Music News

Lulu feels sorry for Zayn Malik.
The 22-year-old pop star made the decision to quit chart-topping boy band One Direction last month and the 'Shout' singer has admitted she sympathises greatly with the star.
She said: "The big pop stars are all lonely, even with thousands of people screaming at them. You do have to feel sorry for that kid Zayn Malik.
"When I was a little bit younger than him I married Maurice Gibb, and looking back I can see we were drawn to each other because we were both lonely."
And the 66-year-old singer has admitted she feels her emotional development has been "stunted" by joining the music business at an early age.
She added to The Observer magazine: "I don't think I'm emotional grown up. Being in the music business from an early age sort of stunts your growth in that way."
Meanwhile, the pop star has revealed her new album will be "outrageous".
She said previously: "It's nuts, to think I'm doing this, at this age! It's a first for me, at 66. It's kind of outrageous. It's scary, in fact, if I think of it like that. I should have started writing when I was young, that was a big mistake, but it feels like it fits so well now.
"I've found a way to deal with the things that have driven me. I've always tried not to be vulnerable and this is allowing me to open up, in a way. I feel like I've grown up. And yet, the opposite is true, I feel like I'm just beginning."

Ella Henderson and Danny O'Donoghue's collaboration is an "emotional power ballad".
Last week, it was announced that The Script frontman and the 19-year-old 'Ghost' singer recently met to work on a musical collaboration and it's now been revealed that the song is going to be a "gushy" ballad.
Ella's band member, Josh, told BANG Showbiz: "We listened to the song the other day and it is the perfect emotional power ballad.
"It sounds really good, it's very pop but still soulful - You could say it's pretty gushy.
"They are the perfect people to do a song together and it looks like this song will probably be the first in a few that they will do together. They really enjoyed it and they got on well."
The former 'X Factor' contestant is currently working on her studio album, while the Irish pop singer, 34, recently admitted he is becoming more heavily involved in the song-writing side of the music industry.
Danny said he is enjoying working with a variety of acts and producers behind the scenes.
And speaking prior to hooking up musically together, Danny admitted: "[Ella is] an amazing vocalist."

Mumford & Sons hate their name.
The 'I Will Wait' hitmakers share songwriting duties and frontman Marcus Mumford doesn't like the fact their moniker sounds like he is their driving force and he admits they considered re-Christening themselves.
He said: "I definitely regret the band name. If I'd known it was going to go this way I would have wanted to call it anything other than my last name.
"It's a ball-ache. We thought about changing it but it's a bit late now."
The group have moved away from the folk sound of their first two albums on new record 'Wilder Mind' and are relieved to have shed their tweed waistcoats and bow ties in favour of leather jackets, in keeping with their new image.
Keyboard player Ben Lovett said: "I think it would be fair to say that we've noticed that in some of our old photos we look like absolute idiots.
"There were so many car crashes. We look like us in our photos now. I don't even want to describe how we used to look."
However, Marcus insists they haven't made a calculated attempt to change their style.
He told NME magazine: "We didn't sit down and say, 'Let's wear leather guys'. Over an eight-year period you behave differently. You go to different places, you probably have different friends. You wear different clothes.
"We didn't hire a stylist and say, 'Let's rebrand ourselves.' "

Paul Weller's new music "comes from out of space".
The 56-year-old rocker is excited about forthcoming album 'Saturn's Pattern' and thinks the material, particularly the title track, is "pretty original".
He said: "'Saturn's Pattern' just kind of comes from out of space. It's kind of got a little bit of funk in it, but it's music that I haven't possibly heard of - it's pretty original I think.
"There's a few tracks on the album you can't really place, but they're very, very tuneful.
"The sky's the limit for me really, I have no idea where it's going to go."
Despite his years in the music industry, the former Jam frontman doesn't feel "shackled" by the past and enjoys experimenting with his work.
He told NME magazine: "You kind of hit upon the right circumstances or whatever, but I'm always trying to look forwards and see where else this music can go.
"I don't feel in any way shackled to my past at all - I think it's wide open...
"I don't know if I understand people when they get to a certain age and they're just kind of happy with what they know.
"I'm on the lookout for whatever's happening, it still holds my interest."

Markus Feehily empathises with Zayn Malik's wish to lead a normal life.
The former Westlife singer understand why the 22-year-old singer has quit One Direction because it is such a "weird", all-consuming lifestyle.
He said: "I think this is something the One Direction lads can relate to. When you are in a boy band even on your days off, you still might get that call from the record label. It's weird, you live in a bubble and you are never truly off. You are never away from it."
And Markus admits his first days away from the band - who disbanded in 2012 - allowed him the chance to think for himself and make his own plans for the first time in years.
He added to BANG Showbiz: "For me at the end of Westlife I was a bit confused. I needed to come away from all of this and find out what I am able to do by myself and what kind of person I am. I needed to be in my own head ... instead my life was scheduled by someone for 14 years in a record label. I wanted to find out what would I do if nobody told me what to do.
"That is very much what the last few years had been about."
Markus is now launching a solo career and is pleased he has done it alone, rather than relying on the help of Westlife's manager Louis Walsh and record company boss Simon Cowell.
He said: "Even musically I could've used all of my contacts and called up Louis and Simon and said is there any chance you can put me in touch with so and so, I want to write a song with them. But I stepped completely away from all of that. I know it sounds cliché but I wanted to find out who I was, without anyone else. What was I capable of all by myself?"
Markus' new single 'Love Is A Drug' is out on April 19 and his solo LP is due for release later this year.

Charli XCX wants to leave a legacy.
The 'Boom Clap' hitmaker is keen to use her "business mind" to develop an "empire" that doesn't just include her musical talent.
She said: "I have a business mind, I have a real drive - I want to have an empire.
"I want to have more of a legacy, and I think just because I wear what I wear, and am a pop star, doesn't mean I can't have that."
The 22-year-old singer also admitted she enjoys having power and is extremely driven.
She added: "Power gets me off. I always want more than I have."
But Charli has insisted she isn't bothered about being a "picture-perfect pop star" and doesn't worry about pretending to be having a good day for the sake of the paparazzi.
She told Maxim magazine: "I'm not good at being a picture-perfect pop star, happy all the time. If I'm having a bad day, I can't pretend."
Meanwhile, the beauty previously admitted she loves heading out on tour and would gladly sleep in a bin whilst on the road, as long as she was given some champagne.
She said: "On my last tour I took my childhood best friend and I hired another of my best friends as my assistant. I enjoy touring. I'm the opposite of a diva.
"Would I sleep in a bin? As long as I've had some champagne, then probably, yeah."

Danny O'Donoghue rejected Cameron Diaz.
The 'Never Seen Anything Quite Like You' hitmaker was told by the Hollywood star's assistant that the 42-year-old actress was keen on having his number but he refused because he was dating Irma Mali at the time.
He told Sunday World: "We both appeared on The Today Show in New York. Her assistant told me Cameron wanted my number. I had a girlfriend [Irma] at the time so I thought it might be a bit weird to hand my number out.
"So I said no. I would have bitten her hand off if I hadn't been dating someone. I'm kicking myself."
Since their appearance, Cameron has gone on to marry one half of The Madden Brothers, Benji Madden.
Meanwhile, the 34-year-old singer recently admitted he even turned to dating app Tinder to find a potential match but was left unsuccessful when women refused to believe it was actually him.
He said: "I was joking around with being on Tinder... but no one believes it's me. [My dream girl is] probably watching now and thinking 'Oh my God, it was true.'"
Danny's bandmate Mark Sheehan added: "He put his own face on it [account], he was honest and tried to get a date but people didn't believe it was him."

Leona Lewis has signed a deal with Def Jam Recordings.
The 30-year-old singer revealed she is now a part of the label's roster in America by posting a photo of herself wearing a Def Jam jacket on Instagram.
Darcus Beese - the president of Island Records, who signed her in the UK and which Def Jam owns - confirmed the news, revealing the label is planning to be "as ambitious" as they can with her.
Darcus said: (Leona's) voice was enough reason to do the deal. We're going to be as ambitious as we can (with her). She's on Def Jam in America and they are very passionate about the record as well. We are internationally ambitious for the record, but I know that (the work) very much starts here in our own back garden."
Leona left Simon Cowell's Syco record label in June last year, following an apparent dispute over the musical direction of her new material.
Darcus insists Leona has "matured as an artist" and needed to break away from her former 'X Factor' mentor.
Speaking to Music Week magazine, he said: "If the US has some semblance of success, then we can start joining the dots globally. It's important that people feel that Leona has moved on and matured as an artist with something to say. Now it's about making sure that what we have is relevant and exciting to people. That's the foundations of our success going forward."
The 'Run' singer will release her fifth studio album 'I Am' later this year, and the first single taken from the album, 'Fire (Under My Feet)', is due out next month.

Gary Barlow asked taxi drivers and monitored social media to gauge the success of Take That as a trio.
The singer admits when Jason Orange left the band in 2014 the group was "close" to splitting up, because he had no idea if he, Mark Owen and Howard Donald could make it as a threesome.
Gary decided to ask cab drivers for advice on his dilemma and also took to Twitter to find out what fans thought of the plan.
Speaking to The Sun newspaper in New York at the launch of his 'Finding Neverland' musical, the 'Back For Good' singer said: "I had huge doubts whether it would work as a trio. I was worried and thought, 'This might be the end.' It's the closest we've come to calling it a day. We heavily researched what reaction would be like if we performed as a three. We spent days monitoring social media to get a sense of what fans thought. I even got the views of taxi drivers."
Once he saw the response to a Take That trio was positive, Gary knew they could carry on.
He added: "It was all overwhelmingly positive, so we stayed together."
The 44-year-old musician also needed to know if Mark and Howard were still completely committed to Take That before making their album 'III'.
He added: "It would have been hard to drag an album out if one of us didn't want to do it. But it works as a three and it's exciting."