Music News

Run-DMC called for peace at their London show on Sunday (18.01.15).
The hip hop heavyweights paid tribute to their late bandmate Jason 'Jam Master Jay' Mizell - who was murdered in New York in 2002 - while on stage at London's Scala, by expressing their wish for the end of violence in music and urging crowd members to make peace signs to remember the star.
Joseph 'Rev Run' Simmons, 50, told fans: "Several years ago my DJ was killed by violence. We need to stop the violence in hip hop. This is for Jam Master Jay, our former soldier."
Following the emotional speech a scratch tribute to the musician was played, with the 300-strong crowd at the intimate gig chanting "JMJ, RIP."
Hosted by BBC Radio 1Xtra DJ Charlie Sloth, the show - which took place to celebrate Vodafone's 30th anniversary of the first UK mobile phone call - was the group's first in the UK for over a decade, with Joseph and bandmate Darryl 'DMC' McDaniels performing a flurry of their well-know hits including 'It's Tricky', 'King of Rock' and 'It's Like That'.
The one-off show - at which they were supported by upcoming musician and 'Game of Thrones' actor Raleigh Ritchie - ended with the group's most famous single, 'Walk This Way', with Joseph dropping his microphone to the floor as they walked off stage.

Take That will headline the War Child BRIT Awards Show.
The 'These Days' hitmakers will play a one-off performance at the O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire in London on February 23 to raise money for the charity, which protects children living in war-torn countries.
Director of Music at War Child, said: "The War Child and O2 BRIT Awards Show has seen some unforgettable performances over the last six years.
"War Child are delighted to welcome back Gary together with Mark and Howard to London's O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire and to announce Take That as our headliners for 2015. It's going to be an incredible night for 2,000 lucky fans and an important one for the thousands of children it will help War Child save from the horrors of war."
The band - who have also been confirmed today as performers at the BRIT Awards ceremony on February 25 at London's O2 Arena - will follow in the footsteps of iconic British bands Coldplay, Muse and Blur, who have all headlined the annual show in the past, with other acts who have previously performed including Ed Sheeran, The Killers, Calvin Harris and Lily Allen.
Gary Barlow, 43, featured at the show in 2009 when he joined Coldplay on stage for a rousing finale, but will this time appear alongside bandmates Howard Donald and Mark Owen to perform hits from their seven studio albums.
Tickets to the intimate show - which will cost £75 - will go on general sale at 9am on Friday 23 January, while O2 Priority Tickets will go on sale at 9am on Wednesday 21 January.

Take That will perform at the BRIT Awards.
The trio - featuring Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen - are "planning something special" for their performance at the annual awards ceremony, which will be their first time singing at the event since Jason Orange left the group last year.
Gary said: "We know what a big deal performing at the Brits is, so we are definitely planning something special at the moment."
The 'These Days' hitmakers - who released their seventh studio album, 'III', last year - have performed at the celebration of British music five times before, standing aboard a spaceship in 2009 and bringing riot police onto the stage in 2011.
A Brits source said: "It's too early to say exactly what they'll do but if you look at the last two times they performed they stole the show."
Although they will be hoping to top their previous performances, the 43-year-old frontman hasn't quite decided what they will be doing on stage, but teased they may bring out other acts to sing with them.
He told The Sun newspaper: "We haven't decided exactly what yet but we're thinking about some sort of collaboration or a big surprise."
Despite being snubbed in the list of nominations, the eight-time award winners will perform at the ceremony - which will take place on February 25 at London's O2 Arena - alongside Sam Smith, Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran, with Madonna also rumoured to be singing at the show.

Rihanna and Drake have paid tribute to A$AP Yams.
The A$AP Mob founder passed away at the age of 26 last week, and stars have taken to social media to honour the late musician, with Rihanna posting an illustration of A$AP on Instagram with a halo above his head.
Captioning the image, she wrote: "RiP Yamz! #longliveASAP :'( (sic)."
Drake also expressed his sadness about the death, with 'Royals' hitmaker, Lorde, being one of more than 27,000 people to retweet the message.
He wrote: "Rest in peace Yams. A$AP is family."
The cause of the rapper's death has not yet been revealed but the news of his death has been confirmed by his record label after the news spread on social media over the weekend.
In a statement, they wrote: " All of us at RCA Records are shocked and saddened to hear of the death of A$AP Yams."
Fellow member of the hip hop collective, A$AP Rocky, posted on his Instagram account, writing: "R.I.P YAMS, I LOVE YOU BROTHER."
Other musicians to pay tribute to the young musician include Wiz Khalifa, Chance the Rapper, Mac Miller, 2 Chainz and Azealia Banks, who urged for his fans to remember him as a "leader".
Writing on Twitter, she said: "A.S.A.P YAMS should be remembered as a leader, an innovator and most importantly as an important part of NYC youth culture.
"May he rest in peace. My condolences go out to his family and the rest of the ASAPMOB (sic)."

Marilyn Manson feels like he's in the third act of his life.
The controversial singer, 46, who has suffered with depression, thinks more troubling times are on the horizon and he admits to feelings of revenge.
He told the Observer newspaper: "I'm in the part of the film where it rains. That's when you know trouble is coming.
"Maybe that goes back to me being the kid that got his ass beat so many times and no one stood up for me. But I didn't stand up for myself either."
Marilyn - who was previously married to Dita Von Teese - has just released his new album, 'The Pale Emperor', and is currently involved in a relationship.
However, he says he only has a girlfriend "because she is willing to do whatever it takes to be with me. I realised making this record that maybe I need to do the same thing because I did not take time to notice that it could come across as one-sided because I'm such a handful. But people know that about me."
Recently, Marilyn admitted he has sex a minimum of five times a day in the dark, but refuses to take his underwear off in case there's a fire in the house.
He said: "I'm just really shy, despite what you'd imagine. I have a phobia that the house is going to catch fire, and I don't want to be naked."

Geri Halliwell is working on new music.
The former Spice Girls star - who is engaged to Formula 1 team boss Christian Horner - has revealed she's been inspired to get back in the studio and has been singing anywhere and everywhere while working on new songs.
She shared: "I'm back in the studio. Oh my God, I'm so excited. The strangest place that I've done recording is on horseback in Austin, Texas. Christian was ahead of me and I was singing to the horse. If I've got a melody I want to keep it."
The 42-year-old beauty - who released a number of singles including 'It's Raining Men' and 'Lift Me Up' following her departure from the Spice Girls - has enlisted the help of some well known songwriters to help re-launch her music career
Geri has been working with Amy Wadge, who co-wrote Ed Sheeran's hit single 'Thinking Out Loud', and Eliot Kennedy - who penned the Spice Girls song 'Say You'll Be There'.
Speaking to The Sun newspaper about working with Eliot, she said: "It's beautiful. Elton John and [lyricist] Bernie Taupin, how they have that collaborative feeling, we've been able to do that."

Christina Aguilera enjoys spending cosy nights at home with her children.
The 'Your Body' hitmaker - who has son Max, six, from her marriage to Jordan Bratman and daughter Summer, four months, with fiance Matthew Rutler - admits she is very different at home than she is when she's on stage.
She said: "When I'm home, I'm in my sweatpants getting cosy with my children. There are two sides to me; the person who will cuddle in bed and sing my kids to sleep and the persona who goes out onstage - the extrovert and the artist. It's important for me to express that side of myself. There aren't as many opportunities, but I make sure to get dressed up and be glamorous. Whether I add some eye make-up, wear a special fragrance or try a fun new nail colour - anything feminine and sexy."
But the blonde beauty thinks it's more important for new mothers to be "happy and healthy" with themselves than trying to please other people.
She told America's OK! magazine: "It's about getting to a place where you're confident in your own skin and don't need the approval of others to feel great about yourself. All women have a natural sex appear, no matter what. Sometimes just a nice bubble bath is all it takes to relax and feel sexy at the same time!"

Mark Ronson recorded 'Uptown Funk' in five cities.
The 39-year-old music producer was so keen to have Bruno Mars on the track that he followed the 'When I Was Your Man' hitmaker around the world whilst he was on tour.
When asked where the hit song was recorded, he shared: "Vancouver, Toronto, London, Memphis, Los Angeles, everywhere.
"Wherever [Bruno] was on the road, I just grab my bass, get on a flight and go and meet him and that's how we got it done."
Bruno - who has previously worked with Mark on his album 'Unorthodox Jukebox' - joked that he was just doing the song to return the favour.
He said: "I called him for 'Unorthodox Jukebox' and Mark produced 'Locked Out of Heaven' with me, 'Gorilla', 'Moonshine' and a lot of stuff.
"So he called me up and said, 'I'm doing my album, return the favour, you little guy'. And he chased me around all over the world."
Meanwhile, Mark previously revealed that his computer exploded while he was creating the song but admitted that despite the technical hitch, it was the song he was "most excited" about.
He shared: "I worked so hard. It had to be the first single because I'm most excited about it out of anything I've ever done.
"I was in the studio, playing the guitar. We heard this sizzling and suddenly the computer screen explodes."

Azealia Banks views twitter as free therapy.
The outspoken rapper - who has clashed with a number of stars on the social networking site - admits she is more daring about what she says when microblogging than she would be face-to-face.
She said: "Twitter is free therapy. People have said I'm a bigot because I've had a few battles on social media but really I'm not.
"It's just that places like Twitter are like a walk-in therapy suite. You forget yourself.
"I've said things which in real life might have earned me a slap in the face. But actually I am thoughtful and considerate. So, don't let social media turn you into a monster."
Azealia also admitted she always carries "emergency exit money" with her because she never wants to have to rely on a guy for help.
She said: "A woman should always carry at least $75 on her. I've been on so many dates where you think, 'I wish I wasn't a broke b***h putting up with bulls**t from this guy'. All because I didn't have the cab fare home. You need emergency exit money.
"I've had plenty of lean times where I had barely 10 cents to rub together. It's not a nice feeling."