Lady Gaga was recently honored with the Big Man of the Year award for her work in music education at the Little Kids Rock benefit, held in New York City. The princess of pop received the award from the wife of Clarence Clemmons, who played the saxophone solo in “The Edge of Glory”, and passed away this past summer. Lady Gaga said in her acceptance speech “My first experience with music was my father playing a vinyl of the E Street Band. I knew every time the song played that my grandpa was looking down and thanking me [for]… the gift I had given to my father by having Clarence on that record.”
Jennifer Lopez recently appeared on Good Morning America to world premiere the music video for her new single “Papi”. JLo didn’t attend the show in person but a video of her was displayed at one of the jumbotrons at New York City’s Times Square, from where the ABC morning show was being broadcasted live. The pop singer introduced the clip and just as I was dreading, the Fiat 500 commercial, plus some extra footage, was indeed what made up the official video. I am so disappointed. The song is killer and the clip just doesn’t embody anything about the song. I was expecting so much more.
Natalia Kills celebrated the US release of her debut album “Perfectionist” last week with an intimate acoustic performance atop the roof of the Atlas Hotel in New York City. The British singer/songwriter sang her heart out! Natalia slays everyone with her songs “Free”, her new US singler, “Wonderland”, my favorite in her whole album”, and “Love is a Suicide”. She wore an elegant outfit for the occasion and I think she delivered one of her best live shows to date. I loved the theatrics too! Grab her album now, and catch her on her current US club tour and on select dates of Katy Perry’s current California Dreams tour.
Natalia Kills – Free – Performance Video
Natalia Kills – Wonderland – Performance Video
Natalia Kills – Love is a Suicide – Performance Video
J Cole has finally premiered the music video for his single “Work Out”. The track is the official lead single from the Roc Nation rapper’s debut album “Cole World: The Sideline Story”, which is set to hit US stores on September 27. The video was shot in Los Angeles back in June but it seems that the Germany-born artist didn’t like the first edit because he went to re-shoot some scenes in New York City. The video is pretty cool. It sees J Cole on a basketball court playing a game when he spots a fine lady, they flirt and they bond and they have a great night at a club. It’s nothing groundbreaking but it served its purpose well enough.
J Cole – Work Out – New Video
Selena Gomez is a pretty nice girl with a great personality. But as far as her talents as a singer, the Disney star leaves much to be desired. Selena recently had a mini concert on Good Morning America at Central Park in New York City. She sang her little heart out for thousands of fans. The only word I could think of after her performance was disappointing. I’m not sure if this is how she really performs live since I’ve never paid much attention to her or if she’s still not feeling 100% good after being hospitalized for food poisoning and exhaustion.
Selena Gomez – Love You Like a Love Song – Performance Video
Selena Gomez – Who Says – Performance Video
Selena Gomez – Naturally – Performance Video
Travis Barker is on a mission to help kids find cool alternatives to alcohol and drugs and its been reported that the rock star is starting by donating a bunch of drum kits to New York City schools. Sources close to Travis say that hes partnering up with fellow punk rocker Toby Morse from the band H2O to promote sober living through music among young students and to spread the word that not every rock star is a drug addict. Its being said that Travis plans to donate between 10 to 20 drum kits a year to NYC schools through Tobys organization One Life One Chance.
After inviting The 4Troops, a singing group of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, to join Jessica Simpson onstage for her PBS Christmas special in New York City this past Thursday, the vets ended up getting snubbed because of their wardrobe. A source said Jessica’s dad, Joe Simpson, effectively kicked them off the show because he didn’t like what they were wearing. They were in camo pants and blazers, the same outfits they wore to sing for Gen. David Petraeus on the USS Intrepid. They were told they couldn’t perform unless they were wearing tuxedos. She should be ashamed of herself! But the failed country singer and actress told a different story. Jessicas rep said The song was cut due to time. Jessica wasn’t even aware. She is wholeheartedly devoted to the troops. She just returned from the Persian Gulf where she performed for and met with service men and women stationed at several different locations. The military was the source of inspiration for her entire Christmas album, so much so that she recorded a duet for the album with a USS Harry Truman sailor. Whatever.
Although John Lennons sons Julian Lennon and Sean Lennon have had an often difficult relationship, they seem to have laid their issues to rest and are getting along much better now. Apparently, problems between the brothers started in 1980 after their father was murdered and Julian and his mom started clashing with Sean and Yoko Ono over a portion of the famed singers estate. Julian recently said Things are good between us. Whenever I’m in New York we all get together. Sean even asked me to shoot his album cover – for free, of course. Sean and Yoko were even spotted showing their support for Julian at his photography exhibit at the Morrison Hotel Gallery in New York City last week.
Christina Aguilera rocked out on the Today Show this past Tuesday in New York City. The 29-year old powerhouse singer sang a couple of songs from her new album Bionic which is already out in stores. On the show, Christina shared how her son influenced her most recent album. The pop star shared to Matt Lauer I was completely inspired by a lot of electronic music when my son was born. We both were listening to it a lot together. Having a child makes me think about the future and the next generation. And I got really inspired by electronica. He definitely inspires the playful side of me that I didnt really have prior to having him. He really inspired me.
Kings of Leon is putting the finishing touches on their fifth album. Drummer Nathan Followill spoke to Billboard about how the band and producers Jacquire King and Angelo Petraglia did a majority of (the album) in New York City and decided to come home to do the last couple of weeks just to fool around and do it at home [in Nashville]. Honestly, with the success of the last recorda lot of people thought we would put a lot of pressure on ourselves and go in there and try to recreate what we thought was successful on the last record And Ill be damned if we didnt go in there and make a fun record. Its got songs that are beachy. Its got songs that are a little more of our (2003 debut album) Youth and Young Manhood days pretty much all across the board. Were super excited. Everything, we feel, fits perfectly for this project. Itll be interesting to see how well-received it is. Are you ready for new music from Kings of Leon?
Christina Aguilera has filmed the video for her latest single ?Not Myself Tonight?. In the video, the powerhouse singer shows off her big blonde curls and a sexy dominatrix outfit that?s kind of reminiscent of her so-called dirty days. It looks interesting to say the least. Christina is also set to perform ?Not Myself Tonight? live on May 7 at New York City?s Radio City Music Hall during The Oprah Winfrey Show where she will also be giving an exclusive interview. You can grab tickets for that on Oprah?s official website. I wonder what she will be talking about on the show.
Jennifer Hudson was on Good Morning America yesterday in New York City to talk about being the new spokesperson for Weight Watchers, her mission for women to stay fit and also revealed the secrets of her weight loss. The Grammy award winning singer and Oscar winning actress said ?I was very comfortable with myself before. I have a child now and I want to set a great example for him. Make better life choices, health choices, and just create a good example for him growing up.? Let?s just hope that she doesn?t lose herself when she loses the weight like a lot of others do.
Guns N Roses lead singer Axl Rose must be on a mission to destroy New York City because ever since his arrival on February 11, the rock star has reportedly gone out and partied his face off until 8am every morning. He seems to be doing alright though because as far as anyone?s concerned, he?s just showing the younger guys what it truly means to be a rock star. Nur Khan of NYC?s Rose Bar said ?He works hard on the road, so who cares if he wants to blow off some steam when he?s off duty? What?s the fuss? He?s havin? a good time. God bless him.?
The All-American Rejects got busy in New York City this week starting off with a special performance of their hit single “Gives You Hell.”
They took the stage with house band Wale at MTV’s VMAs show where front man Tyson Ritter debuted a new glittery look. After rocking the proverbial house, Ritter caught up with MTV news
and confirmed the long standing rumor that he will in fact be teaming up with pop powerhouse Rihanna for a yet to be recorded track. With AAR’s stock rising by the day, it only made sense for the quartet to cap their week by ringing the opening bell for the New York Stock Exchange
The All-American Rejects’ album When The World Comes Down featuring “Gives You Hell” and “I Wanna” is in stores now. For more information visit allamericanrejects.com
Leighton Meester hit up the Katy Perry Concert at New York City?s Hammerstein Ballroom last week. The 23-year old ?Gossip Girl? actress, who was accompanied by her younger brother Lex and boyfriend Sebastian Stan, arrived late to the concert because she had to work. She had actually arrived just in time for the last three songs. Leighton only stayed backstage though. Cobra Starship opened up for Katy and Leighton actually wanted to perform with them during ?Good Girls Gone Bad? but work got in the way. That would have been cool if she made it on time but we all know that work comes first before some fun.
If you find yourself in New York City this fall, you?ve got two amazing concerts to get to which will commemorate the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?s 25th Anniversary produced by Tom Hanks and Cameron Crowe. The concerts? roster includes acts such as U2, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Simon & Garfunkel, Metallica, Paul Simon, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Crosby, Stills Nash & Friends and Eric Clapton, as well as some special guest presenters. The acts will be divided into 2 nights of performances on October 29th and 30th. The show will also be broadcast on network television two weeks later.
