Music News

Jimmy Page will receive NME's Rock'n'Roll Soul Award.
The 71-year-old Led Zeppelin rocker will be presented with the one-off prize at the NME Awards 2015 with Austin, Texas on Wednesday (18.02.15), which will take place at Brixton's O2 Academy in London.
The magazine's editor Mike Williams said: "This special, one-off award has been created to reflect one of the most important and iconic figures to have ever picked up an instrument. There is nobody in popular culture quite like Jimmy Page, and we are honoured to be giving him the Rock'n'Roll Soul Award at this year's ceremony."
The accolade will be presented alongside 22 other publicly voted awards at the ceremony, with Kasabian leading the nominations with eight, while Royal Blood and Jamie T each have seven.
During the evening - which will be hosted by BBC Radio 1 DJ Huw Stephens - guests will also be treated to performances from Charli XCX and Royal Blood, while Suede will pick up the Godlike Genius Award.
The annual ceremony runs in conjunction with the NME Awards Tour, which will see Palma Violets, Fat White Family, The Amazing Snakeheads and Slaves head out on tour around the UK.
Public tickets for the NME Awards 2015 and the NME Awards Tour with Austin, Texas are still available to buy at NME.com/tickets.

Pharrell Williams is to release four children's books.
The 'Gust of Wind' singer has inked a deal with Putnam Books for Young Readers which will see the 41-year-old musician pen four picture books, with the first title being based on his chart-topping 2013 single, 'Happy'.
Announcing the deal, the publishing house revealed an initial run of 250,000 copies of 'Happy' will be made available from September 22 and will feature numerous photographs of children around the world "celebrating what it means to be happy."
The music mogul - who released his second solo studio album 'G I R L' last year - originally wrote the song for the soundtrack of 'Despicable Me 2', and has won two Grammy Awards for the track.
The acclaimed musician - who has six-year-old son Rocket with his wife Helen Lasichanh - has had other forays out of the music industry in the past, having designed a series of clothing lines and founded multi-media creative collective and record label i am OTHER.
In June, the 'Blurred Lines' producer became involved in the literary world when he contributed to a book titled 'We Are Friends With You' which also featured contributions between Alejandro Jodorowsky and Peter Doroshenko.

Little Mix are passionate about "girl power".
The 'Salute' hitmakers have spoken out about the lack of equality in the film and music industries claiming there's no reason why women should be paid less than men.
Perrie Edwards said: "I just don't understand it. Why should we be paid less because we have boobs and a vajayjay?"
The girl group - who shot to fame after winning 'The X Factor' in 2011 - went on to admit they're following in the footsteps of the Spice Girls by promoting girl power.
Leigh-Anne Pinnock added: "Girl power is what we're about. It's what we stand for as a group."
Meanwhile, Jesy Nelson has revealed she, Leigh-Anne, Perrie and Jade Thirlwall are proud of the message they're putting out with their music as they've had mothers thank them for helping their daughters beat bullying.
Speaking in the Wonderland Magazine Spring Fashion issue - for which the band were shot by Bella Howard - Jesy said: "They say that since listening to Little Mix their daughters have been happier and more confident.
"If a girl is bullied, or heartbroken, or feeling like utter s**t, if our music can make them feel better, we're doing our jobs."

Kelly Clarkson feels like she has "the plague" after being rejected by "several" musicians.
The 32-year-old singer claims to have approached several other stars during her career with the hope of recording some exciting collaborations but has been left disappointed every time as they always say no.
She revealed: "I honestly would collaborate with a lot of people, but everyone usually says no. I'm not kidding you. I have legitimately asked several people who I'm not going to call out. And that's cool, but I don't know."
The 'Heartbeat Song' hitmaker - who has an eight-month-old daughter with talent manager husband Narvel Blackstock - did manage to recruit 'All of You' singer John Legend for the track 'Run Run Run' on her forthcoming album 'Piece By Piece', but said she generally feels like she has a contagious illness because no other artists will work with her.
She continued: "I got John Legend to say yes, so that's cool. I ask good people, I don't want to sing with crap people, so I ask people who are great vocalists, but I'm not going to point out anyone. I have asked several people, but sometimes I feel like I have the plague, or leprosy, they're like, if I get too close ... I don't know."
However, the four-time Grammy Award winner did enlist Sia's songwriting talents for the record, eventually using two of her songs on the album after begging her for tracks, and will release one of them as her next single.
Speaking about the 'Elastic Heart' singer, she told BBC Radio 1's Nick Grimshaw: "I love her. She writes such rangey songs, and that's how I love singing. We have tweeted back and forth and I was like, 'Write me something girl! You're so good!' but that was years ago. But we worked with the same producers so we kind of have mutual friends and the next single was the last one recorded for this album, and they had just written it and they were like 'We think you could nail this.'"

Nathan Sykes and Sam Smith are set to collaborate.
The former The Wanted singer has revealed it is "quite likely" the pair will team up on a song later this year after holding discussions about the music they could make together, and the 21-year-old star admits it will be "insane" to work with the 'Stay With Me' hitmaker.
He said: "We've spoken about going into the studio before and I think it's quite likely going to happen over the next year.
"It'll be insane. I think it'll be such a great opportunity to create something really cool."
Nathan was delighted to see Sam, 22, scoop four accolades at the Grammy Awards earlier this month, Best New Artist, Record of the Year and Song of the Year for his hit 'Stay with Me' and Best Pop Vocal Album for 'In the Lonely Hour', but the Gloucester-born star admits being "biased" in wanting success for his fellow Brits.
He said: "Sam Smith at the Grammys was just insane. I've listening to a lot of Sam Smith, Ed Sheeran and I'm living in hope for this Adele album. So, yes, I am quite biased toward the Brits."
The star confirmed one of the songs on his debut solo album is about his split from fellow singer Ariana Grande but insists he will never make big revelations about his private life in his tunes.
He added to E!: "It's a very nice breakup song. I think if people are expecting me to throw shade ... that's not going to happen. I'm not that type of person. I'd like be known to be a very kindhearted person."

Gavin DeGraw wants to record with Billy Joel.
The 38-year-old musician is a self-proclaimed super fan of the singer-songwriter and said working with the 65-year-old 'Piano Man' hitmaker is his ultimate wish.
He exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "It's no secret that I'm a huge Billy Joel fan, so that [collaboration] would be a dream come true."
However, Gavin - whose single 'I Don't Want to Be' became world famous when it was chosen as the theme tune for long-running TV drama 'One Tree Hill' - explained it's tough to choose just one person because there are so many people he dreams of collaborating with.
He said: "[I'd like to work with] So many people from the past and present. Also there are guys like Ed Sheeran who I respect so much as an artist and just a great guy, that would be cool too."
The two-time Grammy Award nominee recently released 'Finest Hour: The Best of Gavin DeGraw' which features a selection of the star's greatest hits as well as two new songs including 'Fire', which has been produced by acclaimed hitmaker Max Martin.
Speaking about the track, he added: "I was very excited about the song "Fire" when it was done, and was looking for a way to release it as quickly as possible. We thought it would be a good idea to put together a collection of my songs, past and present, and include this one as a way to release it."

Conor Maynard will release his new album this summer.
The 'Can't Say No' singer released his debut album 'Contrast' in 2012 and is hoping to follow up the record in "June or July," despite the fact he cannot decide on a name for the collection.
Speaking at Raymond Weil's annual pre-BRITs gala, hosted by Labrinth, he told BANG Showbiz: "It will be out definitely in the middle of the year, around June or July, but I'm not sure what to name it yet."
Although his first LP topped the charts in the UK, the 22-year-old musician took a different approach to his forthcoming record as he wanted the tracks to express how he has felt in the last few years.
He explained: "The first album was collaboration heavy, Wiley, Ne-Yo, Frank Ocean, all these collaborations shaped the album, so with this album I wanted to take it back and make it more personal. There aren't any proper collaborations on the album, there are just producers who have stepped in."
Although Conor has cut down on the amount of other musicians he sings with, the 'Vegas Girl' hitmaker admitted he was thrilled when 33-year-old R&B star Craig David reached out to him for his next single, which is set to be released in the coming weeks.
Explaining how the track came about, he said: "I did a tour where I was supporting Jason Derulo around the UK and I kept covering 'Fill Me In' during my set and I think someone showed a video of me covering it to Craig David. He just tweeted me saying he really liked it so I fangirled for a second and it was pretty amazing. I think connections were made through that and we decided it would be quite cool to work together."

Paloma Faith wants to get married.
The 'Changing' hitmaker - who divorced chef Rian Haynes in 2009 after a four year marriage - said she is ready to take the plunge once again, and would say yes if her artist boyfriend popped the question.
She confessed: "I'm besotted. It almost feels too good. It's so perfect it's worrying me."
On the subject of marriage she added: "If he asked me I would do it. I'd marry him because I don't intend being with anyone else ever again. I've never been as emotionally supported in a relationship as I am in this one."
And since she has settled down with her beau, she has decided to avoid smoking or taking drugs and instead gets her kicks out of heading into the kitchen to whip up some tasty treats.
She said: "I don't smoke or drink too much or do drugs so I'm not going down that route but I do find that cooking makes me feel happy."
The 33-year-old singer continued to say while she appreciates the critical and commercial acclaim she receives for her music, it is the complements paid to her by her pals which mean the most, especially when they are praising her culinary skills.
She told Event magazine: "The other day I had people around and I made loads of tapas and they said it was 'restaurant quality' and I swear I've not lost the spring in my step since."

Johnny Depp has formed a supergroup with Alice Cooper and Joe Perry.
The 'Pirates of the Caribbean' actor has created Hollywood Vampires with the 67-year-old rocker and Aerosmith guitarist, who will make their first performance at the Rock in Rio music festival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in September.
A message on Alice's website read: "Alice Cooper and Johnny Depp have been partners for a while and now with Joe Perry also on Hollywood Vampires, they will 'rock it out' yet once again."
The newly formed band - whose name pays homage to a posse of musicians who used alcohol for initiation in the 1970s - will perform on the same evening as Queens of the Stone Age and System of a Down at the annual event, which takes place on various dates between September 18 and 27.
The 51-year-old actor has previously joined both stars on stage, as well as performing with The Black Keys, Marilyn Manson, Ryan Adams and Oasis.
However, the announcement comes just weeks after the 'Mortdecai' hunk - who recently wed his long-term girlfriend Amber Heard - declared he thinks it is embarrassing when film stars become musicians.
He said: "I've been very lucky to play on friends' records and it's still going. Music is still part of my life, but you won't be hearing The Johnny Depp Band. That won't ever exist.
"I hate the idea, 'Come see me play the guitar because you've seen me in 12 movies'."