<![CDATA[EL PAÍS]]>

<![CDATA[EL PAÍS]]>https://english.elpais.comWed, 27 May 2026 16:44:08 +0000en1hourly1<![CDATA[Rihanna: The star who made a hiatus her greatest strength]]>https://english.elpais.com/culture/2026-01-28/rihanna-the-star-who-made-a-hiatus-her-greatest-strength.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/culture/2026-01-28/rihanna-the-star-who-made-a-hiatus-her-greatest-strength.htmlWed, 28 Jan 2026 17:33:41 +0000In the competitive and cutthroat music industry, where new stars rise and fall every season, staying relevant after a decade without an album is almost a miracle. But that’s what Rihanna has achieved. This week marks 10 years since Anti, her last album, and the self-imposed hiatus has done her no harm. On the contrary, she is now the fourth most-streamed artist on Spotify, with over 100 million monthly listeners, and her songs continue to be enjoyed both by the audience that experienced her creative hyperactivity firsthand and by a Generation Alpha that has never seen her live.

]]>XNY/Star Max<![CDATA[Hollywood v. Madonna: ‘A bunch of people have tried to write movies about me, but they’re always men’]]>https://english.elpais.com/culture/2024-12-05/hollywood-v-madonna-a-bunch-of-people-have-tried-to-write-movies-about-me-but-theyre-always-men.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/culture/2024-12-05/hollywood-v-madonna-a-bunch-of-people-have-tried-to-write-movies-about-me-but-theyre-always-men.htmlThu, 05 Dec 2024 14:54:30 +0000On November 18, after announcing her intention to resume it in July, Madonna spoke again about the biopic she has been working on for more than four years and which she put on hold in 2023 to focus on her latest tour, The Celebration Tour, postponed in the United States due to a serious bacterial infection she contracted. Although, judging by what she posted on Instagram, it seems more likely that the works on the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona will end before filming even begins. “After struggling for days in LA, listening to producers and agents tell me why I couldn’t make my film, I realized that everything in my life is going to be challenged. No easy rides for me. I guess I should be grateful. If forces me to think outside the box. I did not have a normal life. I cannot make this in the normal way,” she confessed to her nearly 20 million followers.

]]>NBC<![CDATA[Taylor Swift is above brands: How she built a multi-billion dollar empire without endorsement deals]]>https://english.elpais.com/culture/2024-08-27/taylor-swift-is-above-brands-how-she-built-a-multi-billion-dollar-empire-without-endorsement-deals.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/culture/2024-08-27/taylor-swift-is-above-brands-how-she-built-a-multi-billion-dollar-empire-without-endorsement-deals.htmlTue, 27 Aug 2024 15:08:06 +0000Taylor Swift performed the last of her eight concerts at Wembley Stadium in London on August 20, and will do another 18 shows of her acclaimed The Eras Tour in the United States and Canada between October 18 and December 8. By the end of her tour, there is no doubt that the singer will have recorded stratospheric revenue for 2024, with figures never before seen in the music industry.

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]]>TAS2024<![CDATA[‘That Ferrari isn’t going to pay for itself’: The controversial rise of Jeremy Fragrance, the perfume influencer ]]>https://english.elpais.com/people/2024-02-10/that-ferrari-isnt-going-to-pay-for-itself-the-controversial-rise-of-jeremy-fragrance-the-perfume-influencer.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/people/2024-02-10/that-ferrari-isnt-going-to-pay-for-itself-the-controversial-rise-of-jeremy-fragrance-the-perfume-influencer.htmlSat, 10 Feb 2024 15:14:46 +0000In 2001, with the U.S. economy in recession, lipstick sales increased by 11%. It was then that Leonard Lauder, heir and chairman emeritus of the Estée Lauder company, came up with the “lipstick index.” The theory states that in times of crisis, consumers are more willing to purchase affordable luxury items, such as cosmetics, than things like handbags or jewelry. However, the Covid-19 pandemic came to show that this thesis is not foolproof. According to the market research company The NPD Group, in 2020 purchases of beauty products dropped by 19% in the United States. Then, as restrictions eased, the situation improved. The big surprise came in 2021: although the average price of high-end fragrances increased by 15%, their sales rose by 49% in the United States, and for the first time in history they were equal to those of the almighty skincare sector.

]]>picture alliance<![CDATA[The story of the 79-year-old woman who overtook Mariah Carey on the Christmas charts]]>https://english.elpais.com/culture/2023-12-06/the-story-of-the-79-year-old-woman-who-overtook-mariah-carey-on-the-christmas-charts.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/culture/2023-12-06/the-story-of-the-79-year-old-woman-who-overtook-mariah-carey-on-the-christmas-charts.htmlWed, 06 Dec 2023 13:51:17 +0000Since 2019, Mariah Carey’s famous song All I Want for Christmas Is You has topped the Billboard Hot 100 at Christmas. But this week, the song was knocked to second place by Rockin’ around the Christmas Tree, a rockabilly tune recorded by Brenda Lee in 1958 when she was just 13 years old. After four years in the No. 2 spot, Lee has finally dethroned Carey. The success comes after Lee released a music video on YouTube to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the song. This, combined with Lee’s endearing presence on TikTok, appear to have turned the tables. Just days before turning 79, Lee is now the oldest artist to have a No.1 song.

]]>Allen Clark<![CDATA[How Michael J. Fox learned to survive in Hollywood with a neurodegenerative disorder]]>https://english.elpais.com/culture/2022-03-13/how-michael-j-fox-learned-to-survive-in-hollywood-with-a-neurodegenerative-disorder.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/culture/2022-03-13/how-michael-j-fox-learned-to-survive-in-hollywood-with-a-neurodegenerative-disorder.htmlSun, 13 Mar 2022 15:53:47 +0000In 1991, Michael J. Fox received a piece of news that would change his life. At the peak of his career, months after the third installment of Back to the Future had made $244 million (€220 million) at the box office, a neurologist that Fox had gone to see after noticing muscle pain and shaking in one finger, gave him his diagnosis: Parkinson’s disease. In No Time Like the Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality, recently released in Spanish, Fox recalls the doctor telling him that he might be able to work 10 more years. He was 29 at the time.

]]>Jason LaVeris<![CDATA[Has anyone told Bob Dylan to retire already? Madonna and the misogyny of pop ]]>https://english.elpais.com/culture/2023-07-13/has-anyone-told-bob-dylan-to-retire-already-madonna-and-the-misogyny-of-pop.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/culture/2023-07-13/has-anyone-told-bob-dylan-to-retire-already-madonna-and-the-misogyny-of-pop.htmlThu, 13 Jul 2023 23:28:10 +0000Madonna recently shared an update on social media, marking her first appearance since June 28 when her manager Guy Oseary announced she was hospitalized in an intensive care unit (ICU) for a severe bacterial infection. She expressed gratitude to her fans for their support and love, and clarified that her world tour has been postponed but not canceled.

]]><![CDATA[‘Hips, Lips, Tits, Power’: The controversial misogynistic cover that angered Tori Amos, PJ Harvey and Björk ]]>https://english.elpais.com/culture/2023-05-26/hips-lips-tits-power-the-controversial-misogynistic-cover-that-angered-tori-amos-pj-harvey-and-bjork.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/culture/2023-05-26/hips-lips-tits-power-the-controversial-misogynistic-cover-that-angered-tori-amos-pj-harvey-and-bjork.htmlFri, 26 May 2023 15:38:29 +0000On May 29, 1994, seven weeks after Kurt Cobain died by suicide, the British music magazine Q brought together the American artist Tori Amos, England’s PJ Harvey and Iceland’s Björk, beneath the title “Hips, Lips, Tits, Power.” The women had released five albums between the three of them, and the only thing that they shared was the uniqueness of their far-from-commercial musical styles. But what none of them would imagine is that, with the passage of time, the encounter would become historic: not just because of the cover, shot by photographer John Stoddart, but for the anger it passed down to future generations of artists. After years marked by the testosterone of grunge, a new batch of women was claiming their spot in the industry.

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]]><![CDATA[How Taylor Swift turned her career into a money-making machine ]]>https://english.elpais.com/culture/2023-04-08/how-taylor-swift-turned-her-career-into-a-money-making-machine.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/culture/2023-04-08/how-taylor-swift-turned-her-career-into-a-money-making-machine.htmlSat, 08 Apr 2023 10:02:04 +0000The last time Taylor Swift performed in Spain was on March 19, 2011, at Madrid’s Palacio de Deportes, during the singer’s Speak Now World Tour. Despite the fact that she had already won several Grammys — among them, Album of the Year for Fearless, her second record, released in 2008 — only 4,000 attended the show, far below the venue’s capacity of 15,500. The rest of her concerts in Europe followed the same pattern.

]]><![CDATA[Cannabis or spinach? Behind Popeye’s century-old legend]]>https://english.elpais.com/culture/2023-02-28/cannabis-or-spinach-behind-popeyes-century-old-legend.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/culture/2023-02-28/cannabis-or-spinach-behind-popeyes-century-old-legend.htmlTue, 28 Feb 2023 13:17:32 +0000When on December 19, 1919, the first Thimble Theatre comic strip appeared in the New York Evening Journal, one of the circulars owned by William Randolph Hearst, no one, not even its author, cartoonist Elzie Crisler Segar, could have predicted what was to come. The strip focused on the humble Oyl family: Olive, her eccentric brother Castor, her fiancé Ham Gravy and her parents Nana and Cole. The melodrama-tinged satire didn’t enjoy great success at first. But everything changed on January 17, 1929, when Segar introduced a minor character who would go onto eclipse the initial cast: a mysterious sailor with hypertrophied forearms, one missing eye and a corncob pipe perpetually stuck in his mouth. His name was Popeye.

]]><![CDATA[The YouTuber who gained 100 kilos in front of the camera]]>https://english.elpais.com/society/2022-05-02/the-extreme-show-of-the-youtuber-who-gained-100-kilos-before-the-cameras.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/society/2022-05-02/the-extreme-show-of-the-youtuber-who-gained-100-kilos-before-the-cameras.htmlMon, 02 May 2022 22:38:53 +0000There are about 5.6 million people living alone in South Korea, according to data from Statistics Korea, the country’s National Institute of Statistics. In 2010 something happened spontaneously on the South Korean streaming platform AfreecaTV: hundreds of young people began to sit in front of their computers and narrate their daily lives on camera while eating. Almost always colorful dishes of carbohydrates, and more and more of it. The spontaneous phenomenon was called mukbang, a term that combines the Korean word for “food” (muk-da) with “broadcasting” (bang-song). His triumph, almost instantaneous, had to do with the feeling of loneliness of a large part of his society. Millions of people felt that someone was having lunch or dinner with them every day. And since loneliness is as widespread as the love of junk food, the trend soon caught on in other countries around the world.

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]]><![CDATA[Lady Penny, the ‘special friend’ of Queen Elizabeth II’s husband]]>https://english.elpais.com/culture/2022-11-15/lady-penny-the-special-friend-of-queen-elizabeth-iis-husband.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/culture/2022-11-15/lady-penny-the-special-friend-of-queen-elizabeth-iis-husband.htmlTue, 15 Nov 2022 13:03:26 +0000It was common knowledge that the fifth season of The Crown, Peter Morgan’s award-winning Netflix drama, would address the high-profile separation of Princess Diana and Prince Charles. However, since premiering a few days ago, another enigmatic character has caught fans’ attention: Penelope Knatchbull, commonly known in the British press as Lady Penny. This character, played by Natascha McElhone, was the best friend of Queen Elizabeth’s husband, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

]]><![CDATA[Killer lesbians and bisexuals: How cinema has promoted a misogynistic and homophobic archetype]]>https://english.elpais.com/culture/2022-11-13/killer-lesbians-and-bisexuals-how-cinema-has-promoted-a-misogynistic-and-homophobic-archetype.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/culture/2022-11-13/killer-lesbians-and-bisexuals-how-cinema-has-promoted-a-misogynistic-and-homophobic-archetype.htmlSun, 13 Nov 2022 20:52:37 +0000Thirty years ago, several American LGTBQ+ associations staged demonstrations outside movie theaters to protest the perverse and unrealistic image that Basic Instinct offered of homosexuality and bisexuality. To no avail: Paul Verhoeven’s feature film grossed more than $350 million, mainly because of the racy scenes enacted by Sharon Stone. Decades later, the debate continues to rage over whether it is one of the most misogynistic films of all time or, on the contrary, a great parody of male misogyny. But, watching it again, it is undeniable that all the female characters are not just alleged killers, but alleged lesbian or bisexual serial killers.

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]]><![CDATA[Calista Flockhart: the return of the misunderstood star who prioritized family over Hollywood glamor]]>https://english.elpais.com/culture/2022-10-07/calista-flockhart-the-return-of-the-misunderstood-star-who-prioritized-family-over-hollywood-glamor.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/culture/2022-10-07/calista-flockhart-the-return-of-the-misunderstood-star-who-prioritized-family-over-hollywood-glamor.htmlFri, 07 Oct 2022 23:05:36 +0000In September 1997, as soon as Ally McBeal premiered on Fox, Calista Flockhart became an international star. Until then, she had appeared in several Off-Broadway productions and played the occasional minor role on television and the big screen. But despite the positive viewer data that the David E. Kelley show garnered - especially during its first four seasons - many were viciously critical of the actress, for reasons ranging from her extreme thinness to her on-screen portrayal of a histrionic single woman who loved miniskirts.

]]><![CDATA[Princess Margaret’s wild final years on the island of Mustique]]>https://english.elpais.com/culture/2022-09-21/princess-margarets-wild-final-years-on-the-island-of-mustique.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/culture/2022-09-21/princess-margarets-wild-final-years-on-the-island-of-mustique.htmlWed, 21 Sep 2022 01:43:10 +0000When aristocrat Colin Tennant, the 3rd Baron Glenconner, bought an exotic Caribbean island north of Venezuela for £45,000 in 1958, his wife Anne thought he had lost his mind. On this four-square-mile islet that he named Mustique, because it was infested with mosquitoes, barely a few cotton fields were visible. There was neither drinking water nor electricity. But despite this, he set himself a goal: to turn the piece of land into the favorite residence for the wealthy. After building a primitive airport a year after their arrival, as well as their own house, the Tennants laid the foundations for what would end up being one of the most successful real estate businesses of recent decades.

]]><![CDATA[The misfortunes of Grace Kelly in four acts]]>https://english.elpais.com/culture/2022-09-14/the-misfortunes-of-grace-kelly-in-four-acts.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/culture/2022-09-14/the-misfortunes-of-grace-kelly-in-four-acts.htmlWed, 14 Sep 2022 11:52:00 +0000On September 14, 1982, at 52 years old, Grace Kelly lost her life in a car accident. Four decades later, many questions about the incident remain, and the actress remains a subject of great fascination. She left Hollywood behind at the height of her career for Rainier III, Prince of Monaco. And she became the primary tourist attraction for a principality that, in the mid-1950s, few could locate on the map. As with any good story, her biography is full of both light and shadow. These four episodes shaped her life forever.

]]><![CDATA[Beyoncé and the art of online discretion]]>https://english.elpais.com/culture/2022-08-02/beyonce-and-the-art-of-online-discretion.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/culture/2022-08-02/beyonce-and-the-art-of-online-discretion.htmlTue, 02 Aug 2022 01:45:53 +0000It was no coincidence that Beyoncé's TikTok debut in mid-July occurred just as she released her new album, Renaissance. So far, she has uploaded all her music to the platform and shared a video montage of several fans dancing to her latest single, Break My Soul. In less than two hours, she clocked over three million followers. But, just as on her Instagram account, she herself follows no one. Not even Ivy Park, the sportswear firm she founded in 2016.

]]><![CDATA[How Harry Styles avoided the curse of the boy band]]>https://english.elpais.com/culture/2022-07-10/how-harry-styles-avoided-the-curse-of-the-boy-band.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/culture/2022-07-10/how-harry-styles-avoided-the-curse-of-the-boy-band.htmlSun, 10 Jul 2022 16:14:25 +0000Harry Styles has overcome two of the music industry’s most notable curses. On the one hand, the former One Direction singer is one of the few boy band members to achieve international critical success as a solo artist. On the other hand, he has survived the commercial challenge of the third album. His recent release Harry’s House went straight to the top of the charts in the United Kingdom and the United States. Even in the competitive US market, where British artists usually struggle to break through, he sold 182,000 vinyl copies in only a week.

]]><![CDATA[Carmen Electra: A 1990s icon who never quite made it to the top]]>https://english.elpais.com/culture/2022-05-23/carmen-electra-a-1990s-icon-who-never-quite-made-it-to-the-top.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/culture/2022-05-23/carmen-electra-a-1990s-icon-who-never-quite-made-it-to-the-top.htmlMon, 23 May 2022 17:17:46 +0000From a very young age, Carmen Electra, whose real name is Tara Leigh Patrick, knew she wanted to be a star. Since her father and mother had both worked with funk legend Bootsy Collins (he was a guitarist and she was a backing vocalist), they were always supportive of her artistic aspirations. Her parents not only financed her ballet, modern dance and choir studies at the prestigious School for Creative and Performing Arts in Cincinnati; when she came of age, they encouraged her to leave the family nest. This is how she left her native Ohio and headed for L.A. Her career path has changed over the years, and in recent days, as she turned 50, Electra made news again after opening a profile on the adult content network OnlyFans. The actress said that she wanted to have “creative control” over her career. Her photos in lingerie, swimsuits and high-heeled shoes can be seen on the payment platform since May 18.

]]><![CDATA[Has Jamie Dornan’s penance for ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ finally paid off?]]>https://english.elpais.com/culture/2022-02-03/has-jamie-dornans-penance-for-fifty-shades-of-grey-finally-paid-off.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/culture/2022-02-03/has-jamie-dornans-penance-for-fifty-shades-of-grey-finally-paid-off.htmlThu, 03 Feb 2022 16:47:50 +0000Jamie Dornan is a very ordinary guy. Far from collecting top-of-the-range cars or squandering his fortune on luxury labels, his most prized possessions are a horse, five chickens, three goats, a dog and a cat. He could afford a mansion in the Hollywood Hills, but the actor and former model lives on a peaceful farm in the English countryside with his three daughters and his wife, actress-turned-composer Amelia Warner. After a few years living through the hangover of the blockbuster Fifty Shades of Grey, he now returns as the protagonist of Belfast, a landmark new film directed by Kenneth Branagh. Some insiders are betting on a clean sweep for the Oscars, and just maybe he can shake off the tragic series of events that have marked his life and began long before he became Christian Grey.

]]><![CDATA[Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas, one of Hollywood’s most enduring couples thanks to Antonio Banderas, Melanie Griffith and a bunch of flowers]]>https://english.elpais.com/usa/2021-09-27/catherine-zeta-jones-and-michael-douglas-one-of-hollywoods-most-enduring-couples-thanks-to-antonio-banderas-melanie-griffith-and-a-bunch-of-flowers.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/usa/2021-09-27/catherine-zeta-jones-and-michael-douglas-one-of-hollywoods-most-enduring-couples-thanks-to-antonio-banderas-melanie-griffith-and-a-bunch-of-flowers.htmlMon, 27 Sep 2021 12:44:50 +0000Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas, who on September 25 celebrated their 52nd and 77th birthdays, respectively, have been one of the most admired married couples in Hollywood for a little over two decades, although few people initially bet on it lasting. Over the years they have shown that neither crises, illness nor any other kind of hurdle can tear them apart. Zeta-Jones has made over 40 movies and won one Oscar, while Douglas has more than 70 films and two Oscars to his name: work has been one of the factors that has helped to keep them close.

]]>Rich Fury<![CDATA[The making of ‘Macarena,’ the Spanish smash hit that got the world dancing]]>https://english.elpais.com/culture/2021-07-08/the-making-of-macarena-the-spanish-smash-hit-that-got-the-world-dancing.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/culture/2021-07-08/the-making-of-macarena-the-spanish-smash-hit-that-got-the-world-dancing.htmlThu, 08 Jul 2021 06:44:41 +0000In 1996, the whole world got swept up in Macarena madness. The original flamenco hit composed by the Seville duo known as Los del Río – made up of Antonio Romero and Rafael Ruiz – had already rocketed up the charts in Spain in 1993. But the Bayside Boys’ dance remix, which incorporated female vocals in English, stayed at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for 14 weeks that summer and remained on the charts for 66 weeks.

]]><![CDATA[Spain’s transsexual Miss Universe candidate hounded by press and on social media]]>https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2018/11/12/inenglish/1542019366_303245.htmlhttps://english.elpais.com/elpais/2018/11/12/inenglish/1542019366_303245.htmlMon, 12 Nov 2018 12:10:12 +0000The life of Spanish transsexual model Ángela Ponce has not been the same since she was named Spain’s Miss Universe candidate on June 29. In Spain, the decision to give a transsexual woman the title caused little controversy, particularly given that the beauty contest changed its rules in 2012 to allow transgender women to participate, as long as their country of origin legally recognizes their name change.

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