Music News

Wilko Johnson announced he is cancer free at the Q Awards today (22.10.14).
The legendary guitarist was presented with the Icon Award at the ceremony held at the Grosvenor House hotel in London and told the crowd during his acceptance speech that he has been "cured" of terminal pancreatic cancer after undergoing radical surgery in April.
Upon being presented with his award by Madness singer Suggs, the 67-year-old star said: "It's been an extraordinary couple of years. At the beginning of last year I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and I had about two months to live."
The singer admitted he got "quick a kick" when he realised he might never perform again while on stage at the Fuji Rocks Festival in Japan lat year.
He said: "We walked out onto the stage and the clouds opened and the sun came shining down. I was looking and I was thinking, 'this might be the last one I ever do.' It's quite a kick I can tell you."
Pausing for a standing ovation from the guests, which included Kasabian, Pink Floyd's Nick Mason, Johnny Marr and Ed Sheeran, Wilko then explained how his life was saved by a fan, who is also a cancer specialist.
He said: "Roger Daltrey got in touch with me and said, 'I want to do an album.' I said, 'You better to do it quick!'
"We did do it quick, we did it right at the end of last year. I was thinking, 'Wow, it ain't been bad, I'm now in extra time. This is great, I'm having a really good year and if the last thing I ever do is make an album with Roger Daltrey that's pretty good. I can go home and die.' "
He added: "Then comes Charlie Chan. Charlie is a photographer and a cancer doctor, who has taken an interest in my case - he's very curious as to why I'm not dead. He says, 'Listen, can you go and see my friends at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, and let them have a look at it.'
"This tumour at this stage is huge, it's so big it makes my guitar point the wrong way on stage. So I went to the hospital and they ran the tests again and I get told they think they can do it, and they did it."
Pausing for another standing ovation, he continued: "So I had an 11-hour operation and they took this tumour out of me, it weighed three kilos, that's the size of a baby, I was carrying it on stage every night. They got it all and cured me, so thank you Addenbrooke's. I spent several weeks in hospital and I remember people telling me, 'The Roger Daltrey album is doing really well.' But I missed all that! A few weeks ago, I came home and I'm hoping to regain my strength completely soon and get back on the road. If there's a moral to this story it's that you never know what can happen."

Kasabian have been named the Best Live Act and the Best Act In The World Today at the Xperia Access Q Awards.
The popular band, who released their fifth studio album, '48:13', earlier this year, collected their awards at the Grosvenor House hotel in central London on Wednesday (22.10.14).
Speaking on the stage as the band collected their first award for Best Live Act, Kasabian's Tom Meighan paid tribute to his dad - who he accidentally ran over earlier this year.
He said: "We're Kasabian, can I just thank everyone for making this record and working on the tour and s**t I run over my dad this year, I can't drive and it was an automatic ... This is for my old man, he ain't dead yet, this is for my dad - I love you."
Another award winner was former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, 50, who was presented with the Gibson Les Paul Award by Olympic gold medalist Sir Bradley Wiggins.
Speaking on the stage, Sir Bradley admitted he had been enjoying the free booze at the bash a little too much.
He said: "Anyone growing up in the 80s would have been inspired by this man. There aren't too many guitarists who you can hear that opening riff they play and know who it is. This man is one of those guys. I'm not going to say too much more as I've had too many of those Carlings..."
Marr said: "Thank you Q Magazine, thank you Bradley, we are going out later.
"Being a little boy I always thought bands were the best thing in the world and being the guitar player was the coolest thing, and I still do. I know there are a lot of singers in the room but I still think the same thing ... I feel very lucky to do something I love for a living and I think it's fab to get an award for it."

The full list of the Xperia Access Q Awards winners 2014 is as follows:

Best New Act presented by Xperia Access - Sam Smith
Maverick - St Vincent
Best Track presented by Absolute Radio - Paolo Nutini - Iron Sky
Best Solo Artist presented by Citroën - Ed Sheeran
Songwriter - Andy Partridge
Best Album presented by RAYMOND WEIL - Elbow - The Take Off And Landing Of Everything
Best Video - Jamie xx - Sleep Sound
Best Live Act presented by The Cavern Club - Kasabian
Hero - The Charlatans
Outstanding Contribution To Music - XL Recordings, collected by Richard Russell
Inspiration - Simple Minds
Gibson Les Paul Award - Johnny Marr
Classic Album - Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon
Innovation In Sound presented by Xperia Access - Jean Michel Jarre
Icon presented by Carling's Black Label Project - Wilko Johnson
Idol - Culture Club
Best Act In The World Today presented by Buster + Punch - Kasabian

Alt-J have a Marmite fetish.
The indie group - made up of Joe Newman, Thom Green and Gus Unger-Hamilton - have confessed their deep love for the yeast extract product, with Gus admitting he especially likes it when it is put on female body parts.
Speaking to Spotify, he said: "All of us have a bit of a Marmite fetish - on toast with butter or on a girl's breast."
As well as being big Marmite fans, the group also admitted they have a penchant for avocados and Fruit Pastilles.
When asked what is on their rider, Gus replied: "In the dressing room we have the normal stuff like beer, wine, crisps. We have Fruit Pastilles, coconut water..."
Thom added: "Avocados ... but I haven't seen many of the Avocados?"
When they are not enjoying a nibble on a piece of Marmite-covered toast or chowing down on an avocado, the trio are busy making melancholic and mysterious music, but they have insisted they are not quite as dark as their music suggests.
Joes said: "I think we've all got a good sense of humour. That's what you get with a lot of creatives, they have peaks and troughs. They often write about the things that make them most sombre, but in their time off they're actually quite happy.
"You also get comedians - their profession is being funny and in their own time they need heroin and a good cry."

Dame Shirley Bassey has announced the release of her first album in five years, 'Hello Like Before'.
The iconic singer has returned to the studio to record the collection of covers, which includes some of the greatest songs of the 20th century, to celebrate her stellar career spanning 60 years.
The most impressive track will see the 77-year-old star collaborate with 'Only Love Can Hurt Like This' singer Paloma Faith on a cover of 'Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend', made famous by Marilyn Monroe in the 1953 film 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes'.
The collection has been recorded at the legendary Abbey Road studios in London with producer and musical director Stuart Barr, and will also see the Cardiff-born lass revisit her unmistakable James Bond theme 'Goldfinger' which she originally released in 1964.
Talking about returning to the well-known tune, she remarked: "I got a couple of notes wrong originally! After 50 years I got the chance to re-record it and get it right. It was great to record it in Abbey Road, wearing a gown!"
Elsewhere on the album - which will be released on November 17 - the star will cover some of her personal favourites including Sting's 'Englishman in New York' and 'Hey Jude' by The Beatles.

The full tracklisting is below:
1. This Is What You Are
2. Englishman In New York
3. Fever
4. I'm Still Here
5. Macarthur Park
6. Wild Is The Wind
7. Goldfinger
8. Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend (duet with Paloma Faith)
9. Here's To Life
10. It Was A Very Good Year
11. Hello Like Before
12. We Got Music (deluxe bonus track)
13. Hey Jude (deluxe bonus track)

Sir Paul McCartney says a show by Kanye West and Jay Z is his favourite ever live performance.
The 72-year-old music legend conducted a Twitter Q&A session with his two million followers and during it admitted that of the legendary acts he has witnessed over the last 60 years, a concert by the 'Watch the Throne' rappers was the greatest he has ever witnessed.
When asked by a fan what the favourite gig he'd been to was, he wrote: "There are many, but @S_C_ & @kanyewest comes to mind #askPaul (sic)"
The Beatles star also spoke to adorers about the tunes which he's enjoying at the moment, singling out the new single from the Foo Fighters, 'Something from Nothing', and acknowledging Sia's smash hit 'Chandelier'.
However, some users did prompt the 'Let It Be' singer for some sillier answers, with one asking: "Do you ever twerk #askPaul (sic)"
Paul responded by saying: "The last time I tweaked I was with @katyperry. She was rather good at it! #askPaul (sic)"
Paul ended the conversation by premiering an unreleased demo version of the Wings track 'Beware My Love', featuring John Bonham, the late drummer of Led Zeppelin, which will appear on a remastered edition of the band's 'Wings at the Speed of Sound' album.

S Club 7 have confirmed that they are reforming and their first appearance will be at 'Children in Need'.
The pop group took to their official Twitter account to post two messages announcing that all seven members will be performing together for the first time in 11 years during the BBC television fundraiser next month.
The band wrote: " There Ain't No Party Like An S CLUB Party . . . #SCLUB7 #Bringitallback #SC7
"It's official, we're back for BBC Children In Need #sclub7 #bringitallback #sc7 @BBCCiN (sic)"
The messages were accompanied by an audio clip on the 'Reach' singers' SoundCloud page in which they all announced: "We're bringing it all back for Children in Need 2014."
The seven-piece band rose to fame in 1999 with their hit single 'Bring It All Back' and released four albums and starred in their own TV show before announcing their split in April 2003.
It won't be the first time the 'Don't Stop Movin'' hitmakers have appeared on the telethon, as they performed the official 'Children in Need' single 'Never Had a Dream Come True' in 2000, and sang their hit 'Have You Ever' on the broadcast the following year.
The band told the BBC: "We're massive fans of BBC Children in Need and it was great to be able to support the charity all those years ago.
"We're really looking forward to bringing it all back for Pudsey, for BBC Children In Need and for all our fans who have been so great over the years. This is going to be the mega S Club party of all time!"
The announcement follows months of speculation that the band would be reforming for a tour following the success of other bands such as Blue, Steps and 5ive who have appeared on reality television shows documenting their return to music.
S Club 7 have not confirmed any plans to return to music full time, but it is believed that their future plans depends on how well their BBC performance goes down with audiences, when they take to the stage on November 14.

Candi Staton is very excited to be performing with rapper Little Simz at the MOBO Awards tonight (22.10.14).
The legendary singer will be taking to the stage at the ceremony at the SSE Wembley Arena for a special one off performance of her hit 'You've Got the Love' with the rising star, the first time she has ever performed the track with a rap part.
Candi knows very little about Simz and only met her at rehearsals yesterday (21.10.14) but their chemistry is great.
Speaking to BANG Showbiz, Candi said: "I hadn't met her, I'm not familiar with her music but I've read some of her lyrics, other than that I met her yesterday.
"She's a new artist though. It's going to be exciting for me too. I have never had anyone rap on you've got the love before so that's going to be different."
Candi - who released new album 'Life Happens' this year - had put forward the idea to duet with Sam Smith at the ceremony, as he is up for four awards and she is a huge fan, but the organisers couldn't make it happen.
The 74-year-old soul diva was first introduced to the 'Stay With Me' singer's music when she saw him performing on television and she immediately rushed out to buy his debut album.
She said: "When they first started to arrange it one of my publicists was thinking about coupling me with Sam Smith, I said, 'Oh wow!' I was so excited.
"He's a great singer, he's wonderful. I saw him on some awards show in America and everyone was talking about Sam Smith afterwards. I went to the store and picked up something by him straight away."
Other artists performing at the MOBOs, supported by HTC, include Jessie J, Nicole Scherzinger and Ella Eyre.
The ceremony will be broadcast live on ITV2 with a highlights show on ITV.

911 used to fix competitions for the "fittest female adults" to win - and then sleep with them.
The 90s boy band - made up of Lee Brennan, Jimmy Constable and Simon "Spike" Dawbarn - have claimed they enlisted the help of their tour manager to select the best-looking women who had entered their competitions, so they could try to bed the lucky ladies when they met them.
Lee said: "We used to have competitions and we got our tour manager to only pick out the fittest female adults.
"He'd keep the tickets and the nicest bird would win it because it was fixed and one of us would take her back and sleep with her."
The group - who have reunited on TV show 'The Big Reunion' - also revealed other naked antics nearly got them into serious trouble one night in Bahrain when they stripped off and went swimming in a hotel pool which nearly landed them 10 years in jail.
Spike told The Sun newspaper: "We were all naked in the swimming pool with our dancers. It's a Muslim country and we were all there with our danglers out.
"We were doing a show for the king. If we weren't doing that we would've been jailed for ten years.
"Instead, they just placed us under hotel arrest and deported us."
Five - who are now a trio made up of Sean Conlon, Ritchie Neville, and Scott Robinson - have also revealed they had some crazy experiences touring in the 90s, such as when former member Abz Love accidentally set fire to a hotel, causing serious damage to the building.
Scott explained: "We told the fire brigade it was a cigar in the ashtray by the window which set fire to the curtains.
"What actually happened was that Abz was flicking matches out of the window and one went inside the valance. It set the whole room on fire. That whole floor was shut for a year."

Kylie Minogue has cancelled the German leg of her tour due to "financial difficulties".
The 46-year-old 'Sexy Love' singer has been forced to cancel four dates for her 'Kiss Me Once Tour'.
The shows - which were due to start on Wednesday (22.10.14) in Cologne followed by concerts in Munich, Berlin and Hamburg - were cancelled amid the promoter's preliminary insolvency hearings.
Kylie announced the sad news via her official website. She wrote: "I am extremely disappointed that due to financial difficulties of the German promoter CT Creative Talent GmbH, I am unable to perform the scheduled shows in Cologne, Munich, Berlin and Hamburg.
"The Administrator who is now controlling CT Creative Talent GmbH, is unable to confirm that we have the venues and facilities needed to be able to put on the shows.
"I have always had great support in Germany from a loyal and loving fan base and I can't stress enough how difficult and disappointing it is to be ready to play the shows and to have been let down at the last minute."
She later tweeted: "German #lovers, I'm so disappointed I won't see you next week. We're working really hard to bring the KMO show to u soon. Keep you posted (sic)"