Music News

Madonna thanked MNEK for working on her album by giving him a bag of lemons.
The 'Living For Love' hitmaker presented the London-based musician with the odd choice of gift after he co-wrote the track 'Hold Tight' for her new album 'Rebel Heart', but the star was pleased she also gifted him some chocolate peanut butter treats, as it is his favourite combination.
He revealed: "It was cool. It was a really nice session, she was really lovely. She gave me a bag of lemons! She gave me these really f**king vegany chocolate peanut butter sweets. I don't know how she knew I love chocolate peanut butter, but she did, and there it was there to eat in the studio."
The 20-year-old Grammy nominee - whose real name is Uzo Emenike - continued to say he was thrilled to get the opportunity to work on the iconic star's album, and was proud when he received such a positive reaction from her legions of fans.
He told Digital Spy: "I guess as the song ('Hold Tight') came out, her fans seem to respond it really well, so yeah, awesome! And she's a legend, and it's an awesome opportunity to work with someone like Madonna who's literally shaped the careers of so many artists that I've wanted to work with and that I look up to. She's the queen!"

Sir Paul McCartney will induct Ringo Starr into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The 74-year-old Beatles drummer is the last member of the 'Eleanor Rigby' band to receive the honour, as John Lennon, George Harrison and Paul have already been inducted, with his 74-year-old musician ushering in his bandmate for the 30th annual ceremony.
Speaking about the "recognition" of his work being inducted into the Hall of Fame, Ringo - who will release his 18th studio album 'Postcards from Paradise' later this month - said he is thrilled because it means he will finally be appreciated alongside his former bandmates.
He told Rolling Stone magazine: "It means, finally, the four of us are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame even though we were the biggest pop group in the land."
Other stars are also set to be celebrated at the event by being inducted, with Stevie Wonder speaking about Bill Withers, Fall Out Boy talking about Green Day, and Patti Smith introducing Lou Reed.
The ceremony will take place on April 18 at Cleveland's Public Hall, with other performances coming from Dave Grohl, Joe Walsh, Tom Morello, John Legend and Jimmy Vaughan.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is located in Cleveland, Ohio, and is dedicated to some of the most well-known and influential artists, with acts only being eligible to enter 25 years after their first release.

Andy Fraser has passed away at the age of 62.
The Free bassist died at his home in California on Monday (16.03.15), and although the cause of death is not yet known, he had been battling with cancer and Aids, a statement from his family has confirmed.
The announcement read: "A survivor of both cancer and Aids, Andy was a strong social activist and defender of individual human rights.
"He leaves behind his daughters Hannah and Jasmine Fraser, and their mother Ri, his sister Gail, brothers Gavin and Alex, and many friends and associates in the industry."
The London-born musician is known for co-founding the band in 1968 aged 15 along with Paul Kossoff, Paul Rodgers and Simon Kirke, as well as co-writing their greatest hit 'All Right Now', which became a best-seller in 1970.
The musician left the band in 1972 to work with guitarist Chris Spedding, later forming the Andy Fraser Brand and writing tracks for stars such as Robert Palmer, Joe Cocker and Rod Stewart.
His daughter, Hannah, has now issued a personal statement concerning her father's death on behalf of her family, in which she speaks about his "endless passion" and how they are "shocked and heartbroken" by their loss.
In the message to FOX411, she said: "I'm so shocked and heartbroken by the loss of our amazing father Andy, who was a true force of nature. His endless passion for music has been an inspiration to the world for over half a decade.
"He was a man of few words, but he always knew how to sum up a situation insightfully, and straight to the point. The last time I saw him he was in his element, rocking out onstage to benefit humanity. I am so proud of him, his bravery, intensity, philanthropy and talent will have people singing his praises for years to come. Andy was a survivor who overcame some of the most challenging health issues in his life, and yet he left this earth healthy, happy and full of plans to make this world a better place for us all. It's alright now, and he's finally free."

Selena Gomez says there will be "darkness" in her new music.
The 22-year-old star revealed the songs on her forthcoming second solo album will document the past two years of her life since she released 'Stars Dance', during which she has split from her long-term on/off boyfriend Justin Bieber and started dating 'Clarity' hitmaker, Zedd.
She told WWD website: "I haven't released any music in two years, so it's really going to be me kind of showing my journey in the past two years, and there's a little darkness in it."
The singer's last single was the emotional ballad 'The Heart Wants What It Wants', but more recently she has contributed vocals to her beau's new single 'I Want You To Know', sparking praise from the 25-year-old DJ.
Speaking about how the collaboration happened, he said: "I'd been working on this little idea with Ryan Tedder a couple of months ago and I met Selena randomly.
"I ran into her and she came into my studio ... I played her all the music that I had and she played me some of the stuff that she's been working on and we realised that there were songs that we could do together that'd sound really good, 'I Want You to Know' being the main focus for both of us.
"We started working on the song together and recorded her vocals and realized that it sounds perfect, so I never tried anyone else on the song and it happened to be the first single from my album."

Leonard Cohen's upcoming live album will feature two new songs.
The 80-year-old singer/songwriter is bringing out 'Can't Forget: A Souvenir of the Grand Tour' complete with the previously unheard tracks 'Never Gave Nobody Trouble' and 'Got a Little Secret'.
The LP's tracklist also contains two previously unreleased cover versions, his interpretations of Georges Dor's Quebecois' 'La Manic' and George Jones' 'Choices'.
The other songs on the record are some of the lesser performed tracks from Cohen's impressive career.
Cohen recorded the album on stage and during sound checks on his 'Old Ideas World Tour' and it is the second live album the musician has released following 2014's 'Popular Problems'.
Previously speaking about how he works out what tracks he is going to play at his concerts and how he arranges his songs, Cohen said: "You can pretty well tell. We play it for select people, like my daughter - there's a few people who aren't afraid to tell you that it isn't working."
Referring to a track that didn't make the cut for 'Popular Problems', he added: "We had another song on the album, which was called 'Happens to the Heart,' which will be on the next album. It's a very good lyric, a very good tune, but we didn't nail it."
'Can't Forget: A Souvenir of the Grand Tour' is out on May 12.

'Can't Forget: A Souvenir of the Grand Tour' tracklist:

1. 'Field Commander Cohen'
2. 'I Can't Forget'
3. 'Light as the Breeze'
4. 'La Manic'
5. 'Night Comes On'
6. 'Never Gave Nobody Trouble'
7. 'Joan of Arc'
8. 'Got a Little Secret'
9. 'Choices'
10. 'Stages'

50 Cent wants to help Zayn Malik launch a rap career.
The 'Candy Shop' star thinks the One Direction hunk would sell a lot of records just because of his pop background, but he would like to mentor him to enable him to be a "credible" artist.
He said: "If Zayn wants a rap career, just because of who he is, he is going to sell records.
"But if he wants to be credible he has to be with the right people.
"I'd happily sign him up to my label, mentor him and have him working with the biggest rappers on the planet."
And the rapper even believes Zayn could help him launch a joint venture with Simon Cowell, who is head of One Direction's record label Syco.
He told The Sun newspaper: "I have always wanted to work with Simon, so this could be a joint venture.
"There is no doubt that members of One Direction are going to launch solo careers, and sometimes the bravest go on to be the biggest. Look at Justin Timberlake."
Simon recently urged One Direction - which also includes Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Harry Styles - to launch solo projects away from the band.
He said: "You can't knock what One Direction are doing. They're making great records and I think that's why they're still so popular.
"I hear speculation all the time that they're going solo. My advice is they should stay together but still do things they want as a little bit on the side."
It's not the first time Zayn has been praised by a fellow musician, as Naughty Boy previously praised the musician's rap skills.
He said: "Zayn's actually quite a good rapper. We've been in the studio doing some One Direction stuff and you know, he can spit bars! Of course he can! Big up Zayn and his bars."

Danny O'Donoghue rejected a Hollywood offer for the sake of The Script.
The 34-year-old frontman has revealed he has received an influx of exciting offers in the last few months but has rejected them all in order to complete his tour dates with the band.
He exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "There have been loads of offers coming in to do stuff in the States but I just don't have the time. There's been some great things."
Among the offers, the 'Hall of Fame' hitmaker revealed he was approached to appear in a "massive" animated movie, but didn't accept the part because he didn't want to let down his band mates Mark Sheehan and Glen Power, as well as their loyal fan base.
The former 'The Voice UK' coach continued: "There was one which I can't say exactly what it was but it was for a massive animated cartoon, but it would have taken four months out of my life to do, and that's the next four months of my life right now. So I'd go off and do something that really just pleases me and cancel the tour and f**k the band off, you can't do that you know?"
However, the band - whose fourth studio album 'No Sound Without Silence' was released last year - are planning on exploring new paths later in the year when they complete their extensive world tour.
He added: "But loads of stuff [is in the pipeline]. We'll all be spreading our wings and branching out into things, but The Script is number one, always will be."

Jessie J and James Bay are among acts confirmed for the Summer Series at Somerset House. The annual string of events held at the central London venue will features 11 performances including one from the BRITs Critics' Choice Award winner, and a closin...

Bloc Party are working on a new album.
The band's frontman Kele Okereke has confirmed they've started recording their fifth LP following the release of 'Four' in 2012, after which they embarked on a hiatus, and admits it has a very different sound to their previous material.
He said: "I guess it's the first time that I have talked about it but we are making a record at the moment.
"It's sounding like nothing that we've done before but that's what everyone always says."
The 33-year-old star - who has previously released two solo albums 'The Boxer' and 'Trick' - has reunited with bandmates Russell Lissack and Gordon Moakes and they're currently working on a number of songs for the record.
He told Australian radio station Triple J: "We're at the writing/recording phase. We've started recording - I think we have about 18 [song] ideas and we're going to lay them down properly in the next few months."
Describing their new music as "an evolution of where we were", he added: "So far there's nothing that I can compare it to really in terms of other musicians, whereas in the past I always could - we were always trying to reference something else."
Bloc Party's new album will be released to mark the 10th anniversary of their debut record 'Silent Alarm'.