We've had it all this week. But alas all good things...

Scroll down for the five things we've learned this week, plus lots of new music from Camila Cabello, Eminem, Seal, a Hottest Record of the Year from The Killers and news of a new Brit Awards host.

Plus Beyonce pops to the shop just like a normal person would (who knew?), a new David Bowie dramatisation and info on what you should watch tonight/this weekend...if you like music, that is.

Barbra Streisand does. Always has and she's just released a new live album today entitled The Music... The Mem'ries... The Magic!

Take it away Babs and see you all next week for more.

The Northern Echo
Newspaper

Looks like Debbie Harry (above) has just read this story...

A music venue in Middlesbrough has apparently banned female fronted bands from performing because "women can't sing rock."

Paula Rees, the manager of Doctor Browns told The Northern Echo, external that the ban was put in place at the request of her customers.

She said: “We had female singers on in the past and customers just didn’t like it - we’re a rock bar and they don’t think that women should sing male rock songs.

To be fair she did add that that the pub would relax the ban slightly to allow one band with a female singer to perform next year and would consider bands who could guarantee large crowds but the general policy remains in place.

The newspaper kindly points out just a few of the legendary rock 'n' roll acts who may be unable to perform at the venue.

Blondie, Patti Smith, Tina Turner....you get the idea.

So we've arrived at yours and our favourite bit of the week where we look back at some of the things we've learned together over the past seven days.

Things like:

• How far Sia (above) will go to make one of her shows
• The troubled history of the Queen biopic, or...
• All about new bluesy singer-songwriter Dan Owen.

They didn't quite make the cut though sadly. Here's what did...

1) The Brits organisers reckon Jorja Smith will have a big 2018

The R&B singer from the West Midlands beat two other newcomers, Mabel and Stefflon Don, to the Brits Critics' Choice, which recognises "the future stars of British recording talent".

Previous winners of the award include Adele and Emeli Sande.

Jorja took fourth place on the BBC Sound of 2017 and will be presented with red trophy above at the Brits at London's O2 Arena on 21 February, 2018.

Which means they must have snatched it back from her after this picture was taken. Which is a bit mean.

2) Dua Lipa is the UK's most streamed female of 2017 on Spotify

The pop star's smash hit New Rules (above) was streamed 464 million times worldwide.

She has also scored 453 million streams for the brooding Scared To Be Lonely, external.

Ed Sheeran is the top artist overall, with 6.3 billion global streams.

Read more.

On Thursday, Apple Music revealed its biggest albums of the year, and the Top 10 included four entries for the Now That's What I Call Music! series.

Now 95 is the most popular collection, coming third in the year-end chart, beaten only by Ed's Divide and Rag 'n' Bone Man's Human.

3) BBC Introducing is showing a lot of love for Declan McKenna

The ridiculously-talented teenager accepted their artist of the year award from Radio 2's Jo Whiley, live on BBC Breakfast.

A slightly shell-shocked Declan - wearing a cheeky 'I want to go home' slogan on his t-shirt said he was "delighted" to win.

"It's amazing, it's such a great thing to be part of," he said.

"He came and did a session for me," added Jo, "and he was so commanding. He had all these other musicians but he was in charge of what everyone was doing."

He performed at Radio 1's Big Weekend earlier this summer.

Read more.

Image source, Getty Images

4) Diddy continues to to have waaaaay more money than us (and we do mean ALL of us)

Forbes has revealed its annual list of musicians who earn more money than most average sized countries and it's the vodka-owning, name-changing rap mogul who has come out on top.

Diddy raked in more than £130m (£97m) last year, due in part to his Bad Boy records reunion tour.

Beyonce's business dealings and her Formation world tour earned her $105m (£78m) while the top three was rounded off by Drake.

R&B singer The Weeknd and Coldplay were fourth and fifth respectively.

Cha ching.

Read more.

5) Nile Rodgers has pledged to beat cancer again

Nile revealed this week that he has been receiving treatment for cancer again but that his prognosis is "100% recovery".

The Chic guitarist, who declared himself cancer free during his Sunday afternoon 'legends slot' appearance at Glastonbury this summer, says doctors found a mysterious growth while he was being treated for E. coli in August.

The 65-year-old New Yorker expressed his shock in an online video.

He said: "After the last seven years of amazing life I would have never believed that my body would be invaded by another cancer.

"Cancer really? I'm Done. 2018 here I come!"

In a lengthy blog post, external he said he has already had surgery "and my prognosis is 100% recovery".

Our prognosis is that Nile is 100% legend.

Read more

Yesterday we told you how the Cambridge pop star was plotting a new playlist.

Now, she's knocked out a cover of Wolf Alice's Don't Delete The Kisses for Australian radio station Triple J.

Check it out above.

Just lucky her phone didn't ring during this performance as she was clearly reading the words. Probably on airplane mode.

In case you were wondering like us why Charli goes so mad with the autotune, she explains it below.

Apparently it's to sound like Kanye. Not Cher.

Dead Ringers star Jon Culshaw will portray David Bowie in a radio dramatisation of the making of the great man's final album Blackstar.

The Final Take: Bowie In The Studio, will go out on BBC World Service on 9 January 2018 and will then be available to listen to via their website.

The drama places Bowie in The Magic Shop studio in New York, with his long-time producer Tony Visconti, reflecting on music, love, drugs, fame and death.

The record was released just two days before Bowie's death in January 2016.

BBC Radio 2

The Robster was on the Radio 2 brekkie show today telling presenter Chris Evans and fellow guest Dawn French all about his "incredibly honest" latest autobiography, Reveal.

Thankfully he's actually read this one, which he didn't do with his first book apparently.

Though he's worried he may have been a tad too honest.

Listen above.

Robbie also agrees (below) that another guest Paloma Faith is simply made for singing the next James Bond theme.

Shirley Bassey knows what it takes to belt out a Bond theme, external and she once told the singer; "You're the new me!"

Shirl should know.

Listen to her above too.

Santa Claus is Coming to Town soon like he does every year (if you've been good) but this time he sounds a little different.

That's as the Frank Sinatra classic of the same name has been re-worked to include a virtual duet with London singer Seal.

Frank's daughter Tina said: "Dad's Christmas recordings are as significant to his vast musical legacy as his signature saloon songs.

"The new Sinatra and Seal duet of Santa Claus Is Coming To Town is a joyous hoot and sings to the spirit of the season."

Watch a snippet above.

Image source, PA

West End supergroup Amber Riley, Beverley Knight and Cassidy Janson - aka Leading Ladies have released a cover of a track from the smash hit Broadway hip hop musical Hamilton.

The musical had it's opening night in London this week and you can hear the girls' - who recently appeared on Strictly Come Dancing - perform their rendition of Helpless below.

Beverley Knight has praised the musical for including such a diverse cast.

She told Pride magazine, external: “I like the fact that the story of Alexander Hamilton is being told with a cast diverse as you like.

"I think theatre has always led the charge on trying to be more diverse, ahead of other mediums."

She added: "You’ll see casting decisions that you wouldn’t see on TV in theatre first. Motown: The Musical and even my show Memphis had majority black casts, and it’s great to see that."

The rapper/actor/talent show judge and businessman has been speaking to the BBC about his i.am+ company, which blends fashion, lifestyle and culture with advanced technology.

While music got the Black Eyed Peas singer "out the ghetto", he now aspires to be the next Bill Gates and might even consider changing his name to bill.i.am.

Brill.i.ant.

That's your musical TV viewing for the evening right there folks,

Claudia Winkleman and Clara Amfo will be guiding us all through the year in music, with the help of the likes of Dave Grohl, Stormzy, Dua Lipa and Liam Gallagher, on BBC Two from 21:00 GMT.

They'll look back at some of the year's best albums, biggest artists and unforgettable live moments from Glastonbury to One Love Manchester and beyond.

Check it out above.

Before that though Dua will co-host the final episode in the first series of Sounds Like Friday Night.

Joining her will be Kasabian, Rag 'n' Bone Man, Raye and Hurts.

Tune in from 19:30 GMT on BBC One.

Then all you need to do is flick the channel over (and maybe look in the fridge for something tasty).

NME

That's a bold claim.

Manic Street Preachers bassist Nicky Wire has compared the Welsh rockers new track International Blue to one of their very best.

The track will appear on their forthcoming 13th album Resistance is Futile

Nicky told the NME, external: “I think there’s a certain naive energy and widescreen melancholia on the song that is reflected through the whole album.

"It’s a good representation of the almost Generation Terrorists energy that we’ve got.

The album comes out next April and Wire said we can expect a 'kind of 1970s David Bowie vibe'.

Check out the new lead single below.

Nicky also spoke to 6 Music's Hattie Pearson (below) about the inspiration for the new album and what's been happening in the Manics camp.

Following on from 2013's Rewind The Film and 2014's Futurology this LP sees Manics return to a sound they describe as 'widescreen melancholia'.

The tracks on the album are the first recordings to come out of the new studio, Door to the River, near Newport.

The singer has been telling our reporter Mark Savage all about his "tortured soul" and how the music industry fails to provide support for artists going through mental strain.

James suffered a spectacular career nosedive in full public view after the release of his debut album and, after taking time away to quit drugs and seek treatment for mental health issues, returned in 2016 with his song Say You Won't let Go.

"In sport, they have sports psychologists to get these people ready for the big games and big crowds, and getting scrutinised by the newspapers," he said.

"Whereas in the music business you don't really have a lot people keeping your head right. They seem happy to see people suffering. It's mad."

After reading our candid interview with James, fellow singer Sam Sparro then added his thoughts on the "psychological abuse" that goes on within showbiz (above).

Lily Allen replied, external with; "Agree. Long term contracts need to go for starters."

It's certainly an important ongoing conversation to be had between artists and the industry.

Check out James latest single below.

The singer pays tribute to the disgraced American ice skater in his new track.

Tonya Harding was a US and Olympic champion but was banned for life in 1994 after pleading guilty to hindering the prosecution of five men who attacked her rival Nancy Kerrigan.

She is now the subject of a new movie I,Tonya, starring Margot Robbie which is out in the US this weekend.

“Tonya, you were the brightest / Yeah you rose from the ashes / And survived all the crashes, he sings gently.

In a statement, Sufjan added: “Tonya shines bright in the pantheon of American history simply because she never stopped trying her hardest.

"She fought classism, sexism, physical abuse and public rebuke to become an incomparable American legend."

Image source, Reuters

Eminem is back today rapping about race relations in the US in his new single Untouchable.

The track, which will appear on his forthcoming album Revival, contains swearing so we can't embed it on here but we strongly recommend that you find it for yourselves.

It sees Em on blistering form tackling topics of black power, police brutality and white privilege.

On it he raps:

The star-studded album, which features Ed Sheeran, Pink and Beyonce - to name but three - is out next Friday.

The rapper has also been interviewed by Elton John for the latest issue of Interview magazine.

He has not minced his words on the subject of President Donald Trump, external, telling Sir Elton:

"We have a president who does not care about everybody in our country; he is not the president for all of us, he is the president for some of us. He knows what he’s doing."

BBC Radio 2

Noel Gallagher told his old pal Jo Whiley about a comedy moment last week in his hometown Manchester when a group of rock 'n' roll tourists failed to recognise him outside his old flat where he wrote some of his best-known hits.

Blending in with the crowd - while filming for a new US documentary - Noel was eventually asked whether or not he was his estranged younger brother Liam.

Listen above for his reaction.

You can listen back to the whole session, which sees Noel play tracks from his new album and a few old Oasis classics.

...said virtually no-one ever.

Until last night that was when one fan was shocked to find the pop megastar casually strolling around a Target supermarket.

The 36-year-old, who earlier this week handed black rights protester Colin Kaepernick a legacy award, was pictured keeping it real by pushing daughter Blue Ivy around in a trolly and queuing up at the checkout.

We bet that was a shopping trip to remember for Taylor.

The Late Late Show host James Corden has been moonlighting this week as general manager of the Forum in Inglewood, California ahead of the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball.

His backstage duties included telling off Ed Sheeran, giving Demi Lovato a pep talk and Niall Horan a massage.

Niall's old One Direction bandmate Liam also cuddles up to the presenter on the couch, while Sam Smith has one or two demands.

But watch what happens around 10 minutes in.

The general manager goes above and beyond his new job description to help out Taylor after one of her backing dancers pulls out.

The Londoner lets it all hang out in a fishnet outfit and looks like he was born for the role.

“I’m ready. I’m ready" says James.

"Use me. I’ll slot right in."

We're not sure Taylor agrees.

Watch above.

Image source, Getty Images

The posh comedian will take over from Dermot O'Leary and Emma Willis, who shared hosting duties earlier this year.

Brit Awards chairman Jason Iley said Whitehall would bring his "enormous enthusiasm, charisma, fun and passion" to the annual music ceremony.

The show, held at London's O2 Arena on 21 February, will celebrate the biggest and best pop stars of 2017.

The panel will start voting today and nominations will be unveiled in January - with Ed Sheeran, Dua Lipa and Rag N Bone Man all expected to feature.

Up-and-coming R&B singerJorja Smith has already been announced as the winner of the Critics' Choice prize, and will receive a Anish Kapoor-designed trophy at the ceremony.

Join us for a Brits special Music News LIVE page on the night.

Bring some snacks.

Read more.

Christmas has come early for fans of the Cuban singer or The Camilizers as they are collectively known.

The 20-year-old announced this week that her debut album will callec Camila and with us on 12 January.

Now she's treated us to a couple of tracks from it.

First up she's pouring her heart out about the loneliness of super stardom in the acoustic ballad Real Friends (above).

"I'm just looking for some real friends / All they ever do it let me down

Every time I let somebody in / Then I find out what they're all about."

We know that feeling Cami. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

Track two is the more upbeat Never Be The Same (below) which sees CC singing about various drugs - including love, that's a drug - in a falsetto so high that it might actually break your computer/phone screen.

Enjoy.

There's no shortage of offers from you lot out there willing to be Camila's 'real friends'.

Uber fans of the former Fifth Harmony singer might be interested to read this analysis, external of the evolution of her Spanglish smash hit Havana too, which appeared on Reddit yesterday.

BBC Radio 1

The people have spoken.

The Vegas band's comeback single The Man was selected as the pick of the bunch from a list of 40 Hottest Records from Annie Mac's Radio 1 show this year.

It was an indie rock 'n' roll 1-2-3 as Brandon Flowers and co just beat Liam Gallagher's Wall of Glass , externalin second and Can't Do, external by Everything Everything in third.

Stormzy and Lorde were nowhere to be seen.

Killers drummer Ronnie spoke to Annie and promised to give five bucks to whoever mis-calculated the results.

"It's nuts" he said. "There's so much good music out there."

Listen above.

Now here is the track again which featured on their new album Wonderful Wonderful - so good they named it twice.

There's been a lot of love for the result online.

Many of you will no doubt be singing along to The Man at the Isle of Wight and TRNSMT festivals next summer,

(Other festivals are available.)