Music News

Motley Crüe can still make music together despite signing a "no more tours" contract.
The 'Kickstart My Heart' heavy metal rockers - Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee, Vince Neil and Mick Mars - announced a farewell tour earlier this year and admitted they'd singed a legally-binding document which means they'll never be able to go on the road together again, but Nikki insists it doesn't mean the end of the band.
He explained: "It [the contract] is legally binding. Motley Crüe cannot tour. We could tour as the Flaming Buttholes, but that's kinda pointless, right? We could do a disco record and tour as the Disco Boys. But Motley Crüe can never tour again.
"It's no more touring. That's it. We can make music; we can do a lot of other stuff."
The 55-year-old bassist also admitted that while the band have been working on some new songs together, he's not sure whether he would want them to release a new album at this stage in their career.
He told Classic Rock magazine: "We've written some songs ... If you're this kind of band at this stage of your career you can't be played on Active Rock [radio station]; if you've been around for more than fifteen years you're classic rock, but classic rock radio doesn't play new music. You think, 'F**k, man, this sucks."

Paloma Faith feels like a "competition winner" because of her high-profile collaborators.
The 'Can't Rely On You' singer has worked with a string of famous faces on her new album 'The Perfect Contradiction' and can't believe stars like Pharrell Williams and Raphael Saadiq wanted to write with her.
She said: "On this album I didn't approach hardly any of the people, I met Pharrell at the Met Ball [last year] and came up and asked to work with me, which I was gobsmacked about. He came up to me and was like, 'I think you're so cool' and was singing my songs to me. I was just like, 'How do you even know who I am?'
"Raphael I met because I was opening for Prince and he was as well, he was like 'Let's write together.'
" I feel like a competition winner."
Paloma admits she found it hard to concentrate when she entered the studio with Pharrell because she was so in awe of his youthful good looks.
Asked what it was like entering the studio with him, she said: " Difficult to concentrate because he's so beautiful and I can't believe he's 43, he looks about 15. And his wife is devastatingly beautiful. He's nice and humble."
Though they got on well, the 32-year-old singer admits she hasn't heard much from the 'Happy' hitmaker recently.
She joked in a radio interview: " I've got his phone number and email. He's quite busy now, he doesn't reply as much as he used to. I think I'm left out on the doorstep."

Harry Styles has been writing songs with Kodaline.
The One Direction hunk is currently in Los Angeles, California, penning and recording tracks with the Irish band, with the finished collaboration expected to feature on the group's second album.
The 'High Hopes' hitmakers took to their official Twitter account yesterday (06.03.14) to share the news with their fans.
They tweeted: "In the studio with @Harry_Styles in LA writing a tune, sounds massive. He's gone and done a drawing of us.. x (sic)".
The quartet - consisting of Steve Garrigan, Jason Boland, Vincent May and Mark Prendergrast - have been working on the follow-up to their debut album 'In A Perfect World', which reached number three in the UK charts last year.
Drummer Steve said previously: "We're constantly writing new tracks, it's just a case of recording them.
"We started road-testing songs on tour. Playing to a crowd is better than writing it and seeing what happens.
"We've been told the next album won't be released till 2015 but we want to record and write as it's what we love doing."
Meanwhile, Harry, 20, admitted to the group earlier this month that he was a big fan of their's after watching them at a gig.
Frontman Steve said: "Harry turned up to the first show and randomly came over to say he was a big fan.
"We ended up going out that night to have a few drinks.
"He is such a cool dude. He's got no ego about him and seems really down to earth."
One Direction are currently on a three-month break before kicking off their 'Where We Are' stadium tour next month.

Mel C has collaborated with Peter Aristone.
The 40-year-old singer and the up-and-coming musician are set to release their new single 'Cool As You', which explores the early stages of a relationship between two lovers, later this month.
Mel said: "I have been lucky enough in my career to work with various artists and I always enjoy collaborating, especially with other vocalists. As soon as I heard 'Cool As You' I was excited to be involved with the project and Peter was a pleasure to work with."
'Cool As You', which will feature on Peter's forthcoming album '19 Days in Tetbury', will be the second release by the singer following his debut single 'Sunlight', which was a massive hit last summer.
Peter said: "I'm absolutely thrilled to be working with an international recording artist of Melanie C's standing. To have this happen on my second single release in the UK is like a dream come true for me."
Meanwhile, Mel C is performing a 'secret gig' at the trendy Queen of Hoxton pub in East London on Wednesday (12.03.14) and, with a 250 capacity restriction at the venue, it's likely to be packed out.
'Cool As You' will be available from March 31, 2014, on iTunes and '19 Days in Tetbury' will be released in the Autumn.
To listen to another track, 'All We Can Dream', from Peter's upcoming album, you can check out his soundcloud: Soundcloud.com/peter-aristone/all-we-can-dream

Jennifer Hudson's new album is inspired by her personal tragedies.
The 32-year-old singer, whose mother Darnell, brother Jason, and nephew Julian were gunned down by her former brother-in-law, William Balfour, in October 2008, insists she has forgiven their killer to try and find peace and has used her late mother's phrases in her new material.
Talking about the upcoming record, the 'I Can't Describe' singer said: "It's my story - it's me, it's my voice, it's my perspective. There's a song called 'Moan' that I wrote, which came from something my mother always used to say, 'If you moan, it makes you better if something hurts.
"It will definitely be difficult to perform. Oh my God, it was difficult to record. Because it's so personal, it was really emotional."
Balfour, who was married to Jennifer's sister Julia, was handed three life sentences for the murders in 2012 without the possibility of parole, along with 120 years for other convictions.
Jennifer, who is headlining today's global empowerment 'We Day' event at London's Wembley Arena, has been working with the likes of 'Happy' hitmaker Pharrell Williams and producer Timbaland and will soon release more details about her third studio album, the follow-up to 2011's 'I Remember Me'.
She added to The Daily Mirror newspaper: "I want everybody to be Jenniferised! I want to reflect my energy, how I am when you meet me, in my music."

Yoko Ono has written an open letter to Elbow thanking the band for mentioning her in a song.
The Japanese artist - the widow of Beatles legend John Lennon - has been name-checked by the group on their latest track 'New York Morning'.
In the lyrics, frontman Guy Garvey sings: "Oh, my giddy aunt, New York can talk, It's the modern Rome and folk are nice to Yoko."
The song is taken from their latest album 'The Take Off And Landing Of Everything' and references the time when Yoko lived with John in New York before he was almost kicked out of the US in 1973 by immigration authorities for his marijuana conviction in Britain in 1968.
John - who was shot dead outside the Dakota Building in NYC by Mark Chapman in 1980 - was given 60 days to leave the country but his order of deportation was later overturned and he received his green card.
Yoko, 81, wrote on her official website: "Dear Guy, Craig, Mark, Pete and Richard, Yes. New York has been kind to me as your song says. Thank you (sic).
"For John, he always wanted to come and live in this city, ever since he saw Bob Dylan on the famous album cover (The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan). And I played the catalyst to make his dream come true.
"But in sleepless nights, I am still living in the memory of my sweet husband, who was virtually kicked out of his own country that he loved so dearly and learned to live in this bleak port city just so his woman and he could live in peace.
"Two sides of the coin. Life is. Have a great time in New York.
We loved it. Love, Yoko."

Adam Lambert will tour with Queen this summer.
The 'American Idol' 2009 winner, who has performed with the band in the past, will join guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor on a 19-date tour, which Brian claims will be the "closest that you'll ever get to see Queen as it was in our golden days."
Adam told Rolling Stone magazine: "I think the thing that's really special is that this is the real deal. This is live.
"In today's music world, you go to a concert and you're getting a lot of playbacks. There's click tracks. It is what it is. I'm not hating on it. But this is the real deal. This is pure."
He added: "We're not playing to a click. We're not playing to tracks. This is all live instruments. I'm singing all the vocals with these guys on vocals. It's purely organic. I think in today's day and age, it's very exciting for an audience to see something that has that much heart."
Brian insists it is "not an imitation" of the days when Freddie, who died in 1991 of bronchopneumonia, a complication of AIDS, was the frontman in the band, but says he wants to give younger fans the opportunity to see Queen live and create a new experience.
The 66-year-old musician said: "We're here live and real and we have a great singer. They'll be a lot of newness about this. I think that's very exciting. It'll be loud and dangerous and all the things that people used to look for in us."
Adam, 32, feels "honoured" to be taking the place of Freddie and admits he's still trying to get his head around the fact he has performed with the 'We Will Rock You' hitmakers.
He added: "It's beautiful. It is surreal. I feel inspired by it. When we did our run overseas in Europe, we had about ten days to rehearse. There were definitely some songs I wasn't familiar with. That pressure and that intensity of the process gives it a lot of power. I like pressure."
Adam and Queen's US tour kicks off June 19 in Chicago, and wraps up July 21 in Washington DC.

Wild Beast's Tom Fleming says bands have to have a "certain amount of arrogance" to be successful.
The band released their first single 'Brave Bulging Buoyant Clairvoyants' in 2006 but became better known after being nominated for a Mercury Prize for their 2009 album 'Two Dancers', and bassist Tom Fleming thinks bands have to be slightly arrogant in order to do well.
He said: "I don't think the world has got to be any fairer or better a place since we've been making music but I think we still feel - as any good band or artist should feel - that it is you against the world.
"You have to have a certain amount of arrogance mixed with absolute terror that it may or may not work. But that's the good part, that's the exciting part."
Tom and his bandmates' - Hayden Thorpe, Ben Little and Chris Talbot - other albums include their 2008 debut 'Limbo Panto', 2011's 'Smother' and 'Present Tense', which was released last month, and he claims they've never been a "yeah, oh baby" kind of band because their lyrics are important to them.
He told XFM Radio: "I think a lot of our favourite songwriters are lyricists as well. I think lyrics are an instrument. They are supposed to add to a whole - whether those lyrics sound appropriate or inappropriate - lyrics are supposed to have a musical aspect to them too rather than just being words that mean something."

Charlotte Church performed a sci-fi themed concert in London on Wednesday night (05.03.14) to launch her new release 'FOUR'.
The special concert at London's Riverside Studios saw Charlotte don UV face paint and wear a gown with tentacles made of LED lights as she played with her band, who also wore florescent make-up.
The 28-year-old Welsh singer performed tracks from her EP - which is released on March 10 - as well as a haunting Elliott Smith cover and songs from the previous three EPs of her ambitious, five-part series.
For the second half of the concert Charlotte was joined by the London Contemporary Voices choir, and during the finale of the show - which was named 'Entanglement' after the lead track from 'FOUR' - giant tentacles of flashing lights came out from the 28-year-old singer's dress and wrapped around the entire audience.
Fans and guests were painted with UV make-up and were given glowing accessories as they entered the event to create a "cartoon" atmosphere.
Speaking about the gig, Charlotte - who signed copies of 'FOUR' for fans afterwards - said: "It's like a cartoon, big and bright and colourful, but it's also a product of us pushing what we can do and pushing the boundaries when we're performing live."