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Mark Feehily ‘rescued’ by Boy George


Mark Feehily was "rescued" by Boy George.
The former Westlife singer admits he took it hard when the band split in 2012 but the 'Karma Chameleon' hitmaker was able to pull him out of "genuine depression".
He shared: "I was lying in my bed for days on end, genuinely depressed for a long time. It's nothing to be ashamed of but it's still not easy to say out loud. I was low - I was losing it for a bit."
Trying his luck after the pair swapped numbers at a chance meeting, the 35-year-old singer decided to send Boy George a clip of him covering a track from the star's musical 'Taboo'.
He explained to The Sun newspaper: "I was expecting him to come back and say it was s**t, 'How dare you'. But he sent me this huge, long email back saying, 'Oh my God, I'm sitting in my kitchen crying, listening to your voice. You've got an amazing voice'.
"It gave me that big boost of confidence to go into my solo career. If someone like him can think that - then f**k it, I'm going to go for it. He rescued me from the brink."

Miguel proud of Prince comparison


Miguel is proud to be compared to Prince but wants to "carve" his own name in the music business.
The 'Coffee' hitmaker considers it a huge compliment for people to mention his name in the same sentence as the pop legend but he hopes once people hear his songs they will recognise him for his own sound.
Speaking to BANG Showbiz at the Q Awards, he said of the Prince comparison: "I think that is a huge point of reference for people because he is the only ethnic person that became an icon that really mixed sounds and textures of multiple genres of music.
"So if that is the only point of reference that most people have, it's a compliment. If you think the consistency ... essentially with consistency I hope to carve out my own name and people to start knowing that there are things that are definitively me and no one else. But I do take it as a huge compliment. I'll never be Prince to me."
Miguel - who has just unveiled the Vanessa Hudgens-starring video for 'Waves', the latest single from his album 'Wildheart' - has earned sex symbol status due to his raunchy songs and videos.
The 29-year-old singer is happy to be a heartthrob to his fans as he believes sensuality is an important part of music.
He said: "I guess I embody a few things man and that's part of my personality so I am not mad at it being a part of it. There is a lot more to be discovered I suppose."

Black Sabbath to headline Download Festival 2016


Black Sabbath will headline Download 2016 alongside Iron Maiden.
The legendary rock band, fronted by Ozzy Osbourne, have confirmed they'll perform on the second day of the annual music festival on Saturday, 11 June at Donington Park, Leicestershire, as part of their final ever 'The End' tour.
In a statement, Ozzy, 66, said: "Download is my absolute favourite summer festival. It's always like coming home. See you all there!"
The gig is set to be "their biggest and most mesmerising production to date."
It was previously announced Iron Maiden will close the event on Sunday, 12 June, their only UK show next year, but the third and final headliner has yet to be announced.
The band will fly in to East Midlands Airport on their Boeing 747-400 jumbo jet Ed Force One, piloted by Bruce Dickinson and carrying band, crew, stage production and equipment over 55,000 miles around the world, visiting 35 countries on 'The Book Of Souls World Tour'.
Bruce recently said: "Download is a very special place for us. Not just because it's always great to play on home turf but because there's a truly unique vibe there, it's the very heart of England and of Metal, so a fitting place for Iron Maiden!
"The crowd is always fiercely passionate and the whole band feeds off that famous Donington energy. We aim to deliver a really memorable show for our fans to close the 2016 Festival."

Andrea Bocelli to perform at MTV EMAs


Andrea Bocelli is to perform at the MTV EMAs.
The 57-year-old Italian singer will take to the stage at the Mediolanum Forum in Milan this Sunday (25.10.15) for his first ever appearance at the awards show.
Bocelli will perform one solo track and will also duet with Tori Kelly in what promises to be one of the most memorable collaborations in MTV Europe Music Awards history.
Revealing his excitement ahead of the ceremony, Bocelli - who releases his new album 'Cinema' on October 23 - said: "I'm pleased and excited to perform at a location and event that is unexpected for me, and to share the overwhelming and contagious energy of so many young people from all around the world. I will be preparing a nice surprise from outside of my usual repertoire together with the beautiful and talented Tori."
The EMAs will be hosted by Ed Sheeran and Ruby Rose and other performers on the night include Pharrell Williams, Ellie Goulding, Jason Derulo, James Bay, Jess Glynne and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis.
Voting for all award categories is open on mtvema.com until October 24.

John Newman won’t follow pop trends


John Newman ignores pop music "trends".
The 25-year-old singer doesn't worry about being fashionable compared to other artists in the charts and just wants to focus on making the best songs he can.
Speaking exclusively to BANG Showbiz at the BMI Awards on Monday night (19.10.15) at London's Dorchester Hotel - where he was honoured with an award for his hits 'Love Me Again' and 'Blame' - he shared: "I'm not a trend person. I don't like anything with a gimmicky lyric. (I like) The Rolling Stones through to Major Lazor through to the Arctic Monkeys through to Brookes Brothers or Chase and Status. I listen to anything as long as it's actually good. And I just focus on writing songs that work for me."
The 'Come and Get It' hitmaker released his second studio album 'Revolve' last week - which includes a dramatic intro voiced by his pal Idris Elba - and despite hinting he's ready to build a record label to develop other artists, he's promised he won't give up on writing his own hits any time soon.
He explained: "That's important to me, to stick to my priorities. I'm a good man at choosing my priorities. I take so much interest in my career in terms of marketing and timings and everything so I'm not stopping at all in terms of music. The success of this new record 'Revolve', the reaction to it shows that - not in an egotistical way - I shouldn't be stopping being a singer any time soon."
Elsewhere, Sam Smith won the the Song of the Year prize at the ceremony, while the highlight of the evening came when BMI Icon Award winner and 10CC frontman Graham Gouldman duetted with British songstress Lisa Stansfield.
The pair sang a beautiful acoustic rendition of 10CC hit 'I'm Not In Love' and speaking prior to the performance, Graham credited The Beatles for sparking his passion in music as a teenager.
He said: "They still are (my inspiration). For me they're what I aspire to do and it's slightly pathetic that I was doing that as a young teenager and I'm still doing that now. I'm obviously not a young teenager any more!"

Fleetwood Mac tipped for Glastonbury


Fleetwood Mac are "highly likely" to headline Glastonbury 2016.
The 'Go Your Own Way' hitmakers - who topped the bill at the Isle of Wight Festival last year - are reportedly close to signing up to perform at the world Michael Eavis' iconic festival on Worthy Farm in Somerset, South West England.
A source told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "Glastonbury was always on the cards and they wanted to do it last year but they couldn't because of the deal they have signed with Isle of Wight organisers. Now they are free of that they can do what they want."
And it was IOW boss John Giddings who reminded Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis that money talks, when he revealed he had to splash the cash to secure Fleetwood Mac - comprised of Mick Fleetwood, Stevie Nicks, John McVie, Christine McVie and Lindsey Buckingham - last year.
Giddings revealed: "Michael Eavis said, 'How did you get Fleetwood Mac?' I said, 'I paid them!'
He went on: "Glastonbury are in a privileged position whereby they sell out in advance. They could book my granny and still have a festival. The rest of us are still in the realms of having to book a decent line-up and make it attractive to people and make them want to come."
Meanwhile, Coldplay are being hotly tipped to become record makers in 2016 and become the first ever act to headline Glastonbury four times.
The band - fronted by Chris Martin - previously closed the Pyramid Stage in 2002, 2005 and 2011.

Charli XCX is done with collaborations


Charli XCX is done with collaborations.
The 'Boom Clap' singer is currently working on her new album - the follow-up to 2014's 'Sucker' - but there won't be any special guests on it because Charli is getting "selfish" with her music.
Charli has enjoyed working with artists like Iggy Azalea and Rita Ora but she's ridding herself of her pop pals and going it alone on her new LP.
Speaking to BANG Showbiz at the Q Awards in London on Monday (19.10.15), she revealed: "I feel like I've done my fair share of collaborations for life now! I'm going to take some time for myself.
"Maybe I will do another collaboration in the future but right now I want to be quite selfish and work on my own."
Charli admits the early studio session are going well and has revealed the record will contain lots of big pop songs.
She said: "I'm not giving too much away yet, it's still at the ideas stage but it's going very well, it's very pop. I was really struggling on tour so I'm really happy to be back in the studio being creative."
Charli caused a stir when she walked the red carpet at the star-studded event in a sheep skin coat covering her racy silk dress and claimed she wasn't wearing a bra as a feminist statement.
When asked if she was a feminist, the 23-year-old brunette beauty exclaimed: "Yes! And I'm not wearing a bra today!"
Other stars at the ceremony, which was held at The Grosvenor House Hotel, included Noel Gallagher, Duran Duran's Simon Le Bon, Chris Martin, Jess Glynne and Mark Ronson.

Sir Tom Jones: James Bay has ‘promised’ to write me a song


Sir Tom Jones says James Bay has "promised" to write a song for him.
The 'It's Not Unusual' hitmaker is a huge fan of the 'Hold Back The River' singer and has teased the possibility of a collaboration between the pair in the near future.
Talking to BANG Showbiz at the Q Awards in London on Monday (19.10.15), the 75-year-old singer said: "I presented James Bay with his award, Best New Artist, and I said I wish I could have won one of these when I started but Q magazine wasn't going 50 years ago when I started.
"James has promised to write me a song, so when we do it, I might do a duet with him."
And the 25-year-old star insists he is "totally ok" with the idea as well and is already thinking about what sort of genre to go for.
He added: "If Tom Jones is saying this, that I'm going to write a song for him, then I'm totally ok with it. I guess I'd want to do something that was like the rootsy, Americana-type music he's making right now.
"I saw Tom live in the summer and even with his classic tunes he's put this Americana twist on them, I'd like to do something like that with him."

Taylor Swift feels lucky to be liked


Taylor Swift feels "lucky" to be liked by the public.
The 'Bad Blood' hitmaker - who earns $1 million a day - considers herself fortunate that people like her songs but believes her good luck could change at any time.
She told Australia's VOGUE magazine: "Things are good right now but I'm never going to be stupid, foolish or ignorant enough to think I have control over the public. All I can control is making good music.
"I am so lucky that people seem to like me right now, but in no way, shape or form is it a permanent thing. And I think being aware of that is what keeps you smart and is what keeps you on the game."
The 25-year-old star added that if people get sick of her, she has no problem with taking some time off to.
She explained: "Then I'll feel like I'll need to give people a breather."
Taylor also believes it's good to be aware that fans and critics could turn against her at any time.
She added: "The public could change their minds about me tomorrow. If they decided that I was annoying tomorrow, they would use that angle and then a few other writers would use that and it would catch on."

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