Olly Alexander reveals Emre and Mikey have the quit Years & Years – but he’ll continue as a soloist
OLLY ALEXANDER has long been the star of Years & Years, but now he is going it alone.
The singer, has revealed Emre Turkmen and Mikey Goldsworthy have quit the band and Years & Years will continue as a solo project.
Tensions started to show while the group made their last album, 2018’s Palo Santo, which Olly promoted on his own.
But as he announced the news of their departure yesterday – as well as promising new music is just around the corner – the frontman insisted they are all on good terms.
A statement on Years &; Years’ social media said: “This upcoming new album has been an Olly endeavour and we’ve decided that Years & Years will continue as an Olly solo project. The three of us are still good friends. Mikey will be part of the Y&Y family and play with us live and Emre will focus on being a writer/producer.
“These past 12 months have been crazy for us all and we want to thank you for the love and support you’ve given us over the years (& years). New Y&Y music will be coming this spring.”
The trio first got together in 2010 and, five years later, released their No1 debut album Communion, featuring the chart-topping single King.
But its follow-up Palo Santo was more difficult to make, and speaking at the time, Olly said: “We could never agree on what sounded good or what we liked. Then six months down the line, we still had no songs and the label were really angry and annoyed.”
Work on the new album doesn’t sound like it has been much easier.
Olly revealed in January that an entire Years & Years album had been scrapped when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, because he wanted to release a more cheerful record.
He said: “The pandemic happened and I went back to square one and just wanted to make a lot of upbeat, euphoric dance tunes.”
After his star turn in Channel 4’s It’s A Sin, I have every faith that this will be another successful chapter for Olly.
Zayn: Niall has the best songs
ZAYN MALIK hasn’t spoken too fondly about his old One Direction bandmates in the past, but now he’s heaped praise on Irishman Niall Horan.
In a rare interview, he said Niall is his favourite, ahead of Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles, who won his first Grammy on Sunday.
Zayn has just released his new song To Begin Again with Ingrid Michaelson.
He said: “I’ll tell you what, Niall is my favourite. How about that? There you go. Niall makes the best music, there you go.
“Yeah, I will say that he makes better music than me. Yeah, I’m a Niall fan.”
Dua's due a rest
DUA LIPA is still on cloud nine after winning a Grammy on Sunday – though that might just be a sugar high.
The Don’t Start Now singer scooped Best Pop Vocal Album for her record Future Nostalgia at the bash in LA.
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To celebrate she had an after-party with her model boyfriend Anwar Hadid, which ended with Dua lying on the floor surrounded by sweets.
After the night she had, I’m not surprised she needed a lie-down.
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