Music News

Chris Stapleton played his first-ever UK show at the Country to Country festival at London's O2 Arena on Sunday (13.03.16).
The 37-year-old country music star - who hails from Kentucky, US - stormed the auditorium with a booming set on his first visit to the country, and was accompanied by his wife and backing singer Morgane Stapleton.
Chris - who donned his familiar cowboy hat, shaggy long beard and electric guitar - announced to the delighted crowd in his sexy southern drawl: "How's it going London? This is my first time in London and this is my first show in London so thank you for being here."
But the singer was made to feel right at home as fans screamed "we love you" and cheered him through his opener 'Nobody to Blame'.
Chris moved straight into his hit 'Might as Well Get Stoned' and then onto a thunderous performance of The SteelDrivers cover of 'If It Hadn't Been for Love'.
The singer - whose presence filled the arena - swapped guitars for his next track, a love song, 'Whiskey and You', which debates the difference between the love of booze and the love of a woman and why human touch wins every time.
The recital caused a thunderous stomping of feet and wolf whistles and screamns from the UK crowned, who were clearly hooked, and the reaction led Chris to respond: "Don't make me cry now."
The country star then stormed through hits 'Traveller', 'Fire Away' - which implores a lover to "show me what you got honey, I'm not afraid" - before he turned to his wife and gave her the floor.
Morgane embarked on a chilling rendition of 'You Are My Sunshine' and took her time to sound out the words and bring a truth and emotion to the lyrics rarely heard on the song.
The couple faced each other and looked into each other's eyes as they swapped roles and Chris sang backing vocals for Morgane.
The singer ended his thunderous set with 'Tennessee Whiskey', a song about hitting the bottle and being saved by a woman who is "sweet as strawberry pie".
Afterwards, English country duo The Shires - which consists of Ben Earle and Crissie Rhodes - took to the stage to praise the singer to whoops and cheers from the delighted crowd, and Ben said he hoped he would be invited back to the sell out event next year.

Nathan Sykes hasn't released his solo album yet because didn't want to rush something out.
The 22-year-old singer is taking his time over his debut LP as he wants to make a record off his own back rather than trade off the "success" of his former band The Wanted.
Nathan insists it is important to reintroduce himself by releasing a plethora of singles so his fans can get "familiar" with him as solo singer.
On why he's not rushing the record, he told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "I think as a new artist, it's very important to reintroduce myself to people, what I didn't want to do was put out any old thing and hope any fans of The Wanted would go and buy it.
"I really wanted something that was really special and really close to my heart. Something that I really hope would last a really long time.
"It would have been disrespectful to the fans but to the band as well if I tried to flog an album off the back of our success.
"I've really tried to go away and craft a sound that I really believe in. I think the amount of singles I've got going into the album, that's just part of the reintroduction and people getting familiar with not just me as an artist but with me being a solo artist, not just the young one from The Wanted."
The 'Kiss Me Quick' hitmaker - who is currently supporting Little Mix on their 'Get Weird' tour - previously promised that he intends on dropping several albums in the future.
He told BANG Showbiz: "I am very excited for my album.
"It's still my debut album, it's not even released yet. And there will be many more albums from me in the future."
Nathan debuted new single 'Give It Up' when he performed with Little Mix on the opening night of their 'Get Weird' tour in Cardiff, Wales, on Sunday night (13.03.16).

Charli XCX wants to sign "pop stars with a twist" to her new record label.
The 'Boom Clap' hitmaker launched Vroom Vroom Recordings last month and she has already signed alternative pop artists RIVRS and Cuckoolander, Charlie's already outlined her plans to "play with the boundaries of pop music" and create a roster of artists who really push the limits of music.
Talking about her new venture, she told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "It's a pop label. I'm looking for pop stars. But pop stars with a twist. It's fun to play with the boundaries of pop music, to have fun with it and to push the mould. That's what I want to do with my artists."
Charli previously described the label as "experimental" and to expect stars who are "deadly" and will "leave their mark on pop music".
She said: "Vroom Vroom Recordings is my new, experimental pop label and it will combine my love for bubblegum pop with mystery and darkness. The artists coming up through it will be sharp, potent, deadly, and ultimately, will leave their mark on pop music."
Charli is currently in the middle of recording her new album and she has vowed to "change the sound of pop" with the LP, the follow-up to 2014's 'Sucker'.
The 23-year-old beauty - who gave fans a teaser of what to expect by releasing her 'Vroom Vroom' EP last month - said: "This album could change the sound of pop music. It's the album I've been trying to make forever. And now I've done it."

Stevie Wonder is to perform 'Songs In The Key of Life' in full at Barclaycard presents British Summer Time Hyde Park.
The 'Superstition' hitmaker will take to the stage on July 10 to play his acclaimed 1976 LP in its entirety for the first time in the UK to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the LP.
Released in 1976 on the legendary label Motown Records, the record includes iconic hits such as 'Sir Duke', 'Isn't She Lovely' and 'I Wish', and it has been cited as a major influence of artists such as Sir Elton John, Prince, Michael Jackson, Kanye West and Pharrell Williams
It was crowned Grammy Album of the Year in 1977 and it followed an unsurpassed trio of albums from Stevie - 'Talking Book', 'Innervisions' and 'Fullfillingness' First Finale' - all released in the first four years of the 1970s.
Together, the albums made the 25-time Grammy winner the only artist to have ever received Album of the Year awards in three out of four consecutive years.
Elton loves the album so much that he takes a copy of it wherever he goes.
He said: "Let me put it this way: wherever I go in the world, I always take a copy of 'Songs In The Key of Life'. For me, it's the best album ever made and I'm always left in awe after I listen to it. When people in decades and centuries to come talk about the history of music, they will talk about Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder."
Speaking about the booking of Stevie for the festival, Daniel Mathieson - Head of Experiential and Partnership Marketing for Barclaycard - said: "The line-up for Barclaycard presents British Summer Time Hyde Park just gets better and better. We're thrilled that music legend and multi-Grammy Award winner Stevie Wonder, who has been performing to worldwide audiences for more than 50 years, is joining the stellar list headlining on the 10 July."
Stevie, 65, joins previously announced BST at Hyde Park headliners Massive Attack, Florence + The Machine, Mumford & Sons, Take That and Carole King.
Tickets for Stevie's show go on general sale at www.bst-hydepark.com from Friday (18.03.16).
Barclaycard exclusive presale tickets are on sale now and the AEG/BST Hyde Park presale starts at 9am on Thursday (17.03.16).

The Stone Roses are reportedly set to release their first album in over 20 years.
The group - which includes Ian Brown, John Squire, Gary "Mani" Mounfield and Alan "Reni" Wren - are said to be gearing up to release their third studio LP as a follow up to 1994's 'Second Coming'.
A source told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "Ian Brown and the lads have been busy getting their next album ready. It will be album number three. It's a long time coming but they feel the time is right now. They've been back in the studio. Everyone is very excited about it."
Meanwhile, the 'I Wanna Be Adored' rockers previously excited fans when they announced two stadium gigs in their hometown of Manchester, which sold out in just 10 seconds.
The quick uptake prompted the group to add two more dates in June 2016 alongside their scheduled performance at T in the Park festival in Scotland later this year.
The band are also reportedly on the wish list of Glastonbury Festival organisers, Michael and Emily Eavis.
An insider shared: "The Stone Roses were asked to play Glasto this year, firstly instead of The Who and then as a replacement for Foo Fighters when they cancelled.
"Eavis only has a couple of headline acts left on his wishlist and The Stone Roses are definitely one of them."

All Saints have finally made the album they've always wanted to make.
The reformed girl group - Shaznay Lewis, Melanie Blatt and Nicole and Natalie Appleton - are proud of their comeback record 'Red Flag' and admitted they never thought they would get to make it.
Melanie told The Observer Music magazine: "It's the album I've always wanted us to make. It's just nice to feel like that after years of being in the industry and not really loving it too much. This is just perfect.
"The fact that we made this album, that's it, that's the main thing. Who'd have thought after 20 years we'd make this album? From even where we were four years ago, it's incomprehensible."
And they revealed that they kept working on the album until they were 100 per cent happy with it.
Nicole said: "Every time we walked out of the studio, we kept saying, 'it's a wrap'. And we'd all cheer and then the next day we'd be back in there and I'd be like, I knew we weren't finished...'"
Natalie added: "That's never happened before. We didn't want to let it go."

Matt Bellamy doesn't think it fits with Muse for him to speak on stage.
The frontman admits the dark themes of the songs would mean he had to become a "hammy character" if he were to chat away to his audience in order to fit in with the mood of the music.
He said: "That's the one stagecraft skill I've somehow avoided. I don't know how I've managed to get away with it.
"There's definitely a feeling when I've attempted to talk that I've broken the fourth wall.
"I look at great public speakers like Bono, Chris Martin, Bruce Springsteen and the character inbetween the songs is the same person you're getting in the songs, whereas if I was to talk in the way the songs are talking, it would probably be a little bit too hammy."
However, the rocker also admitted he just isn't that great about opening up in public.
He added: "I think I'm making excuses because I'm not a great public speaker."
Whereas Muse's recent albums have all been based around particular themes, Matt thinks his upcoming music will be different.
He told Q magazine: "My focus won't be a large body of work. For a number of years I'm not going to attempt to make a full collection of work that has a very clear theme.
"I feel like I've done that. I think the albums before 'Drones' were each trying to improve on that. I'd like to be a bit more sporadic and random."

Jay Z thinks Peter Andre is a great singer.
The 'Mysterious Girl' hitmaker found an unlikely fan in the '99 Problems' rapper when he was recording with the Fugees in the late 1990s and admits the rap mogul's compliment meant "so much" to him.
Peter said: "I didn't write anything with him but he was in the studio with us when I was working with Pras and Wyclef from the Fugees. It was about 12 or 13 years ago.
"He will never remember but the words he said to me, which meant more than anything, were, 'You can sing.'
"And that meant so much from someone like him because I was doing more soul-based stuff then."
However, Peter admits he had no idea who Jay was at the time.
He said: "The Fugees were producing but Jay Z sat in on the whole session.
"I have to be honest, at the time I didn't know who he was because it was just before 'Hard Knock Life' was released.
"He played us the whole album and I was thinking, 'This is really good'. Then I didn't think any more of it until it became so huge worldwide."
Peter also revealed he has spent some time "hanging out" with Chris Brown because they were fans of one another's music.
He told heat magazine: "Just two years ago, I was in the studio in LA with Chris Brown.
"He was listening to my 'Angels & Demons' album and I was listening to his album. We were hanging out, we exchanged numbers and we were in touch. It was weird."

Alesha Dixon wants a Mis-Teeq reunion.
The 'Britain's Got Talent' judge would love to work with Sabrina Washington and Su-Elisa Nash again at some point, despite their group going their separate ways in 2005.
Asked about the possibility of a Mis-Teeq reunion, Alesha said: "I'd love the girls and I to get together in some shape or form. I'd never rule it out."
For the time being, Alesha is having a great time working with Simon Cowell, David Walliams and Amanda Holden on 'BGT' and feels "lucky" they have a more stable than 'The X Factor', which has seen numerous changes of judge in recent years.
She said: "There's too much emphasis on forever-changing panels. It gets a little bit boring.
"The 'BGT' formula works - we're enjoying it.
"We are really lucky that we have had the consistent panel.
"I think whatever happens in the future, the four of us have had fun working together. We have had great times.
"We don't worry, we are in the moment and we are enjoying it."
And the former 'Strictly Come Dancing' judge has no interest in joining 'The X Factor' panel.
She told heat magazine: "I think I've got quite a lot of jobs to contend with at the moment."