Music News

Bono claims his voice improved after his father died.
The U2 frontman believes he was given a "gift" by his late dad Bob Hewson - who lost his battle with cancer in 2001 - after he passed away because his vocal range has improved in a way he always wanted.
He said: "You know, my father used to say to me 'You are a baritone who wants to be a tenor'.
"When my father passed away - we had this incredible relationship, especially during his last days - my voice changed and I felt like to sing better. I feel that he did this gift to me in passing. I think I'm a tenor now!' "
The Irish band are close to their families and guitarist The Edge revealed their fathers used to "get drunk" together during their gigs.
Speaking on Italian TV show 'Che Tempo Che Fa?', he said: "Our dads came on tour with us when we were in Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia. They went together to the bar and they got drunk!"
Bono recently admitted he found it "challenging" writing songs for new album 'Songs of Innocence' because all the lyrics, including a tribute to his late mother Iris, were so personal.
He said: "It's challenging stuff. What that meant was nothing, nothing was to be kept back. So you end up with a song about - I mean, how f***ing embarrassing is this? I write the lyrics to a song about my mother.
"It was like, 'Are you gonna go there?' So I went there. Here's a wild thing - my mother collapsed at her father's graveside 40 years ago yesterday and I've just sent out a love song to her.
"It's pretty excruciating stuff."

Ashton Irwin has been hospitalised with appendicitis.
The 5 Seconds of Summer star underwent surgery for the condition at a medical facility in his native Australia yesterday (14.10.14), and the band have cancelled a number of upcoming appearances to give him time to make a full recovery.
The 'She Looks So Perfect' hitmakers announced the news on their website today (15.10.14), writing: "Ashton has come down with a case of appendicitis and had to have an operation. He's doing great and will be back up & running in no time, but he'll need to rest up for the next week or so.
"Unfortunately this means that we'll no longer be able to fly back to the UK this weekend for the BBC Radio 1 Teen Awards. We will also be postponing next week's trip to Japan (more info to come soon). We are so sorry to everyone that had planned on seeing us. We were so excited to come see you all and we never want to make any of you sad... We hope you understand!"
The 20-year-old drummer appears to have been struck down with the illness very suddenly, as he said he was having a great time at home on Twitter yesterday.
He wrote: "Love you Aussies, good to be home, havin a blast xx (sic)"
While the group will miss the upcoming Teen Awards, The Vamps, Ariana Grande, Rixton, Ella Henderson and Labrinth will be performing at the annual event, with some artists performing extended sets.

Julian Casablancas was hungover for "five years" after quitting drinking.
The 36-year-old rocker admits he drank very heavily when his band The Strokes first found success and it took some time for him to feel fully healthy again after giving up alcohol for good.
He said: "I was hungover for, like, five years. Like, literally four years after I stopped drinking, I still didn't feel 100 percent. I still had that feeling of being a little hungover, and you just don't want to go downstairs to the deli, and you just want to stay inside. I felt kind of really roughed up by it."
At the height of his alcohol excesses, the 'Last Nite' rocker would drink vodka in the morning and admits it took its toll on his personality and made him "obnoxious".
He told Rolling Stone magazine: "I was probably charming 10 percent of the time, when I had a perfect buzz.
"You think, 'I'm brave and I'm crazy and I can drink.' But it's really like, 'I can't socially talk to people without having a stupid fake confidence that's obnoxious.' You think it's like truth serum, but it's more like a*shole serum."

Bono has apologised for giving U2's album away for free.
The group triggered a backlash from angry iTunes users who were given their 'Songs of Innocence' LP as a free download and the frontman admits the decision was driven in part by "megalomania" and the desire for as many people as possible to hear the songs.
During a Facebook Q&A session Bono was asked: "Can you please never release an album on iTunes that automatically downloads to people's playlists ever again? It's really rude."
He replied: "Oops, I'm sorry about that. I had this beautiful idea and we got carried away with ourselves - artists are prone to that kind of thing.
"Drop of megalomania, twitch of generosity, dash of self-promotion and deep fear that these songs that we've poured our life into over the last few years mightn't be heard.
"There's a lot of noise out there. I guess we got a little noisy ourselves to get through it."
Bono's bandmate The Edge recently admitted he had "doubts" before they agreed to make the album available to Apple users.
He said: "I absolutely had my doubts about it before we did it, and after, but it was the right thing to do. It was an opportunity that will only ever come around once for anybody. I don't think anybody would want to do it again."

Drake scooped four BET Hip Hop Awards at the annual ceremony.
The 27-year-old rapper stole the show at the event in Atlanta, Georgia - which took place last month but only aired on TV last night (15.10.14), picking up Best Hip Hop Video for 'Worst Behavior', Best Live Performer, People's Champ Award and Album of the Year for 'Nothing Was The Same'.
Rapper DJ Mustard - real name Dijon McFarlane - also picked up three awards for MVP of the Year, Producer of the Year and DJ of the Year, while Kendrick Lamar and YG's collaboration with Jeezy and Rich Homie Quan picked up two accolades each.
The 'Never Catch Me' singer bagged Lyricist of the Year and Best Feature Verse for 'Control', while the trio picked up the gong for Best Collaboration, Duo or Group and Track of the Year for 'My N***a'.
Other winners on the night included Wiz Khalifa, who won Best Mixtape for '28 Grams', Iggy Azalea took home the Who Blew Up Award, Nicki Minaj bagged the Made You Look Award and Dr Dre was crowned Hustler of the Year.
The show also featured performances from Brandy, YG and MC Lyte and included a surprise announcement from Bow Wow's girlfriend Erica Mena, who revealed the happy couple had got engaged.
When asked if the rapper was her boyfriend, the brunette beauty replied: "He's actually my fiance."

The full list of BET Hip Hop Award winners:

Album of the Year: Drake, 'Nothing Was the Same'
Best Club Banger: Future, 'Move That Dope'
Best Collab, Duo or Group: YG featuring Jeezy & Rich Homie Quan, 'My N***a'
Best Hip Hop Video: Drake, 'Worst Behavior'
Best Live Performer: Drake
Best Mixtape: Wiz Khalifa, 28 Grams
DJ of the Year: DJ Mustard
Hustler of the Year: Dr. Dre
Impact Track: Common featuring Vince Staples, 'Kingdom'
Lyricist of the Year: Kendrick Lamar
Made You Look Award: Nicki Minaj
MVP of the Year: DJ Mustard
Producer of the Year: DJ Mustard
Sweet 16: Best Feature Verse: Kendrick Lamar, 'Contro'
Track of the Year: YG f/ Jeezy & Rich Homie Quan, 'My N***a'
Video Director of the Year: Hype Williams
Who Blew Up Award: Iggy Azalea
People's Champ Award: Drake
Best Hip Hop Online: WorldStarHipHop

Courtney Love and Dave Grohl have ended their feud by placing a $10,000 bet over strippers.
The pair - who hadn't spoken for 20 years since the death of Courtney's husband, Dave's Nirvana bandmate Kurt Cobain - were seen laughing and hugging at a party for Danny Clinch's photo book 'Still Moving' at the McKittrick Hotel in New York on Monday (13.10.14), much to the astonishment of other guests.
A source told the New York Post newspaper's Page Six column: "Courtney and Dave were nose-to-nose at the table in the back, laughing, crying and hugging. It's nice to see those two burying the hatchet for real. Courtney doesn't really drink, but she and Dave did tequila shots.
"They were very intense with each other. People were surprised . . .  Michael Stipe looked like he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Then Courtney and Dave were heard making a 10-grand bet on who could get the most strippers at Scores."
However, Courtney went home from the party, while the Foo Fighters rocker went on to the famous strip joint and spent a reported $10,000 on tequila, champagne and private dancers.
A source said: "Dave was a real gentleman and very generous. The dancers loved him, he was a really good tipper.
"If he and Courtney had a competition over strippers, he would have definitely won."
However, the 50-year-old rocker insists the bet is "still on" and has vowed to win.
She tweeted yesterday (14.10.14): "the bet is still on @davegrohl we'll do the wager out west and I swear I'll win! (sic)"
The two stars feuded for year over the rights to Nirvana's music and finances but relations thawed this year at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in April.

Jack White has cancelled his tour dates in Mexico after the death of his keyboard player, Isaiah 'Ikey' Owens.
The singer cancelled two Mexican tour dates after announcing the news of the keyboard player's passing via a statement on the official Jack White website.
The statement read: "It is with great sadness that we tell the world of the passing of the incredible musician Isaiah 'Ikey' Owens. He will be missed and loved forever by his family, friends, bandmates and fans.
"Out of respect for Ikey, the remaining shows of the Jack White Tour in Mexico have been cancelled. We will all miss you Ikey. You were and are an incredible artist."
The heartfelt post also praised Ikey for his involvement in Jack's band but also for his other achievements.
The statement shared: "Ikey Owens was an astounding keyboard player in Jack White's backing band. He also played with Mars Volta, Free Moral Agents, and many other projects."
After making the announcement yesterday (14.10.14) Jack cancelled a scheduled gig in Guadalajara which was meant to happen later that evening. They were also due to play Monterrey at the Banamex Auditorium in Mexico on October 15, which has now been cancelled.

Jessie J took John Newman for a special birthday dinner to thank him for writing for her album.
The 26-year-old singer was thrilled when John gave her the track 'Fire' for her new LP 'Sweet Talker' - which was released this week - and although she didn't get a chance to work with him in the studio she did treat him to a delicious meal to show her gratitude.
Speaking to BANG Showbiz, she said: "Unfortunately with John I didn't get to go into the studio with him but I took him out for dinner on his birthday and that was my thank you. I know that he heard the song and came back and forth with things that he felt could be changed, but no, we didn't actually work together, he just sent it over."
The pop pair were prevented from working with each other in person by Jessie's decision to re-locate to Los Angeles to record the album.
She knew the process was going well because the entire record only took five weeks to make and each track sounded like it's "own film".
She explained: "I did everything in LA. I only recorded this album in five weeks, old school! We recorded 20 songs and I used 16. And there are probably three of the songs that weren't used that will be on the next record. I wanted every track to be its own film. I think so many people now worry about everything being very similar like, 'I'm going to do 12 songs like 'Domino' but I would be so bored. And there are definitely going to be songs that are for some people and not for others, you know? My mum has her favourite and my nephew has his and my best friend has hers and everybody's favourite is different and that's what I want ... I wanted each song to be its own personality and a little bit of me, you know? Not every day am I 'Bang Bang' and not everyday am I 'Personal' but those moments exist in my life."

Nile Rodgers and Rudimental have completed their collaboration on the remix of Chic song 'Le Freak'.
The artists reinvented the disco classic as part of the GoThinkBig project - an initiative launched by O2 which offers young people valuable work experience - and it comes out on October 17.
Grammy Award winner Nile and Rudimental worked with 70 young people on the track giving them the chance to contribute to the production and also create the accompanying music video and all proceeds from the song will be donated to GoThinkBig and Nile's charity, the We Are Family Foundation.
The 62-year-old musician debuted the video and song at his sold-out concert at The Indigo2 in London last Thursday (09.10.14) and revealed he got involved in the project because he can remember how hard it was for him and his late songwriting partner Bernard Edwards to break into the music business.
He said: "I remember we got turned away from Studio 54 and we went and wrote 'FO' which eventually became 'Le Freak'. But we couldn't have done that without having so people around us so me & Rudimental wanted to do the same ... Without rejection you won't learn how to do it right. All the songs that don't do well allow you to make the hit records."
At the concert Nile played a greatest hits set comprised of songs recorded by Chic and tracks he wrote and produced for other artists.
After opening with 'Everybody Dance', 'Dance, Dance, Dance' and 'I Want Your Love', the band then played a medley of "some number one hit records" Nile was responsible for, including Diana Ross smashes 'I'm Coming Out' and 'Upside Down' and Sister Sledge's 'He's The Greatest Dancer' and 'We Are Family'.
Before a rare rendition of Daft Punk's 'Get Lucky' - which Nile played guitar on - he told fans, "I feel pretty lucky to be here. Everything we do and every song we do we got to simplify it," prompting Chic to open with a slowed down, gospel tinged version of the song before speeding it up.
They closed the set with a version of David Bowie's 'Let's Dance',
'Le Freak' and 'Good Times' - for which they were joined on stage by the young people involved in the GoThinkBig project.
Meanwhile, Nile collected the prestigious Song of the Year prize for 'Get Lucky' at the BMI London Awards on Monday night (13.10.14).
He was on hand at the ceremony - held at The Dorchester Hotel - to pick up the gong, with his collaboration with Daft Punk and Pharrell Williams beating off competition from tracks by the likes of Ed Sheeran, Ellie Goulding and Avicii.
Other winners on the night included Van Morrison, who picked up the BMI Million-Air Award, and Sir Tim Rice, who was honoured at the event with the BMI Icon Award.