Madonna ‘most played’ artist of decade

Madonna was the most played artist of the last decade in the UK, according to music licensing body PPL.
The singer, 51, who had her first UK hit with Holiday in 1984, beat The Beatles into second place and Robbie Williams into third.
Queen were fourth and Take That were fifth in the chart compiled for BBC Radio 2.
It was based on plays - between 2000 and 2009 - on TV, radio and in public places including pubs, clubs and shops.
PPL collects royalties for sound recordings.
Madonna was the only female solo singer to make the top 10.
Girl band Sugababes, meanwhile, who entered the UK charts for the first time in 2000 with Overload, were the only act in the top 10 who emerged within the decade being scrutinised.
The chart was revealed on Radio 2 show People's Artist Chart, presented by comedian Patrick Kielty.
In December, PPL announced that Snow Patrol song Chasing Cars was the most widely-played song of the decade.
Last year, another chart compiled for Radio 2 - also by PPL - found that Procol Harum's A Whiter Shade of Pale was the most played song in public places in the previous 75 years.
The song, which features a distinctive organ riff, stayed at number one for six weeks in the UK in the summer of 1967.
Madonna Tickets are available online on GigSport.com

Madonna: Sticky & Sweet Tour Europe

What do you call a 50-year-old woman who releases her 11th big smash hit studio album and goes on tour to play for close to forty sold out stadiums throughout the world?
Talented?
Famous?
Or just Madonna.
The unstoppable pop icon Madonna has announced the dates for her brand new world tour to promote her new big-selling album Hard Candy. The travelling super star's parade kicks off at the Cardiff Millennium Stadium in Wales on 23 August 2008, then onto the continent with shows in:

• Nice at Stade Charles Ehrmann on 26 August
• Berlin at Olympic Stadium on 28 August
• Amsterdam Arena on 2 September
• Dusseldorf LTU Arena on 4 September
• Rome Olympic Stadium on 6 September
• Frankfurt Commerzbank Arena on 9 September

Madonna will finish up the European leg of Sticky & Sweet with a massive blow-out at London Wembley arena on 11 September and finally at the Stade de France in Paris on 20 September. The tour will then take on the US and Canada before going south for concerts in Mexico and throughout South America.
Tickets officially go on sale this Friday, 16 May. These are sure to sell out in no time. But don't worry if you miss out at the box office, we always have tickets - that's what we do.