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Rita Ora admits to a difficult 12 months


Rita Ora admits the last year has been "one of the hardest" of her life.
The 24-year-old singer - who's starred as a judge on the BBC reality TV show 'The Voice', launched her own fashion line and made a cameo appearance in 'Fifty Shades of Grey' over the last 12 months - has confessed to finding the year particularly hard, but insisted she's still living out her childhood "dream".
During a three-minute clip from her recently-recorded video diary, Rita said: "So growing up I always wanted to be where I am today and it's always been my dream, literally every day I wake up, it's my dream.
"So I thought I'd share my world with you, give you a little bit of an insight into my life and see how our days go every day - it's not just pictures and a dress."
The 'How We Do' hitmaker admitted the last 12 months have been marked by some dramatic ups and downs.
Rita shared: "This year has been amazing, it's actually been one of the hardest I've ever faced, good things and bad things.
"I've got to experience amazing things like 'The Voice' and doing my Adidas line and have amazing hit records with people I love."


Will Young pens tribute to ‘abusive’ teacher


Will Young has penned a song thanking an "abusive" teacher.
The 36-year-old performer recently released his sixth album '85% Proof' and explained one track, 'Thank You', is about a mean teacher who taught him as a youngster.
He revealed: "There is a song called 'Thank You' which is very much directed towards a teacher at school who was abusive to me and the lyric 'thank you' is actually genuinely thanking that person for giving me the experience because it has made me a better person."
The 'Evergreen' hitmaker - who shot to fame after winning ITV singing competition 'Pop Idol' in 2002 - released his latest LP earlier this month, but explained he chose to take some time out to be an actor after his 2011 album 'Echos' because he gets "frustrated" with the fact he can't play any other characters with his own music.
He told Hunger TV: "I think funnily enough the two things that changed or jettisoned my creativity was doing a film called 'Mrs. Henderson' and then doing 'Cabaret'. They both came at the perfect time - I just needed to be reminded that I can play other roles and explore characters. In pop I get frustrated with the fact that it's always me - I really love being me but I don't find it as liberating as playing a character on stage, because then I can really do what I want. The songs in my pop career have been really liberating, that's the storytelling, but ultimately I'm always me. So I need to have these projects that come along at the right moment to remind me that I can play other people on stage."
Will Young was shot by Rankin for Hunger TV, with his full interview now online: http://www.hungertv.com/feature/the-interview-will-young/

Motley Crue reveal European tour competition


Mötley Crüe are letting fans choose the cities for their final European tour.
The iconic band are currently planning their global 'Final Tour' - on which they have been joined by Alice Cooper - and have launched the #demandthecrue campaign for fans to fight for the rockers to visit their city by using the hashtag on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Following 34 years as a touring group, the band featuring Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee, Mick Mars and Vince Neil will perform at Sweden Rocks, Novarock in Austria and England's Download Festival this summer along with a string of other European dates, before heading to the US, Canada and Mexico.
The rockers - who have sold more than 80 million albums worldwide during their time together - announced their two-year 'Final Tour' by signing a Cessation of Touring Agreement at a press conference in Los Angeles in January 2014, with their final ever show set to take place on New Year's Eve (31.12.15) at the Staples Center in their hometown of Los Angeles.
The 2014 leg of their farewell tour was one of the year's top grossing tours, with almost a million tickets being sold across a total of 72 cities.
Votes cast in the daily campaign by using the hashtag can be tracked through an interactive map on http://demand.motley.com/

One Direction promise ‘diverse’ and ‘different’ LP


One Direction have promised a "very diverse" and "different" fifth album.
The group - featuring Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson - are currently working on the collection, which will be their first since Zayn Malik left the band in March, and have revealed it could surprise fans as it has a "different" sound.
Niall said: "There's a few different sounds on the album, not all the songs sound the same, like, same vibe.
"They are all kind of different. Couple of different guitars and drums. It's a lot different than what we did before ... but, it's cool."
The 'Night Changes' singers - who released 'Four' last November - continued to say the record features "old school vibes", although Liam backtracked on previous comments saying it sounded like Britpop band Oasis, insisting only one track is similar to music from the 'Wonderwall' hitmakers.
He explained: "There's a lot of old school vibes as well.
"I said before that it was quite Oasis-y but I was thinking about one song that I've been playing ... it's very diverse I think."
And although the band have "no collaborations so far" on the eagerly-anticipated LP, Niall, 21, said they are still hard at work so other artists could feature on the finished product.
He added to ET Online: "It's still in the making so we're not there yet."

Jack White rules out White Stripes reunion


Jack White has ruled out a White Stripes reunion with his "hermit" ex-wife Meg White.
The rocker was married to the drummer from 1996 and 2000, and eventually parted ways with her as a musical partner in 2011 when they announced the duo were splitting up, but now their situation seems to have worsened as Jack admitted the musician will no longer speak to him.
When asked in an online Q&A about the possibility of a reunion, he said she "doesn't answer her phone," adding, "Nope, that time has gone."
Another fan questioned whether the pair would reunite if they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but the 'Sixteen Saltines' singer expressed his scepticism, saying: "Doubt it, and doubt it."
The 39-year-old musician continued to say he doesn't know anyone who still talks to his estranged ex-wife - now 40, who divorced Patti Smith's son, guitarist Jackson Smith in 2013 following a four year marriage - but confessed she had never been the talkative type.
He added: "I don't think anyone talks to Meg. She's always been a hermit."
When they disbanded in 2011, the duo insisted it was not due to personal or artistic differences, but instead "mostly to preserve what is beautiful and special about the band."

Demi Lovato and Nick Jones launch record label


Demi Lovato and Nick Jonas have launched a record label together.
The 'Heart Attack' singer revealed she will join her fellow former Disney star Nick Jonas in launching Safehouse Records with manager Phil McIntyre and she gushed on Instagram about the people behind the scenes who helped make it happen.
Below a picture on of her signing documents, the pop babe wrote, "A day I will never forget," while another post explained she is, "So excited for the future".
The 22-year-old star used the opportunity to praise her manager Phil for being an "extremely important person" in her life, crediting him with saving her career by helping her get sober.
Following the announcement, she said: "This man not only believed in me when I was 15 and made my entire career happen, but he fought so f***ing hard to get me sober. He is one of the very few people who LITERALLY saved. my. life. I don't think I'd be alive without him for many different reasons.
"So many other managers out there will try to become the artists themselves by putting their name out there just as much as their artist by doing interviews of photoshoots... But Phil is one of the mist HUMBLE and hard working people I know. I can't wait for our future together Phil. I'm so grateful for you. (sic)"
Demi - whose last eponymous record was released in 2013 - will release her as-yet untitled fifth studio collection through the label, which promises to "put artists in control".
A statement from Nick and Phil released to Gossip Cop read: "Our focus at Safehouse Records is to put artists in control of their art while providing them the best tools to manage their careers ... through our partnership with Island Records they will also have access to the best marketing and promotion available."

Paris Hilton admits new video was inspired by Fifty Shades of Grey


Paris Hilton's latest music video was inspired by 'Fifty Shades of Grey'.
The 34-year-old beauty released the video for the song 'High Off My Love' earlier this month and has confessed its "sexual" content was inspired by the best-selling erotic novel by author E.L. James.
She shared: "The song is called 'High Off My Love' and I just wanted to do a very sexual video.
"I loved Madonna's 'Justify My Love' - that was a really hot video, so I just incorporated that, mixed with 'Fifty Shades of Grey'.
"I had a lot of S&M kind of outfits, a lot of male models and a lot of people making out. It's very sexy."
The singer also said the raunchy video is a reflection of the "new sexy Paris".
She told Heat magazine: "It's the first time I've been single, so I've never been able to do a music video like that before.
"I've always had a boyfriend on set being like, 'No, you're not doing that. I don't want any guys in the video'. But now I'm single, I can do whatever I want."
'High Off My Love' is set to appear on Paris' long-awaited second album.


Kanye West and Bruno Mars working on collaboration


Kanye West's producer 88-Keys has revealed the rapper is collaborating with Bruno Mars.
The 39-year-old music-maker - who has long been a pal of Kanye's - teased the pair of chart-topping stars are finally recording a track together, after the 37-year-old star admitted he was keen to record with the 'Uptown Funk' vocalist earlier in the year.
The producer wrote "S***'s Ugly! (sic)" alongside an image on his Instagram account featuring text saying: "Puff Daddy x 88-Keys x Kanye West x Bruno Mars (sic)."
In a further tweet, believed to be referring to a series of messages posted by Kanye in February, he wrote: "Label sessions pretty much the entire time. Go look at Kanye's timeline until you see my name just to get an idea of what I'm up to."
The 'All Day' rapper previously mentioned the producer while apologising to the 'Locked Out of Heaven' singer in two tweets following the Grammy Awards, in which he admitted he "would love" for the star to feature on a track, made by himself, 88-Keys and Diddy, who is also known as Puff Daddy.
He wrote at the time: "I also want to publicly apologise to Bruno Mars, I used to hate on him but I really respect what he does as an artist.
"I also would love for Bruno to sing this hook on this song 88 Keys / Puff and I produced... I even asked Tyler to shoot the vid. (sic)"
Although it is not yet known whether the track will feature on Kanye's forthcoming seventh album 'SWISH', Diddy recently revealed he would also be producing the record.
He said: "I'm definitely producing on his album, but I don't know how it's going to end up.
"It's up to Kanye and how he sees the album going. But we're definitely working together, producing a lot of records together and having a lot of fun."

Noel Gallagher will ‘never ever’ forgive Liam


Noel Gallagher will "never ever" forgive Liam Gallagher for walking out during Oasis shows.
The 47-year-old rocker has slammed his younger brother for his behaviour when they toured as a band, admitting he was left feeling frustrated when the singer walked off stage mid-show on several occasions.
He said: "My argument is, be a **** all you want, but do the gig first then be a f***ing d***. His argument is, I am just being a d*** all the time.
"Up until 2009 there would be countless gigs where, three songs in, he would just pop his headphones on and get off.
"You would be doing a guitar solo and you would get to the end of the song, and he has obviously gone back to fix his sunglasses.
"It would be like, 'Where has Liam gone?' And it would be, 'He has gone off, he has got a sore throat'. And it was like, 'What a ****'."
The Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds singer said the embarrassing incidents mean he would never reunite with his brother to bring back Oasis, having split up in 2009, despite several rumours such a comeback could happen.
Continuing to talk about the situations Liam would land him in, he added: "You would have to go out and say in English to a load of perplexed Japanese people, 'I know you don't understand what I am f***ing saying, but the singer has gone off, so I am going to sing the f***ing rest of the songs'. I could never forgive him for that, ever."

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