Coachella 2019 LINE-UP REVEALED

The line-up for the 2019 edition of Coachella Festival has been revealed, with the headliners named as Childish Gambino, Tame Impala and Ariana Grande.

Coachella is held annually in the grounds of the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California on consecutive weekends in mid-April. In 2019, it’s set to take place on the weekends of April 12th-14th and April 19th-21st, with the three days of acts identical over each weekend.

On the two Friday nights, joining Childish Gambino – the stage name of actor and musician Donald Glover – will be big-name producer Diplo, rapper Anderson .Paak and English indie-pop act The 1975.

Promising to return with new music for the first time since 2015, Kevin Parker’s much-loved Tame Impala will headline the two Saturday events, with Beyonce’s sister Solange, hip-hop star Kid Cudi and British electronica legend Aphex Twin appearing before them on-stage.

Closing out the two weekends will be pop megastar Ariana Grande, with producer Khalid, Scottish electro-pop heroes Chvrches and producer/DJ Zedd also on the bill.

Lana Del Rey TO RELEASE NEW MUSIC

Lana Del Rey is to release some new music next week, and has confirmed that her upcoming fifth album, with the working title Norman F***ing Rockwell, is “completely finished”.

Speaking to her fans over a combination of Instagram Live and Reddit, the American singer revealed some more about what 2019 had in store.

“I think I’m putting a song out January 8th,” the singer said during an Instagram Live broadcast, “but I’m not a thousand per cent on it. Maybe the eighth.”

There’s already been three cuts from the album, with September and October seeing the release of ‘Mariners Apartment Complex’, ‘Venice Bitch’ and ‘How To Disappear’.

As for the new LP, the music is apparently complete and the artwork has been shot, though according to Reddit she might go back and do it again.

Lana Del Rey

Nirvana SUE MARC JACOBS FOR COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT

Fashion designer Marc Jacobs is being sued by grunge icons Nirvana for copyright infringement, concerning the brand’s recent Redux Grunge collection that features several items that resemble Nirvana’s black-and-yellow imagery.

Representatives for the Seattle-based group, which broke up in 1994 following the suicide of lead singer Kurt Cobain, said that Marc Jacobs’ use of: “Nirvana’s copyrighted image on and to promote its products is intentional”.

The lawsuit claims that the use of Nirvana’s iconography, including the famous ‘smiley face’ symbol drawn by Cobain and which the group has used since 1992, is to “make the ‘grunge’ association with the collection more authentic”.

Neither Marc Jacobs nor the two surviving members of Nirvana, Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic, have commented on the lawsuit at the time of writing.

GARY OLDMAN TO NARRATE David Bowie INTERACTIVE APP

Gary Oldman is to provide the narration of the interactive app of the ‘David Bowie Is’ exhibition, which is being released in a few days’ time.

The Augmented Reality (AR) app will be available in iOS and Android, and will allow users access to the ‘David Bowie Is’ exhibition’s hundreds of costumes, videos, handwritten lyrics, original works of art and much more. Dozens of items not featured in the original exhibition will also be included, including some entirely new and exclusive to the app, which arrives on January 8th.

“This brings the amazing David Bowie is exhibition to a wider audience,” said Oscar-winner Oldman in a statement. “It’s great that his fans get to experience it. It was a privilege to be involved.”

UK’S BEST SELLING VINYL ALBUM REVEALED

The much-vaunted vinyl revival in Britain continues apace, with just over 4.2 million vinyl records sold in 2018 – the biggest-selling of which was the highly-anticipated sixth Arctic Monkeys album, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino.

Alex Turner and co.’s latest, released back in May, sold 38,000 last year, also becoming the fastest-selling vinyl album in 25 years in the process.

The huge success of The Greatest Showman soundtrack means it made number two in the list, selling 32,300 copies. Completing the top five are Fleetwood Mac‘s classic Rumours (32,000 copies), Queen‘s Greatest Hits (31,500 copies), and The Dark Side Of The Moon by Pink Floyd (26,000).

Arctic Monkeys

FESTIVAL PLANNED TO MARK 50th ANNIVERSARY OF WOODSTOCK

The 50th anniversary of the iconic Woodstock Festival is being planned on the original site of the event in New York state in August.

Featuring performances from the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Who and The Grateful Dead, Woodstock is widely regarded as one of the most important events in pop and rock history when it took place in August 1969 on Max Yasgur’s farm, 100 miles north-west of New York City. In 2019, to mark the passing of half a century, a re-run of sorts is being planned.

“Fifty years ago, people gathered peacefully on our site inspired to change the world through music,” Darlene Fedun, chief executive of the Bethel Woods Centre, a charitable group that now owns the land, said in a statement. “We remain committed to preserving this rich history and spirit, and to educating and inspiring new generations to contribute positively to the world through music, culture, and community.”

Organisers said they would announce the line-up for the event, to be held August 16th-18th 2019, on 37 acres of land that was once a farm, at a later date.

Stevie Nicks McDONALD’S PETITION GROWS

Thousands of Facebook users have joined a campaign to get rock icon Stevie Nicks to work a shift at the Fleetwood branch of McDonald’s.

The event on Facebook, pinned for Saturday 28th September 2019, calls upon the Fleetwood Mac singer to work a three-hour shift at Lancashire branch of the fast food restaurant, which is almost the namesake of her iconic band. At the time of writing, over 2,000 people have said they would attend with over 13,000 fans ‘interested’.

A McDonald’s spokesman told NME, going to town on the puns: “We’ve heard some rumours that Stevie Nicks might be keen to visit our own Fleetwood Macs. Next time she’s in the area we’d be delighted to welcome her for some sweet little fries before she goes her own way…”

Stevie Nicks

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