Music News

Pharrell Williams wanted to be a soul singer.
The 'Happy' hitmaker - who is known for his collaborations with the likes of Ed Sheeran and Robin Thicke - has revealed that when he was younger, his "dream" was to perform soul music.
He told The Observer newspaper: "[Soul] was the dream back then. But then I started writing songs, and producing them, and realised I could love that just as much.
"When I was growing up, doing something like this never seemed like a possibility. It wasn't on my wish list. I just figured I'd study my ass off and try to be some kind of art professor."
The 41-year-old singer puts his successful collaborations down to the fact that he lets the other artist do what they prefer.
He added: "I say to the artist, whether it be Beyoncé or Usher, what do you want to do?
"And when they tell me, I say, OK, let's do it like this. It's real simple."
Meanwhile, Pharrell previously revealed that he took inspiration from legendary soul singer, Curtis Mayfield, when making the chart-topping track, 'Happy'.
He said: "I was pretending to be the masterful Curtis Mayfield.
"I hope he likes it, I'm trying to do what he would've done."

Rihanna has released a collaboration with Kanye West and Paul McCartney, titled 'Four Five Seconds'.
The single marks the first time Rihanna has released new material since 'Jump', which came out almost exactly a year ago.
Rihanna - who's collaborated with Kanye before, on the tracks 'All of the Lights' and 'Run This Town', which also featured Jay Z - has promoted the new tune on her Twitter account and posted a link to the iTunes store.
British singer Sam Smith has already taken to Twitter to voice his approval of the new single.
The 22-year-old star tweeted: "I KNEW RIHANNA WOULD SMASH IT (sic)"
The record follows Kanye's own collaboration with McCartney, titled 'Only One', which prompted a spokesperson for the hip-hop superstar to say it would be the first "publicly available recording from what has become a prolific musical collaboration between these two legendary artists".
For McCartney, meanwhile, the single marks another surprising career move, following his contribution to the soundtrack of Destiny, which was one the biggest-selling video games of 2014.
The 72-year-old music legend has collaborated with a host of big names in the past, including Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson.

Fergie admits she got "sick" of hearing Black Eyed Peas.
The 39-year-old singer's group reached the height of their popularity in 2009 when their two singles 'Boom Boom Pow' and 'I Gotta Feeling' topped the US charts for a total of six months and even the frontwoman got tired of hearing their songs, though she claims the experience was saved by fan reactions.
She said: "When you perform songs every night, you do tend to get sick of listening to yourself.
"But at the same time, what takes you out of that is the audience, because you get out of your own psyche and into their vibe."
During Black Eyed Peas shows, Fergie was able to show off her gymnastics skills as well as her vocal talents and says the unusual performances stemmed from vocal battles between herself and will.i.am.
She explained: "During the song 'Shut Up' on the Black Eyed Peas tour, we'd have fun with it and Will and I would do all these weird vocal battles. I hit a really high note so he did a breakdancing move, so I just spontaneously pulled that move [a front flip] out of my gymnastics training.
"I remembered I could do it one-handed, so I put the mic in the other hand and there it started. Once I did that, the audience wanted to see it every night, so I just kept on doing it."

Paul Weller thinks his new album is "bonkers".
The 'Changingman' hitmaker is delighted with forthcoming LP 'Saturn's Pattern' and its futuristic sound, admitting the tracks he has recorded are a "leap into the unknown" for him as they are so different to anything else he has done.
He said: "We've gone into the future. We've got this 21st century music and I think that it's going to be a bit of an inspiration to people.
"It's just bonkers in places but it's really melodic, there's great tunes on there.
"It's a little bit of a leap into the unknown really. I don't know where it will take me, I have no idea.
"I wouldn't say it's dance because I wouldn't do a dance record as such, but it's got a lot of movement to it. It's gone past my expectations in a way."
The 56-year-old rocker also hit out at other musicians of a similar age who are "stuck in a rut" and refuse to experiment with their sound.
He told NME magazine: "I don't understand people when they get to a certain age and they're just kind of happy with what they know.
"It does involve taking a few risks and a few chances and sometimes those risks aren't popular with people or fans or whatever, but that's a chance you take, as opposed to just making the same records year after year.
"I've probably got more in common with a lot of younger bands than my so-called contemporaries, who all just seem stuck in a rut and doing the same thing."

Miley Cyrus is writing songs about Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The 22-year-old singer, who is dating the former couple's son Patrick Schwarzenegger, is reportedly planning to vent about her issues with them on her next album following rumours they don't approve of the relationship.
A source said: "She has been writing songs about her problems with Patrick's family. Miley's told pals she's pulling a Taylor Swift - but instead of writing songs about ex-boyfriends, she's taking jabs at the rich and powerful Kennedy clan and how badly some of them have treated her.
"Miley's hurt that they're judging her and she's letting it all out."
Miley has started to develop a bond with Arnold, 67, but there is no love lost between her and Maria so she isn't worried about upsetting her.
The insider told Life & Style magazine: "Miley's writing songs to get back at Maria and the Kennedys. She doesn't care about what's politically correct or not - she's expose them.
"A pop song calling out the family will definitely push Maria over the edge. Miley's a loose cannon. They better watch out."
Despite his mother's protests about Miley's wild behaviour, Patrick is smitten with the 'Wrecking Ball' hitmaker.
An insider previously said: "He knows what he signed up for dating Miley. She wouldn't like him if he didn't accept her for who she is and he is totally OK with what she does to express herself.
"He is with her on everything she does, as long as she doesn't get hurt he is totally down with everything."

Ronnie Wood plays drums with his grandson.
The Rolling Stones rocker dotes on 23-month-old Rex - his son Jesse's youngest child with wife Fearne Cotton - and the little boy's mother can already see signs of him following in his grandad's footsteps.
Asked if she thinks Rex will be a rocker, Fearne said: "He definitely takes an interest - it would be hard for him to avoid being passionate about it.
"He's always trying to play the keyboard. We go over to his grandad's house and he's got a big drumkit in the front room. They all have a good bash on it together, which is really cute."
Fearne - who is also stepmother to Jesse's kids Arthur, 12, and eight-year-old Lola - is renowned for her sense of style and admits it hasn't changed much since she became a parent, though she does tend to favour darker colours more.
She told Now magazine: "[My style] hasn't changed, not really. I don't wear much white any more because it'll undoubtedly be covered in hand prints and breakfast from Rex. You just have to check yourself before you leave the house to make sure you don't have porridge all down you."

Meghan Trainor's duet with Harry Styles is about heartbreak.
The pair met up last year to write the song together, and the 'All About That Bass' hitmaker has now revealed it is inspired by unrequited love following a break-up
She explained: "It's a cute ukekele song with two vocalists, a male and a female, we don't know who yet.
"It's about how, you know when you date someone, and then you break up, and then you see them on a date with someone else but they're so happy, so you're like, 'I'm happy for you. Maybe some day in the future if we're back together, that'd be cool. Good luck. I haven't seen that smile in a long time, that's great. Maybe some day when we're old and gray, we could be in love once more.' Oops, there's a line!"
Although she wrote the love song with the One Direction hunk, the 21-year-old chart-topper shut down rumours the pair are dating, stating they have only ever spent a couple of hours together.
Speaking on Capital FM radio station - where she announced the Capital Breakfast Show will broadcast live from the 57th Annual Grammy Awards next week - she said: "Do you know how many hours I've spent with that man? Maybe two or three. And they're all like 'are you dating?' and I'm like, 'What? No!'
"The most I got was a hug, it was great. What a hug it was!"
The Capital Breakfast Show with Three will be Live from Los Angeles from Monday 2nd February.

Fall Out Boy were too weird for One Direction.
The 'Dance, Dance' singers were enlisted by the chart topping group to help them develop a more rock-orientated sound for their new album, but chief lyricist Pete Wentz admitted the group didn't want any of the songs they wrote.
He said: "Last time we were in London we wrote with the guys in One Direction.
"It was a great session but I don't know if Fall Out Boy writes what One Direction wants to sing.
"There's a certain area of odd that we can stake a place in, but it's like we have the language of twins. Maybe it's too odd for One Direction because they didn't end up using the songs this time."
Aside from their doomed work with the 'Night Changes' hitmakers, the band - which also features Patrick Stump, Joe Trohman and Andy Hurley - feel they have changed enough since their debut album, 2003's 'Take This to Your Grave' to still be relevant in the music industry.
He continued: "We've evolved, so we still get to play shows with pop acts like Meghan Trainor and Iggy Azalea.
The group - who recently released their sixth studio album, 'American Beauty/American Psycho' - also explained they feel like an anomaly because they have not been formed by a record label or on a talent show, unlike One Direction who were put together on the UK singing competition 'X Factor' in 2010.
Speaking to the Daily Star newspaper, he added: "We are always the odd ones at the party because we are clearly not a band that was put together. But hopefully we are a band who enjoy a pop moment."

Mike Tyson wants a music career.
The retired boxer was recently announced as a featured artist on the track 'Iconic' along with Chance the Rapper on Madonna's new album, 'Rebel Heart', and revealed the experience makes him think he would be a great solo artist.
He said: "Doing the song with Madonna makes me think this [music career] could really happen.
"Most guys that come in there drink a bunch of liquor or smoke 100 blunts. I just went in and boom, one take. Everyone thought it was cool."
Although he will feature on the star's upcoming album, the 48-year-old sportsman admitted the part he recorded for the track was a surprise even to him as she called him up out of the blue to rap on the song.
He explained: "Madonna calls you and tells you to come somewhere, you go.
"I didn't know what the hell I was going there for. I just go in there and start talking. I'm talking about my life and things that I have endured. I'm saying some really crazy stuff. It was really intense."
Due to the last minute nature of the recording, Mike - who has six children - added he completely ad-libbed his contribution and strangely took inspiration from the "street swag" of former Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.
He told Rolling Stone magazine: "When I did it, I think about being some guy like [Benito] Mussolini and they're really arrogant, but you try to come from a positive perspective and be uplifting. You watch Mussolini on television -- even though we don't understand what he's saying -- he is so mesmerizing. I look at myself in that way.
"I know people may say 'this guy's a fascist' and all this stuff, but man, you can take positivity from watching him.
"No wonder why Hitler was attracted to him. This guy's a hypnotic figure. There's so much pride behind what he's saying. I'm not even Italian and I feel the pride he's projecting. He had that street swag; he was doing this stuff with his hands and moving his head before it was even hip-hop."