.

The album covers being featured in the Classic Album Covers series of stamps are:

Blur – ‘Parklife’
Coldplay – ‘A Rush of Blood to the Head’
David Bowie – ‘The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars’
Led Zeppelin – ‘IV’
Mike Oldfield – ‘Tubular Bells’
New Order – ‘Power, …read more

It looked for a while as though Led Zeppelin would be reforming for good in order to complete a world tour and potentially new material after their successful London O2 Arena comeback concert. But it wasn’t to be, and it ended up being just a one-off. But John Paul Jones has now moved on to a new project.

First, it looked as though the whole of Led Zeppelin would be reforming, with Jason Bonham filling in for his dad John. But it soon became clear lead singer Robert Plant wasn’t interested. So a replacement was sought, with rumors abounding about who …read more

The last two years have seen a slew of British groups reform, some in order to give the fans what they want, and some in order to make a quick buck (cough Spice Girls cough). But there are still many bands resisting the urge, and the calls from fans to reunite.
This lead me to ask: Which group would you most like to see reform? Most of the answers were predictable, as was the share of voting, but there were a few surprises. First, the results in full.

It feels like the Led Zeppelin reunion hoohah has been going on for far too long now. And that’s because it has. It seems everyone is getting sick of the will they, won’t they machinations, and even I’m starting to veer that way.
Up to now, I’ve been wanting Led Zeppelin to reform and tour as much as anybody. But I think the time may now have come to admit defeat, stop waving the flags, and move on as Robert Plant seems to have.

Band reunions are a strange beast: they are a mix of doing it for the fans and doing it for the money, they rarely last very long, and they even more rarely live up to expectations. But despite all of this, millions of people want to see their favorite groups reform.
British groups seem to be making a habit of reforming. Since I’ve been writing Brit Music Scene, we have seen The Verve, Boyzone, Led Zeppelin (for a one off concert), The Police, The Sex Pistols, The Spice Girls, Blur, and Take That all get back together in some form.
Then there …read more

Speculation over Led Zeppelin reuniting dominated proceedings here on Brit Music Scene in 2008. In fact, it was a pretty close run thing between Led Zep and Amy Winehouse over who got more coverage.
And here we are at the start of 2009 and there seems to be no change to that trend. This time, I’m reporting how Jimmy Page’s manager, Peter Mensch, has claimed that “Led Zeppelin are over!”

The last I heard about Led Zeppelin was that the whole group minus Robert Plant, who isn’t interested in any sort of reunion, were committed to reuniting for a full world tour. …read more

Robert Plant is/was the blueprint for every rock singer that has come since. His style of singing while with Led Zeppelin has inspired generations of vocalists. So it’s fitting that Plant has topped a poll to find the ‘Greatest Voice In Rock’.
The survey was undertaken by Planet Rock and the top 20 list has some fine vocalists on it. Plant beat Freddie Mercury to the top spot, although I’m sure some people would have liked to have seen the Queen front man at number one.
I personally wouldn’t have had Bono, Jon Bon Jovi, or Peter Gabriel in the list. But …read more

2009 has arrived so I’m actually overdue in rounding up my best of Brit Music Scene from 2008. Here we finally make it to the end of 2008 with the biggest stories and talking points between the months of October and December
October
The month began with Rick Astley unbelievably being named Best Act Ever by MTV. Meanwhile, Led Zeppelin were threatening to tour with a new lead singer in place of Robert Plant, and Pete Kay beat Leon Jackson in the charts.
There were rumors that The long-awaited Smiths reunion could finally be happening, but it still hasn’t yet. The Ting Tings …read more

2009 has arrived so I’m actually overdue in rounding up my best of Brit Music Scene from 2008. Here we find out what the biggest stories and talking points between the months of July and September.
July
Most bands now love having their songs featured in video games such as Rock Band and Guitar Hero, but Led Zeppelin made a stand against the grain by refusing permission for their songs to be used. Meanwhile, Mani claimed that Ian Brown was the main thing stopping a Stone Roses reunion from happening.
There were claims that John Lydon AKA Johnny Rotten from the Sex Pistols …read more