Music News

Metallica say deciding to headline Glastonbury was a "no-brainer".
The heavy metal band have been confirmed as the third and final festival headliner, joining Kasabian and Arcade Fire on Worthy Farm's Pyramid Stage, and claim they jumped at the chance to close the line-up on Saturday, June 28.
Drummer Lars Ulrich told Zane Lowe during a BBC Radio 1 interview: "To be honest with you, we didn't sit around and have a big conversation when the call came.
"In Metallica we have a saying called a 'no-brainer'. Headlining Glastonbury is a no-brainer. We didn't need to sit around thinking about the pros and cons."
The group are the first metal band to ever headline the festival in its 44-year history and fans have had mixed reactions to the announcement.
One wrote on Twitter, "Glastonbury is probably the only festival that could have Beyonce headline one year and Metallica another", while another far less enthusiastic festival-goer lamented, "Buzzing for Metallica at Glastonbury. Said no one ever."
But Lars is confident the band can convert new fans with their aggressive, thrash metal sound and will do their best to appeal to the masses.
He said: "Trust your friendly neighbourhood Metallica, we'll put something suitable together. It's great that, 32 years into our career, we're still able to knock down doors - doors we didn't think were open to us."
Metallica - who were rumoured to be headling earlier this month - made the announcement last night (08.05.14) by writing on Twitter: "Worst kept secret in rock and roll is now confirmed... see you at @GlastoFest on June 28th! #MetOnTour."
Meanwhile, Skrillex, Jake Bugg and Massive Attack have also been confirmed to play on the Other Stage.

Pharrell Williams insists being number one in the charts had nothing to do with him and he owes his success to his fans.
The 'Happy' singer, whose track hit the top spot, has thanked those who have supported him throughout his career and after the release of his solo material, including his new album 'G I R L'.
Pharrell, who graces the front cover of Notion magazine this month, told the publication: "It's nice to be number one but that's not my doing.
"You can get so much more done by giving people respect. The people did this. Everything that I own my fans paid for."
When asked how he measures the success of his music, Pharrell claimed: "It's the way it feels to me and I stay loyal to that.
"I'm happy that the people can see that I'm staying loyal to that because they don't have to support me, but they do."
Pharrell admits he used to always over think his own music and found it "weird" having to draw from his own experiences.
He added: "What's made me feel comfortable about making an album is because it's not about me. It's about girl. I feel comfortable singing it and making it and performing it."

Kasabian think bands care too much about what people think and are "scared" to themselves out there.
The band - made up of frontman Tom Meighan, guitarist Serge Pizzorno, bassist Chris Edwards and drummer Ian Matthews - feel other bands are too worried about their reputations and upsetting people.
Serge told Short List magazine: "Bands are so frightened about the comments they receive on YouTube, they're scared of putting themselves out there.
"And that's a dangerous thing, because you get people that are self-aware with every move they're making. They give a f*ck too much."
The musician claims it's people like American artist Hunter S. Thompson and actor Jack Nicholson who are the more powerful because they don't care what people think.
He explained: "They're your boys! The ones that do sh*t and you go 'Ooh mate, what's that?' and they go, 'I don't give a f*ck'. It's that that's so dangerous and exciting."
Meanwhile, the band are set to play a huge homecoming gig in Leicester this summer after the release of their fifth album '48:13' and have been trying to secure the concert for years.
Tom said: "We wanted to do it at the football club, but there were too many restrictions.
"At the council we banged the door and banged it and banged it."
Serge added: "This time they were like, 'okay, this could be a good idea', and we done 50,000 tickets in two days. To do it in Leicester is the most unfashionable thing, but so us. We are Leicester."

Morrissey was attacked on stage as he kicked off his North American tour last night (07.05.14). The former Smiths frontman performed at San Jose's City National Civic and was mobbed by fans during a stage invasion at the end of the show, after a numb...

The Horrors think Beyoncé is more interesting than most rock bands.
The band - made up of Faris Badwan, Rhys Webb, Tom Cowan, Joshua Hayward and Joe Spurgeo - claim the 'Drunk in Love' hitmaker had more of an influence on their new album 'Luminous' than fellow artists.
Bassist Rhys Webb told the Daily Star newspaper: "Beyoncé doesn't sound the most obvious influence on our music but her songs are like modern-day Motown classics and we identify more with that than we do with our contemporaries."
Rhys also hit out at artists like Lily Allen, whose album 'Sheezus' is available on Google Play for just 99p, because he feels modern music is throwaway.
He said: "Her record company have done that to give Lily a surefire number one - albums should be something that are there for a lifetime."
The five-piece have a bumper schedule for festival season with spots at Isle of Wight,­
Reading and Leeds and Field Day this summer.
Rhys said: "We've crept up the bills and we're ready to headline the ­bigger fest­ivals."
Meanwhile, Adele's producer Paul Epworth has helped on their track 'Falling Star', the first time the act has had help for five years.
But Rhys explained: "The next stage of our evolution may involve getting someone else in to produce a whole album for us."

Chuck Berry and Peter Sellars will receive the 2014 Polar Music Prize.
Rock 'n' roll legend Berry, 87, and American opera and theatre director Sellars, 56, will both be presented with the prestigious accolade by King Carl XVI of Sweden at a gala ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden on August 26.
The Polar Music Prize was founded in 1989 by ABBA's lyricist and manager Stig "Stikkan" Anderson to "break down musical boundaries by bringing together people from all the different worlds of music", and this year's ceremony - which will take place in Stockholm's Concert Hall - will mark the award's 25th anniversary.
This year's laureates epitomise Anderson's aim for the award - which he named after his own record label - as Berry is universally acknowledged as one of the pioneers of rock 'n' roll music due to a number of classic songs including 'Maybellene' and 'Roll Over Beethoven'.
Meanwhile, Sellars is an acclaimed American opera, theatre and festival director seen as a visionary artist because of his innovative re-interpretations of classic works.
Past winners of the Polar Music Prize include Sir Paul McCartney, who was the first artist to ever receive the accolade, Sir Elton John, Bob Dylan, Patti Smith, Pink Floyd, Bruce Springsteen, Ray Charles and Led Zeppelin.

Led Zeppelin have hinted they may release more unheard material.
The band are due to release deluxe editions of their first three albums, 'Led Zeppelin', 'Led Zeppelin II' and 'Led Zeppelin III', on June 3, and now guitarist Jimmy Page has revealed he might put together compilations of rare songs in the future.
He teased in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine: "There's certainly more things that can be done. But these reissues took a lot of time, and I don't want to start proposing another project, because it'll take me another six months or a year."
Jimmy spent years scouring through the band's archives in a secret west London vault to find tracks that hadn't been heard by even the most hardcore of their fans, including a cover of 'Keys To The Highway' and versions of 'Immigrant Song' and 'Whole Lotta Love'.
He explained: "I was pretty diligent with my detection work. I asked a guy that runs one of the fanzines if he'd heard any of this material before, and he told me hadn't. That was a good feeling."
The group - also comprised of bassist John Paul Jones and singer Robert Plant - have launched an extensive reissue program of all nine of their studio albums in chronological order, each remastered by Jimmy.
However, they have ruled out all possibilities of a live Led Zeppelin show to coincide with the album releases.

Eminem thinks working with live musicians brings a "new element" to his shows.
The 'Rap God' hitmaker, who has announced a headline gig at Wembley Stadium in July, after being turned down for Hyde Park because he didn't have royal seal of approval, insists he's happy to be the first rapper ever to headline at the venue and can't wait to play with live musicians.
He told DJ Zane Lowe on BBC Radio 1: "It's definitely better, it definitely brings a whole new element to it. There are more things to do with your hands. It's a whole different energy, it's louder, it's more in your face, it's more explosive. For me, music is about feeling and energy and all that.
"We always try to mess around with the order of things. There are certain songs that just, for some reason or another, they don't work as good live. You have to go with the ones that work best to perform live. Sometimes we'll [also] add ones in we haven't done in a while."
His next single 'Headlights' from his latest album, 'The Marshall Mathers LP 2', is going to be released to coincide with the show.
Eminem said: "A lot of the times when we do the sound check I get to see the venue, but I know Wembley Stadium is huge."
The star thinks it's "incredible" he is able to do big shows when he wants and not have to tour for months on end, which he feels is a "blessing".
Eminem added: "I'm not saying I'll never be ready for that again, but right now, this is what's working for me."
Tickets for the Wembley show on July 11 go on sale on Friday, May 9 at 9am.

Lily Allen thought Miley Cyrus' London show was "legendary".
The 'Hard Out Here' singer went to see the 'Wrecking Ball' star who resumed her 'Bangerz' world tour at The O2 last night (06.05.14), after having several weeks off due to a serious allergic reaction to an antibiotic, and she defended Miley's sexual stage antics.
Speaking on 'Loose Women', she told the panel: "It was by far the best show I've seen at The O2. I love her.
"She's been doing it for so long you know, since she was like two, she's just got this presence that is so natural.
"Things going wrong all over the place and the way she was dealing with it was just brilliant and funny and entertaining.
"Yes there was a lot of swearing and inappropriate stuff going on but she's Miley Cyrus, you know that's going to happen."
Quizzed by the panel about Miley being a role model for young girls and simulating sex acts on stage, Lily said: "I don't think it really matters [what her message is], just let it be, she is what she is.
"If you don't like it don't go. She's not running for Prime Minister or president.
"It was quite extreme but if you can talk to your kids and explain to them afterwards that maybe she's being a little bit silly and showing off and that's not how to behave."
Lily, who has just released her new album 'Sheezus' after a four-year hiatus, said she often gets asked about being a role model herself in interviews and can't understand why young girls would aspire to be like her.
She said: "Why would you want mad pop stars to be role models for your children? Mums and aunts and sisters, they are role models."