Music News

Sam Smith feels proud he hasn't "gone mental."
The 22-year-old musician released his debut album 'In The Lonely Hour' earlier this year - which was already become the biggest-selling debut album in the US in 2014 - but is more impressed he has managed to stay grounded than by the record's success.
He explained: "The thing I'm most proud of at the moment - and people might get angry with me for saying this - is the fact that I actually haven't gone mental. I've been able to keep myself completely the same person I was two years ago. If not, I'm actually a little more aware than I was before."
The 'Stay With Me' hitmaker - who has been nominated for six Grammy awards including Album of the Year and Best New Artist - said he has been too busy with his hectic schedule to stop and think about what he has achieved.
He continued: "If I sit back and start thinking about those figures, it's not going to help in my mission to stay grounded and attempt to stay a little bit normal - even though I'm completely not normal anymore!"
The chart topper went on to say he doesn't think he'll ever feel confident writing such honest music, because many of his fellow musicians do not write songs about themselves.
Talking to Digital Spy about his honesty on the album, he said: "I'll never be comfortable with it. It's going to be an ongoing battle. Even at the American Music Awards the other week, I was mixing with celebrities and people who... there's a made-up reality, if you know what I mean, in the pop world.
"By the way, it's something that I love. I love watching crazy performances that don't require a lot of singing and there's more glitter and stuff like that. But it's sometimes a little bit daunting being the only person who's just standing there and singing and not twerking. I find being honest, in the way that I am, challenging every day."

Green Day's Jason White has been diagnosed with tonsil cancer.
The 'Basket Case' rockers have asked fans to send "love and positive healing vibes" to the guitarist - who joined the band full-time in 2012 - as he battles the "treatable" strain of the disease.
The band said in a statement on their website: "We have some news to report regarding our brother Jason White, and wanted you to hear it from us before word spread.
"Jason recently underwent a routine tonsillectomy, and his doctors discovered a treatable form of tonsil cancer. Thankfully they caught it early and he should make a full and speedy recovery. Please join us in sending him love and positive healing vibes during this time."
Jason previously performed with Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong's side project Pinhead Gunpowder in the early 1990s and became touring guitarist for the 'Warning' rockers in 1999.
He continued to perform with the group on the road at every subsequent tour, and was named a full time member in 2012 when they released trio of albums '¡Uno!', '¡Dos!' and '¡Tre!'.

Sam Smith and Ed Sheeran will go head-to-head at the BBC Music Awards.
The two singers have been nominated for the British Artist of the Year prize at the inaugural ceremony, but face competition from music legend David Bowie, modern soul group Jungle, 'One Day Like This' hitmakers Elbow and rock duo Royal Blood.
Meanwhile the nominees for the Best International Artist award have also been revealed.
Country legend Dolly Parton and 'Shake It Off' star Taylor Swift are up for the honour alongside 'Royals' hitmaker Lorde, 'Happy' singer Pharrell Williams, 'Purple Rain' icon Prince and jazz musician Gregory Porter.
The shortlists were selected from a list of the 50 most played artists of the year on BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2, 1Xtra and BBC Radio 6 from the period of 1st December 2013 to 24th October 2014.
Bob Shennan, director of BBC Music, said: "The BBC Music Awards exist to celebrate the past 12 months in music.
"The shortlists feature an amazing range of hugely talented artists. Each and every one has made a unique mark on the music industry.
"They have experienced phenomenal success and it's wonderful to see new acts featuring alongside some of the biggest names in the business."
The winners will chosen by a BBC Music panel as well as leading music journalists and announced at the awards show at London's Earls Court on December 11.
The ceremony will feature performances from the likes of One Direction, Coldplay, Take That, Paloma Faith, Calvin Harris and Catfish and the Bottlemen, while there are also expected to be some surprise collaborations.
The show will broadcast in the UK across BBC One, Radio 1, Radio 2 and online.

BBC Music Awards 2014 limited nominations:
British Artist of the Year:
David Bowie
Ed Sheeran
Elbow
Jungle
Royal Blood
Sam Smith

International Artist of the Year:
Dolly Parton
Gregory Porter
Lorde
Pharrell
Prince
Taylor Swift

Mary J. Blige is a big fan of Sam Smith.
The 'Right Now' hitmaker - who collaborated with the 22-year-old singer on her latest album, 'The London Sessions' - has revealed that she loves the "honesty" in his songs.
When asked what she was listening to at the moment, she told the Independent's Radar magazine: "Sam Smith's 'In The Lonely Hour'. I love his vocals, his stories and his music.
"There's so much honesty and his voice is so soothing, it just covers you."
Meanwhile, Sam - who co-wrote Mary's latest single, 'Therapy' - recently admitted that he initially wanted the track for himself but gave it to her because she "fell in love" with it.
Speaking about the track, he previously said: "Obviously Mary J. Blige is a huge influence to me, and I adore her. And I would have jumped at the opportunity of course at any time, but the way it happened was so amazing. I almost got to know her before I even began.
"The song 'Therapy', which she sang at the AMAs, I wrote for my record. But then she heard it and fell in love with it and she sang it. And I actually only took two days off, actually, to go in the studio and write.
"But I feel so emotionally invested in it, and it's so weird for me to say that Mary has now become my friend. Seeing her perform that at the AMAs, I was so proud. It was a raw performance, and everyone was playing live, and it just showed the type of artist she is."

Sam Smith celebrated his Grammy Award nominations with a sparkling water.
The 'Stay With Me' singer didn't go wild after discovering he'd been put forward for six awards, instead the 22-year-old star opted for a simple sushi dinner and a bottle of fizzy water with his fellow singer and Grammy nominated pal, Ed Sheeran, 23.
Sam explained: "I was with Ed on the day it happened.
"We went for lunch and had sushi. But no drink was involved so it wasn't a proper celebration."
Although he later grabbed a bottle of something fancier, the 'In The Lonely Hour' hitmaker revealed how his celebration was a solitary affair.
He told The Sun newspaper: "I had one glass of champagne in bed, by myself. It really was 'in the lonely hour'.
"There was no one with me - I had to make the most of my three hours' sleep. But tonight I'll have a bottle of wine in my room with my make-up artist."
The soulful singer - who is nominated for Album of the Year, Best New Artist and Record of the Year for 'Stay With Me' - also expressed his disbelief at being held to the same standard of his idol Beyonce Knowles, 33.
He said: "I can't believe I've got the same number of nominations as her.
"I couldn't have got any more than her, she'd have killed me!"
The 57th Annual Grammy Awards will be held on February 8, 2015 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Johnny Marr thinks Noel Gallagher's solo material is "very clever".
The former Smiths guitarist has guested on a track on his friend's forthcoming new album and is very impressed by the "cool" sounding record.
He said: "Noel's done a clever thing, he's managed to make his solo career very natural and incorporate a new kind of sound.
"It has that kind of cool, rolling clubby sort of feel to it with his singing over the top."
Many years ago, Johnny sent Noel a guitar he wrote The Smiths' 'Panic' on, and when the 'Don't Look Back In Anger' singer smashed it during an altercation with his brother and Oasis bandmate Liam Gallagher, he kindly sent him another.
Asked if he had sent him the 'Panic' guitar, Johnny told Q magazine: "I did yeah but then he broke it.
"They were on tour in Newcastle and I got a frantic phone call saying there'd been an altercation on stage and the guitar had been broken so I went to the shed, dusted off the one I did 'The Queen is Dead' on and sent it up to him. He's still got it."

Ed Sheeran is obsessed with his sales figures.
The 'Thinking Out Loud' hitmaker admits it isn't very "artistic" to take such an interest in the business side of his career, but he wants to know how well he is doing and insists it is a common attitude among artists today.
He said: "I know it's not very artistic, being into the way things work. But I want to know the numbers.
"We're all like that. Drake's like that. Taylor Swift knows everything about everything."
The 'Drunk' hitmaker also confessed to obsessing over how his promotional TV appearances affect his record sales.
Discussing what he would do after appearing on 'The X Factor', he said: "I'll be refreshing iTunes. Seeing where the song is. Of course, what's the f***ing point otherwise?
"Every TV show, big or small, I've always looked at the reaction. And compared it to whoever was on the week before."
The 23-year-old singer is also careful about his finances and takes a keen interest in ensuring he is earning the rightful share of his sales.
He told Q magazine: "Back in the day managers were crooks, record labels took 50 per cent, whereas now people are savvy.
"When I signed my deal, my manager, who used to work at Atlantic, said, 'I know the deal you gave to James Blunt last week so you'll give Ed exactly the same because I know you can.'
"Before it was, 'Record deal, cool, sign.' Pop stars nowadays are sensible. Because it doesn't last.
"Do your time, earn your money, buy some property and when it all goes to s**t you've got something to fall back on."

Dolly Parton worried about the crowd looking up her skirt at Glastonbury.
The '9 to 5' hitmaker played the festival for the first time this year and took great care with her outfit, deliberately wearing trousers because she knew the stage was high enough to expose her "contract".
She said: "I wanted to wear pants because the stage was up so high, I didn't want the crowd looking up my dress and seeing my 'contract'.
"And I wore white because I feel light, airy and happy when I wear white. And I didn't get dirty. Even in all that mud."
Dolly, 68, admitted she was gripped with nerves before the performance because she was convinced her songs wouldn't go down well with a "rowdy" crowd.
She told Britain's Glamour magazine: "It was nerve-wracking because people kept telling me how big a deal it was.
"I was worried it was going to be ore of a rock crowd and I wasn't going to fit in.
"I spent a lot of time deciding what songs to sing because I was led to believe these people were rowdy, stoned and drinking, so I couldn't sit down and sing a lot of sad songs."

The new Kurt Cobain documentary will focus on his mother, wife Courtney Love and bandmate Krist Novoselic.
Filmmaker Brett Morgen recently announced the release of 'Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck' - the first authorised film about the late Nirvana frontman - but Bruce Pavitt, the founder of the group's first record label Sub Pop, has confirmed he hasn't been interviewed for the project.
He said: "Instead of having a number of talking heads, Morgen told me he's interviewing three key personalities in Kurt's story; Courtney Love, Krist Novoselic and Kurt's mom.
"Then there's tons of home video footage. I think it's going to be really interesting."
Bruce believes the film - which will feature "dozens" of performances and previously-unheard material - will be a "fascinating" insight into the troubled rocker, who committed suicide in 1994.
He added to NME magazine: "I think it's going to be really very good. As a psychological study of Kurt, it's going to be really fascinating.
"From the sound of it, it'll go deep into Cobain's psyche and the impact of that band."
The documentary will air on HBO in the US next year, though an international release has yet to be scheduled."