Alabama Shakes made their UK live debut last night (February 22) at an NME Awards Show, where they were watched by Hollywood A-lister Russell Crowe. The first of three nights at north London's intimate Boston Arms saw the Athens, Alabama four-piece play a mixture of songs from their forthcoming first album 'Boys And Girls', newer songs and a thunderous encore of Led Zeppelin's 'How Many More Times'.

The songwriter and guitarist Billy Strange has died aged 81. The musician co-wrote several songs for Elvis Presley with Mac Davis, including 'A Little Less Conversation', which, while only a minor success on release in 1968, became a worldwide hit after it was heard in 2001 film 'Ocean's 11' thanks to Junkie XL's remix.

US President Barack Obama sang with blues legend BB King at an event at The White House yesterday night (February 21). The impromptu performance followed Obama's recent rendition of Al Green's soul classic 'Let's Stay Together' at a fundraiser in New York last month.

Damon Albarn and Noel Gallagher shared a hug after the Brit Awards on Tuesday (February 21). The former Britpop rivals drank together onboard a boat on the Thames, which had been hired by record label EMI hfor their post-ceremony bash.

Public Image Ltd have announced that they will be playing two London shows this April. The band will headline London's Heaven venue for two nights, playing the 1,000 capacity venue on April 1 and 2. Frontman John Lydon and co will release both a new EP and a full studio album this spring. The band will release the four-track offering 'One Drop' on April 21 to coincide with this year's Record Store Day, with the LP 'This Is PiL' set to drop on May 28. Both releases are being put out by the band's own label 'Pil Official'.