Scarlett Johansson is currently on a promo tour for her movie ?The Other Boleyn Girl? but sooner or later, she?s going to have to go on a promo tour for her album ?Anywhere I Lay My Head? since the album is set to drop in stores on May 20. The actress turned singer actually unveiled her debut album for media last Tuesday. Her album includes 10 Tom Waits covers ? ?Fawn?, ?Town with No Cheer?, ?Falling Down?, ?Anywhere I Lay My Head?, ?Fannin? Street?, ?Green Grass?, ?I Wish I was in New Orleans?, ?I Don?t Want to Grow Up?, ?No One Knows I?m Gone? and ?Who Are You?? as well as one original song called ?Song for Jo?.
Ashlee Simpson recently sat down for an interview for a celebrity news website where she talks about her new hair color, the latest fashions, her song obsessions and other topics of conversation. The singer/actress is said to be in love with Radiohead these days saying ?I love the new Radiohead record. I listen to it all the time.?
Ashlee also has plans to continue her acting career saying ?I?m definitely interested in going back to acting but it?s all about choosing the right roles. I don?t want to take on a lead character right now or anything. The cool thing about being an actress is you can be a chameleon and you can choose all of these interesting roles.?
Ticket sales for Avril Lavigne?s upcoming tour are sluggish ? and that?s putting it lightly. So, the singer and so-called songwriter held a press conference to try and muck up some interest in her new outing. She talks about the music she wanted to play live saying she ?wanted to play fast, fun songs? and even compared her new album to her previous effort ?Under My Skin?. She also talked about the show being upbeat with the production being bigger in the sense that she will have dancers during a few songs, LED screens, a pink sparkly drum kit and flags. Wow. The pink drum set just made me want to buy a ticket ? NOT!
Did you see the hair? Frankly, that was my favorite part. Or was it the glowing glasses?
Either way, Kanye paid a touching tribute to his mom, Donda West who died suddenly last year. He hit his knees while performing his song, “Hey Mama” and showcasing her name shaved into the back of his head.
When he won his grammy, he also gave props to Mama. As he used up his time, the music started playing. When he started talking about his mother, he quickly told them that the proper thing to do would be to stop the music. They did, and he continued.
He didn’t win Album of the Year, but it was a great night for Kanye after all.
Ashlee Simpson is back with a new single and a new sound. The Salvador Dali inspired video for ?Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)? is Ashlee?s most interesting and artistic video to date. The video begins with a restless Ashlee in her psychiatrist?s office, but then her imagination takes the wheel. She does everything in the video from floating on a giant Rubik?s cube to transforming into a glam robot. The video is currently making its way into the TRL countdown, and fans should show their love at mtv.com/ontv/dyn/trl/TRLvoting.jhtml to vote.
American Idol sweetheart Carrie Underwood has a new music video out for her single ?All-American Girl? and she couldn?t be any sweeter. It?s cute, clean and fun. The 24-year old signer puts on at least 25 different hats within the video including painter, fire fighter, doctor, chef, pageant queen, Olympic swimmer, nurse, waitress, police officer, photographer, bride, cowgirl, football player, soldier, flight attendant, cheerleader, sorority girl, newscaster, welder, teacher, graduate, seamstress, mother, ballerina, President of the US, vet, chemist, astronaut, and even herself from her ?Before He Cheats? video.
The only thing that would be better for this video was if it wasn?t a complete rip off from Faith Hill?s video of ?The Way You Love Me?.
Morrissey’s vocal problems have come back to haunt him – the singer was forced to abandon a concert on Friday night after performing just three songs.
The Suedehead singer left the stage at London’s Roundhouse venue after appearing to lose his voice. After a 15-minute delay, it was announced that the 48-year-old could not continue with the show at the Roundhouse.
Last summer, Morrissey abandoned a Boston, Massachusetts concert after croaking his way through seven songs. Suffering from a throat infection, the ex-The Smiths frontman was forced to call off six U.S. shows.
Miley Cyrus is a Disney star who is all of 15 years old. When it comes to the material she chooses to sing, you would expect something that would highly appeal to the teenyboppers all over the world and not a fun, sleek and sexy pop song.
But that?s exactly how you would describe the song ?See You Again?. Sure, it?s a total rip off of ?I Wear My Sunglasses at Night? but the tweens like, it appeals to an older audience and even radio is catching on to the song. Maybe it?s because most of Miley?s fans never even heard the original song in the 80s.
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.
Dannii Minogue, Kylie Minogue?s little sister, may not have the massive chart-topping appeal has her big sister but it?s not going to stop her from doing what she wants ? making music. You just have to give her props for perseverance as I?m sure she really hates only being known as Kylie?s little sister. I should probably stop saying that.
Dannii has actually released a new digital only album called ?Club Disco? and she does a chill-out cover of the Olivia Newton John classic ?Xanadu?. And with that, you can?t deny that talent really runs in the family. If only commercial success did so too.
Ashlee Simpson premiered her new music video ?Outta My Head? on TRL on Tuesday (aired on Thursday) in New York City. She was also there to promote her new album which would come out in March 2008.She says about the album ?[Bittersweet World] definitely influenced by ?80s music. I wanted to do music with beats, I wanted to step outside the box. It?s where I am in my life. There?s parts of the record that are ?80s-influenced, because that?s just kind of where I?m at right now. I?m more laid-back, and I want to dance around, and I kind of laugh at things a lot, so you?ll hear that on the record.?
Here’s Britney’s new video and single titled “Piece of Me”. The video was shot in late November at the nightclub, it was directed by Wayne Isham.
youtube.com/watch?v=89oS4SN4mNg
John Mayer was spotted as he was shooting a secret music video just off Mulholland Drive with a Los Angeles backdrop late Sunday afternoon.
John?s latest song ?Say? from the soundtrack off ?The Bucket List? has sold over 39,700 downloads to date. The song is about saying out loud what you feel in your heart. On his official blog, John says that the video is a ?Sunset live performance for the upcoming DVD.?
John also had his solo acoustic First Annual Holiday Charity Revue on Saturday. He was pretty funny when he began the acoustic set saying ?It?s a real honor to be opening for myself. I ran into myself backstage and I was very nice ? and, I mean, I?m huge!?
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.
The Hives have just released a video for ?Fall is Just Something Grown Ups Invented? featuring a personal performance for Cartoon Network. The new high-energy single is now playing as the network?s fall theme song. The Hives? new album, The Black & White Album, is available in stores, and the band is currently on tour in Europe until 2008.
youtube.com/watch?v=LENxc9hVHVs
Taylor Swift was thrilled to be asked to help announce Grammy nominees on Thursday. She became ecstatic when she heard her own name called by the Foo Fighters. She is nominated for best new artist.
As soon as she heard that, she ran over to the Foo Fighters (Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins). She grabbed them and repeatedly hugged the two. George Lopez, another announcer, leaned over and hugged her as well. He encouraged her by saying, “You got it in the bag.”
Taylor has seen immense success with her self-titled album. She has already sold more than 1 million copies since its release last year.
While Beyonce went green, Carrie Underwood decided to go red. It?s Christmas people!
The American Idol alum showed up in a red Grecian-inspired Naeem Khan Resort gown at ?Movies Rock: A Celebration of Music in Film? which was held at the Kodak Theatre on Sunday in Hollywood.
The 24-year old singer took to the stage when she performed a Julie Andrews classic, ?The Sound of Music? from the movie of the same title. Incidentally, it?s the favorite movie of Carrie?s mom. Also, Julie Andrews is the narrator of the movie ?Enchanted? for which Carrie sand ?Ever Ever After?. What goes around, comes around.
The Jonas Brothers are really proving that they?re a hardworking group. The musical family trio took some time for a quick photo shoot backstage at Good Morning America on Friday. The three teen hunks performed their smash single ?S.O.S.? for the throng of screaming fan girls.
The brothers didn?t travel alone though. Their dad Kevin Sr., mom Denise and younger brother Frankie were also with them. If Frankie was only old enough, he?d be in the group too. Maybe they could make like Menudo and exchange an older member for a younger one someday. It could be like a Jonas family right of passage.
If you have Jermaine Dupri saying F you to you, just say F you right back. The music producer wrote a very impassioned and misguided essay about the state of the music business. And coming from one of the producers who can be considered a mogul already, it makes me sick.
Not only did it clearly show his lack of appreciation for the people that buy his music, but he also looks at iTunes as a big evil monster. Janet Jackson?s main squeeze thinks that albums should be sold as a whole and consumers shouldn?t have the option to buy songs individually like we can on iTunes.
Well at least we buy a song instead of downloading them illegally!
Alicia Keys hit the top of the charts this week with her new album ?As I Am?. The gorgeous and talented singer has hit Number one with her album in the Billboard 200 charts, after it sold over 700,000 copies in the US. Blimey girl that?s a lot of albums!
Keys has had 3 previous albums hit number one in the first week of their release; hinting that this little lady is not just a pretty face. She seems to have the ?key? to our hearts, or at least our ears, as fans sweep in to buy her music as fast as it can hit the shelves.
And what a perfect name for the album. We?ll definitely take you as you are Alicia?it seems to be working so far. Keep your ears peeled folks ? if you haven?t heard it yet, get buying it; before it?s sold out!
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.
The Victoria?s Secret Fashion Show, apart from jiggling body parts and feathers, saw a lot of musical performances on Thursday. Too bad we have to wait for about two weeks to see it all.
Will.I.Am. opened the show by singing/rapping live. He did two songs including his current single ?Got It From Your Momma?. Seal also performed a couple of songs on the show. One even featured his model wife Heidi Klum. And she sang live too!
But we all want to hear about the Spice Girls right? The show was their first performance in nearly ten years. I say, they could have done better. The girls performed ?Stop? and their current single ?Headlines (Friendship Never Ends)?. Imagine, Heidi sang live but the girls lipsynched!
Singer Sean Kingston almost quit the music industry after his idols Timbaland and Pharrell rejected his early recordings. The 17-year-old – whose debut single Beautiful Girls was certified platinum in July 2007 – was finally given a break when Britney Spears’ reported ex-boyfriend J.R. Rotem agreed to sign him to his label Beluga Heights. He should not be bitter about this all because there is a time in everyone?s career where there is a struggle period and one should be humble enough to forgive and forget those who rejected you or else instant fame would never have made you learn the value of success and adulation. Now that he is successful, he can get a contract anywhere but he might have learnt in this stop span that whom to trust and whom not to even talk to. I wish Sean more success in his future projects and may he be successful at whatever he does.
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.
Timberlake is a rarity in the sphere of boy band alumni: he has pop cultural significance on a mass scale, and credibility with hard-to-please music fans. Amid an eye-popping stage setting, the US popstar ticked all the musical boxes. His exceptional dancing was not unexpected. Yet his vocal performance, as well as his competence on a range of instruments – guitar, electric piano, synth, and, to the crowd’s delight, keytar – was surprising and impressive.
Then there were the songs – Like I Love You came early, while Senorita was given an elongated treatment. The musical cues of Prince and Michael Jackson were palpable without being overwhelming. There were cheesy moments, but not too many. Cry Me a River, for example, the song reportedly written in response to his break-up from Britney Spears, was presented as a sublime pop song. Time was taken for a diatribe on magpies on the golf course, and for a round of tequila shots with the band. Then, finally, there was SexyBack.
Timberlake has achieved excellence by combining pop music, dance and spectacle. And with a show of this caliber, there is little room for spontaneity. Regardless, it will take something extraordinary to top it.
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!
Demon Hunter is known for writing about spiritual warfare, but Storm the Gates of Hell exposes the battlefront that’s present in everyday life. “Sixteen” refers to the minute after the first fifteen of fame, taking aim at hypocritical Christians who publicly live their faith for the wrong reasons. Hard to believe Demon Hunter is a hardcore band based on the pop piano hook that opens “Thorns,” an anti-cutting/suicide anthem that points to the wounds of Christ as reason against further self-infliction and shame. “Follow the Wolves” challenges believers to not conform to the worldly ways of sheep, but rather dare to live a higher spiritual calling.
What’s striking about Storm, produced again by Aaron Sprinkle (The Almost, Emery), is the way it makes hardcore simultaneously credible and accessible, balancing Demon Hunter’s sound without compromising it. Unlike most other bands in the genre, you can actually understand Clark’s singing/screaming without need of a lyric sheet (most of the time). This band is more thoughtful than most, never resorting to cheesy clich?s like Christian metal bands of the past, yet never ashamed of their beliefs either. Their faith-based expression is another example of balance in their music.
Blake Lewis is the popular runner-up on the sixth season of American Idol. Born in Redmond, Washington, Lewis started singing at age five and competed in statewide talent contests while in high school. He became a beat-boxer at 17, inspired by the then Seattle-based a cappella group M-Pact. Lewis was a member of the Pacific Northwest a cappella group Kickshaw for four years. He also recorded several music videos and wrote a number of original songs.
After “American Idol,” Lewis signed to 19 Recordings / ARISTA Records and started working on his debut album with a stellar line-up of producers and songwriters. Among the producers were Jonathan “JR” Rotem, who has worked with Rihanna (on her No. 1 single “SOS”) and Sean Kingston; Ryan “Alias” Tedder, who has worked with Timbaland; and S*A*M & Sluggo, who have worked with two of the year’s biggest new artists, Gym Class Heroes and Boys Like Girls.
Lewis’ debut album, Audio Day Dream (A.D.D), will be released on December 4. “Break Anotha” is the first single off the album.
