Summary

  • News updates for 5 July 2016

  • Queen tops all-time best sellers as album chart celebrates 60 years

  • Jennifer Lopez records charity song for Pulse shooting victims

  • Boy George will not return to judge on The Voice

  1. Bye for nowpublished at 15:29 BST 5 July 2016

    That's us done for the day but scroll down for an interview with Drive composer Cliff Martinez, Hozier on his new Tarzan theme plus Olly Murs previews his newest song. 

    And we'll leave you with this - Patrick Stewart performing some ole time Western classics in a spoof infomercial plugging his new albums Patrick Stewart's Cowboy Classic Volumes 1 and 2.

    Its all for charity apparently and will raise money for the International Rescue Committee.

    Enjoy...

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  2. Noel Gallagher interviews new Man City manager about musicpublished at 15:23 BST 5 July 2016

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    Massive Manchester City fan Noel Gallagher has had the chance to interview new manager Pep Guardiola for the club's website.

    The meeting goes swimmingly until Noel asks the Spaniard about his musical tastes.

    "I hear you like Coldplay," asks Noel.

    "And James Blunt," Guardiola replies, "I read an interview that said you didn't like him."

    "It's not that I don't like him el Senor, it's that I hate him."

    Watch from 20 minutes in (or, if you're a football fan, the whole video is entertaining).

  3. Zara Larsson has made a new video for Lush Lifepublished at 15:11 BST 5 July 2016

    Zara LarssonImage source, AP

    In the world of pop, there are rarely second chances... But when your song becomes a huge smash in Europe, record companies will sometimes throw a huge amount of cash at it to make sure it gets seen in America.

    And so it is for Swedish star Zara Larsson, who has made a new, big-budget video for Lush Life - a song which peaked at number three in the UK back in March. 

    Cue up the wind machines and the choreographers... Here she comes.

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    And here, for the sake of comparison, is last year's Blue Peter version.

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  4. Bat For Lashes plays in the 6 Music Live roompublished at 14:57 BST 5 July 2016

    Bat For LashesImage source, Neil Krug

    Bat For Lashes' new album, The Bride, is set to enter the top 10 this week, according to the official charts update. 

    A concept record about a woman whose fiance dies on the way to their wedding, it has received some of the best reviews of her career. The NME said it was, external "her most ambitious record yet", while the Telegraph heaped on the adjectives, external, calling the album: "beautiful, beguiling, disturbing and rewarding".

    To celebrate the album's release, Bat For Lashes popped into 6 Music to play the pivotal track In God's House - where the title character learns about the fate of her husband-to-be.

    Watch the video below.

    And if you want to know more about the album, read our interview with singer Natasha Khan.

  5. Sony fails to get Michael Jackson 'fake songs' case thrown outpublished at 14:47 BST 5 July 2016

    Michael JacksonImage source, AFP

    Two years ago, Michael Jackson fan Vera Serova sued Sony Music, saying that three of the songs on the posthumous album, Michael, were not actually sung by the King Of Pop himself.

    Sony disagrees, saying Jackson recorded the songs with his friend Edward Cascio, but Serova claims that even members of Jackson's family have disputed his involvement.

    Last week, Sony tried to get the case dismissed - saying it had not violated consumer protection laws, because its assertions that Jackson had sung the songs did not count as "commercial speech" - a US legal term relating to a presentation done for for the intent of making a profit.

    However, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ann I Jones said Sony’s legal bid was ”improper procedurally and wouldn’t have prevailed anyway”.

    The case will now proceed to the discovery stage.

  6. International female artists team up for UN campaignpublished at 14:29 BST 5 July 2016

    Some of the biggest music stars in countries including India, South Africa and Nigeria have teamed up to call on the United Nations to implement plans to tackle inequality over the next 15 years.

    Tying in with the Spice Girls' 20th anniversary - Project Everyone - which has also been supported by British Four Weddings director Richard Curtis, has released a remake of the Wannabe video.

    It stars Gigi Lamayne and Monoea from South Africa, Seyi Shay from Nigeria and Sri Lankan Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez, plus singers from the UK, Canada and the US.

    Under the slogan #WhatIReallyReallyWant, the women in the video have called for quality education, an end to violence, an end to child marriage and equal pay for equal work.

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    The team will do a visual presentation to world leaders at the UN General Assembly in September.

  7. Jack Garrett responds to lack of debut albums in 2016's top 200published at 14:18 BST 5 July 2016

    Jack Garrattt

    Jack Garratt has responded to news that his and former One Directioner Zayn Malik are the only two debut albums in 2016's tops 200 best-sellers. (Scroll down to read more on that story.)

    Jack's album Phase was released on 19 February and debuted at number 3 on the album chart.

    Jack says "the way that people experience music has changed".

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  8. There will be no new entries in this week's singles chartpublished at 13:53 BST 5 July 2016

    DrakeImage source, AP

    Judging by the official midweek chart update, external, which came out last night, there will be no new entries in this week's Top 40 singles chart.

    It's an indication of the effect streaming has had on the countdown, as big hits stick around for longer. The songs in this week's Top 10 have all spent an average of nine weeks in the chart.

    The phenomenon is most striking when you look at the number one single, Drake's One Dance. Eight other songs sold more copies (in terms of downloads, vinyl and CD purchases) last week but it holds onto the top spot for an epic twelfth week thanks to its continued popularity with streaming consumers.

    However, it is not completely unheard of for the Top 40 to take a pause from new entries. The last time it happened was in January, when the release schedule took a post-Christmas slump.

    A lack of new music in the summer months has also robbed the Top 40 of new songs - as in July 2008, when Dizzee Rascal presided over a largely static chart with this classic.

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  9. Tavis Smiley recalls his relationship with Princepublished at 13:16 BST 5 July 2016

    US TV personality Tavis Smiley was, for 20 years, a close personal friend of Prince. The artist even granted Smiley a couple of long, in-depth television interviews, external despite a career-long aversion to the press.

    But the relationship nearly ended before it began... as Smiley revealed on Conan O'Brien's US chat show.

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  10. Olly Murs plays his new song on a phonepublished at 12:56 BST 5 July 2016

    Olly Murs

    Let's be honest, Olly Murs' track record with singles is patchier than Gollum's haircut. For every Heart Skips A Beat, external, there's a Thinking Of Me, external.

    Luckily, his new single sounds like it belongs in the "not awful" segment of the Olly Murs' career venn diagram. 

    Written by Camille Purcell (Little Mix's Black Magic), Wayne Hector (Nicki Minaj's Starships) and Olly himself, the song is called You Don't Know Love and it's due out this Friday.

    But to whet your appetite, he's just posted a sneak preview on Instagram, in which he plays the song's intro on his phone while mugging for the camera. 

    Depending on your view of Olly, you will either find this endearing or murderously irritating.

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  11. The man behind the musicpublished at 12:41 BST 5 July 2016

    Cliff Martinez is the man respsonsible for innovative movie soundtracks such as Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive; the George Clooney-starring Solaris; and eye-popping sci-fi The Fifth Element.

    He's been speaking to BBC Arts about his latest collaboration with Refn, Neon Demon: A horror film set in the high-end modelling industry.

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  12. Run DMC changed rap history 30 years ago todaypublished at 12:09 BST 5 July 2016

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    It's exactly 30 years since Run DMC released Walk This Way - an Aerosmith cover they'd been persuaded to record by producer Rick Rubin.

    They weren't keen ("this is hillbilly gibberish," said DMC when Rubin played him the original) but the song went on to break hip-hop into the mainstream.

    It was the first rap song to make the top five of the Billboard charts; while in the UK (where it was released in September) it peaked at number eight.

    The concept of the video - in which the walls between rock and rap are broken down - could hardly have been more apt.

    The Washington Post have put together a fascinating oral history, external of the song - which you can (and should) read. 

  13. Another career milestone for Lady Gagapublished at 11:44 BST 5 July 2016

    Lady Gaga poses with members of the Carlos Munoz pit crew during the 100th Indianapolis 500 auto raceImage source, AP

    Three Brits, six Grammys, one Golden Globe and 12 Guinness World Records - Lady Gaga's trophy cabinet must be the size of most people's houses.

    Now she has another accolade to add to the pile - a driving licence.

    The 30-year-old announced she had passed her driving test in California this week, after "years of driving with a learner's permit" with "an adult present". 

    She celebrated the long-overdue achievement with a series of photos from the test centre.

    They do however pose some serious questions..

    1/Where is everyone else in this exam? 

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    2/ What is making Gaga retch so violently?

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    3/ Shouldn't she be watching the road?

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    Back to school Gaga. Back to school...

  14. Hozier's Tarzan theme 'was like a school project'published at 11:27 BST 5 July 2016

    Irish singer-songwriter Hozier has written the theme for the new blockbuster Tarzan movie, imaginatively called The Legend of Tarzan. It's his first new music since his chart-shattering breakthrough album, the even-more-imaginatively titled Hozier.

    At least he is consistent.

    Speaking to Chris Evans this morning, he revealed the song, Better Love, was written on a three-week deadline, making it feel a little like "a school project".

    Listen to the interview and the song below.

    Media caption,

    Hozier reveals all about writing a track for Hollywood blockbuster The Legend of Tarzan.

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  15. Boy George will not be returning to The Voice UKpublished at 11:01 BST 5 July 2016

    Boy GeorgeImage source, AP

    Pop star Boy George was the highlight of the last series of The Voice, thanks to his pithy put-downs and barbed banter ("If you go with me I'll make you so famous that drag queens will impersonate you," he told one hopeful).

    So it's sad to hear that he won't be following will.i.am over to ITV when the programme returns in a new guise next year.

    The artist never known as George Alan O'Dowd confirmed the news on Twitter.

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    In yesterday's Live pager, we told you what outgoing judge Ricky Wilson thinks about the new series.

  16. J-LO and Hamilton star record Pulse benefit recordpublished at 10:27 BST 5 July 2016

    Jennifer LopezImage source, Getty Images

    Jennifer Lopez and actor/rapper Lin-Manuel Miranda - who wrote the Broadway smash musical Hamilton have recorded a song in honour of the 49 victims shot dead at the LGBT club Pulse in Orlando Florida. 

    Proceeds from Love Make The World Go Round will go to Proyecto Somos Orlando.

    The charity, set up by the Hispanic community, addresses mental health needs. 

    The song will be made available to download but no release date has been set yet.

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  17. Official Olympic anthem unveiledpublished at 10:11 BST 5 July 2016

    Everyone remembers the 2012 London Olympics... but do you recall the official song?

    No?

    It was this subtle, nuanced little number by Muse:

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    The 2016 equivalent has just been released, and it couldn't be any more different.

    Performed by Brazilian samba super star Thiaquinho and rapper Projota, Alma e Coração (Heart and Soul) is a bouncy, uplifting anthem to athletic achievement.

    "Make it happen," they exclaim in the chorus, "fight and win (oh, oh, oh)".

    The energy is infectious, but it's still no One Moment In Time.

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  18. New music in crisis?published at 09:52 BST 5 July 2016

    Zayn MalikImage source, Reuters

    While there is much to celebrate in the story (scroll down) about artists like Adele and Ed Sheeran making the list of the 60 top selling albums in the UK, a more worrying stat has emerged today.

    Not a single British debut album has gone platinum in 2016, reports Music Week, external, suggesting the news "will set alarm bells ringing" in record company boardrooms around the country.

    Only two debut albums by British artists have made the top 200 best-sellers of the year so far - Zayn Malik's Mind Of Mine (52,658 sales) and Jack Garratt's Phase (47,673 copies).

    At this point last year, five British artists had pushed their debut albums into the top 200, while in 2014 the figure was seven.

  19. James Vincent McMorrow gets Hottest Record honourpublished at 09:35 BST 5 July 2016

    Irish singer James Vincent McMorrow has released a couple of critically-acclaimed albums since he first popped up in 2010 - but he suddenly found himself thrust into the spotlight this year when his cover of Chris Issak's Wicked Games soundtracked the trailer for the new season of Game Of Thrones.

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    His star rose even further when Drake sampled one of his songs on the chart-topping Views album.. and now he's been collaborating with Drake's Hotline Bling producer, Nineteen85, on a new single, Rising Water.

    Radio 1's Annie Mac made the song her Hottest Record last night, and McMorrow explained how the collaboration came about.

    "We've known each other for a couple of years now and... I was sending him all these songs and ideas. One day he emailed me and said: 'We're making your album, just in case you didn't know.'"

    It's the first time McMorrow has worked with an outside producer, and he said the experience had been challenging.

    "He just wouldn't allow me to be pretentious or ridiculous. He has this saying: 'Don't try and live out your dreams on every song'. 

    "It's not about sitting in the studio and impressing ourselves, it's about trying to get to the heart of what [the song] is, in the most honest way possible."

    You can hear the first results below.

  20. Queen tops lists of the biggest selling albums in the UKpublished at 09:22 BST 5 July 2016

    Freddie MercuryImage source, Getty Images

    The official album chart is 60 years old this month and to mark the occasion, a list of the 60 biggest-selling albums has been produced - and it's a non-mover at the top of the charts.

    Queen's Greatest Hits maintains its grip on top spot, having sold 6.1 million copies since its release in 1981. It's one of two entries in the top 10 for the band, who also take tenth place with (what else?) Greatest Hits II.

    Queen’s Brian May said: "I always thought the band showed promise, but this is beyond our boyhood dreams! Thanks Folks!"

    Abba's Gold is at number two, followed by The Beatles' Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

    Adele's 21 earns its place at number four but more impressively, her latest album 25 is at number 27 on the list after just seven months on sale. 

    Here's the top ten and you can check out the full lost at the Official Charts Company, external.

    1. Greatest Hits - Queen
    2. Gold - Abba
    3. Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - Beatles
    4. 21 - Adele
    5. What's The Story Morning Glory - Oasis
    6. Thriller - Michael Jackson
    7. The Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd
    8. Brothers in Arms - Dire Straits
    9. Bad - Michael Jackson
    10. Greatest Hits II - Queen