Music News

George Michael feels blessed to have had such a successful career and claims he is "the luckiest man on earth."
The 50-year-old singer, who has released his first album in ten years 'Symphonica', had an emotional moment sat watching live footage of his recent tour with his family.
He took to Twitter this morning (10.04.14) and thanked fans for their support by writing: "There are no words that can describe how much I owe each and every one of you, so I shall not try.
"I sat in my sisters house yesterday and watched "Symphonica" for the only the second time. I tried to see and hear it as others do.And I saw the luckiest man on earth.
"So much love given to one man.So many beautiful moments with family,friends,and all of you. I felt breathless for a moment.
"And as the words and music faded one thought played over and over again in my head.If only I had known,way back then,i'd have been one seriously happy kid. I love you. All of you...George Michael x (sic)"
George is back to his best after suffering injuries in a near fatal car crash in May last year when he fell out the passenger seat of a Range Rover on a busy M1 motorway near St Albans, close to London.
The star, who has also previously battled pneumonia, was airlifted to hospital - where he remained for two weeks - after suffering head injuries, cuts and bruises.
Despite his health problems, the singer signed a huge record deal with Universal Music last year and followed-up his 2004 record 'Patience' with his new album, released last month, which hit the top spot in the UK Album Chart.

Robbie Williams' forthcoming tour is inspired by "classic old musicals".
The 'Candy' hitmaker's 'Swing Both Ways Live' shows kick off in Budapest in two weeks time, and he has promised something "very special" for the 46 European shows.
He said: "This 'Swings Both Ways' tour is very different from any previous Robbie Williams tour, and I think it's going to be very special.
"When I was young the television companies in the UK saw fit to broadcast replay after replay after replay of all the classic old musicals. I think most kids my age were bored and turned off by things like that, but I wasn't. I was engrossed in it all, lost in the magic of the glamour, and entranced by the craftsmanship of those times."
And the 40-year-old singer went on to suggest the shows will have a "variety" feel to them.
He added: "I want this to be a show that gives you the same feeling that I used to have at my grandma's on a Saturday night, watching the 'Morecambe & Wise Show' on TV: a show with variety and lots of showbusiness moments. I know my jazz hands are going to be so tired after this tour. I intend to do my very best to ensure that every one of you is heavily entertained."
The shows will see Robbie perform tracks from last year's 'Swing Both Ways' album and 2001's 'Swing When You're Winning' backed by a classic big band and eight dancers, and joined by a number of special guests, including his father Pete Conway.
The 'Let Me Entertain You' hitmaker has also enlisted West End choreographer Alistair David to work alongside his longtime show producer Lee Lodge to help put the gigs together.

Courtney Love claims her 2004 debut solo album 'American Sweetheart' was her "one really bad black mark" in her career.
The Hole singer, who will soon be back with new music and is planning to tour the UK next month as a solo artist, doesn't have many regrets when it comes to her previous records.
She told NME magazine: "I love 'Nobody's Daughter' [Hole's fourth album in 2010]. It might have only sold two copies but I don't give a sh*t, it's just a great, great record."
The 49-year-old singer claims her new material is for the "indie charts" and first track 'Wedding Day' is "like an old-school '90s alternative single."
She explained: "There aren't a lot of indie charts - there's 52 alternative stations left in the United States, I think - but it's not gonna cross over, because it's got too many 'f**ks and 'sh*ts' in it.
"At least I don't use the word wh**e, because I think I've used that word more in my oeuvre than anybody else, ever."
She added that she plans to record some more "pretty songs" to add to the new material, including a track written by Linda Perry called 'And We Drown'.
Courtney added: "She might give me it, she might not - this tune called 'Diamonds And Rolling Stones'. It's really good, so I'm gonna see if she'll let me use that."

Simon Cowell is set to hold crisis talks with James Arthur.
The 54-year-old music mogul has denied dropping the controversial 'X Factor' winner from his record label, but admits the troublesome star - who was reportedly fired for rapping about a terrorist attack on his upcoming mixtape - needs to "calm down", and he is planning to hold a meeting with the 'Get Down' crooner soon.
Speaking at the launch of the new series of 'Britain's Got Talent' in London today (09.04.14), Simon told BANG Showbiz: "I think him and I need to sit down and have a conversation, to be honest.
"I haven't phoned him but I'm going to have to sit down with him. Apart from anything else, this silly 'You said this, I said this...', it's all nonsense. He's just got to calm down a bit."
Simon also addressed the 26-year-old singer's jibes on Twitter towards his management and publicity teams, insisting James is entitled to his opinion but ought to "relax".
He reasoned: "On one side it's annoying [as a label executive], on the other side it's like, you know what, he's entitled to say whatever he wants to say.
"What I would say to him is to put things into perspective: you won a show, you wouldn't have got a record deal - probably - without the show, you've sold a ton of records, you're famous. Just go in the studio and make a great record. Relax."

Lorde and Imagine Dragons lead the way with the most nominations for the 2014 Billboard Music Awards.
The 17-year-old singer-songwriter and rock band each have 12 nominations each, while Justin Timberlake has 11, Katy Perry has 10 and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis have eight.
According to Billboard, the list is based on annual "key fan interactions with music, including album and digital singles sales, radio airplay, touring, streaming and social interactions on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, VEVO, Spotify and other popular online destinations for music."
Miley Cyrus, Luke Bryan and Bruno Mars are among the other nominated artists, as well as Beyonce, Eminem and One Direction.
The awards will air live on ABC from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on May 18.
All of the nominated acts released new material between March last year and March 2014.

List of main nominees for the 2014 Billboard Music Awards..

Top Artist
Miley Cyrus
Imagine Dragons
Bruno Mars
Katy Perry
Justin Timberlake

Top New Artist
Bastille
Capital Cities
Ariana Grande
Lorde
Passenger

Top Male Artist
Luke Bryan
Drake
Eminem
Bruno Mars
Justin Timberlake

Top Female Artist
Beyonce
Miley Cyrus
Lorde
Katy Perry
Rihanna

Top Duo/Group
Florida Georgia Line
Imagine Dragons
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
One Direction
OneRepublic

Top Billboard 200 Artist
Beyonce
Luke Bryan
Eminem
One Direction
Justin Timberlake

Damon Albarn is "sure" Blur will play live again.
The frontman releases his debut solo album 'Everyday Robots' this month but is still close to his band mates Graham Coxon, Alex James and Dave Rowntree, who helped him celebrate his 46th birthday on March 23, and he claims they will take to the stage again.
He said: "Graham was at my surprise party on Friday, along with Dave and Alex.
"Everything is good between us all. When you get to our age, you accept people for who they are, you know."
Damon insists it's "b****cks" that their planned appearance at Australia's Big Day Out festival later this year, which they pulled out of, was set to be their last gig.
He explained: "I said it's the last gig of a brilliant period we spent doing these gigs and we didn't want to sully it by going to something that was badly organised and where things weren't as they should have been.
"I'm sure we'll play again at some point. It'd be mad to go for the rest of our life and never play any of those songs again."
The singer also revealed he could record another Gorrliaz album with his music partner Jamie Hewlett as soon as "next week".
He said: "I can definitely see another Gorrilaz-esque record at some point, yeah. That will almost definitely happen. I could put a Gorrilaz album out next week, I've got enough stuff that I haven't finished. The only thing really that defines a Gorrilaz record in my head is when I just play most of it on keyboards.
"I've just been in Paris with Jamie Hewlett. There are points in everyone's relationship where they fall out with people that they're close to and then they reconcile, hopefully, and actually, you know, the relationship's probably in a healthier place as a result of that."

Jessie J wasn't embarrassed about singing about her belief in God on her track 'Thunder'.
The 26-year-old singer, who spoke about her religious beliefs in the 2013 song, claims it felt normal to sing about God then and although she doesn't feel the same way now, she doesn't regret the song.
Jessie said: "Selfishly, you never think about how other people are going to take what you're saying. From day one, I've only ever sung about what's in my heart or what's in my head and those things change.
"You don't even realise until you come away from it and look back at it and go, 'Wow, that time when I did that and sang about that, that felt normal.' And now it doesn't. You're constantly changing."
She said she felt like it was the "right time" to sing about believing in God but she didn't want to be too specific so everybody could relate to the song.
She continued: "Not everybody believes in God, so everybody can listen to that song and take from it what they want, but I knew what it meant to me."
Jessie thinks it's important for artists to be themselves and sing about what they want to.
She added: "You only get one chance ... especially as an artist, I think it's so important what your life is made of."
Jessie J headlines UK Live festival on June 22, 28 and 29 in Sunderland, Ipswich and Weston-super-Mare. For tickets visit www.uklive.co.uk.

Ed Sheeran has released the track listing for his new album.
The 23-year-old singer, who will release 'x' on June 23, the follow-up to his debut '+' in 2011, has posted the list of 12 songs on his new record in a photograph on Instagram today (09.04.14).
He captioned the image: "Album track listing. Pre-order goes up on Friday. (sic)"
The image has already had more than 100,000 'likes' from fans on the social media site.
He also posted on Twitter: "There is also a deluxe album with 4 extra tracks. Those are - Take it back, Even my dad does sometimes, Shirtsleeves and I see fire x (sic)"
Ed, whose new track 'Sing' from the album was played for the first time this week, had already revealed he's written a song called 'Don't' about an ex-lover, rumoured to be singer Ellie Goulding, who cheated on him in a hotel with his friend.
The lyrics include: "I never saw him as a threat, 'til you disappeared with him to have sex, and I'm downstairs at my party and you're upstairs doing that, that's disrespectful."
He adds: "We make money the same way ... you were looking for a lover to BURN."

Carl Barat has announced his first gig with his band The Jackals.
The former Libertines man recruited the group via Facebook, after posting an advert for a drummer, bass player and rhythm guitarist, and receiving more than 100 applications.
Carl wrote on the site yesterday (08.04.14): "Dearest friends, I wanted to thank those of you for your support through the process of me finding a new band using social media and even bigger thanks to those of you who auditioned.
"I've thoroughly enjoyed the entire process was overwhelmed by the calibre of musicians who applied; I really couldn't have asked for more."
The new line-up features frontman Carl, guitarist Billy Tessio, bassist Adam Claxton and drummer Jay Bone, who will play their debut show at London's XOYO on May 15.
Earlier this year, the former Dirty Pretty Things star revealed that he has recorded demos for the follow-up to his 2010 self-titled debut solo album with Johnny Marr, Andy Burrows and The Bronx's Joby Ford.
However, he insisted he wouldn't release any of the new material until he had formed a new band and played some live gigs.
Meanwhile, for the next few months Carl will be away filming his leading role in French movie 'For This Is My Body'.
His Jackals band mates will put the finishing touches to the album while he is away and the record will be released in September.