Music News LIVE: Tributes to Prince Be

While we don't want to alarm anyone heading to Glastonbury later this week, there are some concerning images being shared on social media today, showing the current state of Worthy Farm...

Meanwhile heavy rain is being predicted for Saturday, so it's definitely time to ready those wellies.

We've just had this update from the Bullzini family who are currently setting up in the circus area - here is what (a rather hopeful) Christopher Anaspitos told us on the phone:    

Quote Message: The ground is now less squelchy than it was this morning at seven or eight o’clock, so we’re all happy about that. The clouds are still overhead but they’re thinner than they were. It’s looking much lighter and there’s not actually, touch wood, any droplets of rain falling from the sky. So although there’s been a bit of rain and there’s some muddy patches, hopefully there’ll be enough sun to make it a really dry and wonderful weekend for everyone.

The ground is now less squelchy than it was this morning at seven or eight o’clock, so we’re all happy about that. The clouds are still overhead but they’re thinner than they were. It’s looking much lighter and there’s not actually, touch wood, any droplets of rain falling from the sky. So although there’s been a bit of rain and there’s some muddy patches, hopefully there’ll be enough sun to make it a really dry and wonderful weekend for everyone.

See, it's going to be WONDERFUL! Looking on the bright side, nearly all of the portaloos have been scrapped this year in favour of new, less pongy, organic toilets that avoid the 'pyramid of poo' issue, according to The Guardian - plus Brian Blessed will be the voice of one of three talking toilets. 

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Following criticism of YouTube from artists such as Nikki Sixx and Debbie Harry, 180 musicians and songwriters including Taylor Swift, Paul McCartney, Kings of Leon and Carole King have signed a petition calling for reform of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DCMA), which regulates copyright online. 

Their signatures appear in an ad running in Washington DC magazines Politico, The Hill and Roll Call this week, along with 19 organisations and companies - including the major record labels - who are currently in negotiations with YouTube. 

They say the DMCA allows the site "safe harbour” from copyright infringement liability for the actions of their users, as long as they respond to takedown notices from rightsholders - although YouTube has denied it benefits from the Act.

The ad also says the legislation “has allowed major tech companies to grow and generate huge profits by creating ease of use for consumers to carry almost every recorded song in history in their pocket via a smartphone, while songwriters’ and artists’ earnings continue to diminish.”  

The petition coincides with several major government reviews of US copyright laws .

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Eminem could be about to write some new music for a TV show based on the 2002 movie Narc.

According to Deadline, he is in negotiations to join the team behind the show, set in his native Detroit

He is understood to be eyeing up a role as executive producer and music supervisor - part of which will involve writing some original songs. 

The film, which starred Ray Liotta and Jason Patric as Detroit police detectives investigating the murder of an undercover cop, was directed by Joe Carnahan - who has written a pilot script and is set to direct and executive produce the drama.

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Well, he is according to BBC news producer Chris Gibson:

Will is playing the Avalon stage on Saturday night. Apparently the slogans will be removed before he uses the bus.

Though it will remain red. 

Rapper Drake has joined the flood of tributes to Star Trek actor Anton Yelchin, who has died following an accident at his home in California.

The 27-year-old was crushed by his own car outside his home in Los Angeles.

It struck him after rolling backwards down the steep drive at his Studio City home, pinning him against a brick postbox pillar and a security fence.

Drake - who starred opposite each other in the 2007 film Charlie Bartlett - posted this photo with the words "Rest in peace Anton".

One of Yelchin's final roles was as a guitarist in a punk band in the hyper-violent movie Green Room. He also tweeted his shock over the young actor's death:

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Talk turned to musical inspirations and big old guilty pleasures when Radiohead's Ed O'Brien interviewed The Invisible's Dave Okumu recently, for record label Ninja Tune's podcast.  

While Okumu spoke of his hero Prince - for whom he recently recorded a touching tribute with new single Oceans of Purple - O'Brien revealed he's only recently discovered the joys of Abba, thanks to his daughter:

Quote Message: I can be totally honest, one of my daughter’s favorite films is Mamma Mia. Obviously Abba in the ’70s was huge, but I never owned an Abba record. And in the ’80s? Abba? I mean, oh my god. And unfortunately that shadow is cast upon, and it alters your judgment and you can be very judgmental about this music.

I can be totally honest, one of my daughter’s favorite films is Mamma Mia. Obviously Abba in the ’70s was huge, but I never owned an Abba record. And in the ’80s? Abba? I mean, oh my god. And unfortunately that shadow is cast upon, and it alters your judgment and you can be very judgmental about this music.

Quote Message: [We] watched Mamma Mia at Christmas, finally, all together, and I was like, 'These songs are amazing! Oh my god!' I got spine tingles, even with Pierce Brosnan singing.

[We] watched Mamma Mia at Christmas, finally, all together, and I was like, 'These songs are amazing! Oh my god!' I got spine tingles, even with Pierce Brosnan singing.

Read more on Pitchfork or take a listen here.

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Coldplay, Foals, Muse and Wolf Alice are among the artists who'll feature on a new live album from Glastonbury, which is being produced in memory of late MP Jo Cox. 

The Glastonbury Live album will raise money for refugees worldwide, in collaboration with Oxfam.

Cox is a former Oxfam activist and MP for Batley and Spen who campaigned for refugees rights until she was killed in Yorkshire last week. 

Other acts who will appear on the album include Sigur Ros, The Last Shadow Puppets, Chvrches, John Grant and Laura Mvula - who will all dedicate a song from their Glastonbury set for the record. 

Two Door Cinema Club, Jamie Lawson, Jack Garratt, The 1975, Editors, Years & Years and Fatboy Slim are also confirmed to contribute tracks, with more artists from the festival's line-up expected to follow.  

Comeback merchant of the year Craig David paid a visit to the BBC Breakfast studios this morning to discuss how his famous TS5 parties helped fuel the latest incarnation of his career. 

TS5 started at his apartment in Miami several years ago, but this year he's taking the party to Ibiza and will be gracing a field in Glastonbury this weekend. 

And far from being fed up of wheeling out classic tracks like 7 Days, Craig says he views his songs "like children": 

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Senegalese superstar Baaba Maal is set to play Glastonbury this weekend - taking to the Pyramid stage on Saturday lunchtime - and to get in the mood you can now watch three of the tracks he performed at the Hay Festival earlier this month. 

His latest album The Traveller features collaborations with The Very Best producer Johan Hugo, whom Maal met through Africa Express, and Winston Marshall from Mumford & Sons.

Maal says of the project: “By travelling you discover that humanity is so beautiful: different faces, different cultures, different colours, different sounds.” 

Here's his performance of the closing track of his set, called Traveller...

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We've already had a gig down a volcano today and now we have one in the Arctic Ocean.

Italian composer Ludovico Einaudi has performed on a grand piano on a floating platform amid the icy waters surrounding the Nordenskiöld glacier in Svalbard, Norway.

He played a new composition, Elegy for the Arctic, having travelled on board Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise.

The piece was performed ahead of a meeting of the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic, or OSPAR for short.

He was due to play on the glacier itself but there was not enough ice in the area, so Greenpeace had to build the 2.6 x 10 metre artificial iceberg.

Einadui said “Being here has been a great experience. I could see the purity and fragility of this area with my own eyes and interpret a song I wrote to be played in the best stage in the world.  

"It is important that we understand the importance of the Arctic, stop the process of destruction and protect it.”

Watch his chilly performance below:

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Tinie Tempah has already released three singles from it, but he's now finally announced his third album YOUTH will be released on 16 September.

It will feature those tracks Not Letting Go, featuring Jess Glynne, Turn The Music Louder and Girls Like, which features Zara Larsson.

Tinie has also teased his new single Mamacita, on which he has enlisted Mobo-winner Wizkid as a guest artist.

Tinie said: "I honestly feel that there is no limit to where you can get in life. I really believe that. 

"Youth is the time where you dream without any limitations or fear. And I wanted to share MY story with the world through MY music."

MY, how generous...

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The director of a new Quadrophenia film attacked by The Who has defended his movie, saying he doesn’t intend it to be a sequel to the band’s 1979 film.

Ray Burdis is the writer/director of To Be Someone, which had been reported as a follow-up to the influential Mod film based on The Who’s 1973 album of the same name.

Earlier this month The Who issued a statement disassociating themselves from the project and calling it “totally ridiculous”.

Now Burdis has told NME he "never stated" the film - starring Quadrophnia cast members Phil Daniels, Trevor Laird and singer Toyah Willcox - was a sequel. 

"If people draw that conclusion from the cast, what can I do?," he said.

"The fact that some of the cast are in my film is purely coincidental; they are old friends who I have known for years, who like the script and have an interest in the Mod culture.”

He added: 

Quote Message: I totally agree that Quadrophenia is a classic, iconic film that should never be revisited. If The Who management had actually read the script of To Be Someone, they would have realised it is not an attempt at a Quadrophenia sequel but a stand-alone film based on modern day Mod culture. It’s a feel good, fun, fashion and music extravaganza.

I totally agree that Quadrophenia is a classic, iconic film that should never be revisited. If The Who management had actually read the script of To Be Someone, they would have realised it is not an attempt at a Quadrophenia sequel but a stand-alone film based on modern day Mod culture. It’s a feel good, fun, fashion and music extravaganza.

Burdis added: “I’m sorry that The Who’s management feel affronted, as I would have loved Roger Daltrey to play a role, but there you go.”

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The lead singer of Deftones, Chino Moreno, has described his experience of being one of the first artists to perform in the shaft of a volcano in Iceland as “privileged”.

The gig was put on to coincide with the Summer Solstice Festival in Reykjavik - but there were only 20 tickets on offer, because of the size of the volcanic shaft.

The fans were lowered 120 metres inside, where they watched local Icelandic singer/songwriter Snorri Helgason perform too.

Chino - who performed a Morrissey song and a Deftones track before completing his set with a track from David Bowie’s last album, Blackstar, admitted he was “a little nervous”:   

Quote Message: It’s amazing, just to come down here for one, is spectacular, and then to do some music and to have this intimate setting, is amazing. It’s definitely something original. When I was asked to do this, my first thought was like, ‘when will I ever get the chance to do something like this ever again? Probably not’. So it’s definitely something different for the festival but just as a life experience as well for me, just to be a part of this. I am very privileged. from Chino Moreno

It’s amazing, just to come down here for one, is spectacular, and then to do some music and to have this intimate setting, is amazing. It’s definitely something original. When I was asked to do this, my first thought was like, ‘when will I ever get the chance to do something like this ever again? Probably not’. So it’s definitely something different for the festival but just as a life experience as well for me, just to be a part of this. I am very privileged.

Snorri explained to the audience during his set that he'd been looking into the “science” of playing an instrument underground.

He said the cold made the guitar’s notes sound higher and his harmonica’s sound lower, so he had to tweak and change how he played them.

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Read more or watch the video below: 

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There was a mixed response to the poppy new Kaiser Chiefs sound when they unveiled their new single Parachute last week, which was written in collaboration with Girls Aloud, Pet Shop Boys and Xenomania producer Brian Higgins.

The band called it "maybe the first love song we’ve written since Ruby".

Now the band have unveiled the video for the track - the first from their forthcoming new album Stay Together, due in October - so we have another, more visual, chance to enjoy their new direction. 

Shot by director Ed Sayers at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre’s diving pool, it sees singer Ricky Wilson bravely performing his own stunts (involving leaping from the 30 ft high board over 50 times). 

The band call it "a grand day out" of a video "like they were when we started”.

We think you'll agree the lack of belly flops is impressive...

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Up until Friday, singer Rick Astley was probably best known to an entire generation of young music fans for the Rickrolling meme - which drew people towards his 1987 hit single Never Gonna Give You Up.

But Rick's first album in more than ten years, 50 - which like Adele takes its name from his age - beat off competition from Tom Odell to top the UK's album chart.

Rick told Chris Evans how he marked its success - and it involves a wet mop:

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Tributes have been paid to Attrell Cordes, better known as Prince Be from '90s R&B  duo P.M. Dawn, who died on Friday at the age of 46 from kidney disease.

They recorded their debut record, the positively-reviewed Of the Heart, of the Soul and of the Cross: The Utopian Experience in London.

It spawned the massive global hit, Set Adrift on Memory Bliss, which used a sample of Spandau Ballet's True.

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Gary Kemp from the Band led tributes to the late rapper:  

And his P.M. Dawn collaborator Doc G paid tribute on Facebook, with a rhyme: 

"Prince Be Rest In Peace Forever More, 

Pain from diabetes can't harm you anymore, 

My Heart is at Peace B-Cuz U suffered so long, 

Tell Grandma I said Hi & Stay Blisstatic & Strong."

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One of Canada's biggest exports, Drake stole the show at the Much Music Video Awards in Toronto last night - without even being there. 

The Views rapper picked up five awards, from best video for Hotline Bling to 'most buzzworthy Canadian' (an actual award).

Host Nick Jonas - who also performed at the ceremony - was honoured with the international male award and dedicated it to the Orlando shooting victims. 

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"This is for all the families and victims of the shootings recently," he told the crowd, according to The Hollywood Reporter.  

"We love you and you are not forgotten," 

Alessia Cara - who had seven nominations - took home just one for best new Canadian artist and performed Wild Things, while The Weeknd took best Canadian single of the year for Can't Feel My Face. 

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Fifth Harmony (above) won two awards - most buzzworthy international group and the fan fave international group award - while Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello also won two awards for I Know What You Did Last Summer.

Other performances came from hip-hop star Desiigner, Tegan and Sara, actress-turned-singer Hailee Steinfeld and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, who opened the show and won best international group. 

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One of the two men appointed by a US court to overlook Prince's musical estate has apparently suggested his legendary vault of unreleased material could soon see the light of day.

On Friday Charles Koppelman - who signed the singer and musician when he was head of EMI - was appointed, alongside Prince’s longtime lawyer and manager L Londell McMillan, to handle his entertainment assets.

Now, in an interview with the NY Post, Koppelman has said: "We’re going to be having a good time".

"There is so much to be done with this estate. There are vaults full of music."

He told the paper, that could mean a Broadway musical featuring Prince’s hits or a Cirque du Soleil show.  

He added: "Prince was an icon on the level of The Beatles and Michael Jackson, and his legacy should be honoured.

"Though his name was Prince, I always thought he was the king of music."

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A former contestant on Mexico's version of The Voice has been shot dead in Chicago, according to Police.

Alejandro Fuentes, 45, died on Saturday in hospital after an ambush on Thursday night, while celebrating his birthday with friends. 

He was a contestant on the TV singing show in 2011.

His death comes 10 days after singer Christina Grimmie, who appeared on the US edition of The Voice, was shot and killed in Orlando, Florida.

The number of murders in Chicago this year is up 72% from 2015.

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