Music News

Collabro "always" have to seek approval from Simon Cowell before releasing an album.
Singer Tom Redgrave said the Syco label boss had the last word on their two LP's 'Act Two' and 'Stars' and they are fine with that because "he is Simon Cowell".
Speaking exclusively to BANG Showbiz, Tom, 27, said: "He [Simon] mostly has input on the album work that we do. So the tour and all the shows that we do, apart from that, are kind of ours. But when we are producing an album it always has to go to him for approval. Obviously you listen and take his ideas on board because obviously he is Simon Cowell. He has a huge say in the album process."
Meanwhile the operatic boyband - also consisting of Michael Auger, Richard Hadfield, Jamie Lambert and
Matt Pagan - have decided to switch up their live set for their forthcoming UK tour by adding a few more "uptempo swing" numbers to avoid the audience leaving in tears.
Tom explained: "We do quite a lot of ballads so last tour we had a lot of people crying, which I think musical theatre is one of the only genres of music where making the audience cry is a good thing. We loved that last year, we loved getting the emotion across through the songs. We want it to be the same this year but we've also kind of added up tempo numbers with swing in there this year, just to kind of bring the mood up a bit, bring the energy up a bit, so hopefully people will enjoy that as much as the ballads."
The tour includes a date at London's Royal Albert Hall on March 26.

Little Mix believe their song has helped "loads" of people come out as gay.
The four-piece girl group - which includes Perrie Edwards, Jesy Nelson, Jade Thirlwall and Leigh Anne Pinnock - think their track 'Secret Love Song' has had a positive impact on their fans' relationships.
They told Capital FM: "We've been having loads of people say that it's helped them almost to come out, to say that they're gay and that is an incredible thing.
"It's just so inspiring when we hear these stories, with the music that we're putting out, to be able to give the confidence to somebody and the belief to be able to say something."
The group would have loved to release a music video for the track featuring the story of a gay couple but admit they didn't have the time to put their thoughts on screen.
Leigh Anne said: "Have you seen it on YouTube? Someone's made their own video of it about the gay couple ... that's what the idea was for us to do in the first place ...
"We never had time to do it. It would've taken too long to shoot a story and it was such a shame. We really wanted to do that."
Meanwhile, whilst the girls teamed up with Jason Derulo for a version of this song, they have set their sights on a collaboration with the Spice Girls in the future.
They said: "We'd love to be involved with [their reunion]. We love the Spice Girls and want to perform with them. They know that. Hopefully we get to support them and do a duet."

Kanye West has changed the name of his new album to 'The Life of Pablo'.
The 38-year-old rapper's eagerly anticipated LP started off life as 'Swish' and then changed to 'Waves', while another name in contention was 'So Help Me God' but he has now settled on 'The Life of Pablo'.
And Kanye also revealed the final line-up of songs for the record.
He tweeted: "Final track list for The Life of Pablo" and included a handwritten list of songs.
The album's 10 tracks will debut as part of the Adidas Yeezy Season 3 live launch at New York's Madison Square Garden on Thursday (11.02.16) and it will also stream on 'Tidal'.
Kanye previously credited God with helping to create his new album.
He said: "[The album is] a dream that can't happen without God.
"I'm only doing two percent of the work. God is doing the rest of the work."
And Kanye also insisted his late mother Donda West and wife Kim Kardashian West's late father Robert Kardashian - who famously helped defend O.J. Simpson when he was accused of murdering Nicole Brown Simpson - were watching over production of the record.
Speaking on Los Angeles radio station Real 92.3, he quipped of his father-in-law: "He's still doing deals for controversial black people from up in heaven."

Adam Lambert insured his voice for £30 million because he's worried about not being able to earn a living if something affected his ability to sing.
The 'For Your Entertainment' hitmaker took out the huge policy in 2012 to safeguard his voice and he insists it's a sensible thing to do because it's what he uses to pay his bills.
He said: "My voice is my bread and butter man, I got to insure this. J Lo insured her booty, right? Listen - this is what I'm making my money on."
The news of his insurance policy surfaced after the success of his tours with the surviving members of Queen - Brian May and Roger Taylor - something Adam, 34, never imagined would last as long as it has and never expected to have so much control over.
He told The National: "I didn't expect it to go on this long. Brian May and Roger Taylor are just so kind to me, they're really supportive and really let me have a lot of freedom with the songs, which I didn't expect at all."
Queen and Lambert will headline this year's Isle of Wight Festival in June and guitar hero May is excited for festival-goers to see how Lambert has refreshed their hits and he believes late frontman Freddie Mercury would have "loved" Adam's interpretations of his songs.
Brian previously said: "I think Queen at The Isle of Wight Festival is a date that was long overdue. How incredible to take on this challenge at this point in our lives. With an injection of new blood in the shape of the incredible Adam Lambert, Queen will be ready to tear it up on this legendary stage in 2016. Freddie would have loved it. Can't wait."

Professor Green will release new music "very soon".
The 'Read All About It' rapper has diversified his career in recent months co-hosting TV show 'Lip Sync Battle UK' with Mel B and also making a documentary on homelessness for the BBC.
Green - who is married to Millie Mackintosh - is ready to get back to his day job now and has a batch of songs ready to be released.
Asked when his fans can expect some fresh tunes, he said: "(You'll hear it) very soon. Very soon! I can say that confidently. If you'd asked me that six months ago, I'd have been like, 'Well, it's coming'. But no. ​Very ​soon."
The 32-year-old star's last LP was 2014's 'Growing Up in Public' and his last single release was 'Lullaby', which he recorded with Tori Kelly, and he accepts it's been too long since he had a track out.
He said: "We had a massive hit with 'Lullaby', that was only just over a year ago, it's not been that long. But the way things are digested now, it's moved so quickly, so it's time to get some music out I think."
Green has enjoyed doing TV work, especially his documentaries, and he wants to continue making challenging programmes as well as music.
He told Digital Spy: "It's nice to be able to do something different and TV's something I really enjoy. I wouldn't just say I'm dipping my foot into it; it's something that I want to continue to do. What I want to do now is get both up and running."

Gwen Stefani has teased her new album will reveal the "truth" behind her divorce from Gavin Rossdale.
The 46-year-old singer was married to the Bush rocker for 13 years before she split from him in August 2015 leaving her devastated.
So far neither Gwen or Gavin - who have three sons, Kingston, nine, Zuma, seven, and 23-month-old Apollo, together - have opened up significantly about the separation, but the No Doubt star has now posted a handwritten tracklist for her upcoming third solo LP 'This Is What the Truth Feels Like...' on her Twitter account revealing a telling list of song titles.
Among the names of the tracks are 'Misery', 'Make me Feel Ill', 'Asking 4 It' and 'Truth' and the emotive titles point to Gwen opening her heart on the record about her ex-husband.
Alongside the photo of her note, she wrote: "This Is What the Truth Feels Like..."
Gwen's last single release was the break-up ballad 'Used to Love You', which was about her very public divorce from Gavin.
Lyrics included: "Never thought this would happen / Gonna let it sink in, you're gone / I don't know, know what I'm feeling / I must be dreaming, you're gone.
"I don't know why I cry / But I think it's cause I remembered for the first time / Since I hated you / That I used to love you / I don't know why I cry
But I think it's cause I remembered for the first time / Since I hated you
That I used to love you."
Gwen previously admitted she was in a "phase of forgiveness" when she penned 'Used To Love You'.
She said: "When I wrote the song, I was sort of in a phase of forgiveness. In a way, I'm getting to this point now, and all the songs up to that point were like, 'Rah, I'm like so upset and so crazy.'
"Everybody knows, pretty much, what happened to me. I got a divorce, which completely was not in the plan at all. For me, it purely wasn't and [it was] a shock and horrible, a crazy explosion in my life."
'Make Me Like U' will be the next single taken from the album and is due out later this month.

Sir Elton John is working with Brandon Flowers on the new Killers album.
The 'Tiny Dancer' hitmaker revealed his plans to head out to Las Vegas to lend his expert songwriting skills to the rock band and he's looking forward to getting in the studio with the 34-year-old singer.
Elton, 68, told Shazam: "I'm hoping to go to Las Vegas and write with Brandon Flowers for the new Killers record. So that'll be interesting."
News of the two music icons joining forces follows an Apple Beats 1 radio show by Elton called 'Rocket Hour', which was broadcast back in November.
Elton invited Brandon onto the show where they both shared equal amounts of admiration for each other's work.
The British legend complimented Brandon's songs and shared how they always listen to each other's albums and give each other feedback.
Speaking at the time, Elton - who is married to David Furnish - said: "When Brandon makes a record - whether it's for The Killers or on his own - he comes and plays me the album. Usually, I'm very happy and excited to hear it. And I usually play mine to him."
The Killers next LP will be their first record since 2012's 'Battle Born'.

Barry Gibb will perform at Glastonbury Festival.
The former Bee Gee has reportedly been signed up for the annual festival, which takes place in Somerset, England in June, as part of the legend section on Sunday afternoon, with Jeff Lynne's ELO already confirmed as well.
A source said: "The legend slot on the Sunday has become more talked about than the headliners in recent years due to Dolly [Parton] and Lionel [Richie], and the pressure is on Michael [Eavis; organiser] this year.
"He wants a repeat of 2008 where he had Neil Diamond and Leonard Cohen booked as a double whammy. Neil was the official legend that year but Leonard blew punters away.
"Barry is a music legend and has so many songs that will lift the crowd. Playing the main stage with his disco tunes would be amazing."
It is not the first time Barry - who was in the group with his late brothers Robin and Maurice Gibb - has been asked to perform at the coveted festival.
The insider added to The Sun newspaper: "He has been asked previously a couple of years ago but Michael has made it his mission to get him to perform this year. Barry's planning a new album for this year and a Glastonbury performance would coincide with that."

Matt Healy named The 1975's second album after his ex-girlfriend.
The 26-year-old musician came up with the title 'I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It' for the band's second LP after he said something similar to a former lover while they were dating.
Speaking to the Rolling Stone magazine, he said: "It was something I said to a girlfriend of mine at the time. Like all situations, I'm sure it wasn't quite as poetic as it sounds."
And, although his relationship with the mystery girl has now come crashing down, Matt decided to base the tracks on her because he thought making an honest album was key if he wanted to save the group - also consisting Adam Hann, George Daniel and Ross MacDonald - from the exhaustion.
He explained: "It was all about making decisions and about conviction because we came off the last album very tired from touring. We had gone from an unknown band to known about so we were being objectified and known about.
"We were kind of fearful of certain things, and we made the decision that the only thing that was going to remedy that was to make a record that was just about the truth and not about what we thought we should be saying."