Music News

Taylor Swift and The Weeknd will battle for Album of The Year at the Grammy Awards 2016.
Both artists received seven nods each and will both be vying for the gong with '1989' and 'Beauty Behind the Madness' respectively alongside Kendrick Lamar for 'To Pimp a Butterfly', Alabama Shakes with 'Sound and Color' and Chris Stapleton's 'Traveller'.
However, it is Kendrick who leads the nominations board with 11 nods in total.
The 28-year-old singer will be hoping February 15 is his lucky night when he contests for prizes including Album of the Year and Best Rap Album for the same record and the coveted Song of the Year with 'Alright'.
Elsewhere, Ed Sheeran will battle his pal Taylor for Song of the Year and Record of the Year, with 'Blank Space' earning both her nominations and 'Thinking Out Loud' earning Ed his.
Also up for Song of the Year is Little Big Town's 'Girl Crush' and 'See You Again' by Whiz Khalifa feat. Charlie Puth, while Record of the Year also sees nominations for The Weeknd's 'Can't Feel my Face', D'Angelo and the Vanguard's 'Really Love' and 'Uptown Funk' by Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars.
The Best New Artist category will see Meghan Trainor, Sam Hunt, Tori Kelly, James Bay and Courtney Barnett.
Alicia Keys announced the nominations for Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist on 'This Morning' earlier today (07.12.15), with the other categories revealed on Grammy.com.
The 2016 Grammy Awards will take place on February 15 2016 at Los Angeles' Staples Centre.

The 58th Annual Grammy Awards selected list of nominations:

Album of the Year:
Alabama Shakes, 'Sound and Color'
Kendrick Lamar, 'To Pimp a Butterfly'
Chris Stapleton, 'Traveller'
Taylor Swift, '1989'
The Weeknd, 'Beauty Behind the Madness'

Song of the Year:
Kendrick Lamar, 'Alright'
Taylor Swift, 'Blank Space'
Little Big Town, 'Girl Crush'
Wiz Kahifa feat. Charlie Puth, 'See You Again'
Ed Sheeran, 'Thinking Out Loud'


Record of the Year:
D'Angelo and the Vanguard, 'Really Love'
Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars, 'Uptown Funk'
Ed Sheeran, 'Thinking Out Loud'
Taylor Swift, 'Blank Space'
The Weeknd, 'Can't Feel my Face'

Best New Artist:
Courtney Barnett
James Bay
Sam Hunt
Tori Kelly
Meghan Trainor

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance@
Florence + The Machine, 'Ship to Wreck'
Maroon 5, 'Sugar'
Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars, 'Uptown Funk'
Taylor Swift feat. Kendrick Lamar, 'Bad Blood'
Wiz Khalifa feat. Charlie Puth, 'See You Again'

Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album:
Tony Bennett & Bill Charlap, 'The Silver Lining: The Songs of Jerome Kern'
Bob Dylan, 'Shadows in the Night'
Josh Groban, 'Stages'
Seth MacFarlane, 'No One Ever Tells You'
Barry Manilow (& Various Artists), 'My Dream Duets'

Best Pop Vocal Album:
Kelly Clarkson, 'Piece by Piece'
Florence + The Machine, 'How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful'
Mark Ronson, 'Uptown Special'
Taylor Swift, '1989'
James Taylor, 'Before This World'

Best Dance Recording:
Above & Beyond feat. Zoë Johnston, 'We're All We Need'
The Chemical Brothers, 'Go'
Flying Lotus feat. Kendrick Lamar, 'Never Catch Me'
Galantis, 'Runaway (U & I)'
Skrillex and Diplo With Justin Bieber, 'Where Are Ü Now'

Best Rock Performance:
Alabama Shakes, 'Don't Wanna Fight'
Florence + The Machine, 'What Kind Of Man'
Foo Fighters, 'Something From Nothing'
Elle King, 'Ex's & Oh's'
Wolf Alice, 'Moaning Lisa Smile'

Best Alternative Music Album:
Alabama Shakes, 'Sound & Color'
Björk, Vulnicura'
My Morning Jacket, 'The Waterfall'
Tame Impala, 'Currents'
Wilco, 'Star Wars'

Best Urban Contemporary Album:
The Internet, 'Ego Death'
Kehlani, 'You Should Be Here'
Lianne La Havas, 'Blood'
Miguel, 'Wildheart'
The Weeknd, 'Beauty Behind the Madness'

Best Rap Album:
J. Cole, '2014 Forest Hills Drive'
Dr. Dre, 'Compton'
Drake, 'If Youre Reading This Its Too Late'
Kendrick Lamar, 'To Pimp a Butterfly'
Nicki Minaj, 'The Pinkprint'

Best Country Album:
Sam Hunt, 'Montevallo'
Little Big Town, 'Pain Killer'
Ashley Monroe, 'The Blade'
Kacey Musgraves, 'Pageant Material'
Chris Stapleton, 'Traveller'

Best Dance/Electronic Album:
Caribou, 'Our Love'
The Chemical Brothers, 'Born in the Echoes'
Disclosure, 'Caracal'
Jamie XX, 'In Colour'
Skrillex and Diplo, 'Skrillex and Diplo Present Jack Ü'

U2 paid tribute to the victims of terrorist attacks around the world, at their concert in on Sunday (06.12.15).
The Irish rockers performed at AccorHotels Arena in the French capital - which was devastated by the deaths of 129 people killed during a series of shootings last month - and displayed the victims' names in blue, white and red on a large screen on the stage.
Addressing the crowd, Bono said: "We stand together with the families who lost their loved ones in Paris. We stand together with families in San Bernardino. We stand together with families in Beirut and Istanbul. We stand together before those with false ideologies of the god they serve."
U2 were due to play two shows in the city on November 14 and November 15 but had to cancel them when terrorists opened fire at an Eagles of Death Metal concert in the Bataclan theatre, killing 89 concert goers.
Afterwards, Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, Jr. offered the US rockers use of their plane to exit the city, and bought them new phones after their devices were left inside the concert hall.
Back in Paris yesterday, it was rumoured that Eagles of Death Metal would make a surprise appearance on stage.
However, prior to Sunday's concert the 'Beautiful Day' rockers wrote on their website that this "is not the case" but they had another surprise guest in store.
U2 brought Patti Smith on stage and the 'Because The Night' singer duetted with them on hits 'Gloria', 'Bad' and 'People Have the Power'.
Meanwhile, Monday's concert 'U2: Innocence + Experience Live' will be aired on HBO in Paris at 9pm ET and more surprise guests appearing in the show have not been ruled out.

Noel Gallagher reunited with his former Oasis bandmate Gem Archer for a gig on the weekend. The 48-year-old rocker was joined by the guitarist for the first time since 2010 at his acoustic gig in Lincoln, central England, to perform Oasis tracks 'Won...

Ed Sheeran will battle Ellie Goulding and Hozier for the Song of the Year prize at the BBC Music Awards 2015.
The trio of artists are all in the running for the accolade, with Ed up for 'Bloodstream', Ellie for 'Love Me Like You Do' and Hozier's 'Take Me To Church'.
They are also up against Jason Derulo who is nominated for his track 'Want To Want Me', Jess Glynne's 'Hold My Hand', Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars' 'Uptown Funk', OMI who is up for 'Cheerleader', The Weeknd's single 'Can't Feel My Face', Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth's hit 'See You Again' and Major Lazer and DJ Snake's 'Lean On'.
The Song of the Year accolade is the only award that is voted for by the public and voting - which can conducted via SMS or online at bbc.co.uk/musicawards - opens on Wednesday (09.12.15) at 7am and closes at 8pm.
The ceremony takes place on Thursday (10.12.15) at Birmingham's The Genting Arena and will be hosted by BBC Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans and former Radio 1 DJ Fearne Cotton.
Performances at the event will come from some of the biggest names in music and hot new talent, including Ellie, Jess, One Direction, Little Mix, Faithless, James Bay, and Rod Stewart among others.

BBC Music Awards 2015 Song of the Year shortlist:

Ed Sheeran - Bloodstream
Ellie Goulding - Love Me Like You Do
Hozier - Take Me To Church
Jason Derulo - Want To Want Me
Jess Glynne - Hold My Hand
Major Lazer & DJ Snake feat. MØ - Lean On
Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars - Uptown Funk
OMI - Cheerleader (Felix Jaehn Remix)
The Weeknd - Can't Feel My Face
Wiz Khalifa feat. Charlie Puth - See You Again

Liam Payne and Nathan Sykes are keen to work together.
The One Direction hunk, 22, and the Wanted singer may have been locked in a bitter feud in the past but they've decided to bury the hatchet and head for the studio.
Nathan, 22, explained: "I spoke to Liam about writing together, which is going to be cool. I'm looking forward to that when we can get it in our schedules."
News that the pair are planning to write some music together will no doubt come as a surprise to fans as the boybands have been embroiled in a long-running feud.
Liam's band mate Louis Tomlinson kicked off a war of words with the five-piece when he referred to Tom Parker as a "little girl" via social media, while Tom poked fun at his voice.
But it seems the spat has now been brushed under the carpet and Nathan is pleased they can all get along.
He told The Sun newspaper: "That was a few years ago, everyone has grown up.
"I hate confrontation so it was nice to see them on a friendly level. I sat down with a few of them and we kind of laughed about it. It was nice to see them and be like, 'Oh my god, we can be friendly with each other!' "
Meanwhile, The Wanted announced last year they would be taking an extended hiatus but are keen to join forces again in the near future, while One Direction have also decided to go their separate ways for a bit to focus on solo projects.

Ringo Starr's personal copy of the Beatles' 'The White Album' has been sold at auction for a record $790,000.
The legendary rock star's copy, numbered No.0000001, carried a pre-auction estimate of $40,000 to $60,000, but that figure was easily surpassed as the bidding reached record-breaking proportions.
Ringo, 75, previously admitted that he and the other members of the Beatles - John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison - never gave any thought to the value of their records when they were making music together.
He said: "We used to play the vinyl in those days.
"We didn't think, 'We'll keep it for 50 years and it will be in pristine condition.' Whoever gets it, it will have my fingerprints on it."
Because the copies of the album were numbered in sequence, the buyer of Ringo's edition can claim they own the first ever printed copy of the iconic album, which is considered by some critics to be among the best records ever made.
What's more, it reached number one on both sides of the Atlantic and was released just two years before the chart-topping group split up.

Idris Elba thinks US hip-hop has lost its way.
The 43-year-old star - who has achieved success as a musician and as an actor - has claimed the genre has gone into decline in the US, arguing that hip-hop stars have become obsessed with material possessions.
Idris said: "To me, grime is the purest form of hip-hop in the world at the moment because it comes from a place of: 'We are who we are and we aspire to be this.'
"I feel close to that. That's where US hip-hop lost some of its way because now it's like: 'We're all ballers and we all make stupid amounts of money.'"
The London-born star explained that music remains an important part of his life, because it allows him to be creative and express his own thoughts.
He shared: "As an actor, all day long I'm reading someone else's thoughts. What about my own thoughts? That comes out in various guises. Writing. Directing. And music, unfortunately."
Idris also said he can understand why some people might be surprised that he tries to combine the two interests.
He told the Guardian newspaper: "You must be thinking: 'F**king hell, why are you doing that?'
"I was on a film called 'Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance' and I had a lot of downtime. Imagine me in a Hilton hotel: desk, laptop, little mic, me sitting there in me boxers..."

Noel Gallagher relies on Paul Weller to hear about new music.
The 48-year-old rocker rarely listens to the radio any more so only discovers new artists through his friend, who is obsessed with independent stations.
He said: "I was doing a festival during the summer and Jamie T was on before me and I didn't know any of Jamie T's stuff apart from 'Zombie', which is a great song and he was f***ing amazing.
"All the time I'm thinking, 'Why do I never hear these songs?' I suppose it's because I don't listen to the radio any more.
"I'm really reliant on Paul Weller. I don't know what he does, he must listen to f***ing independent radio all the time because he's forever on the phone to me all the time saying, 'Have you got this? Check this out, check this out.' "
However, Noel is never very impressed by his pal's recommendations.
Asked if he is ever recommended anything bad, he told Q magazine: "All the f***ing time. Most of it is s**t. But he's still getting it in there, do you know what I mean?"

Queen think 'Bohemian Rhapsody' is an "albatross".
The group are tired of hearing their most famous song played everywhere and overshadowing the rest of their back catalogue, though they acknowledge it took their success to another level.
Discussing receiving the Classic Single prize at the recent Q Awards, drummer Roger Taylor said: "I am [sick of hearing it].When the video came on the screens I thought, 'Oh Christ, don't let the audience sit through the whole thing.'
"They've all seen it. Certainly I've seen it a thousand times.
"It's like a bit of wallpaper. We did a lot of other records as well. It's an albatross.
"But it was a good song. It put us on another level and enabled is to keep making lots of records."
And Roger believes 'Bohemian Rhapsody' could have been surpassed by 'Under Pressure' if it had been recorded better.
He told Q magazine: "I thought 'Under Pressure' was one of our better songs - although not one of our best recordings.
"I think if we had recorded it more beautifully it would have been greater than it turned out."