Seriously?

You don't have to be in Belfast, Swansea, Coventry or Perth to enjoy the massive weekend of music happening across the next four days.

Head to the Biggest Weekend to stream some of the biggest artists including Taylor Swift, Beck, Liam and Noel Gallagher (not together, alas), Ed Sheeran and many, many more.

Or you can listen live across radio and watch all the highlights on iPlayer and BBC One, Two and Four.

While you're choosing which awesome set to tune into, scroll down for Dua Lipa's thoughts on playing in the Champions League final (sort of), a tour announcement form Florence, new music from Paul Weller and Jonas Blue, and Robbie Williams working on a new musical with David Walliams.

We'll be back on Tuesday with a full round-up of the Biggest Weekend. Wherever you watch it, enjoy.

The stages in Belfast and Perth and well under way now, with artists such as Father John Misty (above), Lykke Li (below) and the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra playing. Here are a few images we think you'll like...

It's been quite a week hasn't it?

Madonna led tributes to her debut album producer and co-writer Reggie Lucas who died at the age of 65, pop artists shared their thoughts on how AI would impact songwriting (above) and the Arctic Monkeys' divisive new album was the fastest selling UK vinyl album in 25 years.

And of course, we were still winding down from the Great Escape.

Here are some more...

1) The Billboard Awards became a stage for protest

Janet Jackson made her stance on the #MeToo movement clear as she won the Icon prize at the Billboard Awards in Las Vegas at the weekend.

"Women have made it clear that we will no longer be controlled, manipulated or abused," said the singer, whose 1986 breakthrough album Control dealt with themes of feminism.

"I stand with those women and with those men equally outraged by discrimination, who support us in heart and mind."

The ceremony's host Kelly Clarkson, meanwhile, made her own voice heard when she addressed America's most recent school shooting in Texas, in which 10 people were killed.

"I'm so sick of moments of silence. It's not working," she said.

"Mamas and daddies should be able to send their kids to school."

Read more.

Image source, Getty Images

2) Kendrick Lamar stopped a white fan from using the N word on stage

In front of a massive live audience at his Hangout Festival gig in Alabama, a fan of the rapper discovered that it's not always appropriate to faithfully recreate his raps.

A white woman called Delaney was called up on stage to join him for a rap battle on his track M.A.A.D City.

But she was cut short by the star after being heard to repeatedly rap along to the offending word.

"What's up, bro?," she asked.

"You got to bleep one single word," he explained.

Delaney responded: "Oh, I’m sorry. Did I do it? I’m so sorry… I’m used to singing it like you wrote it."

After starting the music up again, the flustered fan then used the N-word again before Kendrick brought things to a close.

Whether Ken was right to do so was subject to fierce debate on social media.

Read more

Image source, Getty Images

3) Gwen Stefani said she is 'obviously at the end of my journey of being a musician'

The singer kicks off a new residency in Las Vegas in June and has suggested she is through with touring and recording.

Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, the 48-year-old said: “I’m obviously at the end of my journey of being a musician… because of my age, and I’ve been doing it for thirty-something years.”

The singer went on to say that it has become harder to tour with her three sons now in school, adding that her last tour came following her divorce from British singer Gavin Rossdale.

“As a mum, if you look at my touring for the last 10 years, I haven’t really toured."

The end of a era?

Read more

4) Liam Gallagher has another woman in his life

The singer met his 21-year-old daughter Molly Moorish for the first time.

The 45-year-old revealed the news by posting a photo with Molly, who was raised by her mother, singer Lisa Moorish.

They were joined by Lennon and Gene, Gallagher's sons from his marriages to Patsy Kensit and Nicole Appleton.

Last year, the former Oasis star admitted he had "never got around" to meeting Molly, saying he "didn't get on" with her mum.

Read more.

5) Pete Tong said DJs need more mental health support during a tribute to Avicii

Speaking at the annual International Music Summit (IMS) in Ibiza, Pete called Avicii - who died aged 28 in April - "one of the most talented and successful artists of his generation".

"The warp factor speed of his breakthrough fuelled by the adrenaline rush and global connectivity of social media ensured that Tim’s feet never touched the ground," said Pete.

"Tim had no training, there was no apprenticeship... He’d not even had a proper job."

Pete called the story of Avicii - whose name was Tom Bergling - "unique - it's the perfect storm in the sense that few will ever be that young and that talented, making the right music, at precisely the time when a worldwide musical movement is about to explode."

He added: "Given they way it turned out I hope we never see it again - BUT his death has put the spotlight firmly back on our profession - The Life of a DJ".

The Swedish DJ's family said he was "an over-achieving perfectionist who travelled and worked hard at a pace that led to extreme stress".

"He wanted to find peace."

Pete - who was made an MBE in 2014 for his career in broadcasting and music - said his hope is that DJs "feel less shame and more encouraged to speak up and seek help when they are struggling".

Read more

Heading along to Swansea for the Biggest Weekend's Radio 1 leg?

With more than 50 acts heading to Swansea's Singleton Park, it's worth having some insider knowledge.

Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith and Florence and the Machine are all on the line-up, as well as some names you may not be familiar with.

According to some of the artists playing on the BBC Music Introducing stage, finding local legend Bonnie Tyler's house, taking a romantic walk through the city and shouting at Taylor Swift in Welsh should also be priorities for anyone going.

Read more

The British singer-songwriter landed one of the best in the game, Alicia Keys, for his track Us which is released today.

The pair performed the track on The Voice in the US earlier this week.

Check it out above.

Jonas Blue, meanwhile, has teamed up with Vine rappers and celebs Jack & Jack on the synth-heavy Rise.

You can hear that one above.

They trying to hate hate hate / But we won’t change change anything at all / We’re gonna ri-ri-ri-ri-rise ’til we fall

A lesson for us all there.

The Northern Ireland leg of the Biggest Weekend is getting under way with Father John Misty and the Ulster Orchestra on the main stage.

The sun is shining. Honestly.

Check out the live stream.

We were speaking to some of the fans at Titanic Slipways earlier to find out who they are going to be checking out this weekend.

Before the random tweets, his praising of Donald Trump and tasteless suggestion that slavery was "a choice" on the part of black people, Kanye's tastes were simpler.

Check out his broad smile in this trailer for Celebrity Family Feud, the US TV game show in which he and Kim take on her family, the Kardashians.

"I'm here to win bro," he tells host Steve Harvey in the episode, which will be shown in June.

Back to the new Kanye now, and apparently he has spent $85,000 (£64,000) on a photo of Whitney Houston’s bathroom for the cover of Pusha T’s new album Daytona, which is out today.

Kanye produced the album, which is released through his GOOD Music label.

The photo (below) was reportedly taken at the height of Houston’s issues with drug addiction in 2006.

Read more, external

Ed Sheeran is playing in Swansea early on Saturday as part of BBC Music's Biggest Weekend because he has a show in Manchester later that night.

But Ed's UK tour has already run into some bumps in the road.

Hundreds of fans who turned up to the first night on Thursday discovered their tickets were invalid and they had to buy new ones.

Ed's promoters have cancelled all tickets bought through Viagogo in an attempt to crack down on touting.

Many affected fans in Manchester were frustrated to find they couldn't get in and had to buy new face-value tickets, before seeking a refund from Viagogo.

"I was fuming," said Samantha Dutton from Stoke-on-Trent.

"I paid £400 for two tickets, now I've got to pay £150 to go and see him, and then I'll get my money back within five days, apparently.

Read more

Image source, Getty Images

The RSC has confirmed to the BBC that Robbie Williams and his songwriting pal Guy Chambers are working with David Walliams on a new adaptation of his book The Boy in the Dress.

The story was first reported in the Daily Mail, external, with the suggestion that the new version would be directed by the RSC's artistic chief Greg Doran for Christmas 2019.

In a statement, the RSC said: "We are developing projects all the time and are very excited to be collaborating with David Walliams, Mark Ravenhill, Guy Chambers and Robbie Williams on a new adaptation of The Boy in the Dress.

The book tells the story of Dennis, a 12-year-old schoolboy who enjoys cross-dressing, and the reactions of his family and friends.

Robbie and Guy collaborated on the pop star's first five solo albums, all of which topped the UK chart.

They co-wrote some of his best-known songs including Let Me Entertain You, Angels and No Regrets.

The book was adapted for TV by the BBC in 2014, starring Jennifer Saunders, Meera Syal and The Inbetweeners' James Buckley.

The Modfather is 60 years young today and to celebrate he's released a surprise new track called Aspects.

It's a taster for his forthcoming 14th solo studio album True Meanings, which will be released later this year.

Paul clearly laughs in the face of retirement - he released his 13th album just last May.

He said of the new single: “I don’t know if it’s indicative of the album, but it’s certainly the cornerstone to the record for me. It’s also where I got the title of the album from…”

He'll be a special guest at Quincy Jones's 85th birthday spectacular at the O2 arena in London on 27 June.

Listen to the mellow new track below.

Days after the first anniversary of the Manchester Arena attack, Ariana Grande has posted a picture of a new tattoo of a bee - the symbol of the city.

Twenty-two people were killed shortly after Ariana came off stage on 22 May 2017.

To remember the victims, thousands of people have had bees inked on their bodies. Ariana has followed suit and captioned her post "Forever".

Read more.

Image source, Getty Images

The Manics are set to provide one of the highlights of day one of the Biggest Weekend but they are now a man down.

Sadly, their powerhouse songwriter/bass player Nicky Wire will not be playing when the Welsh rockers take to the main stage at 18.20, due to "a serious family illness".

The band tweeted the show will go on and a replacement bass player is to step in.

So if you're in the area and can play the four-string you know who to call.

Best regards to Nicky and the family from the MNL team.

Read more.

Paul Glynn
Music News LIVE reporter

See. Told you.

Greetings from sunny Belfast where, where after much ado, the Biggest Weekend will kick off later.

The indie-est of all four parties, over four days, across four nations gets going at 1300 BST at the city's historic Titantic Slipways site (not far from where the doomed ship was built) - with a special performance from Father John Misty and the Ulster Orchestra.

The symphonic display will be followed by sets from Swedish indie pop star Lykke Li, progressive London-based band Public Service Broadcasting and Australian singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett, before US grunge rockers The Breeders and Welsh superstars the Manic Street Preachers (below) bring the noise.

This evening's headliner is multi-instrumentalist Beck.

Check out our recent chats with Courtney and the Manics.

Image source, Getty Images

The all-out rave of an after-party (for those with real staying power) will be provided by UK electro-pioneers Orbital.

Until then, it a bit quite here bar lots of friendly work folk in bright yellow jackets, as the site doesn't officially open until midday.

So let's have a wee look around shall we...

As well as the big acts today on the main stage, the 6 Music Recommends stage will also welcome some exciting up and coming acts, including The Orielles.

They're one of six BW acts, including Dream Wife (who play here tomorrow) that we'd highly recommend you check out this weekend.

I mean, have we ever let you down?

The build-up to today’s festival has included a 10 day-day outreach Fringe programme in and around the city, involving master classes in music journalism, management and beyond.

BBC Radio 6 Music DJs Steve Lamacq and Marc Riley broadcast their shows live from rock ‘n’ roll venue, The Limelight, last night.

As you can see below, the studios are setting up nicely too inside the remarkably sharp-cornered Titanic building, which has shards of ice all around it and a cracking view of Belfast - and more specifically where some of Game of Thrones is filmed (fun fact).

Highlights of Friday’s action in Belfast will be on BBC Four from 19:30, with the Manics on live from 20:00 but you can tune in live to 6 Music all day.

Unless of course you are going to be here, in which case I'll see you by the ice cream stall in a bit,

Kev Geoghegan
Music News LIVE reporter

What a year it's been for Dua Lipa.

Two Brit Awards, a number one single with Calvin Harris, one of the Live Lounges of the century with an all-star girl group, external, and now she is performing ahead of Saturday night's Champion's League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid in Kiev.

"It's really exciting," she says in an exclusive Music News LIVE chat.

"We've done a run-through rehearsal and even though the stadium's empty its still terrifying.

"I don't know how it's going to feel when there are thousands of people inside and millions watching at home."

Image source, PepsiCo

An estimated global TV audience of 200 million watched last year's final in Cardiff, where the Black Eyed Peas played the opening performance.

But having recently reached one billion views on YouTube for her song New Rules, Dua is not scared of large figures.

"Performance-wise, it's the biggest that I've ever done, there's a lot of girls, we're going to have some Ukrainian influence as well given where we are.

"I wanted it to be different from my other performances that I've done so there won't be a pink flamingo with me.

"There are like 360 cameras and exciting things from all angles, it will be really fun in the stadium and will look great on telly, I hope people enjoy it."

Image source, Getty Images

Dua is staying pretty tight-lipped about what the performance will entail, divulging only that she will perform a medley and will be on stage for around eight minutes.

But if a performance like the one Lady Gaga brought to the Super Bowl in 2017, external teaches us anything, it's that an artist goes big or goes home.

"I would have loved to have skydived in," Dua laughs. "I would have been pretty scared to do that but obviously the match is afterwards so we have to be respectful of the pitch.

"There were only so many things that we were allowed to do, we have to keep the pitch intact."

Dua's dad and younger brother - both committed Arsenal fans - have also travelled to Kiev to watch the game and she will be staying to watch the match because her he manager is "a massive Liverpool fan".

"I've never been to a football game before so I'm starting at the top."

The game at the NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium will be streamed on the BT Sport website.

Image source, PepsiCo

The rapper has announced that her new album Queen will be released on 10 August.

That's despite the fact she said at the Met Ball in NYC earlier this month (above) that the new record would come out in June.

No reason has been given for the delay.

She has released two singles from the album, Chun-Li and Barbie Tingz.

Nicki has also endorsed one of our Newbie Tuesday artists Ms Banks, who said of the star: "She's still really nice and shows me love, it's amazing, she's the best female rapper of all time as far as I'm concerned."

Florence & The Machine are heading out on the road towards the end of this year.

• Thursday 15 November, Leeds First Direct Arena
• Friday 16 November, Birmingham Genting Arena
• Saturday 17 November, Glasgow The SSE Hydro
• Wednesday 21 November, London The O2 Arena
• Friday 23 November, Manchester Arena
• Sunday 25 November, Brighton Centre
• Monday 26 November, Cardiff Motorpoint Arena.

Tickets are on sale next Friday, 1 June, and Florence's new album High As Hope is out a few weeks later on 29 June.

She announced a US tour earlier in the week.

Before then, she is due to support The Rolling Stones at the London Stadium tonight.

Happy Friday everyone.

It's finally here, BBC Music's Biggest Weekend, which will see a whole weekend's worth of music (120 hours in total) play across four sites in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Father John Misty will kick things off at lunchtime in Belfast for the 6 Music leg and he'll be joined by the Ulster Orchestra.

You'll be able to listen in on 6 Music, or head to the Biggest Weekend site to stream the performances.

We are giddy with excitement and will be bringing you some updates from the Titanic Slipways throughout today.

Elsewhere today...

• New music from Jonas Blue; and James Bay and Alicia Keys
• Dua Lipa talks to us about her Champion's League performance this weekend
• Ariana Grande posted a tattoo tribute to Manchester
• Florence & The Machine announce details of a UK arena tour

Are you ready?