Music News

Red Hot Chili Peppers' Flea thinks the late David Bowie's "art was so pure" because he kept his personal life private.
The 'Under The Bridge' bassist is a massive fan of the late music legend - who died in January at the age of 69 after a secret battle with cancer - and as soon as he heard of the 'Changes' hitmaker's passing he got a tattoo of his surname inked on his arm.
Now he's spoke about the "personal" connection he felt with the late star.
He said: "About a month before Bowie died, I bought his vinyl box set and was working through it. Then, the night before he died, I was listening to 'Blackstar' on headphones. He was very much on my mind when I woke up the next morning.
"Like many people, I connected with him in such a personal way. He never wrote about his personal life, which made his art so pure, but you felt like you knew him almost better than anyone else."
Meanwhile, Flea has given an update on his band's eagerly-anticipated as-yet-untitled eleventh studio LP, and says it's taking them into a "new area".
Flea, 53, told Q magazine: "We're near the end of it. Danger Mouse is producing this time, instead of Rick Rubin. We're heading into a new era and we're really excited.
"It's new and different but without sacrificing the good bits of us. There are some songs we already had, and some new ones too. I can't wait to play it live."

James Bay will duet with Justin Bieber at tonight's (24.02.16) BRIT Awards.
The 'Let It Go' singer is reportedly planning to team up with the 'Sorry' hitmaker for a special performance at London's O2, which will be in addition to the solo slots both stars have also been given at the annual ceremony, The Sun newspaper reports.
James and Justin reportedly became friends at a private hotel afterparty after the MTV Europe Music Awards (EMAs) in October when they were introduced by mutual friends, and the 25-year-old singer previously described the Canadian star as a "charming little lad".
He previously said: "It was the MTV EMAs in Milan. Ed was having a party in a massive hotel room.
"I don't know if Mr. Bieber knew who I was, but Ed introduced me anyway saying I'd got the biggest album in the UK at the moment. Justin was cool - a nice, charming little lad."
Singer/songwriter James is in contention for three prizes at tonight's BRITs - which are sponsored by MasterCard - including British Male Solo Artist, British Single for 'Hold Back The River' and the MasterCard British Album of the Year for his debut LP 'Chaos and the Calm'.
Meanwhile, Justin is contesting for International Solo Artist.

David Bowie's touring band are to pay tribute to the late music icon at tonight's (24.02.16) BRIT Awards.
The 'Space Oddity' hitmaker - who died in January at the age of 69 after a secret battle with cancer - will be remembered at the music bash at London's The O2 with his former band joined by several top-secret guest performers.
BRITs boss Max Lousada said: "We wish to honour his life and work and pay a fitting tribute to one of our greatest icons."
A source previously revealed that the guest musicians are likely to be artists such as Noel Gallagher, Blur's Damon Albarn and U2's Bono, rather than younger artists who weren't alive in the music legend's heyday.
A music insider said: "A few artists approached the Brits to ask if they could be involved in the David Bowie tribute as they want to make sure it is done properly.
"He was a British icon and they want to provide a credible farewell which can honour that.
"The band will be full of musicians who grew up with Bowie and were inspired by him, meaning artists like Noel, Damon and Bono.
"It is unlikely to involve young acts such as Sam Smith or Ed Sheeran, but there will be a few artists who are already singing on the night who will be asked if they want to take part too.
"The organisers are putting everything into it. If they get it right, it will be epic."
The BRIT Awards 2016 - which are sponsored by MasterCard - will be broadcast live on ITV at 8pm.

Beyoncé will reportedly drop her new album in April.
The 34-year-old star - who recently unveiled her new single and video for surprise track 'Formation' - is expected to release her next LP in just two months time.
A source said: "[She] is close to making a new worldwide, multi-album deal with Sony Music; the final release under the current deal is now set for April."
It is also thought the 'Run The World' hitmaker may also release a second album, a "joint project" with her husband Jay Z, later this year.
The insider added to Hits Daily Double: "There are rumours of another Beyoncé album in 2016, this one a joint project with husband Jay Z."
Meanwhile, Beyoncé previously admitted her Superbowl performance made her feel "proud".
She said: "It felt great. It makes me proud. I wanted people to feel proud, and have love for themselves."
However, her favourite part of the night was watching headliners' Coldplay's set because she could watch it rom the back.
She added: "The best part was seeing Coldplay, for me, because I was able to watch from the back."
Beyoncé is also set to head out on a world tour later this year and will perform across North America and Europe.

Yoko Ono will "never" retire from music.
The 83-year-old musician-and-artist's only interest in life is for her art to be "something beautiful" and she's not about to give up her passion even though she's in her mid-eighties.
Asked if she'll ever stop making music, she told the Guardian newspaper: "I won't stop. No, I never think that. Artists are obsessive, they want to keep doing it. And I'm an artist. My sole interest is in creating something beautiful. When I say beautiful .... well, the maximum beauty can be ugly to some people."
Yoko - who is the widow of the late Beatle legend John Lennon - recently picked up the NME Inspiration Award and said she hopes her work continues to influence other artists.
She told BANG Showbiz: "I want to keep on making music and art and keep on inspiring people. But I don't know what my fans take from what I do with my work and my website, I just keep dishing out things and I hope for the best, but I never know how people will react to what I do."
The 'Give Peace a Chance' hitmaker has just released her new collaborative LP featuring the likes of Moby, Death Cab For Cutie and Sparks called 'Yes, I'm A Witch Too'.

Slash is reportedly working on new Guns 'N Roses music without Axl Rose.
The 'Paradise City' hitmakers' former publicist, Arlett Vereecke, has revealed the recently-reformed group are currently "in the studio" ahead of their massive comeback at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in April, but the frontman hasn't been to the recording sessions yet.
She told Classic Rock magazine: "I know they're doing some recording. They're definitely doing something there in the studio. Axl hasn't been there, but Slash is definitely in there and it's not for anyone else."
And that's not all, Alan Niven - the first GNR manager who served from 1986 to 1991 - says bassist Duff McKagan and guitarist Izzy Stradlin are also believed to have worked on a number of tracks together.
Alan said: "Duff and Izzy were in the studio before Christmas doing stuff. At a casual glance I think they've got at least a couple of tracks down."
The original line-up currently consists of frontman Axl, Slash and Duff, but it's rumoured Izzy will also be involved.
The legendary rock group are gearing up for their Coachella warm up dates in Las Vegas and Mexico in April.
It is the first time the classic line-up of the group will have been together on stage since 1993.
It is still not yet known who will take on drumming duties with former percussionist Steven Adler - who played on debut LP 'Appetite For Destruction' - and 'Use Your Illusion' era musician Matt Sorum both expressing an interest in participating in the reunion and being prepared to share duties.

Ariana Grande has teased that she's changed her album title to 'Dangerous Woman'.
The 'Love Me Harder' hitmaker originally called her eagerly-anticipated third LP 'Moonlight', but hinted that she was likely to rename it last month when she appeared on 'The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon'.
And now the 22-year-old pop beauty has posted an update on her Snapchat account with a photo of a whiteboard with 'Dangerous Woman' at the top and the start of a tracklisting just showing the first song as 'Moonlight'.
The new album name comes from a track the singer wrote during the final stages of the forthcoming release.
Talking about the track, she said: "A really long time ago I was convinced that it was going to be called 'Moonlight' because it's one of my favourite songs that we did for the album.
"And now, as we're wrapping things up, of course I've been writing and singing, we're at the final stretch...now there's this other song that has thrown me for a whirlwind and I love it so much, it's changed everything."
Ariana previously dropped the first single 'Focus', which peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 when it was released in October.
So far the tracks include 'Dangerous Woman', 'Moonlight' and 'Focus'.
The LP is yet to be given a release date.

Take That have beaten Adele to be voted Best Comeback Artist.
The 'Want You Back' hitmakers' reunion with former member Robbie Williams in 2010 has been voted the best comeback of all time according to a survey conducted by MasterCard in celebration of The BRITs.
The 'Hello' singer's triumphant return to the charts late last year after a three-year hiatus took second place in the poll, with the late David Bowie's surprise comeback in 2014 taking third spot, Kate Bush's 22-night 2014 London residency in fourth and Fleetwood Mac's reunion tour that same year in fifth.
Elsewhere, the research found late Queen frontman Freddie Mercury is the nation's most missed star with almost half of the 1,000 people surveyed dreaming of a 'Bohemian Rhapsody' reunion.
Shaun Springer, Head of Brand and Sponsorship, for MasterCard UK & Ireland, commented: "Ahead of Adele's much-talked about return to the BRITs stage, we wanted to look back to see what the nation considered to be the best comebacks of all time. The results show how diverse the country's music taste is ranging from Freddie Mercury to Take That."
Adele will be joined by Justin Bieber, Coldplay, Ellie Goulding, James Bay and many more at the 2016 BRIT Awards sponsored by MasterCard at London's The O2 tomorrow (24.02.16).

Ed Sheeran's new song 'Brother's Blood' can only be heard in 'Grimsby'.
The 25-year-old singer won't be making the song available for download or streaming, and it won't even feature on the movie's soundtrack.
Instead, fans will only get to hear it if Ed's friend Sacha Baron Cohen plays the song while promoting his new movie, or if fans visit cinemas to see the comedy.
Of the pairing, a source told The Sun newspaper: "Sacha and Ed have become big pals over the past few years.
"During Ed's early days Sacha wasn't really familiar with his work. He had no idea who he was when they were introduced.
"But they're both creative geniuses and have an obvious connection on that front, agreeing to help each other out where possible."
And 44-year-old Sacha - who plays Nobby in the comedy movie - has a lot of praise for the flame-haired singer but joked that he's surprised he doesn't have a "disabled badge" on his motor because of the colour of his hair.
He quipped: "He's [Ed] a good lad. Impressive that he chooses not to have a disabled badge on his car despite having ginger hair."
The track is likely to be the only chance fans of the multi-award-winning star will get to hear new material in the forseeable future, as he doesn't plan on releasing the follow-up to 2014's 'x' until much later this year.