Music News

Music News

Why Zayn Malik Canceled His Very First Solo Television Appearance. Zayn Malik was set to make an important visit to The Graham Norton Show this week, which would mark his first-ever solo appearance on television without his One Direction bandmates. However, E! News can confirm the pop star has canceled the visit. A statement from Malik's rep explained, "Due to unforeseen scheduling conflicts with recording commitments, Zayn's appearance on Graham Norton has been postponed. Zayn has confirmed that he would love to appear on the show at a later date." The show also released a statement to us about Malik's withdrawal: "We've received confirmation from The Graham Norton Show that Zayn Malik will no longer be a guest on the episode airing Monday, February 1 on BBC AMERICA." The updated guest list for the show now includes: "Will Smith, discussing his movie Concussion, Ryan Reynolds, discussing his superhero role in the new X-Men movie Deadpool, and Catherine Zeta-Jones and Toby Jones, co-stars of the upcoming movie Dad's Army. British soul singer-songwriter Laura Mvula is the musical guest." The cancellation comes as a surprise as the appearance was set to mark the first major step in his career moving forward without 1D. It also coincided with the release of his very first solo single, "Pillow Talk," which comes out Friday. Speaking of the new single, Malik -- who is currently dating Gigi Hadid -- released the sexy (AF) artwork earlier this week to give us a little sneak peek at what to expect. He also chatted with the British Sunday Times to discuss the upcoming track, which he declares is "so pure, so dirty and raw." "I think I'm pretty black and white what it's about," he said. "Everybody has sex, and it's something people wanna hear about. It's part of everybody's life, a very BIG part of life! And you don't wanna sweep it under the carpet. It has to be talked about." Well, we surely can't wait to hear more! (Eonline)

Carrie Underwood to Perform at 2016 Grammys, Joins List of Artists Set to Sing Duets. Carrie Underwood is going to perform at the Grammys again! And she won't be alone; The country star, who last performed at the annual ceremony in 2013, will sing a duet with singer Sam Hunt. The two are among several artists recently announced as duet partners for the 2016 event. "So excited to be heading back to @TheGRAMMYs stage! And with the amazingly talented @SamHuntMusic #GRAMMYs," Underwood tweeted Wednesday. British pop star Ellie Goulding will sing with soul and R&B singer Andra Day, while British singer James Bay will perform with Tori Kelly, a former American Idol season nine contestant. Hunt, Bay and Kelly are all nominated for a Grammy for Best New Artist this year. Bay is also nominated for Best Rock Song for "Hold Back The River" and Best Rock Album for Chaos And The Calm. Day received nods for Best R&B Performance for "Rise Up" and Best R&B Album for Cheers To The Fall. Goulding is up for Best Pop Solo Performance and Best Song Written For Visual Media for "Love Me Like You Do." Underwood, who has won seven Grammys throughout her career, received a nod for Best Country Solo Performance for her track "Little Toy Guns." Other performers set to take the stage at the 2016 Grammys include Justin Bieber, who is nominated for Best Dance Recording, along with Skrillex and Diplo, for their collaboration "Where Are Ɯ Now," Pitbull, who received a nod for Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album for his record Dale, Kendrick Lamar, who received a whopping 11 Grammy nominations, The Weeknd, who is nominated for seven, Little Big Town, who is up for four, and British superstar Adele. The 2016 Grammys will take air on CBS on Feb. 15 at 8 p.m. ET. (Eonline)

Rihanna Releases "Work (feat. Drake)," Her First Single From Her Long-Awaited Album Anti. It's about time. To the delight of fans worldwide, Rihanna debuted "Work (feat. Drake)," the first single from her upcoming album, Anti, on Elvis Duran's Z100 radio show Wednesday. The song was then made available online via Tidal (subscribers can listen here). Earlier this month, they shot the video at L.A.-area mall Eagle Rock Plaza. The two previously collaborated in 2010 on "What's My Name?" and in 2011 on "Take Care." "Baby, don't you leave / Don't leave me stuck here in the streets / If I get another chance to / I will never, no never, neglect you / I mean, who am I to hold your past against you? / I just hope that it gets to you / I hope that you see this through / I hope that you see this true / What can I say? Please recognize I'm trying, baby..." Rihanna sings in one verse. Rihanna first announced via Twitter in October 2014 that she was recording songs for her eighth album. Anti's release date was pushed back multiple times, with rumored release dates set for September 2015, November 2015 and December 2015. She seemingly got off to a few false starts by releasing three singles before the album was ready: "FourFiveSeconds (feat. Paul McCartney and Kanye West)" on Jan. 24, 2015, "Bitch Better Have My Money" on March 26, 2015 and "American Oxygen" on Apr. 14, 2015. The eight-time Grammy Award winner was under a time crunch last year, as she landed a $25 million deal with Samsung to sponsor her album rollout and Anti World Tour, which kicks off Feb. 26 in San Diego, Calif. and wraps Aug. 12 in Zurich, Switzerland. Shortly after Rihanna's Samsung sponsorship was announced in November 2015, Rihanna canceled her performance at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show to finish her album. Anti's release will end the longest break between any two Rihanna albums, as Unapologetic was released in 2012. That album debuted at No. 1 and spawns hits like "Diamonds," "Stay," "Pour It Up," "Right Now," "What Now" and "Jump," among others. Rihanna was still finalizing the trackless for Anti in December. "The other night she came over and listened to half of 25 songs I played her because she's still looking for songs for her new album," Sia told BBC Radio 2's Jo Whiley. "She was there to listen to songs and see if there was anything that she was into. It was a business meeting for sure. She took four but I don't know if they'll end up [on the album]." That same month, Sia released "Cheap Thrills," a song she had originally written for Rihanna. "Her manager said, 'We want 'Diamonds.' We need soul. We want some music that has feeling.' I went to [producer and songwriter] Greg [Kurstin], and that's what we came up with," Sia told Rolling Stone. "I realized just as soon as I was cutting it that it sounded a little bit too Brit-pop for her. It's more Icona Pop. We did actually send it to her, but they passed on it, and then I just couldn't stop listening to it in the car." "For some reason, I really liked listening to it, which makes me feel masturbatory, but I wouldn't normally be just jamming out to my own tunes," she said. "There's something really uplifting about it that put me in a good mood, and I would just pretend it wasn't me singing. It felt very summer and fun, and I was like, 'I'll put that on there.'" (Eonline)

Making his mind up! Kanye West knows it's all in the name, and when it comes to titling his new album, he just can't be too careful. The rapper, who revealed his latest album's track list on Sunday, January 24, announced that the album (once supposedly titled So Help Me God) was now called Swish. But late on Tuesday, January 26, as he continued toiling in the studio, the Yeezus creator had changed his mind yet again. Typically modest, West, 38, declared his new work was pretty good. "This is not album of the year," he wrote via Twitter. "This is album of the life." "New album title, WAVES," he added, also posting a picture of a piece of paper, showing his original scribblings as he sorted out his track list. The dad of two had shared a photo of the same piece of paper (which included a bright red "Kylie Was Here" scrawl) when announcing his track list on Sunday. But this time, the paper had received a few extra annotations from fans and collaborators, most notably his wife. "Kim Never Left," the new message read! "Waves the album formally known as Swish," West reiterated, later in the evening, just to make sure his point was clear, adding three crying-face emojis to his message. His final post of the evening (well, strictly in the early hours of Wednesday, January 27) was a picture of his wife sitting on a leather couch, looking like the evening's music-making might have tired her out. (US Weekly)

This news might just make your day... All Saints are making a comeback. Yes, again. Nineteen years after their first album, Shaznay Lewis, Melanie Blatt, sisters Natalie and Nicole Appleton are hoping for another stab at chart success. The girls were HUGE back in the day - with 12million record sales, five number one singles, two multi-platinum albums and two BRITs, the numbers really do say it all. So when can we expect the new music? Very soon - their first single is released 26 February and it's called One Strike. Will it be the song we all sing at karaoke in 19 years' time? Only time will tell. FYI, Never Ever is a tricky song to master - who'd have thought it!? Talking about the new track, Shaznay explains: "When I write, I just think about what's on my mind. The lyrics came from somewhere very real. Nic was going through a lot of things at that time. That was at the forefront of my mind because it was the heaviest thing going on." Interestingly, the song was written as a direct response to Natalie Appleton's marriage to Liam Howlett ending. "The first few times I heard it in my car," says Nat, "I couldn't stop crying because I could hear so clearly what it was about." You'll have to wait until 8 April 2016 for the album, Red Flag, and if that goes well, they might even do ANOTHER. "Seriously," says Shaznay, "I got on such a roll writing and recording with the girls again, we've started getting material for the next album together already. This couldn't feel any more right." (British Glamour)

AC/DC is about to hit the road, and they've got one thing on their minds -- bootleggers making bank off their legendary name ... so, they've fired a preemptive strike against them. AC/DC -- biggest touring rock band in 2015 -- is moving to block all non-authorized sale of its merchandise during the upcoming tour. Y'know, most of the those guys you see hawking t-shirts and hats outside the arena -- the band's filed a federal lawsuit to get cops to shut them down. The tour starts February 2 in Tacoma, and they're asking the court to launch a full scale attack -- sending U.S. Marshals and cops to the Tacoma Dome to arrest all offenders and seize all bogus goods. They're asking for the same show of force in other cities too. By the way, AC/DC earned $180 million on the road last year ... topped by only Taylor Swift. In the words of Brian Johnson, "Moneytalks, B.S. walks" -- and bootleggers are now on notice. (TMZ)

There's video of the moment Def Leppard had to think their cruise was cursed -- when the host broke the news one of the rockers on board had died. The deceased was Jimmy Bain, the famed bassist for classic metal groups Dio and Rainbow. He was on the cruise to perform with his new group, Last in Line ... but they never took the stage. Bain's rumored to have died from pneumonia, but his official cause of death has not been determined. The whole cruise was filled with mishaps -- including Def Leppard singer Joe Elliott losing his voice! We got Brian Forsythe from the band Kix, also on the cruise, and he explained how the rock show turned into a memorial at sea. (TMZ)

Carly Rae Jepsen Makes Another Case For Being Highly Underrated on 'Seth Meyers'. In case you missed it, Jepsen performed two songs off her Emotion album on Late Night With Seth Meyers Monday night, which only served to remind everyone just how solid a pop album that was, despite being largely eclipsed by Taylor Swift's 1989. Singing "Run Away With Me" and "Your Type," Jepsen delivered just the kind of unshowy but melodically infectious performance that fans can point to when making the case that Swift's claim to current pop queendom isn't totally irrefutable. Jepsen's Late Night appearance also comes as part of her publicity buildup to her role as Frenchy in Grease: Live! which airs Sunday, Jan. 31 on Fox. (Billboard)

Super Bowl Sneak Peek Exclusive: What Are Lil Wayne & George Washington Doing Together? Update: The first teaser for Lil Wayne's Apartments.com Super Bowl ad is here. Lil Wayne is undoubtedly one of the greatest rappers of all time, but you still gotta wonder -- how did he manage to get President George Washington into his inner circle? Within the hour, the first teaser clip from Weezy's upcoming Super Bowl ad for Apartments.com will hit the 'net. In the meantime, marvel at this incredible photo of the Founding Father and Lil Wayne posing with the pigskin ahead of Super Bowl 50, exclusively on Billboard. (Billboard)

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Announces Rescheduled Madison Square Garden Date. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band have rescheduled their postponed Madison Square Garden concert to March 28, according to a press release. The band's Sunday (Jan, 24) show was postponed. Tickets to the original show will be honored on the new night. Additionally, The River Tour is extending its U.S. run with 14 new shows, and the band will play May 19 in Portugal as the headlining act on the first night of Rock in Rio Lisboa. The new dates will begin with a third and final show at Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena March 19, and will extend through Denver, Dallas, and Detroit with two final shows at Brooklyn's Barclays Center on April 23 and 25. The tour -- Springsteen's first in two years -- follows the release of The Ties That Bind: The River Collection. The band is performing the entire River record in sequence on every date of the door, with an additional set of songs stretching out the show to over three hours. (Billboard)

A decade later -- and she's still Fergalicious! It's been almost ten long years since Fergie released her hit album The Dutchess! In the meantime, The Black Eyed Peas frontwoman has been performing two worldwide tours with her hip-hop group -- but now, she's getting ready to unveil her next solo album in March! According to WWD, the London Bridge singer was in Paris over the weekend to shoot the cover and package for her comeback album! The 40-year-old was also reportedly filming a music video in Paris on Tuesday, and is set to film again in London later this week! For her upcoming album, which she considers a "modern version" of her 2006 debut record, Fergie-Ferg collaborated with big names like will.i.am, Charlie Puth, and Nicki Minaj! The Dutchess was one of the most popular albums of the early 00's -- and with those talented artists attached to the project, we can't WAIT for her comeback! (Perez Hilton)

Brantley Gilbert Not Rushing 'Just As I Am' Follow-Up Album: 'When I Know I've Got It, It'll Come Out'. As he heads out on the road for his headlining Blackout Tour on Jan. 28,Brantley Gilbert is more than three dozen songs into his next album, the follow-up to 2014's Just As I Am. But even though the country star's fans want it yesterday, Gilbert himself is in no rush. "I've got to go with a gut feeling, and I don't have it yet," Gilbert tells Billboard. "There's still a couple gaps we need to fill. I think we've got a record with the songs we have, but I want an album. I don't want to release a CD; I want to release the real deal, so we're just gonna take our time. I've learned from past experience that any time I've tried to put a time stamp on it I end up shooting myself in the foot and I wind up writing three songs the day before it's supposed to come out. So we end up releasing a gold edition and then a platinum edition and you end up with a record that has almost 20 songs on it. We're just being patient right now and diligent at the same time, writing every chance I get and writing with a purpose, and when I know I've got it, it'll come out. Gilbert has been writing songs with regular cohorts such as Brian Davis, Ben Hayslip and Rhett Akins, and he's adding Casey Beathard, Justin Weaver, Ashley Gorley and others into the mix. "It's been a really, really, really cool year -- a lot of different songs, ideas, a lot of different melodies, and I kinda throw my thing on top of 'em and see what it comes out sounding like," Gilbert says. "It's been a lot of fun. And we're going to keep going and branch out more and see if I can trump what I already have." Fans can also expect more songs inspired by his wife Amber, who Gilbert married last summer. "Looking back, if not every love song I've ever written then almost all of them, she's the girl I've identified that feeling with, and I don't think much'll change on that end," he says. "The awesome part about my wife is I've written love songs about her, I've written break-up songs about her, I've written mean songs to her that are on the soon-to-never-be-released album. She's really cool with it. When I write something, she's my first critic. She give me a pretty unfiltered, honest opinion, which is great, too." While the album is under construction, there's still life left in Just As I Am, which debuted at No. 1 on the Top Country Albums chart and No. 2 on the Billboard 200 during May of 2014. Gilbert and Valory are considering a fifth single to follow "Bottoms Up," "Small Town Throwdown," "One Hell of an Amen" and "Stone Cold Sober," and he promises that "If we do it won't be something just to fill the time 'til the next (album). I really think there's a lot of good songs on this record that would make good singles." Gilbert is also gearing up for the Jan. 28 start of his headlining Blackout Tour, which will stretch into the summer with a package he hopes to announce soon. Gilbert's other big coup of late: teaming with Brad Paisley and Justin Moore as guests on "Born To Boogie," the closing track on the new Hank Williams Jr. album It's About Time. "It was really cool," Gilbert gushes. "When people have asked me in the past, 'Is there anybody you want to do a song with?' it's always been him. I've told everybody I'd love to do a song with him, and he reached out and we went in and did it. I gotta tell ya, I was pretty stoked." (Billboard)

Justin Bieber Back Atop Billboard Artist 100, Eagles Debut at No. 10. Bieber reigns again, while the Eagles vault following the passing of co-founder Glenn Frey. Justin Bieber is again top musical act in the U.S., as he returns to No. 1 on the Billboard chart (dated Feb. 6). Meanwhile, the Eagles debut at No. 10 and co-founder Glenn Frey enters at No. 64 following his death Jan. 18 at age 67. The Artist 100 measures artist activity across Billboard's most influential charts, including the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, Top Album Sales and the Social 50. The Artist 100 blends data measuring album and track sales, radio airplay, streaming and social media fan interaction to provide a weekly multi-dimensional ranking of artist popularity. Bieber returns to the Artist 100 summit (2-1) for a fourth total week on top; he's logged all his weeks at No. 1, and remained in the top two, since Nov. 28, when he first reached the pinnacle. His album Purpose arrived atop the Billboard 200 and Top Album Sales the following week. Despite an 8 percent drop in overall activity, he gains by 2 percent in radio airplay. As previously reported, Bieber joins elite company historically on the Hot 100. With "Sorry" and "Love Yourself" at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, he's just the 11th act in the chart's 57-year archives to claim the top two spots simultaneously. And, with "What Do You Mean?" in the top 10 (at No. 10) for a 21st week, encompassing its entire chart run (starting with its No. 1 bow Sept. 19, 2015), the song ties the record for the most weeks spent in the upper region from its debut. Below Bieber on the Artist 100, Adele rebounds 3-2 and Panic! at the Disco rockets 50-3 as its album Death of a Bachelor becomes its first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and Top Album Sales (169,000 in pure album sales in the week ending Jan. 21, according to Nielsen Music). The Brendon Urie-fronted act roars by 900 percent in overall activity, with album sales accounting for 83 percent of its Artist 100 chart points. David Bowie drops 1-4 (down 57 percent) on the Artist 100 after debuting last week at the apex following his death Jan. 10. Like last week, album sales easily mark his greatest points contributor (77 percent). The Weeknd (4-5) rounds out the Artist 100's top five. Meanwhile, the Eagles debut at No. 10 on the Artist 100 and Frey bows at No. 64 following his passing. The band surges by 745 percent in activity, with album sales marking its greatest contributor of chart points (63 percent), followed by digital song sales (29 percent). The Eagles' catalog of albums sports a 501 percent sales gain in the tracking week, led by Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975 (21,000; up 479 percent), which soars 73-11 on Top Album Sales. (Hollywood Reporter)


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