Music News

London Grammar have received four nominations for the Association of Independent Music (AIM) awards. The three-piece group, who formed in 2012, have been nominated for Best Album, Best Indie Breakthrough, Live Act and Track of the Year for 'Strong', ...

Lady Gaga has been given a stuffed toy of her dog Asia during her tour of Japan.
The 28-year-old pop superstar is in the Far East country to play two nights at the Chiba Marine Stadium in Tokyo tonight (13.08.14) and Thursday (14.08.14) but has been pining for her pet French bulldog who she had to leave behind in the US.
But one loyal Japanese fan recreated Asia as a soft toy and presented it to Gaga, much to the dog-lover's delight.
Accompanied by an Instagram image of her holding the toy, Gaga wrote on Twitter: "A Japanese monster gave me a stuffy Asia I'm bringing her everywhere I love my fans. #DONKIHOTEqueen (sic)"
Although Gaga is desperately missing her "little bucket" - her nickname for the pooch - it seems Asia is doing OK without her famous owner, who revealed she had been for a ride in a fire-engine this week on Twitter.
The 'Applause' hitmaker is enjoying every moment of her trip to Japan so far, naming capital city Tokyo as her favourite place in the world.
She tweeted: "ARTPOP is a bit success in Japan, and I'm so happy to be here with them to celebrate ... Tokyo , my favorite place. Aphrodite took a hit of love and went to a disco in the future. (sic)"
Following the two concerts in Tokyo, Gaga then takes her 'ArtRave: The Artpop Ball' tour to the Olympic Stadium in Seoul, South Korea, on August 16.

S Club 7 star Paul Cattermole has revealed the S Club 7 reunion is "god damn close".
It was reported earlier this week that the singer and his former bandmates - Rachel Stevens, Hannah Spearritt, Jo O'Meara, Tina Barrett, Jon Lee and Bradley McIntosh - are to reform under the guidance of pop manager Simon Fuller 11 years after they split. Paul is the first member to publicly address the claim and although he is refusing to confirm the news he has admitted that talks have occurred and plans are very near to being finalised.
In a series of Twitter posts, he said: "Big thanks too everyone for your support with the S club Re-union ... Sorry guy's I'm not confirming the S's Re-union . I'm just saying thanks coz there have been thousands of messages over the last year ... But it's God Damn close, I can almost ... Reach ... The sword... (sic)"
According to The Sun newspaper, the S Club 7 reunion will be overseen by Simon's XIX Entertainment - the company which also looks after Victoria and David Beckham, Lewis Hamilton and Will Young.
In recent years Jo, Bradley, Tina and Paul have performed the group's songs under the name S Club 4.

Celine Dion has cancelled all her live shows to care for her sick husband.
The 46-year-old singer has postponed her Las Vegas residency, axed her tour of Asia and pulled out of any other commitments for the foreseeable future so she can support her spouse René Angélil, who had a cancerous tumour removed from his throat last December.
In a statement to PEOPLE, Celine said: "I want to devote every ounce of my strength and energy to my husband's healing, and to do so, it's important for me to dedicate this time to him and to our children. I also want to apologise to all my fans everywhere, for inconveniencing them, and I thank them so much for their love and support ... at this very difficult and stressful time.
The 'One Heart' singer - who has three children with René, 13-year-old son René-Charles and three-year-old fraternal twins Eddy and Nelson - has been suffering from inflammation of her throat muscles in recent weeks which has presented her from singing at Caesars Palace Hotel and Casino since July 29.
Following his surgery, René, 72, relinquished his position as his wife's manager this year, handing over control of Celine's career to his long-time friend and frequent collaborator Aldo Giampaolo - who has worked with the couple for 25 years.
Aldo is the CEO of Feeling Productions, Celine's management company, while René will continue in his position as chairman of the board.

Kings of Leon have been forced to cancel more live shows.
The 'Sex on Fire' singers - who postponed their New York gig over the weekend - have been forced to cancel their tour dates until August 26 after drummer Nathan Followill suffered broken ribs when a pedestrian jumped in front of the group's tour bus forcing it to make an emergency stop.
The rockers - who were scheduled to perform in New York, Virginia, Ohio, Indiana and New Hampshire - cancelled the eight shows to aid the 35-year-old's recovery, after doctors at the Mount Sinai Roosevelt Hospital in New York insisted he rests, reports MTV news.
Nathan said in a statement: "I'm counting down the days until I can get back in the saddle and continue what has been our best American tour so far."
The group announced the news of the accident on their Facebook page, writing: "The band was en route to their hotel after their show in Boston when a pedestrian jumped in front of their tour bus, causing the bus to stop short, injuring Nathan Followill.
"Nathan is being treated for broken ribs, but is doing well."
Following the news, Nathan was inundated with messages of support from fans and has promised to be back "better than ever".
He tweeted: "Thank you for all of the get well soons. I'm a little banged up but will be back better than ever. (sic)"
Guitarist Jared Followill - Nathan's brother - admitted he felt "so sad" about the accident, especially because the band are enjoying the tour so much.
He tweeted: "So sad this a.m.. Bus accident last night. Nathan has broken ribs. This was the most fun tour in a while. We'll be back ASAP. #GetWellNate (sic)"

Jessie J wants to collaborate with Lady Gaga.
The 'Domino' hitmaker has revealed she wold love to have a conversation with the "far from normal" singer to get an insight into how her mind works.
Jessie told The Daily Star newspaper: "I've seen her live a few times, and every time she does the jazz solo, just her and her voice and the piano.
"I'd love to work with her just to see how she thinks. To have that much independence and confidence about being so far away from the normality of what people expect; it's very dreamy.
"It's really interesting and admirable. I'd love to just have a conversation with her and see what goes through her head."
The Brit-born singer's meeting with the US superstar seems all the more likely following her decision to move to the United States at some point in the next year and a half.
The 26-year-old singer - who is currently promoting her new single 'Bang Bang', a collaboration with popstars Nicki Minaj and Ariana Grande - recently said: "I'm kind of 50/50 there and within the next kind of 18 months I'm gonna basically get a place in LA or New York."

Black Lips have slammed KISS for being "misogynistic".
The garage rockers ambushed a recent live Q&A with 'Kiss' frontman Gene Simmons to criticise the legendary band for their supposedly offensive lyrics.
Lead singer Jack Hines - who painted his face black and white in mockery of the group - told the HuffPost Live: "Mr Simmons! We're here to tell you that the day of misogynistic, sexist rock'n'roll is over.
"We call for the complete and utter surrender of the Kiss army. Lay down your guitars! Do you accept our terms of surrender?"
However, Simmons was unwilling to surrender ground on the issue and instead chose to belittle the group for broadcasting their grievances from their "mum's basement".
The 64-year-old rocker quipped: "I wanted to compliment your mum for the wonderful way that she designed the decoration on the basement she lets you live in.
"I think it's very attractive. I hope you get to leave your mum's basement soon."
Simmons advised the band to "learn to speak English" and also suggested that the name Black Lips was racist as they are white.

The Saturdays are planning to go on hiatus.
The 'Up' hitmakers are currently preparing for a greatest hits tour, which starts next month, but once it is complete they will take a break for a "few months" to work on individual projects, which include Frankie Sandford - who has 10-month-old son Parker with soccer star husband Wayne Bridge - taking part on TV show 'Strictly Come Dancing'.
A source said: "Frankie was the BBC's main target for Strictly this year -- they desperately want her sexy girlband glamour and love the fact she is a WAG.
"She almost competed last year but had to pull out when she found out she was pregnant.
"The Saturdays thought it was the perfect time to coincide with an extended holiday.
"They've been working pretty much non-stop for six years and want some time off to focus on all their various solo interests."
The group - which also includes Vanessa White, Una Foden, Rochelle Humes and Mollie King - are hoping the break will make them more in demand than ever and hope to eventually follow the career path of Take That, who make an album and tour every few years and work on their own projects in between.
The source added to The Sun newspaper: "They'll end up being in more demand because of the exposure Frankie will get on 'Strictly'.
"The girls want to be like the female Take That -- go off and spend time working on their own but coming back together for big releases and performances."

The Foo Fighters have revealed the name for their upcoming album.
The eight track LP - which will be released in November - is to be named 'Sonic Highways'.
In a statement, rontman Dave Grohl said: "This album is instantly recognisable as a Foo Fighters record, but there's something deeper and more musical to it.
"I think that these cities and these people influenced us to stretch out and explore new territory, without losing our 'sound'."
Fans of the rock band were expecting an announcement after an eight-second video of a man growling, "All rise", was posted online last week.
The 44-minute album, which the group has produced alongside Butch Vig, will also be available as a vinyl edition with nine covers, one for each of the American cities the band recorded the new album in.
The original plan was for the band to record the album in different international cities but that was scrapped due to "financial impossibilities".
Despite the setback, Grohl said the album had turned out how he wanted.
He explained: "We're an American band. We wouldn't be the band we are if it wasn't for the cities here and their music."

The full track list for 'Sonic Highways' is as follows:
1. 'Something From Nothing'
2. 'The Feast and the Famine'
3. 'Congregation'
4. 'What Did I Do?/God as My Witness'
5. 'Outside'
6. 'In the Clear'
7. 'Subterranean'
8. 'I Am a River'