Music News

Johnny Depp has formed a supergroup with Alice Cooper and Joe Perry.
The 'Pirates of the Caribbean' actor has created Hollywood Vampires with the 67-year-old rocker and Aerosmith guitarist, who will make their first performance at the Rock in Rio music festival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in September.
A message on Alice's website read: "Alice Cooper and Johnny Depp have been partners for a while and now with Joe Perry also on Hollywood Vampires, they will 'rock it out' yet once again."
The newly formed band - whose name pays homage to a posse of musicians who used alcohol for initiation in the 1970s - will perform on the same evening as Queens of the Stone Age and System of a Down at the annual event, which takes place on various dates between September 18 and 27.
The 51-year-old actor has previously joined both stars on stage, as well as performing with The Black Keys, Marilyn Manson, Ryan Adams and Oasis.
However, the announcement comes just weeks after the 'Mortdecai' hunk - who recently wed his long-term girlfriend Amber Heard - declared he thinks it is embarrassing when film stars become musicians.
He said: "I've been very lucky to play on friends' records and it's still going. Music is still part of my life, but you won't be hearing The Johnny Depp Band. That won't ever exist.
"I hate the idea, 'Come see me play the guitar because you've seen me in 12 movies'."

Paloma Faith has branded Taylor Swift "pathetic".
The 33-year-old musician is unimpressed by the chart topper's effort to copyright phrases such as "this sick beat" from her hit single 'Shake It Off' and believes she probably took the line from another artist in the first place.
She said: "F*** that! 'This sick beat' is probably something she's stolen from someone else."
The 'Changing' singer - who will perform on the same bill as the 'Blank Space' hitmaker at the BRIT Awards next week - went on to say the 25-year-old singer-songwriter is "desperate" for attention, which is why she is trying to differentiate herself with the quirky line.
She continued: "It's kind of pathetic, if you want my honest opinion. Is she that desperate to stand out from the crowd? With her exclusive phrases? I think it shows a distinct lack of self-confidence."
Despite her outspoken attitude, Paloma has high hopes for the award ceremony next Wednesday (25.02.15), where she is nominated in the British Female Solo Artist category along with Ella Henderson, Lily Allen, FKA twigs and Jessie Ware.
She told the Daily Mail newspaper: "I've got a chance.
"I was the only female in the top ten bestsellers last year. And if I was to win, no one can knock me for not trying because I've worked very hard. You might not like what I do, but you can't say I haven't put in the hours."

Sir Paul McCartney played a surprise Valentine's Day concert to just 1,000 fans in New York.
The Beatles legend wowed the capacity crowd at New York's Irving Plaza on Saturday night (14.02.15) with an impromptu two-hour gig which saw him play several of the group's greatest hits and charge just $40 on a first come, first served basis.
The 72-year-old star - who announced the concert earlier that morning - didn't appear on stage until 11pm and was given a great reception as he started performing 'Eight Days a Week'.
He later stunned onlookers when he sang 'One After 909' - a Beatles song he rarely ever plays and one which he penned with the late John Lennon shortly after they became friends in the late 1950s.
Introducing the tune, he said: "We're going to continue with one of the first songs we wrote, a very long time ago, in Bethlehem."
The sight and sound of the Beatles legend was almost too much to take for some and one fan attempted to get on stage during his version of 'We Can Work It Out'.
But Paul joked: "How about you stay there and I stay here ... I've got security, baby!"
The star performed several other Beatles classics including 'Hey Jude', 'Lady Madonna', 'Let It Be', 'And I Love Her', 'Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da' and he aptly concluded his set with 1969 hit 'The End', which appeared on their 'Abbey Road' album.

Charli XCX is embarrassed by her early music.
The 'Boom Clap' hitmaker made her first album, '14' in 2007 with the help of a loan from her parents, but finds the collection laughable nowadays, branding the record an "experiment" featuring "mistakes", featuring tracks such as 'Dinosaur Sex' and 'I Wanna be Darth Vader'.
She said: "I don't count that as the beginning of my career. But whatever. Everyone did embarrassing s*** when they were 14. My mistakes just live online for everyone to hear."
As well as the collection, the 22-year-old star - who recently released her second major label album, 'Sucker' - says her 2013 record 'True Romance' didn't feel like an accurate portrayal of her character because she was still young and hadn't had the chance to figure out who she was.
She explained to Stella magazine: "I didn't know who I was and as an artist I felt like I was meant to know.
"I was conscious of trying to be cool throughout making it, and it is a really cool album, it got really cool reviews by really cool people and so I succeeded in my act. But I didn't feel like it was totally me."

Little Mix have given a song to Iggy Azalea.
The group - made up of Jade Thirlwall, Perrie Edwards, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, and Jesy Nelson - were rumoured to have collaborated with the 'Fancy' rapper but have now shut down speculation by explaining they have given her a song they wrote, but have no plans to collaborate with her on the track.
They told BANG Showbiz: "It was a song that we wrote for ourselves and we didn't really feel like it was very us, so we put it out there for other people and apparently she [Iggy Azalea] wants it. It's not a collaboration, it's just a track that we wrote."
The 'Wings' hitmakers - whose last album was 2013's 'Salute' - are now working on their own music and have vowed to let fans hear their new material "soon".
They explained: "We've got our album coming out this year. We're working on it right now so we're really excited to put it out because we want to get out our new music.
"We're still writing on it, currently writing on it at the moment, so we promise it will be out soon."
While they are not nominated for any accolades at the BRIT Awards later this month due to their time away in the studio, the former 'X Factor' contestants are looking forward to the ceremony because they think pals Sam Smith, Ella Henderson and Ed Sheeran will pick up plenty of prizes.
They said: "We're very excited for the BRITs. We hope Sam Smith does well, Ella Henderson we hope does well, but anybody could be in the running, there's a lot of talent at the moment. I think Ed Sheeran is amazing, he's in a league of his own, so I really hope he does well too."

Katy Perry's "knees are giving out" after years of performing.
The 'Dark Horse' hitmaker, who performed more than 100 shows in seven months last year, also claims her body can no longer handle a lot of alcohol now that she is 30.
She said: "My knees are giving out on me now. I do acupuncture every two to three days. I tour with a sage that goes from the front of the house to the back of the house with a triangle thrust that is a moving treadmill, [like] I think I'm some kind of Olympic athlete! I don't drink much. I used to drink a lot more when I was younger. Body can't take it. Mind can't take it. Focus can't take it. You know how it is - 30, you just don't recover."
Meanwhile, the 'Roar' hitmaker, who is filming a sequel to the documentary 'Part of Me,' claims the NFL banned her from allowing Snoop Dogg to participate in her Super Bowl half-time show despite collaborating with him on her hit 'California Gurls' after he called Iggy Azalea "a ****" in a video he posted on Instagram.
She told US Elle magazine's March issue: "And you wanna know why? Because of the Iggy Azalea thing. Not that that was it - that was just the tipping point. You can't have that kind of hate at the Super Bowl. They already have enough female-hate problems, they don't need any more."

Nikki Sixx will make his baby wear black diapers with skulls on.
The Motley Crue bassist and his wife, Courtney Bingham, are trying for their first child together and the 56-year-old rocker insists the couple's kid is going to follow in his style footsteps as soon as the little one is born.
He said: "I'm a hands-on dad. The baby will wear black diapers with skulls on them."
But 29-year-old Courtney insists that will not be the case because she is hoping the couple - who married last March - have a daughter because she only wants to have one child.
She said: "We're having a girl, so I don't think so.
"Since I'm only going to have one, I feel like I need to have a daughter."
But Courtney is fully expecting her husband - who has four children, Gunner, 24, Storm, 20 and Decker, 19, from his marriage to former Playboy model Brandi Brandt, and 14-year-old daughter Frankie from his marriage to former Playboy model Donna D'Errico - to be a great help when their child is born.
She told Britain's HELLO! magazine: "He is such a hands-on dad. His three older children - Gunner, Storm and Decker - all grew up living with Nikki full-time.
"He took them to school every morning, helped them with homework, packed their lunches daily and continues to do that now with my 14-year-old step-daughter Frankie.
"For someone with such a demanding schedule it's always amazing to me how he manages to be there for his kids so strongly. He is the best father I have ever seen."

Charli XCX was "moulting" on Mary J. Blige at the Grammy Awards.
The 'Boom Clap' hitmaker rocked a white Moschino penguin tuxedo to the bash but admitted she had an unfortunate issue with her furry white shawl as it left a trail of fluff over the 'Family Affair' singer, much to her confusion.
She explained: "I was having a lot of outfit drama. My faux fur shawl kept like moulting all over Mary J. Blige so that was a bit, not so cool. She was in front of me and I don't think she could quite figure out where it was coming from though which was good."
The 22-year-old musician was nominated for Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for her featuring spot on Iggy Azalea's hit 'Fancy' at the ceremony, and although she didn't win, she was pleased to see fellow British artist Sam Smith pick up four prizes.
She said: "It was really cool, it was so cool to see Sam win and yeah it was good, I had a fun night and I performed afterwards as well."
However, Charli confessed she had more issues than just her fluffy shawl during the evening, as she couldn't find any food or a toilet at the event, which was held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
She added: "I needed to pee so bad and I was so hungry and there was nothing.
"There wasn't much finger food but there was a lot of alcohol so that was great."

Rae Morris performed her "favourite gig to date" in London on Thursday (12.02.15).
The talented singer-songwriter played for more than an hour at the concert at Electric Brixton - which came midway through her sold out UK tour - and took to Instagram the following morning to declare the performance the most enjoyable show she had ever done.
Along with a picture from the performance, she wrote: "last night was without doubt my absolute favourite gig to date. electric atmosphere. thank you all for coming. (sic)"
The 21-year-old singer's set lasted for over an hour, where she played piano and sang hits from her recently released debut album 'Unguarded', all while thanking the crowd repeatedly who she seemed shocked had turned up to see her.
Addressing the audience, she said: "It's so strange because just a few years ago London was a very, very alien place to me, I knew like two people. So it's unreal to see all of you people in front of me."
Highlights from her set included her powerful, husky vocals on crowd-pleasing singles 'Closer', 'Do You Even Know?' and 'Under the Shadows', as well as the upbeat Clean Bandit song 'Up Again' on which she features on the collective's album 'New Eyes'.
Continuing her appreciative tone, she ended the show by once again declaring how grateful she is for her rapidly expanding fanbase.
She emotionally stated: "Honestly there's no was I can say this without sounding weird but thank you so much for making this possible I never dreamt I'd play a gig this big."

Rae Morris' set list from Electric Brixton (12.02.15) was as follows:
'Skin'
'Grow'
'This Time'
'Unguarded'
'Closer'
'Don't Go'
'For You'
'Cold'
'Do You Even Know?'
'Morne Fortuné'
'Up Again'
'Love Again'
'Not Knowing'
'Under the Shadows'