Music News

Jimmy Page says it feels "brilliant" to be an inspiration to new musicians.
The Led Zeppelin rocker, who was honoured with a special one-off award, the Rock'N'Roll Soul Award, at the 2015 NME Awards in London tonight (18.02.15), was thrilled to receive the accolade from British rock duo Royal Blood because he considers it a privilege to pass the baton on to younger artists.
Speaking at the star-studded ceremony at the O2 Academy Brixton, the 71-year-old guitarist told BANG Showbiz: "It does mean a lot [to win this award] especially in context. To have this award, and have Royal Blood present it is brilliant, because they're really good.
"I know I have inspired a lot of musicians with the spirit of music, but that's how I learnt, listening to rock and roll and blues and all of that. It's just great, its like a baton in a relay race, I'm passing it on [to the new musicians]."
It was also a memorable night for the 'Figure It Out' hitmakers, who opened the ceremony and later won Best New Band and Best Live Band.
Other big winners included Suede, who have released six acclaimed albums and successfully reformed in 2010, as they were named Godlick Genius.
But frontman Brett Anderson blasted the state of modern rock compared to his group's Brit-pop heyday.
Speaking on the red carpet, he said: "I think rock 'n' roll, now, has become a style, a look rather than an attitude. Rock 'n' roll is about taking risks, doing unusual things rather than wearing leather trousers and thinking you're Jim Morrison."
The group closed the ceremony with a six-song set.
Meanwhile, Kasabian, who led the charge with eight nominations, were "very humbled, privileged and proud" to pick up three prestigious gongs - Best British Band, Best Album and Best Quote.
It was also a successful night for Jamie T, who won Best Track, Best Video and Moment of the Year.
But it was a bad year for 5 Seconds of Summer as they were named Worst Band, and politician Nigel Farage won Villain of the Year.

Full Winners List:

Godlike Genius Award
Suede

Rock'n'Roll Soul Award
Jimmy Page

Best British Band supported by Marshall Amplification
Kasabian

Best International Band supported by Austin, Texas - The Live Music Capital Of The World
Foo Fighters

Outstanding Contribution to Music
Teenage Cancer Trust

Best Solo Artist supported by Pilot Frixion
Jake Bugg

Best New Band supported by REPLAY
Royal Blood

Best Live Band supported by Dead Crow Spirit Flavoured Beers
Royal Blood

Best Album
Kasabian - '48:13'

Best Track supported by Tito's Handmade Vodka
Jamie T - 'Zombie'

Best Video
Jamie T - 'Zombie'

Best Festival
Glastonbury

Philip Hall Radar Award
Dean Blunt

Best TV Show
'Game Of Thrones'

Best Film
'Northern Soul'

Best Music Film
'Pulp: A Film About Life, Death And Supermarkets'

Reissue Of The Year
Manic Street Preachers - 'The Holy Bible'

Dancefloor Filler
Iggy Azalea feat. Charli XCX - 'Fancy'

Worst Band
5 Seconds Of Summer

Villain Of The Year
Nigel Farage

Hero Of The Year
Alex Turner

Music Moment Of The Year
Jamie T's comeback

Best Fan Community
Muse

Small Festival Of The Year
Liverpool Psych Fest

Book Of The Year
Viv Albertine - 'Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys'.

Best Band Social Media
Liam Gallagher's Twitter

Best Lyric
Happyness - "I'm wearing Win Butler's hair/There's a scalpless singer in a Montreal rock band somewhere."

Best Quote
Kasabian - "Five records, ten years. We've earned our shot." - Serge Pizzorno, (talking about Glastonbury headline slot)

The Foo Fighters are set to headline Glastonbury.
Festival organiser Emily Evais has confirmed the 'Everlong' rockers, who last performed at the annual event in 1998, will take to the stage on the Friday night.
Speaking exclusively to BANG Showbiz, she said: "It's amazing. It's been a long time coming they haven't been since 1998. We've got them back, we're really excited about it. They are the ultimate live band and I think they will get the whole thing moving."
Emily, who runs the event with her father Michael Eavis, also admitted they have been trying to persuade the group - led by frontman Dave Grohl - to top the bill again for several years.
She explained: "The thing has been timing. With their Wembley shows this year it means they're going to be here, and they're just really up for it. Timing wise it's perfect and we were so thrilled they said yes. They're doing the Friday night."
The group also confirmed the news in a video message to accept their award for Best International Band at the NME Awards tonight (18.02.15).
Dave said: "This is amazing, we love you very much, but we also love all of the fans for voting for our band for this award. We're very thankful and very happy - sorry we couldn't make it tonight, but we will be seeing you over the summer at some big outdoor festival that nobody knows we're playing. It's Glastonbury! So we'll see you at Glastonbury - thanks a lot everybody!"
Meanwhile, Emily, who previously admitted she would love to sign Adele for the festival in Somerset, south west England, poured cold water on rumours the 'Rolling in the Deep' hitmaker will also perform this year.
She said: "That's not true. That's the only denial I will do. I would love Adele. To have Adele would be a complete dream, but she's not going to be here this year."
The 26-year-old singer previously insisted she "will not do festivals."
The event is set to take place from June 24 to 28 this year and more headliners will be announced on April 1.

Sia only released an album to get out of her record contract.
The 'Chandelier' hitmaker hates being in the spotlight and prefers writing for other artists but brought out a well-received solo album '1000 Forms of Fear' last year purely because it was in the terms of her publishing deal.
She explained: "Basically, I put this out to get out of my publishing deal.
"I was planning to be a pop songwriter for other artists, but my publishing deal was as an artist, so I had to put one more album out.
"I didn't want to get famous, so I just kept all the songs I wanted and had a lot of fun making it."
And though she only made the record to fulfil her obligations, the 39-year-old singer - who has penned tracks for the likes of Beyoncé and Rihanna - admitted she already has another record ready for release, containing music originally written for other people.
She told NME magazine: "I'm super-productive. I have a full album ready to go and it's much more pop. I'm calling it 'This is Acting' because they are songs I was writing for other people, so I didn't go in thinking, 'This is something I would say'.
"It's more like play-acting. It's fun."

Sir Paul McCartney thinks it was "easier" to make music in the past.
The Beatles star has been in the music industry since 1957 and has seen changes in technology affect how he produces his hit tracks, encouraging him to brand modern music production "luxurious".
He said: "The process of making the music, I do [go] on sometimes to young bands, younger people I'm working with, and say it was kind of easier [before].
"Everyone who made records used this routine. 10.30, be ready to go. 1.30, we expect you to have finished two songs, mixed, taped, done. You go home at the end of the day and you would have accomplished four songs. And I look back at them now, and it's 'Michelle', it's 'Nowhere Man', it's 'Yesterday'. It's songs that have lasted.
"I really advise kids now: 'You have to write the song before you go in.' Sounds obvious but people don't do this so much these days. They go in and say, 'That was a good bit. Get that on the ProTools'.
"It's just a new way of working, which is much more luxurious, but I don't think it's productive."
Sir Paul McCartney - whose recent collaborators include Kanye West and Rihanna - also admits that he is less bothered by the way music is delivered but disagrees with streaming because it means the songwriter is paid much smaller amounts.
He said: "The actual technology of how you deliver music doesn't matter to me because we've been through vinyl, tapes, cassettes, CDs, downloads, streaming."
When asked why he removed some of his music from the streaming sites like Spotify in the past, he added to BBC News' Click: "I feel sorry for the young composer whose written what may be his only hit, and it's huge and he doesn't get paid for it. I don't think that's right."

Amy Winehouse is still earning millions after her death.
The late star's company, Cherry Westfield Ltd, recorded a profit of £1.4million for the year ending April 2014, according to figures obtained by The Sun newspaper.
The 'Back to Black' hitmaker's company recorded just £257,000 profit in November 2011, just a few months after she died from alcohol poisoning in July 2011.
Villeston Ltd - which was set up by Amy's parents, Mitchell and Janis - has recorded a profit of £1.48million whilst AW Promotions recorded £23,000 profit.
The record company she founded in 2009, Lioness Records, displayed a loss of £210,000.
Meanwhile, her collaborator and friend, Mark Ronson, recently praised the late singer, saying nobody's talents would ever compare to hers.
He said: "No one's ever going to compare to Amy because of the talent she had and the unique bond we had, that rapport, that energy in the studio.
"For all the stuff that I did on 'Back to Black', I think we only ever spent five or six days together in the studio. Maybe 10. 'Valerie' was done in two hours. Her thing was so effortless in a way, because ... well, because she would just ... it was just what came out - that's it. 'That's it, I'm not changing anything, that's what came out of me and it's good enough.' And every time it was obviously good enough, and special. It was just ... a thing."

Kasabian thinks it will be "a victory for the squares" if Ed Sheeran wins a BRIT Award.
The 'Days Are Forgotten' hitmakers - who have not been nominated for a BRIT Award themselves at this year's ceremony - want more "danger" and "fantasy' in the music industry.
The band's guitarist Serge Pizzorno said: "It's a good time for squares. We're going through a period where the squares are in charge. There's no surrealists, there's no fantasy in music.
"The squares are having their day. But I can forsee it coming to an end. There's only so long people will take it before they get bored. There's no danger any more. People aren't offering anything exciting. The squares are winning."
In fact, the 34-year-old musician is glad his band has been snubbed for the Best British Group award because he wouldn't want them to be in the category alongside pop artists.
He told The Sun newspaper: "I don't want us to be put in the same Best British Group category as Clean Bandit and One Direction.
"There's way more politics behind this than people realise.
"There's some strange names in there. I hope some of those people enjoy their night because it's the only time they'll be there."
The BRIT Awards 2015 with MasterCard take place on February 25 at London's O2 Arena.
Artists including Madonna, Sam Smith, Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran will perform at the event.

Adele is in talks to headline Glastonbury.
The 26-year-old singer - who has previously insisted she "will not do festivals" - has been wanted by festival organisers Michael and Emily Eavis for years to top the bill at the music spectacle this summer, and the pair are reported to be closer than they've been before to signing her up.
A Glastonbury source told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "Most of the acts have been booked for Glasto but Michael and daughter Emily Eavis are still trying to get Adele for Saturday night.
"She has been on their wishlist for a few years now. Negotiations are ongoing but this is the closest they have got to signing her.
"Several bands that have been booked for Saturday have been told they could be performing before her. It's created quite a buzz."
Emily has previously publicly revealed her desire to sign Adele for the event in Somerset, south west England - which this year takes place from June 24-28 - and while the singer hasn't played a full gig since September 2011, before giving birth to her son Angelo in October 2012, the organisers are "determined" for her to headline this year.
The source added: "Emily and Michael know what a big deal this would be and they are determined to make it happen."
A festival spokesman said: "We look forward to announcing the line-up in the late spring."
Michael previously revealed the three headliners will be announced on April 1 and despite admitting one has "been around for a long time", he ruled out the possibility of Queen or Fleetwood Mac taking to the famous Pyramid Stage.
Another act who also looks unlikely to play Glastonbury is Taylor Swift as her good friend Ed Sheeran recently insisted she is not a big fan of festivals.
He said: "Taylor doesn't like festivals.
"So for any bookies reading ... I think Taylor likes doing her own show because she's in control and it's how she wants it to be."

Van Morrison will collaborate with Michael Buble and Joss Stone on his new album.
The 69-year-old singer will release 'Duets: Re-Working the Catalogue' in the UK on March 16, which will feature 16 tracks with high profile acts including Simply Red's Mick Hucknall and singer-songwriter Bobby Womack, who passed away last June at the age of 70.
The album - which is the musician's 35th studio record - will feature new versions of lesser-known tracks which he has sung during his extensive career, which have all been re-recorded in London and Belfast in the past year.
Produced by Van along with Don Was and Bob Rock, the LP - which comes three years after 2012's 'Born to Sing: No Plan B' - will also feature the singer's daughter Shana Morrison, as well as Mark Knopfler, George Benson, Gregory Porter and Natalie Cole.
The first single to be taken from the record will be a new version of 1990 single 'Real Real Gone' featuring Michael Buble, which will be proceeded by 'Some Peace of Mind' with Bobby Womack which is scheduled to be released on March 3.
The full tracklisting for the album is below:
'Some Peace of Mind' with Bobby Womack
'Lord, If I Ever Needed Someone' with Mavis Staples
'Higher Than the World' with George Benson
'Wild Honey' with Joss Stone
'Whatever Happened to PJ Proby' with PJ Proby
'Carrying a Torch' with Clare Teal
'The Eternal Kansas City' with Gregory Porter
'Streets of Arklow' with Mick Hucknall
'These Are the Days' with Natalie Cole
'Get on with the Snow' with Georgie Fame
'Rough God Goes Riding' with Shana Morrison
'Fire in the Belly' with Steve Winwood
'Born to Sing' with Chris Farlowe
'Irish Heartbeat' with Mark Knopfler
'Real Real Gone' with Michael Bublé
'How Can a Poor Boy' with Taj Mahal

The Libertines will headline Ibiza Rocks.
The 'Can't Stand Me Now' hitmakers will perform on the poolside Rocks stage for the series' 10th birthday party, as part of the 14-week event, which will also host performances from Fatboy Slim and Grammy Award winners Clean Bandit.
The Libertines' Carl Barat said: "Ibiza Rocks is one of the greatest gigs there is. The strange and debauched energy of the place never fails to provide the perfect backdrop for bacchanalian reverie of the highest order. Everyone there is gonna be 'mad for it', I can't wait. One of those nights actually worth the b*****d hangover. Bring it."
The band - which also features Pete Doherty, John Hassall and Gary Powell - will make their debut performance at the event on July 22, with Pete and Carl having previously performed separately with Babyshambles in 2005 and Dirty Pretty Things in 2006, which inspired subsequent editions of the Rocks series.
Founder and CEO of the Ibiza Rocks Group, Andy McKay, explained: "The ultimate defining moment of Rocks was when we discovered that our future lay outdoors and that was the night Babyshambles played Bar M. It was the moment we found our time slot before midnight and the moment we discovered the energy created by a live band playing under the stars in Ibiza."
As well as the recently reformed rockers - who are currently working on their third album - BBC Sound of 2015 poll winners Years & Years, drum and bass duo Sigma, and Mercury Prize nominees Jungle will also perform along with Shura and The Courteeners.
For those who cannot make the event, MTV have also revealed they will be broadcasting from the event for the third year running, providing exclusive artist interviews, live performances and highlights from the series of shows, with the content hosted by Laura Whitmore.

The Ibiza Rocks 2015 line up so far:
17/06 - Opening party with Years & Years
24/06 - Sigma (Live)
01/07 - Jungle and Shura
22/07 - 10th birthday party with The Libertines
05/08 - Clean Bandit
02/09 - Fatboy Slim
16/09 - Closing party with The Courteeners