Music News

Tinie Tempah always sips on mint tea backstage before his concerts.
The 'Pass Out' rapper admits his tour rider isn't very rock 'n' roll and although he has a small amount of alcohol in his dressing room, his favourite thing to indulge in before a gig is home-brewed, fresh mint tea.
Quizzed about his concert must-haves, he said: "When I first started out, it was an abundance of sweets, but now it's very practical things. I like a good mint so, I've got fresh mint leaves to make my own tea, which is cool I have popcorn, I love sweet and salted.
"I have scented candles because it gets a bit sweaty in there with all the lads coming off the stage. A nice bottle of champagne to pop if the show goes great, too, and we have a shot of Jack Daniel's or some vodka before the show."
The stylish star was recently spotted with One Direction singer Harry Styles at London Fashion Week and says he always has time to catch up with the group.
Tinie told heat magazine: "It's always good to see Harry. From 'The X Factor' to where 1D have come now, it's a blessing. I'm always very happy for them. I brought them out on my show once and I have a lot of time for Harry and vice versa. We were just ogling models, as you would."

John Legend was given career advice by Prince and Michael Jackson.
The 'All Of Me' hitmaker met the music legends separately but revealed both stars gave him the same advice about taking control of his career.
John exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "[Prince] is a genius. I've met him a few times. We know a lot of the same people in the business and he was signed to Columbia for a time.
"I met him at some of his gigs earlier on in my career, in 2004 or 2005, and I've been to a few of his famous after-parties, after The Grammys.
"He's one of the best performers in the world. I'm star-struck when I talk to him. I just try not to act too nervous around him."
The 35-year-old singer had dinner with late 'Bad' hitmaker Michael at a Formula One event in Bahrain in 2006 and talking about "music and travelling."
John said: "Both he and Prince have had their issues with record labels and they gave me advice about publishing rights and how much to give up.
"It's hard to make those changes when you're in the midst of a contract. As you renegotiate you have to renegotiate based on any power you think you have. It's about who has leverage and taking as much control as you feel you can, while also getting as much cash as you think you should get."

Neneh Cherry quit music because she lost her "balls".
The 'Man Child' hitmaker is releasing a new album, 'Blank Project', following an 18 year hiatus and says she stepped out of the spotlight because she didn't want to become a music industry "puppet".
She said: "I got to a place where I was thinking about things before I did them and questioning how they should be.
"It got bad. I lost my balls and my fun for a minute.
"I thought I either become a puppet or I leave."
Neneh, 50, says it took a family tragedy to bring her back to music.
She explained: "I lost my mother four years ago and I went numb. The only way out for me was through writing. Stuff was happening to me that I couldn't explain in words and music has it's own language."
And the singer is delighted with the resulting album.
She told Britain's Grazia magazine: "We recorded all the tracks live. I feel like I've found something I needed to find again."

Guy Garvey has to use a teleprompter at Elbow's concerts.
The 'Dead in the Boot' singer struggles to recall all the words to the group's extensive back catalogue of tracks and has had to start using an autocue on stage which displays the lyrics.
Guy is finding it particularly tough to memorise the songs on the band's new album 'The Take Off and Landing of Everything'.
In an interview on the Geoff Lloyd Hometime Show on Absolute Radio, he said: "There are still plenty of mistakes. I've still not learnt all my lyrics yet, I've got a teleprompt. It has become a little bit of a habit; I used to mock older front men for having them. But now if I haven't got the teleprompter, I start panicking and I forget my words. Two and a half thousand words the last album was."
It seems Guy, 40, might have a bad memory in general as he has admitted he struggled to recognise Beyoncé and her husband Jay Z when he met her at the Glastonbury Festival in 2011 after her headline performance, despite her being one of the most famous women in the world.
The musician told ShortList magazine: "There are gaping holes in my pop culture knowledge it's ridiculous. I was talking to Jay Z and Beyoncé for half an hour before I knew who they were. Everyone knows what Beyoncé looks like, but I thought [in real life] she'd be 7ft tall, statuesque like Tina Turner. Now I'm even doubting that Tina's 7ft tall. I just remember thinking, 'God, these two are good looking.' "

Madonna says her recording sessions with Avicii have produced "so many great songs".
The pop superstar has been busy in the studio with the Swedish DJ-and-producer and so far she is very happy with the results of their collaboration
In a post on her Twitter account - accompanied by an Instagram photo of her and Avicii - Madonna revealed: "The End of a long week with Viking Leader AKA DJ Virgo AKA Avicii! So many great songs! #icantwait #revolution (sic)"
She made another post on Twitter and Instagram - which showed her playing the guitar with Avicii and a group of people - which read: "My Viking Harem! Great Music Great Vibes! We were grinding on that. Wood! #rebelheart (sic)"
Madonna revealed she has started work on a new studio LP - her first since 2012's 'MDNA' - in February, but at the time she refused to reveal she was working with Avicii on the project.
When asked if she was making a new record, the 55-year-old singer said: "Yes, plans are in the works already. Don't ask me with who - it's a secret. Top secret."
Avicii - real name Tim Bergling - has worked with many artists for their releases and his own album 'True', with previous collaborators including Leona Lewis, David Guetta, Aloe Blacc, Adam Lambert and Nile Rodgers.

Led Zeppelin are set to release new material.
The band have scoured their archives for dozens of previously unheard studio and live recordings, which have been compiled and released as separate companion discs to accompany each of their re-mastered albums 'Led Zeppelin', 'Led Zeppelin II', and 'Led Zeppelin III', when they're released on June 3.
Guitarist Jimmy Page said: "The material on the companion discs presents a portal to the time of the recording of Led Zeppelin. It is a selection of work in progress with rough mixes, backing tracks, alternate versions, and new material recorded at the time."
The band - 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.
Highlights will include previously unknown track 'La La', which was recorded during the sessions for 'Led Zeppelin II', the band's iconic 1969 album.
The group, who have sold 300 million albums, have also recently agreed to add their music to the Spotify streaming service.
The news has sparked hope that the 'Whole Lotta Love' hitmakers might hit the road again for the first time since their 2007 reunion gig at The O2 arena - which saw Jason Bonham replace his late father John Bonham on drums.

Lady Gaga was vomited on during her performance at the South by Southwest festival.
The 27-year-old pop superstar took to the Doritos #BoldStage at SXSW in Austin, Texas, on Thursday night (14.03.14) and during her rendition of 'Swine' Gaga invited 'vomit painter' Millie Brown on stage.
Brown drank a bottle of green liquid and then pushed her fingers down her throat so she could puke the substance onto the singer as she played drums.
Gaga opened the show by roasting herself like a pig on a spit as her backing dancers stroked her with barbecue brushes.
The musician and another woman then straddled a mechanical pig which had a keyboard for Gaga to play, and after she finished performing on the pig performance artist Brown then began painting Gaga with black liquid.
The concert was held to celebrate her Born This Way Foundation with fans only earning entry by completing a Doritos Bold Mission.
Gaga took time out from her eccentric and extravagant performance to address her fans with some words of inspiration.
Before playing 'Dope', she said: "It's so much easier to be yourself than it is to be somebody else. Because then you have to pretend to be someone else and like things that you don't like and do stuff that you don't want to do."
Gaga is set to give the SXSW festival and conference's keynote speech this morning (14.03.14).
The year's event has been marred by tragedy after a car was driven into a group of revellers at approximately 12:30am on Thursday morning near the Mohawk club on Austin's Red River Street leaving two dead and 23 injured.
A spokeswoman for the Austin Police Department has revealed
Rashad Charjuan Owens - a 21-year-old man from Killeen, Texas - was being held in connection with the incident and is set to face two counts of capital murder and 23 counts of aggravated assault.

John Legend worries that people think all of his lyrics relate to his personal life.
The 'All of Me' singer - who is married to Sports Illustrated model Chrissy Teigen - has admitted that because the majority of his songs are about love and relationships, people presume that they are all based on his own personal experiences.
He said: "If I write about relationships gone bad in the future, I worry that people will think my marriage has gone bad.
"Everyone is so focused on my relationship with my wife after writing a really romantic album, and it's interesting to see if people will read things into everything I write."
The 35-year-old star married the brunette beauty last year and claims that although some of his music is influenced by his personal life, it can't all be because he thinks his fans would find it boring.
He told the Daily Star newspaper: "I got known for writing about men who cheat on my first album Get Lifted in 2004 - and my fans won't always want me to be so lovey-dovey in every song."
Meanwhile, John is working on securing some big names for future collaborations and has his eye on 'Someone Like You' hitmaker, Adele.
He added: "I've put the message out to Adele that I think she'd be great to work with.
"I think that'll happen - it's just a matter of time."

Dexters have been getting advice from Liam Gallagher on how to survive in the music business.
The new band - made up of Tom Rowlett, Chris Heggie, Ben Debo and Vincent Dignan - have been given a few tips from the former Oasis frontman as they prepare to release their debut album 'Shimmer Gold' on Monday (17.03.14).
Frontman Tom told BANG Showbiz: "I went to watch Beady Eye play in King's Cross and then got invited back to a hotel across the road. I was sitting at this table with Liam and other cool people, drinking beers, I thought, 'This is life, I could do this all the time'.
"He was giving us advice saying, 'Don't f***ing listen to anyone else, just do what you wanna do'. How you thought he would be ... he was."
Tom, who formed Dexters two years ago, was a big fan of Oasis growing up and was inspired by their music.
He's now written the tracks for his band's debut album and is looking forward to their tour in coming months.
Tom continued: "It's our first album and they say you have your whole life to write it but I doubt there's one song on the album that we were playing in our first year, most of them were written over the past couple of months.
"[The album is] a retrospective of sh*t I've done and things I want to do and I'm really looking forward to the tour, this is going to be a step up, we're doing loads of festivals over the summer and then hitting Germany."
Tom insists Dexters are out to make their own mark in the industry and doesn't like people comparing them to other indie rock acts.
He said: "One time we got compared to Pigeon Detectives and I went 'F**k off, I'm not f***ing having that'. I get it, we're lively on stage, but we don't wear leather jackets and our songs are about something, not just nonsense.
"I was like, 'Listen [to our music], before you start chatting that b***ks."
Dexters have also released their new single 'Recover' from their debut record.