S Club 7 have announced they will reunite to mark 25 years in their UK comeback tour, and are set to perform in Manchester later this year.

The Brit pop group had hits throughout the late nineties and early noughties such as ‘Reach’, ‘Bring It All Back’ and ‘Don’t Stop Movin’’, which were popular with many youngsters at the time.

All seven original members: Tina Barrett, Paul Cattermole, Jon Lee, Bradley McIntosh, Jo O’Meara, Hannah Spearritt and now solo singer Rachel Stevens, will come together once more to mark the quarter of a century milestone.

Fans can prepare to be transported back to their youth, and re-enact old dance routines, as the group will perform on stage together again at Manchester’s AO Arena on Saturday, October 21st.

In a statement released by the band, they said; “After eight years it feels amazing to announce that we’re reuniting and performing together again. We’re so excited to bring the S Club party back to our fans across the country to celebrate 25 years of S Club 7.

“We can’t even believe it’s been so long. Music and friendship have always been at the core of everything that we’ve ever done. We hope everyone can join us for one big party.”

The seven-piece group were originally created by former Spice Girls manager Simon Fuller in 1998 and first came to public attention in 1999, when they starred in their own television series, ‘Miami 7’.

After they called it a day, the members went on to explore other pursuits, with Stevens pursuing a solo music career and competing on Strictly Come Dancing, as well as Dancing On Ice.

Spearritt became a TV actress and had roles in ITV’s Primeval, while Lee performed in West End shows including Les Miserables and Jersey Boys. McIntosh, O’Meara and Cattermole later became members of the spin-off group S Club Allstars, previously S Club 3, with Barrett joining them in 2014.

O’Meara, who also released solo music and appeared on Celebrity Big Brother in 2007, where, alongside Jade Goody and Danielle Lloyd she found herself embroiled in a racism row involving fellow competitor Shilpa Shetty. She has also gone through a number of back operations but says she now feels ‘ready’ to get back on stage.

Tickets for S Club 7’s comeback tour go on sale on Friday and can be purchased via the Ticketmaster website.

Music legend Johnny Marr has helped a 12-year-old boy from Salford to achieve his dream of following in his footsteps after he won The Salford Foundation Trust Johnny Marr award.

John Denton, 12, began his music career busking on the rainy streets of Manchester city centre and became quite a sensation on social media through videos of him performing on Market Street.

The ambitious lad has already held a gig at the iconic Salford Lads Club — where The Smiths posed outside for an album cover photo in 1985.

With a little help from the guitar hero, John is hoping to make it in music as the next Marr. He he told the Manchester Evening News: “I’d love to be the next Johnny Marr and just keep going to see where music can take me.

“It all started when my dad took me to a birthday party for one of his friends, and there was a karaoke machine. People were singing Highway to Hell by AC/DC.”

“I went home and just listened to them over and over and it all came from there. I started singing, took guitar lessons and then did my first gig at a coffee shop in Eccles when I was nine, where I also sang two of my own songs,” he added.

Now the former member of The Smiths is helping young John to kick start his career. John was selected for funding by the charity The Salford Foundation Trust, which operates the Johnny Marr Award to support talented youngsters in the city. He has been awarded £1,000 funding to pay for extra singing and guitar lessons to help him perfect his performances.

John and Johnny have already met once before – when John chatted to him at a record signing event at Manchester’s Piccadilly Records for the release of Johnny’s new album ‘Fever Dreams Pts 1-4’, where he asked him for advice about forming a band.

John has since gone on to form his own group called ‘The Height’ – named after Irlams o’ th’ Height, an area in Salford near where he lives – and the group released their first single just before Christmas.

He was selected for the award by a panel at the Salford Foundation Trust, a local charity which supports talented young people in the city. The Johnny Marr Award will run for three years, selecting another young musician from Salford each year for financial assistance.

His dad Phil said: “John’s ambition is to have a career in music. He will be using the funding to have music lessons to help both his guitar playing and his singing. In these tough times it’s a massive help and means that he can progress in his passion.”

“Music is not a hobby for John but just who he is and a creative outlet he hopes to enjoy for the rest of his life. He is incredibly grateful to Johnny and the Salford Foundation Trust who have provided this opportunity. It is a real privilege to get this award and he is determined to make the very most of the opportunity he has been given,” he added.

Johnny said: “It’s a pleasure and privilege to give some assistance to a young musician especially when they’re as dedicated as John. Well done brother.”

Peter Collins CBE, from The Salford Foundation Trust, said: “There couldn’t be a more worthy recipient of the Johnny Marr Award. Even though John is only 12 he’s already proven he’s committed to making a future in music and we’re delighted the Trust can give him a helping hand on this journey.”

Noel Gallagher said he was left speechless after a girl at a bar didn’t recognise him and asked what he did for a living.

Appearing on Absolute Radio’s Breakfast show to talk about his fourth High Flying Birds album ‘Council Skies’ and latest single ‘Easy Now’.

Sharing his love for going out and socialising, the Mancunian indie-rockstar went on to talk about an incident where he was chatting with a young woman at a bar who asked him ‘what do you do?’. 

The singer-songwriter said: “Somebody asked me in the Firehouse the other night, ‘what do you do?’ And I was like…I didn’t know what to say.” 

Presenter Dave Berry exclaimed: “Well what do you say to that, Noel?”

Noel continued: “Well, I didn’t know what to say because I’d never been asked before. I was like really? I change people’s lives for the better.”

The young woman, still not recognising him, asked: “Oh, you’re in the medical profession?” To which Noel replied: “Of sorts.”

Talking about the interaction, Noel said: “I was gobsmacked…I was like, ‘look, Google it, love…just put in ‘Noel Gallagher’, ‘High Flying Birds’, owt you want.”

He then added: “Put in ‘Liam Gallagher’, you’ll probably see a picture of me.”

The former Oasis member then went on to talk about the current debate surrounding Nepotism babies, and opened up about his next album.

Noel’s album ‘Council Skies’ – the follow-up to 2017’s ‘Who Built The Moon?’– is due out on June 2nd via Sour Mash.

He’ll perform the record in a number of outdoor UK headline gigs this summer. You can purchase tickets here.