Music News

Coldplay's 'A Sky Full of Stars' was inspired by Katy Perry.
The group's singer, Chris Martin, was fascinated by the way the 'Roar' hitmaker maintains a similar chord sequence with a "groove" on top and used a similar approach when writing the single.
He explained: "I'll tell you the truth: I was listening to a lot of Katy Perry.
"A lot of her songs have the same chord sequence the whole time. Your body feels comfortable with them and then the melody's changing on top so there's a groove you really get in to and then also you're kept interested... So I was like, 'That's an amazing way of doing songs.'"
And as well as the pop singer, Chris' love of electronic dance music (EDM) also played a key part in putting together the song.
Speaking on a new Beat x Beat webcast produced by Beats by Dre, he added: "That song really ended up being inspired by EDM, which some people turn their nose up and then you go to see an EDM thing and people are together and having the best time.
"So I was like f**k it! I love that stuff. So I wanted to have a song that comes from that world."
However, the 37-year-old musician had to enlist the help of Avicii to help get the song to sound the way he wanted it to.
He added: "But in terms of, 'I'd really like to jump up and down to this,' we don't really know what we're doing...
"He did a full Avicii version, we did a full Coldplay version, and we spent weeks weaving it all together."

Olly Murs was starstruck by some of the other acts on the Band Aid 30 single.
The 'Troublemaker' hitmaker admits it was a surreal experience to be in a studio with the likes of U2's Bono and Coldplay's Chris Martin while recording an updated version of 'Do They Know It's Christmas Time?' at the weekend but quickly got over his nerves and set about the task at hand.
Asked if he couldn't help but be amazed by his fellow singers, he said: "I think that was what it was like for the first half an hour.
"And then you need to get to the job. And the job we had was to sing, and sell this song.
"So yeah, first, initially, it was like, 'Wow, I'm in a room with Bono and Chris Martin from Coldplay,' but in the end you get over that and, you're like, 'It's time to get focused and get this song out there and do a good job on that.' And that was the aim."
Olly had an "amazing" experience recording the track - which will raise money for the Ebola crisis in West Africa - with the likes of Ed Sheeran, One Direction, Ellie Goulding and Paloma Faith and is honoured to be a part of history.
He told Billboard magazine: "You know what, it was great to come together with loads of other English acts and artists. It was amazing. We really had a good time doing it. The video, everything: It's incredible.
"Just to be featured on the song is great. I'm just really, really pleased. It was a really special moment for me and my family. I just really hope people around the world get behind the song."
And the 30-year-old star confirmed no one knew which line they had been given on the song until they saw the completed video.
He said: "No one knew. Even when they left [the studio]. We all just sung the song once or twice around. We just waited to see the video and saw our parts then."

The Band Aid 30 single raised £1 million in just five minutes.
Organiser and co-writer Bob Geldof admits the pre-release demand for the reworked version of 'Do They Know It's Christmas Time?' - which was debuted during 'The X Factor' results show on Sunday (16.11.14) has been "bonkers" and he is overwhelmed by the response so far.
He told BBC Radio 4: "It's gone manic. That's the digital age. We promoted the single on 'X Factor', Simon Cowell gave us five minutes of the show last night.
"Within four or five minutes of leaving the show we had a million quid. That's extraordinary.
"From what we're seeing now from iTunes it's gone bonkers. The pre-orders of the thing were ridiculous."
Within an hour of being made available for download yesterday (17.11.14), the track - which features stars including One Direction, Ed Sheeran, Bono, Elbow, Rita Ora and Ellie Goulding - was number one on the iTunes chart.
A physical release will be available from December 8, costing £4. All proceeds will go towards helping the Ebola crisis in West Africa.
Meanwhile, the Boomtown Rats frontman laughed off claims he had been "snubbed" by Adele, who refused to take his calls asking her to appear on the track, insisting he respected her current wish to stay out of the spotlight.
He said: "Adele is just parked off.
"She's not writing, she's not recording, she's not doing interviews, she's not doing gigs - she is somewhere else in her life.
"I didn't ring her because I didn't have her number. I would have if I'd had her number, but then she'd have had to explain to me and you don't have to explain to me!
"If that's what you want to do, it's completely correct that you do that, and her manager - who's a very funny guy and a very nice guy says 'she doesn't even pick up the phone to me, you know?'
"And that's right - that is where she's at and there's lots of artists like that so, you know, absolutely fair play."

Mary J. Blige claims the music industry hates "strong and independent women".
The 'Family Affair" hitmaker slammed the treatment of female artists and claims she "fought hard" against attempts from industry bosses who tried to encourage her to sleep around to get to the top.
She said: "They hate strong and independent women.
"I never slept with anyone to get where I am, but they were after me to do that. I fought hard over that."
Despite breaking into the industry back in 1992, Mary insists the problem is worse than ever.
She said: "It's definitely got worse."
The 43-year-old singer - who released her debut album 'What's The 411?' aged 21 - confessed she didn't feel "comfortable" as an artist starting out and has finally learnt to be more "accepting" of herself.
Speaking to Stella magazine, she added: "This is the best time in my life. I'm becoming freer, i'm accepting the things I can't change and I'm not going to apologise for who I am. In my twenties, I wasn't comfortable in my own skin. I didn't like the way I looked, I didn't like me, and I always played myself short to make everybody else happy."

Ed Sheeran will perform at London's Wembley Stadium in July 2015.
The 23-year-old singer will play his first stadium headline show at the iconic building on July 10 2015, which will be the Grammy nominee's final European show in 2015.
Commenting on the announcement, he said: "I've made no secret recently of my ambition to play Wembley Stadium on my own in front of 80,000 people, so I am absolutely over the moon to be able to announce it's going to happen next summer.
"It's going to be amazing, I just can't wait."
The show will mark the end of the crooner's world tour in support of his triple-platinum certified second album 'X' which was released in June. The record - which features the hit singles 'Sing' and 'Thinking Out Loud' - has been named as the biggest and fastest-selling record of 2014 in the UK, having topped the charts for eight consecutive weeks.
Tweeting about the announcement, he added: "If you missed my big announcement it was that I'm ending the multiple tour at Wembley stadium next year playing solo, should be pretty fun (sic)."
Earlier this year, Ed - who features in the Band Aid 30 single which premiered on 'The X Factor' last night (16.11.14) - sold out a string of 21 arena shows, playing to 275,000 people.
The Brit Award-winner will return to London for his final show of the tour after completing dates across Europe, US, Asia, Australia and New Zealand.
Tickets for Ed Sheeran at Wembley Stadium will be available to O2 priority customers at 9am on November 26, with general sale tickets being released at 9am on November 28

Slipknot are to headline Download Festival 2015.
The 'Wait and Bleed' hitmakers are thrilled to be returning to Donnington Park for the third time on the opening night of the rock festival, which runs between June 12-14.
Frontman Corey Taylor said: "Being invited back to Download always feels like coming home. Headlining Download, for the 3rd time, feels like the culmination of a life's dream. It's an honour, a privilege and we're all looking forward to it."
Joining Slipknot as main support act for June 12 will be Judas Priest, while Black Stone Cherry and Five Finger Death Punch will also perform that night.
The other two headliners are expected to be announced later this week.
The 2014 festival saw Avenged Sevenfold, Aerosmith and Linkin Park top the bill.
And fans who don't wait to wait until June to see Slipknot will be able to see them perform in January when they tour the UK with Korn on their 'Prepare For Hell' tour, which kicks off in Sheffield on January 16.
The group will also perform in Glasgow, Newcastle, Manchester, Liverpool, London, Cardiff and Nottingham before finishing up in Birmingham on January 27.

S Club 7 are considering recording new music.
The seven-piece pop group - comprised of Bradley McIntosh, Hannah Spearitt, Jo O'Meara, Jon Lee, Paul Cattermole, Rachel Stevens and Tina Barrett - revealed today (17.11.14) that they will take to the stage for the first time in 12 years for a tour of UK arenas in 2015, and have also suggested that they may record new tracks or an album if the series of shows is successful.
When asked if they would like to work on new tracks together, Jo told BANG Showbiz: "Who knows? Yeah?"
Paul continued: "We have nothing planned at the moment for new music.
"We're going to concentrate on the hits that got us where we are, the ones that are classics with the fans, but you never know."
Former 'Strictly Come Dancing' contestant, Rachel, added: "Watch this space!"
On whether the 'Don't Stop Movin' hitmakers would be performing any of their individual solo tracks on their tour, Bradley explained it was an idea which they are still thinking about.
He explained: "I think a lot of this stuff is up for discussion, we've still got to walk about what songs we want to perform."
Paul added: "I think in the classic social media thing of the way things are these days, we're allowing the fans to say and give us advice, to say what they want to hear."
The band split up in 2003 following a career which saw them release four studio albums and rack up 10 million global record sales, but Rachel went on to have a successful solo career with the 2003 album 'Funky Dory' and 2005's 'Come and Get It', spawning hit singles 'Some Girls' and 'Sweet Dreams My LA Ex'.
On whether she has any plans to make any more solo hits, Rachel said: "You never know! At the moment we're all together concentrating on this, and as Bradley said we haven't worked out how it will work with solo numbers and things, but I would love to. I guess we'll just see what happens."

One Direction aren't upset their new album has leaked online.
The 'Steal My Girl' quintet release latest LP 'Four' today (17.11.14) but many fans have already heard some of the songs thanks to unauthorised versions being posted on the internet and though they think it's "crazy" it happens every time they have new music, the group don't worry too much.
Liam Payne said: "It's crazy that it happens every time but we try not to get too a***y about it."
Harry Styles added: "Usually it's a couple of days before but this time it was over a week."
One track on the album the group - which also includes Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan - are particularly pleased with is '18', which was written by their friend Ed Sheeran.
Liam told The Sun newspaper: "He sent the song through to Simon Cowell, who sat down with him. It's a great song. It tied into some of the bits we had missed when we were writing the album.
"It was one of the later ones we recorded but it fitted in so well. It's top dollar."
Earlier this year, the 'Little Things' singers embarked on a huge global stadium tour and they enjoyed playing massive venues because it meant they could do fewer shows and have more free time.
Liam said: "We got more time out and got to do a lot more in a lot of countries. This will be the tour we will all remember."

Bette Midler has announced her first UK tour in 35 years.
The 'Wind Beneath My Wings' hitmaker - who last performed in Britain in 1979 and 1980 - will perform five shows in July 2015 in support of her latest album 'It's The Girls'.
And as well as tracks from the record - a tribute to iconic girl groups through the ages - Bette, 68, will also treat fans to numbers from her extensive back catalogue.
She said: "I have always loved visiting and working in the UK. It will be a thrill to finally do a proper UK tour and be back performing here."
The tour kicks off on July 9, 2015 at Birmingham's Barclaycard Arena and calls at Manchester, Glasgow and Leeds before ending at London's The O2 on July 18.
Fans who have purchased 'It's The Girls!' from Bette's online store before 3pm on November 20 will be given the first opportunity to buy tickets for the gigs, ahead of them going on general sale on November 21.
Bette recently admitted she initially refused to record 'Wind Beneath My Wings', which went on to be her biggest hit.
She said: When I first heard 'Wind Beneath my Wings', I thought, 'I'm not singing that.'
"[Long-time friend and producer] Marc Shaiman insisted and it was the biggest hit of my career."

Bette Midler's 2015 UK Tour dates:
09 July - Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham
11 July - Phones 4u Arena, Manchester
13 July - SSE Hydro, Glasgow
15 July - First Direct Arena, Leeds
18 July - The O2, London