Madonna’s 11th studio album for Warner Bros. Records “HARD CANDY” is scheduled to have a global release on April 28th and a US release on April 29th, it was confirmed by her label. “HARD CANDY” (the follow up to Madonna’s “CONFESSIONS ON A DANCE FLOOR” which debuted at No. 1 in 30 countries and sold over 8 million copies), has been described as a brilliant up-tempo collection of 12 songs in which Madonna remains ensconced in club mode but this time adds an urban hip hop beat in collaboration with musical partners Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Pharrell Williams of the Neptunes and Nate “Danja” Hills. The debut single, the pulsating “4 Minutes” will be released at the end of March. “The title is a juxtaposition of tough and sweetness?kind of like I’m gonna kick your ass but it’s going to make you feel good. And of course, I love candy” laughed the material girl. Madonna, a multi-Grammy-award-winning singer, songwriter, producer, cultural icon, world renowned stage performer, video visionary, children’s book author, director and documentary film maker has sold 200 million albums in the course of her unprecedented two decade plus career and is slated to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 10th.
If Britney Spears is able to hang on for dear life yet still continue on her wild path, this could very well pass as the ghost of her future. Pop wreck, I?d like you to meet Rock wreck.
Rock wreck Courtney Love showed up to the appropriately titled Hysteric Glamour party in West Hollywood last Thursday. Check out the bangs that she had her 15-year old daughter Frances Bean do with a butter knife. I?ll tell you what was hysterical at that party. It?s Courtney?s new hair do. How can she let her daughter cut her hair with a butter knife?
Foo Fighter?s founder, primary songwriter, and front man David Grohl has credited his new writing style to becoming a father. His little girl Violet was born in 2006 and Grohl said, he felt like “superman in a way because I had to be.”
He adds he “can’t be scared of writing things that I really feel.” It seems to have done the trick too. Foo Fighter?s current album has five Grammy nominations, including album of the year.
The first single, “The Pretender,” spent a record 17 weeks at number one on Billboard’s Modern Rock chart. The Foo Fighters will play the song at the 50th anniversary Grammy Awards on February 10th.
Kid Rock was supposed to be arraigned in Dekalb County, Georgia on Monday but the case has been postponed until next month. Knowing the justice system, it may not go on at all. Rock?s arraignment is not scheduled to happen on February 4. But according to the Dekalb County Solicitors Office, the case may or may not go forward, pending more evidence.
The rocker was arrested on a misdemeanor battery charge back in October after he allegedly got into a fight over a woman at a Waffle House. The man who supposedly went after Rock got charged with one felony count of second degree criminal damage to property.
With her 50th birthday looming, Madonna is planning to re-release all of her single as downloads to celebrate. I am sure this will annoy her ex-label Warner who will want to cash in on the tunes before she leaves them.
But Madge is aiming high ? the plan is to beat the record of rock king Elvis in the UK number 1?s.
You have to salute her ? she is entering the ?wrinkly? stage of her career – marking the milestone with a huge gig in New York. And thanks to her beautician and whatever other secrets she has up her sleeve she will do it looking great too.
Scott Weiland, the singer for the Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver, was arrested when he crashed his car while driving on an LA highway on November 21. He has recently been charged with driving under the influence of drugs with a prior conviction and with an allegation that he refused a chemical test as required by the law.Los Angeles City Attorney spokesperson Frank Mateljan made a statement regarding Scott?s legal trouble saying that the singer faces ?maximum penalty of one year county jail and a $1000 fine, and a minimum penalty eight days in jail (because of the prior conviction and the refusal to take a drug test). His car could also be impounded for up to 30 days.?
Idol fans, this is your time for sweet revenge. He may not have won the competition, but he won the hearts of album buyers this year. Billboard named Chris Daughtry the most popular album of 2007. They sold about 3.2 million copies.
Just half a million shy of that, in second place, is Akon’s album “Konvicted”, followed by the Hannah Montana soundtrack (2.5 million), Fergie’s “The Dutchess” (2.4 million), and Carrie Underwood’s “Some Hearts” (2.3 million).
Number one song of the year was “Irreplaceable” by Beyonce, with Rihanna coming in just behind with “Umbrella”. Top tour of the year was The Police’s reunion tour, bringing in $212 million at last estimate.
It seems to be happening all over the place at the moment; celebs cancelling gigs due to illnesses etc?
But it has been revealed that The White Stripes may never tour again. Oh the travesty! The band cancelled their 2007 tour earlier this year after drummer Meg White was diagnosed with acute anxiety.
Jack White has now suggested the band may follow the lead of The Beatles in the ’60s and stop playing live, depending on how it affects Meg.
Oh no! I guess if it happens then we will have to pacify ourselves with TV appearances and DVDs. Not the same though?
The internet is buzzing! While we all eagerly await the release of the new Green Day record, people are buzzing about a band called the Foxboro Hot Tubs. What do the two bands have to do with each other? People are saying pretty much everyting.
The Foxboro Hot Tubs released an EP of six songs and it has people thinking that it?s actually Billie Joe and the rest of the Green Day boys experimenting with a new sound. The tunes in the EP sound like they?re sung by Billie Joe but have a very 60s inspired sound. Somebody needs to verify this.
Mika is making his final trek across the US and Canada in January and February. His North American tour is going to be called the ?Dodgy Holiday Tour?. Funny since the holiday season would be over before his tour even kicks off.
The ?Grace Kelly? singer?s tour has twelve dates listed. It will kick off on January 28 in Montreal at the Bell Centre and ends on February 15 in Vancouver at the Orpheum. There?s almost no break in between dates having only the 7th, 9th and 10th of February being free. Tickets for the first two dates go on sale on December 7.
South Florida is about to get rocked. The Y100?s Jingle Ball is hitting the town on Saturday, December 15 at the Bank Atlantic Center in Sunrise.
Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton will serve as one of the hosts while the hottest stars of today will take the stage. Artists that are on the bill include Timbaland, Good Charlotte, Natasha Bedingfield, Ashley Tisdale, One Republic, Plain White Ts, Sean Kingston, Elliot Yamin and even more.
Perez will also be joining Elvis Duran for the Z100 Jingle Ball in New York City on December 14. That?s one very busy celebrity blogger. I wish I was Perez.
His looks scare us, his songs scare us and his paintings scare us. Everything that goes on around Marilyn Manson is scary so what makes us think that his performances, and even his props, would be any different?Manson decided to up the ante to his scary factor by adding a massive butcher knife to the end of his microphone. The 38-year old kicked off his tour in Madrid earlier in the week where fans got a slice, pun intended, of crazy from the drag goth rocker.
Maybe the only scarier thing that he could do now is to remove his make up using acid.
People have been saying that John Mayer is a douche, he?s too into himself, he is mighty ugly especially when he goes on stage and whatnot but no one can deny that he makes some really pretty songs. And you have to love pretty songs.John recently wrote a tune for the upcoming Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman flick ?The Bucket List? and it?s called ?Say?. It?s a great love song to add to his collection and it even features a full string section.
He may come off as a wannabe rocker but John also happens to be a sensitive musician.
New pals Reba McEntire and Kelly Clarkson are hitting the road together for a winter tour early next year. The flame-haired country queen and the first American Idol winner became friends when McEntire recorded Clarkson’s Because Of You hit with the pop star for her recent Reba Duets album. Clarkson has since signed McEntire’s husband, Narvel Blackstock, as her manager and the pair teamed up to record a Crossroads TV concert special for CMT.The odd couple have now lined up 15 dates for their 2 Worlds 2 Voices tour, which will begin in Ohio on January 17.The tour will include a Valentine’s Day date in Tupelo, Mississippi.
A look at Evanescence on paper reveals a band that should be in its glory. Following a best new artist Grammy Award for 2003 debut studio album “Fallen,” a Billboard 200 No. 1 debut for 2006 follow-up “The Open Door” and the top 10 launch single “Call Me When You’re Sober,” the group toured the world for nearly a year. So what happened? Single follow-ups “Lithium” and “Sweet Sacrifice” never even charted in the States. The fourth single from “The Open Door,” piano-driven rock ballad “Good Enough,” is as intense and affecting as anything before it?and this time, Lee’s lyric steps from the dark side, reveling in the relief of positivity: “It’s been a long time coming, but I feel good enough.” It’s a make-or-break moment for a band that seemed to own the world one year ago.
Get ready all you OneRepublic fans. Their album ?Dreaming Out Loud? will be hitting stores November 20.
Their current single ?Apologize? has been saturating the radio stations all across America. The band can thank Timbaland for the great remix he did with the single. ?It gave me goose bumps the first time I heard it,? the 28-year-old artist says.
Timbaland, who apparently saw Tedder, one of the band members, at an MTV contest, offered him a deal. He then spend the next two years hoping he’d record and release a solo album, but Timbaland kept telling him that he’s a producer and not an artist. ?Apologize? was written in 2003, but wasn’t touched until 2007.
I guess it takes awhile for a great song to hit the radio. And this song truly does give me the goose bumps.
The Hives’ howlin’ Pelle Almqvist remains the international king of talk-idiot-talk stage patter. Pelle: “I’m out of control! Tell me to take it easy!” Crowd: “Take it easy!” Pelle: “No, I wooon’t!” He’s right ? he won’t. The Swedish garage-punk maniacs continue to polish their sharp-dressed groove on their fourth album, adding new tricks, rhythmic jolts and some very not-indie studio wizardry without denting their basic bang-on-the-head formula, as epitomized by “Try It Again.” Pharrell joins them for “T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S.,” bringing a robot-disco flair that could pass for LCD Sound system after group sex with Heatwave, while throwing in some demented doo-wop to “Well All Right!” “Giddy Up” and “Tick Tick Boom” tweak the Ramones-ready guitars with discreet funk. “A Stroll Through Hive Manor Corridors” is a strange, horror-movie keyboard instrumental, from the scene where the kids in the haunted house are about to step on the zombie’s grave. The most surprising success is “Puppet on a String,” with plonking piano and an eerie Tom Waits-cabaret-swing beat. Yet there’s no need to worry about the Hives succumbing to progress or sophistication ? their rock & roll manifesto is “Square One Here I Come.?
If you were on the search for a fun night out, you are most decidedly going to want to see what you can do about getting yourself tickets to see Guy Fosyth perform live while he is on tour. Whether you are already a fan or you would just like something different to do for a night out on the town, you most certainly are going to want to see what you can do about getting yourself seats to take in this great artist live!
This reunion has been unapologetically self-indulgent, but fans should find no reason to feel slighted. It’s the band’s very selfishness that makes them so thrilling to watch. There is nothing left to prove at this aged point in their career, and it has made their beloved classics sound outright carefree.
Rest assured there are still a few moments of backing loops and triggered supporting vocals. This is especially evident on “Walking In Your Footsteps” (which Sting comically opens sporting a pan flute, a somewhat “Spinal Tap”-esque moment). The song, routinely mocked by die-hards, serves as mostly a vehicle to showcase Copeland’s absurdly elaborate percussion apparatus.
But perhaps what’s most refreshing about this latest display by the ’80s superstars is the suddenly jovial Summers. He confidently carried the show despite all of Sting’s charisma and star power.
Hiccups aside, one should see this tour before it comes to a close. We should be grateful the band has managed to stay this musically sharp after all these years. After all, their first album, “Outlandos D’Amour” was “recorded in 1872,” Sting joked from the stage.
Fiction Plane, who opened the show, offered a surprisingly confident display of arena-ready rock. Singer Joe Sumner’s melodically rich soprano filled the venue in a manner that nearly rivaled his famous father.
Kate Moss’ ex junkie fianc? Pete Doherty says he’s sorry for being a crack head. Yesterday there was a video of Pete injecting himself with heroin. The video was reportedly filmed right after he got back from the MTV European Music Awards in Germany. I feel sorry for him. You gotta understand that your body creates receptors for drugs like these, and your body goes through physical withdrawals if you stop feeding those receptors. It’s hard to give up such a hard drug because you have the mental AND the physical effects to get through. And he’s going right back to rehab, so he’s trying. The most important thing for this junk head is that he should not give up on the feel that he is trying and that some day he will find success in leaving his addiction for good. Basically it?s the medical staff that should make him believe that he can do it his is on the right path and he is going to achieve it. If he remains on path he has a chance of quitting drugs
As a beat kicks in that would not be out of place on a Scissor Sisters album, you may find yourself doing a double take and checking the name of the band once more, but then a muscular pop-rock chorus kicks in that is more familiar to Fall Out Boy fans.However, more is the important word here and the fact that it is not the same. There’s an organic power to the chorus here that is reminiscent of bands like the Strokes and the Vines leaving “Sugar, We’re Going Down” behind. It is a direction that holds promise for the boys from Wilmette even if they don’t sound completely comfortable and at peace in the new skin.
Lyrically, “Arms Race” is classic Fall Out Boy. Kicking off with the potent lines “I have the lyrics / I am an arms dealer / Fitting you with weapons in the form of words,” the song will have fans picking apart meanings for months to come. There is a touch of the sinister entertainment emcee about the song which seems to indicate a touch of influence from the band’s proteges Panic! At the Disco.
The best thing about this new single is the band is far from resting on their extensive laurels. They are willing to experiment, and we are happy to go along for the ride.
Miss Independent — that would be 25-year-old Texas pop-rock-gospel belter Kelly Clarkson — came to Toronto’s Massey Hall last night and blew the roof off the joint. Clarkson clearly knows how to make lemonade out of lemons and wrote a catchy song about the experience, Chivas, which ended up as a hidden track on My December.
Clarkson later had the audience judge a band pumpkin-carving contest in honour of Halloween that included one she co-designed that was inspired by Steve Carell’s chest-waxing scene in The 40-Year-Old Virgin and his now famous utterance “Kelly Clarkson!”
And can the girl ever sing, as she demonstrated on such pulse-pounding standouts as Behind These Hazel Eyes, Because of You, a gospel treatment of Patty Griffin’s Up to the Mountain, Miss Independent — with snippets of AC/DC’s Highway to Hell and Led Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love thrown into the mix — Breakaway, Walk Away, Sober, Chivas, and Since U Been Gone. The barefoot Clarkson dramatically opened the hour-and-20-minute show by recreating the album cover of My December, right down to wearing the same burgundy ball gown, which was quickly torn away to reveal a purple and black camisole and wide-legged black pants, while her seven-piece band maintained frozen poses
A white ruffled curtain sometimes acted as a barrier between Clarkson and her band and backdrop, which included a small staircase and a video screen, but it was really her connection to the audience and that powerhouse voice that was most impressive.
Even if demanding everyone “Jump!” as she did during Gone and Since U Been Gone didn’t always work.
Here’s the official music video for the new Timbaland single titled “Apologize” feauturing rock band One Republic. The single is already a hit in the US standing this week at #4 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart.
Here’s something Madonna can really celebrate: a nomination to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Madge joins heartland rocker John Mellencamp, the puckish rappers Beastie Boys and premier dance acts Donna Summer and Chic among the nine nominees for the hall. LOL, Madfonna is POP not rock & Roll, that’s hilarious! I think the people at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are just trying to fill in the numbers for the nominations and are then leaving it up to the people to decide as to which avatar they would like to see Madonna don. John Mellencamp of those listed in the title is the only one worthy of being nominated. There are so many others who are much more deserving than Madonna and Beastie Boys, ewwww! They are even more funnier things happening in the entertainment world besides these nominations, so let?s leave it up to the people to decide if she fits the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame or not.
You can?t deny that the Smashing Pumpkins have made a successful revival of the band after disbanding. You also can?t deny that the band delivers one killer performance after the other. But does it have to be literal?
A fan has reportedly died at a Smashing Pumpkins concert in Vancouver on Monday night. The exact cause of death is still unknown and investigations are still going on. It doesn?t look like it?s murder, otherwise, the cause of death would already be known. Maybe it?s an overdose or something. Either way, it?s sad news.
If you want to look at it from a different perspective, a music-lover died surrounded by what he loves.
Warner Music Group Corp will sell a new album by the artist James Blunt through News Corp’s Internet social network MySpace, the Financial Times reported in its online edition.
U.S. consumers will be able to listen for free beginning on Tuesday to Blunt’s entire album from his MySpace webpage, the report said. They can purchase a download for $9.99 that will play on Apple Inc’s iPod, and will also receive a compact disc version in the mail, the report said.
The report said the experiment reflects the music industry’s effort to find new ways to sell music at a time when it is being hit by piracy and continuing declines in CD sales.
Warner Music was not immediately available for comment.
Pink Floyd star David Gilmour deeply regrets not trying harder to visit his late friend Syd Barrett before his death last year and wishes he had been more forthright in his efforts to see the reclusive genius. Dave, you listen to your friends, not your friends wives. If he’s a friend, he’ll see you regardless of his family’s wishes, so you should’ve seen HIM regardless. I was in the same situation. I didn’t listen to his wife and she got mad, but had to deal with it. The friendship lasted till the day he died, but the marriage didn’t. He got tired of being treated like a child. That?s what happens when you follow your mind and not your heart, damn freaking man, if you have to meet your friend that too when he?s not keeping well and someone stops you better not listen to that person.
Rock stars — notorious for their “crash and burn” lifestyles — really are more likely than other people to die before reaching old age.
A study of more than 1,000 mainly British and North American artists, spanning the era from Elvis Presley to rapper Eminem, found they were two to three times more likely to suffer a premature death than the general population.
Between 1956 and 2005 there were 100 deaths among the 1,064 musicians examined by researchers at the Centre for Public Health at Liverpool John Moores University.
As well as Presley, the toll of those dying before their time included Doors singer Jim Morrison, guitar hero Jimi Hendrix, T Rex star Marc Bolan and Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain.
More than a quarter of all the deaths were related to drugs or alcohol abuse, said the study in the Journal of Epidemial Community Health.
“The paper clearly describes a population of rock and pop stars who are at a disproportionate risk of alcohol and drug related deaths,” said Mark Bellis, lead author of the study.
He said the study raised questions about the suitability of using rock stars for public health messages such as anti-drug campaigns when their own lifestyle was so dangerous.
“In the music industry, factors such as stress, changes from popularity to obscurity, and exposure to environments where alcohol and drugs are easily available, can all contribute to substance use as well as other self-destructive behaviors,” the report said.
It found that musicians were most at risk in the first five years after achieving fame, with death rates more than three times higher than normal.
Hendrix, Bon Scott of AC/DC and punk rocker Sid Vicious all died within five years of hitting the big time, said Bellis.
Among British artists the risk of dying remains high until around 25 years after their first success, when they return to near normal life expectancy.
That bodes well for rock survivors like The Who’s 63-year-old Roger Daltrey, who famously first sang “I hope I die before I get old” in the song “My Generation” back in 1965.
But this trend was not found in North America, where ageing rockers remain almost twice as likely to suffer a premature demise, particularly from heart attack or stroke.
American stars Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead, Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys and Johnny Ramone of the Ramones all died in their 50s.
Bellis suggested that the high death rate among older American musicians could be related to the continent’s greater appetite for reunion tours, exposing the artists for more years to an unhealthy “rock’n'roll” lifestyle.
It could also be due to the poor medical outlook for impoverished American ex-pop stars who have no health insurance, he said.
Former Savage Garden front man and still singer Darren Hayes was reportedly arrested in London last weekend. The really juicy part is that it was for a racially motivated verbal attack on a waiter at a Thai restaurant.
The manager at the Busaba Eathai restaurant in Soho confirmed what happened and that the matter was being investigated by the police.
While we all know that racism isn?t the best of things, is that really enough ground to get arrested in the UK?
In response to his arrest, Darren, via his solicitor, just posted a message on his blog saying that while he is cooperating fully, he is deeply upset with the allegation which he strongly denies.
Fans who’ve followed Lori McKenna since she was performing in small cafes, selling self-released CDs after a show, may have been a little nervous when the mainstream country establishment scooped her up.
In mere months, McKenna went from a critically acclaimed but under-the-radar singer-songwriter to a protege of country superduo Faith Hill and Tim McGraw. After McKenna penned Hill’s hit “Stealing Kisses,” she signed a record deal on McGraw’s label, opened for the pair on their huge nationwide tour and even sat next to Hill on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” as Winfrey gushed about McKenna’s talents.
But don’t worry about McKenna trying to Faith Hill-ify her music and sacrifice her intensely personal, emotional songwriting. With “Unglamorous,” released this month, the 38-year-old makes such a seamless transition even she jokes it has been too good to be true.
“I keep telling my kids, these things normally don’t happen … it’s usually not this easy,” laughs McKenna.
But McKenna’s path to Nashville hasn’t followed the typical major-label debut trajectory. First off, she’s 38 years old and not trying to hide it. She’s also the married mother of five children, ages 18 to 3.
And she still lives the life of a typical juggling mom, living outside of Boston and writing songs in between school dropoffs and cleaning up after kid mishaps.
McKenna wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I’m just one of those people, I’ve been so blessed to do what I do, and be able to have my focus still be on the things that I love, which are my kids, and my family and my husband and my songwriting.”
McKenna has maintained this artful balance since 1998, when she put out her first album, “Paper Wings & Halo.” Though McKenna, the youngest of six kids, had been playing guitar since she was a teen and always had a passion for music, she didn’t start her career until after she became a mom. When “Paper Wings” was released, she had to borrow money from family and friends to get it released.
“Music was always one of those things that I sort of did on the side. I remember at first it was considered like, ‘Oh, it’s like a hobby for mom,’ because it’s something that would take me away from home, and I wouldn’t really make money on it,” says McKenna, whose husband is a plumber. “Then the next year, it was like, ‘Well, she’s making a little money, she helps with the grocery bills.’”
Soon, it was her second job, after being a stay-at-home mom. McKenna would load up her minivan and play gigs across the Northeast, often making it back home before the kids got up for school the next morning.
Her stature grew, especially regarding her songwriting, which is filled with strong characters, rich storytelling and haunting melodies.
Madonna’s 11th studio album for Warner Bros. Records “HARD CANDY” is scheduled to have a global release on April 28th and a US release on April 29th, it was confirmed by her label. “HARD CANDY” (the follow up to Madonna’s “CONFESSIONS ON A DANCE FLOOR” which debuted at No. 1 in 30 countries and sold over 8 million copies), has been described as a brilliant up-tempo collection of 12 songs in which Madonna remains ensconced in club mode but this time adds an urban hip hop beat in collaboration with musical partners Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Pharrell Williams of the Neptunes and Nate “Danja” Hills. The debut single, the pulsating “4 Minutes” will be released at the end of March. “The title is a juxtaposition of tough and sweetness?kind of like I’m gonna kick your ass but it’s going to make you feel good. And of course, I love candy” laughed the material girl. Madonna, a multi-Grammy-award-winning singer, songwriter, producer, cultural icon, world renowned stage performer, video visionary, children’s book author, director and documentary film maker has sold 200 million albums in the course of her unprecedented two decade plus career and is slated to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 10th.
