Music News

Simon Cowell will let One Direction go solo - as long as they don't split up.
The 55-year-old music mogul - who put the group together on 'The X Factor' in 2010 - is happy for Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson to work on other projects, as long as it is just "on the side" and doesn't affect their main job as part of the chart-topping boy band.
Speaking at last night's (25.02.15) BRIT Awards with MasterCard, he told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "You can't knock what One Direction are doing. They're making great records and I think that's why they're still so popular.
"I hear speculation all the time that they're going solo. My advice is they should stay together but still do things they want as a little bit on the side."
Earlier in the evening, Simon was on hand to collect the 'Steal My Girl' hitmaker's award for British Artist Video of the Year for 'You and I', after touring commitments meant the band were currently in Japan.
Accepting the gong, he said: "This is so exciting. But Sam [Smith] you can't win everything tonight.
"The boys are in Japan and they kind of made up this speech incase they did win and they wanted to, first of all, say hello to everybody. They want to thank their fans for voting, because they do have the best fans in the world...
"I'm incredibly excited and I want to officially say thank you to the boys for being just amazing. It's a great video; I'm absolutely thrilled. Thank you everyone for voting."

Adam Lambert wants to work with Sam Smith and Ed Sheeran.
The Queen singer has revealed he's in awe of British talent at the moment and would love to get in the studio with some of the UK's biggest artists.
Speaking to the Daily Mirror newspaper about Sam, Ed, Ella Eyre and Jess Glyne at the BRIT Awards last night (25.02.15), he said: "There's a lot of great singers here tonight. The UK is pumping out incredible vocalists.
"If there's a popular singer right now, it's probably coming out of here."
The 33-year-old star also spoke about his upcoming electronic and dance album but refused to reveal who he'd been working with.
He teased: "I have some collaborations but I can't really talk about them yet unfortunately."
Meanwhile, Sam and Ed were the big winners at the annual awards ceremony in London with Ed taking home the British Male Solo Artist prize and Mastercard British Album of the Year for 'X'.
Sam, meanwhile, was presented with the British Breakthrough Act and Global Success accolades.

Madonna finds rumours of a feud with Lady Gaga "boring".
The 'Living For Love' singer - who performed at the BRIT Awards in London last night (25.02.15) - was believed to have a strong rivalry with the 28-year-old musician after suggesting her hit single 'Born This Way' ripped off her track 'Express Yourself', but has once again quashed speculation, branding it "boring".
She said: "The only time I ever criticised Lady Gaga was when I felt like she blatantly ripped off one of my songs. It's got nothing to do with 'she's taking my crown' or 'she's in some space of mine'. She has her thing.
"I do think she's a very talented singer and songwriter. It was just that one issue. And everybody's obviously running with it and turned it into a huge feud, which I think is really boring, quite frankly."
The 56-year-old - who will release her 13th studio album 'Rebel Heart' next month - instead insisted she thinks it's key to support fellow female artists instead of speculating and fuelling rivalry.
She continued: "I don't think she wants my crown.
"We live in a world where people like to pit women against each other.
"And this is why I love the idea of embracing other females who are doing what I'm doing. It's important for us to support each other."
The iconic performer also teased a "plan" to end rumours of the pair's alleged hatred of each other, prompting suggestions she is keen to collaborate with the 'Do What U Want' hitmaker.
She told Rolling Stone magazine: "And you know what? I don't care anymore. Here's the thing - one day everyone's going to shut up about it. You'll see! I have a plan."

Ed Sheeran was "really worried" about his latest album, despite picking up the BRIT Award for MasterCard British Album of the Year for 'X'.
The 'Thinking Out Loud' hitmaker was honoured with the prestigious gong at tonight's (25.02.15) BRITs ceremony and admitted it had been a "very very good year" for British music.
In his acceptance speech, he said: "Thank you so much for this. I was really worried about this album, making it - it took a long time to make - and to be happy with it. I didn't expect this.
"What I will say though is it's been a very very good year for British music and it's a time to celebrate the whole thing. I don't think a statue gives justification to people's success.
"I think the sales and the accreditation, tickets, everything gives people success. The statue is wonderful; thank you so much for it. Just keeping making music! Sick, nice one!"
After he left the stage, the 24-year-old chatted to the show's hosts Ant & Dec and joked that he wanted to "flog" his award.
He said: "I know you have to engrave it but it's a Tracey Emin so I could probably flog it so can I keep it?
"They usually take it off you and send you it."
Ant then told Ed: "You have it and leg it out of here!"
Ed also picked up a gong for British Male Solo Artist.

Sam Smith and Ed Sheeran were the big winners at tonight's (25.02.15) BRIT Awards with MasterCard.
The 'Money on My Mind' hitmaker received the British Breakthrough Act gong as well as the Global Success Award for his international accomplishments whilst the 'Thinking Out Loud' hitmaker ensured his wins tied with Sam, beating him for both the prestigious MasterCard British Album of the Year award as well as British Male Solo Artist.
Speaking after his win, Sam told BANG Showbiz: "This is déjà vu, I was here last year. This is amazing and [the trophies] are so beautiful."
The 22-year-old singer also praised his fellow artist, Ed Sheeran, adding: "I'm so happy that Ed Sheeran won those awards, I truly think he deserves them."
Fans were treated to performances from some of the music industry's top artists including BRIT Award 2015 winners Royal Blood and Paloma Faith.
Taylor Swift - dressed in a formal black outfit - kicked off proceedings with 'Blank Space' whilst later on, Kanye West provided a memorable performance of 'All Day', complete with fire cannons.
Madonna ensured the event ended with a bang with a rendition of her track 'Living For Love'.
Meanwhile, Ed, 24, admitted winning wasn't what he was "used to" and thought Sam would was guaranteed to pick up the awards he ended up winning.
He told BANG Showbiz: "I win now and then but winning isn't really a thing I'm used to.
"To be honest I thought Sam was going to get Album or Male, so it's nice to get both."
And he couldn't be happier to win the prestigious Album of the Year gong, after previously losing out to Adele.
He added: "I think this is the award that every British musician who's ever been up for a BRIT would like.
"I was up for it before but Adele was up for it as well so that was a written off thing. I'm glad this time I won."

The full winners list for the 2015 BRIT Awards with MasterCard is as follows:

British Male Solo Artist - Ed Sheeran

British Female Solo Artist - Paloma Faith

British Group - Royal Blood

British Breakthrough Act - Sam Smith

Critics' Choice - James Bay

British Single - Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars, 'Uptown Funk'

Mastercard British Album of the Year - Ed Sheeran, 'x'

British Artist Video of the Year - One Direction, 'You & I'

International Male Solo Artist - Pharrell Williams

International Female Solo Artist - Taylor Swift

International Group - Foo Fighters

Global Success - Sam Smith

Ne-Yo doesn't think he'd exist without Usher.
The 32-year-old singer explained the 'Climax' hitmaker has been a huge influence on his career and believes he has helped other R'n'B musicians including Chris Brown and Trey Songz to flourish.
Speaking about Usher after he was presented with the BET Honors Musical Arts Award, he said: "I feel that without Usher, there would be no me, there would be no Chris Brown, there would be no Trey Songz. He paved the way for us, so for him to get that honour was kind of special for me. I feel that he actually deserved it."
The 'Let Me Love You' singer - who recently released his sixth studio album 'Non-Fiction' - has previously been rumoured to be feuding with the 36-year-old star, although as well as praising him, he played down speculation by explaining there is no rivalry between the pair.
He added: "Usher getting honoured was kind of dope for me because a lot of people kind of want us as R&B males to be at each other's throats. I don't know why that is. They want this competition between us, but I don't feel any competition towards Usher."
The BET Honors will air on Saturday February 28 at 9pm on BET.

Ed Sheeran has teased a "surprise performer" for the BRIT Awards.
The 24-year-old singer has revealed he knows about a secret performance which will happen at the prestigious ceremony at the O2 Arena in London this evening (25.02.15) but is not prepared to reveal the act's identity.
Speaking to Capital Breakfast with Dave Berry and Lisa Snowdon, he revealed: "There is a surprise performer that I know about, only because their manager emailed to say they were in town, and I was like, 'Oh, really?!' So yeah, there is a surprise performer."
The 'Thinking Out Loud' hitmaker will perform his new single 'Bloodstream' at the televised event - while other confirmed acts include Madonna, Kanye West, Taylor Swift, Sam Smith, Royal Blood, Take That, George Ezra and Paloma Faith - and admitted he is looking forward to singing, but isn't too keen on finding out whether he has been victorious in any of the four categories in which he is nominated, including MasterCard British Album and British Male Solo Artist.
He explained: "Performing for me is like the bit I really enjoy. The bit I hate is sitting there waiting to see whether you've got validation by the industry that you fund! That's what I don't like!"
And while he isn't yet sure whether he will have anything to celebrate, the star will be heading to an after party with his family and girlfriend, model Athina Andrelos, following the ceremony, but is nervous about ending up surrounded by strangers.
He added: "I'll hang out with them and my friends. I think the worst case scenario is that I'll end up surrounded by well known people, who I have no idea who they are. You know ... I do know who they are, but I don't know them. I think that's my worst case scenario to be honest with you, I wanna celebrate it with people I love."

Backstreet Boys will record new music this year.
The five-piece band - featuring J. McLean, Howie Dorough, Nick Carter, Kevin Richardson and Brian Littrell - released 'In a World Like This' in 2013, and have promised to get back into the studio later this year.
They revealed: "Our music is always evolving. We're getting ready to go back into the studio later this year."
As well as a new album for their fans, the 'I Want it That Way' hitmakers admitted they recently agreed to a deal with concert promoters Live Nation to perform 150 tour dates around the world in the near future.
They added: "We just signed a deal with Live Nation to do 150 shows in the next three years."
The group - whose movie 'Backstreet Boys: Show 'Em What You're Made Of' will hit UK cinemas tomorrow (26.02.15) - added their best piece of advice for new boy bands is to always communicate with their bandmates.
Speaking on ITV's 'Loose Women', they added: "Communication was probably the biggest saviour for us. We all came from individual backgrounds, but when you're in a team, it's not about 'I', it's about the 'we'. There's a lot of give and take, you have to become almost selfless when you're in a group."

Hideout Festival's full line-up has been announced. Maceo Plex, Apollonia, Bicep and 30 more artists have been added to the line-up for the beach-based festival in Croatia, which will feature headline performances from Duke Dumont, Eats Everything, Go...