Music News

Sir Elton John is making music with Clean Bandit.
The 'Candle in the Wind' hitmaker has taken to Instagram to praise "lovely" Jack Patterson from the Grammy Award-winning group, revealing he's been working with the musician in the studio alongside songwriter Jimmy Napes who co-wrote Sam Smith's worldwide hits 'Stay With Me', 'Lay Me Down' and 'I'm Not the Only One'.
Alongside a photo of himself with Jack, he wrote on Instagram: "I love it when friendship springs from artistic collaboration. Jack Patterson with Clean Bandit and I have just been writing in the studio with Jimmy Napes. Jack is a lovely guy and we had fun catching up over lunch."
The group originally met the iconic musician at the Ivor Novello awards in London earlier this year and were excited at the time as they were surprised he even knew who they were, despite the fact they topped charts around the world with their Jess Glynne collaboration 'Rather Be'.
Band member Grace Chatto told BANG Showbiz: "Elton John sang some of 'Rather Be' to me which was amazing! I wouldn't say he's an obsessive fan, but he said he really likes the music and yeah, that was really exciting."
And it's not the only superstar Jack has been hitting the studio with as he's also been making music with 'Crazy In Love' hitmaker Beyonce.
Speaking about being in the studio with the star, he gushed: "It was insane. Nothing happened in terms of I don't know if there is going to be anything concrete in terms of music, unfortunately. But yeah, it freaked me out."

Michael Bolton will tour the UK next April with special guest Gabrielle.
The 62-year-old singer has announced he'll perform a 'Music & Movies' tour with the 'If You Ever' hitmaker over 13 dates across the United Kingdom and will sing his greatest hits as well as classic tracks from iconic films.
Michael shared: "I'm thrilled to be coming back to the UK in April. My fans have been so supportive and it's one of my favorite places to tour. ... We have a few surprises this time around, with some music from the new album and special guests that I'm excited to share with everyone."
The tour kicks off on April 6 at the Royal Concert Hall in Nottingham and will conclude at Liverpool's Philharmonic Hall on April 30.
Tickets for for the tour go on sale Friday (16.10.15).
Gabrielle, 45, will accompany the 'Time, Love and Tenderness' crooner, who's sold 60 million records worldwide and penned songs with musicians such as Bob Dylan and Lady Gaga.
Elsewhere, Michael recently released his memoir, 'The Soul of It All: My Music My Life' and also just completed a documentary film entitled 'GOTTA KEEP DREAMIN' about the 21st Century Renaissance of Detroit music's scene.
He also delved into the genre of Motown with a soulful classics album 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough: A Tribute to Hitsville USA', which reached No 3 on the Billboard R&B chart.

Michael Bolton tour dates are as follows:

Wednesday, April 6, Nottingham Royal Concert Hall
Friday, April 8, Birmingham Symphony Hall
Sunday, April 10, Brighton Dome
Tuesday, April 12, Bristol Colston Hall
Thursday, April 14, Cardiff St. David's Hall
Saturday, April 16, Bournemouth International Centre
Monday, April 18, Manchester O2 Apollo
Wednesday, April 20, Newcastle City Hall
Friday, April 22, Glasgow Clyde Auditorium
Sunday, April 24, Sheffield City Hall
Tuesday, April 26, Southend Cliffs Pavilion
Thursday, April 28, London Royal Albert Hall
Saturday, April 30, Liverpool Philharmonic Hall

Andy Bell's life changed the first time he heard Oasis.
The 45-year-old musician joined the 'Supersonic' band as their bass player in late 1999 as a replacement for original bassist Paul 'Guigsy' McGuigan and admits it was a dream come true for him to be part of the now defunct group because their debut album 'Definitely Maybe' had such a huge impact on him when it was released in 1994.
Andy - who played guitar in Liam Gallagher's post-Oasis band Beady Eye and is now back playing in his original group Ride - recalled: "Oasis definitely did change my life when I first heard them! They were like a breath of fresh air. To put it into context, Ride were working on the third album, 'Carnival of Light', and we were taking a bit of a break. We were starting to get a bit frayed at the edges and we were starting to pull in different directions musically, too. We were really shooting for a kind of West Coast Byrdsy California sound mixed with a little bit of Led Zeppelin and a little bit of classic rock.
"I think we were also subconsciously trying to make a cleaner record, because we'd stopped getting played on the radio ... but then along comes Oasis sounding like the Jesus and Mary Chain meets the Sex Pistols and just completely blew everything out of the water!"
Andy also paid tribute to his former Oasis bandmate Noel Gallagher, insisting his skills as a guitarist are underestimated by too many people.
He told website MusicRadar: "I just want to say that I think Noel's really underrated as a lead guitar player. His playing is like a John Squire-y thing, but there's a lot more muscle behind it. He kind of trademarked his own style, which has become something that everyone uses now - that massively overdriven sound with quite a lot of delay on it. [His playing] just sounded epic."

Rudimental are heading out on their 'We The Generation World Tour' across the UK next February. The drum and bass quartet - consisting of Piers Agget, Amir Amor, Kesi Dryden and DJ Locksmith - will hit the road to perform tracks from their second stud...

Shirley Manson insists fans should be excited about the new Garbage album because the band still have important things to say.
The 48-year-old singer and her bandmates - Duke Erikson, Steve Marker and Butch Vig - are getting ready to bring out an LP next spring, their first release since 2012's 'Not Your Kind of People', and she says they've still got a lot to get off their chests.
She said: "I think we feel we still have some stuff left to think about, to write about, to investigate as a creative unit together."
And Manson doesn't want there to be too long a wait between their new album and the next one because she's acutely aware none of the band is getting any younger.
She added: "Of course, time is not our friend, and life is still random. You never know whether we'll be able to enjoy being together as long as we'd hope. For the time being, we're marching forward undaunted."
Garbage have been touring a greatest hits set in recent years and Manson has no problem with fans coming to their concerts wanting to hear their classic tunes, such as 'Stupid Girl', 'Only Happy When It Rains' and 'I Think I'm Paranoid', and is really pleased people love those songs so much.
In an interview with the Las Vegas Sun newspaper, she said: "I love it. To me, that's a sign of success, that we've done something right. To be remembered at all in what is now almost 60 years of pop as we know it, to be remembered in the lexicon of music at all is a real honour and a privilege, and something I do not take for granted.
"I don't think anyone (foresees longevity) unless you're a raging egomaniac. You'd be insane to assume you'd enjoy any longevity whatsoever. It's a delightful surprise to be at this point in my life and still see the world and make music."

Ringo Starr loves Twitter.
The legendary musician - who was one of The Beatles with late stars John Lennon and George Harrison and Sir Paul McCartney - made a conscious decision to get involved on social media platforms to spread his message of "peace and love".
Although he has to deal with some trolls it "doesn't bother" him because he accepts his views are not universally shared.
The 75-year-old drummer told The Independent newspaper: "I am trying to move into the modern world. I love Twitter! I love it because some of them love me and some of them don't! But that doesn't bother me at all."
Ringo believes many Twitter trolls are just "miserable people" with too much time on their hands and he's not going to let some angry keyboard warriors deter him from spreading The Beatles' message of peace.
He explained: "Some of them are just miserable people who have got nothing better to do. And I'm still spreading peace and love."
What's more, Ringo revealed he still gets a buzz from playing in front of a live audience with his All-Starr Band and he especially enjoys the rare occasions when he gets to reunite with former Fab Four member Paul.
He said: "Nobody understands it (performing). This is what I do - I'm not an electrician. And when I started, the dream at 13 was to play, and only drums. I just really loves to play the drums. I love to entertain as well ... I still hang out with Paul. And when we play together it's still a thrill for me ... It's just like memory. Paul plays great. He's still the finest bass player, and he's lucky I'm the finest drummer!"

Rod Stewart thinks Justin Bieber "tries too hard".
The 70-year-old rocker - who's among the best-selling artists of all time - has hit out at the 'Boyfriend' hitmaker, suggesting he strives too much to present a rebellious image of himself.
Rod reflected: "Harry Styles is a good lad, I like him. But there are some people in the music business that try so hard to be different and rebellious. Like Justin Bieber - he wants so much to be a bad, bad rock star. But you either are or you're not - you can't fake it. He tries too hard.
"The public have seen it all before and they're tired of rock stars behaving badly. It's passé. The Who and The Faces did it all before they were born."
Meanwhile, Rod also revealed he admired Madonna for amassing a huge personal fortune, despite having a "minimal voice".
He told the Mail on Sunday newspaper: "Good luck to Madonna. She's made a bloody fortune with a minimal voice. You can't knock it - any girl who can make that sort of dough has to be admired.
"But give me Adele any day. And we lost the best one of the lot - Amy Winehouse. What a voice that was."

Rod Stewart gets his "best ideas" when he's driving.
The 'Maggie May' hitmaker finds getting behind the wheel of one of his many vehicles clears his head and helps his creativity.
He said: "I love to drive. It clears my head and I get my best ideas then.
"The one thing I don't do any more is drive at night because I like to have a drink of wine every night."
Rod finds songwriting "wonderfully fulfilling" and thinks of his songs as being his "babies".
He explained: "I long for the next song to be written but, in says that, I wouldn't write unless I had to.
"It's wonderfully fulfilling, when it's right, and you go, 'Blimey, did I write that?' One minute your page is empty, later it's got some stuff on it.
"It gives me even more satisfaction, because my songs are like babies. You create them, you nurture them, and you bend them and twist them and then you put them out to the public and then you hear them on the radio and you go, 'That's amazing'. To hear it back."
And the 70-year-old star still gets excited when he hears his work on the radio.
He added to Uncut magazine: "That buzz hasn't left me after all these years, to hear it on the radio."

Little Mix "didn't hold back" with their new album.
The girl group - comprising of Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Jade Thirlwall, Perrie Edwards and Jesy Nelson - are gearing up to release their third LP 'Get Weird' in November and have teased fans can expect a "colourful" selection of songs on the album as a contrast to their second record which they thought was "quite dark" in comparison.
Asked how their recent single 'Black Magic' compares to the rest of the album, Leigh-Anne said: "It fits really well.
Perrie added: "It's a very good introduction to what the album is. The album is so pop, so colourful, very personality-driven. I think 'Salute' was quite dark and a bit R&B whereas this is just full on pop excitement, like, we just absolutely love this album. We didn't hold back at all, we just went for it."
The singers also explained they decided to name their third record 'Get Weird' because they consider themselves to be "absolutely nuts" so thought the title was appropriate.
Jesy joked to BANG Showbiz: "We're absolutely nuts ourselves and so are our fans and we want to spread that across the world."
However, 23-year-old Leigh-Anne explained the name has a deeper meaning as it's about embracing your quirks.
She added: "And it's just about literally being who you are, being yourself and loving who you are as well and not being afraid to show that."