The news of the Canadian’s musician and poet’s death was announced this evening via his official Facebook page. The post read, “It is with profound sorrow we report that legendary poet, songwriter and artist, Leonard Cohen has passed away. We have lost one of music’s most revered and prolific visionaries.”

It was reported that the star passed away on Monday and has already been buried. “It is with great sadness that we must report Leonard passed away on Monday, November 7. As was his wish, he was buried in a quiet and private ceremony in Montreal.” One user wrote on his message board.

Cohen’s son Adam told Rolling Stone that his father died peacefully at home “with the knowledge that he had completed what he felt was one of his greatest records. He was writing up until his last moments with his unique brand of humour.”

His manager Robert Kory also told the publication: “Unmatched in his creativity, insight and crippling candour, Leonard Cohen was a true visionary whose voice will be sorely missed. I was blessed to call him a friend, and for me to serve that bold artistic spirit firsthand, was a privilege and great gift. He leaves behind a legacy of work that will bring insight, inspiration and healing for generations to come.”

The Montreal-born singer’s hits included Suzanne, Bird on the Wire and I’m Your Man. He released his 14th album, You Want It Darker, just last month.

Following the news, many fellow musicians, politicians and celebrities alike have been paying tribute to Cohen via social media. Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, wrote: “No other artist’s music felt or sounded like Leonard Cohen’s. Yet his work resonated across generations. Canada and the world will miss him.”

Last month, Leonard Cohen said in an interview with The New Yorker that he was ready to die.  “I don’t think I’ll be able to finish those songs. Maybe, who knows? And maybe I’ll get a second wind, I don’t know. But I don’t dare attach myself to a spiritual strategy. I don’t dare do that. I’ve got some work to do.”Take care of business.

“I am ready to die. I hope it’s not too uncomfortable. That’s about it for me.”

Buble said he and his wife, Luisiana Lopilato, had put their careers on hold in order to devote their time to taking care of their little boy. The ‘Haven’t Met You Yet’ singer has cancelled his forthcoming appearance at the annual event, held in London on December 12, in order to be with his three-year-old boy Noah and his family following the announcement that the toddler is battling the disease. The Canadian singer was due to perform at the awards at the ExCel London on December 12 alongside Kaiser Chiefs, Emeli Sande and Lukas Graham.

Buble and his wife of five years, Luisana, made the announcement about their elder son Noah’s health on the singer’s Facebook page. They said: “We are devastated about the recent cancer diagnosis of our oldest son Noah who is currently undergoing treatment in the US. We have always been very vocal about the importance of family and the love we have for our children. Luisana and I have put our careers on hold in order to devote all our time and attention to helping Noah get well.

“We have a long journey in front of us and hope that with the support of family, friends and fans around the world, we will win this battle, God willing.”

As well as the BBC Music Awards, Buble is set to host the Brit Awards in London on 22 February (17) and the Juno Awards on 2 April (17). Currently, he is still billed to appear at both.

BBC Music Director Bob Shennan said: “We send Michael and his family our very best wishes.”

According to the Daily Mail, during a recent appearance on ITV’s Loose Women, Buble praised his children for giving him ‘perspective’ and said that he was unaware how much he would enjoy being a father. He said: “The only regret that I have in my life is that I took this long to have kids, because I had no idea the perspective it would give me.

“I had no idea how much I would love being a dad. That’s it, that’s all I care about… I love them too much probably, if there was such a thing.

“It’s made everything else so insignificant, moments that I was afraid of and moments that would overwhelm me have now become a joy because I’ve realised how not serious they are compared to what is really important, which is Noah and Eli and that’s it.”

The Republican candidate stormed to victory early Wednesday (Nov. 9), despite his rival Hillary Clinton gaining campaign support from a galaxy of stars, from Beyonce and Jay Z, to Adele, Katy Perry, Jon Bon Jovi and Lady Gaga.

Trump had won several “swing states”, including Florida, Ohio, Iowa and North Carolina, allowing him to reach the 270 electoral college votes needed to ensure victory.

Responding to the news, Bestival organiser Rob Da Bank tweeted, saying: “How can America go from Obama to Trump in 4 years?! Has someone hacked the tv channels with some mental made up film? This is insane.”

The news that Trump is soon to be in the Oval Office understandably shook the largely pro-Hillary Clinton music world, which reacted with a mix of anger, confusion and determination to regroup and rebel.

Musicians and celebs turned to social media to share their thoughts as Trump edged ahead and sealed victory.

The Black Keys’ Patrick Carney wrote: “Think of all the free coverage @CNN and the rest of the media gave Trump and all the money they will make with him as President.”

Do not sit still. Do not weep. MOVE. We are not a nation that will let HATE lead us.

— KATY PERRY (@katyperry) November 9, 2016

“It is disappointing, sad and frightening that someone who has been so hateful and has no qualifications to be President has been elected. We can only hope that if he cares about our country, he really does serve as the president of all of us in this nation, that he abandons the hate speeches and the bullying and assembles an excellent group of advisors that can help him govern . . . but really all we can truly do is pray that he becomes a different president than who he has been as a candidate.” – Prince Royce via Billboard.

The boys had a great year in 2015 by making it into the ‘BBC Sound Of’ shortlist, before playing huge shows, supporting The Stone Roses and topping the charts with their acclaimed self-titled debut. Their debut record spent two weeks at No. 1 when it was released back in August, the first time a debut album has spent more than one week in the top spot from its launch since 2014.

The indie five-piece will play 13 dates, supported by current buzz-conductors Cabbage and Rory Wynne. They’ll also be releasing a digital ‘extended version’ of their debut album this Friday (11 November) with 10 extra tracks.

They’re about to embark on a UK tour this month, beginning on the 30 November beginning in Leicester and ending in Bournemouth on the 14 December.

The boys will be joined by the Courteeners at their Manchester Emirates Old Trafford LCCC gig. Liam Fray from the band told NME that Blossoms are a ‘truly great band’.

“They’re a real real grassroots northern band. No fucking leg-ups from anybody really or anything like that. They’ve grafted their balls off and toured extensively.”

Fray continued: “Great pop songs, good lads. What‘s not to love about it? It’s a proper old school kind of story – four lads meet at college and start a band. That’s what we want in this country, it should be celebrated. None of their dads are loaded and gave them a million quid to set up a studio; they’re normal lads who wrote songs in their bedrooms like we did. Fucking great.

“It gives me faith a little bit as well, that it can be done still, it’s available. Songs are a big thing; you’ve got to have the songs. It starts with a jacket but you need the songs.”

Tickets are on sale from 10am on Thursday 10 November. Details of dates and venues can be found below.

16/03 – Keele, University Ballroom
17/03 – Liverpool, Olympia
18/03 – Brighton, Dome
20/03 – Lincoln, Engine Shed
21/03 – Exeter, Lemon Grove
23/03 – London, Roundhouse
24/03 – Bristol, O2 Academy
25/03 – Cardiff, Tramshed
27/03 – Norwich, The Nick Rayns LCR, UEA
29/03 -Birmingham, O2 Academy
30/03 -Leeds, O2 Academy
31/03 – Newcastle, O2 Academy
01/04 – Glasgow, O2 Academy

The pop-punk band from California will be taking to arenas in 2017, kicking off in Cardiff on July 3, moving onto the UK’s biggest cities including Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow and Newcastle to name a few, and ending at London’s O2 arena on the 19 July.

The trio, made up of Mark Hoppus, Travis Barker and new member Matt Skiba, released their seventh studio album California earlier this year. The record was their first since guitarist Tom DeLonge quit the band and was replaced by former Alkaline Trio singer and vocalist Matt Skiba, who will be making his first UK appearance with the band in July. Bassist Mark Hoppus said in a documentary (via NME) that the musician was the most logical choice. He said: “The only person we talked about coming and playing our shows was Matt. The reception to Matt was amazing, overwhelming. People were chanting his name before we even came out and played.”

The band are likely to play a range of old and new songs, including ‘All The Small Things’, ‘What’s My Age Again?’ and ‘I Miss You’ as their most famous hits.

The new tour was announced on the BBC Radio 1 Rock Show last night (November 6). The band were hosting a takeover of the show at the time.

Priority tickets are on sale on Wednesday 9 November at 9am and general sale tickets will be available on Friday 11 November at 9am.

Tour dates are as follows:

03/07 – Cardiff – Motorpoint Arena
04/07 – Nottingham – Motorpoint Arena
05/07 – Leeds – First District Arena
07/07 – Birmingham – Barclaycard Arena
09/07 – Newcastle – Metro Radio Arena
11/07 – Glasgow – The SSE Hydro
14/07 – Manchester – Manchester Arena
15/07 – Liverpool – Echo Arena
17/07 – Bournemouth – BIC
19/07 – London – The O2

The first 15 acts were announced today as festival organisers prepare for the 15th year of the event, which takes place at Donington Park in Leicestershire in June.

System of a Down will be opening the festival, headlining the Friday night. The band spoke about coming back to headline the festival for the second time. “It’ll have been a couple of years since our memorable Wake Up The Souls show at Wembley, so returning to the UK to headline Download, a festival we always love to play, is really exciting for us. The energy and atmosphere there is always electric.”

Scottish band Biffy Clyro will headline the Saturday night for the first time at Download, after headlining Reading and Leeds twice before. This comes after achieving their second number one album with their seventh album, Ellipsis.

With Aerosmith closing the festival, Joe Perry – guitarist – said: “Every time we go on tour I look at the schedule for cities, towns or events that I look forward to playing. Download Festival is always one of the ones I circle. Donington is like home to us. I have some great memories playing there and I can’t wait to make some more.”

The rest of the festival will consist of artists such as AFI, Rob Zombie, Five Finger Death Punch, Of Mice & Men, Fozzy, Sleeping With Sirens, Simple Plan, Every Time I Die, The Story So Far, Slayer and Motionless In White, with more acts to be announced nearer the time.

Download Festival’s Promoter, Andy Copping said: “We’re incredibly excited to announce the Download 2017 headliners. We have three giants of rock and metal topping the bill. As always, Download fans can expect world class performances across the weekend. You won’t want to miss a thing. System of a Down made headline history back in 2011 and 2017 will no doubt see them bigger and better than ever. Saturday’s headliner, Biffy Clyro, have raised the bar for rock music – we’re always looking for bands to make their Download headline debut, and I have no doubt they’ll be worthy of the title.

“The mighty Aerosmith will be back, and their closing set will be something truly special. The band has a long history with Donington, and having them headline for us again is a real honour.”

Download 2017 takes place between Friday 9 – Sunday 11 June. General Sale Weekend tickets and Day tickets are available now.

Earning more than twice the income of the second-placed artist, Adele, Swift has made over $170 million over the past year. Most of Swift’s earnings came from her 1989 world tour, which sold more than $250m worth of tickets.

Taylor Swift celebrated the 10th anniversary of her debut self-titled album on Oct. 24, and according to Billboard, in the decade since crashing onto the music scene, the singer has built her empire, with top-charting albums, a variety of endorsements and business partnerships, and top-grossing tours, like her most recent 1989 tour, which drew in over $200 million.

Adele is second, having earned $80.5 million over the past year from album sales. Her most recent album, 25, which was released in November 2015, became the fastest selling album of all time in the UK, selling over 800,000 copies in its first week. In the US, it became the first album to sell more than 3m copies in a week, with 3.38m sales within seven days of release, and was the best selling album of 2015.

Madonna comes in third, after her Rebel Heart tour. In fourth place is Rihanna, who earned $75 million due to her tour and endorsement deals with Dior and Puma, to name a few. Although Beyoncé seems low on the list, in fifth place with $54m, she is likely to be higher next year, when sales from her Formation world tour are taken into account.

Forbes bases its the estimates on industry information as well as interviews with managers and agents, along with data given by the artists themselves.

The full top 10 are:

1. Taylor Swift – $170m
2. Adele – $80.5m
3. Madonna – $76.5m
4. Rihanna – $75m
5. Beyoncé – $54m
6. Katy Perry – $41m
7. Jennifer Lopez – $39.5m
8. Britney Spears – $30.5m
9. Shania Twain – $27.5m
10. Celine Dion – $27m

The band have just released their third album Who You Selling For and are currently embarking on a worldwide tour, playing new tracks and old favourites, stopping off in the UK for shows at Nottingham, Birmingham, London, Glasgow and Manchester.

Front-woman Taylor Momsen hasn’t made a public appearance since her cameo in the American TV show Gossip Girl back in 2012.

In a quote for NME, Momsen spoke about her past. “The producers knew I was never an actress. I started as an actress as you can’t be putting out a record when you’re three-years-old. It was a job and it paid my rent but, once I wrote an album’s worth of material that I wanted to release, it wasn’t even a question.”

Previously, the band have supported Marylin Manson and released the albums Light Me Up in 2010 and Going To Hell four years later.

The band’s third album Who You Selling For was released in October, and have released their first song ‘Take Me Down’. In an interview for Loudwire, Momsen explains what songs were easiest to write. “I think “Oh My God” kind of wrote itself quickly but it’s also something I worked on for about two years, but the core of it really came fast so I’ll say, “Oh My God.” Wait, I have a better one. It was written and recorded all in three days, “Mad Love,” and that was written right after [David] Bowie died and I was kind of really devastated by that and that was kind of my homage to him that was all written and recorded within three days.”

Tickets for the UK leg of the tour will be released on Friday 4 November at 9am. Details of dates and venues are below:

19/01 – Rock City – Nottingham
20/01 – O2 Institute – Birmingham
21/01 – O2 Forum – London
23/01 – O2 ABC – Glasgow
24/01 – O2 Ritz – Manchester

According to the BBC, the Creative Industries Federation has said that British artists may have to spend more time and money on items like visas for tours if freedom of movement rules are tightened in post-Brexit Europe.

Federation founder Sir John Sorrell said the creative sector is “a key driver of wealth and global success” for the UK. “To imperil that would be to imperil our wider economy. That is why we need to be at the heart of the new government’s industrial strategy and negotiating priorities in coming months.”

The federation also said:

• It may become harder for UK institutions to attract and employ European staff
• Some funding for culture, currently provided by the EU, may disappear
• New export tariffs and other trade barriers could be “a particular challenge” given the popularity of British culture abroad
• The loss of EU copyright laws and deals could leave UK creators exposed to piracy and “at a competitive disadvantage”
• The UK might not have its turn hosting the European Capital of Culture 2023

Before the result meant that Britain was going to leave the EU, Major Lazer’s production manager, Joel Stanley told IQ magazine back in March: “I think the biggest thing for me as a production manager would be the addition of a carnet [customs documents which allow the tax-free temporary importation of equipment] for every show outside the UK. Currently we only ever have to show proof of ownership with the bond and have it stamped in and out if we go outside of the EU – mainly Switzerland – but [post-Brexit we’d need a carnet] even for a one-off show in France.”

Agents and touring artists are already dealing with the aftermath of the decline of the CD business. Labels used to underwrite shows with support and use this as a marketing investment to break new acts that would then go on to sell records, thereby covering that development cost. Now, European dates will dramatically decline, with days off a rare thing because days off mean no money is coming in.

Colin Roberts of Big Life Management told Pitchfork in June: “Getting visas are an absolute minefield and it costs a lot of money, and it’s the reason that a lot of people don’t get to tour America. Even going to a country like Japan where visas are quite easy to get, I know how difficult it is having to factor in the cost and the time to acquire a visa.”

He will be playing tracks from his latest release Starboy. The album, which will be released on November 25, is his third studio LP and features a guest appearance from Daft Punk on the title track. The single topped the charts in seven countries.

The R&B singer will be performing the tour, called ‘Starboy, the Legend of the Fall, in the UK in early March next year, and will be stopping off in Manchester, London, Glasgow, Newcastle, Birmingham, and Leeds.

It has been revealed that Bryson Tiller will be supporting The Weeknd on the European leg of the tour. According to Metro, he posted details of the full world tour on Twitter, he wrote, ‘NEW TOUR PHASE 1′ alongside 80s sci-fi inspired artwork.

The singer played his first ever London show in 2012 at The Wilton Music Hall. Tickets for these arena shows will sell out fast. Fact magazine states that The Weeknd released ‘False Alarm’ back in September, the second from his latest album.

Priority Tickets for The Weeknd are available from 10am on Tuesday, November 2. O2 customers get tickets 48 hours before general release.

05/03 – Manchester Arena
07/03 – The O2 – London
08/03 – The O2 – London
10/03 – The SSE Hydro – Glasgow
11/03 – Metro Radio Arena – Newcastle
13/03 – Barclaycard Arena – Birmingham
14/03 – First Direct Arena – Leeds