Music News

Boy George thinks Harry Styles is "sexually ambiguous".
The 53-year-old Culture Club frontman - who is famed for his make-up and openness about his sexuality - has compared the 21-year-old One Direction member to David Bowie, Marc Bolan and Mick Jagger, in terms of their "ambiguous" sexuality.
George said: "I love the Seventies, with Bowie and Mick Jagger and Marc Bolan, who were all gloriously ambiguous about their sexuality. You heard stuff but you never knew if it was true.
"What's wonderfully ironic now is that Harry Styles, bless him, clearly wants to be Jagger. Maybe he is sexually ambiguous. He may be."
While the 'Karma Chameleon' hitmaker - who won the Outstanding Contribution to British Music prize at yesterday's Ivor Novello Awards (21.05.15) - has seen huge success in the UK, he has said he wants to move to the United States, as all of his "heroes", including Bowie and Rod Stewart, have made the move and gone on to have worldwide success.
Speaking to The Sun newspaper, George said: "What I want to do I just don't feel I can do here. I need to move to America. I haven't been played on the radio here for over 20 years. All of my heroes -- Bowie, Rod Stewart -- left.
"To be honest, my departure has been long overdue. I tend to stick in situations that aren't necessarily good for me. But this time I'm going to sell my house and purchase somewhere there."

Brian May says Queen would be interested in headlining Glastonbury.
The 67-year-old rocker has confessed that while the band "probably" won't be taking to the stage at the world famous music festival this year, they wouldn't turn down the opportunity to take to the stage at Worthy Farm in the future if Adam Lambert - who has been acting as the band's front man in place of the late Freddie Mercury - is available.
When asked if Queen were set to perform at the festival later this year, Brian told BANG Showbiz: "No probably not. Look these things get put on the table, it would be interesting to do Glastonbury if we were an operational unit at the time.
"You see this year Adam's off doing his solo work at the moment so it wouldn't have worked. You only look at things that are possible logistically at the time."
The 'We Are The Champions' hitmaker has been performing with Adam, 32, and the band's drummer Roger Taylor since 2011, and is looking forward to him returning as Queen's frontman when they tour South America in September.
Speaking at this year's Ivor Novello Awards, which took place at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London today (21.05.15), Brain said: "He's doing very well, 'Ghost Town' is his single, which is doing great. He's off doing his own thing and then he'll be back with us in September for some South American dates, including Rock & Rio."
The star added he has been happy to offer his words of wisdom to Adam, who was the runner-up on the eighth season of 'American Idol' in 2009.
He said: "I've given him plenty of advice, he's just a young boy really."
Brian was joined at the prestigious award ceremony by his wife, Anita Dobson, as well as Ed Sheeran, who took home the Songwriter of the Year prize, Hozier, who won Best Song Musically and Lyrically for 'Take Me To Church', and Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, who were presented with The Ivors Special Anniversary Award.

Kylie Minogue praised Boy George for writing "courageous" songs as she presented him with the Outstanding Contribution to British Music prize at The 60th Anniversary Ivor Novello Awards.
The 'I Should Be So Lucky' hitmaker honoured the 53-year-old singer and songwriter as he picked up the prestigious accolade during the ceremony held at London's Grosvenor House Hotel today (21.05.15).
The blonde beauty remembered the first time she had seen Boy George perform as she took to the stage and thanked him for inspiring her with his "incredible pop melodies".
She said: "It was 1984 in Melbourne, Australia, there was this screaming girl at her first big concert, that was me at my first big concert. I had these ribbons in my hair and it was me as you.
"I'm really please to get to give this to you, I'm one of many millions of people who you inspired. I never thought I'd end up as part of the British music industry but your music was definitely part of what gave me that dream. Thank you for your incredible pop melodies, your beautiful, truthful and courageous lyrics and for singing with your heart and all of your colours."
On accepting the award, the 'Karma Chameleon' hitmaker paid tribute to his idol David Bowie adding he was very grateful to both his team and his fans for helping him take home the accolade.
He said: "Thank you to the Ivors for this awards, I've written some things down because my days of winging it are over. It's also nice to not be up against anyone else, to know you're getting an award and not have to do that disappointed face.
"When I was at school all I did was look out of the window and draw pictures of David Bowie. I left school with A-level Bowie, that's the only thing I achieved at school. I never really got past the 70s, I still live in the 70s. It was the most amazing time. You watched 'Top of the Pops' and you'd see Bowie, Elton John and The Sex Pistols, how music should be ... It's amazing for me that I've had this 30 year career doing something that I love. To spend every day doing something that you love I mean what a f***ing life.
"I want to thank my manager Tony Rodney, he managed me for 30 years. He's been a father figure, a friend, and I put him through hell! I just want to say I love you Tony and your lovely wife Avril. I want to thank Steve Levine, our original producer, I know Steve was pretty instrumental in me getting this award so thanks Steve, I'm glad I kept your phone number. I thank everyone who ever bought a record or a concert ticket. This is amazing I'm very grateful."
Other winners at the awards' 60th Anniversary ceremony included Ed Sheeran, who picked up the gong for Songwriter of the Year and Albert Hammond, who took home the Outstanding Song Collection prize.
The Ivors Special Anniversary Award went to Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, who co-wrote the Band Aid hit 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' in 1984.
Annie Lennox was honoured with the BASCA Fellowship and Black Sabbath, made up of Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne and Bill Ward, were given the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The full 60th Anniversary Ivor Novello Awards winners list is as follows:

PRS for Music Most Performed Work:
'Rather Be' - by James Napier and Jack Patterson

Best Television Soundtrack:
'The Honourable Woman' - by Natalie Holt and Martin Phipps

Outstanding Song Collection:
Albert Hammond

The Ivors Classical Music Award:
Judith Weir

Album Award:
'So Long, See You Tomorrow' - by Jack Steadman

Best Song Musically and Lyrically:
'Take Me To Church' by Hozier

PRS for Music Outstanding Contribution to British Music: Boy George

Best Original Film Score:
''71' by David Holmes

Songwriter of the Year:
Ed Sheeran

The Ivors Inspiration Award:
James Dean Bradfield, Sean Moore and Nicky Wire

Best Contemporary Song:
'Rather Be' - by James Napier and Jack Patterson

The Ivors Special Anniversary Award:
Bob Geldof and Midge Ure

Lifetime Achievement:
Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne and Bill Ward

PRS for Music Special International Award:
Paul Williams

BASCA Fellowship:
Annie Lennox

Taylor Swift bought her 'Bad Blood' video costumes from a bondage shop.
The 'Style' hitmaker's team are said to have gone to The Stockroom in Los Angeles, which is known for its range of fetish gear and saucy items.
According to TMZ, the 25-year-old star forked out $13,000 on the BDSM wear, with famous faces including Ellie Goulding, Cara Delevingne, Selena Gomez and Jessica Alba parading around in the skimpy latex and leather in the superhero-inspired video.
The website also revealed the '22' singer and her celebrity pals were able to use the clothing on the promise they bought 25% of the outfits, with the remaining items being returned after the shoot.
Meanwhile, the track and accompanying big-budget video - which features a number of stars including 'Girls' actress Lena Dunham and Paramore frontwoman Hayley Williams - is rumoured to be a dig at 'Roar' hitmaker Katy Perry, who has had a long-running feud with Taylor.
Speaking previously about her tumultuous friendship with the singer, she confessed she was always unsure whether Katy ever liked her.
She previously said: "For years, I was never sure if we [Katy Perry] were friends or not. She would come up to me at awards shows and say something and walk away, and I would think, 'Are we friends, or did she just give me the harshest insult of my life?'"

LA Reid thinks Mariah Carey is too old to make a hit record.
The 45-year-old singer's ability has been doubted by the Sony label boss as he believes it's "not realistic" for her to have another chart-topping single, despite the fact she holds the record for the most US number one singles for a solo artist.
He said: "Mariah Carey made her first hit record in 1991.
"To even be on the radio at this point in her career is a huge accomplishment, because radio doesn't cater to veteran artists or legends."
The former 'The X Factor US' judge continued to say other "veteran" artists had not succeeded in creating hit singles later in their careers, as radio tends to be dominated by younger "in-the-moment stars".
He continued: "Radio caters to in-the-moment stars... Nobody that put out records 25 years ago is going to have a No.1. Not Paul, Stevie, Bruce, Mick or Keith. Not Prince, not anyone.
"So if she can get on the radio, we've done damn good. Would we like to have a No. 1? F**k yeah, I'm greedy. But it's not realistic."
However, LA insisted the singer - who recently released her new single 'Infinity' to coincide with her Las Vegas residency and greatest hits collection - will continue to be successful by releasing more music.
He told Billboard magazine: "I'm not under any illusion that Mariah should compete with, say, Taylor Swift or Ariana Grande. Our job is to make sure the quality is there. Every artist is one great song away from massive success.
"I don't believe in asking artists to go back and be who they once were.
"And let's not forget that one of Mariah's biggest hits, 'I'll Be There', was a cover. There are many things that Mariah can still do."

Aston Merrygold was "depressed" when JLS broke up.
While Marvin Humes has become a radio and TV presenter, Oritse Williams launching as a solo artist and JB Gill ditching music for farming, Aston has been pretty quiet.
However, the 27-year-old singer is finally launching a solo career, and has admitted that he has been jealous of his former bandmates all still working since the boyband split in 2013.
Aston said: "I can't lie and say there haven't been times when I've got depressed. You see people performing out there on massive stages -- something I've done in the past -- and I wasn't getting to do it.
"I'm not happy because I'm not on that stage."
The 'Beat Again' hitmaker went on to reveal that Warner Music - the label that Aston is signed to - is the reason for his delay in releasing any new music, as they wanted to wait until the timing was right; something that Aston wasn't too happy about.
Speaking to The Sun newspaper, the former 'Got To Dance' judge said: "If I had it my way I probably would have released stuff straight away. I'm 27 and people are asking me if I'm retired, it's just weird. I've been sitting on my hands. I've got it all there, it's ready and I'm made to wait."
"(JLS) still love hanging out but now I'll message one of the boys and ask, 'What are you up to?' and they're like, 'I'm working'. So I'm like, 'oh'."

Muse's new LP sounds like the band "losing our minds a bit".
The three-piece group - featuring Matthew Bellamy, Dom Howard and Chris Wolstenholme - believes they "lost sight" of what they should be aiming for when they made 2012's 'The 2nd Law', so decided to get "back to basics" with their new album, 'Drones'.
Dom explained: "By our standards, ['Drones'] is back to basics.
"For the first time, the three of us in a room, eyeballing each other again. I think on 'The 2nd Law', producing it ourselves, we spent so much time in the control room that we lost sight of ourselves as a band.
"We wanted to push the boat out on 'Drones'. For that reason, it's very diverse - it's the sound of us being very experimental and losing our minds a bit."
And while they have tackled social issues on the record, frontman Matt confessed his recent split from his fiancée, actress Kate Hudson, has also impacted the album.
He told NME magazine: "Look. We had a great relationship, she's a lovely person, we're better off as friends.
"It's difficult for me to pinpoint anything on the album specifically about that ... except that when someone suddenly finds themselves outside of a relationship, they ponder things, they think over the points in their lives when they think things didn't go the way they expected them to... It's the fact that I reconnected with all the points in my life where I felt alone or outside."

Lorde has hit out at men who "underestimate her skill".
The 18-year-old singer seemed to address the recent news she had parted ways with her manager of seven years, Scott Maclachlan, by berating "men" on Twitter.
In the two tweets, she wrote: "hey, men - do me and yourselves a favour, and don't underestimate my skill
"yes, i'm a young lass, but i'm also making the best decisions for me each day. #stayeducated (sic)."
The 'Royals' hitmaker reportedly split from the manager - who signed her to Universal Music at the age of 11 - a few weeks ago, although no details about the decision to part ways have been revealed, with Scott's company Saiko Management declining to comment on the issue.
Meanwhile Lorde - who released her debut album 'Pure Heroine' in 2013, aged 16 - is currently recording her second album with producer Joel Little, and recently updated her fans on the progress they have made by writing on her Tumblr account.
She wrote: "i took a few months off at the beginning of this year, which was so great - i did a bunch of swimming and driving around and being salty - and now i'm just getting into making the next body of work, which is very exciting and scary but SO VALIDATING (sic)."

Jake Bugg and James Bay have won O2 Silver Clef Awards.
The 'Lightning Bolt' singer, Jake, has been announced as the recipient of the Best Male award at the prestigious ceremony, which will take place in London on 3 July.
Speaking about his win, he said: "It's an honour to be recognized by the country's leading music therapy charity and to join an incredible list of artists who have won O2 Silver Clef Awards over the last 40 years. I am really looking forward to collecting my award at the event in July and finding out more about Nordoff Robbins."
Meanwhile, James - who released his debut album 'Chaos and the Calm' last month - will be crowned the winner of the Jack Daniel's Best Newcomer award, having already picked up the Critics' Choice award at the BRITs in February.
He commented: "2015 has been such an incredible year for me so far. It is such an honour to be recognised by a charity which is so important to the music industry. Nordoff Robbins do incredible work helping to transform lives with music therapy."
It was previously announced that Rita Ora, Mark Ronson, Primal Scream, Iron Maiden and Il Divo would also receive accolades at the 40th year of the ceremony, which has raised more than £8.5 million for music therapy charity Nordorff Robbins since it began.