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The Black Keys’ singer Dan Auerbach has blasted rocker STEVE MILLER after the band inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last week, following Miller’s own negative comments about the ceremony.

The 36 year old rocker has told Rolling Stone magazine this week that he’s had many “sleepless nights” since Friday evening’s ceremony (April 8th), saying that the “whole process was unpleasant” leading up to Miller’s induction and that they wished they hadn’t introduced him to the stage.

During his acceptance speech, the 72 year old rock star became the unlikely talking point of the entire ceremony when he used the opportunity to denounce not only the Hall of Fame itself but also the entire music industry, calling them “f***in’ gangsters and crooks”.

Continue reading: Dan Auerbach Regrets Inducting "Unpleasant" Steve Miller Into Hall Of Fame

Fans and hopeful attendees of Barcelona's Primavera Sound were delighted to discover that the preview app they downloaded was a video game displaying the full line-up for the festival's fifteenth anniversary.

Already announced were Friday and Saturday's headliners Ride and The Strokes, and now they've been joined by a host of other equally incredible artists. Thursday sees The Black Keys leading the bill alongside The Replacements, who are hitting Spanish stages for the first time and Antony and the Johnsons, who've been doing plenty since their last Barcelona gig. Bringing some variation to Thursday proceedings are electronic virtuosos James Blake, Richie Hawtin and Simian Mobile Disco.

Continue reading: The 15th Anniversary Line-Up For Primavera Sound Is Finally Here!

Temperatures may be plummeting in Britain, but we’ve got some sunnier festival news for you. The Isle of Wight festival has announced that the Black Keys and the Prodigy will co-headline in 2015.

The two bands will perform on the Friday night of next year’s festival, although the order in which they’ll appear on stage has not yet been confirmed. Pharrell Williams, who has had runaway success as a solo artist in the last 18 months, will also be playing the festival.

U.S. blues-rockers The Black Keys will co-headline Isle of Wight with British veterans The Prodigy

Continue reading: Black Keys And The Prodigy To Co-Headline Isle Of Wight 2015

Lana Del Rey’s sophomore album (post-transformation, that is), Ultraviolence, is finally out after some questionable promotional tactics. The album is now up for the top spot in the iTunes chart and LDR has her work cut out for her in competing with Sam Smith’s debut record In The Lonely Hour.

Lana Del Rey returns as a perfectly crafted drama queen in Ultraviolence.

Besides her competition, Del Rey is up against some unfortunate odds; her previous album, Born to Die, was panned by just about every critic in the Western Hemisphere and a good chunk of the hipster crowd.

Continue reading: Reviews: Lana Del Rey, The Concept, Hits Her Stride With "Ultraviolence"

Alabama's sun-soaked, sold-out Hangout Music Fest begins officially today (May 16th 2014) following yesterday's kick-off party - and there's almost too much fun to take in.

Set against the glorious backdrop of Gulf Shores' pure white beaches, this festival truly is the place to 'hang out' this weekend with top headliners The Black Keys, The Killers, Outkast and Jack Johnson leading the talent-studded bill. Acts such as Jack Antonoff's latest project Bleachers, CLASSIXX and Bonobo's DJ set went down a storm at the Discover Great Thursday Kickoff Party, but don't worry if you missed it because things are getting even better over the rest of the weekend.

Headliners The Black Keys open the festival today

Continue reading: Experience Sun, Sand And Sensational Sounds At Hangout Festival 2014

Lana Del Rey’s upcoming album hasn’t really matched the buzz of her debut record so far. Things might be about to change, however, with the reveal of the cover art for Ultraviolence. Along with the cover – a black and white shot of the singer looking as pouty as we remember – the album release date was announced for June 16.

pic.twitter.com/M93p4wMd61

— Lana Del Rey (@LanaDelRey) May 9, 2014

Continue reading: "Ultraviolence" Cover Revealed. Yep, That's Definitely Lana Del Rey

After months of speculation, the official line-up has been confirmed for the 2014 Glastonbury Festival, which will be held from the 27th to the 29th June this year. The festival tweeted this year's snazzy line-up poster which listed a tonne of previously unconfirmed acts. Sadly, and despite the rumours, it doesn't look like Prince will be getting funky at Glasto but the appearance of Elbow, Arcade Fire, Kasabian, The Black Keys, and Jack White should make up for the Purple One's absence.

Kasabian Have Been Confirmed To Play Glastonbury Festival This Year.

Joining these four big name acts will be an intriguing and eclectic mix of acts of all sorts of genres. Skrillex, De La Soul, Ms Dynamite, Rudimental, Disclosure, Lil Louis and DJ Pierre will be bringing dance music whilst Kelis, Janelle Monáe, Jurassic 5 and M.I.A will be giving the festival a hip hop flavour.

Continue reading: Glastonbury Line-Up Confirmed: Elbow, Kasabian, Arcade Fire, Jack White...And Who Else?

Now, you’d think that 32 year-old Patrick Carney would have thought better of dissing a teenager in public. It’s not very befitting of a grown man, insulting someone nearly half their age. No matter how much money that kid’s got. Then again, with all that money and influence and - no doubt – a hell of a lot of media training - at his disposal, you’d think that Justin Bieber would have thought better of saying that Carney “should be slapped around” for suggesting that Bieber doesn’t really need a Grammy, cos he’s so rich.

Sounds like childplay? Well, yep, we agree. But which one comes off looking worse? It’s hard to say really. Carney, after all was put on the spot and the drummer of the blues rock band probably wasn’t necessarily expecting TMZ to pounce on him at the Grammys and ask what he thought about Bieber being snubbed by the Grammys. In a nutshell, he replied that the Grammys are about music and not money – Bieber’s got tons of money, so he should be happy. And you know what? He’s kind of got a point! It’s not like Bieber needs the exposure of a Grammys win!

Now, we can forgive him a little immaturity, for his age, but Bieber’s response is hardly going to endear him to anybody (apart from his own fans and since when did he need to win them over?). His Twitter post was a lame attempt at a comeback and you know, we don’t mind a war of the words here at Contact, but practically inciting violence? Nope, we’re not cool with that. Carney wins this one, game over.

The Black Keys Rub Bieber Up The Wrong Way, Katy Perry 'Hangs Out' At The Grammys And Steve Martin Becomes A Dad At 67

Bieber Rattles The Keys! In perhaps the most bizarre celebrity feud of recent times, Patrick Carney of award-winning group The Black Keys has rubbed Justin Bieber up the wrong way. Asked about the possible reasons for Bieber's Grammys snub, Carney suggested the 18-year-old is rich, so doesn't need prestigious awards. Bieber's response? "The black keys drummer should be slapped around haha."

Continue reading: A Week In News: Bieber Slams The Black Keys, Chris Brown Stays Seated, Alec Baldwin To Become A Father!

The first promotional clip for the upcoming Grammy Awards has been released via ETOnline, with country-pop starlet Taylor Swift taking a staring role in the first look at the music awards.

Only a minute long, the promo doesn't show much, but it is the multi-Grammy winning artist who shows her self most prominently in the clip featuring Swift alongside some new and some established talent. With her includes Snoop Lion (formerly Dogg) and The Kills with some emerging artists, like Grace Potter, Kishi Bashi and Dam-Funk.

The new promo is part of three unlinked trailers, with Rihanna staring in one and The Black Keys in the third, titled 'Soundcheck.' The mini-clips were commissioned by The Recording Academy under the Twitter-friendly title #TheWorldIsListening, which seeks to encourage and highlight burgeoning musical talent - and the Grammys now as well. On top of this, the organisation has also set up a page on SoundCloud giving people a chance to upload their own music, whilst presided over by a crack panel featuring members of Linkin Park, RZA, and Snoop.

Continue reading: Taylor Swift Stars In The New Promo For The Grammys

To say that the Grammys have attracted a star-studded line-up is a bit like saying there might be a couple of handy actors knocking around the Oscars next month. However, once again it is the crème de la crème of mainstream music that will be attending the annual music ceremony, with the first batch of performers being announced for the event on February 10, 2013.

Many of the nominees for this year’s 55^th Grammy Awards are set to put in a turn performing. MTV reports that leading the list are six time nominees and the only act honored in each of the so-called Big Four categories, Record and Song of the Year, Album of the Year and Best New Artist, Fun. British folk duds Mumford & Sons will also perform – the group are also up for six categories this year - while five-time nominees the Black Keys and three-time nominees Rihanna and Taylor Swift will also be taking a turn each. Studded with stars as you can see.

LL Cool J’s been doing a pretty bang up job of hosting the huge event in recent years, and it’ll be he who once again guides everyone through the evening, with plenty more stars still to be confirmed to perform. Hopefully this will be a year where the event won’t be befallen by tragedy, as it did on the eve of last year’s when Whitney Houston passed away in her hotel room.

Continue reading: Weighty Line-Up Announced For The Grammys; Rihanna, Taylor Swift And Fun Set To Play

Last night’s 50th anniversary gig at the Prudential Center in Newark saw The Rolling Stones still very much at the top of their game, as the band performed some of their greatest hits and collaborated with a star-studded list of guest performers.

Among those were acts like John Mayer (bet you didn’t see that one coming), who rocked out alongside Keith Richards, giving the rock legend a run for his money, as well as The Black Keys and none other than the Boss himself, Bruce Springsteen, who joined The Stones for Tumbling Down. All in all, it was a good night for rock, with the band putting all of their energy into classic hits like 'Brown Sugar', 'Start Me Up,' 'Sympathy for the Devil' and the ever popular '(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.'  The most unusual collaboration of the night had to have been with Lady GaGa though, who joined the band for a rendition of 'Gimme Shelter' and it was actually, well, good. The Stones have a history of performing with more poppy artists on occasion, such as Mary J Blige and Florence Welch (of Florence and the Machine fame) and it always seemes to work out. It did again this time, with Gaga flaunting not only her impressive singing chops but also her no less spectacular shimmying skills alongside Mick Jagger.

Last night’s gig also had a more serious aspect to it, however, as the Stones and their guest stars took the time to honour the victims of the recent school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. “I just wanted to take a minute and send our love and condolences to those who lost their loved ones yesterday,” Jagger commented solemnly, before going into a performance of 'Wild Horses,' dedicated to the victims.

Continue reading: 50th Anniversary Rolling Stones Gig Highlights

The nominations for the 55th Grammy Award Nominations in 2013 have officially been announced by the award's organisers. Here’s a run down of some of the main awards, and our tips for Grammy's Glory.

Album Of The Year:

El Camino — The Black Keys

Continue reading: Grammy Nominations 2013: Who Will Win? Who SHOULD Win?

Neil Young and Foo Fighters were among the star attractions at Saturday night’s Global Citizen Festival in Central Park. The concert was held in order to raise awareness about issues surrounding poverty and according to the Washington Post, organisers “used an innovative approach to ticket distribution so that many concert-goers were forced to learn about an array of global problems in order to get a ticket.”

Anyone wanting to attend the concert, which also featured performances from the Black Keys, John Legend and Band Of Horses, had to register for tickets at globalcitizen.org. They earned ‘points’ towards a ticket for every poverty-related video they watched, of piece of information that they read. Around 71,000 people signed up for tickets and 60,000 of those crowded into Central Park for the unique event. The bands played for a round an hour each and were interspersed with guest speakers talking about global poverty issues.

Neil Young was joined, for his set, by Dave Grohl and members of the Black Keys, for a rendition of his classic track ‘Rockin’ In The Free World.’ When Foo Fighters played their own set, Grohl told the audience “Feels good to be here.” John Legend made a “surprise appearance,” playing John Lennon’s ‘Imagine,’ just a short way from where Lennon used to live. The concert had been deliberately scheduled to coincide with the meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York this month, to increase public consciousness of the presence of poverty.