Music News

Prince has recorded a song about social unrest in Baltimore.
The 56-year-old musician penned the track as a "tribute" following the death of a black man, Freddie Gray, in police custody, which has sparked almost a fortnight of rioting and protests in the area.
The announcement was made in a statement which read: "Prince has just recorded a new song that addresses the unrest in Baltimore and the socio/political issues around the country in the wake of a slew of killings of young black men. The song is a tribute to all of the people of the city of Baltimore."
The track is the first to be announced since the 'Little Red Corvette' hitmaker released two albums, 'Plectrumelectrum' and 'Art Official Age' in 2014, although the future of the track is uncertain as Prince is yet to decide whether he should let the public hear the song.
The statement added: "Release plans for the song, which was recorded this week at Paisley Park, have not yet been announced."
The star is not the first to come out in support of the people living in the Maryland city, as Beyoncé previously posted on Instagram offering her support.
She wrote: "People are hurting. Join us in supporting the NAACP to help in the cleanup efforts and to provide housing, food and supplies to those affected by the unrest in Baltimore."

Van Morrison will perform a charity concert in London.
The 69-year-old musician has been announced as the headline act for a rock'n'roll fundraiser at Porchester Hall on 24 June, which will be held to raise money for Focus12 which supports people suffering from drug and alcohol addiction.
Speaking about the event, Andy Yacoub, Chief Executive of Focus12 said: "We are deeply indebted to the generosity of all those who support us. Money raised will help our treatment centre to continue to provide the amazing services we provide our clients and those close to them."
The 'Brown Eyed Girl' hitmaker is set to sing tracks from his 57-year back catalogue at the concert, which will be the largest single fundraising event ever held for the charity, with a live auction with exclusive musical memorabilia also being held during the evening.
The announcement of his performance for the charity - which is supported by patrons Davina McCall, Russell Brand, Boy George and Joe Pasquale - comes just weeks after the iconic star released his 36th studio album 'Duets: Re-working the Catalogue', on which he revisited a selection of his previous tracks.
Tickets for the concert are available to purchase now: http://www.thegigcompany.org/events/focus12/

Ben E King has died.
The R&B legend - who was best known for his hit single 'Stand By Me' which was released in 1961 - has passed away at the age of 76, his publicist has confirmed, with fellow musician Gary 'U.S.' Bonds describing him as "one of the sweetest" people he had ever met.
In a statement on his Facebook page, he said Ben was, "one of the sweetest, gentlest and gifted souls that I have had the privilege of knowing and calling my friend for more than 50 years.
"I can tell you that Ben E will be missed more than words can say. Our sincere condolences go out to Betty and the entire family.
"Thank you Ben E for your friendship and the wonderful legacy you leave behind."
The soul singer began his career with The Drifters in the late 1950s before going solo and reaching stardom with 'Stand By Me' which has charted nine times on the US Billboard 100 thanks to cover versions from stars including John Lennon and Spyder Turner.
Between 1961 and 1975, the musical legend had six songs feature in the US Billboard top 40 - including 'Spanish Harlem' and 'Supernatural Thing - Part 1' - although it was his iconic hit which contributed to his legacy, with the song being named the fourth most-played track of the 20th Century on US radio and TV in 1999.
'Stand By Me' was recently added to the National Recording Registry by the US Library of Congress, who said "it was King's incandescent vocal that made it a classic".

Ronnie Wood "feels sorry" for the bands on 'The X Factor'.
The 67-year-old former The Rolling Stones member - who performed with One Direction on last year's final of the ITV talent contest - has said he doesn't think new bands are required to do as much hard work as he had to when he was starting out in the music industry, admitting he feels he was more "exposed" when he rose to fame.
Ronnie said: "I feel sorry for some of the younger bands nowadays who suddenly have to go on 'The X Factor' or something, because they don't have any training ground to cut their teeth.
"I used to rehearse in my friend's garage, and do the circuit, treading the boards. I don't think new bands get exposed to as much as we did."
The 'Ooh La La' hitmaker went on to insist that there weren't any "gangs" when he was starting out in the 1960s because everyone was so into music, and added he wants to help people get off the streets now and go into the recording studio instead.
Speaking at a Q&A with Bob Harris, Ronnie said: "I did a fundraiser the other week to help young musicians afford enough to go into studios. When we were starting out, there weren't any gangs or people on the streets, because our gang culture was music. The people you bumped into and made ties with ... it was a healthy way of being."
Elsewhere in the Q&A, Ronnie addressed the long-standing rumours of a potential reunion of his old band The Faces, but said it was Rod Stewart's financial demands which were hampering a comeback for the group.
He added: "Rod's manager is a hell of a person to deal with ... he makes everything about money.
"We are trying not to do that. Why can't the three surviving guys just get together and just play for people?"
The collector's edition of How can It Be? A Rock & Roll Diary by Ronnie Wood can be ordered from ronniewoodbook.com now. The hardback edition will be in stores from September.

Alex James kept Blur's new album a secret from his family.
The bassist - who has five children, sons Geronimo and twins Artemis and Galileo, and daughters Sable and Beatrix with wife Claire Neate - couldn't even tell his loved ones about 'The Magic Whip' for fear they'd accidentally reveal details about the LP.
He said: "The secrecy was a nightmare, I couldn't even tell my kids, because what if they'd told their schoolmates and it had leaked from there?
"I didn't even tell my wife at first, but she was asking me, 'Er, where are you going all the time?'"
Despite being sworn to secrecy, the 46-year-old musician is incredibly proud of the finished product and has admitted he was "emotional" when he heard the finished piece for the first time.
He added to NME magazine: "When I first heard what Graham [Coxon] and Stephen [Street; producer] had done, I was overcome. It was just devastating, really emotional. They'd done such an amazing job of turning it into this huge body of work.
"When we were in Hong Kong, if something wasn't working, we'd move on to the next song. You can hear that sense of urgency, as well as us being so comfortable with each other. We'd done 'Ong Ong' in an hour, an incredibly simple song. And there it was now, sounding enormous."

Adam Lambert thinks his love life is "jaded".
The 'Ghost Town' hitmaker - who recently confessed he has slept with many "closeted" celebrities - now thinks his love life is debilitated and his upcoming album 'The Original High' is a reflection of that.
He said: "I think lyrically what I like about it is that I'm talking about things in 'Ghost Town' that are, you know, kind of me realising may be I've gotten a little bit jaded, maybe I'm questioning if I'm going to be able to fall in love again, what is this world giving to me?
"There are so many ways in which we are all different, we have different races and genders and religions and sexual orientations, but at the heart of it, a lot of us are looking for the same things and getting hurt in the same way and that's what I like about the album."
And Adam revealed his inspiration for the LP came from observing his friends.
The former 'American Idol' contestant told MTV: "I kind of started trying to observe how my friends and I out here in LA, what we had in common, what we were going through, what kind of heartaches and what kind of triumphs and what kind of thrills we all wanted."

Pete Townshend doesn't "like" performing with The Who.
The guitarist - who is in the iconic band along with fellow founding member Roger Daltrey, 71 - explained despite playing shows around the world, he doesn't particularly enjoy his life on the road.
He said: "The shows? I don't like them. I don't find them fulfilling. But I'm brilliant at it. I find it incredibly easy. I drift through it.
"I get out the other end and the next day, somebody comes up to me and says, 'You were f**king amazing yesterday!'"
The 'My Generation' rocker went on to liken his performances to a pair of shoes, saying he has reached a point where he will never disappoint people with what he does, just like a good cobbler.
Speaking in the new issue of Uncut magazine, he added: "It's like being able to make a pair of shoes and knowing that you've got to a point that whenever you make a pair of shoes for somebody they're going to last them for life. I don't get particularly excited about it, but I do find it easy."
The 69-year-old musician - who is currently on tour across North America - will return to Europe for a string of shows in June, including a headline performance at Barclaycard's British Summer Time in London's Hyde Park on 26 June.

Sir Paul McCartney found writing with Kanye West similar to working with John Lennon.
The 'Hey Jude' singer spent two afternoons penning tracks with the 'All Day' rapper and the pair adopted a similar process to that which the 72-year-old musician used when crafting songs with his late Beatles bandmate.
He said: "When I wrote with John, he would sit down with a guitar. I would sit down. We'd ping-pong till we had a song. It was like that."
Paul was initially reluctant to work with the "controversial" star so made Kanye agree that their efforts would be scrapped if he wasn't entirely happy with them.
He told The Sun newspaper: "My first thought was, 'Woah, what am I going to get into here?'
"He is amazingly talented but controversial and can make eccentric moves. I realised if it didn't work out we'd just say so and shake hands and leave."
The two men got on well as they exchanged a number of stories, and one of Paul's memories sparked a song, 'Only One', in Kanye.
He explained: "We sat around and talked an awful lot just to break the ice. One of the stories I told him was about how I happened to have written 'Let It Be'.
"My mum came to me in a dream when she'd died years previously. I was in a bit of a state -- it was the Sixties and I was overdoing it.
"In the dream she said, 'Don't worry it's all going to be fine, just let it be.' And I woke up and thought, 'Woah' and wrote the song.
"I told Kanye this and he said, 'I'm going to write a song with my mum.' So then I sat down at the piano."

Ed Sheeran says air conditioning damaged his voice.
The 'Thinking Out Loud' hitmaker admitted he worried his Australian tour would be cancelled because his voice had "dried up".
He told Sydney's Daily Telegraph: "It was scary. It was a difficult tour in that respect, a lot of air conditioning and a lot of flying dries you up ...
"I had to be more sensible than I usually am. One [of my hit songs] was in [the setlist] but because my voice went, I couldn't do falsetto. It had to come out ... It'll be different when I come back to Australia in December."
Meanwhile, Ed recently revealed he had been banned from talking and was, instead, forced to communicate with a whiteboard.
Writing on Twitter, he said: "Been told by the vocal doc not to talk at all between shows and they're giving me a white board to communicate with, could prove interesting (sic)"
Despite his tour Down Under not going exactly to plan, whilst in the country, Ed secured himself a cameo in Australian soap 'Neighbours'.
A post on the programme's official Facebook page read: "Look who's been spotted in Summer Bay! Yep, your eyes do not deceive you, world renowned singer/songwriter, Ed Sheeran, recently visited the Palm Beach and Eveleigh sets of Channel 5's Home and Away to film scenes for an upcoming episode.
"He will appear as himself in the series, but storyline details about what brings Ed to Summer Bay are being kept under wraps for now. Ed's episode will screen later this year... (sic)"