That is what we are

No one in-between

How can we be wrong?

Words that we can all take something from. Scroll down for news of the lady above and Kenny Rogers' final performance together, plus Despacito sets a new streaming record, Madonna halts the sale of personal letters, a generous gesture from Kendrick Lamar, new music from Nine Inch Nails and chats with The Lemon Twigs and The Coral.

G'night y'all...

Image source, Reuters

A judge in New York has ordered the halt of an auction of personal effects which belonged to Madonna

The items included a letter from her ex-boyfriend, the late rapper Tupac Shakur and another letter criticising stars Whitney Houston and Sharon Stone.

Manhattan state Supreme Court Judge Gerald Leibovitz ordered Gotta Have It! Collectibles to pull 22 items from its rock-'n'-roll-themed auction scheduled for Wednesday.

Madonna said she was "shocked to learn" of the auction and had no idea many of the listed items were no longer in her possession.

Scroll down for more on the story.

BuzzFeed
BuzzFeed

Image source, Getty Images

"I’ve been asked so many times over the years to make a new version of Thong Song and I have declined every time until I heard the new version that JCY did," Sisqo told Buzzfeed, external.

“I thought it was dope and figured maybe it was time to put some new rims on the Bugatti."

So here it is - 18 years later, but still with plenty of thongs - Sisqo, and Norwegian duo JCY, return with a new version of the hit summer track. It's still catchy, but the dance moves are, dare we say it... a bit more middle-aged.

But apparently that's only because Sisqo had "dislocated three ribs" and had "just a couple of hours to learn brand new choreography... where in most cases you get a week to learn a new routine".

“Even though I had to perform in the video injured, I think it turned out pretty good.”

Yeah, not bad for a man who turns 40 next year.

You can watch the video on YouTube, external - but be warned it contains lots of women in bikinis.

BBC Music
Ben Hewitt

Image source, Getty Images

Pop history is littered with bands that hated the hit songs that made them big-time players.

And then there are those groups whose breakthrough hits turned out to be curses rather than blessings - big-selling songs which didn't just bring riches and fame, but stress, bickering, controversy and legal battles.

Think TLC's Creep and The Verve's Bittersweet Symphony.

Learn more about six of the most memorable from curse-ridden hits of the 1990s.

Paul Glynn
Music News LIVE reporter

The psychedelic Wirral outfit enjoyed a "relaxed and chilled" Latitude at the weekend according to frontman James Skelly.

The Dreaming of You singer believes there is a direct - ahem - Coral-ation between the emergence of streaming and seeing much younger audiences down the front at their gigs.

Speaking to the BBC after his band's performance, James said: "There was a group of young kids in the middle who seemed to know all the songs - they must've heard it on Spotify!

"This era would've been perfect for us coming out now, as it's a route straight through to the fans.

"I always wrote music for people to hear it. The more people who hear your records, the more people come to your gigs and that's how you earn your money."

He added: "Younger crowds are getting into it. When you're older you've heard it all before, stood at the back of the gig with your girlfriend, chin stroking.

"But the youth get right into it now and it must correlate with streaming."

Here's some fan-shot footage of their Latitude show below...

The Merseyside band will be back in the studio recording their "more song and harmonies-based" new album at the end of the year.

In the meantime, James, who has also produced other bands including Blossoms, Cabbage and She Drew The Gun for his own label Skeleton Key, external, has got his ear to the ground for new sounds that tickle his fancy.

"We're just putting out music that we like. It's not the most fashionable music but we like it and try to develop it - like The Sundowners and Cut Glass Kings.

"Chart music is like in a different genre to us. It's a big roller coaster that makes you feel a bit sick at the end - like the blockbuster movies."

Speaking of new bands that have caught our attention, here's the best of BBC Introducing at Latitude (above), including a riotous performance from Bristol punks IDLES.

They made a right mess of the decor up in the woods - not that anyone in the mosh pit seemed to mind though.

BBC Radio 2

Nothing to be ashamed of George - who hasn't waved a giant foam finger at an S Club 7 concert?

George's little brother, Ethan Barnett, aka Ten Tonnes, has been speaking to Jo Whiley about his musical plans, which include a supergroup with his bro "when we are in our 30s or 40s".

He also performed a rather lovely cover of Tom Petty which you can listen to above.

Lana Del Rey, external has hit out fans who have downloaded an early leak of her forthcoming album Lust For Life.

The singer will release her fourth album on Friday, but pirated versions have already been leaked online.

Del Rey had a few choice words on Twitter for those who illegally downloaded the album ahead of its official release.

We'll let you take a look for yourself - consider yourself warned.

Yesterday, it was announced that the Video Games singer will play a surprise gig in London on Monday 24 July.

Noisey

Image source, PA

Louis Tomlinson is putting together a new girl band.

"I wanted to put this girl band together so I pitched it to Simon [Cowell]," the One Direction star said, in an interview for Noisey, external.

"Off the back of that, he offered me my own imprint label through Syco."

"The most important thing for me was that they have to be undeniably great musicians. To me, there's nothing cooler than seeing a girl own an instrument.

"We found this unbelievably amazing lead singer and a great bassist who were in a band together already, and then we found a guitarist and drummer.

"It's early days with the label stuff, but the girls are my first major project and I'm super invested in them."

Louis releases his second solo single, Back To You’, on Friday

Image source, Getty Images

Here's one for all you fans of industrial rock - a new track from Nine Inch Nails.

This Isn't The Place is the second to come from the band's Add Violence EP, which is due out on Friday.

Singer Trent Rezor, and collaborator and now permanent band member Atticus Ross, have, of late, been composing film scores for the likes of Gone Girl and documentary Before the Flood.

Billboard magazine

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It's taken more than a year but Kanye West has responded to legal action brought by a fan who is suing the rapper and streaming service Tidal over the release of his album, The Life of Pablo.

Justin Baker-Rhett claims he was tricked into signing up to Tidal because it was the only way to buy Kanye's record.

But he says the exclusivity promise was just a fraudulent ploy to add millions of subscribers to a struggling Tidal.

Life of Pablo subsequently appeared repackaged on other rival streaming services, such as Apple Music and Spoitify.

Mr Baker-Rhett quoted tweets posted by Kanye, including one that proclaimed, "My album will never never be on Apple. And it will never be for sale... You can only get it on Tidal."

Kanye and his team want the lawsuit dismissed saying: "The versions of The Life of Pablo that are available on other streaming services are different from the original, Tidal-only version".

It accused Mr Baker-Rhett of failing to note "differences between the versions of the album available on the different streaming services".

Read more, external

Lorde was backed up with a full choir, dressed in old school Adidas tracksuits and shell toes as she performed her track Perfect Places, from her recent US chart topping album.

As a portrait of disaffected youth and "graceless nights", it's still pretty catchy.

Check it out above

Paul Glynn
Music News LIVE reporter

You may not have heard of them yet but New York rock 'n' roll prodigies the D'Addario brothers - aka The Lemon Twigs, are fast becoming the talk of the UK festival circuit.

Their rapid-fire set of rock 'n roll melodies on the BBC Music Stage on Saturday at Latitude was nothing short of ridiculous (in a good way).

The Long Island siblings and their bandmates guitar jump around the stage, swap instruments and drop references to classic 60s/70s American and British rock and pop royalty with the swagger of a gang of old-timers. There's even a whistle solo.

However the boys in flares with Keith Richards haircuts are still only in their teens.

And they put their success so far down to their father, musician Ronnie D'Addario.

"Our dad's music is better than ours" said 17-year-old Michael.

"He's come on and played with us in New York before and we've backed him up. He's had songs that he's said to us before 'I'd like it if you'd rock this one up a bit'".

Big brother Brian, 19, chips in: "We've considered recording one of his songs before actually.

"We were always playing instruments from an early age."

One of their musical heroes/inspirations and Brian's namesake (below) has even tweeted evidence of this...

Their debut album Do Hollywood, came out last year and new companion EP Brothers of Destruction, due out in September, was recorded in their Long Island family basement on "the same eight track that dad recorded a lot of his early stuff on."

One Tweeter Nigel brilliantly accurately described The Lemon Twigs Latitude set as being like "a compilation of every Old Grey Whistle Test."

But brothers in a band - when did that ever work?

Check out the D'Addarios themselves (below) directly from the Latitude stage, revealing to us the key to smashing a festival set.

Turns out it's more straight-forward than you would imagine...

BBC Newsbeat

Rapper Kendrick Lamar joins the list of rappers that go the extra mile for those less fortunate, by buying a new wheelchair-accessible van for one of his superfans.

He made the pledge after meeting Jennifer Phillips before his Dallas show on his US tour.

She had already set up a Go Fund Me, external page to raise money to replace her old van.

"Kendrick is buying me a van," she tweeted after the meet-and-greet., external

Recently, rapper Nicki Minaj paid off a load of her fans' tuition fees, while Stormzy donated £9,000 to a student's crowdfunding campaign to study at Harvard university in the US

Read more

Following on from Kendrick Lamar's act of charity for a disabled fan (scroll down), here is the next part in our 'Rock stars do the nicest things' series.

This time, its metal veterans Metallica, who invited a little girl on stage called Kendalynn to perform the opening to their song Seek and Destroy behind drummer Lars Ulrich's kit.

Such sweeties...

BBC Radio 1

The Radio 1 DJ got a lovely surprise from Mr Jukes, aka Bombay Bicycle Club's Jack Steadman, when he and his new band serenaded her with the Happy Birthday song for her 39th birthday.

The singer's new album, God First, has been pretty well reviewed since its release last week and sees Jack move away from the indie rock of his previous band into more sample-heavy, funky jazz territory.

"It's lot of new experiences," he told Annie, "Including shouting about the new music on social media - it must get annoying, but you have to keep telling people about it.

"We had the first show last week, sold out and it was great. It feels good to be playing this kind of music."

It sounds good too Jack - listen above.

Image source, Getty Images

John Legend has criticised Donald Trump's attempts to repeal Obamacare.

The US President has been working on repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act for months, but has so far failed to convince the Senate to pass any of his suggested bills.

The Grammy-winning artist frequently takes to Twitter, external to express his political views on issues such as the refugee crisis and police brutality. And he takes a dim view of the Trump presidency as a whole.

In May, the singer-songwriter told CNN, external: "I thought Donald Trump would make a terrible President, and I think he is proving me right every day,"

"As everybody knows, the show really eschews stunt casting - it’s never, ever done that."

Ahem.

Game of Thrones director Jeremy Podeswa has defended Ed Sheeran's much maligned cameo in the opening episode of season seven - the one that drove the singer off Twitter on Tuesday.

"If people didn’t know who Ed was, they wouldn't have thought about it twice," the director told Newsweek, external.

"He was appropriate for the part because he needed to sing. He did a lovely job, and he looks like he belongs in that world."

So there you go, Ed - there's no one else who can sing or wear a tunic like you. You see, You Don't Need Us, We Need You.

Reuters

Image source, AFP

Madonna has asked a US court to stop the auction of a break-up letter which was sent to her by her former lover, the late rapper Tupac Shakur.

She filed a request in New York Supreme Court for a temporary restraining order against the auction house Gotta Have It Collectibles.

Madonna said she was not aware, until reading press reports, that many of the items listed in the sale were no longer in her possession.

The items also include a letter in which the singer bemoans the "horribly mediocre" talents of Whitney Houston and Sharon Stone.

Stone has since sent a message of support to Madonna saying: "I love and adore you; won't be pitted against you by any invasion of our personal journeys."

Image source, Getty Images

The letter from Tupac, sent from his jail cell where he was serving time for a sexual assualt, suggested he broke up with her because of race, saying that being with a black man could only help her career, but might let down his own fans.

It has a starting bid of $100,000 (£77,000).

The items were provided by Darlene Lutz, described by Madonna in court papers as a former friend.

She "betrayed my trust in an outrageous effort to obtain my possessions without my knowledge or consent," said Madonna.

The auction house has called the restraining order "a completely baseless and meritless action," and said it would challenge her claims in court.

Image source, Reuters

Dolly Parton will join Kenny Rogers in a final tribute concert this October.

As the country star prepares to hang up his microphone, Rogers, 78, will be joined by special guests including Idina Menzel, Alison Krauss and the Flaming Lips for the farewell concert in Nashville on 25 October.

But the biggest draw of all will be Dolly. It's 12 years since the pair last performed their smash hit duet Islands in the Stream in front of a live audience.

The forthcoming concert will mark only the third time Kenny and Dolly have sung together in 27 years - and both have agreed it will be the last.

"We do love it when we get a chance to be together," said Kenny. "She’s everything that everybody thinks she is - and more. I’m so excited about her being there."

Kenny, who is currently on a farewell tour of the US, has been in the music industry for more than 60 years and sold more than 100 million records.

He famously played the legends slot at Glastonbury in 2013 (above).

He told Billboard he was "uncomfortable" about the tribute concert but promised "a fun night".

"It strikes me as something for me to get together with a lot of the people I have met over the years, and say goodbye legitimately."

He also persuaded Dolly to head to the Pyramid stage herself the following year for a performance generally regarded as one of the festival's best.

Mark Savage
Music reporter

Luis Fonsi's Despacito has become the most-streamed song of all time, just six months after it was released.

The hit single has been played 4.6 billion times across all streaming services, overtaking Justin Bieber's Sorry, which previously held the title.

"What's happened with this song is just insane," said Fonsi, who hails from Puerto Rico and sings in Spanish.

"I don't want to use the word accident because I was trying to write a hit, but I didn't plan for it to cross over.

The track has reached number one in more than 45 countries, including the UK.

It hit number one around Latin America when it was released in January, but only caught fire in the English-speaking world after Justin Bieber heard the song in a nightclub and asked to add a verse.

Fonsi describes it as a "snowball effect":

"It's been an incredible ride," he said. "Pretty much from the start it has just been crazy."

Image source, Reuters

And Fonsi has only good things to say about Bieber's remix - despite the Canadian's lame attempts at the Spanish lyrics, external in public places.

"I don't think he's ever come out and said he's a Spanish-speaker. He just wanted to do the song because he loved it. And I think you have to tip your hat to him, because he took the time to phonetically learn the chorus in Spanish.

"I think we just have to let it go."

Try not to break into song, Frozen fans...

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