The ‘99 Problems’ rapper will return to Britain this summer to headline the closing day of the festival in London’s Hyde park on Sunday 4 June.
He is also headlining the Isle Of Wight festival on June 11, and has announced two further UK dates in between - playing Manchester on June 7 and Birmingham on June 9.
The ‘Forever Young’ hitmaker is also performing his single ‘Empire State Of Mind’ tomorrow (16.02.10) alongside Alicia Keys at the BRIT Awards.
Jay-Z has been nominated for two awards in the International Male Solo Artist and International Album, for his LP ‘The Blueprint 3′, categories at the awards.
Headlining the first day of the Wireless festival on June 2 is Pink, who will also headline at one night of the Isle Of Wight Festival, alongside Jay-Z and The Strokes.
Rap fan Fionamad tweeted: “Jay-Z headlining wireless festival - thank u God! (sic)”
Another fan, littlebecky90 tweeted: “Oh my god going 2 see Jay-Z in July wireless festival best festival ever, last year was amazing with Kanye - just gets better!!!! (sic).”
Meanwhile, in other festival news, the line up for this year’s GlobalGathering has been announced. Dance music group Faithless and rapper Dizzee Rascal will headline the event, in Stratford-upon-Avon on the July 30 and 31. The festival is promising one of its best ever line ups as it celebrates its ten year anniversary.
Dizzee said: “I’m really looking forward to GlobalGathering this year, going to make sure it’s a big one.”
Faithless are also offering a chance to download their new track ‘Sun to Me’ for free from the festival’s website.
The ‘Take Me Back’ rapper reckons he’s raising the stakes with his third album – the follow up to his British number two album ‘Catch 22’, one of the biggest hits of last year.
He wrote on his blog: “Can’t wait for u all to hear it, it’s a step up, who would have thought lol. (sic)”
He also hinted that his next record will feature more collaborations – after the success of his tracks ‘Number 1’ featuring N-Dubz and ‘Never Leave You’ featuring Amelle Berrabah of Sugabbabes which both made number one in the UK singles chart.
He added: “Who do you wanna hear featured on my next album?? I’ve already got a title that I’m keepin secret but I still wanna know - What do you lot think da title should be?? Hit me uppppp!!! (sic)”
Meanwhile, N-Dubz are also working on new material and announced plans to put together a new mixtape.
Rapper Dappy tweeted: “I’ve decided I’m putting a mixtape kinda fing together just ‘cos I got sooo much music to share sooo watch dis space peeps (sic).”
The group are also due to fly out to the US next week for a showcase at the prestigious label Def Jam records. The group had been due to fly to New York for it this weekend, but the plane was cancelled due to snow storms, and they will now fly next week instead.
The soul singer had always wanted to record with the veteran ‘I Feel For You’ hitmaker, and when they finally recorded ‘Soul Survivor’, the results were very loud.
Beverley, 36, told BANG Showbiz: “When we get together singing, my god, it’s like something unleashed.
“It was very loud in the studio. The tones of our voices are not similar but the range and, in terms of the noise we make, it’s quite similar. So it was quite deafening when we were both in there.”
Beverley also explained how she had originally set out to write a song for Tina Turner, but liked it so much she couldn’t let it go.
She added: “I originally wrote the song in a studio session with Guy Chambers – it was meant for Tina Turner, I wasn’t even going to have it. But the when I finished it I was like, I’m not giving this to Tina Turner, I’m keeping it for myself.
“And I called It ‘Soul Survivor’ and that is Chaka Khan’s whole life, as well as my own story on a smaller scale. And she loved it, and totally got it and that was that.
“This was the first thing I’ve written where I’ve thought, ‘yes, that’s me and Chaka’.”
‘Soul Survivor’, from the album ‘100 Per Cent’ is released on March 8 and Beverley is on tour throughout the UK in April.
The 26-year-old beauty – who has had a UK number one single and album since the girl band took a break last year – is “excited” at the prospect of working with her bandmates again.
She said: “I think it will be exciting. It will feel like we were never apart. But I see them all the time, and when I haven’t seen them I hear from them a lot, too.”
Cheryl is so close to the group – which also consists of Nadine Coyle, Nicole Roberts, Sarah Harding and Kimberly Walsh – she regards them as her best friends.
She told New! magazine: “They are my best friends. Not in a cheesy way, but you can tell how close we are by the length of our career – knowing them from being a 19-year-old teenager to a 26-year-old woman.”
However, the ‘Fight For This Love’ singer says she’s currently concentrating on promoting her debut solo album, ‘3 Words’, because she wants it to be a worldwide smash.
She added: “Well, with this solo album it’s like I’ve started all over again, so I’ve got new dreams of this album succeeding all over the world. But I’m more than grateful for what I’ve achieved. I’m also happy and proud of myself for those achievements.”
The ‘Poker Face’ singer took home trophies for International Album, International Breakthrough Act and International Female Solo Artist.
Show host Peter Kay quipped: “She’s won every international awards apart from International Male!”
Accepting her first award, Gaga said: “Thank you so much, I love my fans, thank you so much for everything,” before reeling off a list of people who she wanted to thank.
By the time she accepted her third award, for Best International Album, she was in tears.
She said: “I was really excited about winning the first two awards, but this one means more because I worked so hard on this album for so long, and when I think about all that I went through and all the years of struggling and my fans - they were the first ones to recognise my abilities.”
Gaga also performed a song at the event - which she dedicated to recently deceased fashion designer Alexander McQueen.
British boyband JLS were the surprise winners of two awards, taking home British Single for their debut ‘Beat Again’ and British Breakthrough Act. In a triumph for hip hop, ‘Bonkers’ rapper Dizzee Rascal was named the British Male Solo Artist.
Accepting his award, he thanked his record label, saying: “Whoa, it’s about time! Big up to all the Dirtee Stank family, Big up to all the fans!”
Elsewhere, Florence and the Machine picked up the accolade for British Album, while Lily Allen was named British Female Solo Artist.
Accepting her award in a bright ginger wig, she said: “I wore an orange wig so it would make it harder for the cameramen to find me and see the look of disappointment on my face. But that backfired.”
When urged to hurry her speech she replied: “No f**k off, I’m not leaving, f**k off,” before thanking her family.
Full list of winners at the BRIT awards 2010:
British Male Solo Artist - Dizzee Rascal
British Female Solo Artist - Lily Allen
British Breakthrough Act - JLS
British Group - Kasabian
British Album - ‘Lungs’, Florence and the Machine
British Single - ‘Beat Again’, JLS
BRITs performance of 30 years - ‘Wannabe/Who Do You Think You Are’, Spice Girls
International Male Solo Artist - Jay-Z
International Female Solo Artist - Lady Gaga
International Breakthrough Act - Lady Gaga
International Album - ‘The Fame’ Lady Gaga
BRITs Album of 30 Years - ‘What’s The Story (Morning Glory) - Oasis
Outstanding Contribution to Music - Robbie Williams
The former Oasis singer appeared to collect the award for BRITS Album of 30 Years, a publicly voted accolade for the best album since the event started.
Liam appeared onstage briefly to collect the trophy, and thanked the band’s line up - apart from his brother Noel, the band’s main songwriter and second vocalist.
Referring to one of the group’s hits, Liam said: “I’d like to thank Bonehead, Guigsy, Alan White…. the best bands in the f**king world live forever.”
He then threw his microphone and the award into the audience and walked offstage.
Oasis split last year after a fallout between the volatile Gallagher brothers, and while Noel is recording a new solo album, Liam has formed a new band with the rest of the group’s members.
Backstage at the event, he said: “I don’t know if we deserved it because there has been loads of great albums over the last 30 years.
“But if they’re gonna give it to us then I’ll play the game and turn up and get it.
“Now can we go and take loads of Class A drugs?”
The missing microphone caused panic among the award organisers, and while the show was at an advert break, one of the stage team pleaded for its safe return.
He announced: “We need this mic back. Please, if you have the mic will you return it, as one of our artists will not be able to perform without it.”
The microphone thrown by Liam was given back and the show went on.
Other performances at the event included rock band Kasabian, who performed their single ‘Fire’ on a stage which was partially engulfed in flames. They later won the award for British Group.
Cheryl Cole - who is currently undergoing troubles in her marriage to footballer Ashley Cole, after he was caught sending lewd messages to other women - also performed her single ‘Fight For This Love’ singing through what appeared to be gritted teeth as she did a dance routine reminiscent of Michael Jackson.
The Florence and the Machine singer - who is nominated for three trophies at tonight’s (16.02.10) BRIT Awards: British Female Solo Artist, British Breakthrough Act and British Album for her debut ‘Lungs’ – said she got so tired of her own hits being used on adverts, that she has started to switch off when they appear.
She said: “It seemed like there was an advert with my music on every two seconds a little while ago - I couldn’t turn on the TV. It was like, ‘Aaargh’ every time I switched it on.”
She also revealed plans for her next album, saying it will have a “harder” sound.
Florence added: “It sounds a bit more fuzzy, a bit harder. If the first album was animal and anatomical, I think this one is chemical and elemental.”
The ‘Rabbit Heart’ hitmaker also told how she’d ideally like to collaborate with Radiohead singer Thom Yorke on future material.
She said: “I think that he’s a really amazing musician, I’d like to do something with him in the future. I’ve never met him but I’m a big fan of his work. I think it could work.”
The ‘Paradise City’ group played an intimate show on Valentine’s Day (14.02.10) at the exclusive Nur Khan’s Rose Bar Sessions event, held at New York’s Gramercy Park Hotel.
The unidentified man was tackled by one of the guests, former Skid Row singer, Sebastian Bach, who spotted the weapon and promptly had the man thrown from the venue.
An eyewitness said: “The man walked in while Guns ‘N’ Roses were onstage and pulled out a knife and flicked the blade out.
“Sebastian, who was standing on a banquette said, ‘Nobody is getting anywhere near my man Axl Rose with a knife,’ and went after him.
“Security then immediately threw him out. The man appeared to be drunk. It was dealt with so quickly that none of the other guests or the band were aware of it.”
The private concert saw a host of stars attend including the Strokes’ Fabrizio Moretti and Albert Hammond Jr., Ryan Phillippe, Sophia Bush and ‘The Wrestler’ star Mickey Rourke.
Guns ‘N’ Roses played a two hour set for the 150 guests and finished at 3am before moving to a party upstairs, where they reportedly partied with a group of models until 6 am.
