OHMYGOSSIP — Ed Sheeran advised Anne-Marie to keep in touch with her parents when she is on the road.
The ‘Supermarket Flowers’ hitmaker chose the ‘Alarm’ singer to support him on the European leg of his tour in support of his latest record ‘Divide’, and he told her it was important to communicate with her mum and dad as much as possible, which she is thankful for because now they speak every day.
She said: “Ed told me you must always stay in contact with your mum, dad and family.
“You’re constantly tweeting reaching out to other people and letting them know you’re OK but you aren’t talking to the most important people.
“Now I try to talk to them every day.”
The 26-year-old flame-haired hunk also helped Anne-Marie choose ‘Ciao Adios’ as her next single and he is very much into the collections of songs she has built up.
She told the Daily Star newspaper: “He’s always saying he loves my music, I’ve played him almost all the songs I have.”
The pop beauty recently turned 26 and charming Ed bought her some flowers as a gift and they enjoyed a Karaoke session on their night off in Paris.
She shared: “We were in Paris and went for a local meal and enjoyed a bit of Karaoke. Ed got me some flowers they were really nice, he’s a great person.”
Earlier this year, the ‘Rockabye’ singer revealed she has been in the studio with Ed.
She said: “Well we’ve been friends for so long and ever since the start really I was like ‘look we need to get a writing session in,’ and he was like ‘yeah, yeah, yeah.’ We’ve both been really busy and then I think it was like maybe a couple of months ago he was like ‘look, I’ve got this song, we need to work on it’ and soooo … we worked on it!”

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OHMYGOSSIP — Kelly Rowland “cried the whole time” en route to her first overseas gig after having a baby.
The 36-year-old singer – who has a two-year-old son called Titan with her husband Tim Weatherspoon – has admitted her first performance on foreign soil represented a landmark moment in her adjusting to the stresses of motherhood.
Kelly shared: “I got an offer to do a gig overseas and I wanted to perform so bad.
“I was like, ‘I’m gonna do this one…’ and I remember my manager saying, ‘Are you sure? Are you ready for that?'”
And after she accepted the invitation, the former Destiny’s Child star was overcome by emotion when she was sat on the plane heading to the gig.
She explained to Access Hollywood: “I got on the plane and I cried the whole time. I was like, ‘I can’t believe I’m away from my baby!'”
Kelly returned from her overseas performance with New York Fashion Week fast approaching, and she says the trip helped her to rediscover herself.
She reflected: “I’m so happy that I’d lost a little bit more weight by that time, because I remember the designers would send over samples and I would try to get ’em on … I was a little bit upset.
“It was actually the trip that I needed because I was so wrapped up in my mommy world that I needed to see colours, I needed to hear music, I needed to feel fabulous. It was something that made me feel like myself again.”
Meanwhile, Kelly recently admitted that having a baby brought her closer to her husband.
The ‘Kisses Down Low’ hitmaker praised Tim for always being so “supportive” and understanding.
She said: “It actually brought us closer. In some ways, we had to figure it out together, and we did. He was just so supportive, he always asked me if I needed help and he always tried to figure out a way to just be there to comfort me and I’m so grateful to him for that.”

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OHMYGOSSIP — Lorde, Lana Del Rey and Kasabian are among those confirmed to perform at Radio One’s Big Weekend in Hull.
The UK radio station’s annual music festival will be held at Burton Constable Hall in Hull on May 27 and May 28, and the full line-up has been unleashed featuring some of the biggest names in pop across the globe performing.
Also joining previously announced headliner Katy Perry, Kings of Leon, Little Mix and Stormzy are Biffy Clyro, Rag’n’ Bone Man, London Grammar, Clean Bandit, Imagine Dragons and Emeli Sande.
Zara Larsson, Shawn Mendes and Sean Paul are also on the bill with some artists which have been out of the spotlight for a while, including Plan B, Rita Ora and Haim, who must be about to drop new music.
‘Body On Me’ hitmaker Rita said of the announcement: “So excited I can’t even tell you, It’s so long overdue. It’s the best news ever – I’m so happy. They’re so up for it [Hull crowd]. I can always tell you that no matter what happens, Big Weekend is probably one of the funnest festivals I’ve ever performed at.”
‘Chained to the Rhythm’ hitmaker Katy, will head up the main stage on the Saturday.
The 32-year-old pop superstar is most looking forward testing out the Yorkshire city’s local delicacies such as chip spice, savoury patties and Yorkshire puddings.
Discussing her plans to visit the famous pudding factor, she previously said: “Radio 1’s Big Weekend is always a blast and I’m so happy to be able to make it to Hull alongside the incredible line-up. Grimmy has told me all about Hull and we’ve already set up a date to the Yorkshire pudding factory!”
Ben Cooper, Controller at Radio One said: “Radio 1’s Big Weekend just got bigger. The young audiences in Hull and on the BBC are in for one of the planet’s greatest performers.”
Martin Green, the Director of Hull UK City of Culture 2017, added: “It’s awesome that Katy Perry is headlining Saturday night at Radio 1’s Big Weekend. A superstar addition to a sensational event, as well as to Hull 2017’s fabulous music programme.”
Hosted by Radio One DJs, Radio One’s Big Weekend is Europe’s largest free ticketed festival, and will be heading to Hull to coincide with the UK City of Culture celebrations for Hull in 2017.
Speaking about being on the bill, Kings of Leon said: “Looking forward to seeing you in Hull for Radio One’s Big Weekend at the end of the May. Huge thanks to Radio One for leading the charge in helping us get our music to our fans, it’s going to be a great show, can’t wait!”
The festival has completely sold out with the majority of tickets going to local people.

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OHMYGOSSIP — Coldplay, Laura Mvula and Michael Kiwanuka lead the nominations for the 2017 Ivor Novello Awards with two nods each.
The British rock group – Chris Martin, Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland and Will Champion – have been nominated twice in the PRS for Music Most Performed Work for ‘Adventure of a Lifetime’ and ‘Hymn for the Weekend’, which they will battle with Adele to win at the prestigious ceremony held next month, as she is up for her song ‘When We Were Young’.
Laura, 30, is up for her collaboration with Nile Rodgers, ‘Overcome’, in the Best Song Musically and Lyrically category and her record ‘The Dreaming Room’ is up for the Album Award.
The ‘Green Garden’ singer will go up against Michael Kiwanuka’s ‘Love & Hate’ and Nick Cave’s ‘Skeleton Tree’ for the prestigious accolade, which recognises exceptional songwriting and consistency across an album as a whole.
And Kiwanuka is also up Best Song Musically and Lyrically for ‘Black Man in a White World’ along with Mystery Jets’ ‘Telomere’.
The Best Contemporary Song nominees are A$AP Rocky for ‘Love$ick’, Skepta and Josh Homme ‘Man’ and ‘Sexual’ by Dyo.
Other nominations announced at The Loft, The Club at The Ivy in London on Wednesday morning (19.04.17) included ‘High-Rise’ by Clint Mansell, ‘Kubo and the Two Strings’ by Dario Marianelli and ‘My Scientology Movie’ composed by Dan Jones, who are all in the running for Best Original Film Score­­­­­­­­­­­­.
Up for Best Television Soundtrack is ‘The Collection’ by Dominik Scherrer, ‘The Witness for the Prosecution’ by Paul Englishby and ‘War and Peace’ by Martin Phipps.
Other awards which will be handed out on the evening are International Achievement, Lifetime Achievement, Outstanding Song Collection, PRS for Music Outstanding Contribution to British Music, PRS for Music Special International Award and Songwriter of the Year.
The 62nd Ivor Novello Awards take place on May 18 at the Grosvenor House, Park Lane, London.
2017 Ivor Novello Award nominations:
Best Song Musically and Lyrically:
‘Black Man in a White World’ – Michael Kiwanuka
‘Overcome’ – Laura Mvula and Nile Rodgers
‘Telomere’ – Mystery Jets
Best Contemporary Song:
‘Love$ick’ – A$AP Rocky and Mura Masa
‘Man’ – Skepta and Josh Homme
‘Sexual’ – Dyo
Album Award:
‘Love & Hate’ – Michael Kiwanuka
‘Skeleton Tree’ – Nick Cave
‘The Dreaming Room’ – Laura Mvula
PRS for Music Most Performed Work:
‘Adventure of a Lifetime’ – Coldplay
‘Hymn For The Weekend’ – Coldplay
‘When We Were Young’ – Adele
Best Original Film Score­­­­­­­­­­­­:
‘High-Rise’ – Clint Mansell
‘Kubo and the Two Strings’ – Dario Marianelli
‘My Scientology Movie’ – Dan Jones
Best Television Soundtrack:
‘The Collection’ – Dominik Scherrer
‘The Witness for the Prosecution’ – Paul Englishby
‘War and Peace’ – Martin Phipps

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OHMYGOSSIP — Lana Del Rey has confirmed The Weeknd is featured on the title track of her new album ‘Lust for Life’.
The 31-year-old pop star has unveiled the collaborations on her hotly-anticipated fifth studio LP, which also features Sean Lennon on the track ‘Tomorrow Never Came’, and revealed how legendary producer Max Martin helped the song come together with the ‘Starboy’ rapper.
Speaking to Hole singer Courtney Love for the latest issue of DAZED magazine, about her collaboration with John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s son, she revealed: “It’s called ‘Tomorrow Never Came’.
“I kept on thinking about who this song was for or who could do it with me, and then I realized that he would be a good person … because that whole concept of peace and love really is in his veins and in his family.”
Confirming The Weeknd’s appearance, she said: “He is actually on the title track of the record, ‘Lust for Life’. Maybe that’s kind of weird to have a feature on the title track, but I really love that song and we had said for a while that we were gonna do something; I did stuff on his last two records.”
Max – who has worked with Britney Spears, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry and Maroon 5 – advised Lana to turn the verse into the chorus of the track.
On how it all came together, she explained: “I felt like it was a big song but … it wasn’t right.
“He said that he felt really strongly that the best part was the verse and that he wanted to hear it more than once, so I should think about making it the chorus. So I went back to [producer] Rick Nowels’ place the next day and I was like, ‘Let’s try and make the verse the chorus,’ and we did, and it sounded perfect. “That’s when I felt like I really wanted to hear [The Weeknd] sing the chorus, so he came down and rewrote a little bit of it. But then I was feeling like it was missing a little bit of the Shangri-Las element, so I went back for a fourth time and layered it up with harmonies.”
Lana previously teamed up on the ‘Cant Feel My Face’ star’s 2015 song ‘Prisoner’ from ‘Beauty Behind The Madness’ and ‘Stargirl Interlude’ from his latest outing ‘Starboy’.
‘Lust for Life’ is expected to drop later this year.

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OHMYGOSSIP — Shawn Mendes plans to write “a lot” of his next album “on the road”.
The 18-year-old singer-songwriter has revealed his new record is already in the works and he’s been busily thinking about how he’s going to pen new tracks while he’s also touring.
Shawn shared: “We’re trying to plan everything so that there’s time to make music, too. I’ll be writing and recording a lot on the road. I want to make sure I have a good amount of time to create the next album.”
And the Canadian star – who is currently touring with his second album, ‘Illuminate’ – has suggested he could release new material in the coming months, because he doesn’t see any value in holding his music back.
He told Billboard: “I think if you’re creating music and you love the song, holding it back is just doing it an injustice. Sometimes when the song is right for that time period it’s just kinda bad to let it wait and then when you do release it eight months down the road, it’s not the same.”
Meanwhile, Shawn recently backed Camila Cabello to “take over the world”, after she walked away from Fifth Harmony in 2016.
The pair collaborated on the 2015 single ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ and now that Camila has left the chart-topping girl group to launch her own solo career, Shawn is tipping her for huge success.
He said: “It would take a big force to stop her from taking over the world.”
Shawn admitted he loved working with Camila, praising the brunette beauty’s writing talents.
He shared: “She was such a great writing partner. I barely had to speak and she knew exactly what I meant.”

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OHMYGOSSIP — Unheard Prince songs will be released on a new EP to mark the anniversary of the music legend’s death.
The late singer tragically passed away at the age of 57 on April 21 last year – from an accidental overdose – and a year on his estate have allowed some of the songs from the ‘Purple Rain’ hitmaker’s top secret vault to be included on the mini album, including the lead track ‘Deliverance’, which is out now.
A statement reads: “The songs were written and recorded when Prince was an independent artist, protesting what he saw as an unjust music industry.”
The ‘Little Red Corvette’ singer co-wrote and co-produced the tracks with producer Ian Boxill – who has worked with the likes of Janet Jackson, 2Pac and Tyrese – and he hopes that the new songs will be uplifting and comforting for fans.
Boxill especially feels the track ‘Deliverance’, which features the lyrics, ‘This is not religion, but common sense / It’s time for you to get down, get down / Get off the fence / No son shall die, no mother shall cry / All in favor, say ‘aye’ (Aye) / Because time’s so hard to deal with / Deliverance is at hand, at hand, at hand’, is needed in the world right now.
He said: “I believe ‘Deliverance’ is a timely release with everything going on in the world today, and in light of the one-year anniversary of his passing. I hope when people hear Prince singing these songs it will bring comfort to many.”
The music maker also revealed that the ‘Kiss’ hitmaker was always trying to come up with ways to share music with his fans without a label and that’s why they’ve chosen to drop this release independently.
He added: “Prince once told me that he would go to bed every night thinking of ways to bypass major labels and get his music directly to the public. When considering how to release this important work, we decided to go independent because that’s what Prince would have wanted.”
The EP, also titled ‘Deliverance’, features the never-heard-before tracks ‘Man Opera’ , ‘I Am’, ‘Touch Me’, ‘Sunrise Sunset’. ‘No One Else’ and an extended version of ‘I Am’, and is released on Friday (21.04.17).

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OHMYGOSSIP — Queen + Adam Lambert have added UK and Ireland dates to their 2017 European tour.
The shows, which kick off on November 1st at O2 Arena, Prague in Czech Republic and wrap up at London’s The SSE Arena, Wembley on December 15, will feature a brand new state-of-the-art production and set list.
It will be the ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ rockers, Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor’s first British tour with Adam Lambert in almost three years.
They last stormed Britain in January 2015 when they played 10 sold-out shows.
And in 2016 they got together for a one-off headlining set at the closing night of the Isle of Wight Festival last June.
The new set list will no doubt acknowledge this year’s 40th anniversary of Queen’s biggest-selling studio album to date, 1977’s ‘News of the World’, which included the mega hits ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘We Are The Champions’.
Roger Taylor said the forthcoming shows “will look entirely different to the show we took around before. Production has really changed a lot, the things you can do now, you have a much broader palette, the technology has really come along. But we don’t use it all. We don’t play to click track. It’s 100% live. We’re planning on doing stuff we either haven’t done before or haven’t done for a long time. We started as an albums band, that’s what we were. The fact we had hits was just a byproduct.”
While Brian teased they plan to incorporate Adam’s different “dimensions” into what they do.
He said: “The general public knows the hits, so you’ve got to cater for that, but we can chuck in a few things that people really don’t expect. We’ll do quite a bit more of that this time around. There are so many dimensions to Adam, which of course fits with our music. He can get down and do the rock stuff really dirty, and you have all those dimensions, and we can explore that even more.”
The ‘For Your Entertainment’ hitmaker – who takes on the late great frontman Freddie Mercury’s lead vocals – is up for the challenge.
He said: “What people should know if they came to the shows a couple of years back, is obviously we will still be playing the big hit songs you know and love from Queen, but we thought it would be good to challenge ourselves a bit.
“Change it up a little bit, change the visuals, change all the technology, change the set list to some degree. We will probably be pulling some other songs out of the Queen catalogue which we haven’t done before, which I am very excited about.”
Queen + Adam Lambert Tour Dates 2017 are as follows:
EUROPE
Wed 1st November – O2 Arena, Prague, Czech Republic
Thu 2nd November – Olympiahalle, Munich, Germany
Sat 4th November – Sportarena, Budapest, Hungary
Mon 6th November – Atlas Arena, Lodz, Poland
Wed 8th November – Stadhalle, Vienna, Austria
Fri 10th November – Unipol Arena, Bologna, Italy
Sun 12th November – Amneville Galaxie, Luxembourg
Mon 13th November – Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Fri 17th November – Zalgiris Arena, Kaunas, Lithuania
UK & IRELAND
Sat 25th November – 3 Arena, Dublin
Sun 26th November – SSE Arena, Belfast
Tue 28th November – Echo Arena, Liverpool
Thu 30th November – Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham
Fri 1st December – Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle
Sun 3rd December – The SSE Hydro, Glasgow
Tue 5th December – Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham
Wed 6th December – First Direct Arena, Leeds
Fri 8th December – Motorpoint Arena, Sheffield
Sat 9th December – Arena, Manchester
Tue 12th December – O2 Arena, London
Fri 15th December – The SSE Arena, Wembley, London

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OHMYGOSSIP — Sir Rod Stewart is planning to reunite with the remaining members of The Faces at Isle of Wight Festival this June.
The 72-year-old rocker is to close the legendary music extravaganza on Sunday, June 11 at Seaclose Park in Newport, Isle of Wight, for what will be his only UK festival performance of 2017, and he has big plans to get his former bandmates, Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood and ex-drummer Kenney Jones, on stage with him.
The festival’s organiser, John Giddings, told the Daily Star newspaper: “I suspect Ronnie and co may come along.
“He will put on a bit of a show because it was on his buck list to play the Isle of Wight Festival. And he’s got a song called ‘Sailing’!”
The Faces – who formed in 1969 by members of Small Faces after lead singer/guitarist Steve Marriott left that group to form Humble Pie – haven’t performed together with Rod since 2015, when they played a charity bash at Hurtwood Polo Club in Cranleigh in Surrey, England.
Meanwhile, the ‘Maggie May’ hitmaker is also collaborating with one of the other acts performing at the festival and, although Giddings is keeping tight-lipped on who it is, there have been whispers that indie rockers Catfish & The Bottlemen are the lucky band.
Giddings teased: “One of the groups on the bill are recording a song with Rod Stewart, but I’m not going to tell you who that is because that would be letting the cat out of the bag.
“The idea that they would be working with him is really interesting.”
And Giddings also says there will more than likely be a duet on the night with another female artist.
He added: “There’s a girl on the bill that I am trying to get him to duet with too.”
Giddings said Rod performing at the festival has been a lifelong ambition of the musician.
He said: “I bumped into Rod at a charity do and I said: “Why’ve you never played the Isle of Wight Festival? And he said: ‘Well no-one’s ever asked me. I said: ‘They have now’ and that was it.”

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OHMYGOSSIP — Lana Del Rey penned a song after attending Coachella over the weekend.
The ‘Born to Die’ hitmaker felt “compelled” to stop off at a sequoia grove on her way back from the three-day music festival in California on Monday (17.04.17) to write a track to observe the tensions between the US and North Korea.
Sharing a clip of herself singing part of the song, she wrote on Instagram: “I’m not gonna lie- I had complex feelings about spending the weekend dancing whilst watching tensions w North Korea mount. I find It’s a tightrope between being vigilantly observant of everything going on in the world and also having enough space and time to appreciate God’s good earth the way it was intended to be appreciated. On my way home I found myself compelled to visit an old favorite place of mine at the rim of the world highway where I took a moment to sit down by the sequoia grove and write a little song. I just wanted to share this in hopes that one individual’s hope and prayer for peace might contribute to the possibility of it in the long run. Hope everyone has a nice day, with love from California (sic)”
The 31-year-old beauty recently unveiled the details of her new album ‘Lust For Life’, the follow-up to 2015’s ‘Honeymoon’.
The brunette beauty explained in a video how she needed “space” to create her record and needed to be as “far away” from “real life” as possible to capture her thoughts into songs following the “tumultuous times” American find themselves in following the election of President Donald Trump.
She explained: “You know in this time an artist really needs a lot of space when they are trying to create something special.
“A place to cultivate a world of their own away from the real world that is around them.
“Luckily for me, I live right inside the middle of the edge of the Hollywood sign.
“And this is how I spend most of my nights, perched high above the chaos that swirls within the city of angels below.
“Now, don’t get me wrong. I love to dip my toe into the admirers of the city every now and then, especially on Tuesdays.
“But truthfully, when I am in the middle of making a record, especially now when the world is in the middle of such a tumultuous period, I find I really need to take the space for myself as far away from real life to consider what my contribute to the world should be in these dark times.
“So each morning, I have the luxury of asking myself what should I cook up for the kids today?
“Something with a little spice? Something with a little bitterness but is ultimately sweet? Or should I take the day off and turn down the fire and just take a moment to send my love to them … because sometimes just being pure of heart and having good intentions and letting them be known is the most worthy contribution an artist can make.
“So, even though these times can feel a little bit crazy. They are not so very different from other generations as they have experienced it at what time or another before.
“Amidst all the uncertainty and as we transition out of one era into another one there’s no place I’d rather be than smack damn in the middle of dab in the middle of Hollyweird making this record for you. Because you and the music and this place are my love, my life Lust for Life. (sic)”

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OHMYGOSSIP — Jack Antonoff used to rush back to his hotel room after playing fun. shows to write music for the first Bleachers record.
The 33-year-old musician-and-producer – who co-wrote Taylor Swift’s hit ‘Out Of The Woods’ – has revealed he craved working on Bleachers’ first record so much that after performing sell-out arena shows with his former bandmates, Nate Ruess and Andrew Dost, he wouldn’t go out partying with them and would instead lock himself away with his laptop to write music for 2014’s ‘Strange Desire’.
Speaking to Zane Lowe for his Apple Beats 1 Radio show, he confessed: “When fun. was selling 20,000 tickets in arenas, the would end, and for some reason you just follow your body. I didn’t got to the bar, I didn’t go to dinner, I didn’t go hang out, my body went back to my hotel room and turned on my computer and just started writing the first Bleachers album.”
Antonoff is gearing up to release the group’s new record ‘Gone Now’ and he also produced and co-written Lorde’s new record ‘Melodrama’ and he says it shows how far he is come since being a member of the ‘Some Nights’ group.
He said: “It’s a huge journey for me because everything I do is very connected, so I see this album not just as a second Bleachers album, but I’ve done all these different things, different artists … other bands.”
Antonoff – who is dating ‘Girls’ star Lena Dunham – also opened up about his musical relationship with ‘Royals’ hitmaker Lorde and how they are on the same wave length about “mediocrity” in the pop world.
He explained: “We’ve worked so hard on what we wrote and recorded for two years. We have the same belief system with this.
“We don’t hate pop in the mainstream, we hate mediocrity.”

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OHMYGOSSIP — Aspire Music Group has launched a lawsuit against Cash Money Records in relation to the profits and copyright royalties from Drake’s first six solo albums.
According to the legal claim, the Cash Money record label is guilty of a breach of contract and a breach of good faith in relation to the money-spinning albums.
Aspire argues that, in 2008, the company signed an exclusive recording agreement with Drake, before entering into an agreement with Cash Money Records.
Aspires says that, under the terms of that accord, the label allowed the chart-topping rap star to record for Cash Money in exchange for one-third of the net profits of his first six albums.
What’s more, Aspire claims it was entitled to one third of the copyrights of his master recordings for the albums, ‘So Far Gone’, ‘Thank Me Later’, ‘Take Care’, ‘Nothing Was the Same’, ‘If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late’ and ‘Views’.
But Aspire has now insisted Cash Money never paid out any profits or royalties “besides a few modest advances”.
The complaint also states that Cash Money signed a direct exclusive artist agreement with Drake in 2013, despite Aspire’s pre-existing deal.
Drake was paid as much as $10 million under that agreement, $4 million of which was in profits from albums under the Aspire-Cash Money accord. But Aspire claims that money was instead due to the firm.
The precise value of the lawsuit remains unclear, but is thought to total tens of millions of dollars.
Aspire is, therefore, asking the court to supervise a full accounting of Cash Money’s books in order to determine the monetary value of its claim.

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OHMYGOSSIP — Stevie Wonder has urged people to “express their truth” through music.
The 66-year-old music icon has spoken about the need for artists to stand up for what they believe in, and claims music is the “most integrated thing” society has so it’s important to use it as a platform but to do so “with love”.
He said: “There’s always power in the work. This isn’t the first time that people have protested and marched. But I would say don’t be afraid to express your truth but do it with love. So those of us who have been blessed with the gift of expression, don’t be afraid to express your truth. But do it with love. When you think about it, music is probably the most integrated thing that we have. We’re all influenced by each other.”
And the ‘Isn’t She Lovely’ hitmaker also spoke about the key to staying committed to a career in the music business, saying it’s about “the feeling” and putting work into creating art.
He added: “You have to put work into that which you love. Then you’ve got to listen objectively. It’s fun to get to a place where you can challenge. When I was doing ‘Songs in the Key of Life’, I had this little transmitter that I hooked up and would listen, listen and listen. It’s all about the feeling every time.”
The ‘Superstition’ singer spoke as he was being honoured with ASCAP’s first Key of Life Award during a keynote session at the ASCAP ‘I Create Music’ Expo over the weekend.
ASCAP president Paul Williams said as he presented Stevie with the award: “The Key of Life award is presented to Stevie Wonder, who inspires and elevates the world through his songs, his spirit and his boundless heart.”

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OHMYGOSSIP — Wilko Johnson had one of the “greatest years” of his life when he was given 12 months to live.
The 69-year-old musician was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer in 2013 and embarked on a farewell tour, and refused to give in to self-pity because he knew everyone’s time draws to an end eventually.
He said: “That year thinking my life was at an end was one of the greatest years of my life.
“The way I handled it was at all times to understand, ‘Yes, I’m gonna die’ but don’t sit there wishing you aren’t gonna die because we’re all gonna die. I never felt self-pity. I was never in tears all that time…
“Looking out at thousands and thousands of people [at Fuji Rock in Japan] and they all know you’re gonna die… oh man. I’m gonna die, but it’s alright. What a high.”
The legendary guitarist – whose beloved wife Irene died of cancer in 2004 – defied the odds and overcome the disease following a risky 12-hour operation and admitted it can be “hard” to know he survived where so many others don’t.
He said: “It’s hard to know there are people suffering from cancer who don’t survive, and then me.
“Why me? It’s another proof there is no God, man. Because why is Irene lying in her grave and I’m sitting here talking to you?
“She was a wonderful person, a real asset to the world. But that’s the way it goes.”
And Wilko doesn’t think he’ll ever get over Irene’s death.
He said recently: “I would look up at the stars and realise that in all the gulfs and light years of the cosmos, she was nowhere to be found.
“The moon looked like a cold lump of mud in the sky.
“I tell you what. Last night I couldn’t sleep. Not an unusual occurrence. But I was in hell. Upstairs just… I was just thinking, ‘What’s it all about?’ Oh man.
“And then of course, thinking about her. It’s like a light’s gone out of the world ever since then. And I’ve never got over it.”

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OHMYGOSSIP — Emma Bunton says it would be a “shame” if the Spice Girls don’t reunite.
The 41-year-old beauty – who was known as Baby Spice in the girl group – has revealed that she and Geri Horner [Ginger Spice] are doing all they can to ensure the ‘Viva Forever’ hitmakers’ make a comeback, but she admits it’s hard to marry up their schedules.
Emma – who was also joined by Mel B, Victoria Beckham and Melanie C in the 90s band – said: “We’re always talking about it. I think it would be amazing, so I’m on the case and Geri’s the same.”
On what’s holding them back, she told The Sun newspaper: “It’s about finding the perfect time. We want to make it right for our fans. But it would be a shame not to do something.”
The blonde beauty would like them to release a greatest hits record and perform again, but she says if it doesn’t happen sooner rather than later, they’ll be too old.
She continued: “I think it would be great to bring out another album, maybe with our hits on. It would be lovely to show us performing to a whole new generation.
“But we can’t wait too much longer, as we’re all getting on a bit!”
It comes after a mini Spice Girls reunion was staged on April 8, as Geri watched her former band mate Melanie C perform at London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire.
Mel dedicated the Spice Girls’ 1996 hit ‘Say You’ll Be There’ to the 44-year-old beauty.
Geri supporting Melanie came after she and Victoria Beckham ruled themselves out of a reunion of the 90s girl group.
Mel followed in Victoria’s footsteps by turning down the chance to join forces with Geri, Emma and Mel B for the ‘Wannabe’ hitmakers’ 20th anniversary comeback, and said it was because of seven-year-old daughter Scarlet.
She previously said: “I had to think about myself and the most important thing in my life, which is being a mother to my little girl. I had to be present for her.
“It was a hard decision, not only letting down the girls but all the fans who want it to happen.
“But we’re four individuals, we’ve gone on to have separate lives and careers and want different things.
“We always said we had to be comfortable but lots of people were getting involved and I wasn’t comfortable.”

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OHMYGOSSIP — Harry Styles has ended Ed Sheeran’s reign at the top of the UK Charts.
The former One Direction singer has managed to score himself his first number one hit as a solo artist with his debut single ‘Sign of the Times’ which was released last week, as it climbed to the top of the UK Singles Chart on Friday (14.04.17).
According to the Official Charts Company, the 23-year-old singer’s track managed to rack up 40,000 downloads and 3.5 million streams in the week after its release, beating the number two track – Ed Sheeran’s ‘Shape of You’ – by just 3,000 copies.
Harry’s chart-topping single brings and end to the 13-week run that 26-year-old Ed has had at the top spot, with ‘Shape of You’ slipping down from number one to number two, and pushing next single ‘Galway Girl’ down to third.
And Harry’s victory comes after it was recently reported he could have faced a tight race to the finish line after a glitch on Spotify’s search engine made it impossible for users to stream his track on the day of its release.
A source said at the time: “This is a nightmare start for Harry’s solo career and his record label won’t be happy.
“The Spotify malfunction meant many of his fans simply couldn’t find his song to listen to online when they searched for it.
“The potential ramifications are big and it’s likely he has missed out on hundreds of thousands of streams as a result. That could really affect his chart position come Friday.
“He is Number One at the moment but that’s only because his streaming stats haven’t been included yet, and they have more weight.
“Harry’s launch is one of the industry’s biggest this year and everyone expected him to hit the ground running by topping the charts.”

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