Music News

Jim Ed Brown has died, aged 81.
The country music star - who released his first album, 'Alone With You' in 1966 - passed away yesterday (11.06.15) following a struggle with lung cancer.
Shortly after the news was announced, fellow musician Alan Jackson paid tribute to Jim during a show in Nashville where he played a snippet from his track 'Pop a Top' and said, "We're gonna miss you, Jim Ed Brown. God bless you."
The Grand Ole Opry member announced he had gone into remission earlier this year after being diagnosed with the disease last September, although on June 3 his daughter Kim revealed the disease had returned.
The country icon originally found fame in The Browns along with sisters Maxine and Bonnie whose singles 'Looking Back to See' and 'In Three Bells' were hits in the 1950s.
After splitting up in 1967, Jim continued to forge a successful career as a solo artist, also duetting with Helen Cornelius.
Jim - who released 22 studio albums during his career, including 'In Style Again' in January - was visited by his friend Bill Anderson last week where he was presented a medallion inducing him into the Hall of Fame, although the official ceremony will not take place until later this year.

Marilyn Manson won the Lifetime Achievement gong at the Relentless Kerrang! Awards.
The 'Tainted Love' singer - who has released 13 albums during his career, spanning over two decades - was honoured with the accolade at the London ceremony last night (11.06.15), which was attended by the 46-year-old musician as well as a host of other rock stars.
Although the prestigious prize was awarded to Marilyn, the big winners of the evening were All Time Low - comprised of Alex Gaskarth, Jack Barakat, Rian Dawson and Zack Merrick - who won Best Event and Best International Band.
Legendary rocker Alice Cooper also picked up two awards during the annual event, being presented with the Kerrang! Legend prize and Best Radio Show for 'Nights with Alice Cooper' on Planet Rock.
Elsewhere during the event, rock duo Royal Blood won the Best British Newcomer title, Judas Priest were presented with the Inspiration Award and Bring Me the Horizon picked up Best British Band.
Speaking about the star-studded ceremony, Kerrang! Magazine Editor James McMahon said: "What a night! You know why Kerrang! continues to grow well into our thirtieth year? Because we are the anti-boring. The anti-conservative. The anti-bland."

The full list of Relentless Kerrang! Awards winners:
Best Event: All Time Low
Best British Newcomer: Royal Blood
Best International Newcomer: PVRIS
Best Single: Enter Shikari - 'Anaesthetist'
Spirit of Independence: Baby Metal
Inspiration: Judas Priest
Best Album: Marmozets - 'The Weird and Wonderful Marmozets'
Best Video: New Years Day - 'Angel Eyes'
Kerrang! Legend: Alice Cooper
The Relentless Award: Rolo Tomassi
Best Live Band: Black Veil Brides
Best International Band: All Time Low
Best British Band: Bring Me the Horizon
Lifetime Achievement: Marilyn Manson
Spirit of Punk: Slaves
Best Fanbase: Pierce the Veil
Best Film: 'Guardians of the Galaxy'
Best TV Show: 'Adventure Time'
Best Radio Show: 'Nights with Alice Cooper' on Planet Rock
Best Video Game: 'The Walking Dead'
Best Comic Book: 'The Walking Dead'
Best Festival: Slam Dunk
Best Comedian: Russell Howard
Tweeter of the Year: Hayley Williams

Rita Ora has secretly been working on a new song with Chris Brown.
The 'How We Do' hitmaker - who famously doesn't get along with Chris' ex-girlfriend and 'American Oxygen' singer Rihanna - has reportedly been working with the 26-year-old star on some new material.
A source told The Sun newspaper: "Rihanna's always been wary of Rita. They have a similar image and there's hardly a big difference in their music. The song with Chris sounds amazing and is bound to be a big hit. It's the best song Rita's done and will break her in the US."
The 24-year-old beauty - who previously dated her 'I Will Never Let You Down' collaborator Calvin Harris - is said to be hoping working with Chris will boost her profile across the pond but it will also likely add to the tension between her and Rihanna, who are both signed to Jay Z's Roc Nation label.
The track on which the 'Loyal' hitmaker is rumoured to feature will appear on her new album and is expected to follow her latest song 'Poison' as a single.
Meanwhile, Rita is currently in negotiations to join Simon Cowell, Cheryl Fernandez Versini and Radio 1 Breakfast Show DJ Nick Grimshaw on the judging panel for the next series of 'The X Factor', despite having only completed one series on rival show 'The Voice' earlier this year.
A source shared: "Simon likes that Rita will keep Cheryl on her toes."

Ariana Grande has teased her album could be released "next month".
The 21-year-old star is currently working on her third studio album, tentatively titled 'Moonlight', and revealed although she isn't in a hurry to release the collection, it has been made so quickly it is nearly ready to be unveiled.
When asked when it will be arriving, she said: "I have no idea but the music is coming together so quickly, I really don't like to rush these things but it's all just coming together so quickly that I have no idea. I have no idea, I feel like it could be next month!"
The 'Problem' hitmaker - who released her sophomore LP 'My Everything' last year - continued to explain she has felt "really inspired lately" resulting in her upcoming tracks being better than anything she has ever done before.
She gushed: "I've been working on a lot of new music, I've been really inspired lately and I'm really proud of it. I feel like this is definitely the best music I've made but I'm definitely very proud of it.
However, the pint-sized pop star confessed she can be a bit of a loudmouth when it comes to keeping her music a secret, and believes she's already revealed too much about the record.
She told Capital FM: "I'm very excited but it's a long time away of course but I'm always talking about it way too early because I can't resist sharing these things with my fans.
"My fans are like my best friends, I go online and I blab out a whole bunch of stuff that I shouldn't say and I just got Snapchat so god knows, my whole album will be leaked in two days!"

Ornette Coleman has died aged 85.
The experimental jazz legend - the first to win a Pulitzer Prize for a recording - passed away after suffering a cardiac arrest in New York City this morning (11.06.15), a family representative has confirmed.
Ornette - whose real name was Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman - had a career spanning six decades and continued performing right up until his death and was hailed as an icon of jazz.
The self-taught saxophonist pioneered the free jazz sound, and his 1959 album 'The Shape Of Jazz To Come' is regarded as one of the most important of the genre because of its lack of conventional harmony and the absence of any guitar or piano.
The musician's "chaotic" solos - because he shunned traditional notions of staying within chord progressions - had a huge influence on modern jazz and rock music, where they are now considered mainstream.
The 'Change of the Century' musician also experimented with rock and funk with the group Prime Time in the 1970s.
He picked up the Pulitzer Prize in 2007 for his live improvised recording 'Sound Grammar', as well as a MacArthur Genius award.
Coleman was previously married to late poet Jayne Cortez, but they divorced in 1964, eight years after the birth of their son Denardo.

Duran Duran and Kasabian have won O2 Silver Clef Awards.
The 'Girls On Film' hitmakers have been announced as the recipients of the highly coveted Spotify Lifetime Achievement Award, honouring their 37-year career during which they have sold more than 120 million records worldwide.
The band - featuring Simon Le Bon, Roger Taylor, Nick Rhodes and John Taylor - will collect their award at youth charity Nordoff Robbins' annual O2 Silver Clef Lunch at London's Grosvenor House Hotel on July 3, along with other recipients including Kasabian, who have scooped the Royal Albert Hall Best Band accolade.
Speaking about their victory, the 'Eez-Eh' rockers said: "We've admired Nordoff Robbins work for some years now and are honoured to be receiving the Royal Albert Hall Best Band Award at the O2 Silver Clef Lunch. As musicians, it means a lot to us to be recognised by a charity which does such great work using music to help people."
Other winners already announced for the event - which has raised more than £8.5 million for Nordoff Robbins' music therapy work since it was launched in 1976 - include James Bay, Jake Bugg, Rita Ora, Mark Ronson, Primal Scream, Il Divo and Iron Maiden.
The charity has also launched a public poll to give music fans the chance to vote for their favourite band or artist to win the title of Live Nation and Ticketmaster Best Live Act.
The shortlist of 15 nominees for the gong include Alt-J, Arctic Monkeys, Disclosure, Arcade Fire and Royal Blood, with voters able to have their say by tweeting @NordoffRobbins1 using the hashtag #BLAartistname, or through the Nordoff Robbins website: www.nordoff-robbins.org.uk/BestLiveAct

Morrissey "officially died" for "nine minutes" in 2013.
The former Smiths frontman has revealed a bout of food poisoning while touring South America proved to be almost fatal, causing his heart to stop beating for nine minutes before he was revived.
Speaking about what he's looking forward to on his upcoming tour, he told Alternative Nation rock website: "I'm also always excited to be in South America, even though the last visit to Peru gave me food poisoning and I officially died for nine minutes. That was fun."
The terrifying incident hasn't been the only health scare for the 56-year-old singer/songwriter - who is currently on tour across the US - in recent years though, previously admitting to having undergone a series of cancer treatments in recent years.
He said: "They have scraped cancerous tissues four times already, but whatever. If I die, then I die. And if I don't, then I don't."
However, the 'Suedehead' singer showed he has other worries apart from his health, criticising American politics by accusing President Barack Obama of seeming "white inside".
He ranted: "Obama has mystified me because he doesn't appear to support black people when they need it most.
"Obama seems to be white inside. There is an obvious racial division in America and it's exploding and Obama doesn't ever support the innocent black people who are murdered by white police officers who are never held accountable. You would expect him to be more understanding of what it means to be black. But so far, he hasn't been. There's no point in continually saying that we must support the police when it is obvious to the entire world that the police in America are out of control."

Bjork wants to make a "3 note shaman redwine album (sic)."
The 49-year-old singer has revealed she wants to explore the changing nature of her voice by recording an LP on which she channels her access to the world of malevolent spirits, while only singing three different notes.
When asked how she feels about her voice - having previously revealed it became deeper after having vocal surgery in November 2012 - she said: "i like how it is changing !!! it is interesting to try to document all the different periods ..... i feel some quirky ones might be coming up : my 3 note shaman redwine album (sic)."
Having recently premiered the new video for 'Black Lake', the star - who released her ninth studio album 'Vulnicura' earlier this year - also spoke about how she thinks up the ideas for her visuals, saying they form in her mind as she is writing music.
She explained: "usually the visuals come slowly during writing and then when the music is done i can see it more from the outside and i start to move slowly emotionally away from the songs i can better see them from the outside and figure out how to dress this thing (sic)."
Although the enigmatic musician is known for her quirky music, Bjork also admitted she has a huge fondness for 'Four Five Seconds' hitmaker, Rihanna.
When asked about her opinion on the Bajan beauty during a Q&A for Dazed & Confused magazine, she said: "i absolutely adore her (sic)."

Paul 'Bonehead' Arthurs has joined Liam Gallagher's supergroup with The Who's Roger Daltrey.
The former Oasis guitarist has joined the line-up for the band - which also includes the 'Wonderwall' group's drummer Zak Starkey and Ian Broudie of The Lightning Seeds - with the as-yet untitled band set to perform during a one-off live special of 'TFI Friday' on Channel 4 tomorrow (12.06.15).
However, while the supergroup has sparked rumours of a full Oasis reunion, the news is believed to have angered Liam's brother and former bandmate Noel Gallagher, who finds rumours of a comeback "annoying".
He complained: "There are only so many times that you can say it's not going to happen."
Revealing the news earlier this week, a source told The Sun newspaper the band will perform The Who's classic 1965 hit 'My Generation', saying the musicians decided to get together because of Liam's "boredom", having announced the end of his group Beady Eye last October.
The source said: "Liam's got a bit of time on his hands since Beady Eye called it a day last year so he fancied trying his hand at something new.
"He's told his mates he's pretty bored. Other than Noel (Gallagher), you would be hard pushed to find a better set of bandmates than Roger, Ian and Zak."
Other musical guests set to feature on the anniversary show include Blur, Stone Roses, Rudimental and Years & Years.