Music News

Miranda Lambert praised "her rock" Blake Shelton as she was honoured at the CMT Artists of the Year event last night (02.12.14).
The 31-year-old singer was given her award by Ashley Monroe after NASCAR star Danica Patrick introduced her performance of 'Holdin' On to You' and admitted she had been incredibly "nervous" but remembered to thank her 'Voice' coach spouse for his support.
Miranda - who was one of five recipients of the honour - said:
"I'm so nervous. I'm glad that's over. Thank you, Danica, thank you Ashley, for being here. Thank you, CMT, for this amazing night in honouring everything we work for so hard all year and all the amazing artists. My husband, I always forget to thank him, but he's my rock -- Blake Shelton.
"He's somewhere on TV right now, I think. But I appreciate it so much. And thank you so much to the fans for buying our music -- all of our music -- and giving us a great life and letting us live our dream."
Luke Bryan missed the event following the tragic death of his brother-in-law at the weekend but was in the thoughts of fellow honourees Jason Aldean and Keith Urban.
Jason said: "One of my buddies, Luke Bryan, is not here tonight, dealing with some family stuff in Georgia. Just want to say I'm thinkin' about you, you and your family. Our thoughts and prayers are with you all. Hurry back to the country music world."
And picking up his trophy, after singing James Brown's 'It's A Man's, Man's Man's World' alongside a 10-piece female band, Keith said: "I want to send my love and prayers out to Luke and all your family tonight too, brother. You're right here tonight, brother."
In Luke's absence, Lady Antebellum stepped in to sing 'Drink a Beer' with the track's co-writer Chris Stapleton and their friend was delighted by their fitting tribute.
Luke tweeted: "That was amazing. Truly. Thank you Charles, Dave, Hillary and Chris! Beautiful!!! Thank you fans for your love.(sic")
The fifth CMT Artists of the Year, Florida Georgia Line picked up their prize from Wiz Khalifa, who said he was "proud" to be their fan.
Wrapping up proceedings at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville, Merle Haggard picked up the first-ever Artist of a Lifetime honour from Billy Bob Thornton.
He said: "Anything I'd say would be short of the mark, so thank you very much and God bless you. Good music lives forever!"

Tracey Emin has turned the BRIT Award pink.
The British artist has unveiled her design for the distinctive trophy that will be given out at the 2015 ceremony and the design sees the iconic statuette turned a pale hue with a short verse written in blue script.
The words on the trophy, which are printed four times, read: "Congratulations on your talent on your life.
"On Everything you Give to Others
"Thank You (sic)"
The 51-year-old artist hopes the statue will be "special" to the recipients and says she worked hard to put her own stamp on it.
She said: "You want to do it really well. You don't just want to decorate it, you want to make something that is really Tracey-ish, that is special for the people receiving it."
In honour of the award's new look, the BRIT Awards with Mastercard's distinctive logo has also been turned pink and awards bosses are thrilled with her "bold and brilliant" idea.
BRITs Chairman Max Lousada said: "Tracey's design is characteristically bold, brilliant, colourful and inventive - everything the BRITs stands for. We're honoured to work with her and delighted to be able to celebrate the achievements of the BRIT Awards winners with such a unique and special trophy."
The BRIT Awards 2015 with MasterCard take place on Wednesday 25th February at The O2 in London and will be broadcast on ITV.

Ed Sheeran received career advice from Prince William.
The 'Thinking Out Loud' hitmaker has revealed the British royal advised him to never duet with soccer star Wayne Rooney again after seeing a YouTube video of them singing Ed's hit single 'Lego House'.
Explaining that the conversation took place at the Royal Variety Performance earlier this month, Ed said William joked: "Er, no more duets with Wayne Rooney."
The 23-year-old star also spoke about how he came to record the performance with his unlikely singing partner - who plays soccer for Manchester United.
He told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "Rooney's been trying to come to a gig for three years.
"He actually booked me for his birthday party, but I had a gig the same night.
"Coleen [Rooney, his wife] came down to my Leeds show and said Wayne was going to come down to Manchester with a load of mates.
"She asked if I wanted to go out afterwards. I said I didn't want to go to a club, but Wayne hates clubs as well, so they rented out a lovely dingy pub that just did Jagerbombs and beer."
However, Ed wasn't the only famous face at the bash, as he also partied until 4am with Example and Wretch 32, before taking everyone back to his hotel room until 7am.
Meanwhile, the flame-haired singer confessed he's unsure whether William and his wife, Duchess Catherine like his music as much as they claim to.
He added: "I don't know if they're fans. Do royals have iPods and things like that?"

Rixton's performance at Mall of America on Black Friday was "pandemonium."
The four-piece British pop band played at the Minnesota shopping centre on Friday (28.11.14) and were shocked at the huge amount of people who turned out to see them.
Speaking at the Free Radio Live concert at which the band performed on Saturday (29.11.14), lead singer Jake Roche said: "There were over 1,000 people who came out to see us, which for us, being a UK band heading over there is incredible for us."
The 'Me and My Broken Heart' hitmakers - comprised of Jake, Charley Bagnall, Lewi Morgan and Danny Wilkin - also explained they found it difficult to comprehend the scale of Mall of America as it is so different to their local shopping centre Lakeside in Essex, South East England.
He continued: "It was no Lakeside. It was pandemonium. For starters in the shopping mall, there is a theme park, which doesn't make any sense. There are 27 rides in this Mall of America and they are not small rides. They are terrifying."
The band - who will release their debut album, 'Let the Road', in January - have been spending much of their time in the US for the last few months, but confessed it has been difficult to kick-start their career in the country because it takes so long for music to be played on the radio.
The 22-year-old frontman explained: "We spend a lot of time over there - everything takes longer in America. In terms of the radio process, you start your song, you service it and it will take three months to hit its pinnacle. It's huge."
While the guys - who will be supporting 'Love Me Harder' hitmaker Ariana Grande on her tour of North America and Europe in 2015 - are thrilled with the reaction they have been receiving, Jake insists they always look forward to returning to the UK.
He said: "We have been accepted really well out there and we love it but we love coming home as well, even if it's for just 12 hours."

The Rolling Stones are devastated following the death of their longtime saxophonist Bobby Keys.
The 70-year-old musician, who toured with the British rockers for more than four decades and also performed on albums with John Lennon, The Who and Eric Clapton, died at his home in Franklin, Tennessee.
In a statement on Twitter today (02.12.14), the 'Brown Sugar' hitmakers said: "The Rolling Stones are devastated by the loss of their very dear friend and legendary saxophone player, Bobby Keys. Bobby made a unique musical contribution to the band since the 1960s. He will be greatly missed."
Member Keith Richards also paid tribute to Bobby in a handwritten message posted on his Facebook page, saying: "Bobby, I have lost the largest pal in the world and I can't express the sense of sadness I feel although Bobby would tell me to cheer up. My condolences to all that knew him and his love of music."
He then shared an image of his late friend, with the caption: "Another good bye to another good friend. I will miss you, Bobby."
News of Keys' death comes less than two months after the group announced he would miss their Australian and New Zealand tour dates due to illness.
A message on their official website stated: "Due to being a bit under the weather, Bobby Keys will not be joining the Stones for the Australian and New Zealand tour dates. Bobby is under doctor's orders to take it a bit easy for the next month and hopes to see everyone soon."

The Carnabys thought Debbie Harry was a "babe" when they toured with her.
The British rockers - made up of Jack Mercer, Ben Gittins, Frankie Connolly, Mike Delizo and James Morgan - loved hanging out with the Blondie frontwoman off-stage, while supporting the legendary group on five occasions, and joked they enjoyed getting affectionate with the 69-year-old singer.
Speaking exclusively to BANG Showbiz, frontman Jack said: "Debbie Harry was so nice, she was so funny. She was such a babe."
Frankie then quipped: "Yeah! She's still got it, for a 69 year old. Well, it's not a secret. She kept trying to kiss me."
But Ben put the record straight, adding: "The first time we met her, we were all like, 'She's such a big deal.' We were all waiting for the handshake. And then Frankie comes out of nowhere, and is all kiss kiss and she looked quite flustered.
"We didn't know how she was going to take it, but it was great, and we got to know her really well."
The Carnabys also admitted the star was incredibly helpful as she gifted lead singer Jack with throat spray and special tea to help his vocal chords when he was struck down with voice problems on tour in Italy.
He added: "I woke up the day of the gig in Milan, and my voice had completely gone. I couldn't even speak. I was trying to warm up in the shower and stuff, use steam and all that.
"I remember going to bed that night and having a bowl of water there to just try and get moisture into the room.
"I got to the gig and I said, 'Debbie, you've been doing this a lot longer than I have, have you got any tips?' She pulled out this drawer, and she's got hundreds of boxes of this special tea.
"She gives me two of them, and a jar of honey, and then she opens this case which is just full of hundreds of canisters of throat sprays, and gives me one of them.
"You spray it and breathe in at the same time but also if you spray it up your nose and it opens up your vocal cords. She was great."
The Carnabys' debut album 'No Money on The Moon' is out now through Hard Rock Records.

Bruce Springsteen and Chris Martin replaced Bono at a World AIDS Day (RED) Concert on Monday (01.12.14) in New York's Time Square.
U2's lead singer was unable to attend the event as he's still recovering from a recent cycling accident, but Bruce, 65, and Chris, 37, were happy to fill the void by performing some of the band's tunes alongside the other members of the group, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen Jr. and The Edge.
Bono underlined the importance of the event - which also featured performances from hip-hop superstar Kanye West and Carrie Underwood - explaining: "This year is a World Aids Day like no other. Today, 13 million people have access to life-saving treatment, up from 300,000 just over 10 years ago. Americans don't know the role they've played in this fight. Tonight's event is to inform them and thank them."
The 54-year-old rock star injured himself when he tried to avoid another cyclist in New York's Central Park.
Bono needed to have three metal plates and 18 screws to help heal injuries suffered to his upper arm, which was shattered in six places.
However, he is expected to make a full recovery following intensive therapy.

Biffy Clyro will have a "year off" in 2015.
The rock trio faced a packed schedule in 2014 with headline sets at T In The Park and Isle of Wight Festival, so are planning on taking some time out next year so people don't get sick of hearing them.
Bass player James Johnston said: "I think we'll have a quiet one ... We don't like to be in people's faces too much. The last thing we want is for people to get bored of us, so you could almost call it a year off."
Although the 'Biblical' hitmakers plan on withdrawing from the limelight for a while, James revealed they have commenced work on their seventh studio album - the follow-up to 2013 double album 'Opposites' - but don't want to release anything that is less than "perfect."
Speaking about the record, he said: "It's coming along; we're not in any massive rush at all - we don't want anything that's not perfect. We're working hard, we've got too many songs, which is great!
"We'll see where we're at, and then we'll go and record early summer next year. There's a large batch of songs."
The talented musician - who is in the award-winning band with his twin brother Ben Johnston, and pal Simon Neil - is now hoping to head to an "exotic" location for the album's recording, as the band prefer to get away from their native Scotland to make their music.
Talking to NME, he added: "It's going to be somewhere exotic, I think!
"We always like to get away from Scotland to record - we try and go somewhere different from here, with sunshine and a bit a of warmth. We'll see what happens."

Saint Raymond, Years and Years and George the Poet are amongst acts on the MTV Brand New 2015 shortlist.
The artists have been picked by MTV as the most promising acts for the next 12 months, with other names on the shortlist including Becky Hill, Krept and Konan, James Bay, Melissa Steel, Nothing But Thieves, Sinead Harnett, and Sunset Sons.
Talking at the launch event at London nightclub DSTRKT on Monday (01.12.14), 19-year-old singer Saint Raymond praised his pal Ed Sheeran for inviting him to open the shows on his 'X Tour', and for the 23-year-old star's invaluable advice which helped him move forward with his career.
He exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "One of his big tips for me while I was on this tour was to go out and meet people after the shows and spend time with fans. I think because the way it is now, people buy into you as a person, not just an artist, so I think it's important that you go out and meet people and really get to know them, so you're not just a musician. That's one big piece of advice Ed gave me."
He also explained the 'Thinking Out Loud' singer said he should write songs all the time, because some of his biggest hits have been tracks he wrote when he thought his album was finished.
Talking of his debut record, he said: "I like to say it's done, but I'm scared of saying that. I think I'm just going to carry on writing just in case, you never know. I remember talking to Ed about it and he said he wrote one of his best songs a week before the album went to the press, so I'm always wary of saying it's done."
Public voting to crown the winner of the MTV Brand New 2015 in association with Emporio Armani Diamonds title is now open. The act with the highest number of votes will be announced on January 30 2015.