Music

Former medic becomes hip-hop artist to help fellow veterans

"It was a kinetic and violent deployment. The conditions were pretty austere," Todd said. "My roommate was killed on the first day. ... It shook us pretty bad."

He got his second nickname, "Doc," serving as a Navy corpsman, essentially a combat medic, for the 2nd Battalion 8th Marines in Helmand province in 2009.

"Over there, we were just worried about water, survival, ammunition, food and God," Todd said.

His job was to assist with trauma and injuries on the battlefield. In the end, it was Todd who needed help.

Siassi Heritage resumes project

But the album was never completed, says Russel Nakayo, band founder.

“We saw that the market was not good. There was a lot of piracy and even the royalty payments were not good…so we dropped the project,” he said.

Four years on, the band sees a bigger responsibility and the need to complete this album.

“Our music is more traditional than modern. It has a story to tell. So this time, we’re doing it not because of money, but because we want our ancestors’ story to live on.

Djs gather 50 years on to mark the golden age of British pirate radio

And the British government was furious.

Back in the 1960s, when pop and rock were taking over the music scene, British teenagers had to turn to pirate radio stations to hear bands like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.

Barred from broadcasting from land, stations such as Radio Caroline and Radio London had taken to the water, using rusty old ships moored in international waters to broadcast to millions of eager listeners across the UK.

'Music videos are such an amazing art form': Shae

Prior to his chat with RNZ Music’s Yadana Saw he gives a quick masterclass on how to film this interview for radio:

Shae is happy to give us a crash course in expanding our content making skills.

It seems he is completely unfazed by the obstacles and quirks of his chosen profession: evading the attention of armed security guards; trawling Craigslist for vintage cars or maintaining control of wayward tractor tyres.

“It’s such an amazing art form, you’re so free to do what you want” enthuses Shae.

Dropping beats not bombs

"It happened quite a number of times that a friend or colleague was killed," he says. "Fortunately I still have my fingers and toes."

Samhat cleared mines in the south of Lebanon, the home nation of his parents before they moved to Los Angeles, California, where he was born. He also supervised teams in Sudan, Cyprus and Kosovo.

Yet away from this perilous work, Samhat was grafting at another passion that has since become his life -- dropping beats for music fans across the Lebanese capital, Beirut, and promoting local musical talent.

UK singer: I was deported for impersonating Trump

Peter Bywaters, of Peter & The Test Tube Babies, claims he was detained when he flew in for a festival.

He said he was interrogated for six hours by border control staff and shown photos of himself dressed up as Donald Trump on tour in Germany last year.

However, US Customs and Border Protection officials say he was deported for having the wrong visa.

'All the bowling ladies': Beyonce anthem used in bid to save Melbourne club

Three ladies from the Chadstone Bowls Club — Terry Foster, 82, Janine Hall, 82, and Wyn Hewett, 72 — star in a video featuring them dancing to Beyonce hit Single Ladies.

But instead of singing about break-ups and sisterhood, the trio sing about their love for the club and ask Stonnington Council to "pay attention".

"Cause we're bowlers and you can't take this away from us," the chorus goes.

"Now we're mad and you won't get away with it."

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.