Music News

Bob Dylan thinks his music has been unnecessarily picked on by critics.
The 73-year-old musician was named MusiCares Person of the Year at the annual charity gala at Los Angeles Convention Center on Friday (06.02.15) and took the opportunity to scald those who have panned his singing voice during his 30-minute acceptance speech.
He said: "Critics have been giving me a hard time since day one. Critics say I can't sing. I croak. Sound like a frog."
The 'Like a Rolling Stone' hitmaker continued with his rant by saying he has received far more criticism throughout his career than his peers such as Tom Waits, Lou Reed and Leonard Cohen.
He explained: "Why don't critics say that same thing about Tom Waits? Critics say my voice is shot. That I have no voice. Why don't they say those things about Leonard Cohen? Why do I get special treatment? Critics say I can't carry a tune and I talk my way through a song. Really? I've never heard that said about Lou Reed. Why does he get to go scot-free?"
The singer-songwriter later went on to take aim at prominent figures within the music industry Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller whose songs he denounced for being simple and not dealing with important issues.
He added: "I didn't really care what Leiber and Stoller thought of my songs. That was all right that they didn't like 'em, because I never liked their songs either. 'Yakety yak, don't talk back.' 'Charlie Brown is a clown,' 'Baby I'm a hog for you.' Novelty songs. They weren't saying anything serious."

Kanye West is executive producing Rihanna's album.
The 37-year-old musician confirmed he is heavily involved with the making of the Bajan singer's eighth studio record at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles last night (08.02.15), having already collaborated with her and Sir Paul McCartney on the first single to be taken from her as-yet untitled record, 'FourFiveSeconds'.
He told E!'s Ryan Seacrest: "I'm executive producing Rihanna's album.
"I played her my album and I said, 'I've done a few songs with Paul McCartney', and she couldn't get past this record - she had to have it on her album."
Despite his involvement in the LP, the star - who has previously produced for Jay Z, Madonna, John Legend and Tyga - admitted he "wasn't sure" when the 26-year-old chart-topper will release the collection.
As well as performing their single at the ceremony, the 'Bound 2' rapper, who married Kim Kardashian West last year, also sang his new single 'Only One' which was inspired by their 19-month-old daughter North West.
Rihanna's hotly anticipated record follows 2012's 'Unapologetic', and is rumoured to feature songs co-written by Calvin Harris, John Newman, Florence Welch, Sia and Kiesza.
While further details of the album have not yet been revealed, the 'We Found Love' hitmaker is also set to release the soundtrack for animated film 'Home' in March.
Meanwhile, Kanye is also expected to release his own solo album later this year after playing it to guests at the iHeartMedia Music Summit in California last month.

Chic and Nile Rodgers are to release their first track in 23 years.
The 70s disco band have announced today (09.02.15) that they will launch their new track, 'I'll Be There', at a special show at London's Roundhouse on March 20th.
The legendary musicians will then head to Leeds, Glasgow and Manchester, before ending their UK tour in Birmingham.
Nile said: "Our fans in the UK are some of the greatest in the world so we're really excited to bring them our new single first... and that's why we're coming over to play these live shows next month! See you there!"
The date of the single launch party was specifically chosen by Astrology student, Nile, as it is the day of the Vernal Equinox, when day and night are equal.
The band also chose to begin in London as it is the home of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), where the Equinox starts.
The 'Le Freak (Freak Out)' hitmakers - who are regarded as one of the greatest live music bands - are also expected to drop an album later in the year.
Tickets for the 'I'll Be There' UK tour goes on sale at 9am on Friday 13th on AEGLive.co.uk and AXS.com.

Full Tour Dates:
Fri 20 March London Roundhouse
Sun 22 March Leeds O2 Academy
Mon 23 March Glasgow Academy
Tue 24 March Manchester O2 Apollo
Wed 25 March Birmingham O2 Academy

Lady Gaga feels "so grateful" for her Grammy Award.
The 28-year-old picked up a trophy in the Traditional Pop Vocal Album for her record with jazz icon Tony Bennett, 'Cheek to Cheek' at the ceremony in Los Angeles last night (08.02.15) and gushed about the victory on Twitter where she thanked all of their fans.
She wrote: "We WON! @itstonybennett & I are so grateful to win this Grammy together! Thank you to our fans! Benedettos, lil' monsters & @theGrammys!
"I can't believe it WOW this is my 6th Grammy!! I could never do this without amazing fans, always stay true to yourself I love you so much! (sic)"
The 88-year-old crooner - who has won the title 11 times previously - also expressed his gratitude for the win, stating he felt "so proud" to have been commended for the LP, which features various jazz standards.
He shared: "Cheek To Cheek tour is just starting out and @ladygaga and I just won a Grammy together! So proud. (sic)"
As well as picking up the award and performing the title track from their collaborative LP, Lady Gaga congratulated 'Stay With Me' singer Sam Smith who picked up four awards, and Beck who won in the coveted Album of the Year category for 'Morning Phase'.
She said: "I'm so proud of my darling SAM SMITH for all his wins tonight! You deserve everything and more because you are YOU. I was honored to watch!
"BECK! I'm so happy this album is AMAZING!!!! ALBUM OF THE YEAR! (sic)"
The 57th Annual Grammy Awards will be broadcast exclusively on 4Music in the UK at 9pm tonight (09.02.15).

Danielle Haim was involved in a car crash on Friday (06.02.15).
The 25-year-old lead singer of rocking trio Haim was travelling to a pre-Grammy party hosted by music mogul Clive Davis when the accident occurred, causing her to miss the bash, despite a representative claiming she was "fine".
Confirming the incident on Twitter, the band assured fans the singer was not harmed, and wrote: "yo! for those asking, d was in a very small fender bender but she's totally 110% ok! (sic)"
Sisters Este, 28, and Alana, 23, still attended the gala - which also boasted Iggy Azalea, Taylor Swift and Rita Ora among guests - while Danielle recovered at home for the main ceremony on Sunday (08.02.15).
However, the group were in good spirits following the scary accident and expressed their excitement about the annual event, at which they were nominated for Best New Artist.
They shared: "AND NOW WE'RE GETTING READY TO GO TO THE GRAMMYS. WHAT? HOW DID WE GET HERE?!? Aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh (sic)."
The band - who released their debut album 'Days Are Gone' in 2013 - were beaten in the category by Sam Smith, but will be hoping for success at next year's ceremony as they started working on their follow-up LP in July last year and were pictured in the studio with producer Ariel Rechtshaid in January.

Rihanna, Sir Paul McCartney and Kanye West, Sam Smith and Mary J. Blige, Ed Sheeran John Mayer, Herbie Hancock and Questlove, and Jessie J and Sir Tom Jones were among the groups of performers at last night's (08.02.15) Grammy Awards. The annual music...

Kim Gordon "wasn't entirely surprised" by Kurt Cobain's suicide.
The Sonic Youth singer - who has previously questioned whether or not the Nirvana rocker killed himself - has revealed that while she was "shocked" when she first heard the news, a part of her had seen it coming.
She said: "I'll always remember the day [ex-husband and bandmate] Thurston [Moore] called to tell me Kurt had shot himself. Of course I was totally shocked, but I wasn't entirely surprised. There had been an incident in Rome, where Kurt had OD'd, but the details were never clear. I was shattered and felt as if I were moving in slow-motion inside some strange dream."
The 61-year-old star - who predicted Kurt's relationship with wife Courteney Love would be a "train wreck" - claims the Hole singer, with whom Kurt had daughter Frances Bean, profited from her husband's death.
Writing in her memoir 'Girl in a Band', as published by the Guardian newspaper, Kim said: "The night after Kurt's death, during a candlelit memorial service for the public, a recording of Courteney reading aloud Kurt's suicide note was played. As the vigil continued, Courteney appeared in person and started handing out some of Kurt's clothes to fans. It was as if she were stepping out into her destiny - a platform of celebrity and infamy.
"A week after Kurt died, Hole released their major-level debut, 'Live Through This', which elevated Courteney to a new kind of perverse stardom. The timing couldn't have been better."

Tom Meighan says headlining Glastonbury was better than "any drug".
The Kasabian rocker admits topping the bill at the iconic festival last summer was like going "to Mars and back" and he was delighted to prove wrong his critics who said they shouldn't be headliners.
He said: "I felt like I had been to Mars and back. It felt amazing, better than any fucking drug. I remember being just like, 'Arrrrrghhh!'
"Glastonbury was a true moment, I felt a real sense of unity. I mean, the Leicester [homecoming] show on our tour was amazing. Everything fell into place - the crowd were our people. It was real tribal stuff. But Glastonbury was special because everyone sneered at us beforehand. But, I'm sorry, we owned that f***ing gig."
Since the gig, the 'Eez-Eh' rockers think they have garnered more respect, though they still don't worry about their critics.
Tom added to Loaded magazine: "Ah man, we're getting treated with far more respect, definitely with other artists, we've really noticed it.
"A lot more people have jumped on board now. I mean, there's still a lot who f***ing hate us, not that I could give a s**t mind. I'm not interested.
"I don't get down about it. I mean, not everyone likes Cristiano Ronaldo do they?"

Charli XCX's only hobbies are emailing and drinking gin and tonics.
The 'Boom Clap' hitmaker admitted her busy schedule doesn't allow her to have any time off to pursue her interests outside of music, but because she enjoys drinking the highball cocktail she has one at every opportunity.
She exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "In my time off I'm answering emails. I've got really into gin and tonics recently, because my assistant drinks a lot of gin and tonics. So that's my new hobby, like, 'Oh I've got, a minute, let's have a gin and tonic! Great!' but that's kind of it. I don't have hobbies unfortunately because I don't have any time."
While the 22-year-old singer - who will release her second studio album 'Sucker' in the UK later this month - acknowledged sending messages is not the coolest pastime for a pop star, she revealed mixing the task with alcoholic drinks can be a dangerous combination.
She added: "Emailing, wow, rock and roll. It's like, drunk emailing, drunk everything, drunk tweeting."
However, she recently revealed she had a strange evening with 'Doing It' collaborator Rita Ora on a rare night off when they decided to turn up to a house party in Chicago.
She said: "We kind of just took over the kitchen and kept playing grime [music] and everyone was just like, 'What is going on?' and it was just weird. It was like a weird, fun, strange night."