Music & Entertainment Blog

Taylor Swift is the name on everybody’s lips nowadays. She just dropped her fourth album, 1989, in October, and it sold more copies in its first week than any other album in the past 12 years. With this album, she moved away from her country roots, and she says that it’s her first true “pop” album. With this album, she hosted secret listening parties for her superfans at her homes in LA, NYC and her parents’ home in Nashville before it was released. She baked pumpkin chocolate chip cookies for her guests to enjoy, and when she was finished singing, she took Polaroid photos with every single person she invited. She even let them pose with her various awards and her cat, Olivia Benson. 

The new Foo Fighters album Sonic Highways is out in under a month now, as it is released on 10th November 2014, and its popularity is already sky rocketing. The band have done a lot to promote this album, including releasing the single 'Something From Nothing' earlier this month, spurring fans to send out adoring messages on Twitter, the anticipation is building.

With Pink Floyd’s first studio album in 20 years set to drop in November, it’s good to look back at the band’s importance in rock and roll history. Richard Wright was a key player in creating most of the band’s releases, even writing and singing lead vocals for some of the tracks. His death in 2008 led everyone to believe that Pink Floyd’s 1994 album, The Division Bell, would be their last, but The Endless River will feature some of Wright’s recordings from as far back as 1969.

The amazing One Direction are currently working on their new album, in the very exciting stages of choosing a title and artwork, as well as beginning to think about music video ideas. While we're waiting to hear what must be one of the most anticipated albums of the year, nothing could be better than to tell you about my favourite member of One Direction. Everybody has their favourite band member, even if they deny it. Whether yours is the hauntingly handsome Zayn or the more refined Liam, you must have one member that sticks out for you as the best. For me it is Niall. And only partially because of his amazing Irish accent. 

The irrepressible Dolly Parton has been charming the music industry for decades, and she's still going strong. She has been one of the most talked about acts at Glastonbury this year, singing a string of classics such as 'Nine to Five' and 'Jolene'. The star has been accused of miming but her fans, including Stephen Fry, have stood up for her and say this is a ridiculous claim and that her performance on the Pyramid Stage was absolutely amazing. It was topped off with some important rock music news, when Parton's manager Donny Nozell and Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis were welcomed on stage to present her with a plaque to celebrate over 100 million album sales.

In this, the next in our survey of Classic Guitars from Rock and Roll History – we take a look at Martin acoustic guitars; specifically we go back to Martin's Dreadnought series and one of the first 'luxury guitars' to be made – the steel-string acoustic D-45. We also learn about one of the rock legends who loved playing it, Neil Young...

The next in our survey of Classic Guitars from Rock and Roll History – we go back to the first of Fender's classics – the Telecaster, and one of the rock legends who loves it, Keith Richards...