Music News

Take That members Gary Barlow and Mark Owen performed hits from their solo careers during an exclusive concert at One Marylebone in London on Friday (24.04.15).
Gary, 44, and Mark, 43, have both released four solo albums alongside their back catalogue with the band, and played a flurry of hits to lucky competition winners and special guests invited to the event, which was hosted by Magic FM.
While the frontman played his 2013 track 'Let Me Go', Mark opted to perform an early single, 'Four Minute Warning', which peaked at number four in the UK singles chart when it was released in 2003.
However, Howard Donald, the only member of the band not to have pursued a solo career, also gave a performance without his bandmates, with a rendition of 'What is Love', taken from their 2008 album 'The Circus'.
During the special set, the veteran band - which became a three-piece after Jason Orange decided to quit last year - treated fans to songs from their back-catalogue including 'Back For Good', 'Patience' and 'Rule the World'.
Bringing the concert to an end, Gary said he hoped the selected group of fans would attend their forthcoming arena tour.
He added: "I want to thank you for all of your support. We will see you out on the road somewhere."
Take That will begin their 25-date tour of the UK and Ireland at Glasgow SSE Hydro this evening (27.04.15).

Sid Tepper, who wrote songs for Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra, has died.
The hitmaker, who penned hundreds of hits during his extensive career, including tracks for the two music icons, died of natural causes at his home in Miami Beach, Florida, on Friday (24.04.15), aged 96.
During his active career between 1945 and 1970, the star wrote more than 300 songs with his pal Roy C. Bennett under the name Tepper and Bennett, including tracks for Cliff Richard, Tony Bennett and Dean Martin.
However, Sid is perhaps most well known for being part of the songwriting team behind the smash hit 'Puppet on a String' which was made popular when it was covered by Sandie Shaw in 1967.
The musician was also instrumental in furthering Elvis' career, writing 43 tracks for his movies - more than any other songwriter or songwriting team - including 'GI Blues', 'Once Is Enough' and 'Stay Away'.
In the 1970s, Sid suffered a heart attack which ended his songwriting partnership and spurred him into an early retirement.
However, speaking in 2005, the hitmaker - who is survived by five children, seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren - admitted he believed his tracks had "made a mighty contribution" to the star's success.
He said: "I believe that Elvis's movies and their songs made a mighty contribution to his career.
"They brought him to the attention of millions of people who otherwise would never have known the greatness of the King."

Union J will headline the final day of Barclaycard presents British Summer Time Hyde Park.
The former 'X Factor' contestants will be topping the bill on the Family Day of the music festival on Sunday 28 June, and will be joined by 'Britain's Got Talent' winners Collabro, as well as Dick & Dom, Sam & Mark and Justin Fletcher.
Dick & Dom said: "We're really looking forward to being your twisted ringmasters of the main stage for this massive family event. We'll be bringing you the biggest names and best acts. It's going to be THE best day out for the kids.......and you!!"
Sam & Mark found fame together on 'Pop Idol' and the BAFTA award-winning children's presenters will be bringing their 'On the Road Show' to the London festival.
The duo said, "We're so excited to be bringing our 'On The Road Show' to Hyde Park. It's a show that we hope will entertain the whole family; from kids, older brothers and sisters, Mums, Dads, Grandmas and Granddads! It will be jam packed with lots of fun, games and laughs. It's going to be awesome!"
Other acts on the day will be 'Horrible Histories', 'Brainiac Live!' and theatre company 'Chickenshed'.

Take That's tax affairs are now "fully up to date".
HMRC has confirmed that the band has paid back the £20million they owed to the taxman.
A spokesman for the band said: "I can confirm that Gary Barlow, Mark Owen and Howard Donald have now received confirmation from HMRC that their tax affairs are fully up to date."
It was alleged yesterday (26.04.15) that Take That were waiting to pay back the amount they poured into the Icebreaker scheme, which a tax tribunal ruled last year exploited legal loopholes.
An appeal by five other partnerships was said to have meant Gary, Mark and Howard might not have to pay back their money for a few years, but the 'Shine' trio had already opted to resolve their tax issues whether the appeal was successful or not.
Speaking to The Sun newspaper, a source said: "Regardless of the judge's ruling they are determined to make the situation right no matter what. They have waived confidentiality with the HMRC and the fact that all their tax affairs are fully up to date should be confirmed by the organisation."
The 'Relight My Fire' boyband were among 1,000 investors who hid millions using the Icebreaker scheme, which Judge Colin Bishopp ruled was primarily for tax avoidance not investment.

One Direction will perform at Capital FM's Summertime Ball.
The four-piece boyband are the first act announced for the annual concert, which will be held at London's Wembley Stadium on 6 June.
Speaking on Capital Breakfast, band member Liam Payne said: "Wembley is obviously one of the best places to play in the world, so I can't wait, I'm well excited!"
The 21-year-old singer continued to say fans can expect a "good show" which will include exclusive performances of brand new music when they take to the stage at the much-anticipated event.
He added: "We'll be performing some of the new ones which is nice. We decided the set list the other day so yeah, it's going to be a good show."
The news comes just days after the singer was spotted heading into a London recording studio with bandmate Niall Horan to work on tracks for their as-yet untitled fifth studio album, due to be released later this year.
The album will follow up 2014's 'Four', and will be their first record following the departure of bandmate Zayn Malik last month.
Further acts set to perform at the Summertime Ball - which has previously hosted sets from Katy Perry, Jessie J, Usher, Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus and 5 Seconds of Summer - will be announced throughout the week, before tickets for the event go on sale on Friday 1 May at 8am.

Snoop Dogg has claimed he only managed to get big names like Gwen Stefani and Stevie Wonder on his album because Pharrell produced it.
The 43-year-old rapper says having the 'Happy' singer produce his upcoming album 'Bush' meant it was easy to get an all-star list of collaborators.
Snoop said: "When we ask for favours, we're so loved and appreciated that it's hard to say no to Snoop and Pharrell. You can say no to Snoop, you know what I'm saying, then when we got Pharrell, you can't say no to both of them."
Snoop and Pharrell had previously worked together on 2004 hit 'Drop It Like It's Hot', which became Snoop's first US number one, and once the 42-year-old former N*E*R*D frontman started recording on 'Bush', Snoop said it "only made sense" that he produced the entire album as he loved the way the two challenged each other.
Speaking to The Observer Magazine, Snoop said: "When I work with Pharrell he allows me to be me, but he also gives me great direction on which is the best me. He loves to critique me, and he loves to take criticism. It makes it challenging in the studio - and I like to be challenged.
"When we worked on 'Drop It Like It's Hot', when I did my second verse, he was like: 'That ain't dope enough - you need to go back in.' And I came back with another verse that helped it become one of my biggest records."

Jay Z has slammed a "smear campaign" against his Tidal music streaming service.
The '99 Problems' hitmaker has spoken out against the backlash against his company - which had a star-studded launch two weeks ago - to insist it is the victim of a multi-million dollar campaign from rivals and is entirely "pro artist and fan".
He tweeted: "There are many big companies that are spending millions on a smear campaign. We are not anti-anyone, we are pro-artist & fan. We made Tidal for fans. We have more than just music. We have video, exclusive concerts, tickets for events early, live sports! (sic)"
The 45-year-old music mogul - who was joined at the launch of the app by artists including his wife Beyonce, Rihanna, Usher, Daft Punk, Deadmau5, Kanye West, Madonna and Nicki Minaj - appealed for Tidal not to be dismissed and stressed it will pay artists more for their music than any rival streaming service.
In a lengthy twitter post punctuated by the hashtag #TidalFacts, he continued: "Tidal pays 75 per cent royalty rate to ALL artists, writers and producers - not just the founding members on stage.
"Indie artists who want to work directly w/us keep 100 per cent of their music."
"The iTunes Store wasn't built in a day It took Spotify nine years to be successful.
"Tidal is doing just fine. We have over 770,000 subs . We have been in business less than one month.
"We are here for the long haul. Please give us a chance to grow and get better."
"We are human (even Daft Punk ha). We aren't perfect - but we are determined.(sic)"
Jay spoke out following criticism that fans didn't want to hear wealthy artists complain they weren't being paid enough by streaming services, while it has been claimed Apple executives have pledged that acts who put exclusive content on Tidal will no longer be promoted or featured on iTunes.

Lil Kim wants a cameo role on 'Empire'.
The 40-year-old rapper is a big fan of the hip-hop music industry drama and its star Taraji P. Henson - who plays reformed drug pusher and show matriarch Cookie Lyon - thinks a guest appearance from the singer would "break the Internet".
Taraji explained how Kim had direct messaged her on Twitter to ask about a guest role after learning she was Cookie's hero.
She added: "I was like, 'Trust me girl, I'm working on it.' That would break the internet."
If Kim does get a guest role, she will follow in the footsteps of Courtney Love and Naomi Campbell and Taraji was particularly impressed by the supermodel.
She said: "She was pretty down-to-earth. I complimented her on her shoes and, two days later, a pair arrived for me. But she didn't tell me where she got that hair from! That's all right Miss Naomi, I understand girl!"
Taraji admits she is stunned by some of the topics covered in the daring drama, which was created by Lee Daniels.
She told Grazia magazine: "When I read the script I couldn't believe a prime-time network was going to put it on TV.
"When we began filming, Lee would say, 'Oh my God, what are we doing?' And I'd reply, 'I don't know, but I'm glad to be part of it.' "

Markus Feehily is not in contact with his old Westlife bandmates.
The singer insists he doesn't "hate" Shane Filan, Nicky Byrne, or Kian Egan but they are all leading separate lives now they are no longer a part of the group.
He explained to BANG Showbiz: "We don't keep in touch as much as we used to. People just assume that means we must hate each other. One day people will believe it.
"It would be much more exciting if I said I hated them but it's not the case. The boring fact is we all like each other.
"I don't have a bad word to say about any of the Westlife lads. We all live in different cities if not different countries."
The 'Love is a Drug' singer thinks it is normal for them not to be in constant contact any more as they are able to focus on themselves and their own careers for the first time.
He said: "The difference is we all gave each other 100% for so long, now we are giving ourselves as individuals a 100%. That means we are not giving ourselves up to be quarter of a team anymore.
"We are focusing on our lives. Of course that means we don't see each other as much. But there is no badness."
And Markus doesn't think he will be working with any of his former bandmates again any time soon.
He added: Someone asked me if I'd like to do a duet with Shane and I was like, I've pretty much duetted with Shane for 14 years. I don't think any is going to be working with each other.
"We are all on our first album or this that and the other.
"But, I've always loved singing with the lads and that's something that wouldn't change if I sang with them again."
Markus' new single 'Love Is A Drug' is out now and his solo LP is due for release later this year.