Music News

Ringo Starr has paid tribute to the late Beatles producer George Martin, who has died at the age of 90.
The producer gave the band their big break and was often referred to as "the fifth Beatle" and Ringo took to his Twitter page to share his sadness at the death of his friend and colleague.
He wrote: "God bless George Martin peace and love to Judy and his family love Ringo and Barbara George will be missed xxx."
After signing The Beatles in 1962, George went on to produce and arrange the majority of their music and over his career he had 23 number-one hits in the US and 30 number-one singles in the UK.
John Lennon's son Sean also took to social media to praise the legendary producer.
He wrote on Facebook: "R.I.P. George Martin. I'm so gutted I don't have many words. Thinking of Judy and Giles and family. Love Always, Sean."
Speaking previously about George, Sir Paul McCartney has said: "He's a very good producer. He's one of the best in the world."
George is survived by his second wife Judy Lockhart-Smith and his four children.

Bjork's best melodies come to her after she has been on a mountain walk.
The 50-year-old singer likes to go to her private cabin in her home country Iceland and take in the natural beauty of the nation's lava fields, mountains and glaciers.
When she's on her long treks she finds her creative juices start flowing and songs just pop into her head.
Asked if her music ideas come to her unconsciously, she said: "Just without being conscious of it I'd make up melodies, and it still works for me. I go to my cabin, go for a walk in the mountains, and after 20 minutes you just start humming and then the melodies kind of pop out, you know? I was just listening to my dictaphone from the plane, and it is helpful to record ideas, but actually the best melodies are the ones you remember - they come back to you. You just wake up in the morning and they're there, going in circles."
Bjork has started work on her next album - the follow-up to last year's 'Vulnicura' - and has written three tracks already, although she doesn't know when the new LP will come out.
Asked if she has a deadline for her forthcoming release, she told AnOther magazine: "I have a really good team. The guy from my record company is my manager - my friend from back in the punk days, we met when I was 16. He was the bass player for Flux of Pink Indians on the Crass label, and I was in a band (Kukl) on Crass and it was very anarchic - this philosophy that it is ready when it is ready. It should be from the artist's point of view, not the business one. So I am very blessed that way. A lot of my mates have the same job as me, and they definitely have not had that."

Bob Dylan's 37th studio album 'Fallen Angels' will be released on May 20.
The 74-year-old singer revealed that fans will be able to get their hands on the LP when they buy tickets to his forthcoming North American summer tour, which he also announced will have Mavis Staples as the main support.
A statement posted on his Facebook page reads: "Bob Dylan and his Band are touring the U.S. in June and July with Mavis Staples. There will be pre-sale ticket offers for many dates on this tour for American Express cardholders, with no password needed. For every pair of tickets purchased, you will receive a redemption code to receive a Compact Disk of Bob Dylan's forthcoming album 'Fallen Angels'. Not available for Indianapolis and Boston (sic)"
'Fallen Angels' is the follow-up to his Frank Sinatra covers album 'Shadows in the Night', which he released in 2015.
Producer Al Schmitt - who also worked on 'Shadows in the Night' - previously revealed the pair had created a "fabulous" working atmosphere in the studio while making the new music.
He said: "It's going along great. He sounds great. His mood in the studio is fabulous. We're having a good time. We're like two old shoes together now, we're so comfortable with one another now."
Dylan's 27-date tour will kick off in June.

Gregory Porter will release his new album 'Take Me To The Alley' on May 6.
The Grammy award-winning jazz star returns this summer with the follow-up to his platinum-selling 2013 LP 'Liquid Spirit'.
'Take Me To The Alley' will include a stripped back recording of 'Holding On', the track he released with Disclosure in 2015.
Speaking about the new arrangement, he said: "It's a way of saying that a song is a song is a song. The lyrics and the intention of the song come through no matter what kind of bells and whistle are going on."
'Don't Lose Your Steam' is the first single from the album, and the blues-tinged track is inspired by Porter's three-year-old son Demyan.
He said: "With this record I continue to condense life experience into melody and most of all put love in the air. Very excited to share the music with my fans or anyone within the sound of my heart."
Now he's finished his new album, Porter has turned his attention to more collaborations and is keen to work with Sam Smith.
He told BANG Showbiz: "Me and Sam have had brief conversations a couple of times and he's spoken very kindly of me, speaking about my music, and I very much appreciate that. He's a great artist and has a great personal touch with his music. If he comes knocking wanting to do a record I'll be like, I'm right here man, let's do it."

Kanye West will no longer release music on CD.
The 38-year-old rapper is finished with compact discs and says the artwork for his latest album 'The Life of Pablo' is intended to be an "open casket" for the format.
From now on, Kanye will only be streaming his new songs.
He posted on Twitter: "Uuuuum ... hi everybody! ... I was thinking about not making CDs ever again ... Only streaming ... the Yeezus album packaging was an open casket to CDs r.i.p ... uuuuuuum, so there it is ... No more CDs from me (sic)"
The 'All Day' rapper's latest musings have brought into question as to whether 'The Life of Pablo' will ever get a physical release.
The 18-track LP is currently only officially available through Jay Z's streaming service Tidal, and Kanye has stated that the album will never be available via Apple Music.
After his no more CDs vow, the 'Ultralight Beam' rapper went on to promote "positives vibes" and bemoaned the fact that so many people want to hate him.
In a series of tweets, he wrote: "Question... Why do people not want me to be me? ... I want people to be the best version of themselves and I will be the best version of me ... Growing and learning but not being told to stop ...not being stunted ... please avoid trying to talk me out of being me in the future ... ###hashtag all positive vibes (sic)"

Carole King is to headline Barclaycard presents British Summer Time Hyde Park in what will be her first concert in the UK in almost 30 years.
The 74-year-old music legend will top the bill at the London festival on Sunday July 3 and she will be performing her seminal 1971 album 'Tapestry' in full alongside special guest Don Henley.
An announcement posted on her official Twitter account today (08.03.16), read: "After nearly three decades, @Carole_King will return to London to headline @BSTHydePark! ... At @BSTHydePark, @caroleking will be performing Tapestry in its entirety for the very first time, joined by the amazing Don Henley! (sic)"
The last time the 'You've Got a Friend' hitmaker performed in Britain was 27 years ago at London's Royal Albert Hall for her 1989 'Streets' tour.
Of her choice to play the LP in its entirety, Carole told UK radio station BBC 6 Music: "I can't wait to perform 'Tapestry' from beginning to end for the first time ... in the heart of one of my favourite cities. It actually wasn't my idea to play the album in full, but no one has ever thought to ask [before] and I loved the idea."
'Tapestry' is one of the biggest-selling albums of all time having sold over 25 million copies worldwide and contains hits such as 'It's Too Late', 'Will You Love Me Tomorrow?' and 'You've Got A Friend'.
Carole is considered one of the greatest songwriters in history and
modern pop stars such as Sam Smith and James Bay cite her as a major influence on their careers.
As well as playing 'Tapestry', Carole will also play a greatest hits set and she is asking fans to submit their requests on social media.
She said: "I'll be adding other songs because it would be a very short set if I only did 'Tapestry'. I might actually even have it on my social networks where people can offer up their favourites and see if we can get a consensus and help me figure out which songs to add."
Tickets for Carole's show go on general sale at www.bst-hydepark.com from Friday (11.03.16).
The other confirmed headliners for this year's Barclaycard presents British Summer Time Hyde Park are Florence + the Machine, Mumford & Sons, Take That and Massive Attack.

Dr. Luke has responded to Kelly Clarkson's claim she was "blackmailed" to work with him and he was a hard person to collaborate with.
Last month, a court ruled that pop star Kesha must abide by her contract with Sony Music and Dr. Luke, despite her allegations that she was sexually abused by the record producer, and earlier this week Kelly came out to say she thinks the producer is "not a good person".
Kelly never suggested Dr. Luke ever behaved in a sexually inappropriate way with her but claimed when they recorded 'Since You've Been Gone' and 'Behind These Hazel Eyes' together he was "difficult to work with" and "kind of demeaning" and someone who has "lied a lot".
Now a spokesperson Dr. Luke - who runs Kemosabe Records for Sony Music - has responded to Kelly's accusations by quoting and extract from Sony Music chief Clive Davis's 2013 memoir 'The Soundtrack of My Life' which explains how Dr. Luke and Kelly came to make music together.
The book's text reads: "As Kelly was beginning to work on her second album, a song came in for her to do for the soundtrack of the 2004 film 'The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement', which Whitney Houston has con-produced."
Clive also claims in the tome that Kelly wasn't keen on "taking direction" in the studio.
The chapter continues: "The fact is that I wanted Kelly to have those songs for the very reason he had written them. Both songs had a sharp rock edge, but were still capable of being pop hits. They would push Kelly in a promising direction for her, while maintaining and even growing her audience. Max and Luke are very strong, hands-on producers in the studio. They are intent on getting perfect vocal performances, and are relentless in that pursuit. It was hard for Kelly, who had come from the high of winning 'American Idol' and then having a double platinum album. But then suddenly you are in an entirely different world of making records in a studio, and you have to take direction. Kelly didn't like that."

Bjork has started work on her next album - on which she's allowing herself to be a "submarine".
The 50-year-old Icelandic singer has revealed she's started writing a fresh batch of songs for a new LP, the follow-up to last year's critically acclaimed 'Vulnicura', and she has already completed three songs.
Bjork doesn't know what direction the album is going to go in yet but she's totally submerged in the project, just like an underwater vehicle in the sea.
In an interview with comedian Julia Davis for AnOther magazine, she said: "I'm writing my next thing. I'm still allowing myself to be a submarine; I don't totally have the view of it yet. It's funny, each album is different for me. Like, what comes first? With this one it's maybe the melodies. This is very abstract, but the melodies have a similar kind of shape."
Bjork also spilled that she's been working with Venezuelan-born producer Arca - real name Alejandro Ghersi - again following the success of their collaboration on her ninth studio album 'Vulnicura'.
She added: "It's really early on and I don't even know if I should say, but I have got three songs down with Alejandro who I worked with on the last album."
Whereas Bjork describes the lyrical and musical tone of 'Vulnicura' as "hell" her new album will be more like "utopia".
She mused: "The last album, we sort of call it hell - it was like divorce! So we are doing paradise now. Utopia. We have done hell, we have earned some points."
Bjork previously claimed she is going to explore the changing nature of her voice - which got deeper after she had vocal surgery in 2012 -by recording the LP in just three different notes.
She said: "I like how my voice is changing. It is interesting to try to document all the different periods. I feel my three note shaman red wine album (is coming up)."

AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson has been warned by doctors to stop touring immediately.
The band announced that they are rescheduling 10 shows on their 'Rock or Bust' world tour with a guest vocalist after Brian was told to "stop touring immediately or risk total hearing loss".
In a statement on their website, the band said: "AC/DC are forced to reschedule the 10 upcoming dates on the U.S. leg of their 'Rock or Bust' World Tour. AC/DC's lead singer, Brian Johnson, has been advised by doctors to stop touring immediately or risk total hearing loss. Tuesday's (08.03.16) show in Atlanta through Madison Square Garden in New York, NY in early April will be made up later in the year, likely with a guest vocalist. More information regarding these rescheduled shows to come."
AC/DC have had a number of issues in recent years with founding member Malcolm Young, unable to continue with the band due to suffering from dementia, and ex-drummer Phil Rudd given an eight-month home detention sentence for drug possession and making threats to kill last year.