News updates for 2 May 2017
Ed Sheeran painting to be displayed in National Portrait Museum
Radiohead share cryptic new OK Computer video message
New mum Janet Jackson to resume tour
Warning: Third party content may contain ads
Image source, Getty ImagesNot a bad first day back, all things considered.
We've had Ed's painted head, Radiohead's cryptic video, Janet's rescheduled tour and Kasabian's hottest record.
Oh, and Cheryl/Liam's potential baby name. We can Bear-ly believe it either...
See you all again tomorrow.
If two mentions of Liam Payne aren't enough for you today - and let's face it, for One Directioners it NEVER is - then here is some more news from the 1D camp.
Niall, the Irish one who plays the guitar, is set to release his second solo single on Friday.
Slow Hands follows on from last year's This Town and judging by the soft focus cover, it is unlikely to mark his foray into the world of 90s Californian gangsta rap...
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Image source, Getty ImagesKele Okereke has shared his acoustic new track Yemaya.
The Bloc Party frontman is playing a solo tour across Europe this May.
Speaking to the NME, external, Kele said the new track is about "the mother goddess of the ocean, she is kinda the patron saint of pregnant women and fertility," in the west African Yoruba religion.
Switch off whatever you are doing for this one...
Allow YouTube content?
This article contains content provided by Google YouTube. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Google’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Rolling Stone magazine
Image source, GetDamn. That kid can rap.
As well as spawning many funny memes, Kendrick's new album has topped the Billboard 200 for a second week.
According to Rolling Stone, by Sunday, the rapper had shifted another 238,000 copies to add to the 2017 record-breaking 603,000 total copies sold in its first week of availability.
That figure eclipsed this year's previous best-seller until then; Drake's More Life.
Ken has since quashed rumours that a second follow up album is imminent.
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Don't get greedy people. Stay humble.
Image source, Getty ImagesOn now to Justin Bieber who appears to have announced plans to play a show in Israel.
He's just tweeted with regard to his Purpose tour plans.
It comes a week after Radiohead received an open letter from Artists for Palestine UK, external, urging them not to play their planned gig in Tel Aviv this summer due to ongoing conflict in the region.
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
BBC 6 Music
Like Gorillaz, Sonic Youth axe man Thurston Moore had a new record - Rock Rock n Roll Consciousness - out on Friday.
Are you digging it?
To mark the release, Thurston joined 6 Music's Steve Lamacq for a special guitar masterclass and you can watch him jamming the Sonic Youth classic Sunday.
Read more...
...or should that be Read Moore.
Ahem.
Pitchfork
Image source, Getty ImagesSome mothers do have em...
...rock stars we mean.
Following on from two generations of Grohls talking shop last week, we have US slacker rocker Mac DeMarco and his mum Agnes for you this week.
They've given an in depth interview to US website Pitchfork about Mac’s early life as a "scrawny computer nerd" and the moment his mum knew he was destined for the big time.
She says: “His songs always make me cry.”
We asssume in a good way.
If that hasn't whet your appetite for Mac, then you can also listen to his chat with 6 Music's Mary Anne Hobbs ahead of the release of his new album This Old Dog.
BBC Newsbeat
Image source, Getty ImagesMigos have confirmed that they've collaborated with 'Daddy Bear' (scroll down) Liam Payne.
In an interview ahead of the LA trio's recent show in London, Quavo from the group said: "I just came from [filming] a video today.
"My boy Liam from One Direction. Crazy vid. Crazy visuals. Crazy team. Cool guy... I wasn't even supposed to say that. It's gonna be a surprise though."
Well not anymore Quavs.
The lost art of a keeping a secret.
Image source, Getty Images
BBC Radio 1
For Crying Out Loud... Kasabian have kept us all waiting a week longer than expected for their new album.
It will now drop this Friday and we'll hear some of Serge thoughts on the new record later in the week.
But while we wait, Leicester's finest have the hottest record in the world right now in the form of new single Ill Ray (The King).
The lads played it on their recent run of London gigs and now you can listen above to Radio 1's Mistajam chatting to songwriter Sergio Pizzorno about the track.
He says it's Afrobeat crossed with Daft Punk and the Beastie Boys.
Image source, Getty ImagesOK that's lunch - time for a quick skive and a new audio-visual musical treat.
A byproduct of more people consuming music on sites like YouTube now is that artists share lyric videos ahead of actual videos - which take a bit more time, effort and money to produce.
Most of the lyric videos are pretty dull but Lady Gaga has produced the new one below for her song The Cure and it's pretty visually interesting, we have to say.
Even if it does make our eyes hurt a little...
Allow YouTube content?
This article contains content provided by Google YouTube. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Google’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Well, they may not have a number one album (scroll down) but no matter...
...as Steps have just been announced to join the lineup for BBC Proms in the Park.
This year’s gig will take place in London’s Hyde Park on Saturday 9 September.
Steps will join the likes of Michael Ball, Welsh baritone Sir Bryn Terfel and the BBC Concert Orchestra - conducted by Richard Balcombe - in bringing Proms season to a close, at Britain's largest outdoor classical music event.
Ticket go on sale on Friday morning.
Image source, Getty Images"If you had / One shot / Or one opportunity / To seize everything you ever wanted..."
Looks like Eminem has taken his own advice by taking New Zealand's governing party to court over a track it used for a campaign ad.
The US rapper says the song, used in the 2014 advert by the National Party, was an unlicensed version of his hit Lose Yourself.
But the party's lawyers argue it was not actually Lose Yourself, but a track called Eminem-esque which they bought from a stock music library.
The case began on Monday, with the two tracks played in court.
A lawyer for Eight Mile Style - a publishing group representing the artist - said Lose Yourself was "iconic" and "without doubt the jewel in the crown of Eminem's musical work".
Allow YouTube content?
This article contains content provided by Google YouTube. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Google’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Image source, Colin Davidson / National Portrait GalleryHe's all over the singles chart and now he's all over the wall at the National Portrait Gallery.
The museum in London has acquired a new portrait of Ed Sheeran, painted by Belfast-based artist Colin Davidson.
It's Ed's first ever painted portrait and measures four feet square - so just a little taller than Ed is (sorry Ed, joke mate).
Ed sat for the artist at his home in Suffolk in 2015 for three hours, during which Davidson made twenty drawings from life and took reference photographs.
Colin Davidson said: ‘When painting a portrait I am looking for the moment when the person is almost unaware of me being there and I feel I got it with Ed.
"I deliberately didn’t want Ed to perform and that was odd for him.
"But there is a youthful aspect to the portrait but also something experienced beyond his years."
Is it us, or does he look familiar?
The Sun
Allow Instagram content?
This article contains content provided by Instagram. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Meta’s Instagram cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Yes, according to the Sun, external.
And the moniker for this pop offspring...Bear.
Like the animal.
Of course, we should say that they're is no official confirmation of this as yet but the internet being the internet, people have been having a field day sharing their views on the name.
Image source, Getty ImagesAllow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Image source, Getty ImagesWe knew it. Radiohead ARE up to something!
Last week saw a series of cryptic 'More Fear' posters appear in locations around Europe, containing the dates 1997-2017.
Fans of the band noted the dates mark the 20th anniversary of the release of their seminal album OK Computer.
Now, the band have shared a mysterious old school early computer video, which includes a young girl reciting lines from album track Climbing Up The Walls.
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Weird huh?
Did you notice that the video, which looks like an old Spectrum game loading (ask your uncle), also contains the letters REM?
Extra point if you did. Still no official word from the band on what this means.
Is this man (and his magnificent new beard) involved?
Allow Instagram content?
This article contains content provided by Instagram. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Meta’s Instagram cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
No-one knows.
Thom Yorke and co are playing us all like a guitar string and the suspense is too much for some of you to take.
Others are busy working on their theories...
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Image source, Getty ImagesJanet Jackson has announced she will resume her world tour in September, after postponing 75 dates last year in order to start a family.
The 50-year-old gave birth to her first son, Eissa, on 3 January.
In a relaxed selfie-style video message apparently filmed from her bed, Janet describes him as "so healthy, so beautiful, so sweet, so loving, such a happy baby".
She also tells off brother Randy for interrupting and addresses her separation from the baby's father, Wissam Al Mana, saying: "We are in court and the rest is in God's hands."
Oh and turns out even 'Jan' worries about bags under her eyes.
The Jacksons are only human after all.
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Image source, Getty ImagesIf like us you spent the Bank Holiday delving into Gorillaz epic star-studded new album Humanz then you might be keen to know that they are set to take it on the road.
The animated band will head to Brighton on 27 November, then head to Glasgow, before performing gigs in Manchester, Birmingham and London's O2 Arena.
If everyone who made a cameo on the record (Noel Gallagher, Mavis Staples, Benjamin Clementine, De La Soul, Danny Brown etc etc) is actually going on the tour then they're going to need a bigger bus.
Rolling Stone magazine
Image source, Getty ImagesOne of the unlucky festival-goers who traveled to the Bahamas last week for an exclusive music festival to be headlined by artists like Ja Rule, Blink 182 and Skepta is suing the organisers for $100m.
Daniel Jung is taking action against the disastrous Fyre Festival co-founders Ja Rule (real name Jeffrey Atkins) and Billy McFarland, accusing them of subjecting ticket-holders to "dangerous conditions".
On Friday pictures on social media appeared to show makeshift tents pitched on scrubland with people offered basic sandwiches in the way of food.
There were reports that ticketholders arriving on the island on plances were being turned away.
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Headliners Blink 182 cancelled their appearance and the event was abandoned on Friday night.
The action alleges the festival "was nothing more than a get-rich-quick scam from the very beginning.
"The festival's lack of adequate food, water, shelter, and medical care created a dangerous and panicked situation among attendees - suddenly finding themselves stranded on a remote island without basic provisions - that was closer to The Hunger Games or Lord of the Flies than Coachella," the lawsuit stated.
McFarland told Rolling Stone, external: "We were overwhelmed and just didn't have the foresight to solve all these problems."
New York Times reporter Joe Coscarelli reports (below) that Fyre Fest-ers are now able to choose between a refund and free admission to next year's festival.
Tough call.
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Ja Rule, meanwhile, said he was "heartbroken" over the mess and pleaded it was "NOT MY FAULT".
Allow X content?
This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Image source, Getty ImagesSo, who you are you wearing this morning at work?
This first post may make you feel a little over/under-dressed.
That's after some of the biggest stars from the world of pop popped on a wild designer frock and stepped out for this year's annual Met Ball in New York last night.
Japanese designer Rei Kawakubo - founder of fashion label Comme des Garçons - inspired this year's theme.
Barbadian bad girl Rihanna (above), who has previously stepped out in a 'pizza' dress, arrived in typically understated fashion once more.
Image source, Getty ImagesBon Appetit singer Katy Perry (above) may be co-chair of the ball but she did not play by the rules.
She surprised some by wearing Galliano, not Comme de Garcons. It certainly surprised us.
The new blonde wore a veil and had the word "witness" written across her forehead.
Image source, Getty ImagesHere's how Mary J Blige, a very militarised Madonna and Jaden Smith waving a bouquet of his own hair (excuse us while we retch) looked on arrival at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Coming to a high street near you soon... (the dresses. Not Jaden's locks).
Image source, PASteps' comeback album Tears On The Dancefloor was 4,000 sales ahead of Ed's ÷ (Divide) at one point last week.
But like a 3-0 first half lead over FC Barcelona, you need a much bigger margin than that over chart-slayer Ed.
He fought back to claim a seventh week at the top of the album charts,
Image source, Official Chart CompanyClean Bandit succeeded where Steps failed though.
They, like Harry Styles before them, knocked Ed off the top of the singles charts with their track Symphony, which features the vocal talents of Super Swede Zara Larsson.
Something tells us Ed might be back at the top again soon.
Here's the new chart-toppers performing their #1 track on US TV below.
Allow YouTube content?
This article contains content provided by Google YouTube. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Google’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
