Music News

Rod Stewart wants to release a book of poetry with Ronnie Wood.
The 'Maggie May' hitmaker has always had a "unique" relationship with his Faces bandmate, to the extent they have their own language, and he would love for them to publish a "hilarious" literary project they previously worked on.
He said: "It's a unique relationship. We have our own little language. Did he ever tell you about the book of poems and drawings we did when we were with Jeff Beck?
"It's his sketches and our poems and it's so funny. I can't even begin to describe it. It's just hilarious. I'd love for us to bring that out."
Rod and Ronnie first became friends when they were members of the Jeff Beck group, and the 70-year-old singer thinks the group leader was jealous of their close relationship so didn't pay them well and left them without food.
He told Uncut magazine: "I think what it was with Jeff - and I hope he takes this the right way and I'm sure he's changed now - he wasn't a good bandleader.
"He never looked after me and Ronnie. He may have just been a bit envious of Woody and my brotherly relationship. I think he fired Ronnie about three times and got him back again.
"There were some weeks where we weren't getting paid much. We would go days without food. Jimi Hendrix's girlfriend used to feed us."

Rihanna's singles used to be chosen by three-year-olds.
The 'Four Five Seconds' hitmaker found playing her music to youngsters was a good indicator as to what would do well because she knew it meant they had "great melodies".
She said: "I'd play my songs to my A&R's kids and see which ones they'd react to. They were three-years-old. Kids just love great melodies."
The 27-year-old singer compared her songs to tattoos because she can "never get away" from them, so will only make music she believes in, rather than doing it for anyone else.
She explained: "I can't make a song for a particular person or demographic. If I love it, I'm gonna do it. I have to perform it for the rest of my life.
"A song is like a tattoo - you can never get away from it. You can't stand behind something you don't believe in. You can pretend for a little while, but there's always going to be resentment. I can be who I am and sleep at night, knowing there's no pressure to be anything else."
Rihanna caused a stir at her record label with her 2009 LP 'Rated R', but even though executives such as L.A. Reid were concerned about her darker musical direction, they understood what she was doing.
She recalled: "[L.A.] told me, 'I'm not gonna lie, I'm really scared about this.' But he also said, 'You have to make this album.' He felt me bleeding through the music."

Will Young feels "more like a man" when he wears a dress.
The 'Joy' singer thinks people are growing increasingly more confident in experimenting and expressing themselves through their appearance and says it is a very "exciting" time for society.
He said: "I've been spending a fair amount of time at a great night called 'Sink the Pink'. There are so many different types of people. There are men that dress up. It's all about gender identity. So they're not pretending to be a woman dressing up in whatever outfit they want to wear. They're expressing themselves in how they want to express themselves.
"I mean I go round and I wear dresses. I bought something in Kos the other day from the woman's section and it was amazing! What I'm really interested in now and it's happening and I think there is a revolution now actually and it's really exciting.
"And I can be a bloke and wear a dress and I feel more like a man than I do when I'm dressed in more men's clothes because I feel like I'm really occupying the dress if that makes sense. You know like Scots people they're really manly and you're like 'oh a man in a kilt' there's no difference! I went to Kos and I bought a onesie, it looks amazing.
"I think it is really exciting time here in England, I think we're quite far ahead in our embracing in changing things."
The 36-year-old star has a huge admiration for transgender people and the way they deal with their situation.
He added: "People have been going through it for years and I can't imagine what it would be like to not feel like I am the person in this body, can you imagine what it feels like. I have two friends who have kids who are most likely transgender, it's great they just wonder around in dresses. I haven't ever, and I take my hat off to anyone who's gone through it. And I think it's cool because in this country we are really embracing it."

Ed Sheeran is one of the "realest" people in the music business.
The 24-year-old singer has established himself among the most in-demand names in the industry, but according to his long-time friend and music entrepreneur Jamal Edwards, Ed has hardly changed since achieving stardom.
Jamal - who recently visited Kibera, the largest slum in the whole of Africa, with Save The Children for action/2015 - exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "He is one of the most realest people. For example, like when I was speaking to him not so long ago and we were in a club and he was in the same club as the guy from 'Gangnam Style'. He was like, 'Yeah, this is sick!'
"So, as much as what's going on in his world, he's still excited by the people he gets to mingle with."
Jamal, who's also worked with the likes of Jessie J and Rita Ora, said humility is a common trait among chart-topping musicians.
He shared: "With all these people, they manage to keep it real, but they've come from humble backgrounds.
"They never forget where they've come from. I speak with Ed every now and again to catch up with him. He's smashing it."

Sister Sledge are nervous about the protocol if they get to meet Pope Francis.
The 'Lost In Music' hitmakers are "honoured" to have been chosen to serenade the Head of the Catholic Church at 'The World Meeting of Families 2015' held in Philadelphia on Saturday (26.09.15) but are worried about what they need to do if they have the opportunity to talk to him.
Speaking exclusively to BANG Showbiz, Joni Sledge said: "We've been asking about protocol because I think just the fact that he is the Pope - someone who should be honoured - means there is protocol to follow. We definitely want to respect the tradition."
The disco siblings - Joni, Debbie Sledge and Kim Sledge - were raised as Methodist Christians by their parents and first began singing at their local church, the Williams Temple Christian Methodist Episcopal.
Although Sister Sledge are not Catholics they have been following Pope Francis' speeches and sermons since his Papacy began in March 2013 and respect his humility and messages of mercy and agapeistic love.
Joni said: "We're not Catholics but we believe in the Pope.
"We've been reading a lot of interesting things about him and he has a different approach to previous Popes. He's very open in terms of equality and that essentially we are all people. We are all in a position to do something great towards humanity. So we support him."
At 'The World Meeting of Families 2015' event Sister Sledge will perform a special rendition of their classic hit 'We Are Family' as the song has become a mantra for peace around the world.
Other performers attending the event include Aretha Franklin, Jim Gaffigan, The Fray, Andrea Bocelli and Mark Wahlberg.

One Direction broke the O2's social media record as they began their six-night residency at the iconic arena in London.
The chart-topping boy band of Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson took a selfie with the arena's first venue-based 'Twitter Mirror', which attracted great attention when it was uploaded to the venue's official Twitter account.
The picture was retweeted 25,000 times whilst 35,000 people favourited the post. On Twitter alone, the image was reached by a staggering 1.3 million people.
Rebecca Kane Burton, General Manager of The O2, said: "It was an amazing first night and we know the Directioners loved it.
"We've never seen such engagement on social media and the buzz online and in the venue was something special."
Tweeting about their performance last night (24.07.15), Nial wrote: "London .. Thank you for tonight .. First of 6 shows at that incredible arena ... Sorry about the technical problems (sic)"
Whilst Liam added: "Really enjoyed that show I love my job hope u guys enjoyed it too (sic)"
Louis tweeted: "Tonight's show was toooooooo sick !!!! Thanks to everyone who came! (sic)"
The group will perform five more nights at the London arena before heading to other cities across the UK as part of their 'On The Road Again' tour.

5 Seconds of Summer think there should be more music about mental illness.
The 'She Looks So Perfect' hitmakers believe recording artists are too "scared" to address the serious issue in their songs but they see it as incredibly important because "everyone is sick and depressed these days".
Ashton Irwin told Billboard magazine: "Look at top 40 radio. No one is writing music that highlights what everyone is scared to talk about - which is that everyone is sick and depressed these days.
"People our age, we all feel like s**t about ourselves. We wake up and we look at our phones and there are a thousand opinions on who we are - or what we are. It's destructive."
Meanwhile, Ashton's bandmate Michael Clifford previously revealed he had seen a therapist about "problems" with his mental health.
Speaking whilst on stage last month, he told the crowd: "I was fixing some problems with my mental health. I just saw a therapist real quick on the break we had. Anyways, I'm going to shut up now. We're gonna play another song if it's OK?"
The band - which also includes Calum Hood and Luke Hemmings - also revealed their new song 'She's Kinda Hot' is "like a f**k you" to their critics.
They said: "It's like a f**k you to people who say you can't be what you are. And to represent that, I don't think we should carry on asking people not to call us a boy band.
"We learned our instruments, we learned how to write songs from scratch, we love performing live and we love f***ing rocking out - that's what we do, so at this stage, people can call us whatever they want."

The Chemical Brothers played a hit packed set at the Apple Music Festival in London last night (24.09.15). The electronic music duo - who are currently touring without Ed Simons - took to the stage at the Roundhouse in Camden as part of the annual mus...

Sia was paid $1million by Adele to record her track 'Alive'.
The Australian singer/songwriter revealed she was offered the huge sum of cash from the 10-time Grammy Award winner but she wasn't the only pop star who coveted the tune.
Speaking of when she first wrote and sold 'Alive', she revealed: "What's funny is that I wrote this one song and gave it to Rihanna and I had seller's remorse because I was attached to it, I regretted it. Then she gave it back to me and I was relieved.
"Then Adele heard it and asked if she could have it. I thought 'Do I like it, or do I like a million dollars? She cut it and it was so amazing. I'm a huge fan of her voice."
'Alive' is set to feature on Adele's long-awaited third studio album to be released in November.
And whilst the 'Elastic Heart' hitmaker has penned tracks for Beyoncé, Eminem and Kanye West, she now has her eyes on a younger - more edgy - songstress for her next collaboration.
She told NME: "I'm going to write with (FKA) Twigs.
"I think Twigs is really interesting and I want to work with her. We're going to get some crazy choruses."