Music News

Sharon Corr feels frightened by the current state of the music industry.
The Irish singer, who appears alongside her siblings Andrea, Caroline and Jim in their band The Corrs, believes sexualised imagery is being used too much to sell music.
She reflected: "Me, Andrea and Caroline are all mothers now and I worry about some of the stuff kids are being exposed to. Yes, people have being using sex to sell products for ever, but I have a daughter who's eight and a son who's nine and the highly sexualised videos they're exposed to really frighten me.
"What is the entertainment industry saying to young girls? That they have to get naked to be good at what they do?"
Sharon, 45, cited Adele as an example of an artist who has managed to top the chart on the strength of her vocals talents, rather than because she promotes herself in a provocative way.
She told The Sunday Times newspaper: "Thank God we have people like Adele, who prove that you don't have to pander to all that rubbish. Ah ... you've got me started now."

Debbie Harry thinks of David Bowie as being "chameleon-like".
The Blondie lead singer said that although Bowie was among the most recognisable faces in the world, he was often able to go about his day-to-day life unnoticed.
She recalled: "It always seemed very important to have talked with him and to have met him. One thing that really surprised me about him was he was chameleon-like, which is obvious in the transition of characters he developed over the years, but you'd never notice him if he was out walking in the street.
"He was very clever, he was very good at that: he walked around the city streets wherever he was and no one ever really recognised him."
Bowie remained tight-lipped about his cancer until the end of his life and Harry has likened his released of music referencing his impending death to the work of a "Romantic poet".
She told the Observer newspaper: "The thing that's really great about this is that - putting myself in his place, and thinking, 'wow, what a great idea this is, to hold on to' - instead of lying around being sick and miserable, he took the energy he had left and was creative, doing this thing that he liked the best.
"So now I think that that's the most admirable part of it, although it's a little hard to take right now. It's a great tribute to his strength and creativity. He had a totality to his vision, and he carried it through to the end."

Eagles of Death Metal are "truly humbled" to be nominated for International Group at the BRIT Awards 2016.
The American rockers will go head-to-head with Alabama Shakes, Major Lazer, Tame Impala and U2 at the ceremony next month and they are thrilled to be up against such "amazing artists" and for the continued support of their European fans and are excited about potentially winning their first ever BRIT.
In a statement on the group's Facebook page, the band - fronted by Jesse Hughes - wrote: "You know how you always hear people say that it's nice to just be nominated? Well, in this particular case, it honestly is so nice to just be nominated for International Group at the BRIT Awards, especially alongside such other amazing artists like U2, Alabama Shakes, Major Lazer, and Tame Impala.
"We are truly humbled by the outpouring of support Eagles of Death Metal has received this year from all of the people of Europe, and we pledge to continue rocking and rolling for many, many more years to come. Thank you so much for recognising and bestowing us with such a wonderful honour. ‪#‎BRITs‬ (sic)"
Eagles of Death Metal have had a traumatic last few months as they were caught up in the terrorist attacks in Paris, France, in November when their concert at Le Bataclan theatre was stormed by gunmen.
The BRIT Awards with MasterCard 2016 will take place at The O2 in London on February 24.

Perrie Edwards had to go swimming in the sea to ease her excitement after discovering Little Mix have been nominated for two prizes at the BRIT Awards 2016.
The girl group are up for both the British Single and British Artist Video of the Year prizes for their hit 'Black Magic' and to mark the moment, Perrie uploaded a slow motion video to her Instagram account of her lifting her head out of the Indian Ocean in the Maldives and flicking her long blonde hair.
Perrie, 22, also posted the message that she "couldn't be happier" that she and her bandmates - Jade Thirlwall, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Jesy Nelson - have been nominated and will also be performing at the ceremony.
She captioned the video: "How I feel right now knowing that we're performing at the @brits awards, and nominated for TWO AWARDS! I couldn't be happier and I couldn't thank our incredible fans enough! You make us girls so happy, I love my girls more than anything in the world and we promise to give our all in this performance! (sic)"
Little Mix have fierce competition in the British Single as they are up against Adele, Calvin Harris, Ed Sheeran and Rudimental, Ellie Goulding, James Bay, Jess Glynne, Olly Murs and Demi Lovato, Years and Years and Philip George and it will be just as tough for them to take home the British Artist Video of the Year prize.
The BRIT Awards with MasterCard 2016 will take place at The O2 in London on February 24.

Nile Rodgers is bringing his Fold festival to London.
The 63-year-old pop legend will curate the event which will see singers John Newman, Alison Moyet, Angie Stone and his legendary band Chic perform at Fulham Palace in South London, the weekend of June 24 to 26.
Nile first came up with the concept for the festival after he was told he was to be honoured for his work and was also inspired by an 11-hour tribute show he did at Montreux Jazz Festival in 2012.
However, instead of himself being honoured he wanted to celebrate the artists who have influenced him to keep making music.
On how it came about, he told NME.com: "I came up with this concept a few years ago in Montreux. They wanted to honour me for my body of work and also the amount of times I had played the jazz festival and I felt uncomfortable because typically when people honour you for things like that it's the end of your career and I'm still going!
"I knew that I had Daft Punk coming out and Avicii, I had all of this stuff coming out. It's not the end of my career I hope! So I said 'how about this, instead of you guys honouring me, why don't I honour the music that got me here'. "
Last year Fold festival was held at Martha's Vineyard in New Jersey and saw Chic collaborate with all the acts including Duran Duran and Keith Urban and this year will follow suit.

Fold Festival dates and line-up:

Friday June 24:
CHIC, Alison Moyet, The Thompson Twins' and Tom Bailey

Saturday June 25:
CHIC, John Newman, Emin and Grace

Sunday June 26:
CHIC, Angie Stone and Incognito

Missy Elliott was inspired to make new music by P. Diddy.
The 'Get Ur Freak On' hitmaker - whose last studio album was 2005's 'The Cookbook' - wouldn't be working on a fresh album if it wasn't for the 'I'll Be Missing You' hitmaker asking her to work with him.
Asked if P. Diddy - real name Sean Combs - encouraged her back into music, she said: "Yes. I wanted to have a label and just have artists and do writing and producing.
I happened to be in the studio one day with Faith Evans and I was working with her and he came over and said, 'Yo money, you still rap? I got this record I want you to hop on. I was so nervous."
Elliott, 44, was being interviewed by Pharrell Williams for Apple's Beats 1 Radio and during the Q&A she praised him for his in-depth musical knowledge.
The rapper - who worked with Pharrell on her 2015 singe 'WTF (Where They From)' - said: "He's a studier of music. I believe that if you want to be great, you have to be a student of music and he is that. He's a teacher now but he's always studied and has a sincere love for hip-hop culture."

Brett Anderson thinks Suede "rubbed people the wrong way" in the 90s.
The 48-year-old singer - who is gearing up to release the band's next LP 'Night Thoughts' - is proud that his band has always been alternative and he wants to keep pushing artistically with the band
Talking about the band's heyday, he said: "I like that we polarised people's opinion in the 90s. We rubbed people up the wrong way.
"We got booed at the NME Awards when we won Best Band.
"But for every person out there who loved us there was someone out there who hated us.
"I am OK with that and happy for that to continue with this album as it just proves Suede are never anyone's second-favourite band."
And the 'Bloodsports' hitmaker is proud of his band for not following "the herd" and insists he never wants to be just another "heritage band" that just plays their old hits live.
In an interview with The Sun newspaper, he said: "We've never sat with the herd and that is great. We came back. Not as a heritage band but as a current band that has pushed things even further with this new record. I don't see that as a weakness. I think that's pretty commendable."

Imagine Dragons feel 'Smoke + Mirrors' is their most "emotional and vulnerable" album.
The 'Radioactive' hitmakers believe their forthcoming second studio album, which is set for release next month, feels more "real" to perform live than their 2012 debut because it is based on hard-hitting emotional matters they've battled.
Frontman Dan Reynolds said: "It's just a really emotional album and vulnerable. For me, it made it more real every night to be able to get on stage. I didn't feel like I had to perform. It came easier because I was able to get behind the songs and the lyrics because they were real things that I was going through.
"Whereas with 'Night Visions', I wrote that over four years, so sometimes songs didn't feel relevant to me anymore. 'Smoke + Mirrors' just translated particularly well live because of the vulnerability of the album."
And the handsome singer thinks recording 'Smoke + Mirrors' during live sessions makes the album extra "special" because it adds a different "dynamic".
He told Rolling Stone magazine: "This record in particular was a special record to all of us. It translated well live just because it's a really dynamic album. Like, 'Night Visions' was really fun to play live, but I don't feel like it translated as well live as 'Smoke + Mirrors' did, particularly because we tracked a lot of this album live. A lot of the songs were just played as a band in a studio as opposed to 'Night Visions' [where] a lot of it was just kind of put together."
'Imagine Dragons: Smoke + Mirrors Live Concert' comes to Empire Cinemas from March 2, Ticket link: http://bit.ly/1N74TMl

One Direction won't reunite for the BRIT Awards.
The chart-topping group - which includes Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan - are currently taking a hiatus and have no plans to appear at the award show, where they are nominated for the British Artist Video of the Year for their single 'Drag Me Down' and British Group.
A source told The Sun newspaper: "BRIT organisers were desperate to get the boys. They told them they could perform whatever they wanted, even a new single, or just turn up for a boozy night out.
"It didn't work though. The lads seem more focused on their own projects now than rejoining their bandmates - even for the biggest night in showbiz."
Meanwhile, Harry is reportedly set to have singing lessons ahead of his solo career.
A source said: "People may find it funny Harry needs singing lessons ahead of a solo career but it's pretty standard practice.
"He's performed well live and can obviously sing but he's smart enough to realise he needs to learn more about how best to develop his vocal skills. He's grounded and professional enough to know he needs to work hard to achieve the success he wants as a solo artist."