Music

The lifelong implications of telling children they can’t sing

Telling a child they can’t sing has life-long implications. But there are ways to reverse it.

Singing is a natural human interaction that transcends cultures, socio-economic groups, ability, gender and education level, but many people are so scarred from their childhood experiences of singing that they won’t sing as adults.

Northwestern University choral music expert Steven Demorest says this comes from a focus on talent rather than skill. “It creates a huge stigma for kids and becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy,” he says.

Katie Price warned against releasing new song, does it anyway

Katie sang her new track, I Got U, on Loose Women, where she is also a regular co-host.

She has previously admitted she is not the best singer, but says this single is different, as I Got U was "written for her voice".

The writer behind the song is Craig Colton, who was a contestant on The X Factor in 2011.

Katie also says that her manager urged her not to release music and believes she is wasting her time.

"It won't be a flop. I'm confident," she said before performing the song.

Did Bob Dylan plagiarise his Nobel lecture?

The American singer-songwriter used a video posted online to accept the prize for literature earlier this month, just in time to collect the 8 million Swedish krona ($1.2 million) reward.

But American author and journalist Andrea Pitzer said substantial chunks of Dylan's address were copied without attribution from the Spark Notes cheating website.

Can a diverse playlist help create world peace?

The findings suggest we shouldn't be playing the same old beats to ourselves over and over.

"Music in general has importance in society above and beyond just being a beautiful thing to listen to: it can change our attitudes about important things like diversity," Professor Jake Harwood, lead researcher from the University of Arizona, told Hack.

'We listen to stuff that sells'

Arnhem Land rapper inspiring young people

And with the release of his track Cloud 9, which features the 20-year-old rapping in Yolngu Matha, he's on his way.

Baker Boy, also known as Danzel Baker, is from Milingimbi community in north-eastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory.

He has a distinguished cultural pedigree — the Djuki Mala dancer is related to up-and-coming musicians Garruwa and Yirrmal, and hails from a part of the country that has produced major Australian acts such as Yothu Yindi and Gurrumul.

Chris Cornell's family disputes preliminary suicide finding

The city's medical examiner said 52-year-old Cornell — the lead singer in Soundgarden and Audioslave — died early Thursday morning after performing at a concert on Wednesday night.

But Cornell's family said without toxicology test results completed they do not know what caused his death.

On Friday, an official said the results of a full autopsy and toxicology tests could take days before they are completed and released.

Chris Cornell died by suicide, preliminary autopsy shows

The Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office said it completed the preliminary autopsy on the 52-year-old, but "a full autopsy report has not yet been completed".

Cornell's death stunned his family and his die-hard fans, for whom Cornell performed hours earlier at a show in Detroit.

Soundgarden's current tour kicked off in late April and was planned to run until May 27.

Breakdancing crew brings their unique style to the theatre

Nick Power has been a "B*boy" for 25 years and is the choreographer for a new theatre production, Cypher, which will run at the Melbourne Arts Centre.

"A hip-hop jam is mostly improvised and you're reacting to the music and the moment," he told News Breakfast.

"As I've choreographed Cypher, I've used that style and feeling and taken it into a more traditional theatre context, but still keeping it true to the culture of hip hop."

Mr Power said most breakdancers were self-taught and honed their craft by practising with their "crew".

Aussie hip-hop sisterhood is breaking down barriers

"I'm having a visual of, like, people walking in the street for a cause," Akimera Burckhardt-Bedeau tells a group of women sitting around her.

"We are building a community out there, of women, who are out there doing it in hip-hop," she told News Breakfast later on.

Ms Burckhardt-Bedeau is lead facilitator at Sisters on the Mic — a program for women learning the hip-hop ropes — but she prefers to go with just Akimera on stage.

Heart attack shock for one half of Queensland music duo Busby Marou

The 34-year-old — one half of Busby Marou — was playing touch football in Rockhampton last week when he started feeling light-headed.

"I just thought I was puffed and unfit," he said.

"There was tightening across my chest ... it was all the things I had read about, all the signs.

"I still didn't think that was it, but I had a good crew around me that got me to the hospital."