Music News

Sam Smith has chosen the title for his next album.
The 'Writing's On The Wall' hitmaker has revealed he went to a beach in Australia and scrawled the name of his second LP into wet sand to signify his "new project" is underway.
Posting an image of himself on the beach on Instagram - with the promise to uncover more of the photo as the record progresses - he included the caption: "I just wrote my new album title in the sand. I always start new projects with a working title or message of what I'm trying to say - then the writing flows for me. So I have the starting point. When I'm finished - I'll reveal the rest of this picture. Then we can see if the message stayed the same (I change my mind a lot) xx (sic)"
The 23-year-old pop star is enthused to have started work on his new LP - the follow up to the Grammy Award winning 'In The Lonely Hour' - but he will not be reading reviews of it when it is eventually released.
He previously posted: "Sometimes you're never going to win. The reviews I care about are from YOU. And only you - my fans. The people who have put me here. (sic)"
And he added that he gets upset when he sees negative comments about his art.
He wrote: "Why is it when you have a crowd of people saying you're great - you notice the one who says you're not? Haha the heart is complicated. I'm getting there thou (sic) lol slowly but surely. (sic)"

Scott Weiland was laid to rest at the Los Angeles Hollywood Forever Cemetery on Thursday (10.12.15).
Members of Velvet Revolver and Stone Temple Pilots paid respect to their former bandmate, who passed away in his sleep aged 48 on December 3.
Chris Kushner - the wife of Velvet Revolver guitarist Dave Kushner -took to social media along with many other stars to pay tribute to the departed rock god.
In a post remembering Weiland on Instagram, she said: "A very sad day when [you] bury a friend. He was a good man. Don't believe everything [you] read. Remember, we were all there. (sic)"
She described the funeral as being "filled [with] love and funny beautiful stories about Scott (sic)".
Many other stars have remembered Weiland, who leaves behind two children, Noah, 15, and Lucy, 13, and his wife Jamie Wachtel.
Motley Crue's Nikki Sixx tweeted: "Sad to hear about Scott's passing .I hope it wasn't drugs. The saddest part of the story is his kids and family being left behind. RIP (sic)"
Former Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic wrote: "Really sorry to hear about Scott Weiland. (sic)"
And Blink 182's Travis Barker tweeted: "Very sad news, rest in peace #ScottWeiland #toosoon (sic)"

B.B. King's family and friends honoured the late blues legend by laying a stone in Mississippi.
More than 100 fans and family members paid tribute to the bluesman - who passed away in his sleep in May aged 89 - by gathering outside the B.B. King Music and Delta Interpretive Centre on Friday (11.12.15), to remember the extraordinary life and work of one of the guitarist and singer.
Seven of King's 11 living children attended the memorial service, including his daughter Karen King Williams, who said this is how her father would have wanted to be remembered.
Karen said in a speech: "This is such an outpouring of love and seeing how the Delta really loved B.B. King and what a wonderful man he was. This is just how he would want to be remembered."
The 'The Thrill Is Gone' singer was buried on May 30 outside the museum where he used to busk on the streets as a youngster, where is music career started.
The marker is to become a centrepiece of a memorial garden outside the building and is art of a $4.5 million expansion for the centre, which will be a heritage site for the late star.
And the plot will eventually have benches and King's song titles engraved on panels, according to Billboard.

Mariah Carey has announced she is returning to Europe next year with her 'Sweet Sweet Fantasy Tour' - which she promises will provide her fans with some fun "nostalgia".
The R&B superstar has unveiled a host of 2016 dates and the concerts will be partly inspired by her 'Mariah Carey #1's' Las Vegas residency show, which concludes at Caesar's Palace hotel and casino next February and featured all of her chart-topping hits such as 'Hero', 'Always Be My Baby' and 'We Belong Together'.
Mariah will be researching which of her songs were popular in the different countries she is performing in and adjusting her setlist for each different nation she visits.
In an interview on 'Lorraine', she said: "I'm calling it the 'Sweet, Sweet Fantasy' tour, I wanted to give people some nostalgia - so that title is from my song 'Fantasy' obviously.
"The fans can expect lots of songs - I'm going to research what songs were big in what territories and then I'm going to sing those songs especially for those fans."
The singer can't wait to "be close" to her fans in Europe again as she cherishes the special bond she has with the lovers of her music all over the world.
She added: "I'm just trying to put on a really good show that people are going to enjoy and be close to the fans. Not everyone is so close to their fans but I have a very special relationship with my fans. I love all things pertaining to music and creativity ... everything is fun for me but I love being on stage."
The 'Sweet Sweet Fantasy' tour will visit six cities in the UK before heading to mainland Europe for stops in Luxembourg, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, France and the Netherlands.
The dates are Mariah's first on this side of the Atlantic since the European leg of her acclaimed 'Charmbracelet' tour in 2003.
The 'Sweet Sweet Fantasy" tour will also head to South Africa for its' conclusion for a few special performances.
Tickets for the South African dates go on sale at 9am and for Copenhagen at 10am on Thursday December 17.
Tickets for the remaining European dates go on sale from 9am on Friday December 18.
Visit www.mariahcarey.com/tour and follow Mariah on Facebook (facebook.com/mariahcarey) and Twitter (@MariahCarey) for more information and announcements on the tour.

Mariah Carey's 'Sweet Sweet Fantasy' European tour dates 2016:

Date Country, City Venue
Tue 15 Mar-16 Scotland, Glasgow SSE Hydro
Thu 17 Mar-16 UK, Leeds First Direct Arena
Fri 18 Mar-16 UK, Manchester Manchester Arena
Sun 20 Mar-16 UK, Birmingham Barclaycard Arena
Mon 21 Mar-16 UK, Cardiff Motorpoint Arena
Wed 23 Mar-16 UK, London O2 Arena
Sat 26 Mar-16 Luxembourg Rockhal
Sun 27 Mar-16 Belgium, Brusells Forest National
Tue 29 Mar-16 Denmark, Copenhagen Forum
Thu 31 Mar-16 Norway, Oslo Spektrum
Sat 02 Apr-16 Sweden, Stockholm Ericsson Globe
Mon 04 Apr-16 Finland, Helsinki Hartwall
Wed 06 Apr-16 Estonia, Tallinn Saku Arena
Thu 07 Apr-16 Latvia, Riga Arena Riga
Sat 09 Apr-16 Lithuania, Kaunas Kaunas Arena
Mon 11 Apr-16 Poland, Krakow Tauron Arena
Wed 13 Apr-16 Germany, Cologne Lanxess
Thu 14 Apr-16 Germany, Munich Olympiahalle
Sat 16 Apr-16 Italy, Milan Medioianum Forum
Mon 18 Apr-16 Switzerland, Zurich Hallenstadion
Tue 19 Apr-16 Austria, Vienna Stadthalle
Thu 21 Apr-16 France, Paris Bercy
Sat 23 Apr-16 Holland, Amsterdam Ziggo Dome
Sun 01 May-16 South Africa, Johannesburg Ticketpro Dome
Mon 02 May-16 South Africa, Johannesburg Ticketpro Dome

Taylor Swift fans are being given the opportunity to contribute to a new book about the American superstar. To mark the 10th anniversary of her self-titled debut solo album, superfans of the 26-year-old beauty are being offered the chance to share the...

Rita Ora "used to be obsessed" with Googling herself.
The 'I Will Never Let You Down' hitmaker admits there was a point in her life when she looked up everything written about her but has since turned a blind eye to the "gossip side" of her life.
She said: "I used to be obsessed with it. I would Google my name and blah, blah, blah. But see, even talking about it now makes it a topic of conversation. The gossip side doesn't affect what I do.
"The personal stuff of actually, like, being in a relationship is what affects me. I don't expect anybody to understand my relationships, because they're not in my position in that moment, in that relationship."
And when it comes to relationships, Rita insists she is single and "in love" with her work.
She added to Refinery 29: "I'm in love with my work. It all started when I was on tour in Europe on my last album.
"I wanted to just put out new music, and I was, like, talking about being lonely and then finding a boyfriend at the time and being with that person for, like, a year and then slowly splitting up with that person. Basically, it's life, really."

Faithless are "shocked" people still want to see them live.
The British electronica band recently played a few dates across the UK and admit they were shocked anyone actually came to see them perform.
Speaking to BANG Showbiz at the BBC Music Awards, Maxi Jazz said: "After such a long time, you wonder how many people are going to show up! I think people had gotten over it, long time. But it appears not.
"And that was really shocking, to see people going for it this summer the same way they were going for it like sixteen years ago. It's kinda crazy!"
And Sister Bliss also opened up about the group's latest remix album, 'Faithless 2.0', revealing they started "ringing round" to get people to remix their songs.
She explained: "I mean remixes, like our own music, it goes across genres. We've been bootlegged lots of times so it's quite nice to cure any of our own versions of remixes so, because I've been a DJ for 25-30 years, I crossed paths with a lot of people, had relationships with them, or people we admire along the way and people who said they had been inspired by Faithless.
"So we just started ringing round saying, 'Would you be up for remixing our tracks?' There is so much variety and strength in dance music at the moment, it's amazing to think we were kind of there pretty near the beginning of it."

Prince has dropped a surprise LP.
The 'Purple Rain' hitmaker has debuted the 12-song album titled 'HitNRun Phase Two' exclusively on streaming service TIDAL, with subscribers getting an exclusive listen to tracks including 'RocknRoll Love Affair', 'Look At Me, Look At U' and 'When She Comes'.
Prince has been working on the songs for this album over the last four years, carefully picking ones which he thought fit together well.
A 16-member horn section - the joint ensemble of NPG Hornz and Hornheads - have provided their music stylings for the legendary musician's latest LP.
Meanwhile, the 57-year-old star previously revealed why he had chosen to release his music through Jay Z's TIDAL.
He shared: "After one meeting, it was obvious that Jay Z and the team he has assembled at TIDAL recognise and applaud the effort that real musicians put into their craft to achieve the very best they can at this pivotal time in the music industry.
"Secondly, TIDAL have honoured us with a non-restrictive arrangement that once again allows us to continue making art in the fashion we've grown accustomed to and we're extremely grateful for their generous support.
"And lastly, in the tech-savvy, real-time world we all live in today, everything is faster."

Johnny Marr was too busy thinking about his trousers to form a new band.
The former Smiths guitarist thinks it is important to always consider shoes first when putting together an outfit, but has also spent hours deciding the best length and width of his legwear to complement his footwear.
He said: "Alec Guinness approached every role by first imagining the shoes the character would wear. He'd then go and find those shoes, in some cases having them made, wearing them and building the character from the shoes up. Who could argue with that?
"It doesn't end there, the shoes to trouser width and length axis is an important scientific consideration.
"I spent most of the 90s thinking about that, which is one of the reasons why I didn't form my own band."
While Johnny puts a lot of thought into his appearance, his guitar riffs haven't always required as much effort to create.
He told Q magazine: "If you're up at 3am and accidentally create two iconic guitar sounds that you're going to be asked to explain for 30 years, it might be an idea to write down what the hell it is you're doing.
"I've been asked about 'How Soon Is Now?' by guitarists and non-guitarists alike since the day it came out."