Music News

Muse and Enter Shikari will battle it out at the Relentless Kerrang! Awards 2015.
The 'Psycho' hitmakers and the electronic rockers have been nominated for Best British Band alongside Bring Me The Horizon, Architects and last year's winners You Me At Six ahead of the star-studded ceremony at London's iconic Troxy on June 11, 2015.
Royal Blood, whose self-titled album was the fastest-selling debut British rock record in the UK in three years, will go head-to-head with Moose Blood, As It Is, Fort Hope and Ashestoangels for the Best British Newcomer title at the event, which will be hosted by Andrew W.K. and Skindred's Benji Webbe.
Meanwhile, AC/DC have been nominated for Best International Act, alongside Slipknot, Fall Out Boy, Sleeping With Sirens and All Time Low.
The 'Kids In the Dark' hitmakers are also up for Best Single, Best Fanbase and Best Event, but face stiff competition in the latter category from Foo Fighters for their secret UK gigs under the alias 'the Holy S***s' last September.
Speaking about this year's nominees, Kerrang! Editor James McMahon said: "The thing is, it's been an absolutely amazing year for rock - the diversity of the nominations, I believe, is testament to that.
"It's proof that rock is still the music of the masses, the passionate and the brave. Rock is still the most exciting thing you can put in your ears."
Voting starts in this week's Kerrang! magazine and on the website, Awards.kerrang.com, and will close on June 4, 2015.
Fans will also be able to purchase tickets to the event for the first time.

FULL LIST OF NOMINEES:

BEST BRITISH NEWCOMER
Royal Blood
Moose Blood
As It Is
Fort Hope
Ashestoangels

BEST INTERNATIONAL NEWCOMER
PVRIS
Beartooth
Hellions
Nothing More
Against The Current

BEST SINGLE
Bring Me The Horizon - 'Drown'
All Time Low - 'Kids In The Dark'
Fall Out Boy - 'Centuries'
Young Guns - 'Speaking In Tongues'
Enter Shikari - 'Anaesthetist'

BEST EVENT
You Me At Six / All Time Low - co-headline tour
Slipknot / Korn / King 810 - 'Prepare For Hell Tour'
Foo Fighters - 'the Holy S**ts' shows
Black Veil Brides - London club shows
Pop Punks - 'Not Dead Tour'

BEST VIDEO
New Years Day - 'Angel Eyes' (ft. Chris Motionless)
Lonely The Brave - 'The Blue, The Green'
Body Count - 'Institutionalized 2014'
FrnkIero AndThe Cellabration - 'She's The Prettiest Girl At The Party, And She Can Prove It With A Solid Right Hook'
Gerard Way - 'No Shows'

BEST LIVE BAND
Black Veil Brides
A Day To Remember
Architects
Slipknot
In This Moment

BEST ALBUM
Marmozets - 'The Weird And Wonderful Marmozets'
Mallory Knox - 'Asymmetry'
We Are Harlot - 'We Are Harlot'
Gerard Way - 'Hesitant Alien'
Black Veil Brides - 'Black Veil Brides (IV)'

BEST INTERNATIONAL BAND
Slipknot
Sleeping With Sirens
Fall Out Boy
All Time Low
AC/DC

BEST BRITISH BAND
Muse
Bring Me The Horizon
Enter Shikari
You Me At Six
Architects

BEST FANBASE
Pierce The Veil
Black Veil Brides
Asking Alexandria
All Time Low
My Chemical Romance

BEST FILM
'Kurt Cobain: Montage Of Heck'
'The Inbetweeners 2'
'Avengers: Age Of Ultron'
'Guardians Of The Galaxy'
'Sharknado 2: The Second One'

BEST TV SHOW
'Game Of Thrones'
'American Horror Story'
'Adventure Time'
'Gotham'
'The Walking Dead'

BEST RADIO SHOW
The Alex Baker Show, Kerrang! Radio
BBC Radio 1 Rock Show with Daniel P Carter
BBC Radio 1 - Dan and Phil
Nights With Alice Cooper - Planet Rock
Full Frontal with Jack Barakat and Alex Gaskarth (All Time Low)

BEST VIDEO GAME
'Grand Theft Auto V'
'The Walking Dead'
'Minecraft'
'Alien: Isolation'
'Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare'

BEST COMIC BOOK
'Descender' - Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen
'The Walking Dead' - Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard
'The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys' - Gerard Way, Shaun Simon and Becky Cloonan
'2000 AD The Wicked + The Divine' - Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie

BEST FESTIVAL
Download
Slam Dunk
Sonisphere
Bloodstock
Reading & Leeds

BEST COMEDIAN
Greg Davies
Frankie Boyle
Jack Whitehall
Noel Fielding
Russell Howard

TWEETER OF THE YEAR
Mark Hoppus, blink-182
Andy Biersack, Black Veil Brides
Gerard Way
Hayley Williams, Paramore
Jono Yates, Blitz Kids

Prince honoured the city of Baltimore with a tribute concert on Saturday night (02.05.15).
The 56-year-old performer announced the event, billed as a "DANCE RALLY 4 PEACE," on Twitter just hours before it began, inviting fans to his recording complex, Paisley Park, in Minnesota for the show.
The last-minute concert was held as a tribute to the violent protests and riots which have broken out across the US since the death of Freddie Gray, who died in police custody last month.
Before Prince took to the stage, the audience - who were asked to wear grey as a sign of respect to Freddie - were shown never-seen-before live clips from his critically acclaimed 2014 'HITNRUN UK tour' as well as footage from a closed-door concert which took place at Paisley Park last June to celebrate the 30th anniversary of 'Purple Rain'.
Along with collaborators funk-rock group 3RDEYEGIRL, the star performed for almost an hour, during which he paid his respects to Freddie and referenced the protests by playing the socially-charged track 'Chaos & Disorder', taken from his 1996 album of the same name.
Elsewhere during the set, Prince treated guests to renditions of 'Crimson & Clover', 'Guitar' and 'Dreamer', before concluding the performance with the funk-rock instrumental 'PLECTRUMELECTRUM'.
Last week, the 'Little Red Corvette' hitmaker announced he had recorded a song titled 'Baltimore', which features Chicago-based singer Eryn Allen Kane, addressing the social unrest, although it is yet to be released.

Phil Rudd of AC/DC hasn't spoken to his band mates since being arrested.
The 60-year-old drummer pleaded guilty to charges of drug possession and threatening to kill in November, and has been cut off by his fellow musicians since the incident.
In his first interview since pleading guilty he revealed: "I tried to get in contact with Angus [Young], with anybody, I wrote them a letter and I've had no contact at all. I'm very disappointed ... But you know, that's life."
Despite thinking he is still "the best live rock drummer" and "seeing the errors" of his way, he said the decision on whether he can rejoin the band lies with guitarist and founding member, Angus.
Phil told Australia's 'A Current Affair' TV show: "I'm the best live rock drummer. That's what I think of myself. That's who I am. I can't help it.
"I've seen the error of my ways and it's onward and upward from here."
While he has had no communication with his fellow band mates, he added: "There'll be another tour and another and I'll be on it. It'll go until we all die. We'll probably all have to be dead before it stops."
The 'Rock or Bust' drummer will find out if he will face jail or be charged without conviction next month.

Britney Spears' new video will be "high-energy".
The 33-year-old singer premiered her new single with Iggy Azalea 'Pretty Girls' online over the weekend, and the star has now teased fans can expect "a lot of dancing" in the song's video, which was shot in Los Angeles last month.
She explained: "This has been the first video I've done in a while where, you know, I came up with the concept and there's a lot of dancing. I got new choreographers to come in and kind of do hip-hop dancing, which I haven't done in a really long time, so the feel of the video is really different and high-energy. My dancers were there, my dancers from my show. There's a club scene, there's a car-wash scene, a couple of different other scenes. We had a lot of fun."
Britney continued to say the track - which the pair will perform at the 2015 Billboard Music Awards later this month prior to its release on 14 June - came to fruition because she was desperate to make a "girl anthem".
She told Z100 radio station: "I saw her video and I was just a huge fan. I was thinking about my next single for my next album and what I was gonna do, and I wanted to do a girl anthem. Something that was very girl empowering and that was kinda funny. I thought a whole take on valley girls and just kind of making fun of that would be fun for us to do. She was really down with it."
And adding to the excitement about her new music, the 'Womanizer' hitmaker revealed she has added 22 dates to her 'Piece Of Me' residency at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, which is now set to end on New Year's Eve (31.12.15).
She wrote on Twitter: "How about new #PieceOfMe dates to go with my new song? Tix go on sale 5/9 at 10am PT! (sic)"

Liam Gallagher is a Blur fan.
Despite a well documented feud between Liam and the 'Song #2' hitmakers, the former Oasis star has hailed 'Lonesome Street' his song of the year.
The Mancunian, 42, took to Twitter to share his admiration for the Londoners' chart-topping track from their LP, 'The Magic Whip'.
He wrote: "Lonesome St by BLUR song of the year LG x (sic)."
The Britpop bands had a bitter rivalry throughout the '90s, and Liam continued the feud in 2012 when he branded the members Damon Albarn, Dave Rowntree, Graham Coxon and Alex James, "pansies".
The 42-year-old told NME back in 2012: "At the time I hated Blur, I thought they were just pansies from London and we were a totally different thing. You might have done certain things, but no-one told me whether I liked someone or not."
And it's not the first rivalry Liam has ended in recent years, as he is believed to have recently made amends with his brother, Noel, sparking rumours of a potential Oasis reunion.
The first sign the brothers had come to an agreement was when Liam tweeted a selfie backstage at his brother's High Flying Birds gig.
The post from March read: "Keeping it in the family...LG x (sic)."

Bjork has described her younger years as a "headf**k".
The 'Army of Me' singer has revealed she feels strange when she listens back to her early albums such as, 'Debut', because it makes her realise she was in a bad state of mind.
She confessed: "Looking back to 'Debut' now, it feels it was like drinking water, but thankfully I've got diaries - and it was a headf**k."
However, the 49-year-old musician insisted she has a "good relationship" with her nine-album back catalogue, even though she appreciates some of the songs could have been improved.
She explained: "I have a good relationship with my old songs. Obviously I can't say that they couldn't have been better. But I did my best at the time, and you can't do any more than that. I also feel that each was very much a child of its time. I have an obligation to be the person of the age I am. At 45, I'm going to do a very different album than when I'm 25."
Although the singer admitted the she was in a bad head-space when she created her early albums, she said each record she makes continues to feel like a "murder mystery" as she attempts to figure out who she is.
She told London's Time Out magazine: "Every single time it's going to be as difficult to solve the murder mystery - like, "Who am I?" There are more hindrances because I'm a woman. Being the sort of topsy-turvy prankster I am, that makes me even more excited about the impossible riddle of that. Not many women singers have documented themselves after 60. How can you do that without pretending you're 25?"

Sam Smith has flown to the US for treatment on his vocal cords.
The 'Stay With Me' hitmaker - who was forced to cancel a string of Australian concerts due to a haemorrhage last week - has jetted back to America where he will see a specialist to aid his recovery after announcing he would miss more gigs in Japan and the Philippines.
He captioned a photograph of himself in a causal striped jumper, jeans and trainers looking out across a bay: "Very upset about Japan and Manilla dates. I've just left Australia and I'm on my way to the states to see a specialist to see what to do from there... This is f***ing horrid."
The Grammy Award-winner recently claimed he hadn't "spoken a word in three days" in a bid to get his voice back.
Writing on his Instagram account, he said: "Just to let all my beautiful fans know, I'm ok. I am insanely relaxed and am somewhere in the middle of Australia with no phone, no laptop and I haven't spoken a word in three days."
After announcing his illness last week, Sam also said he was "deeply, deeply saddened" at having to cancel the remainder of his tour Down Under.
He said: "I have been vocally exhausted for a while now however last night in Sydney I had a small haemorrhage on my vocal chords.
"The doctors have told me I need to fully rest until my vocal chords have healed, otherwise this could become a huge long-term issue. I am so sorry to all who have bought tickets, I truly am."

Florence Welch claims a stolen cagoule "saved" her life.
The 'Say My Name' singer confessed she had an emotional breakdown following a year-long break away from the music industry, during which she was left heartbroken by the demise of a relationship, but believes a lightweight coat enabled her to bounce back.
Speaking about her recovery, she said she lived "like a monk" and wore the same outfit everyday, which was, "Leggings and this cagoule, which I stole from someone at a New Year's Eve house party. I wore it for a year. It saved my life."
However, the 28-year-old star - who is known for her quirky, vintage style - explained the life-changing effect of the garment, saying it enabled her to become anonymous when cycling between her house and her recording studio, as the outfit was uncharacteristic.
She told the Sunday Times newspaper: "Clothes to me are a way of distracting myself and I had nothing left, I wanted to be identity-less.
"I can always tell I'm getting better because I start coming back to myself."
However, now she has returned to release her third album, 'How Big How Blue How Beautiful', she has ditched the waterproof jacket and is re-assessing her appearance once again.
She said: "As I got more famous, a reaction to that was the eyebrows went bleached, the hair got redder. I wanted to become this fantasy creature. It was good because it kind of protected me. But I've spent a year or two unravelling all that stuff."

Kurt Cobain's demos are set to be released as a new album.
The Nirvana rocker commit suicide at the age of 27 in 1994, but tracks recorded before he died will now be collected to form a new LP, according to the director of the upcoming documentary 'Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck'.
Brett Morgen announced: "We're going to be putting out an amazing album this summer."
Brett continued to say the record - which will be made up of a selection of home recordings - will make you "feel like you're kind of hanging out with Kurt Cobain on a hot summer day in Olympia, Washington as he fiddles about".
The collection emerged when the filmmaker was allowed unrestricted access to videos and cassettes for his documentary and claims to have discovered more than 200 hours worth of unheard music which has contributed to the album.
Among the recordings, Brett explained there are duets with his wife Courtney Love, covers of The Beatles, and even "a lot of silly spoken word stuff and not-silly spoken word stuff," including the tale of how he lost his virginity.
He told Bedford + Bowery: "It's going to really surprise people. Just to be clear, it's not a Nirvana album, it's just Kurt and you're going to hear him do things you never expected to come out of him."