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Catapulted to stardom almost 20 years ago on The X Factor, Leona Lewis’s life changed in an instant. A sweet and shy 21-year-old from Hackney, London, she blew the judges away with her rendition of Ov

With a flurry of hits and a flair for tapping into the cultural zeitgeist, the globetrotting singer has achieved the status of international icon. In-between stops on her whirlwind tour, she reflects on literature, letting love in and the transformative power of live performance

When I was 16, I was into music and athletics. I was a sprinter and I was in school bands. George Michael was my musical hero – I would stand in front of the mirror with a hairbrush singing Faith. Sch

Zaytoun Songs by JS Bach, Monteverdi, Purcell and Sayed Darwish et al Haitham Haidar (tenor), Sylvain Bergeron (archlute), Abdul-Wahab Kayyali (oud) et al Athene ATH 23027 51:44 mins In medieval Spain

Every month we get inside the mind of one of the biggest names in music. This issue: Roy Harper . Since the mid-60s, the progressive folk singer-songwriter has enjoyed a successful solo career that’s also found him collaborating with everyone from Pink Floyd and Peter Gabriel to Kate Bush and Ian Anderson. But he’s never quite reached the commercial heights of his peers. As his Final Tour: Part Two fast approaches, he looks back over highlights from his career so far and teases a brand-new album.

Boy bands reunited… but were they back for good?