Music News

Lianne La Havas says it was "surreal" when Prince took over her flat.
The 'Lost and Found' singer became pals with the 'Purple Rain' megastar after he spotted her perform in the US and invited her back to his pad for a jam, but Lianne soon returned the favour when the star descended on her London home to hold a press conference.
Lianne recalled: "On the day it happened, this guy came round at about eight in the morning to scout the place out. It was all, 'Right, this can be his dressing room, and we can leave our stuff here.' I had a meeting that day in west London, and by the time I got back, all the furniture had been moved."
But when the talented 25-year-old went to warn her unsuspecting neighbours that pop royalty was on the way, they gave her a surprising response.
Lianne told the Sunday Times Culture magazine: "I went to tell my neighbours that Prince was coming to my house, and one of them, this lovely man, went, 'Who's that then?' I had to show him a photograph.
"As soon as Prince arrived, everything was fine. Everyone is terrified of him. In the dining room they had a sofa and a sound desk and a stage. He walked in after having a cup of tea and started taking questions. I was standing there thinking, 'Okaay.'"

Robin Thicke taught himself to play the piano to impress a crush.
The 38-year-old singer has admitted he figured out to play Richard Marx's 'Right Here Waiting' when he was 11-years-old, because he wanted to be able to serenade a girl he liked.
Robin said: "I had lessons when I was 11. I had like two lessons and didn't care for it and wanted to learn how to play these songs that were on the radio that I really liked. I think the first song I ever taught myself to play was Richard Marx's 'Right Here Waiting'. I had a crush on a girl and that became our song and I wanted to be able to play it for her.
"That's the beauty. Anyone can pick up a paintbrush and dip it in paint. There's no law against it."
The 'Blurred Lines' hitmaker also revealed his parents - actress and singer Gloria Loring and 'Growing Pains' actor Alan Thicke - were worried about his career, having seen how "hard" the entertainment industry.
However, they changed their minds, when Robin was asked to write songs for Christina Aguilera's self-titled debut album and Pink's first record 'Can't Take Me Home'.
Speaking to Hong Kong magazine Prestige, Robin said: "I started making a living when I was 16, so (my parents) were worried because they know how hard the business is and how many people promise you the world and then don't deliver and then you're broken hearted. So they were obviously nervous for me. But once they saw - by the time I was 19, 20 - that I already had a long list of accomplishments, they started gaining confidence in it."

Nick Jonas wants to collaborate with Kanye West.
The 22-year-old singer is a huge fan of the rapper and his outspoken ways and would be thrilled to get into the recording studio with him.
Asked who he wants to collaborate with, he told Star magazine: "Kanye West. I've met him a couple of times - he's incredible. I love the fact that he speaks his mind."
Nick shot to fame alongside siblings Kevin and Joe in the Jonas Brothers and though he admits going solo is "tough" and often lonely, he thinks it was right for them to disband in 2013.
He said: "There are times when I miss being on the road with them. Being just me can be tough, but I do feel it's the right thing.
"It can be lonely. You need to find a way to get your friends out to you and take a day off here and there."
While he wants to work with Kanye, the 'Chains' hitmaker recently admitted a collaboration with Ariana Grande could be on the cards.
He said: "We wrote a bunch of songs a couple years ago when she first started making her record.
"We wrote together then and had a great time writing.
"Maybe there's a collaboration somewhere down the road."

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 say it will be a contrast to their second record which they thought was "quite dark".
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, 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: "We're absolutely nuts ourselves and so are our fans and we want to spread that across the world."
However, 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."
Little Mix performed at 'MTV Crashes Plymouth' this week and the event will air on MTV Music at 9pm on August 7 2015.

Albert Hammond Jr. "almost wishes" The Strokes were over.
The guitarist and keyboard player admits he feels as frustrated as the group's fans do about the lack of certainty over their future, and there's a part of him that wants them to split so they can draw a clean break, but he thinks that would be a waste.
He said: "It's terrible. Half of you almost wishes the band was over, so you could mourn it, and the other half of you is like, 'Why are we wasting such an amazing opportunity?'
"We are so good together and it's hard to find that connection with people.
"I would love to know about the future of the band as much as you would. We would all like to know."
Albert went on to suggest the group's management is at fault for most of the uncertainty and doubt.
He added to NME magazine : "Our managers make the first contact - they're running the machine.
"We went into the studio, but it seems silly to even speak about that because nothing is set.
"The machine behind us is even further behind wherever we were - at the beginning of writing I guess."

Carly Rae Jepsen wants Twitter "beef".
The 29-year-old star has revealed she felt left out when she saw Nicki Minaj and Taylor Swift feuding online earlier this week as she's never got into an online argument.
Speaking to Nick Grimshaw on BBC Radio 1, she quipped: "I wanna have a beef! Pick someone for me to have a beef with."
However, the 'Call Me Maybe' hitmaker doesn't believe in all of the celebrity rows which the media reports on and thinks the media are always exaggerating any comments stars make to each other.
She explained: "I actually feel like there is kind of a new age and women are much less competitive. I feel like the media does that too [exaggerates] sometimes, like back in the day when Britney Spears was against Christina Aguilera and it's like, is that really real? Or are they [the media] just trying to cause trouble?"
However the star - who recently premiered her new single 'Runaway With Me' - insisted she is focusing on her own music at the moment with her third studio album 'Emotion' and teased she is planning to tour later on in the year.
She said: "I believe we're doing something for the late-fall, but I don't have dates yet."

Prince's new album features "so many hits".
The 57-year-old musician has completed his 38th studio LP, which will be titled 'The Hit & Run Album' in reference to his latest tour, and his backing band 3RDEYEGIRL have teased it sounds "phenomenal".
They said: "It's phenomenal; there are so many hits on this album. It's super experimental."
The 'Little Red Corvette' hitmaker released his last albums 'Art Official Age' and 'PLECTRUMELECTRUM' last September and trailed his upcoming collection by premiering new single 'Hardrocklover' online earlier this month.
And speaking about what fans can expect from the iconic musician, 3RDEYEGIRL went on to say it will please lovers of his classic albums because it features "hit after hit".
Speaking to radio station BBC 6 Music, the trio said: "Super hardcore Prince fans that know every song he's ever recorded - we refer to them as 'The Purple Collective' or 'The Purple Army' - this album is absolutely for them, because it's super funky.
"It's weird, there's a lot of experimental sound. It's just hit after hit and definitely caters to those fans who just love to hear what Prince has to say, rather than wanting to always hear that classic 'Purple Rain' Prince sound."

Will Young thinks Kanye West is "a really good musician".
The 36-year-old singer insists he is a fan of the 'All Day' rapper after he recently described him as "awful", saying his "arrogance completely over-runs him as a musician."
Clarifying his comments, he explained: "I just shoot my mouth off sometimes.
"I'm always honest and hopefully not rude, but I just think I don't really like those ostentatious ways of being. I think he's really talented, Kanye West, it's just a shame that some of the things he says aren't so talented.
"I think he's a really good musician and I think what he says clouds what his music is."
The former 'Pop Idol' contestant - who recently released his sixth studio album '85% Proof' - continued to say he wants to see what's "underneath" the 21-time Grammy Award winner's arrogant persona because he's keen to discover who he is as "a real person".
Speaking on ITV's 'Loose Women', he explained: "Arrogance just isn't attractive. It's a shame, what I said is actually underneath that [arrogance], I'm actually more interested in that because that's vulnerability and that's what music is. And I think that arrogance always hides insecurities and I'm interested in insecurities because that's a real person."

Noel Gallagher believes rock 'n' roll is "in hibernation".
The 'Ballad of the Mighty I' singer thinks the genre is currently experiencing a lull because he can't see any new bands emerging who are as good as rockers such as Arctic Monkeys and Kasabian who launched over a decade ago.
Asked if rock 'n' roll is dead, he said: "Not as long as I'm still going, it's f**king not!
"It's there but it's certainly lacking the re-generation process.
"Since the Arctic Monkeys, Kasabian, Razorlight and The Libertines there has been nothing. You name me one band since them.
"So that's ten years ago. So the evidence is that it is kind of in hibernation."
The 48-year-old former Oasis musician continued to say the band were part of "the old world" before the internet revolutionised the music industry.
He added: "Oasis was the last band from the old world. We happened before the digital age."
But Noel said he believes the internet has actually had a negative impact on rock because less people seem to be interested in it and record labels don't want to invest in up-and-coming bands like they did when Oasis launched.
Speaking on BBC Four's 'What Ever Happened to Rock 'n' Roll?' he explained: "In theory the internet and YouTube should be helping new bands get off the ground but it hasn't - it's got worse. The record labels just aren't interested in working-class bands any more."