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Live Updates

Sarah Jane Griffiths and Kev Geoghegan

All times stated are UK

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  1. Goodbye for now...

    Scroll down for Christine and Queens cover of Michael Jackson, new music from John Cooper Clarke and Hugh Cornwell, a steamy video from Banks, Justin Vernon's dad dance and even Father John Misty's criminal confession.

    And we'll leave you with something nice and mellow to see you through the afternoon...

    Actress Emma Stone (soon to be seen flexing her vocal muscles in forthcoming movie musical La La Land alongside Ryan Gosling) was a guest on US comedy talk show Maya & Marty when host Maya Rudolph roped her into a duet. 

    The pair performed a cover of Robyn's track Call Your Girlfriend, using just their voices and some butter cups for percussion. It's not exactly an original idea - Swedish trio Erato have had more than 3.8 million hits for their rendition on YouTube - but we think they do a stellar job all the same. Enjoy...

    Warning: third party content, may contain ads.

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  2. Mel B: people are confused by 'GEM' name

    Hardly a day goes by when there isn't a little twist or turn or indeed a zig-a-zig-ah in the Spice Girls reunion story.

    We know that Mel B, Geri and Emma are on board for something to mark their 20th anniversary.

    Less sure are Mel C and Victoria (okay we're pretty sure its a no from her).

    Now Mel has been on Access Hollywood to clear things up a bit. Apparently people shouldn't read too much into the name GEM (Geri, Emma, Mel).

    Warning: Third party content, may contain ads.

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  3. John Cooper Clarke and Hugh Cornwell team up

    John Cooper Clarke

    Punk poet John Cooper Clarke and former Stranglers frontman Hugh Cornwell are reliving the music of their past in a new collaboration album.

    This Time It’s Personal, due out on 14 October, features tracks both men grew up listening to.

    The album marks Clarke's debut, at the age of 67, as a lead vocalist, with Cornwell on guitar. 

    It includes covers of artists including Richie Valens and country star Conway Twitty.

    6 Music's Shaun Keaveny had the first play of the pair's cover of MacArthur Park this morning.

    Listen from 2.43.

  4. Listen to Christine and the Queens cover Michael Jackson

    BBC Radio 1

    On yesterday's Music News LIVE, we told you about the UK dates announced by Christine and the Queens.

    Last night, on Annie Mac's show, she played a live cover of the King of Pop's song Who Is It? from his Dangerous album.

    The funk is turned down for an effective melancholic French feel.

  5. Did Father John Misty admit to nicking a crystal?

    Father John Misty

    US troubadour Father John Misty is famed for his dry sense of humour, so it may be no more than a joke but he appears to have copped to stealing a crystal from a US shop.

    Following an appeal for information, by the shop's owners in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, he wrote an Instagram post "regarding the alleged 'theft' of the rose Quartz crystal".

    "I am here to claim responsibility, though I do not condone the rhetoric employed in Moon Juice's post," he added.

    "The universe, however you may define her, brought this crystal into my life at what can only be described as a 'pivot moment'."

    Quote Message: While I empathise with your loss I do believe that there is a larger lesson to be gleaned from this experience: namely that material goods, no matter how sacred, WILL come and go from your life. from Father John Misty
    Father John Misty
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  6. Banks shares new single ...With Myself

    US singer-songwriter Banks has shared a rather explicit new track, luckily she has also done... yaay, a SFW version.

    ...With Myself is a first taster from her second album which is due at the end of September. 

    According to Banks, who appeared on the BBC's Sound of 2014 ahead of her debut album, the song "is about being your own best friend, your own mother, and your own lover.” 

    Here's a (clean language only) snippet of ...With Myself's creepy video: 

    Video content

    Video caption: Banks performs her new single, FWM
  7. Shura: 'Pop music doesn't represent me'

    Mark Savage

    Music reporter

    Shura

    Singer-songwriter Shura says most pop music is "too confident" - so she made her own.

    Her debut album Nothing's Real was released on Friday and is a catalogue of calamitous crushes and creeping anxiety, set to slow-burning synth-pop. 

    "You have so many songs that are like, 'I'm so into you' or 'Let's get it on'," says the 25-year-old. 

    "I don't recognise that swagger, I'm never going to feel like that.

    "I felt that pop music didn't represent me. And that's why I made my own."

    The singer, who made the shortlist for the BBC's Sound of 2015, has shared some of the secrets behind the making of the album, from being inspired by Janet Jackson to walking pumas in the Amazon (she really did that). 

    Read more

  8. Jamie Lidell offers taste of forthcoming album

    Jamie Lidell

    Jamie Lidell is to release a new album Building a Beginning on 14 October, his first LP in three years.

    Apparently the singer's new material is inspired by the birth of his children.

    Here is the funky first track Walk Right Back.

    View more on youtube
  9. Funny Girl London cast recording to be released

    Sheridan Smith in Funny Girl

    The musical Funny Girl, starring Sheridan Smith, has hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons in recent months after she had to take a break from the London production suffering from stress and exhaustion.

    But happily she is now back on stage again in time for the release of the cast recording of the show.

    It's due out on 5 August on Decca Records and includes songs like People, You Are Woman, I Am Man and Don't Rain on My Parade.

  10. Pixies discuss new album Head Carrier

    Pixies

    After announcing new album Head Carrier last week, Pixies star Black Francis has been chatting to 6 Music about the making of the record. 

    The band played Brixton Academy earlier this week as part of their current European tour, which heads to Cork in Ireland tonight and Dublin tomorrow. 

    They worked with British producer Tom Dalgety (Royal Blood, Band of Skulls, The Maccabees) on the new album, which Francis revealed was "relaxing but amusing, in that you knew he was gently manipulating you to his evil design."

    He also filled Music News reporter Abbie McCarthy in on the album's sound - which has "a bit of early Pixies slosh in it" - and discussed working with newest member Paz Lenchantin:

    Video content

    Video caption: Black Francis talks to 6Music's Abbie McCarthy about the making of the band's new album.
  11. David Cameron's doorstep ditty turned into piece of music

    Days after outgoing PM David Cameron was recorded singing to himself following a press conference outside the door of Number 10, the internet is still going crazy trying to work out what he was singing.

    There have been various remixes and Radio 3 asked listeners for their thoughts.

    But this one is truly astounding... a composer called Thomas Hewitt Jones actually turned it into a piece for piano and cello and called it Cameron's Lament.

    Close your eyes (don't picture David Cameron) and enjoy...

    Warning: Third party content, may contain ads.

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  12. Ed Sheeran tops list of first dance wedding songs

    Ed Sheeran

    If it's a smoochy love song you're after, look no further than Ed Sheeran... or at least that seems to be the school of thought for many happy couples, as the singer's topped a list of the most popular tracks for that all important wedding moment, 'The First Dance'. 

    According to Spotify, who've analysed thousands of playlists shared on the streaming site, Sheeran's Thinking Out Loud is the number one track of choice, with Etta James' At Last in second and Ray LaMontagne's You Are the Best Thing in third. 

    Other romantic ditties making the global top 50 include Frank Sinatra's classic The Way You Look Tonight and Marry You by Bruno Mars.

    Here's Spotify's top ten: 

    1. Thinking Out Loud - Ed Sheeran
    2. At Last - Etta James
    3. You Are the Best Thing - Ray LaMontagne
    4. All of Me - John Legend
    5. A Thousand Years - Christina Perri
    6. Make You Feel My Love - Adele
    7. I Won’t Give Up - Jason Mraz
    8. Everything - Michael Bublé
    9. Better Together - Jack Johnson
    10. Amazed - Lonestar

    You can check out the full playlist on Spotify if you've got an account, or Billboard if you don't.

  13. Watch Justin Vernon from Bon Iver dance in new video

    Justin Vernon, the towering frontman of indie folksters Bon Iver, shows off his fancy footwork in a rather beautiful new one-take video by Francis and the Lights.

    The promo for the track called Friends also features Kanye West.

    Kanye sadly doesn't join in the dad dancing.  

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  14. DJ Snake album to feature Bieber, Skrillex and Young Thug

    Justin Bieber, DJ Snake

    DJ Snake has revealed the tracklisting for his debut album Encore, and it features collaborations with Justin Bieber, Skrillex and Young Thug among others. 

    The French DJ and producer, whose 2015 track Lean On with MØ and Diplo's Major Lazer was one of the year's biggest hits, will release the 14-track LP on 5 August. 

    View more on twitter

    Other collaborators include Travi$ Scott, Bipolar Sunshine, Mr Hudson, Swizz Beatz and George Maple - who features on current single Talk. 

    DJ Snake shared a new video for the track this week, which features a woman who seems to be falling in love with her car. As you do...

    Warning: third party content, may contain ads.

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  15. Nick Cave to score new Jeff Bridges western movie

    Rolling Stone magazine

    Nick Cave

    Nick Cave and his Bad Seed bandmate, Warren Ellis, have scored the upcoming western heist movie Hell or High Water, starring Jeff Bridges and Chris Pine.

    The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and is due out on 12 August.

    Excerpts from two of the tracks from the film are now available to stream on Soundcloud.

    Cave and Ellis have previously scored films including The Proposition, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, The Road and Lawless.

    Read more

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  16. Lyric video for Hands Orlando charity record released

    A new lyric video has been released for the charity single Hands, which was recorded by celebrities including Jennifer Lopez, Selena Gomez, Gwen Stefani and Pink.

    All of the song's proceeds will benefit the families affected during the Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting, and will help cover medical costs and counselling.

    Hands was written by Justin Trantor, who co-wrote Justin Bieber's Sorry, and Julia Michaels with Mark Ronson as a co-producer.   

    Warning: third party content, may contain ads.

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  17. AlunaGeorge debut new track Mean What I Mean

    Aluna Francis of AlunaGeorge

    AlunaGeorge singer Aluna Francis says the lyrics for new track Mean What I Mean were inspired by a dodgy experience in her own life. 

    The track - the third from their forthcoming second album I Remember, which is due in September - was Annie Mac's Hottest Record on Radio 1 last night. 

    Aluna told Annie the lyrics for the song, which also features verses from rappers Dreezy and Leikeli47, are about trying to fend off unwanted attention:

    Quote Message: It's a very genuine place I'm singing from. I was in a situation, I said 'no'; and the person I was like, 'I know what you mean, and you mean yeah beacuse you're just playing hard to get'. I freaked out. I was like, 'Oh My God, I've got to get out of here!'
    Quote Message: You go through these situations and, at the time, I personally don't think to myself 'oh, this is going to be great material'. I'm in the moment and I'm freaking out or I'm having trouble or whatever. Then you're in the studio and you've still got those feelings from that situation, that you didn't resolve quite as well as you'd like to have done. And that's where I really pull my lyrics from. Like, ok, if I went back to that situation, what would I have needed to handle it better? And that's where this song really comes from.

    Listen to Aluna's interview and Mean What I Mean below: 

    Aluna also revealed they made the track in a London studio reminiscent of Hogwarts: 

    "[It] actually had a rotating door that had a bookshelf on it; and to get into the toilet you had to go through the bookshelf," she told Annie. 

    "It was quite fun. Very Harry Potter."

    You can also listen back to Annie Mac's full show, which included a live session from Christine and the Queens.

  18. Marvin Gaye's family back new documentary

    Variety

    Marvin Gaye

    A new Marvin Gaye documentary - Marvin, What's Going On? - has been announced, the first project to get the backing of the late musician's family. 

    It will focus on the creation of seminal album What's Going On, which was recorded at the height of Detroit’s Motown era against the backdrop of the Vietnam War and the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. 

    A joint statement from Gaye's children Nona, Marvin III and Frankie Gaye and former wife, Janis Gaye, said:

    Quote Message: We would like to express our excitement about the upcoming documentary feature film about our father and the creation of his amazing What’s Going On album. We are proud that his relevance remains intact, and we look forward to being a part of this cinematic journey.

    They added that their father "was complex" but they were confident that producers Noah Media Group would share his life with the world "in a way never seen before".

    The film will feature exclusive interviews with some of Motown’s top stars and unseen archive footage unearthed by his family, who added:  

    Quote Message: We look forward to participating and sharing what we can through friends, family, photos, footage and priceless stories that only those who knew our father up close and personal would know, as well as his contemporaries, purists and fans who have studied him and his art over decades.

    Read more

  19. Meat Loaf says he has lost 'almost 20 pounds' since collapse

    Meat Loaf

    Rock veteran Meat Loaf has been talking about his strict health regime since collapsing on stage in Edmonton, Canada last month.

    Meat has blamed the episode on severe dehydration, telling Classic Rock he is seeing a physical therapist in a bid to lose weight.

    "I’m going to acupuncture, physical therapy, and a trainer... for four days a week, an hour and a half each session," he said.

    Recalling his collapse, Meat - whose real name is Marvin Lee Aday - said: "I knew I was about to go and I didn’t want to just fall and hit. I was getting really dizzy and I’m going, 'Oh my god, I think I’m gonna faint.' 

    "So I didn’t want to stand there until I just fainted and cracked my skull open.

    "So I just said, 'Okay, I’m going to kinda go down.' But about half-way down I went completely out, and I didn’t wake up until I got to the hospital."

    The singer blamed a number of recent surgeries on his back and neck over the past two years for leaving him unable to exercise.

    He said his new diet had helped him shed "almost 20 pounds" - the equivalent of 9kg or around a stone and a half. 

    A number of live shows were postponed but Meat pledged they would all go ahead and that he won't back down from future touring commitments.

  20. Morning all...

    Welcome along to our midweek Music News LIVE, where we'll be helping you through Hump Day with news on everyone from Meat Loaf to Marvin Gaye, AlunaGeorge and DJ Snake. There's even a new take on the Golden Girls theme tune - don't say we don't treat you...

    If you missed yesterday's page catch up now on the track Ariana Grande shared in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, Queen Latifah's comments on racism, a new De La Soul song and news on Dave Gilmour, Taylor Swift and lots more.