In the charts, the women are still holding on. Estelle is enjoying her fourth week on the singles top spot with her collaboration with rapper Kanye West, American Boy, while Welsh warbler Duffy is still the nation’s best-selling album with Rockferry. There were new entries with The Rolling Stones in at number two in the album charts with Shine A Light, a release to coincide with the film of the same name as directed by Oscar-winner Martin Scorcese. Manchester band Courteneers were a new entry at six with St. Jude while 90s stars James returned with Hey Ma at number ten.

In the singles mix, there were no big new entries, with last week’s pack simply shuffling around. Sam Sparro went up two places to number four with Black and Gold and likewise diva Mariah Carey climbed from eight to five with Touch My Body. Madonna and Justin Timberlake slipped from three to four with Four Minutes to Save the World. For more chart news, visit the Radio 1 website and to grab hold of Rockferry or any of the other top albums, head on over to the play.com site.

They’ve been away for four years, but REM returned to the album charts in style yesterday nabbing the top spot with new offering Accelerate. They displaced Welsh star Duffy’s debut album Rockferry with their soft rock/ folksy sound. Other new entries included Snoop Dogg’s Ego Trippin’ at number 22 while Gnarls Barkley followed up their international bestseller St. Elsewhere with The Odd Couple in at 19. In the top ten, Estelle’s second album Shine was new at number six, while the London soul singer held on to the singles top spot for the third consecutive week with her collaboration with Kanye West, American Boy.

The Kooks’ new single, Always Where I Need To Be, was in at number three, while Mariah Carey’s media blitz of the UK saw her song Touch My Body reach number six. To nab R.E.M’s album, Play.com offer it for only £8.95 or to see where your favourite artist charted, visit the Radio 1 site for all the latest news.

Pop superstar Madonna has been everywhere recently, hogging magazine covers and grabbing headlines in the most frenzied of media blitzes. And it has all been to promote this – the first single of her eagerly anticpated new album ‘Hard Candy’. The album isn’t released until 28th April, but here is the first look at the new song ’4 Minutes to Save the World. The song is a duet with Justin Timberlake and also features the magic touch of über-producer Timbaland.

The song sees the Queen of Pop in typically untempo mode, once again unleashing one of those catchy hooks that you know will get stuck in your head for days. Seeing Madonna dancing with JT is an odd but fantastic sight, as two generations of pop music come together in such an energetic and fun way, one that works much more than her previous collaboration with Justin’s ex, Britney Spears.

‘Hard Candy’ is available to pre-order from Amazon.co.uk for only £8.98.

It’s his first music video release in the UK since the untimely death of his beloved mother, but acclaimed rapper Kanye West returns in style with the rousing ‘Homecoming’. The retro song continues West’s commitment to collaborating with varied contemporary artists, this time featuring Coldplay singer and Gwyneth Paltrow’s hubby Chris Martin. The new video (see below) features the rapper in Chicago and comes from the star’s best-selling third album Graduation.

The song has already had an interesting history, having been released for download only in February and reaching number nine in the UK singles chart. In contrast, the official video has only just been released via the star’s website on 1st April and it gives us a chance to once again enjoy Kanye doing what he does best. Martin also stars in the video, a glimpse of his musical pedigree before the release of his band’s long-awaited fourth album this year. To learn more about the talented Mr. West, visit his official site.

Early single and download sales suggest that she’ll spend a second week at number one this Sunday with the fabulous song American Boy, but who is Estelle? Estelle (Swaray) is a 28-year-old Londoner. She launched her musical career with her debut album The 18th Day in 2004 working from her own record label Stellar Ents. She has since signed to US soul singer John Legend’s label Homeschool Records, through which she will release her second album, Shine next Monday.

Now establishing herself as a major new talent, Estelle is working with the likes of Legend, Kanye West (he features on American Boy), The Black Eye Peas’ Will.I.Am and Mark Ronson. She is confirmed to perform at this year’s Glastonbury Festival and so for those of you looking forward to donning your wellies for the event, watch Estelle’s video for American Boy below, or read up on her at her official site.

Alright was the anthem of 90s Brit Pop, but unlike other bands of that era quirky quartet Supergrass have proved they have real staying power. The band celebrates the release of their sixth studio album Diamond Hoo Ha today and it looks set to follow past efforts to the top of the charts. There have been some notable changes within the Oxford group having added a second Coombes brother to its ranks (Charly joins vocalist Gaz) after bassist Mick Quinn injured his back after a sleepwalking accident last year, but the commitment to quality music remains.

The album is described as “spikier” than previous efforts and features eleven new songs including the interestingly titled Rough Knuckles and Whiskey and Green Tea. To order your copy of Supergrass’ Diamond Hoo Ha visit the Play website.

He’s been away for a while, getting married to Tameka Foster and starting a family but R’n'B star Usher is on the comeback trail. His sixth album Here I Stand is due out later in the summer, and as a tasty nibble here is the first single Love in this Club. The clip below is only the song as the official video is yet to be released, but it does provide all those eager Usher fans the first new material since 2004′s Confessions.

The song is a typical slice of the star’s saucy, sexy style and is so laidback and catchy that it’s already proving popular with fans online. The song features rapper Young Jeezy and is due for release here in the UK soon. For all your Usher needs (and we know that girls have them), head on over to the singer’s official website.

Nowadays Britney Spears seems to be more of a fixture in gossip columns than on the dance floor, but that could be all set to change with her single, Break the Ice. The third release from the Blackout album, Britney doesn’t appear in the video and instead vamps it up as an anime character. Whether the animated version actually resembles the star is up for debate, but with a catchy uptempo beat it does remind you more of classic Britney than some of her other recent efforts.

Fans have complained that the animation is too busy, that it doesn’t compliment the song and that it is too similar in style to previous Daft Punk videos. Similarly, those keen to see the star are disappointed at her absence and have accused her of laziness. Decide for yourself if the criticisms are valid with this look at the new music video for Break the Ice.

Madonna has been inducted into the prestigious Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The Material Girl was introduced to the stage by recent collaborator Justin Timberlake (the pair’s single Four Minutes to Save the World is out soon) who enjoyed a joke or two at the expense of Madonna wannabes such as his ex, Britney Spears. The honour was celebrated by punk band Iggy Pop and the Stooges who covered two of her singles Burning Up and Ray of Light, while the Queen of Pop turned the air blue with some typically outrageous language in her acceptance speech.

Artists are only eligible once their career has spanned 25 years – remarkable really to think that she’s been around so long. Well done and congratulations to Madonna. Check out the event in the below news clip.

Fans of Radiohead are in for a treat as the band is performing a special one-off gig at the BBC for FREE! Yes, free dear readers. You read correctly, so no need to pinch yourself or book an eye test. The Beeb is giving away 75 pairs of tickets to attend the special event on Tuesday 1st April in the BBC Radio Theatre. The group will perform twice (matinee and evening performances), with the tickets being allocated at random.

For your chance to attend, call 08700 100 200. The line closes at 10pm tomorrow night, and for those of you that can’t be there in person, enjoy all the fun on Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie’s radio show. And if you do go, bump into Thom and the boys and run off with them to start a life of musical adventures, try to remember where you first heard about it.