Music News

Alex James wants Oasis to reform so they can be Blur's "support" act.
The Blur bassist is amused by brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher's ongoing war of words since they split in August 2009 and the never-ending reunion rumours surrounding the group.
Alex hopes the 'Wonderwall' hitmakers do put their differences aside because they'd be the perfect opening act for Blur - who recently released their first album in 12 years, 'The Magic Whip'.
Speaking about their rivalry, Alex quipped: "I hope they get back together. They can support us."
The 46-year-old musician's joke at the group follows a period of thawed relations between the two bands, who famously battled each other in the charts and traded barbs in interviews throughout the 90s. Their rivalry reached a low-point when Noel Gallagher stated he hoped Alex and Blur's frontman Damon Albarn "would catch AIDS and die".
However, in recent years they have all buried the hatchet, with Noel performing live with Damon and guitarist Graham Coxon, while Liam recently declared 'Lonesome Street' from 'The Magic Whip' is his favourite song of the year so far.
Speaking about the former Oasis singer's surprise praise for the track, Alex told The Independent Magazine: "Liam's come out and said 'Lonesome Street' is his favourite song of the year, God bless him. And Damon and Noel are quite good friends now. So, I think, let's focus on the positives. It's lovely that it's got a happy ending."

Ariana Grande has unofficially confirmed the title of her new album is 'Moonlight', after a fan private messaged her on Twitter and leaked the singer's response.
On Friday (29.05.15) the 'Love Me Harder' hitmaker teased some lyrics from the forthcoming LP on Twitter.
Her post read: "I'm tryna talk to u...... there's a boy... n i don't quite know... what to do. (sic)"
The 21-year-old pop star then denied the lyrics were from her [at the time] rumoured single 'Moonlight'.
She followed it up with the post that read: "That's not from moonlight.... it's from the intro oops .... I'll let u hear a bit of sum soon even tho we got a while to wait..... u know how i can't resist sharing w my babes. No one can stop me lmao. (sic)"
Website Digital Spy has reported that a fan direct messaged Ariana with a query which read: "Moonlight is a new song? Or the name of the new album? Love you queen. (sic)"
To which Ariana replied: "Both."
Another fan questioned the 'Bang Bang' hitmaker about the fresh material, prompting Ariana to reveal further details about the track 'Moonlight', including that it was co-written by Victoria Monet, who has worked with her before.
Ariana stated: "it's a song i wrote with victoria one night that is v near and dear to my heart. my favourite/ the most special song ive got to this day. The story behind it is pretty f**kin cute / wonderful too. I'll tell y'all one day (sic)"
Ariana has since changed her Twitter profile to simply read "moonlight".
No official statement has been made as to when the LP will be released, what the title is and whether 'Moonlight' will be the lead single.

The Rolling Stones could reportedly perform at Knebworth this summer.
The 'Satisfaction' hitmakers may return to the park in the middle of Hertfordshire, where the band - which includes Sir Mick Jagger, Ronnie Wood, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts - performed in 1976 in front of a crowd of more than 120,000 fans.
A band source told The Sun newspaper: "Their last gig of the summer is July 15 in Quebec, so it gives them around a month or so before Knebworth to fine-tune everything.
"The band want to make sure they don't clash with the bigger UK festivals so the most likely date they are throwing out there is August 15 - the Saturday before the V Festival.
"Nothing is a done deal yet. But if they pull it off it'll be a huge gig."
The 1976 concert is widely recognised as one of the band's most iconic gigs, and is famous for frontman Sir Mick apparently leaving a pair of his red undergarments in a room in the stately home surrounding the park.
A representative for the band is yet to confirm the concert rumour.

Ed Sheeran has written a song about his love of marijuana.
The 'Thinking Out Loud' singer - who's released a string of romance-driven songs over the last 12 months - debuted a new ballad titled 'Sweet Mary Jane' at the Forest Hills Stadium in New York about his love of smoking weed.
The 24-year-old star sung: "I woke up early looking out my window at the Amsterdam sky / Oh baby, I was high last night / Cafe clouds and red lights."
He continued: "I'm so damn high/ Have you seen my eyes?"
The Brit has been in the US on his 'X' tour and the New York crowd reportedly loved the edgy performance, enjoying the shift in subject matter from singing about heartbreak to singing about marijuana.
The Grammy Award-winning artist ended the set with a version of 50 Cent's 'In Da Club', and a cover of Iggy Azalea and Charli XCX's 'Fancy'.
'Sweet Mary Jane' was praised by a number of Ed's fans, with one writing: "How does Ed Sheeran make a song about smoking weed sound so lovely."
However, others were less than impressed, commenting: "Ed needs to lay off the alcohol and weed. Seems like he's getting a little too caught up in the things that could lead to his downfall."

The 1975 have sparked split rumours after frontman Matt Healy wrote a cryptic message on Twitter.
The 26-year-old singer took to the social networking site to post a cartoon showing interaction between two characters and a mysterious statement which hinted that the group have either gone on hiatus or disbanded completely.
The message read: "Our projected identity must change not only visually but philosophically - how do you do that? Firstly we must reclaim our identity & repossess our control of it...Until then there won't be any pop music or dancing with long hair.
"The hardest part of any relationship is to say goodbye. As much as we might like things to stay the same, change is an inevitable part of life. We can't simply go on forever - always staying the same, never evolving. So we must leave, with a parting 'we love you' - we are already gone."
Shortly after the message appeared on Twitter, the group - also made up of Adam Hann, George Daniel, and Ross MacDonald - deleted all their social media accounts.
The alleged split may come as a shock to fans of the 'Chocolate' hitmakers as they had previously hinted their second album was in the pipeline following the release of their debut offering, entitled 'The 1975', in 2013.
Last January, Matt shared a blurred photo of a playlist with the caption "The 1975-2" before confirming that the band were working on their second record shortly afterwards.

Diplo doesn't care if anybody "leaks" his music.
The 36-year-old DJ has shunned the music industry's battle against music piracy by saying he isn't bothered whether people pay for his music, because he makes such little money from it anyway.
He said: "I don't care if anybody - and you can quote me on this - trades my records, leaks my records. I don't care.
"I can't make money off the sales, but I'll make money off doing shows, or selling merchandise."
However, the 'Where Are U Now' hitmaker - whose real name is Thomas Wesley Pentz - admitted he is more bothered about raising the profile of dancehall music than making money from his albums, because he thinks it's such an unappreciated genre.
He explained: "People don't respect dancehall in general - they don't treat it like real music.
"Everybody is sampling it, everybody is taking the culture. Even rap. Kanye's 'Yeezus' had three or four dancehall features on it, though you don't really know they are there."
And while the musician has become better known for his high-profile online spats, such as a recent argument with an artist whose GIF he used without crediting, he insisted all publicity is good for him.
He told The Sunday Times newspaper: "I'm, like, clickbait. I saw it with the GIF thing - I got more followers. People who didn't know who I am known who I am now, even if they hate me. Is that a bad thing? Actually, no, in 2015 it's not. Kanye proved that. All you need to do is be in their minds."

Mariah Carey likes to prepare for her shows in "rainforest-like conditions".
The 'We Belong Together' hitmaker has reportedly demanded her dressing room be surrounded by humidifiers to protect her voice during her two month-residency in Las Vegas.
A source shared: "Mariah's totally stunned staff with her backstage demands. She asked for 40 humidifiers around her dressing so she can prepare for her shows in rainforest-like conditions - the moisture is believed to help the vocal cords. She's banned anyone who comes within two feet of her from wearing man-made fibres, and has asked for 15 butterflies in gold leaf to be painted on the walls of her dressing room."
The 45-year-old beauty is also hoping to get back in shape after it was claimed she put on one and a half stone following her split from her husband of six years Nick Cannon - with whom she has four-year-old twins Monroe and Moroccan - last year.
An insider revealed to Closer magazine: "Mariah's itching to look her best again and knows she needs to get her diet back on track. She has told backstage staff to prepare platters of only blue and purple-coloured foods, such as aubergines and blackberries, for her to snack on."

Sir Elton John is a Clean Bandit fan.
The 'Rather Be' hitmakers were shocked when they were recently approached by the legendary singer/songwriter at the Ivor Novello awards in London, where the 'Candle in the Wind' singer admitted he likes their music and sang their Grammy-winning single back to them.
Band member Grace Chatto told BANG Showbiz: "Elton John sang some of 'Rather Be' to me which was amazing! I wouldn't say he's an obsessive fan, but he said he really likes the music and yeah, that was really exciting."
However, the group - which also features Jack Patterson, Luke Patterson and Neil Amin-Smith - admitted not all of their celebrity encounters have led to complements for their music, as Taylor Swift failed to mention their hits when she met them earlier this year.
Grace continued: "Taylor Swift we did bump into a lot at the Grammys at various after parties but she didn't tell us she was a fan."
Meanwhile, the quartet - who released their debut album 'New Eyes' last year - said they are currently hard at work on their second LP, but are finding it tough to find time to write and record while still keeping up with their hectic touring schedule.
Speaking at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend, Grace added: "We don't really know what the vibe of the album's going to be yet, we're just kind of writing loads of stuff with different people and yeah, we're not really thinking of the album as a whole at the moment. It's quite a sporadic process being in the studio because we're touring so much."
Performances from BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend Norwich 2015 are available to watch on demand on Radio 1's BBC iPlayer channel.

Union J have had a premonition in which former One Direction star Zayn Malik joined their band.
The 'Carry You' hitmakers revealed band members Josh Cuthbert and JJ Hamblett both had dreams about the 22-year-old hunk requesting to become part of the group, following his decision to leave One Direction in March.
JJ told BANG Showbiz: "I had a dream that he [Zayn] was going to join our band the other day and Josh had the same dream as well. So Zayn if you are reading, please?"
When asked what they thought of fellow One Direction member Liam Payne saying Zayn left the band to spend more time with his fiancée Little Mix's Perrie Edwards, they insisted their group will always come first and they'd never leave the band for a girl.
When questioned about the prospect, George Shelley said: "No never. We are a tight unit. He had his reasons and fair play."
The band have also teased a "big announcement" coming in the next week which is going to blow their fans' minds.
He added: "We've got a big announcement this week, which is going to be really exciting for the fans and for us and it's going to be really good."
The band - who recently supported The Vamps on their world tour and played two sold out nights at London's O2 Arena - said they are currently working on their next album and are getting prepared for more promo.
Talking about the future of the band, the 'You've Got It All' singers said: "We are in the studio writing, doing photo shoots and getting ready for the next wave. We are just in the studio working on the next album. "