Music News

Bill Wyman is releasing his first solo album in 33 years, despite feeling "too old".
The former Rolling Stones bassist found 60 songs he'd never released before last year, when he was archiving old demos, and got the idea for his fourth solo LP 'Back To Basics'.
He chose three songs that needed reworking and then, together with nine brand new songs, went into his studio to record them.
The album will include collaborations with guitarist Terry Taylor, Guy Fletcher, Graham Broad and Robbie McIntosh, and was co-produced by Andy Wright.
Wyman said: "Initially I thought I'm a bit old for this but then I thought all the old blues musicians played till they dropped so why don't I give it a go."
The 78-year-old quit the Rolling Stones - fronted by Sir Mick Jagger -in 1993 having spent 31 years in the group, and has since gone on to write seven books, as well as become a metal detecting expert with his own brand of metal detector.
Wyman previously said: "I've always been interested in ancient cultures, archaeology, astronomy, photography, art - and as I grew up, I tried to learn more and embellish those things by reading books and documentaries and films. When I was in the band for 30 years, that was very difficult, because I didn't have the opportunity to spend much time doing that."
'Back To Basics will be released on June 22.

Britney Spears called a fan a "f***ing a**hole" while live on stage.
The 33-year-old star was performing her 'Piece of Me' show at her Planet Hollywood Las Vegas residency earlier this week when she's reported to have responded with expletives after someone in the crowd called her a "fat bitch".
A member of the audience has uploaded a clip of the show to their Instagram account on which Britney can be heard swearing after being heckled by a supposed fan, although their comment cannot be heard.
In the video, the 'Toxic' hitmaker can be seen talking to the crowd, who cheer as the music for 'Till The World Ends' begins to play.
However, as she turns her back to the audience someone to the side of the stage is said to have shouted "fat bitch" at her, prompting the blonde beauty to call them out in front of the entire crowd.
While the clip in question sounds like she's saying "f***ing a**hole", some fans have taken to Twitter to argue that she was in fact referring to more than one member of the audience and actually said "f***ing a**holes".
The outburst came after Britney asked the audience if they wanted "one more song", with some concertgoers suggesting she'd heard a negative response.

Kate Nash says the weirdest inspiration she's ever had for a song came from a skeleton in her mother's living room.
The 'Foundations' singer often gets creative ideas from the weirdest experiences but she's unsure why the odd appeals to her.
When asked what the strangest thing is she's taken inspiration from to write a song, Kate told BANG Showbiz: "The skeleton in my mum's living room. Or when I tried to save a frog in the middle of the road in Australia but my band wouldn't let me. "
Kate's last album release was 2013's 'Girl Talk', but the musician has plans to release a new LP this year, but the odd single is a possibility.
She revealed: "I probably won't be releasing an album this year, but I have been writing a lot & have plans to make a record. I will probably release some stand alone singles first."
Kate has tried her hand at acting in recent years and she's keen to take on more roles and her dream would be to work with Quentin Tarantino.
She said: "I love war movies. I'd love to star in a Tarantino action flick. That's the dream. Or a new Muppets movie obviously. Anything Jason Segel writes is amazing."
Kate is involved in this year's VQ Awards, a celebratory event for vocational achievement amongst young people.
It's an event close to her heart as the 27-year-old singer earned a vocational qualification when she left school.
She has offered some great advice for those considering a vocational qualification, saying:: "It's like trying to find the right pair of shoes or a good fitting dress, it doesn't always look good or work first try, just keep trying stuff on ... There's different paths that you might not expect but they can take you to cool places, that's how my life has always gone so far. And if you can't get in the front door, climb in through the window, there's more than one way to get what you want."
The deadline for submissions for the VQ Awards is May 1 and to find out more information and how to enter visit: www.vqday.org.uk/vq-awards

Randy Newman has donated a song to Jack Pack.
The six-time Grammy award-winning singer and composer has allowed the swing band - who shot to fame after coming fourth on 'Britain's Got Talent' last year - to record 'Forever' and is very impressed by their version of the track.
He said: "I really like what Jack Pack did with my song, Forever. It's never been recorded before and it's one of the best recordings I've heard of one of my songs. I hope it doesn't end their career."
The quartet - who signed a record deal with Simon Cowell's Syco shortly after the contest ended - are currently working hard with producer Future Cut on their debut album, which will be released on June 29.
They tweeted last week: "Working hard or hardly working? The answer is definitely working hard!
"We're all enjoying a drink tonight after a busy week putting the finishing touches to our vocals for the album..."
And Randy isn't the only collaborator the group - comprising Martin McCaffrey, Sean Ryder Wolf, Alfie Palmer and Andrew Bourn - have worked with on the record.
They tweeted last month: "Working with a 72 piece orchestra is pretty amazing!! We can't wait for you to hear the album #JackPackAlbum (sic)"

'Forever' will be released as a single later in the year.

Muse plan to fly drone aircraft over the crowds at their upcoming concerts.
The rock band are releasing their new album 'Drones' in June and the group want to stage an air show for their fans using unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in honour of the LP's title.
Speaking about their live plans in an interview with Los Angeles radio station Alt 98.7, Bellamy said: "We always like to use the modern technology in our shows, the latest video screens or light shows, lasers, whatever is out there. Drones are obviously an interesting thing to try to bring into the live show so we're going to try and do that. There's going to be some difficulty with red tape of health and safety about flying things over, but the general thing idea is that as the tour starts that we'll be using flying objects."
Bellamy has also discussed the inspiration for the record - which he has previously revealed is a "modern metaphor for what it is to lose empathy" - and says it is a "concept" album, but different to the LPs Pink Floyd made.
The frontman said: "Yeah, pretty much (it's a concept album), yeah. But it's not a strict concept in the way that Pink Floyd did it; the songs work in their own right independently, but they gel together based on the concept of drones. The vague narrative follows a kind of protagonist who goes through this journey of losing everything and sort of feeling like being brainwashed, being drawn into the military and becoming a person who feels like they've lost their soul, then eventually coming back and rediscovering it and fighting back against the systems that oppressed them - that journey takes place across the first eight songs of the album and then the ending of the album is a separate epilogue of sorts ... I'm interested in what drones represent from a technological point of view, it's a point in time where these machines are starting to emerge. It's the kind of thing where when we grew up we watched things like 'Terminator 2' and you'd see these kind of things happening in the future but we're kind of there now."
Muse's seventh studio album is released on June 8 and the band
kick off their tour - which includes a headline slot at Download festival this summer - in May.

Gary Barlow is confident Jason Orange will be at Take That's forthcoming gigs.
The 44-year-old singer quit the group last September but his former bandmate knows his friend will be in the audience when the trio hit the road later this month, though he doesn't expect him to join them on stage.
Gary said: "He wants to come to the shows, he'll definitely be there. I don't think we'll be able to get him up on stage but he'll be there."
Gary - who is now joined in the band by Mark Owen and Howard Donald - found like without Jason "very strange" at first, but he and his bandmates have now adjusted to life as a trio.
He added to MailOnline: "I think we've gotten used to it. It was very strange to start with it but it's been over six months."
And the 'Patience' hitmakers can't wait for the tour to begin so they can treat fans to an "extravaganza".
He added: "We're just so excited to hit the road. People come to a Take That show expecting an extravaganza and that's exactly what they're going to get."

Happy Mondays and Razorlight are to headline the BL9 Weekender.
The 'Step On' rockers and 'America' hitmakers will top the bill at Bury FC's Gigg Lane ground over the weekend of 13-14 June, while a host of other performers, including Diversity, James Arthur, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Farm, Peter Hook and the Light, Finley Quaye, Tinchy Stryder and Coolio will also take to the main stage at the event.
The main stage will be on the pitch at the ground, while there will also be a second stage, whose line-up has yet to be announced.
Organisers are hopeful BL9 - which is open to under 18s on the Sunday - will boost the local community.
Event organiser Andrew Brooks said: "Football clubs all over the UK offer the perfect infrastructure for a festival and, rather than being in remote villages, they are easily accessible and perfect for our needs.
"Our ambition is to work with crew and suppliers from the local area to demonstrate that Bury FC caters for music and football fans alike, creating an unmissable event."
Tickets are on sale now at www.bl9weekender.co.uk with a special Early Bird price starting at £35 per day (adults) or £60 for the whole weekend.
Line up news and more updates can be found on Twitter @BL9Weekender or on Facebook facebook.com/BL9Weekender.

Ella Henderson performed a secret gig in London last night (15.04.15).
The former X Factor' contestant was unveiled as the new face of Batiste dry shampoo's 2015 Ready For It campaign earlier this week and celebrated the launch of the collaboration with a concert and cocktail party at the Sanderson hotel.
The acoustic set included her latest single 'Mirror Man' and 'Ghost' and before performing 'Mirror Man', the 19-year-old singer revealed that the song was written about the "most selfish, most self-obsessed boy" she's ever met, though she declined to name names.
Ella admitted that she made a last minute change her set-list for the evening, due the sun coming out, as it inspired her to sing her mum's favourite song 'Rockets'.
In between songs, Ella excitedly chatted about her new collaboration with Batiste and how she plans to try something different with her hair.
The teenage star's parents and BBC Radio 1 DJ Scott Mills were among the guests at the event, and they, along with others in attendance got to tuck into salmon and burger canapés and vanilla-infused vodka-based cocktails.
Ella admitted earlier this week Batiste is one of her go-to products.
She said: "Batiste is my number one hit; I'm either in the studio or on stage, in a car or on a plane - often with little time to get ready. I can always count on Batiste to refresh and restyle my hair in one go; I know I'll always be ready for wherever the day takes me."

Sam Smith's new album is inspired by women.
The 'Stay with Me' hitmaker already has written several songs for his second LP - the follow up to his triple Grammy-winning debut 'In the Lonely Hour' - and the female vocalists he has been listening to have had an effect on the music.
The 22-year-old singer told Australian website News.com.au: "I love it when people think I'm a woman, it's a huge compliment. All I do is listen to female voices. That means my voice has been massively influenced by who I listen to."
Sam has the "concept" for his album ready but won't rush release the record.
He explained: "I feel like I've already got the concept for the next record worked out, I've written a few songs that I'm really excited about but I don't want to release anything until it's perfect. But I'm constantly writing music."
Sam has been praised for his brutally honest lyrics on his debut and he has promised more of the same on the new LP because he wants his music to contain "messages" for listeners.
He said: "It's important to make your messages through the art, through the music. Interviews only last so long, songs and albums and videos and music last a lifetime."