Adele is reportedly due to sign a £90m record contract, landing the biggest deal ever handed to a British musician.

Chemotherapy has allowed the Aslan singer to get back gigging, and he intends to make the most of every moment, writes Ed Power

What’s new?

It has the most famous zebra crossing in the world outside it, and has hosted every major name in music in the last 80 years, but Abbey Road Studios has never before been open to the public.

My biggest fault is being stubborn.

He may be battling writer’s block, but Mick Flannery is topping off a great year with a hometown concert, writes Ed Power

HHHII 

IN advance of her gig at the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival, Ed Power Dianne Reenes is as humble as ever, despite her Grammys and singing for George Clooney.

The Irish arm of record giant Universal Music enjoyed a tenfold increase in profits last year as the acquisition of part of fellow recording company EMI helped it to higher revenues.

Kate Bush will perform for the first time in more than 30 years this month. Tickets sold out in minutes. Without a hit in years, her grasp on our collective imagination is astonishing.

Her massive 1987 hit brought her almost instant fame, but Suzanne Vega couldn’t reconcile her success with the dark subject matter of ‘Luca’, says Ed Power.

U2 are to go back to their spiritual home by returning to the record label that discovered them in the 1970s.

Rock superstars U2 are to go back to their spiritual home by returning to the record label that discovered them in the 1970s.

Album sales in Ireland are a third of what they were eight years ago. John Hearne wonders if this signals the end

Robin Thicke is being sued for copyright infringement over his hit song 'Blurred Lines'.

JOHN SPILLANE has a question. “Have you heard my new single, ‘Life In An Irish Town’?” he asks, leaning forward in his armchair. “I think it has the potential to be a hit. I mean, it’s not for me to say. But I think it could do well. It is about to go to radio so we’ll find out.”

Simon Cowell is thinking of naming his baby Eric, after his father.

Tina Turner has married Erwin Bach.

Tina Turner is reportedly getting married.

Eircom is winding up its MusicHub downloading service just over two years after it was launched to combat the growth of illegal music sites.

Four major music firms have secured orders requiring six internet service providers to block access by subscribers to Pirate Bay websites within 30 days in a bid to prevent illegal downloading of copyright music and other material.

A legal action aimed at blocking access by Irish internet users to the free file-sharing website The Pirate Bay is due to be heard in the Commercial Court today.

The black market is robbing the Irish economy of up to €1.5bn every year, according to new research.

Kate Bush, one of Britain’s most unique and innovative singers, was made a CBE by Queen Elizabeth and dedicated the honour to her family and musical collaborators.

Music labels and film studios are reportedly planning to throw their weight behind a rescue deal for collapsed retailer HMV.

HMV’s flagship London store famously played its part in helping The Beatles land their record deal, setting them on the path to becoming the biggest band in the world.

Thousands of people have been left with worthless HMV gift vouchers as the retailer confirmed it has gone into administration.

Not everyone will mourn the potential demise of HMV but yesterday musicians were among those expressing concern about its future and the ramifications for music making and buying.

A legal action has been launched aimed at blocking access by Irish internet users to the free file-sharing website Pirate Bay and related sites.

Max Clifford, 69, who was arrested on suspicion of sexual offences, is one of the most influential publicity agents in Britain who has represented everyone from OJ Simpson to Mohamed Al Fayed, working closely with the press to manage, break, and stop stories about his clients.

Bestselling records last year by Katy Perry and David Guetta were not enough to offset the decline in sales and profits at the Irish unit of music giant EMI.

Simon Fuller has launched a bid to buy Parlophone records.

Coldplay, Kylie Minogue, David Bowie and other prestigious artists are set to leave EMI after Universal’s £1.2bn takeover was approved today on condition it sells several of the recording company’s labels.

A co-founder of popular file-sharing website The Pirate Bay has been arrested in Cambodia at the request of Sweden, where he faces a one-year prison term for violating copyright laws, authorities said today.

Parlophone, the record label behind Kylie Minogue, Coldplay and Blur, is to be sold as a condition of EMI’s takeover by Universal, it was reported today.

Richard Branson is considering buying back Virgin Records more than 40 years after founding the business that spawned his empire.

Singer Katy Perry is launching her own record label, it has emerged.

Universal Music Group has won the qualified support of two North American artists' unions for its proposed $1.9bn (€1.44bn) acquisition of the recorded music division of the UK's EMI Group Ltd.

EU antitrust regulators opened an indepth investigation yesterday into a bid by Vivendi’s Universal Music to buy EMI’s recorded music unit for $1.9bn (€1.4bn), saying the proposed deal could reduce competition to the detriment of consumers.

Having started her career with the Montforts, Cork singer Carol Anthony is now a dance music sensation and recently worked with Busta Rhymes, says Declan Cashin

The Government is to introduce legislation on the back of a High Court judgement in the case taken by the record label EMI against internet provider UPC.

'Strictly Come Dancing' host Sir Bruce Forsyth is to host his own headline show at the Royal Albert Hall next year, he has revealed.

EMI Group Ltd, home of The Beatles and Coldplay, has been sold in two parts for $4.1bn (€3bn)