Music News

Madonna wanted Mike Tyson on her new album because he's a "remarkable human being".
The pop superstar was determined to have the former world heavyweight champion boxer on the track 'Iconic' - taken from her 13th studio LP 'Rebel Heart' - despite facing criticism because of his troubled past, which includes a conviction for rape.
Madonna, 56, has revealed wanted to work with 'Iron' Mike because epitomises what it means to turn your life around.
In an exclusive interview with The Sun newspaper, she said: "He's gone through a lot. I think his evolution is quite interesting. I knew him when he was married to Robin Givens.
"I've seen all the trials and tribulations he's been through. He's a changed man. He's been through a lot. He's suffered a lot.
"He's made other people suffer. But I think he's a truly remarkable human being. I think he's a role model. He's the perfect example of how you can come from a very bleak upbringing, with no education, make mistakes and turn your life around."
The thing that convinced Madonna to work with Mike was the one man show, 'Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth', he developed with Spike Lee in which he bared his soul.
She explained: "I saw his one-man show that Spike Lee directed for HBO. I was really impressed with his honesty, his wit and charm. He seemed to be very remorseful. I thought, 'That's a man.' "
Mike, 48, recently recalled a double date he went on with his ex-wife Robin and Madonna her first husband Sean Penn in the 1980s that resulted in the two men falling asleep.
The revered ex-pugilist said: "We saw Pee Wee Herman's 'Big Top' ... We were with both of our significant others at the time, of course. It was in the 80s. She was married to Sean, I was married as well. Me and Sean fell asleep in the movie."

Madonna rehearsed her BRIT Awards performance "20,000 times".
The 56-year-old singer was closing the ceremony at London's O2 Arena last month when a cape she was wearing caused her to suffer a tumble on stage, and she has now revealed she "beat up" on herself for a week after the performance because of the mishap.
She explained: "I rehearse everything to death. I never do anything live that I haven't rehearsed.
"I tied it [the cape] with a silk string, we rehearsed in 20,000 times ... I pulled the string that time and it didn't come undone, it turned into a knot."
"No one beats up on me more than me, I have a lot of pride in doing shows well and not messing up and I did and that's really what I did, beat up on myself. That lasted pretty much the week."
And although the 'Living For Love' hitmaker has led an illustrious, 13-album career, she confessed she still gets anxious before shows, especially if her friends and family are in the audience.
She said: "If someone I know is in the audience I would get a little nervous."
One such nerve-wracking experience was the Super Bowl halftime show in 2012, when she performed a medley of her tracks in front of a reported 114 million viewers worldwide.
Speaking about the experience, she told SiriusXM DJ Howard Stern: "Oh my god, I was so nervous. S****ing myself."
Talking about how she felt after the performance, she added: "I was so relieved ... that I went to my locker room, lay down on the floor and cried."

Muse have announced their new album 'Drones'.
The LP - which will be their seventh - will be released in the UK on June 8, with frontman Matt Bellamy suggesting the record, which has been produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange, will follow the idea of human indoctrination.
In a statement posted on the band's website, he wrote: "To me, 'Drones' are metaphorical psychopaths which enable psychopathic behaviour with no recourse. The world is run by Drones utilizing Drones to turn us all into Drones. This album explores the journey of a human, from their abandonment and loss of hope, to their indoctrination by the system to be a human drone, to their eventual defection from their oppressors."
The first track to be heard from the 12-track album, 'Psycho', will premiere today (12.03.15), while the official single will be 'Dead Inside' which they have teased will debut on the week commencing March 23.
As well as the album, the trio have announced a last minute 'Psycho UK Tour' beginning on Sunday (15.03.15) in Belfast and ending in Brighton on March 23.
The band - which also features Chris Wolstenholme and Dom Howard - released their last album 'The 2nd Law' in 2012, featuring the singles 'Madness' and 'Survival'.

The tracklist for 'Drones':
1. 'Dead Inside'
2. '[Drill Sergeant]'
3. 'Psycho'
4. 'Mercy'
5. 'Reapers'
6. 'The Handler'
7. '[JFK]'
8. 'Defector'
9. 'Revolt'
10. 'Aftermath'
11. 'The Globalist'
12. 'Drones'

Muse's 'Psycho UK Tour' dates:
15 March - Ulster Hall, Belfast
16 March - Barrowland, Glasgow
19 March - Newport Centre, Newport
20 March - The Great Hall, Exeter
22 March - Manchester Academy, Manchester
23 March - Brighton Dome, Brighton

Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams intend to appeal the 'Blurred Lines' court ruling.
The pair were sued by the family of the late singer Marvin Gaye on Tuesday (10.03.15) and ordered to pay $7.3 million (£4.8 million) in copyright infringement due to similarities to the Motown star's track 'Got To Give It Up', but their lawyer, Howard King, has insisted they "owe it to songwriters" to fight the verdict.
He told Fox Business: "We owe it to songwriters around the world to make sure this verdict doesn't stand.
"My clients know that they wrote the song 'Blurred Lines' from their hearts and souls and no other source.
"We are going to exercise every post trial remedy we have to make sure this verdict does not stand. We look at it as being in the seventh inning of a game that could go into extra innings."
As well as claiming the sum of money from Robin and Pharrell, Marvin's family are calling for sales of the track - which is one of the best-selling songs of all time - to be halted while they come to an agreement about how future profits should be split.
While the pair flatly refuse any wrong-doing, Robin spoke about their inspiration with DJ Trevor Nelson in 2013, admitting they went into the studio with the intention of making something similar to the 1977 hit.
Speaking on BBC Radio 1Xtra, he said: "I went into the studio and I told Pharrell, I'd love to do something like Marvin Gaye's 'Got To Give It Up', and Marvin Gaye's song is in the minor key, and so he started doing the drums and then we changed it to a major key, which makes it more like a country song. It was totally inspired [by the song]."

The Shires think Taylor Swift made country music "cool".
The British country duo - which is made up of Crissie Rhodes and Ben Earle - believe they have the 'Blank Space' hitmaker to thank for bringing the music genre into the forefront.
They said: "Taylor Swift is really the artist over the last few years who has put the ball up for anyone to hit in terms of making country cool. I mean she has just made it so cool. She's an absolute star...
"So hats off to her, she's the one who should be held up there, because she's incredible. The new stuff as well. I know a lot of the purist country fans have gone, 'Oh, she's gone pop,' but it's great. I think it still has that country sensibility."
The duo - who recently made UK chart history by becoming the first British country band to reach the top 10 in the Official UK Album Chart with their debut LP 'Brave' - have admitted they are not quite sure whether they will follow in the footsteps of the 25-year-old star and change their sound as their career progresses.
Speaking to the Official Charts, they added: "I don't know what the future holds in terms of where we will go with our sound, but I think we'll always be country at our core because that's what we love about music.
"We always focus on the song and that honesty and whatever comes out, comes out. If our tastes start to change and we start listening to other stuff, then maybe."

Sam Smith would have "cried and crawled off stage" if he fell during his BRIT Awards performance.
The 'Stay With Me' hitmaker has insisted he would not be able to "power through" like Madonna did, when she suffered a nasty fall whilst on stage at the ceremony.
He said: "I used to fall up the escalator on the tube all the time. I'd do what every guy does and look back as if there's something wrong with the ground.
"I like to think if I'd been like Madonna and fallen at the BRITs I'd have powered through, but chances are I'd have cried and crawled off stage."
The 22-year-old star also revealed he is getting back into "work mode", after celebrating his awards haul of four Grammys and 2 BRITs and is focusing on writing and recording new tracks again.
He told Stylist magazine: "The BRITs was amazing but I feel like I've celebrated enough now.
"Since the Grammys I've had a couple of weeks flapping about not actually writing any music, it's time to get back into work mode."
Despite having recovered fully from his BRITs hangover by "eating cheese", the singer was forced to cancel his gig in Milan, Italy after suffering from a bout of laryngitis.
He wrote on Twitter: "I'm sorry to any fans in Milan tonight and to all who have travelled from abroad. I have laryngitis. I promise I will make it up to you x
"Milan I'm back in June and I will sing the hardest I've ever sung. That's a promise x (sic)"

Marvin Gaye's daughter is glad the "legacy" of her father has been upheld.
Nona Gaye has been celebrating a jury's ruling that Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke must pay $7.3 million for plagiarising her father's 1977 hit 'Got To Give It Up' with their track 'Blurred Lines'.
She told the New York Daily News: "It's a beautiful day when you can sit in a courtroom and have justice stand.
"I feel free from the pain. It felt like a painful joke, those two years knowing our song was copied and not getting any serious feedback from their side. That's our father, that's what he left for us, our legacy."
Nona and her brother Frankie have also requested that sales of the hit track cease until a decision is made about how the future profits will be divided up.
Richard Busch, the attorney for the Gaye family said: "We'll be asking the court to enter an injunction prohibiting the further sale and distribution of 'Blurred Lines' unless and until we can reach an agreement with those guys on the other side about how future monies that are received will be shared.
"We'll be doing that in about a week or so."

Madonna wouldn't accept a lifetime achievement prize if it were offered to her.
The 56-year-old singer has revealed she would not be keen to be presented with such an accolade because she believes she has so much more music to create.
When questioned as to whether she would accept such an award, she said: "I've got lots of life left to live. Offer it to me in 100 years and I might reconsider."
The refusal comes just weeks after the star suffered a painful on-stage tumble at the BRIT Awards ceremony at London's O2 Arena during a performance of her single 'Living For Love', when she was pulled to the ground by an Armani cape she had been unable to untie.
While disappointed the show had been overshadowed by the accident, Madonna admitted she was also frustrated and confused by designer Giorgio Armani's subsequent comments, in which he said she was "very difficult" to work with.
She explained to The Sun newspaper: "I don't know why he said that. I was surprised. I thought we had a good relationship. When I read it, I was like: 'Oh really?'
"He made me a lovely outfit. I was very appreciative of it. After the performance, he sent me flowers.
"He thanked me and said he hoped I was OK and applauded me for getting back up on the stage."

Charli XCX thinks Kanye West is the best artist of her generation.
The raven-haired singer praised the 'All Day' rapper following his recent performances at the Grammy and BRIT Awards, and admitted she broke down in tears during his performance at the US ceremony last month because she is such a fan.
She confessed: "When I was at the Grammys, I was watching Kanye perform and I cried because I thought it was amazing. I was like, he's an artist, he's the biggest and best artist of my generation and I'm getting to watch him live."
However, the 22-year-old insisted she was sobbing because she was so "overwhelmed" by the experience of seeing him perform, and not because she was upset by the show.
She told 4Music: "I'd never seen him play before and I was very overwhelmed because I think he's brilliant."
The 'Boom Clap' hitmaker's comments come just months after she took to social media to reveal she believed the musician - who is married to Kim Kardashian West - is "the best".
Back in October she tweeted: "had such an intense kanye realisation last night - he is the best and probably always will be. (sic)"