‘My guitar was mangled – like my life!’ Goo Goo Dolls on how they made epic ballad Iris

‘My guitar was mangled – like my life!’ Goo Goo Dolls on how they made epic ballad Iris

‘I’m grateful to Taylor Swift, and others who have covered it, for introducing it to a new generation. Three billion streams on Spotify is astonishing!’ I was going through a divorce and living in a hotel in West Hollywood when my manager said Warner Brothers were seeking songs for the movie City of Angels. They already had U2, Peter Gabriel and Alanis Morissette, so I thought getting a track on there would draw attention to us. Warners showed me the film and it was like Wim Wenders’ Wings of Desire . They wanted a song for the scene where the angel – played by Nicolas Cage – decides to become human to be with the woman he loves. That’s the Meg Ryan role. I thought: “What would I say to her if I were him?” Continue reading...

What is the extent of the UK’s involvement in the Middle East war?

What is the extent of the UK’s involvement in the Middle East war?

What is likely to happen now that the US has been given permission to use British bases for a ‘specific and limited defensive purpose’ US-Israel war on Iran – live updates What we know so far on day three of the Iran war Britain has rapidly been dragged into the war in the Middle East, with Keir Starmer concluding that involvement was inevitable because of Iranian retaliation, regional alliances – and a repeated US request for help. In doing so, the prime minister has changed his mind and concluded that what was once an illegal war has become in some respects, legal. Continue reading...