Michael Cragg
@MichaelCragg
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Journalist and author. Also run @maxopedia10 . Email: mcraggfreelance at gmail dot com. My book, Reach For The Stars, just won the Penderyn Music Book Prize!
London, England
Joined February 2009
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I’m writing another book, and this one’s about Kylie! It’s coming out via Faber in 2026 and it’s all very exciting. I’ve been obsessed with her since Charlene, and via all her glorious pop iterations. But who is the ‘real’ Kylie? And does it matter? I’m going to try and find out
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I spoke to K-pop star Jackson Wang for
@BritishVogue
. We talked about solo music, Fendi and fencing 🤺
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Please come back to pop soon Lady Gaga/Rihanna/literally anyone else
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Oof ok
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I spoke to the
@Sugababes
about the past, the present and the future. They were amazing and I’m very excited about what’s the come
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Did a little cry at this sweet message from Nicola Roberts about my book. There’s a whole chapter in Reach For The Stars dedicated to Girls Aloud, AKA the UK’s best girlband (also features interviews with Kimberley and Nadine)
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I've written a book! Reach For The Stars is an oral history celebrating UK pop from 1996 - 2006 featuring over 100 new interviews with the great and good of that era, including popstars, songwriters, PRs, directors, fans and Louis Walsh. Out 30 March, link to pre-order in bio
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“I want this album to be Back to Black, Urban Hymns, The Fame. I genuinely think it will be in people’s lives for ever.” My interview with the hugely entertaining
@yungblud
is now on the www:
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I interviewed Max Martin (MAX MARTIN!!) about pop’s past, pop’s future, working with Britney and his new jukebox musical. He was great:
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I've written about S Club 7's Paul Cattermole and his complex relationship with pop, fame and his own history
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“Oh baby baby” To celebrate ...Baby One More Time turning 20 this year, I spoke to
@britneyspears
,
@TheRamiYacoub
,
@nanahedin
and
@ClarkeIngram
about its creation. (BRITNEY SPEARS!!). It’s on the www right now!
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I’ve interviewed St Vincent about her excellent, and quite scary, new album. She also showed off her emoji skills
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Here are the top 25 girlband members of all time as voted for by me (Look this is going to be controversial but I did the best I could okay)
#mutya4eva
From Mutya to Beyoncé: who is the best girl band member of all time?
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My tribute to Sarah Harding, who died today aged just 39
Sarah Harding’s heart-on-the-sleeve energy made pop look like fun
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I tried to condense Janet Jackson's brilliance into 30 songs ordered in terms of greatness
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When The Rain Comes, the actually new new Sugababes single, is out at midnight. The O2 is tomorrow. Maybe there’s something involving the four of us ‘dropping’ on Saturday. Can’t believe they’re back (again)
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I spent an emotional day with Girls Aloud while they rehearsed for their tour, and the results are now online. We talked about missing Sarah, enduring Grease Mania and whether it’s “party map” or “body map” in Something Kinda Ooooh
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I wrote about the enduring majesty of
@kylieminogue
's Can't Get You Out of My Head for The Guardian's best UK No 1's series:
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Yesterday
@BenTheEpicure
and I got married! It was really lovely actually, would recommend 💍🥰
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I spoke to
@gwenstefani
for
@BritishVogue
. We had a nice chat about her return to pop, why No Doubt's Return of Saturn still makes her cry and, yep, lockdown-related toilet cleaning
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“When that rainbow's shining over you / That's when your dreams will all come true” Reach For The Stars is out NOW! Today! In the shops! 🥹
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Got to hear SIX Perrie solo songs including the first single which has that magical oomph that all good Kelly Clarkson singles have. There was also a proper three wines-deep banger. Also: cupcakes!
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I interviewed
@adamlambert
for today's
@guardiang2
about his struggle for acceptance, how Queen saved him, and how he complained four times when a fellow popstar kept him awake at a hotel recently
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“Worlds tallest journalist” is how everyone must greet me now
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Can I retire now? My interview with Max Martin (!!) is in tomorrow’s Guardian
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Had a lovely time last night chatting to
@NicolaRoberts
about Girls Aloud, 00s pop and why Girl Overboard should have been a single. She was much more of natural when it came to promo shots as you can see. (Reach For The Stars is out now, obvs)
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James Bay on his ‘evolution’ (getting a haircut) is the definition of low bar thinking
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I spoke to
@ShawnMendes
about being ludicrously famous, not hating selfies and wearing fancy pants for the cover of today’s
@ObsMagazine
. Here it is:
#shawnmendes
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These just arrived and the postman said ‘are they copies of your own book?’ (apparently there are a lot of authors in Brockley), and I got to say ‘YES! YES THEY ARE!!?!’ 🥹🥹🥹
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“I don’t want it to be the album you put on at a dinner party… I like things that are loud and big and direct”
@SELFESTEEM___
has made The Guardian’s album of 2021 so we had a chat about it
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I went backstage a few weeks ago as
@GirlsAloud
rehearsed for their emotional new tour. It featured a surreal moment as Cheryl waved at me while flying on a motorbike. You can read about it all tomorrow on the cover of
@GdnSaturday
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GUYS! New issue of BEAT.
@LilNasX
shot by Felix Cooper, interviewed by me and
@eltonofficial
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Very honoured and overwhelmed to have won this music book award for Reach For the Stars! Thank you so much to
@PeteSelby1
and
@MWHamilton
, and to all the popstars who spoke to me for the book 💫
@MichaelCragg
won the Penderyn Music Book Prize 2024 for his book, ‘Reach For The Stars.’
@nineeightbooks
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Yesterday was quite depressing. Today feels quite shit too. I love working and writing for The Guide, and I will miss it 😢 We’re not dead quite yet mind!!
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Can’t believe Little Mix are a decade old and have a non-stop anthem-heavy Greatest Hits out. Flashback to interviewing them in a karaoke bar pre Wings and them being instantly convincing as a long term prospect, very much not a given at the time
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Just spoke about how Girls Aloud’s Untouchable changed my life on stage in front of people 🫠
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“If you don’t like it, sod off!” I had a nice chat with
@LittleMix
about Cardi B, body shaming, falling off bikes while drunk, wet wipes and plans for the future
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I spoke to the vocal bible
@4everBrandy
about her legacy, high expectations, her deep love of Enya and working with the late LaShawn Daniels again on her new album
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Reach For The Stars is coming out in paperback on October 12 and my copies have just arrived. Isn’t she pretty?! Popstars the world over are saying it’s the perfect gift for Xmas! Preorder here if you like:
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Never thought I’d share a ‘new this week’ book display with Dame Britney of Spears 🥹
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Have only just seen this amazing quote from Caroline Polachek about co-writing No Angel for Beyoncé. “This is the take”.
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Morning! My chat with
@NadineCoyleNow
from today's
@guideguardian
is on the www (also features Brian Higgins)
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@jaebambum
Hello to you. I didn't write the headline or the sell bit you're referring to. When I noticed it this morning I contacted my editor who is getting it changed. Thank you.
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Had a really great time at Robyn the other night. Some more specific thoughts here:
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Jade Little Mix reading a book upside down while holding a drink is very much my attitude towards literature these days
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Just popped in to say hello to my first born. There are still some signed ones left in the big Foyles 💫
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Interviewed
@internetsyd
about her amazing solo album for the new issue of
@QMagazine
, which is out NOW
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Sooo here’s a new addition to
#mewithtinypopstars
, the forthcoming coffee table book (imagine). It’s me standing near
@kylieminogue
while she stands on Alan Carr’s back (!!) 1/9
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“She is from Los Angeles, she is absolutely gorgeous, she does have a rat.”
Denise Welch confirms son Matty Healy's engagement to Gabbriette:
“I have known for a few weeks that Matty got engaged. They went over to see their friends Charli and George in New York. I woke up this morning to the fact they’ve put it on Instagram. Instagram official, he has
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I've written some words about Jesy leaving Little Mix
Jesy Nelson: abuse has cruelly silenced one of pop's few unfiltered voices
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Having the actual Neil Tennant read (and enjoy!) my book was definitely not on my 2023 mood-board but here we are. Be like Neil and buy Reach For The Stars on paperback from Thursday 💫
“If you’re interested in pop history, I recommend this book, which explores in fascinating detail the dizzy lost world of 90s and ‘00s pop”
Neil Tennant
The music book that everyone is talking about.
‘Reach for the Stars’ by
@michaelcragg
is out this week in paperback
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👋 At the end of this week I will be leaving The Guide after three years as contributing editor. It's been a proper privilege helping put it all together. I am going back to full-time freelancing - my email is in my bio and here is my v pink website: 👋
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Had a bonkers chat with
@LittleMix
for The Guardian. Tried to focus them by playing Top Trumps; it didn't work
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I spoke to one of my favourite producers, Mirwais, about feeling like an outsider, his cult band Taxi Girl and working with Madonna on Music, American Life and Madame X. "She just doesn’t care. If the reaction wasn’t good, it was OK.”
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Just transcribing an interview; is there a musician out there who doesn't think they have synesthesia?
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Reach For the Stars has been longlisted for the Penderyn Music Book Prize 💫
The 10th Penderyn Music Book Prize longlist is announced today. This is one of the 12 books which have made the long list. More info here:
@MichaelCragg
@nineeightbooks
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Ahh it feels good to be writing about the Sugababes again:
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Thank you to my dear friend
@0800shygirl
for this lock box of Tuesday night standards: tequila, condoms, pocket-sized vibrator. The BLU movie/live performance is on YouTube later this evening
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Huge respect to Jesy for the honesty of this statement, and for the work she’s done highlighting mental health issues over the years. Also, just as importantly, for being a properly excellent popstar who was unafraid to say exactly what she thought. What a woman
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God bless the lady in London Bridge WH Smith who saw me posing with my book and asked if I’d like to sign them and turned a blind eye when I was being faux coy but actually had a pen ready in my bag
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I had a chat with
@adamlambert
for
@NotionMagazine
about his past, present & future, and that's out on April 24
http://t.co/C92B9HVqEc
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Just received a can of ale, some Bombay mix, a sticker, a t-shirt and a PIE from Mel C
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I spent quite an intense few hours with Yungblud and he was properly excellent value. We chat lasagne, living with Lewis Capaldi and being lead by the spirit of Amy Winehouse. On the cover of tomorrow's mag
In this Saturday's Guide: 'Disney knew I was punk' – the Mouse House wasn’t ready for him, the internet can’t get enough of him, and Dave Grohl thinks he’s the future of rock’n’roll. But all that matters to
@yungblud
is his army of fans, he tells
@MichaelCragg
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“What makes them proud isn’t what makes me proud” I interviewed newly independent pop superstar
@raye
for today’s new Saturday mag
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I interviewed the I Said Never Again (But Here We Are) hitmaker Rachel Stevens. We talked about anxiety, S Club and smoking weed:
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Reach For The Stars is one of The Guardian’s five best music books of 2023! How lovely
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I did my dissertation on The Face so to be able to write something/anything for their relaunch is exciting. That it was an interview with
@robynkonichiwa
is the perfect pop cherry on the cake. Doesn't it look fancy!
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I spoke to
@DORIANELECTRA
about the collaborators - Rebecca Black! The Village People!! - on their bonkers new ‘project’ (album), My Agenda for
@TheFaceMagazine
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The Janelle Monáe album playback was better than most ‘gigs’ I’ve been to. A seven song performance, with backing dancers and an ‘immersive’ element, i.e. I was about a metre away from awkwardly dancing with her during Make Me Feel
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Everything is shit so let's get excited about albums due in 2022. I am looking forward to these people bringing aural goodness: Charli XCX, Josef Salvat, Years & Years, Sky Ferreira, MØ, Foxes, Rosalia, Craig David, Metronomy, RAYE, Sugababes, Troye, Twigs
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The award-winning (😫) Reach For The Stars is only 99p (!) on Kindle this month, aka the price of something you would have found in the Woolies bargain bin ‘back in the day’… But in a good way!
A Times Book of the Year
A Telegraph Book of the Year
A Guardian Book of the Year
An Independent Book of the Year
A Mojo Music Book of the Year
A Classic Pop Book of the Year
‘Reach For The Stars’ by
@MichaelCragg
Only 99p on Kindle for a limited time only
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So many top tier songs, but DNA - that choral middle eight!? - will always have a special place in my cold dead heart
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And here it is! The actual
@Sia
'doing' August in a very Sia way (i.e. she can do what the fuck she wants)
http://t.co/ZpxJ8nnZDI
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What's your favourite new-song-chucked-onto-a-Greatest-Hits-album?
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Gatekeeper of morality Perez Hilton piping up on Gaga's Instagram I see
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Today I have done no work. Would highly recommend it to anyone. Freelancing is constant but it’s incredibly important to stop every once in a while. Also: eat cake whenever possible, it really helps
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I followed
@OfficialSteps
around for a bit and wrote this cover story for today’s
@guideguardian
. Features Britney’s mum, living off potatoes and ‘James Dill Bradford’
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I had a lovely, surprisingly poignant, chat with
@grimmers
and
@anniemacmanus
about their new BBC Sounds music podcast, remaining Fun and finally ageing out of being the face of ‘yoof’ culture:
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Alesha Dixon's unreleased-in-the-UK-but-actually-very-good debut album, Fired Up, is coming out on vinyl for Black Friday on 24 Nov. Richard X and Xeno both make appearances:
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