Music UK

Sam Smith delivered a medley of George Michael covers when the singer visited the BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge Friday.





"As this is 50 years of Radio 1, they asked me to pick two covers. So I picked the Alicia Keys one and, for my final cover, I wanted to pick my favorite artist of all time," Smith said. "And that is the incredible George Michael."

Smith and his backing band opened the medley with Michael's "Father Figure" before cutting the rendition short in order to segue into another Michael classic, "Faith."

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Ringo Starr remembered his "good friend" Tom Petty in a new interview following the rock icon's death at the age of 66.




"I'll miss Tom. Tom was a good friend. I played with Tom, Tom played with me. I got to know him over the years, really got to know him when he was in the [Traveling] Wilburys 'cause of George [Harrison]," Starr told Billboard.

"All through my career we've lost really great friends, and people who aren't my friends, but were great musicians and writers. In our business we've lost them very young as well. But overall there's still a lot of us out there doing what we do."

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Rush will include previously unreleased live recordings on the 40th anniversary reissue of the 1977 album, A Farewell to Kings. The box sets come out December 1st.





The new collection will be available in several configurations, available to pre-order. All of them will include the 2015 remastered version of A Farewell to Kings anda full Rush concert recorded February 1978 at London's Hammersmith Odeon. The live concert includes previously unreleased performances of their "2112" suite, "Closer to the Heart," "Lakeside Park" and a Neil Peart drum solo. Rush engineer and original A Farewell to Kings producer Terry Brown newly mixed the Hammersmith Odeon concert from the multi-track live tapes.

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U2 will team with Jack White's Third Man Records for a 12-inch vinyl single featuring their new song, "The Blackout," out November 24th for Record Store Day's Black Friday event.





The limited-edition single will feature the album version of "The Blackout" as well as a remix from Irish producer Jacknife Lee. Copies pressed on black vinyl will be available at independent record stores participating in RSD Black Friday, while colored vinyl versions will be available only at Third Man's stores in Nashville and Detroit (two retailers in the U.K. and Ireland will also carry the colored vinyl, though those stores have yet to be announced).

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Liam Payne explores the power dynamics of a couple on the verge of breaking up in the video for new ballad, "Bedroom Floor." The One Direction singer narrates the loss of romance in his satiny croon and hovering ghostlike in the tense scenes.





The clip opens in a bedroom where a woman looks down regretfully at clothes scattered across the floor. She angrily confronts her partner about his infidelity. And later, after catching him flirting with another woman, she dumps his clothes into their pool.

The tropical-tinged "Bedroom Floor" is Payne's third single as a solo artist, following club banger "Strip That Down" and sultry Zedd collaboration "Get Low."

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Tracey Thorn remains one of the most vital voices in English pop – not necessarily a fate anyone would have bet on in the Eighties, even her early fans. In her excellent new solo album, with the droll title Record, the Everything But the Girl chanteuse tells tales of mid-life angst with the same wry wit she's had in her voice since she was a sullen Brit-punk kid. The fantastic "Sister" sets the tone – over eight pulsing minutes of feminist rage, explicitly inspired by the women's march, with Corinne Bailey Rae and Warpaint's rhythm section joining in as she chants, "I think like a girl/I fight like a girl." She sounds like a woman who woke up one morning to realize she forgot how to give a fuck anymore.

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The Beatles waiting to cross Abbey Road, 8th August 1969.

Thom Yorke has unveiled the new video for “Open Again.” It’s the fourth single the Radiohead singer has revealed from his upcoming score for Luca Gaudagnino’s Suspiria horror film remake.

In contrast to his recently released, tension-filled instrumental “Volk,” “Open Again” features Yorke’s haunting, meditative vocals over mesmerizing acoustic guitar. “Just say the magic words,” he sings. “Open again/ We live again.” The accompanying Ruff Mercy-animated clip features undulating pink swirls and patterns that morph to form bird shapes, which eventually disintegrate.

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Dev Hynes’ Blood Orange project performs “Charcoal Baby” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Monday. Backed by a nine-piece ensemble that included a man with swan wings mirroring Blood Orange’s Negro Swan cover, Hynes and the crew performed the sultry tune backlit in blue and pink hues.

“No one wants to be the odd one out at times/ No one wants to be the negro swan/ Can you break sometimes?” Hynes sang on the chorus. “Charcoal make it start and make me liked at times/ Lick me ’til it cleans all of the world.” Meanwhile, backup singers and a soaring saxophone line buoyed his satin vocal and shimmering guitar leads.

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Zayn Malik explores love, loss and rebirth through the visual telling of a tragic love story in his new video for “Satisfaction.” The ballad appears on his sophomore studio album, Icarus Falls, which was released last month.
While Zayn only appears briefly in the Bouha Kazmi-directed clip, the narrative aptly captures the spirit of the song’s sentiment, where fulfillment is ultimately achieved through love. “We can’t get no satisfaction alone/’Cause I can’t, you can’t, we can’t get no satisfaction,” Zayn croons. “All in my zone, all in my space/Life is always in the way/As you try your best to pull away/Something surges, urges you to stay.”

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