Music News

Madonna is a big fan of Taylor Swift.
The 'Hung Up' hitmaker admires the 'Shake It Off' singer's "pretty dresses" and "catchy pop songs", which she admitted often get stuck in her head.
She told Australia's 'Today' show: "It's good to have princesses [of pop]. It means there's lots of pretty dresses around.
"I like Taylor Swift. I think she writes some really catchy pop songs. I can't get them out of my head."
And Taylor, 25, was thrilled by the pop superstar's compliment.
She wrote on her Tumblr page: "Thanks now I'm dead."
The 56-year-old singer recently had her forthcoming album 'Rebel Heart' leaked online and says the move was the "ultimate violation".
She added: "To have your work taken before you're finished and put out into the world for people to hear and judge and experience... I can't begin to tell you how betrayed I felt."
Earlier this month, a 39-year-old Israeli has now been arrested in Tel Aviv by the Lahav 433 crime-fighting agency for "breaking into" her computer and the 'Vogue' hitmaker subsequently expressed her relief at the news.
She wrote on Facebook: "I am profoundly grateful to the FBI, the Israeli Police investigators and anyone else who helped lead to the arrest of this hacker. I deeply appreciate my fans who have provided us with pertinent information and continue to do so regarding leaks of my music. Like any citizen, I have the right to privacy.
"This invasion into my life -- creatively, professionally, and personally remains a deeply devastating and hurtful experience, as it must be for all artists who are victims of this type of crime."

Tom DeLonge insists he has "tried to make things work" with his Blink-182 bandmates.
The 'All the Small Things' singer denied this week he had quit the band after Travis Barker and Mark Hoppus issued a statement saying he had left indefinitely, and after the pair against stressed he was no longer a part of the trio, Tom has spoken out to insist he has done as much as possible to ease the tension between them.
He wrote on Facebook: "I've tried to make things work. I've tried to help move this band down 50 different paths using my people, or other people, and people we don't even know. I tried to put forth ideas about how we can grow and challenge ourselves to become a better band. I'm not sitting around waiting for someone else to do the work. I'm not wired that way."
Mark and Travis had claimed Tom had refused to join them in the recording studio to work on a new album but the singer says he was put in a difficult situation because of Blink-182's record contract difficulty and commitments to some of his other projects.
He said: "Over the past two and a half years, while a recording partner was being sought for a new Blink record, I launched a media company. I just put out a new Angels & Airwaves record and as some of you know, there's a lot more coming.
"All of these other projects are being worked, exist in contract form - I can't just slam the brakes and drop years of development, partnerships and commitments at the snap of a finger."

First Aid Kit have "mixed emotions" over ending their UK tour.
The Swedish duo - who have been nominated in the International Group category at the BRIT Awards next month - ended a string of sold out shows around the UK with a performance at London's Eventim Apollo on Tuesday (27.01.15) and are feeling upset they have finished the tour after enjoying it so much.
Taking to their Facebook page, they wrote: "Mixed emotions after the last show of our UK tour. We're so thrilled because the show in London was freaking amazing. But we're sad the tour is over! What a journey it's been. Thank you so much everyone for enlighting our evenings for the past two weeks. (sic)"
The musical sisters - Johanna Söderberg, 24, and Klara, 22 - paid tribute to their pal and collaborator Jack White at the London show by covering his 2012 track 'Love Interruption', having previously supported the former The White Stripes frontman at the venue three years ago.
Sharing an image on Instagram before taking to the stage, they wrote: "Shot from our performance at Hammersmith/Eventim Apollo in 2012, when we opened for Jack White. Tonight we'll play our own show here. Our biggest headline show to date, yikes!"
During their set, the talented singers performed a range of tracks from their 2014 album 'Stay Gold' including rousing renditions of 'Shattered & Hollow', 'My Silver Lining' and 'Master Pretender'.
Their indie-folk-infused performance also included intimate moments, as they chose to unplug their guitars and microphones to sing an ethereal version of one of their earliest tracks, 'Ghost Town'.
As well as playing songs from 2010's 'The Big Black and the Blue' and 2012's 'The Lion's Roar', the accomplished siblings sang their much-loved cover of Simon & Garfunkel's 'America', before performing an encore featuring the popular sing-a-long tracks 'Heaven Knows' and 'Emmylou'.
First Aid Kit will return to the UK to perform at Isle of Wight Festival in June.

First Aid Kit's set list at London's Eventim Apollo:
'The Lion's Roar'
'Stay Gold'
'Blue'
'King of the World'
'This Old Routine'
'Waitress Song'
'Shattered & Hollow'
'Ghost Town'
'My Silver Lining'
'Love Interruption' (Jack White cover)
'Master Pretender'
'Wolf'
'America' (Simon & Garfunkel cover)
'Heaven Knows'
'Emmylou'

Jamie Oliver is to appear in the opening sketch at the BRIT awards.
The TV chef - who was the drummer in Sony-signed band Scarlet Division 15 years ago - is set to make his comeback to the music scene for one night only by appearing in a sketch for the annual awards ceremony set in the kitchens at The O2 in east London.
A source told The Sun newspaper: "Jamie's in talks to be on screen at the BRITs and he wants to do it. He's the biggest British chef around and he'll be known to the US acts, so it seems a smart move. It'll be a cameo. He's likely to be seen cooking with some huge music acts."
The event organisers believe Jamie's popularity will help to boost ratings of the ITV show, which is to be hosted by comedy presenting duo Ant & Dec on February 25.
Jamie, 39, will reportedly be putting together a delicious feast with some of the artists lined up to perform on the night, including Taylor Swift, Sam Smith, Take That and Ed Sheeran.
Other acts set to take to the stage at the BRITs include Paloma Faith, George Ezra and Royal Blood while Madonna is said to be in negotiations with producers over a potential appearance.

Katy Perry has leaked a fake song claiming to be the track she will perform at the Super Bowl XLIX on Sunday (01.02.15).
The 'Roar' hitmaker - who will take to the stage at half time during the big game between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks in Glendale, Arizona - posted a link to a preview of the track on her Twitter page which even featured a voiceover from her show guest, Lenny Kravtiz.
The spoof song - in which the 30-year-old singer describes herself as "hairy" and "scary", while Kravtiz promotes T Mobile and talks about pollution - was first posted online by comedy writer Tim Heidecker before Katy shared the song with her 64.1 million followers.
The video is captioned: "LEAKED MATERIAL DO NOT SHARE - SONG TO DEBUT DURING SUPERBOWL 2015 - RESTRICTED obtained by Tim Heidecker with JP. HASSON."
In the hilarious track, the brunette beauty can also be heard giving the teams pointers.
She sings: "Don't have to dribble, you pass the ball/ You run the ball, you go to the end zone/ To score the points."
It isn't the first time a fake track has been released ahead of a headliner's performance at the prestigious event.
In 2012, Tim - who is the brains behind comedy shows 'Tom Goes to the Mayor' and 'Tim & Eric's Bedtime Stories' - released a rap track which he claimed had been composed for Madonna's half-time set.
The fake song 'Abracadabralifornia' was also 'leaked' ahead of the Red Hot Chili Peppers performance at the event last year.

Carl Barat "needs" to have therapy.
The Libertines co-frontman - who has sons Eli, four, and five-month-old Ramone with girlfriend Edie Langley - has struggled with depression and thinks now his bandmate Pete Doherty has finally kicked his heroin addiction, the time is right for him to tackle his own demons.
Speaking to the new issue of Loaded magazine, he said: "I've got loads to appreciate. I have to pinch myself all the time, and I'm forever touching wood hoping my luck will continue. With The Libertines back together, I've finally got the chance to achieve everything I want. But this is why I need to go to therapy. It's all amazing, so why am I not yet happy?
"Pete's doing such a good job with his therapy and cleanness, it'd be silly of me not to take this opportunity to work on myself a bit as well. With children and a family, I need to get better. I'm going to work on depression, because it's not ideal."
While Pete has quit drugs, Carl insists that doesn't mean the rest of the band will become "boring".
Asked if the group will stay sober on the road to support their troubled bandmate, he said: "It's down to what works best for Pete, really.
"The drugs just magnified our behaviour. I don't think we'll all become boring just because Pete is well again, as we're all so chaotic anyway. I can take or leave the drugs... though I've just had a flashback to behaving like an idiot last night."
The 250th celebratory issue of Loaded - which features Kasabian on the cover - is available to buy in both print and digital formats from Friday (30.01.15)

Stereophonics have "hot girls with cellos" on their rider for London's Royal Albert Hall.
The Welsh rockers have been announced as one of six headline acts for a series of shows at the iconic venue to benefit the Teenage Cancer Trust in March, and are looking forward to the performance because of the attractive musicians they will be joined by on stage.
Speaking to Absolute Radio Breakfast Show host Christian O'Connell, frontman Kelly Jones said: "We're still trying to work out how we're going to do the gig. I think we're gonna get some people to do the 'Graffiti on the Train' - bring out some hot looking girls with some cellos. The hot girls with the cellos are only on our rider when we play the Albert Hall. You can't play cellos in sweaty clubs and pubs or big venues like Wembley."
As well as performing for the fundraiser on March 23, the 40-year-old star confirmed the band - which also features Richard Jones, Adam Zindani and Jamie Morrison - will release a new album this year to follow-up the success of 2013's 'Graffiti on the Train'.
He said: "We're bouncing ideas back and forth at the moment but we're definitely going to be playing a few shows in the UK over the summer, showcasing a few new songs.
"We're very happy with the album so far. We made a lot of tracks on the last record so we've used some of them and some others. We're looking at the album to be released sort of September, October time, but will be releasing some songs around May first."
The 2015 series of Teenage Cancer Trust shows will see performances from Noel Gallagher, Paul Weller, and The Who - who all performed at the first of the shows 15 years ago - with 'Brown Eyed Girl' hitmaker Van Morrison and comedian Kevin Bridges also gracing the stage.
Tickets to the performances go on sale at 9am on Friday January 30. Absolute Radio is the official radio partner for Teenage Cancer Trust at the Royal Albert Hall and will be broadcasting highlights from the 15th Anniversary shows.
The line-up for the Teenage Cancer Trust at the Royal Albert Hall is as follows:
March 23 - Stereophonics, plus very special guests
March 24 - An evening of comedy hosted by Kevin Bridges, plus very special guests
March 25 - Van Morrison, plus very special guests
March 26 - The Who, plus Wilko Johnson
March 27 - Paul Weller, plus Johnny Marr
March 28 - Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, plus Future Islands

Chris Brown has postponed his US tour.
The 'Between the Sheets' tour with Trey Songz and Tyga was due to begin on Tuesday (27.01.15), but the rapper has been forced to pull-out after a judge banned him from travelling until he has met his community service target.
Taking to Instagram to explain the move to his disappointed fans, he said: "I would first like to apologize to all the fans and people who have been supporters of me and all the music over the years. The beginning of the BTS tour has been moved to later dates now. The judge would not sign off on my travel to do the tour until I finish these last 100 hours of community service. (sic)"
The string of 26 dates was due to start in Hampton, Virginia with other shows in Atlanta, Brooklyn and Nashville amongst other cities, and although the performances have been put on hold, he promised fans he is doing everything he can to overcome his court-ordered sanction.
He continued: "I promise that I am busting my ass doing it everyday until it's complete. This is the most disappointing news I've gotten in a while. Everything happens for a reason so I wanted to personally inform my fans. The show must go on. Out of 1000 hours I only have 100 left. I will work my ass off to complete it and I will be on that stage. (sic)"
The news comes just weeks after the 'Loyal' hitmaker's probation was revoked for leaving Los Angeles to perform without gaining approval, and before he had completed his community service.
As well as apologising, the 25-year-old musician said he hopes the rescheduled tour will kick off within the next few weeks, although he is due to return to court in March where he will be tried for violating his probation which may result in further jail time.
He added: "Once again I'm sorry for the delay. I love yall! We will let yall know the dates that are changed. It's not cancelled. Just moved around a couple weeks. (sic)"

Nick Jonas can't see himself reuniting with the Jonas Brothers.
The 22-year-old star insists he would never say never to getting back together with the band - which was made up of himself and his brothers Kevin and Joe - but admits it's not something he's planning any time soon.
He said: "I don't know. My life has changed so much in 12 months that I can't predict what tomorrow is going to bring, you know? It's hard to imagine saying "never". But for this moment in time that I'm in right now, I don't see that happening."
The hunk has launched his own solo career since parting ways with his brothers and is trying to lay down a "foundation" so he can continue to make music and entertain people for the rest of his life.
He explained: "I think part of the beauty of being a pop phenomenon is that you're going 1,000 miles per hour, and it's all happening - and that's also the hard part about it.
"It's very easy to get used to certain things going at that speed, with that frenzy behind it. But it's not necessarily the foundation for the best, long lasting career.
"This time around, I'm trying to set up a foundation so that I can do what I love for the rest of my life. I see my career as not just music, but as hopefully an entertainer on all mediums, and someone who can have real influence and make great art."
The 'Jealous' singer added he is inspired by the career journeys of music legend Elvis Presley and 'Take Back the Night' hitmaker Justin Timberlake.
Quizzed on who his biggest role models are, he told Rolling Stone magazine: "Elvis, for sure. He was one of the first ones to do acting and singing at the same time, and he's obviously an icon. On top of that, I think that Justin Timberlake has done a good job of not only transitioning from where he started, but also balancing acting and singing."