Music News

M.I.A has jokingly asked Madonna for $16 million as the NFL step up their legal action for her middle finger salute during their 2012 Super Bowl performance.
The 38-year-old rapper is reportedly being sued for $15.1m in "restitution" on top of the $1.5m they were demanding for breach of contract, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
She tweeted to Madonna yesterday (17.03.14): "ummm ..... can i borrow 16 million ? (sic)"
The NFL claims that the extra $15m covers "the alleged value of public exposure she received by appearing for an approximately two minute segment during Madonna's performance," adding, "The figure is based on what advertisers would have paid for ads during this time."
M.I.A's spokesperson said the claim, "lacks any basis in law, fact, or logic."
They added that the "continued pursuit of this proceeding is transparently an exercise by the NFL intended solely to bully and make an example of Respondents for daring to challenge NFL. (sic)"
M.I.A previously uploaded a video of herself discussing the incident on the phone to an unnamed person, during which she accused the NFL of a "massive display of corporation d*ck-shaking", adding that there were more offensive images on show during the Super Bowl than her flicking her middle finger.

Kian Egan thinks One Direction could split up because they don't appear to have a close bond anymore.
The former Westlife star thinks the band would be stupid to break up after band member Liam Payne admitted the group hadn't seen each other for three months before the BRIT Awards in February.
Kian told The Sun Newspaper: "One Direction would be fools to throw it away, absolute fools - and I get the feeling they will. I watch them and they don't seem to have this bond as tight as we had in Westlife - especially as they've only been together three or four years."
Westlife - who formed in 1998 - had their fair share of boy band troubles over the years, following the departure of singer Brian McFadden in 2004, and a short hiatus four years later.
Despite their split in 2012, Kian, 33, insists the mutual respect between him and remaining band members - Nicky Byrne, Mark Feehily and Shane Filan - helped them to continue as a four-piece and enjoy their final years together.
He added: "As we always said in Westlife, 'There's not one person in a band that's bigger than the band'.
"Respect each other and understand that it's a unit, it's not a bunch of individuals wanting to do what they want to do."
He said Liam, along with bandmates Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik and Niall Horan, should "try to pull together and look out for each other and protect each other and stand by each other's side."
The 'Midnight Memories' hitmakers went on a break in December but headed to work again this week as they prepare for their 'Where We Are' stadium tour, which will kick off on April 25 in Bogota, Colombia.

Robbie Williams is planning to collaborate with his dad.
The 40-year-old singer, who invited his father Pete Conway to perform with him at London's Palladium in November, is set to work with him again.
According to The Sun newspaper, Pete said: "I loved doing the Palladium with him. It was great. I really enjoyed it. We're going to do something together soon. It will be announced shortly - I just don't know all the details yet."
Stars including Liam Payne from One Direction, singer Adele and comedian Alan Carr watched the pair duet at the show, which also saw the former Take That star perform songs from his album 'Swings Both Ways' and sing with Lily Allen.
Robbie and his dad sung 'Do Nothing Til You Hear It From Me', and Pete hugged his son before he left the stage to rapturous applause.
Meanwhile, Robbie "doesn't want to upset" bandmate Gary Barlow by saying no to a Take That reunion.
The 'Let Me Entertain You' hitmaker has reportedly suggested that they take things slow by working on material together - along with fellow bandmates Mark Owen, Jason Orange and Howard Donald - for now, and then discussing a world tour at a later date.
The source said: "He's suggested recording together, seeing how that goes then embarking on a world tour in 2015."

The Rolling Stones have cancelled their gig in Perth following the death of Sir Mick Jagger's long-term partner L'Wren Scott.
The band have axed the first show of their Australian leg tomorrow night (19.03.14) in order to give the frontman time to grieve after the fashion designer was found dead yesterday (17.03.14).
A statement released by organisers Frontier Touring said the first concert of the '14 On Fire tour' would not be going ahead.
It added: "Please note no further information is available at this time. Ticket holders are asked to hold on to their tickets until a further update is available."
However, it is possible all six planned shows in the country may need to be postponed to allow Sir Mick, 70, to return to New York to be with his family at this tragic time.
A source told The Sun newspaper: "They may have to cancel the whole run in Australia depending on how Mick is."
The group - consisting also of Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood - are set to head to Auckland in New Zealand on April 5, but the future of that show still hangs in the balance.
L'Wren, 47 - who has dated Sir Mick since 2001 - was found hanging from a scarf on a doorknob in her home in Manhattan, New York City yesterday morning, having apparently taken her own life.
However, the Medical Examiner's Office will determine the exact cause of death.

Lily Allen claims there is a man behind every successful woman in the music industry.
The 28-year-old singer - who recently made her pop comeback following a four-year hiatus - insists the women behind popular male artists never get recognised, but those who produced female artists always become known.
British VOGUE editor Alexandra Shulman, who was interviewed by Lily on Radio 2 during her takeover from presenter Dermot O'Leary, told her: "It's interesting that some of the biggest artists, if not most of them, are women."
Lily added: "You'll also notice, of those big, successful, female artists, there's always a man behind the woman-piece. "Whether it 's Beyonce it's Jay Z, if it's Adele it's Paul Hepworth, with me it was Mark Ronson, same with Amy Winehouse. It's sort of like you never get that with men.
"You can't think of the man behind the man because it's never a conversation which is bought up. If you're Ed Sheeran nobody talks about who produced his music."
Although Lily has strong female views, her new album 'Sheezus' is intended as a tribute to Kanye West, and she insists despite being a parody of his record 'Yeezus' it is nothing more than a sign of "respect".

OneRepublic lit up London's Roundhouse as they kicked off their UK tour last night (16.03.14).
Frontman Ryan Tedder started the 90-minute Camden show by singing behind a giant white curtain, before it dropped to the floor and he bounded about the stage singing 'Light It Up' backed up by his band.
Despite admitting he was "fighting a cold", Ryan, who has written hits for everyone from Beyoncé to James Blunt, proved why he's also an in-demand singer and musician, after his band achieved phenomenal success with their hit single 'Counting Stars', which has had more than 211 million hits on YouTube.
They launched into 'Secrets' before shots of Abbey Road flashed up on a huge screen, along with scenes of a masquerade ball from their video for 'All The Right Moves'.
Ryan told the audience: "We've valued the UK quite possibly more than any other place we've toured from day one," which resulted in huge applause and the band were treated to 'What You Wanted' before the musician pulled out an acoustic guitar for 'Stop And Stare'.
'Something I Need' moved the crowd and was one of the highlights of the night before Ryan performed 'Apologize', his hit duet with Timbaland, as his neon piano flashed from red to blue, creating a stunning visual effect.
Ryan laughed and engaged in banter with a fan after they threw a giant pair of underpants onto the stage, which he described as "disgusting", adding, "They're much too big for me to wear."
His energy and soaring vocals were nothing short of surprising for those who hadn't yet witnessed the undercover king of pop live on stage.
Guitarist Zach Filkins's solo session of looped flamenco sounds also stunned fans, while bassist Brent Kutzle showcased his talent on the cello.
OneRepublic closed the show with 'Life In Color' and the anthemic 'If I Lose Myself', as confetti cannons were let off and the band hit giant glowing drums, creating a party atmosphere.
Fans were left wanting more, while those who doubted the band were made to eat their words.

Metallica have debuted a new track which is "representative" of their "creative headspace".
The group performed eight-minute long 'The Lords of Summer' at their show in Bogota, Colombia, last night (16.03.14) and drummer Lars Ulrich promised the track - the first original music since the 2012 EP 'Beyond Magnetic', which was comprised of outtakes from 2008 LP 'Death Magnetic' - is a good taster for fans of what they have coming up.
Speaking before the show, he told Rolling Stone: "We promised our fans we'd play a new song and we've been writing and creating away and we're going to throw something at them on Sunday.
"We have something lined up that is fairly representative of where our creative headspace is at right now. It's one of those things that's like, 'Here, we're writing and we're creating.' "
However, the rocker admitted the track may not survive onto their next album in its current state.
He added: "We did the same thing when we went out and played a bunch of dates in 2006. We were writing and played two different new songs over the course of that summer, and none of them made the record ['Death Magnetic'].
"One was called 'New Song 1' - going out on a creative limb, here - and the other was called 'New Song 2.' That's how deep we went. There was a couple of pieces in 'New Song 1,' some of the middle bit ended up in 'All Nightmare Long,' and the intro bit ended up in 'The End of the Line.' That's how we work; stuff just gets changed around, moved over and this goes over there and the rest of that gets sacked and that ends up in the intro in song five.
"So who knows what's going to happen with this stuff."

Nile Rodgers has teased an unreleased Adam Lambert and Avicii collaboration.
The guitarist took to Twitter to reveal he has been chatting to the singer about the unheard track, after the three musicians teamed up to create 'Lay Me Down' for Swedish DJ Avicii's debut album 'True', which was released last year.
The Chic man wrote: "Just had a great chat with @AdamLambert in Sweden about one of the awesome unreleased songs we wrote w @AVICII - Yeah! (sic)"
Fans were quick to respond, with one follower tweeting: "If it's released, we'll be waiting!", while another joked, "My god, Nile. Do you ever stop working for a moment? (sic)"
Meanwhile, the 61-year-old musician, who has had recent success collaborating with Daft Punk, recently found a collection of lost material that disco group Chic recorded nearly 30 years ago.
He said "I'm doing a new Chic album now. When I was working on my solo album and David Bowie's solo album back in 1883, I was cutting demos with my old band.
"I like to affectionately call it the 'Lost Chic Tapes' because they just disappeared until recently. I've already written hooks to five of the songs. They're so amazing."

Iggy Pop has paid tribute to The Stooges' drummer Scott Asheton, who died on Saturday (15.03.14).
Scott - who retired from the band temporarily in 2011 after a stroke, but returned for their 2013 album 'Ready to Die' - died aged 64 due to an unspecified illness.
Scott formed The Stooges in 1967 with his older brother, guitarist Ron, who passed away in 2009, bassist Dave Alexander and Iggy, real name Jim Osterberg.
In a statement, Iggy said: "Scott was a great artist. I have never heard anyone play the drums with more meaning than Scott Asheton.
"He was like my brother. He and Ron have left a huge legacy to the world. The Ashetons have always been and continue to be a second family to me. My thoughts are with his sister Kathy, his wife Liz and his daughter Leanna, who was the light of his life."
The band's groundbreaking self-titled 1969 debut album was followed by 'Fun House' a year later and 1973's 'Raw Power', before the band split in 1974.
Scott went on to play in Sonic's Rendezvous Band, the Scott Morgan Band and Dark Carnival, before The Stooges reunited in 2003 and the line-up has included a number of contributing musicians over the years.
In 2010, Iggy and the Stooges entered the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame and Scott was present at the induction ceremony.