Music News

U2 are auctioning off a signed guitar for charity.
The 'With or Without You' hitmakers - featuring Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. - have each scrawled their autographs on the instrument, which will be sold to raise money for the UK's leading music therapy charity Nordoff Robbins at the 40th anniversary of the O2 Silver Clef Awards in London on Friday (03.07.15).
As well as the Gibson Les Paul Music Rising guitar - which was played by The Edge during their recent 'iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE' tour - the priceless prize includes a signed vinyl copy of their 1987 album 'The Joshua Tree' and a framed gold disc of the LP, four VIP tickets to one of the band's upcoming shows at London's O2 Arena, and a personal tour of the stage at the show from The Edge.
Bids for the incredible lot start at £15,000 and can be made on Nordoff Robbins' website until 14:00 BST tomorrow (02.07.15), with these being carried into the live auction at the event on Friday (03.07.15).
Also at the prestigious event, acts including Iron Maiden, Kasabian, Duran Duran, Mark Ronson and Rita Ora will receive O2 Silver Clef Awards.
Fans can bid for the lot here: http://www.nordoff-robbins.org.uk/exclusive_U2_auction

Zayn Malik is making a "soulful record".
The 22-year-old singer has teamed up with producer Naughty Boy to work on tracks for his debut solo album, although the musician has revealed Zayn is in full control on the record.
He said: "He's making a very soulful record.
"He's writing, himself, on it as well."
It was recently reported the 'Night Changes' singer had been banned from releasing solo music for two years following his departure from One Direction - which he quit in March this year, leaving Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan to continue as a quartet - although his 30-year-old collaborator has insisted the music will be "worth the wait".
Speaking to Capital FM, Naughty Boy - whose real name is Shahid Khan - explained: "I think it's worth the wait, I think the less I say about it the better. I think it'll all make sense soon. Zayn's his own man, no one can tell Zayn what to do, especially me."
The news comes after Rita Ora - who is dating Ricky Hil - confessed she would be up for working with Zayn if they could find the right track to collaborate on.
When asked if she would consider recording with the heartthrob, she said: "Well he does have the same colour hair as my boyfriend. My man had it first. You know what, I respect people that work. You know I respect people that do their music. But I'm never gonna say no. You know I love music. It all depends on the song."

Iggy Azalea was "difficult" on the set of her 'Pretty Girls' video with Britney Spears.
The 25-year-old rapper reportedly angered crew on the set of the video, which was shot in California earlier this year, after she "totally took it over" and "ordered everyone" around
A source revealed: "Iggy was difficult with respect to direction of [the] video. Everyone just got fed up and didn't want to deal with it. Britney, being a veteran artist, was tired of arguing."
A second source added: "'Pretty Girls' was Britney's song and video but Iggy totally took it over as if it was hers. Iggy ordered everyone -- including Britney -- around as if she was directing the video."
The 'Piece Of Me' hitmaker was also bossed about prior to their performance at the Billboard Music Awards in May, as the blonde beauty dictated which outfit she wore.
A source told Us Weekly magazine: "Britney is such a fan that she listened to everything Iggy said."
Meanwhile the pair have recently hit out at each other after their collaboration failed to top the charts, with Iggy claiming it "flopped a little bit" because they didn't promote it enough.
She wrote on Twitter: "its difficult to send a song up the charts without additional promo and tv performances etc. unfortunately im just featured...
"i would have enjoyed performing it alot, i think it got off to a powerful start. but you need content to compete in 2015. (sic)"
Hitting back, Britney tweeted a snide message in referral to Iggy's North American 'Great Escape' tour, which she recently cancelled because she wanted "a break".
She wrote: "Can't wait to get back to Vegas. So thankful I have shows for the rest of the year to look forward to... #YouWantAPieceOfMe (sic)."

Amy Winehouse has unreleased music.
Unheard tapes of the late singer - who died from alcohol poisoning aged 27 in 2011 - were discovered by 'Amy' director Asif Kapdia, producer James Gay-Rees and editor Chris King during their two years researching for the documentary.
Now the movie makers are campaigning for the 'Rehab' singer's label, Universal, to release an album featuring the tracks they weren't able to squeeze in to the biopic, including an "emotive" one about her ex-husband Blake Fielder-Civil.
Chris said: "I would recommend they find a way to release some of the stuff we listened to. There's one recording where she's getting back with Blake Fielder-Civil
"It's just piano and her singing, which is such a massive emotive performance. There are songs like that and cover versions we couldn't work into the film that I'd love everybody to hear."
An album of Amy's unreleased music curated by her friend Mark Ronson, 'Lioness: Hidden Treasures', came out the same year as her death, and many fans thought it was too soon.
For this reason, James has confessed that Universal is now wary about bringing out another album.
He said: "They're trying to do things in the right taste because I think they were quite burned with Lioness."

Miley Cyrus is "switching up" her sound.
Producer Mike Will Made It has teased fans can expect a different sound on the 22-year-old star's fifth studio album, which the pair are making good progress on, describing her new music as "crazy".
He said: "We've got like eight or ten songs recorded, so we're just gonna pick the best songs to go on the album.
"It should be interesting though. Her whole sound is switching up, you know what I'm saying? It's crazy."
The 'Wrecking Ball' hitmaker recently revealed she has been working in solitude on the LP - which will be the follow-up to her 2013 album 'Bangerz' - with the 26-year-old musician sending her tracks to sing on.
She explained: "I don't have to have writers, I don't have to have f**kin' producers in there."
"Mike Will will text me a beat, and I'll go in my studio and work on it by myself."
Meanwhile, Mike - who produced her single 'We Can't Stop' and executive produced her whole 2013 record - is also working on his own album, on which he has enlisted the help of a variety of other stars.
He told MTV News: "It's a totally new sound from what I've been doing.
"I've been working with Fergie, John Legend, Schoolboy Q, Future, Snoop, all type of people on my album, No Doubt, all types of people."

FKA twigs has been added to the Way Out West festival line-up. The 27-year-old musician will perform at the annual music festival alongside Grammy Award winner Angelique Kidjo in the latest round of acts to be added to the event. The 'Two Weeks' hitm...

John Legend writes "50-80 songs" each time he makes an album.
The 'All of Me' hitmaker is currently working on his fifth studio LP and revealed he has been keeping to a "schedule" as he always does when writing in a bid to maximise his creativity.
He explained: "When I'm writing the album, I like to schedule writing sessions rather than just hope inspiration randomly comes to me. I like to schedule my creativity so that I'm more proactive about searching for inspiration. It makes me more productive and prolific. Every song won't be great, but I create 50-80 songs every album, in the hopes that a significant portion will be great."
The 36-year-old star - who is married to model Chrissy Teigen - continued to say he is feeling "motivated" with his upcoming collection because he always has something to express with his songs.
He said: "I LOVE music. I LOVE writing music. I love the challenge of creating something new and special. There's still so much I want to do and accomplish. It's not hard to stay motivated and inspired. (sic)"
The nine-time Grammy Award winner went on to praise his pal, rapper Kanye West, who he named as "the most influential" musician he has ever worked with.
During a Q&A on Reddit, he said: "Of all the artists I've worked with, Kanye has been the most influential and important one. We've worked together since 2002 and he's helped my career in so many ways
"He's one of my favorite artists of all time. 'Flashing Lights' is one of my favorites, but there are many more. (sic)"

Grace Jones has announced the release of her autobiography.
The singer and actress recently signed a book deal with Gallery Books to release 'I'll Never Write My Memoirs', with the title coming from her song 'Art Groupie' in which she insisted she would never tell her life story.
The 67-year-old star will publish her book on September 29, telling the tale of her Jamaican upbringing, emergence as a model aged 17 and her career as a disco icon after she moved to New York.
As well as the twists and turns of her professional life, the star is also planning on sharing stories from her time at legendary New York nightclub Studio 54, as well as living with Jerry Hall during her modelling days, collaborating with Andy Warhol and acting opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in 'Conan the Destroyer'.
The 'Slave to the Rhythm' hitmaker revealed her plans to pen the collection back in 2013, when she confessed although she wasn't keen to put out her life story, she was scared someone else might do it if she didn't.
She said: "I wrote a song called 'Art Groupie'. First line said 'I'll never write my memoirs' - that was a long time ago. Since then, I thought, if I don't do it, somebody else will."

Nicki Minaj wants to work with One Direction.
The 32-year-old rapper has extended an offer to the boy band, and thinks Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson are "cute".
Nicki said: "I do want to work with One Direction. I mean, of course, who wouldn't? They're cute!"
The 'Starships' hitmaker has also revealed she wants to follow in the footsteps of her friends Jay-Z, Kanye West and Beyonce and headline Glastonbury, and she's also getting her British impression ready for the occasion.
Speaking to The Sun newspaper, Nicki said: "(Glastonbury) would be a huge achievement for me. So I'm just waiting for the offer! And I can already do the British accent."
Nicki won two awards at the BET Awards on Sunday night (28.06.15), but caused a stir when she confessed she didn't know what the award was for during her acceptance speech for the Viewer's Choice award.
The 'Anaconda' star - who also picked up Best Female in Hip Hop at the event - has now explained how she made the mistake at the event held at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
She said: "I was getting ready to leave and gathering my stuff together. I didn't realise I was up for another award but, hey, that's live TV."