Thanks for joining us this week folks.

Scroll down for tributes to Buzzcocks lead singer Pete Shelley, Drizzy and Ken dominating the Grammy Awards nominations and Kanye appearing to defend controversial rapper XXXTentacion on his posthumous new album.

Plus Shane MacGowan defends Fairytale of New York, awards for Ariana Grande and Sam Fender and - as always on a Friday - 5 Things We Learned This Week.

We'll leave you with this delightfully punk clip of the late great Mr Shelley from the BBC archive and see you on the flip side.

Ian Youngs
Entertainment and Arts Reporter, BBC News

Everybody has fallen in love with someone they shouldn't have fallen in love with, so everybody can relate to the famous Buzzcocks song.

But not everybody knows their late frontman Pete Shelley, inspired by a line from a musical, wrote it about a man.

Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've) only reached number 12 when it was released in September 1978.

"He wrote these fantastically beautiful melodies and he dealt with the quixotic and complicated subject of love, and he made it so simple," punk singer and journalist John Robb told Radio 5 Live.

Read more.

Radio X
Radio X

After leaving the I'm a Celeb... jungle last night, the handy man-turned-presenter has thanked Radio X DJ Chris Moyles for his successful campaign to get his cover of Make You Feel My Love to the top of the iTunes charts.

Chris Moyles - so much to answer for.

Knowles, who got his guitar out David Brent stylee at every given opportunity on the ITV show, told the DJ earlier that he "laughed his moobs off” when he heard the news, adding that he'll donate any royalties to charity.

"When I put the album out," he said, down the line from Australia, "it was clear fairly soon that people had suffered enough, so for you to run it past them again, I’d better give the money to charity!”

We should point out that those 'royalties' would be minimal as he didn't actually write the song, send those to Bob Dylan.

Knowles' album, Every Kind Of People, entered the UK charts at number 92 back in November last year.

Image source, Getty Images

It's been a busy start to the month of December.

We found out about a Prince-inspired movie in the works.

Mercury nominee Nadine Shah cancelled her entire UK tour and newcomer Tamino staked his claim to his late grandfather's title Sound of the Nile.

Here's our pick of the rest...

Image source, Getty Images

1) Cardiff is marking the 20th birthday of an iconic film

Nice one bruvvva!!

Cult movie Human Traffic turns 20 next year and to celebrate, a dance party is to be staged in Cardiff in April.

Starring a much younger John Simm and Danny Dyer (above), the film followed a group of friends in the Welsh capital over the course of a weekend filled with parties, drugs and booze.

The film also featured cameos by the likes of The Walking Dead's Andrew Lincoln, Jo Brand and drug smuggler-turned-best-selling author Howard Marks.

Read more

Image source, Getty Images

2) Soulja Boy is 'sorry' for accidentally supporting an anti-Semitic group

The one-hit wonder rapper fell victim to some trolling when he and other celebs were tricked into recording anti-Semitic video messages online.

He was one of several public figures who were paid to post shout outs on social media site Cameo unwittingly in support of a white supremacist group.

Cameo allows people to pay celebs for video messages, with Soulja charging $100 a pop.

“I was tricked,” Souljaboy admitted to The New York Times, external.

“I apologise to anyone I offended. I thought it was just a shout out for a fan. I didn’t know it had a negative meaning behind it.”

Speaking to Music News LIVE, the site's founder Steven Galanis said his team were "sickened" to learn about the source of Soulja Boy's shout outs.

Read more

3) Tom Grennan is the BBC Music Introducing artist of the year

The singer-songwriter, who made his breakthrough in 2018, has joined a list of previous winners which includes Declan McKenna and Catfish and the Bottlemen.

The 23-year-old's debut album Lighting Matches went top five in the summer.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast (above), Tom described how a brutal attack in a London takeaway years ago left him in hospital but actually helped him to fully focus his writing.

"I didn't leave my house for eight months," he said.

Read more

Image source, Getty Images

4) Primavera Sound claims to have the first 50/50 gender split major festival lineup

The Spanish music festival announced its lineup for next summer with an emphasis on female artists.

Erykah Badu (pictured above), Tame Impala and Solange will all headline the Barcelona event - which takes place 30 May-1 June 2019 - with Cardi B, J Balvin and Rosalía also on the bill, along with Future, Janelle Monae, Interpol, Courtney Barnett and Nas.

Organisers teased the lineup announcement with a post online carrying the hashtag #TheNewNormal.

It comes after music charity PRS Foundation asked festivals to take up the 50/50 challenge by 2022, in order to readdress the balance.

Read more

Image source, Getty Images

5) Lady Gaga has two shots at a Golden Globe in January

Last but not least, the nominations for next year's movie awards were announced and singer-cum-actress Gaga was shortlisted in two categories.

Her track Shallow, recorded with Bradley Cooper, for their movie A Star is Born is up for best original song.

Her track is in a star-studded shortlist which includes Kendrick Lamar/SZA, Dolly Parton and Annie Lennox.

She also finds herself nominated for an acting award for the same movie.

Will the judging panel go Gaga for Shallow? Or will the nomination get buried in a Shallow grave?

Find out next month.

As we heard earlier on Friday the song is also up for several Grammy Awards (scroll down).

Read more

Image source, Getty Images

Earlier this year, the Grammys were slammed for men winning in almost every category and this year it looks like the Recording Academy is seeking to redress that.

The pop categories are heavily-weighted in favour of women.

Best pop vocal album:

• Camila - Camila Cabello
• Meaning Of Life - Kelly Clarkson
• Sweetener - Ariana Grande
• Shawn Mendes - Shawn Mendes
• Beautiful Trauma - Pink
• Reputation - Taylor Swift

The nominees for best pop solo performance:

• Colors - Beck
• Havana (Live) - Camila Cabello
• God Is A Woman - Ariana Grande
• Joanne (Where Do You Think You're Goin'?) - Lady Gaga
• Better Now - Post Malone

Demi Lovato has received a nod too for her duet with Christina Aguilera on their track Fall in Line.

Demi, who has been recovering from a suspected overdose, tweeted that it's a dream come true.

However, the category for best rap album is traditionally dominated by men and - bar the inclusion of the unignorable Cardi B - this year is no different:

• Invasion Of Privacy - Cardi B
• Swimming - Mac Miller
• Victory Lap - Nipsey Hussle
• Daytona - Pusha T
• Astroworld - Travis Scott

Finally Kanye West is listed up against Pharrell Williams in the category for best producer.

Check out the award nominations in full., external

This year's most nominated artists

• 8 - Kendrick Lamar
• 7 - Drake
• 6 - Boi-1Da, Brandi Carlile, Mike Bozzi
• 5 - Cardi B, Childish Gambino, H.E.R., Lady Gaga, Maren Morris, Soundwave

Arctic Monkeys latest album, Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino, was certainly alternative from anything and everything they've ever done before.

That's been nominated in the alternative album section alongside two different utopias:

• St Vincent - Masseduction
• Beck - Colors
• Bjork - Utopia
• David Byrne - American Utopia
• Arctic Monkeys - Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino

The Monkeys are also up for best rock performance for their track Four Out of Five (above), from the very same space lounge lizard jazz rock album.

And it's in the same category for best new artist.

Here's the competition for two of the UK's fastest rising stars:

• Luke Combs
• Chloe x Halle
• Greta Van Fleet
• H.E.R

• Margo Price

• Bebe Rexha

• Dua Lipa
• Jorja Smith

Dua tweeted: "Can't stop crying."

Tears of joy, of course.

Image source, Reuters/Getty

This is what it's all about, surely?! The best song of the year.

Pick your favourite from these:

• Kendrick Lamar and SZA - All the Stars
• Ella Mai - Boo'd Up
• Drake - God's Plan
• Shawn Mendes - In My Blood
• Brandi Carlile - The Joke

• Zedd, Marren Morris and Grey - The Middle

• Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper - Shallow
• Childish Gambino - This is America

Here's a selection below to help inform your decision.

Some of them, like Ken and Drizzy (above) contain too much swearing for BBC Music News to handle so you'll have to find them for yourselves.

Elsewhere the songs on the shortlist for record of the year - which recognises the songwriters behind the hits - are:

• Cardi B, Bad Bunny and J Balvin - I Like It
• Brandi Carlile - The Joke
• Childish Gambino - This is America
• Drake - God's Plan
• Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper - Shallow
• Kendrick Lamar and SZA - All the Stars
• Post Malone and 21 Savage - Rock Star
• Zedd and Alessia Cara - The Middle

Read more

Image source, Getty Images

The nominations for album of the year are:

• Invasion of Privacy - Cardi B
• By the Way I Forgive You - Brandi Carlile
• Scorpion - Drake
• H.E.R - H.E.R
• Beerbongs and Bentleys - Post Malone
• Dirty Computer - Janelle Monae
• Golden Hour Kacey Musgraves
• Black Panther - Kendrick Lamar and various artists

Janelle Monae joined Shawn Mendes and Alessia Cara on the set of US breakfast show CBS This Morning to read out the nominations.

Reacting to her nomination, she said:

Image source, Getty Images

OK the nominees are starting to come in for the 61st Grammy Awards in February.

Let's start with the country album award. This is a big one as country music remains one of the biggest selling and most popular genres in the US.

Here's the five nominated albums.

• Kelsea Lakkerini - Unapologetically
• Ashley McBryde - Girl Going Nowhere
• Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour
• Chris Stapleton - From A Room: Volume 2
• Brothers Osbourne - Port Saint Joe

Transatlantic indie pop duo Weslee have released their new video for Sweat Dreams.

That's sweat - not sweet.

The track features on their debut EP '9F and sees collaborator Chu demonstrating her dancing skills on a sunny day in Southern California.

Last month, we spoke to Emma and Josh from the UK/US band about their big first ever gig.

Image source, Getty Images

Just half an hour until the noninations are announced for the Grammys awards 2019.

Cardi B, Drake and Ariana Grande are expected to be among the contenders for this year's trophies.

Four of the major categories are being expanded this year, which could mean more recognition for women and BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic) artists.

Song and album of the year are among the categories which will now have eight nominees, instead of five.

The change comes after the Recording Academy created a diversity task force in response to criticism that the winners are usually disproportionately white and male.

Read more

The BBC Sound of 2018 winner has announced her eagerly-anticipated debut album, Sucker Punch, will be released on 1 March 2019.

"The mini version of me by the piano growing up would be so incredibly proud," she said.

"YES YES YES, can't wait for you to hear it!"

Us too.

We'll find out the 10 names on the BBC Sound of 2019 list on Monday 10 December.

If they're half as talented as the 22-year-old Norwegian they'll be alright.

The Pogues singer has responded to calls for his band's Christmas hit, Fairytale of New York (above), to be edited to remove the word 'faggot'.

The 1987 track tells the story of a row between an arguing couple, and includes the line:

You scumbag, you maggot / You cheap lousy faggot

Happy Christmas your arse / I pray God it's our last

In an article this week for The Tab, external, Thomas Haynes, said the lyric was "a homophobic slur" and “as bad as using the N-word”.

Now the singer, who last week married his long term partner Victoria Mary Clarke, says the reference was never intended to be homophobic.

“The word was used by the character because it fitted with the way she would speak and with her character," he explained in a statement.

"She is not supposed to be a nice person, or even a wholesome person. She is a woman of a certain generation at a certain time in history and she is down on her luck and desperate”

He added: “Her dialogue is as accurate as I could make it but she is not intended to offend!

It's interesting to note that last year during her Radio 1 Live Lounge performance alongside pal Ed Sheeran, Anne Marie skilfully opted to replace the offending word with "blagger."

Watch above.

The Pogues track is just one of many festive favourites being viewed very differently in 2018.

Read more: Should we stop listening to these Christmas songs?

Image source, Getty Images

Bastille have released the fourth instalment of their mixtape series.

Other People’s Heartache Pt. 4 features, Grip, a collaboration with Norwegian production duo Seeb, which you can check out below.

The track was teased with a helpline number presumably for anyone suffering a similar bout of the old heartache.

"Free your body and your mind," says an answerphone message on repeat (below).

We prescribe plenty of sleep, a healthy diet and then get straight back out there in the battlefield of love.

Scots indie band Frightened Rabbit are to play for the first time since the death of their singer Scott Hutchison this weekend

He took his own life in May.

His family said there had been concerns about his mental health, and they were "devastated" by his death.

The band will perform at Glasgow's Kelvingrove Bandstand to raise money for the social enterprise Social Bite.

Hutchison's brother and bandmate Grant said: "It seemed like the right thing to do, and like a natural thing to do - to make a positive thing out of something that personally was a very tragic event - to be able to help two charities and two causes, and also to play with people that are good friends again".

Read more

Image source, Getty Images

After 99 shows, Ed Sheeran had the highest grossing tour of 2018, according to Billboard.

His Divide Tour has made (brace yourselves...) an eye-watering $429m (£336.5m), setting new records for the highest-grossing solo tour.

It follows on from the $122m (£95.7m) he made in 2017, having begun his tour in March last year.

As it stands, a mere $171.4m (£134.4m) separates Ed's tour from U2’s 360 Tour, which remains the highest-grossing tour of all time.

Whatever may be in his bank account Ed will still wear what he wants, whether you like it or not.

Elsewhere Taylor Swift is number two on the year-end with a tasty $315.2m (£247.2m) and the top five is rounded off by The Carters - that's Bey and Jay to friends - on $253.5m (£199m), Bruno Mars on $237.8m (£186.5m) and Pink on $180.4m (£141.5m).

Read more, external if you can bear it...

Billboard magazine

Image source, Getty Images

The 25-year-old singer was embarrassed by the standing ovation she received as she accepted the award for Woman of the Year at the magazine's annual celebration of the achievements of women.

"I feel completely undeserving, it's truly insane," she said in her speech, external (which does have a language warning).

The event, she said, "acknowledges how male-dominated this industry is and gives women a moment to be together and fight for more equality, hopefully we can even out the playing field."

Cyndi Lauper was presented with the Icon award by British star Dua Lipa.

"Congratulations on your success so far," Cyndi told Dua. "You'll be standing here one day.

"Everybody always says, 'What does it feel like to be an icon?', I didn't know how to answer them but now I can hand them this and say, 'Feel this.'"

Cyndi added that when she started out, record labels had quotas of women.

"I guess it's still kind of like that but you guys are kicking down doors and that is awesome."

SZA was named Rule breaker of the year while country star Kacey Musgraves accepted an award for Innovation.

Read more, external

Image source, Getty Images

XXXTentacion's posthumous second LP, Skins, dropped today.

The controversial singer/rapper was murdered in Florida in June, aged 20.

At the time of his death he was accused of domestic abuse charges. Though he denied them, a leaked audio tape emerged in which the late rapper apparently admitted assaulting his pregnant ex-girlfriend and stabbing nine people.

The new record features a cameo from another controversial rapper, Kanye West, who appears to defend XXX on track eight, One Minute.

Ye raps:

Now your name is tainted, by the claims they paintin’ / The defendant is guilty, no one blames the plaintiff.

Since his death, XXX has been honoured with accolades by the American Music Awards and the BET Hip Hop Awards and, last month, joined Michael Jackson on Forbes' list of top earning dead celebs.

Skins is his second album of the year, following ?, which dropped in March.

Check out Bad from the album below and read more.

The Tyneside singer-songwriter is the first recipient of a fancy glass Brit award, as designed by Sir David Adjaye OBE.

He follows in the footsteps of the likes of Rag N' Bone Man, Jorja Smith and James Bay.

In a statement, he said he is "truly humbled" by the award, adding, "We've played literally hundreds of shows this year, and we're going to go even harder in 2019."

He thanks his fans and "everyone who’s taken a punt on me so far".

Lewis Capaldi and Mahalia are the runners-up, meaning that the Scottish singer's Tinder bio will remain the same.

Sam will be presented with his Brit at the annual awards bash at London's O2 Arena on 20 February.

We like to think we can back a winner here at MNL, Mr Fender was one of our Newbie Tuesday artists earlier this year and you can read our interview with him.