Music News

Status Quo, The Cribs, Ocean Colour Scene, The Kills and Mike and Mechanics have been added to the Isle of Wight Festival 2016 line-up. It will be a one of the last chances for Status Quo fans to see the band in action following a recent announcement ...

Ellie Goulding finds the prospect of performing at the Grammy Awards "scary".
The 29-year-old singer is to take to the stage to deliver a rendition of her track 'Love Me Like You Do' - which was used on the '50 Shades Of Grey' film soundtrack.
Ellie has been nominated for Best Pop Solo Performance for the single and although she is very excited to have been invited to the ceremony in the US she admits it is daunting to think she'll singing to an audience of the world's biggest musicians and to millions of TV viewers.
During an interview on UK TV show 'Lorraine', she said: "It's the first time I've been nominated. I've been before and it's an amazing night. I am also performing. It's quite scary. So I am going out there in a few days so it's going to be a hectic week. But they have parties and stuff so It will be balanced with work and play. It is scary but I want to prove myself and sing a song that I am so proud of to sing and perform. I am looking forward to it."
Ellie is among a star-studded list of performers confirmed for the Grammys which includes Adele, Rihanna, James Bay, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift and The Weeknd.
Gaga is to perform an "experimental tribute" to the late David Bowie - who died last month at the age of 69 - which will last around seven minutes and cover "at least three or four" of his songs.
The 58th Grammy Awards ceremony will be held on Monday, February 15, 2016, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, and will be hosted by LL Cool J and broadcast live on CBS.

The Vamps' James McVey and Connor Ball have voice cameos in 'Kung Fu Panda 3'.
The 'Can We Dance' hitmakers have already recorded a cover version of Carl Douglas' 1974 disco classic 'Kung Fu Fighting' for the film's soundtrack and now the two boys have lent their voices to characters in the upcoming DreamWorks Animation film.
James, 21, and Connor, 19, will appear as two geese in a scene alongside Jack Black's much-loved character Po.
Both are thrilled to have roles alongside an "incredible cast" and are excited for fans to hear their parts.
In a statement, they said: "We had so much fun voicing the roles of the geese in 'Kung Fu Panda 3' and it was such an honour to be part of such an incredible cast. We love 'Kung Fu Panda' and can't wait for everyone to see the film!"
The Vamps - which also includes Bradley Simpson and Tristan Evans - are currently on tour in support of their sophomore LP 'Wake Up' and all took part in making their own take on 'Kung Fu Fighting' and made a Kung Fu Panda-themed music video.
The UK version of 'Kung Fu Panda 3' will be in cinemas in the UK and Ireland on March 11.

Alice Cooper thinks his shock rock concerts "opened that door" for David Bowie to perform as Ziggy Stardust.
The 'Poison' singer remembers the late music legend - who tragically died last month after losing his battle with cancer - coming to one of his early shows, long before he called himself David Bowie and invented his alter-ego Ziggy.
Alice, 67, is certain the gig that Bowie - then known as David Jones - attended showed him what could be achieved if music was mixed with theatre.
He recalled: "I remember him coming to one of our shows early, early on, before he was David Bowie. He was David Jones then, and he was a mime then. He came to one of our shows when Alice was really notorious and banned in England. He probably had it in his mind already to be Ziggy Stardust, but this kind of opened that door, because he saw what it could be."
Alice - who performed under his real name Damon Furnier in The Spiders in the 60s before undergoing his transformation -has nothing but respect for what Bowie did as his alter ego Ziggy in the early 70s, and readily admits he "admired" his music.
When asked if he ever had a rivalry with Bowie, Alice told Rolling Stone magazine: "He created an entirely new character. I was pushing that. I was hoping more people would jump into the theatrical part of it and create characters, so there was no animosity between Bowie and myself. If anything, I really admired what he was doing. And I think he liked Alice, what Alice was doing. It was a true admiration. It was like, 'How far are you going to take this?' "

Beyoncé's stylist has heard the singer's new album.
Celebrity beautician Ty Hunter was on US TV show 'Watch What Happens Live' on Monday (08.02.16) and let slip that she's had a preview of the R&B superstar's LP - her first since 2013's 'Beyoncé' - and insists they are "awesome".
Pressed for details by the programme's host Andy Cohen, Ty said: "I've heard the new album and it's beyond awesome."
The news comes as the 'Drunk In Love' pop star stole the show at the Super Bowl 50 half-time concert with Coldplay on Sunday (07.02.16) when she debuted her latest single 'Formation'.
During the telecast of the NFL Championship game between the Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers, the 34-year-old singer also delighted fans by announcing her 'Formation World Tour'.
The tour of North America and Europe kicks off on April 27, with 22 concerts in North America and 15 in Europe.
This is Beyoncé's first solo tour since the 'Mrs. Carter Show' tour in 2013. She also teamed up with husband Jay Z for the 'On The Run' tour in 2014.
Tickets for 'The Formation World Tour' will go on sale from Monday, February 15 in Europe and Tuesday, February 16 in North America.

North America 'The Formation World Tour' dates:

Wed. April 27 Miami, FL Marlins Park
Fri. April 29 Tampa Raymond James Stadium
Sun. May 1 Atlanta, GA Georgia Dome
Tue. May 3 Raleigh, NC Carter-Finley Stadium
Thu. May 5 Nashville, TN Nissan Stadium
Sat. May 7 Houston, TX NRG Stadium
Mon. May 9 Dallas, TX AT&T Stadium
Thu. May 12 San Diego, CA Qualcomm Stadium
Sat. May 14 Los Angeles, CA Rose Bowl
Mon. May 16 San Francisco, CA Levi's Stadium
Wed. May 18 Seattle, WA CenturyLink Field
Fri. May 20 Edmonton, AB Commonwealth Stadium
Mon. May 23 Minneapolis, MN TCF Bank Stadium
Wed. May 25 Toronto, ON Rogers Centre
Fri. May 27 Chicago, IL Soldier Field
Sun. May 29 Detroit, MI Ford Field
Tue. May 31 Pittsburgh, PA Heinz Field
Fri. June 3 Boston, MA Gillette Stadium
Sun. June 5 Philadelphia, PA Lincoln Financial Field
Tue. June 7 New York, NY Citi Field
Fri. June 10 Baltimore, MD M&T Bank Stadium
Sun. June 12 Hershey, PA Hersheypark Stadium


European 'The Formation World Tour' dates:

Tue. June 28 Sunderland, UK Stadium of Light
Thu. June 30 Cardiff, UK Millennium Stadium
Sat. July 2 London, UK Wembley Stadium
Tue. July 5 Manchester, UK Emirates Old Trafford
Thu. July 7 Glasgow, UK Hampden Park
Sat. July 9 Dublin, IE Croke Park
Tue. July 12 Dusseldorf, DE Esprit Arena
Thu. July 14 Zurich, CH Letzigrund
Sat. July 16 Amsterdam, NE Arena
Mon. July 18 Milan, IT Stadio San Siro
Thu. July 21 Paris, FR Stade de France
Sun. July 24 Copenhagen, DK Parken
Tue. July 26 Stockholm, SE Friends Arena
Fri. July 29 Frankfurt, DE Commerzbank Arena
Sun. July 31 Brussels, BE Roi Boudoin

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds will headline the Kendal Calling festival.
The 48-year-old rocker joins previously announced headliners Rudimental, The Charlatans and Madness who will also perform at the four-day music extravaganza, which takes place at Lowther Deer Park in the Lake District in northern England on July 28 to July 31.
The festival's founder Ben Robinson is thrilled to have booked his idol Noel and can't wait for festival-goer's to witness him perform songs old and new.
On getting Noel to play, he said: "My first gig in a field was Loch Lomond watching Oasis 20 years ago. That moment defined my youth and calling in the years to follow. Noel's songwriting has soundtracked the lives of millions over the last two decades; it's with great pride that we're able to bring those anthems and his new hits to the fields of Kendal Calling."
And Tim Burgess of The Charlatans said it's going to be "extra special".
In a statement, he said: "As ever, I'm really looking forward to Kendal Calling. The sixth year in a row for me, the second time The Charlatans will have headlined and this year is the fifth year for Tim Peaks. It's going to be an extra special four days. See you there!

The full Kendal Calling lineup is as follows:

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds
The Charlatans
Rudimental
Madness
Catfish and the Battlement
Everything Everything
Band of Skulls
The Hives
Blossoms
We Are Scientists
The Darkness
Rag 'n' Bone Man
Sugarhill Gang
Craig David
David Rodigan MBE
Toddla T

Kanye West has teased the initials for the new title of his forthcoming album.
The 'Only One' rapper is keeping fans guessing what the name of his eagerly-anticipated LP will be and has taken to social media to give fans a clue, by revealing the first letter of each word in the title.
He has also shared a photograph of his Los Angeles studio with copies of the album's artwork visible.
Alongside the photo posted on his Twitter on Tuesday (09.02.16), he wrote: "@studio /final verses/new album title T.L.O.P (sic)"
The 38-year-old rapper then followed with another message saying anyone who can work out what it will be called will be rewarded with a free ticket to his Yeezy Season 3 show and will also get their hands on something from his fashion range.
He added in another tweet: "That's the new album anybody who can figure out the title gets tickets to Season 3 and free Yeezys (sic)"
On Monday (08.02.16), Kanye hinted that the record has a "new secret title" and stayed true to his word.
He said: "There may be a new secret album title."
Kanye's seventh studio album - which is expected to be released on February 11 - started off life as 'Swish' and then changed to 'Waves', while another name in contention was 'So Help Me God'.

Kendrick Lamar already has an idea for his next album.
The 'Alright' hitmaker insists he is already planning his next release and admits his 2015 offering 'To Pimp a Butterfly' had a "deeper impact than [he] expected".
He said: "As far as content, what I want to get across, I have an idea. But even that's still premature. Once I get back in that studio, things evolve into other things.
"The [previous] album just had a deeper impact than I expected, because it touched so many homes, and not just in my own community. I guess I'm just speaking words that need to be heard in these times."
The 28-year-old singer leads this year's Grammy Awards with 11 nominations and believes the nods are much bigger than him.
He added to Billboard magazine: "It's bigger than me. When we think about the Grammys, only Lauryn Hilland Outkast have won album of the year. This would be big for hip-hop culture at large ... I want to win them all."
Meanwhile, Kendrick previously insisted he never stops writing songs.
He shared: "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."

Shawn Mendes worries about writing songs that are as good as Ed Sheeran's.
The 17-year-old singer has enjoyed an incredible start to his music career with his track 'Stitches' - from his debut album 'Handwritten' - becoming a hit across the world.
Shawn accepts he has more attention on him as a teenager than people like Ed did but he's certain he can hone his craft just as well as the 'Sing' hitmaker even though he's making music in the spotlight.
He said: "I'm up against/next to people like Ed Sheeran who are just phenomenal and have had the time to hone their skills and I love that, but being up in those kind of charts, age doesn't matter, who you are doesn't matter- so you better get to the position where you can show yourself too, so I think it's worrying because I feel like I haven't had a lot of time to practice but I'm trying to make up for it in the meantime."
Shawn also joked that having a chart-topping single has made it "easier" for him to explain why hundreds of people wait to meet him at airports and hotels.
Speaking to The Hits Radio, he quipped: "Once you have that song it just makes like a hell of a lot easier at boarder control and airports and stuff explaining why there's 100 people outside."