The veteran singer is joining forces with fellow Sheffield musician Richard Hawley for an album of cover versions celebrating the musical talents which have emerged from the city.

"From Joe Cocker to the Arctic Monkeys: Sheffield is great at producing talent but nobody here shouts about it, unlike Manchester and Liverpool," Christie told The Guardian.

"The idea to make an album of songs written by Sheffield artists and recorded in Sheffield only came about after a chance remark I made to my son when I heard Richard Hawley's Coles Corner on the radio.

"I said that's the kind of thing I should be doing, so we went to see Richard play and met him backstage. He said he'd like to do an album with me on the spot. In a way, this album is a love letter to Sheffield but it's not introspective. There's only one song that alludes to Sheffield in its lyrics by mentioning Paradise Square, a beautiful Georgian corner of the city.

"Richard and I are jumping around. We keep ringing each other up after a day working in the studio saying how excited we are. I think it's the best thing I've done."

Made in Sheffield will be released in November, although we doubt anyone from the Conservative think tank will be attending the launch.



We know that an actor's life can sometimes be a hard one.

First, there are all those lines to learn, then there are the hours spent waiting on windswept locations, but every so often they get their rewards.

Scarborough-born Sir Ben Kingsley recently filmed Elegy with the stunning Penelope Cruz.

As the cameras prepared to roll for a key sex scene, director Isabel Coixet apparently insisted everyone else leave the set.

"It was just Isabel, the sound person, myself and Ben," said Cruz. "I was only able to do it because there were only four people there."



Glowing reviews could go to a lesser actor's head, but Patrick Stewart seems to still be content with the little things in life.

The Mirfield-born actor is currently playing Claudius opposite David Tennant's Hamlet and critics have been falling over themselves to tell the world just how good he is.

However, the Royal Shakespeare Company veteran is as happy in the wings as he is in the spotlight and each night he and Oliver Ford-Davies, who is playing Polonius, sit on Gertrude's bed backstage to hear David Tennant deliver the "To be or not to be..." soliloquy.

"I thought last night, what a privilege," he said. "I'm going to be here for six months listening to this great actor doing one of the world's greatest pieces of literature, and I'm being paid for it!"



He's more used to journeying to the four corners of the world, but Michael Palin has been spotted enjoying a holiday resort closer to home.

The Python was recently seen in Morecambe and while he looked relaxed strolling along the seafront, according to the taxi driver who took him to the train station in Lancaster, we fear Palin may be in danger of turning into a grumpy old man. Apparently, the pair spent most of the journey bemoaning current levels of congestion.

If you have a story for the Arts Diary, email ypfeatures@ypn.co.uk