News

Yoko Ono is set to celebrate her 80th birthday with a one-off gig in Berlin.

The Stone Roses have written two songs for their long awaited new album, according to Suede's Brett Anderson.

Live Nation is to host a number of live music events at the Olympic Park this summer, including the Wireless and Hard Rock Calling festivals.

Wilko Johnson has announced details of an extra farewell concert in London, due to popular demand. The new show is set to take place on March 10 at KOKO. The date is in addition to four previously announced, sold-out shows, which followed news that Johnson had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and will not be seeking treatment for the illness. Johnson reportedly decided against chemotherapy so he can continue to play shows for as long as possible.

Mick Jagger has confirmed to NME that The Rolling Stones will not be playing the Coachella festival in 2013, despite strong rumours suggesting they would. Addressing the rumours that the legendary rock'n'rollers will be playing the California bash, Jagger said: "We're not gonna do Coachella, 'cos it's too early. There was a rumour we were gonna do that one, but it's very early, Coachella. It's April or something, isn’t it? And we're not gonna be ready to go by April. But we're not gonna stop."

Film director, restaurant critic, raconteur and former NME writer Michael Winner has passed away, aged 77. The news of Winner's death was confirmed by his widow, Geraldine, earlier today (January 21). Mrs Winner issued a statement with the news, in which she pays tribute to her late husband. She says: "Michael was a wonderful man, brilliant, funny and generous. A light has gone out in my life."

Paul Weller has been confirmed to perform at Isle Of Wight Festival this year, appearing directly before The Stone Roses on the main stage. The festival will also be headlined by Bon Jovi and The Killers in 2013. Speaking about his appearance on the Friday night, Paul Weller says: "It's been a while since I've played the Isle Of Wight Festival and I'm excited to be playing it this year, it's a great way to kick off the summer."

Vampire Weekend have confirmed that they are putting the finishing touches to their "organic" and "cohesive" forthcoming third album, which is due for release in spring 2013. The LP will be the band's first new material since 2010's 'Contra' and has been in the works for more than 20 months. Although they say they have been mentally composing the record "since the we handed in [2010's] 'Contra'", when they actually began writing tracks in producer and multi-instrumentalist Rostam Batmanglij's Brooklyn apartment, they found a creative flurry at the beginning soon hit a wall.

Dave Grohl debuted his new supergroup, the Sound City Players, at the Sundance Film Festival on Friday (January 18, 2013). Grohl, who was accompanied by his Foo Fighters bandmates throughout the three-hour show, introduced a rolling castlist of rock legends to the stage to play with him as he guided the crowd through a live history of music recorded at the Sound City Studios, reports Rolling Stone.

The church in which Arcade Fire recorded two of their studio albums has been listed for sale, according to reports. The band recorded their 2007 LP Neon Bible and 2010 record The Suburbs at the building in Farnham, Quebec in Canada but, according to Pitchfork, were forced to leave the church behind after the roof collapsed. With the group now working on their fourth studio album in a new location, they posted an advertisement for the building on their Twitter account.