Music News

Fifth Harmony star Dinah Jane Hansen was taught how to play basketball by Snoop Dogg.
The 18-year-old singer has revealed she considers herself to be "pretty good friends" with the 44-year-old rapper after bonding with him during a recent celebrity basketball game where he taught her how to play the sport.
She exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "I've met Snoop Dogg a couple of times, I'd say we're pretty good friends. I went to this BET Awards thing and we were playing celebrity basketball, and Snoop Dogg was on my team. I was really, really shy because I've never really hung out with that many celebrities in one area but Snoop Dogg was the first one that approached me - and I don't play basketball - but he approached me and was like, 'What's up home girl?!' just trying to make me comfortable. He just started showing me how to play. And I was like, 'So how do you do a lay-up? How do you bounce the ball?' I was so confused."
However, the 'Worth It' hitmaker also took the time to get to know another of her favourite stars, Chris Brown, during the game, even though she had to keep her "fan girl" under control.
She explained: "And then Chris Brown was on my team too and I was crying, low-key, I really was dying, although I give myself some credit for controlling my fan girl, because if the fan girl came out, ooh I would have been on the side of the court the whole time."

Markus Feehily laughs at people who think he quit Westlife and started selling tea from the back of a van.
The 'Love is a Drug' singer has a sideline business in the hospitality industry but thinks it's funny that it's been portrayed as being his main career now the group are over.
He told BANG Showbiz: "The star of the show is the van. It's not a catering business really. It made me laugh when they made it look like I played to 90,000 people at the end of Westlife and got a job selling tea in the back of the van. We bought a 1950s vintage van and we had it refurbished and kitted out and sell cocktails, Prosecco and hot chocolates and crepes at Christmas. We just got this van and went round festivals."
Now a solo artist, he can't understand people who think once you are famous you can only be known for one thing.
He explained: "It's funny the way people think you can only be one thing, like you can't do two things at the same time. For me you can do many things at the same time. I'm a singer but at the same time I love other things.
"I had a bit of time over summer when there wasn't much happening and I wanted to do something that was a bit of fun and that's what the van was."

Stevie Nicks hated the title of Fleetwood Mac's 'Tusk' album.
The 67-year-old singer - who is one fifth of the rock band - "didn't understand" the saucy meaning behind the moniker as it only made her think of cruel animal hunting.
She explained: "I didn't understand the title. There was nothing beautiful or elegant about the word 'tusk.' All it really brought to mind was people stealing ivory. Even then in 1979 you just thought, the rhinos are being poached and the tusks are being stolen and the elephants are being slaughtered and ivory's being sold on the black market.
"I don't recall it being [Mick Fleetwood's slang term for the male member] that went right over my prudish little head, I wasn't told that until quite a while after the record was done, and when I did find out I liked the title even less!"
And it wasn't just the title of the collection she was concerned about, as Stevie was worried when her band mate Lindsey Buckingham announced he wanted to take 'Tusk' in a different direction from their massively successful 'Rumours.'
She told Mojo magazine: "'Rumours' was a perfect, off-the-top-of-our head thing that turned into a huge-selling amazing record. Nobody wanted to do exactly the same thing each time, that's just five people being creative. This was different though, this was Lindsey really making a stand...
"If you go down some different pathways, study and research some different genres of music and change it up, everybody was fine with that, but Lindsey was just so adamant about doing something that was the total opposite of the previous records.
"He announced it so viscerally, so demandingly that I think he scared all of us. We were like, 'what the f**k?' "

Rick Parfitt has had "talks" about a Status Quo musical.
The 67-year-old guitarist has admitted the band - currently made up of Francis Rossi, Andy Brown, John 'Rhino' Edwards and Leon Cave - have been approached to create a stage show based on their music but have put plans on hold until they decide to stop touring.
The rocker revealed exclusively to BANG Showbiz: "There have been talks about doing a Status Quo musical or show of some kind, but there's no point doing it while we're still all around. If there's a show on about us in London, where do we go to play when we're here? What would be the point?"
Nevertheless, the rocker hinted he only intends to spend "a few years" more with the band, with whom he has been playing for over 40 years, and plans for the show to go ahead when they no longer have the distractions of touring and recording.
He added: "We will do one in a few years, but we're going to wait until we've stopped doing shows until we arrange it properly."

Nikki Sixx has the most "boring tour rider on earth".
The Motley Crue bassist - who recently turned 57 - has been sober for 14 years after battling an addiction to heroin and alcohol, and admitted the refreshments he enjoys back stage at a concert now are not as exciting as they used to be.
He explained "Sad to say I have coconut water, Monster energy drink, Diet Coke, Gatorade and some pretzels [laughs] -- it's kind of boiled down to the most boring tour rider on earth. What's funny is I have more weights in my room than I have drinks. I have weights, workout bands, stuff to do sit-ups and push-ups with -- I'm more into health and fitness then I am into whatever the past was about."
Meanwhile the 'Girls Girls Girls' hitmakers - also including Vince Neil, Tommy Lee, Mick Mars - play their final ever live date together in Los Angeles on December 31, and Nikki admits he will feel a "pang" in his heart on stage.
Speaking about the concert, he told Billboard: "I don't know how we're gonna feel. We've been kind of dodging that question for two years and now there's no getting out of it. We're pretty rough-and-tumble dudes, but even the toughest guy going in for his last fight is going to feel a pang in his heart, and I'm guaranteeing that something's gonna happen up there that I don't know about and I probably don't want to think about until it happens. I just hope I don't cry during 'Shout at the Devil.' "

Diplo says his hit track 'Where Are Ü Now' was a transformative song for him.
The 37-year-old American DJ and producer teamed up with Justin Bieber and Skrillex (real name Sonny John Moore) on the single, and admits he had no idea what a success the song would become.
He wrote on Instagram: "Justin, Sonny, and I started this idea about a year ago and had no idea how transformative a song it would be for all three of us. It's a statement to where music can go in 2015. We both had detractors but I think the success of both our projects and the song shows everyone should take more chances in 2016."
Diplo shared a selection of images on Instagram that he feels reflect his 2015, which has been an incredibly successful year for him.
Among the shots was a snap showing him with Madonna at the Met Gala earlier this year.
He captioned the picture: "When I first got a chance to work with Madonna I didn't expect much to come from it. Maybe because she is one of the biggest pop stars of all time. I didn't think she would take me serious just another producer working on a huge album. I didn't expect to make a great friend for life and didn't expect to be such a big part of her record. She showed me a whole other level of dedication and old school work ethic when it comes to writing. I'm proud of the work we did. Those sessions were some of the most fun I have done to date. I played some shows and shot videos with her later in the year but going to the Met ball with Madonna was a highlight of 2015."

Frank Turner doesn't care what people think about his background.
The 'Way I Tend To Be' singer - who was offered a scholarship to attend a private school when he was younger - doesn't think upbringing should impact on artists' "ability to engage" and can't understand why some people find it a problem.
He told BANG Showbiz: "I'm an egalitarian, so I don't think somebody's start in life or class barrier or however you want to put it should affect their ability to engage if that's what they feel driven to do in their life, but it obviously does.
"I occupy a slightly weird middle ground because I got a scholarship to a private school, so I can see both sides.
" I thought James Blunt had a point when he said the music industry is one of very few avenues impacted by private education."
Despite his "middle ground" upbringing, the 34-year-old singer couldn't care less what people think of him in relation to his educational background.
He added: "The music industry is full of people who want to call me a **** because of where I went to school. But I've grown out of giving a f**k about that.
"But then James Blunt f***ed up by saying his alternative in life is to become a stockbroker. So I think it's a difficult debate, I don't think there's a simple and easy answer to it."

Il Divo have vowed to put on a "fantastic" tour in 2016.
The classical crossover group - which includes Carlos Martin, David Miller, Urs Buhler and Sébastien Izambard - are heading off on the road in support of new album 'Amor & Passion' and say their New Year's resolution is to ensure fans have a great time at their shows.
Band member Carlos Marin said: "My resolution is going to be to have a fantastic tour, and then we are going to do a new album.
"Next year I just want to show the people that Il Divo are alive and will be as long as we have the fans."
And ahead of the shows, Carlos will be working hard to get back in shape as he knows he'll gain weight over the festive season because he loves to dine on huge meals with his loved ones.
Speaking about his Christmas plans ahead of the big day, he told BANG Showbiz: "We have the typical thing that you eat at Christmas and we have a pig and we eat fish and prawns and it's really big meal to make me really fat and then I have to lose everything I have gained so I can look good in a suit. That is for sure.
"I'm usually with my family in Spain and they come to my house. About 30 people. And then we have a big party."

Kendrick Lamar wants to win all 11 Grammys he is nominated for.
The 28-year-old singer leads this year's awards - which will be held on February 15 - with the most nods and wants to take them all home so he can make a statement for hip-hop "culture.
Asked about his staggering number of nominations, he said: "I want all of them. Because it's not only a statement for myself, but it's a statement for the culture. They're all important, because of the foundation the forefathers laid before me. Nas didn't get a chance to be in that position. 2 Pac. So to be acknowledged and to actually win, it's for all of them."
Meanwhile, Kendrick, who is up for Album of the Year for 'To Pimp a Butterfly', Best Rap Album for the same record and the coveted Song of the Year with 'Alright', says he's always writing music but won't know when his new material will be released because it has to be a natural progression.
He told The New York Times: "I'm just writing, writing, writing. I keep these tablets on me until I'm inspired to go back in and make the music. I never take a break from my pen, because I pride myself on that. As far as a break from music, yeah, I can't just go in and force myself. I have to come from an original and organic place. It can come tomorrow; it can come two years from now."