Music News

The ceremony of the MTV Europe Music Awards (EMAs) will be held in Glasgow in November this year. The singer Katy Perry leads the nominations...

Paul Weller says giving up drinking as changed his life.
The former Jam rocker has admitted getting clean has greatly improved his well-being, and while he was "never" fat, he has noticed some weight loss since decided to ditch the booze in favour of a healthier lifestyle.
He told the Times Magazine: "I gave up drinking four years ago and loads of things have changed for me. My body f***ing changed completely.
"I was never, like, really, really fat. But I just dropped all the pudgy weight and puffiness I had from being on the p**s all the time. I'm still smoking loads, though."
The 56-year-old fashion and music icon has previously revealed plans to write his autobiography and wants to give his memoir a science fiction twist.
Speaking earlier this year, he said: "Yeah. But with a science-fiction theme to it. Set in space or something."
However, the 'Wake Up the Nation' singer may have a hard time completing his old stories thanks to a ritual of destroying all his notebooks after making a record.
He added: "I had this ritual, all my notebooks, after I finished a record, I'd either burn them or cut them into little pieces.
"My feelings were always get rid of it, burn it, move on. It's only recently that a mate of mine said, 'You should have kept all of them.' So I've started keeping them now."

One Direction have announced details of the first single from their new album 'FOUR'.
'Steal My Girl', which will premiere around the world on September 29, is set to be released in the UK on October 12.
What's more, it's also been confirmed that the eagerly-awaited new track will come with a remix created by band member Liam Payne.
The announcement comes shortly after One Direction gave away a free taster track entitled 'Fireproof', which broke the download record with 1,089,278 copies in just 24 hours.
Allied to this, 'FOUR' hit the number one spot on iTunes stores in 67 countries two months before its official release.
Last month, Simon Cowell said that the new One Direction album is "fantastic".
He observed that the band have at least six songs that could light up the charts on their fourth studio album.
He told Capital FM: "The album's fantastic. There's probably five or six tracks I've already heard that could be singles.
"There's some very different kinds of songs than what we've done before, they've taken a few more risks. Most importantly, the boys love writing, they love recording."

Nick Cave told Kylie Minogue to "sing less".
The Bad Seed rocker worked with the 'Sexercize' hitmaker in 1995 when they released their single 'Where The Wild Roses Grow' and despite landing a Top 20 hit together, he wasn't overly keen on her singing.
In Nick's new documentary, '20,000 Days on Earth', he tells Kylie: "Sing less and tell the story more."
In the music video for their duet, the Australian beauty plays Eliza Day who eventually gets beaten to death by Nick, but the 46-year-old pop star doesn't hold any grudges against her singing partner.
Reminiscing about their time together, Kylie is quoted by NME Magazine as saying: "When I first worked with Nick it was tender and genuine. And then I saw him perform and speed-read his biography, and I realised that the person I'm watching on stage singing, 'From Her To Eternity' is very different to my experience with him. OK, so he did kill me with a rock - but you know what I'm saying."

Christina Aguilera is reportedly upset that Gwen Stefani has replaced her on 'The Voice' USA.
The 'Your Body' hitmaker is taking a break from the series after giving birth to her daughter - Summer, who she has with fiancé Matthew Rutler - last month, but she is said to be concerned she won't be asked to return to the show next year.
A source said: "Christina is extremely threatened by [her temporary replacement] Gwen. She knows that if the ratings are higher on Gwen's season than they were on hers, the producers may have no choice but to ask Gwen to stay on."
The insider added: "Christina's in a world of paranoid right now."
The blonde beauty, 33, who also has son Max, five, with her ex-husband, Jordan Bratman, is also said to be concerned about Taylor Swift's role on the show with 24-year-old singer set to join the series as an advisor.
But the source told OK! magazine: "She's ready to fight for her spot."
Up until this year, Christina has shared a rotating spot on the judging panel with Shakira, who is also expecting her second child.

Foo Fighters new album "takes a left turn" according to Nate Mendel.
The bassist - who joins lead singer Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Chris Shiflett, Pat Smear and keyboardist Rami Jaffee - has revealed that the band's new album, 'Sonic Highways' is less traditional than their other records.
Nate explained: "They're fairly straight forward Foo Fighters songs and almost every one of them takes a left turn and goes off on some psychic odyssey with the guest musician in the middle.
"Sometimes there's an awkward transition back into the song. You catch on with a few of them, where we go, 'Oh f**k!' and we're back into the final chorus. There are a few elements that are looser than traditional Foo Fighters moments."
Nate also hinted that Foo Fighters were thinking about doing something special for their fans to celebrate being together for two decades.
He added to NME magazine: "We're planning on doing a pretty unique and cool idea for our 20th anniversary. It's something that'll be ****ing cool - plus all of the usual things like festivals."

Chaka Khan loves touching her audience.
The 'Ain't Nobody' hitmaker has revealed she prefers playing intimate venues - in particular the iconic London jazz club Ronnie Scott's - because she feels closer to her audience and enjoys being able to reach out and touch her fans.
She told MTV: "I love to touch the audience. When I played Ronnie Scott's, it was so intimate, I could really reach out and physically touch people."
The 70s singer - who released her first solo single 'I'm Every Woman' in 1978 and fronted the funk band Rufus - made the admission during a quick fire interview with the music channel in which she also admitted her son, Damien, failed to recognise one of her most famous tracks 'Sweet Thing' when it was covered by R&B singer Mary Blige 18 years later.
She explained: "I remember when my son came home from school and said, 'I just heard Sweet Thing by Mary J Blige'.
"I had to explain to him, 'Honey that's my song!'"
Despite enjoying a career that has spanned five decades, the 61-year-old singer admitted there were times when she thought about giving up music.
She said: "There have been many times when I've thought... what the hell am I doing?
"Life has many faces. It's not an easy, sweet ride."

Sir Tim Rice will receive the BMI Icon award.
The lyricist will be presented with the accolade at the BMI London Awards, which will be held at the Dorchester Hotel on October 13, 2014.
The famed songwriter is best known for his collaborations with the composer Sir Andrew Lloyd-Webber, with whom wrote the musicals, 'Evita' and 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'.
He has also worked closely on several Disney films, including 'The Lion King', 'Aladdin' and 'Beauty and the Beast'.
Upon hearing the news, Sir Tim dedicated his award to fellow music legends who have helped him along the way.
He said: "I owe it all to Tommy Steele, Lonnie Donegan, Billy Fury, Marty Wilde, Cliff Richard and Joe Brown."
BMI President and CEO, Michael O'Neill said: "Sir Tim Rice's extraordinary creativity has given the world some of the most beloved songs of the past 50 years, sheer musical poetry that has thrilled audiences in films, musical theatre and on chart-topping recordings.
"He is one of our era's most admired and respected lyricists, a leading author and sough-after commentator. We are immensely proud to honor him as a BMI Icon."
The 69-year-old lyricist has also received three Best Song Oscars for "A Whole New World" (with Alan Menken), "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" (with Elton John), and "You Must Love Me" (with Andrew Lloyd Webber).
Previous winners of the BMI Icon Award include, the Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon, the rock band Queen, Ray Davies, Van Morrison and the musician Bryan Ferry.

Peter Gabriel was named Prog God at the Progressive Music Awards.
The 'In Your Eyes' rocker - who was also named the evening's guest of honour - accepted the Prog God award, which celebrates musicians who have bettered the industry, at the Shakespeare's Globe in London as part of the Orange Amplification Presents The 2014 Progessive Music Awards last night (11.09.14).
Speaking of the award - which has previously been presented to Rick Wakeman and Ian Anderson - Peter said: "Despite prog rock probably being the most derided musical genre of all time there were - as today - a lot of extraordinary musicians trying to break down the barriers to reject the rules of music."
Other big winners included the Columbian band Kraken, who won Band of the Year and Canterbury rockers, Syd Arthur who won the Breakthrough award.
Andy Latimer, the founding member of the progressive rock band Camel, won the coveted Lifetime Achievement award for his contribution to music.
Later, the editor of Prog magazine, Jerry Ewing added: "At a time when Kate Bush is playing live, a new Pink Floyd album and a King Crimson tour are also helping push progressive music into the public spotlight, a night like tonight really shows the diversity and far reaching appeal of this music."
The 2014 Progressive Music Award winners presented by Orange Amplification and in association with Currencies.co.uk were:

Limelight sponsored by K Scope - Messenger

Live Event sponsored by Butlins - Rick Wakeman Journey To The Centre Of The Earth 40th Anniversary Tour

Breakthrough sponsored by Inside Out - Syd Arthur

Anthem sponsored by Roadrunner Records Anathema - 'Anathema'

The Storm Thorgerson Grand Design - Fish 'A Feast of Consequences'

Album of the Year sponsored by TeamRock Radio - Transatlantic 'Kaleidoscope'

Band of the Year sponsored by Kraken - Dream Theater

Outer Limits - Uriah Heep

Virtuoso sponsored by Kef - Arjen Lucassen

Guiding Light sponsored by Currencies.co.uk - Sonja Kristina

Visionary sponsored by Eagle Rock - Robert John Godfrey

Lifetime Achievement sponsored by Prog Rocks! - Andy Latimer

Prog God sponsored by Orange Amplification - Peter Gabriel