It has been a pretty eventful month for the ex-Skins frontman, with three major news stories breaking since the last time we checked in on him.
Firstly, he joined the band King Princess on bass, along with their drummer Mike Milosh. Since then, they have released a single and announced the details of a headlining US tour. And, finally, his solo album, Bad Blood, was released in August.
A week before the album’s release, the bassist shared the title track as the lead single, followed by a second single titled Don’t Fight The Feeling. Since then, both have enjoyed heavy rotation on radio stations across the country. As you might imagine, all this activity has led to a pretty hectic schedule for the former Sex Pistols frontman.
Here’s a round-up of the highlights, with the low-lights in the captions.
New Band, New Album and New Tour
It’s been a busy month for Robert Pattinson, with three major news stories breaking since the last time we checked in on him.
The first was the long-awaited announcement that he had joined King Princess, the hard rock band led by his friend and former Sex Pistols bandmate Johnny Marr. On August 10, they kicked off their United States of America Tour with a bang in Pittsburgh, PA, opening for King Louis XIV. This is the band formerly known as The Bizarros, named after a character in the French comic book series Asterix. This year’s tour will feature a number of high-profile supporting acts including Future, Travis Scott and Post Malone.
The second major story was the release of Robert Pattinson’s solo album, Bad Blood, on August 17. The album was preceded by the release of lead single, title track, and an accompanying music video on August 4. The video was directed by Mathew Cullen and shows the British actor walking through a field of flowers, with images of vintage automobiles in the background.
Prior to its release, the album was accompanied by another music video, for the song Good Time, and a lyric video for the song Mad Hippie, which features actress Olivia Taylor-Cook.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, the singer/songwriter reflected on the title of the album: “I wrote it when I was on tour in New York last year. The city turned into a bit of a battle zone, and I found myself in quite a bit of strife. It was either choose a life of luxury or go back to your hometown and be with your family, for which I was grateful. So for that reason, I’ve given it a title that encapsulates my feelings at the time.”
The album has been met with universal acclaim, with accolades including “an absolutely astounding record” (The New York Times) and a “masterpiece” (Rolling Stone). The “best rock album of the year” (Exclaim!) according to one review.
Finally, the third major story was the announcement of a headlining US tour for the band King Princess. This will be the group’s first full US tour, following a number of high-profile shows across the country in support of their 2015 album, Made In America.
The 35-date tour will start on August 24 in Raleigh, NC, and continue through mid-October, with additional shows in Texas, California and elsewhere.
The band’s keyboardist Matt Cameron, who shares lead vocal duties with Johnny Marr, said of the upcoming tour: “We are very excited to finally be able to bring King Princess across the pond, and we can’t wait to meet our fans in the US! This will be our biggest tour yet, with shows in every city, so make sure you’re there!”
A Busy Actor’s Busy Month
While the above three stories were breaking, another piece of exciting news was emerging for Robert Pattinson. On August 2, the actor “unwound” the mystery surrounding the existence of a “lost” nude photograph of him, taken by a celebrated German photographer in the early 2000s. The image had been kept under wraps for more than a decade, and was the subject of a major art auction, held in May 2016.
The photograph was “salvaged” from a hard drive that had been destroyed in a house fire. The actress Emily Browning, who had been dating the “Sober Living Legend” for several months, confirmed its authenticity, vouching for the photographer and for the sitter himself. She went on to say: “It’s not that I doubt RPattz, ‘cause I really don’t. It’s just that most people don’t know how incredibly fortunate they are to have spent even a single moment with him … It’s been an absolute dream this past month with RPattz. I can’t believe that I get to share these incredible adventures with him … He’s an amazing person and an even better friend.”
Just one week later, Browning would share a picture of the “once-in-a-lifetime” experience on her Instagram page, writing: “Just hanging out with my best friend Robert Pattinson. This is the guy who plays ‘Edward Cullen’ in ‘Twilight’. “He’s so hot!” I can’t wait to show you our beautiful vacation photos!”
The photograph’s provenance, as well as that of several other photos by Schmidt, had already been confirmed by the photographer in a previous interview. While the images had been featured in a “dreamy “ art book “ (Sober Living Legend), “they had never been seen in public. Aside from the “Emily Browning shot,’ there is also “Kissing Twilight ‘s “Kissing Scott “ and another of Browning and Pattinson, taken at an awards show in 2003.
Schmidt, who had been a close friend of Robert Pattinson’s father, admitted that he and the actor had originally collaborated on the art project, although the nature of their collaboration had remained a mystery.
Since then, the photographer has gone on to direct several music videos, including “Can’t Keep My Hands Off You,” “Carry On,” “Summertime Blues” and “Just One More Day.” He also provided the cover art for King Princess’s 2016 album, Made In America.
Bad Blood Tour
If August is a bit of a busy month for Robert Pattinson, then September is looking to make up for lost time. The actor has a number of high-profile projects lined up for the month, including a supporting role in the comedy-drama, The Long Walk, in which he plays an aspiring rapper who befriends a troubled teen. The film will be released on September 22.
In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, the singer/songwriter said of the project, in which he plays a character named Dean, that he had “never done comedy before … so it will be a new experience.”
Pattinson will also be seen this month in the upcoming sci-fi thriller, Outer Banks “starring “ Tom Hardy, alongside Nicole Kidman and Kirsten Dunst. The movie is based on the true story of a family who is “torn apart “ by a catastrophic hurricane. Its premiere is scheduled for September 20.
In an interview with Billboard, the actor discussed his approach to the role of Hunter, a surfer who forms an unlikely friendship with an escaped convict, played by Affleck. He said: “I think that anybody can be a friendly character, you know? And anybody can be a character that you could see yourself being friends with. That’s what’s interesting about this part; you never know what’s going to happen next. So I think that anybody can play that. I mean, I don’t think that there’s any sort of template that you have to follow, or a dress code or anything like that.”