Music News

Prince wowed fans by becoming a DJ to mix-up his own tracks during the opening night of his 'Hit and Run Part II' tour.
The legendary musician kicked off the run of concerts at Birmingham's LG Arena on Thursday night (15.05.14) and he jumped into a booth mid-concert and began mixing up several of his songs, including 'The Most Beautiful Girl In The World' and 'When Doves Cry' with 'Sign O' The Times', which sent the crowd wild.
After a false start when the lights went down twice but came back on again, Prince stepped onto the stage and released a handful of white and purple balloons before launching straight into 'FunkNRoll', backed by his all-female band 3RDEYEGIRL.
'Take Me With You', 'Raspberry Beret' and 'U Got That Look' got the fans on their feet before he began gyrating and sliding across the stage to hit 'Kiss', changing the lyrics to, "You don't need to watch Real Housewives".
After 'Let's Go Crazy' whipped the audience into a frenzy, he announced "soundcheck's over", as fans screamed with excitement.
Confetti cannons were let off and track 'Guitar' went down a storm, while the band proved not only can they play, but the women can sing.
Prince - dressed in loose-fitting white trousers and a white long-sleeved top with the band's artwork emblazoned on it - also thanked the audience for not trying to take photographs of him on stage.
"We want to see your faces," he said, before asking them to use their mobiles to create a spectacular sea of twinkling lights.
A slowed down version of 'Little Red Corvette' and '1999' were highlights of the incredible 34-song set, along with 'Purple Rain', which he played as more confetti showered the audience.
"Glad to be of service," he told fans, "I told you we were coming back".
After the encore he came back on stage again and announced the band had a strict curfew but were going to play until they were cut off, powering through a cover of Wild Cherry's 'Play That Funky Music'.
Prince - who in February thrilled London with a series of surprise guerilla gigs - takes his arena tour to the Manchester Phones 4u Arena tonight (16.05.14) and Saturday (17.05.14), The SSE Hydro in Glasgow on May 22 and Leeds' First Direct Arena on May 23.

Example never knew "how to sing or rap" when he first started out.
The 31-year-old star - who was catapulted to the spotlight following the release of his second studio album 'Won't Go Quietly' - admits he's "learned" a lot during his time in the industry and credits the producers he worked with and his own work ethic for his success.
He told The Sun newspaper: "I've learned on the job. I've worked extremely hard and haven't given up, it hasn't been a jolly.
"I've been happy in the studio and in terms of music. I've adapted to things as they have been thrown at me because I never really knew how to work in the studio or write a song.
"I never even knew how to sing or rap. The whole thing has been a learning curve."
Example - real name Elliot Gleave - insists his confidence as a singer has grown and he can now accept his "unique" voice which he previously battled with.
He explained: "I never had the confidence to sing before. I always felt that my voice didn't sound pure or sweet or tuneful like everyone else's.
"I was a spotty little teenager with dyed blond hair and my red Moschino jeans.
"When I started writing my own lyrics I wanted to sing but never had the confidence.
"When you listen to radio nowadays everyone has got a perfect, tuneful, soulful voice. And back in the Sixties and Seventies everyone didn't have a perfect voice.
"Not even the likes of Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger, Rod Stewart and David Bowie. Their voices are raw and real.
"I like to think my voice is more unique than a great-sounding voice. It is like Marmite. But I tend to find a lot of people come up to me and they like the uniqueness of my voice. It's a bit gravely.
"It tells a story more than the person who has been classically trained or has a perfect R&B soul voice.
"I think it is nice to be dividing. I'm happy with that."

Bastille are big fans of Damon Albarn.
The 'Pompeii' hitmakers were impressed with the Blur and Gorillaz musician's long-awaited first solo effort, 'Bad Robots', and think his comeback was a stroke of genius.
In an interview discussing the musical highlights of the last year, the band's frontman, Dan Smith, told Billboard.com: "I really love Damon Albarn's debut solo record. I love the fluidity with which he changes between really varying projects - yet it's nice to see him take the weight of an album release solely upon himself."
Dan also admires Critics' Choice BRIT Award-winner Sam Smith's ability to write a killer tune and thinks 'Latch' was the catchiest song of the last 12 months.
He said: "Sam Smith has a knack for writing brilliant hooks and I heard a stripped-back version of this song that made me listen to songwriting itself a lot more closely. But I love the Disclosure version and it gets lodged in my head on loop for weeks."
Dan is proud a growing number of British artists are getting the recognition they deserve overseas and hopes it's a lasting trend.
He said: "It's nice to see British music having continued success all over the world. And it's great to see more and more people seeming to buy music on vinyl."

L.A. Reid has confirmed a Justin Bieber and Michael Jackson collaboration.
The 58-year-old producer behind Michael Jackson's posthumous album 'Xscape' is planning something "really special" involving vocals from the late King of Pop and the 20-year-old singer.
Justin was originally supposed to feature on the track 'Slave 2 The Rhythm' as part of Michael's latest offering until it was inadvertently leaked, causing the collaboration to be dropped from 'Xscape'.
L.A. told Access Hollywood: "'Slave 2 The Rhythm' didn't include him [Justin] per my direction. That was something that was done separate and apart from me and it was leaked. If it hadn't been leaked it would have been featured but it sort of took the wrong turn.
"But you know what, we are going to revisit that and do something really special with Justin and Michael. I'm pretty sure."
L.A. signed Justin to his label Island Records at the tender age of 15 and admitted he feels "protective" over the young star, who was arrested for Driving Under the Influence (DUI) and drag-racing in Florida in January.
He said: "Justin is my guy. You know that I signed Justin so I felt a loyalty and I feel like I should protect him, that's my relationship with him."

OneRepublic's Ryan Tedder got emotional working with Adele.
The singer-songwriter and producer has penned hits for the likes of Beyonce and Leona Lewis, but says nothing has affected him as much as hearing the results of his studio session with Adele, her moving ballad 'Turning Tables'.
Ryan told the new issue of Notion magazine: "It's easy to look back at your most successful singles and call them your favourites, but I knew there was something special when we came up with 'Turning Tables'.
"After we worked on the song I went back to my hotel room in London and I texted her saying, 'I'm listening to your demo and I'm getting choked up.' She said, 'I've been crying my eyes out for the last 20 minutes.'
"We both thought we'd nailed it. It doesn't matter that it wasn't a radio hit. In a perfect world, the two would coincide. Most artists would be lying if they didn't say that was the goal."
As well as working on new music with his band, the 'Apologize' hitmaker would love to team up with Florence and the Machine star Florence Welch to explore a more experimental sound.
Ryan explained: "For three years mine and Florence Welch's managers have been trying to get our calendars to align. We're always on the opposite sides of the world.
"I really want to do something with her - I think we can crack something that she hasn't done and that I haven't done. I really think it could be huge."
OneRepublic's new single 'Love Runs Out' is available for iTunes pre-order, released on July 27.

Glastonbury boss Michael Eavis will be honoured with the Music Industry Trust Award.
The 78-year-old festival organiser is set to be recognised for his contribution to live music at the 23rd annual MITS at a fancy dinner for Nordoff Robbins and the BRIT Trust in London on November 3.
Michael said: "When I set out on this crazy hippy trip 44 years ago, little did I know how this roller coaster would run.
"But now I have to pinch myself every morning."
The idea for Michael to stage a festival came in 1970 when he managed to sneak into the Blues Festival at the Bath and West Showground to see Led Zeppelin.
He was so inspired he began booking bands to play on his own farm, Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset, which had been owned by his family for a century.
Michael's first festival, Pilton Pop Blues and Folk Festival, took place in September 1970 and was headlined by Marc Bolan's Tyrannosaurus Rex. It later changed its named to Glastonbury Festival in 1981 and began its attachment with charitable causes.
David Munns OBE, chairman of the MITS Award committee, said: "We are delighted to honour Michael Eavis with the Music Industry Trusts Award for 2014. We honour him as the creator of the world renowned Glastonbury Festival, the largest greenfield festival in the world, attended by over 175,000 each year and raising millions of pounds for charities.
"Through his tireless dedication, Glastonbury has become an important landmark in the cultural life of this country, with its influence spreading well beyond these shores."
Previous winners of the gong include Scottish singer Annie Lennox who was honoured last year. The likes of Adele, Joni Mitchell, Sting, Elton John, Stephen Fry and Chrissie Hynde all paid tribute to the star.

The Black Keys put their success down to The Beatles and Led Zeppelin.
The two-piece garage band made up of Patrick Carney and Dan Auerbach - who released their eighth studio album 'True Blue' on Monday (12.05.14) - credit the bands for inspiring them to make great music.
Patrick, 34 told the Daily Star newspaper: "I've always been fascinated by making a record that you want to live inside of. 'Led Zeppelin II' is a record like that, that I can really get lost in, because they're almost not songs, they're just riffs and beats and space and vocal parts. The way they utilised the form of a song always fascinated me."
The Grammy-award winning duo's progression from the blues rock sound of their first album 'The Big Come Up' to psychedelic rock in 'True Blue' was also inspired by the variation in The Beatles' eleventh studio album 'Abbey Road' and the pair are hoping to emulate their success in the future.
Patrick said: "We are huge fans of The Beatles, they're our favourite band. You go listen to the first record, 'I Want To Hold Your Hand', and then you hear the B-Side of Abbey Road, you can hear it's the same voices but everything's changed. That's the benchmark of success to me, and one day, hopefully, Dan and I can make a record that is somewhere on that scale.
"We haven't yet, and I don't think we ever will, but just knowing that exists, that you can go see this band in eight years go from point A to point Z is a reminder of why I want to make music."

Morrissey has started using Twitter.
The 'First Of The Gang To Die' singer joined the social media site in June 2009 but only posted his first message last night (14.05.14), writing: "Hello. Testing, 1, 2, 3. Planet Earth, are you there? One can only hope... (sic)"
The post has already been re-tweeted more than 14,000 times and he followed the tweet by: "Follow, follow, follow. Twitter is the perfect metaphor for...something. Dunno what. (sic)"
The 54-year-old star has revealed the title track from his new album, 'World Peace Is None of Your Business', along with the artwork for the record.
He has also unveiled a video for a spoken word version of the single featuring Nancy Sinatra.
The album will be released on July 14 and includes songs including 'Neal Cassady Drops Dead', 'Earth Is The Loneliest Planet' and 'Kick The Bride Down The Aisle'.
Morrissey, who released his autobiography in October last year, has signed a worldwide record deal with Universal Music's American-based Harvest Records for the release of his 10th studio album.
Meanwhile, the star was recently mobbed during a concert in San Jose, California, and was knocked over after security struggled to keep members of the audience from clambering onto the stage.

Rita Ora wants to tour with Calvin Harris.
The 'I Will Never Let You Down' singer would love to go on the road with her DJ boyfriend but admits it would be tough getting their schedules clear enough at the same time to be able to do it.
She told The Sun newspaper: "I've never been happier. He's cool though, you know. I'd love to tour with him. It would be cool to have him there but he has his own shows to do."
Calvin has worked on four tracks for Rita's new album but she insists their collaboration came "naturally" and she didn't have to ask him to be a part of the record.
She said: "It all happened naturally, nothing was ever asked.
"We play each other music the whole time.
"I appreciate his ears, because he's one of the best songwriters and I like to know his opinion."
One of the tracks is her new single, 'I Will Never Let u Down' - which is expected to top the UK singles chart this weekend - and Rita says it was so good, it set the standard for the rest of her record.
She told the Daily Star newspaper: "It touched me in a way like nothing I've ever recorded before touched me, so that set the boundary for everything else."