How about a No. 1 single for Christmas? That's Reba McEntire's (booking agent, manager) gift as "Consider Me Gone" scrambles into the top spot for the last week of 2009, dislodging Lady Antebellum's (booking agent, manager) long-running "Need You Now," which scoots back to No. 2.
But Lady A can take comfort in knowing that its "American Honey" is the highest-debuting song of the week. It flows in at No. 47.
Taylor Swift (booking agent, manager), on whom the universe still beams, obviously played her Christmas cookies well, too. Her album Fearless ends 2009 just as it began it -- solidly at No. 1.
Phil Vassar's (booking agent, manager) Traveling Circus is the only new album to chart this week. It enters at No. 29.
There are two other new songs: Swift's "Fearless," bowing at No. 50, and Gretchen Wilson's (booking agent, manager) "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas," rumbling in at No. 54.
Rounding out the Top 5 albums, in descending order, are Carrie Underwood's (booking agent, manager) Play On, Lady Antebellum (booking agent, manager), Tim McGraw's (booking agent, manager) Southern Voice and the Zac Brown Band's (booking agent, manager) The Foundation.
The No. 3 through No. 5 songs are Luke Bryan's (booking agent, manager) "Do I," Dierks Bentley's (booking agent, manager) "I Wanna Make You Close Your Eyes" and McGraw's "Southern Voice."
That's it, folks. Here's hoping you avoided wreath rage and chestnut burns.
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Martina McBride (booking agent, manager) has designed a toilet seat that is currently on display in Times Square in New York City as part of Charmin's Enjoy the Go promotion. McBride's toilet seat is colorfully decorated with the title of her 2003 hit, "This One's For the Girls." The toilet paper manufacturer is also sponsoring free restrooms during the shopping season.
For each visitor, the company will donate one dollar to the celebrity's charity of choice, up to $10,000 per celebrity. McBride is donating her earnings to loveisrespect, a national teen dating abuse helpline. Other celebrity designers include comedian Mario Cantone, actor Mario Lopez and actress Sherri Shepherd.
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Shania Twain (booking agent,manager) will appear as a celebrity judge on American Idol on Jan. 19 during the series' ninth season. Twain stepped in as a preliminary judge in Chicago in August, along with judges Simon Cowell, Kara DioGuardi and Randy Jackson, as well as host Ryan Seacrest.
The ninth season debuts Jan. 12 on the Fox network, with the first four weeks devoted to auditions in various cities. The Hollywood rounds will begin Feb. 9. Other guest judges include Victoria Beckham, Mary J. Blige, Kristin Chenoweth, Neil Patrick Harris, Joe Jonas, Avril Lavigne (booking agent,manager) and Katy Perry (booking agent,manager).
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The Black Eyed Peas (booking agent, manager) had a positively colossal 2009, and that's putting it mildly. They topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for 26 consecutive weeks with back-to-back singles "Boom Boom Pow" and "I Gotta Feeling," breaking a record that had stood since the mid-'90s. Their album The E.N.D. debuted at #1 on the Billboard albums chart, has sold more than 1.5 million copies to date and, as the year drew to a close, earned them six Grammy nominations.
Over the past few weeks, MTV News has been asking some of the biggest names in music to name their favorite artists, songs and albums of the past year, and it isn't exactly surprising — given their general largesse in '09 — that pretty much everybody has mentioned the Peas. They were inescapable — and the music industry definitely noticed.
And while they've earned tons of praise from their fellow artists, the Black Eyed Peas (booking agent, manager) are quick to return the props. You'd think, given the hectic year they had, that the Peas wouldn't have had time to discover any other acts, but you'd be wrong — something we found out when we caught up with the group's first lady, the lovely Fergie, and asked her to name some of her faves of 2009. She only had a minute (it was on a red carpet, after all), but she still managed to name quite a few.
Artists of the Year
"Oh, there's so many ... Drake (booking agent, manager), I love. MGMT (booking agent, manager), it was a while ago that I got their album, but I'm still obsessed. There are so many. Kings of Leon (booking agent, manager) did such a great job this year. Lady Gaga killed it this year, there's so many musicians who had incredible years."
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With her far-out costumes and jaw-dropping performances, Lady Gaga (manager, booking agent) probably strikes many people as nothing more than a character. But the singer, currently out on her Monster Ball Tour, tells MTV News that her vision for the tour goes far beyond being eye candy and revolves entirely around her fans. She says she ultimately wants nothing less than to change the lives of her audience.
"No, it's not a character, but what it is ... it's a devotion and a loyalty to the music, and preparing myself for the moment so that I may fully be free and fully give myself to the audience," Gaga told MTV News.
"There's so many things that we have to do," she continued, explaining her pre-show mindset. "We have to free our insecurities so that we can be strong and powerful; we have to be centered. Our throats have to be cleared so we can speak eloquently. My voice must be warmed up; my mind has to be rested and focused so that I don't fall off the stage, or I don't lean the wrong way."
Whether onstage or off, the singer hopes to continue to create a connection that'll make fans "feel alive." "What I do is, in essence, create an atmosphere for my fans where they don't leave loving me, they leave loving themselves," the singer explained.
The theme of Gaga's Fame Monster is a big part of helping her create that performer/ audience relationship. "When I say things like, 'Do you love me? Do you want to f--- me? Come on, Hollywood, take my picture,' it's the ultimate epitome of what that fame monster is," she said. "And somehow, if you make fun of it or you make it a bit more tangible, fame is something that my fans can have for themselves. It's not quite so poisonous."
Gaga noted that her onstage progression provides the narrative to the tour, which hit San Diego earlier this week.
"I'm evolving through time. As a fashion story, the clothing begins in the sort of warbly, blue amoebic state, with lots of light, and it's kind of spacey, and then I grow bones, and then I grow hair, and then I grow horns, and then I become a sexy, full-bodied woman in a world full of war and military," she described. "And then I become myself, by the end of the show, and it's this sort of apocalyptic rebirth when I appear in the orbit and I've done it again."
The Monster Ball Tour is currently being revamped, and the new show will hit the U.K. in February.
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Adam Lambert (booking agent) may have been dropped from "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve With Ryan Seacrest," but the pop star just announced he's got a new gig to ring in the New Year. But if you want to see him play as the clock strikes midnight, then you'd better buy your tickets. The show isn't going to be televised.
Lambert is set to play the annual Gridlock New Year's Eve concert in Los Angeles. The show will be hosted by Pamela Anderson. Lambert has been billed as the night's headliner and a Web site for the event notes that Lambert will perform at the stroke of midnight. Kevin Rudolf is also tapped to play the New York-themed bash, which will be held on the Paramount Pictures Studio Backlot.
Lambert, who will be playing the Times Square Stage at the show, tweeted, "Unfortunately Gridlocked NYE will NOT be filmed/ televised/ streamed. It's a live event only. Hope to see you there!!"
Meanwhile, Lambert collaborator and pop superstar Lady Gaga (booking agent) is currently one of the biggest draws for New Year's Eve. Her gig at the Fontainebleau in Miami Beach is currently the hottest New Year's Eve ticket on the market, according to NewYearsEve.com, reports "Extra," despite ticket prices that range from $425 to $25,000.
Although they'll be spending New Year's Eve apart, Lambert recently spoke to MTV News about hitting the studio with Gaga for his song "Fever" off his album For Your Entertainment. "Gaga! Working in the studio with Gaga was a trip," he said. "The Haus of Gaga came in at the end to say hi. She was just there. We were working with her and Jeff Bhasker and we recorded the song, and she egged me on and it was crazy."
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While fans wait to see Taylor Swift (booking agent) and Taylor Lautner fall in love on the big screen in "Valentine's Day" when it opens February 12, they can hear a bit of Swift's new song, "Today Was a Fairytale," in a leaked featurette for the film.
In the new song for the soundtrack, which will be released just days before the film on February 9, Swift sings about a magical day. Her song "Jump Then Fall" will also be on the soundtrack, according to celebrity-mania.com. The featurette also includes a brief scene of Swift swinging her hair while a TV crew stands around watching her.
The Web site posted a full track list for the soundtrack. Leighton Meester's duet with Robin Thicke, "Somebody to Love," made the cut, as well as "Cupid" by Amy Winehouse, Maroon 5's "The Way You Look Tonight" and "4 and 20" by Joss Stone.
In the featurette, members of the ensemble cast — including Julia Roberts, Ashton Kutcher, Jessica Alba, Anne Hathaway and Jennifer Garner — discuss the film and the ups and downs of Valentine's Day. "Valentine's Day ... it's like birthdays. People either love them and love to celebrate and get caught up in it or you just hate it," Roberts says. "Valentine's Day is tricky."
Jessica Biel also discusses the day of love in the clip, saying, "Valentine's Day makes people crazy." In the film, Biel plays Kara, who doesn't want anything to do with hearts or love or Cupid. Biel added, "It makes you feel like you should have someone."
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Is it a warning shot? 50 Cent (booking agent) announced in an overseas interview Monday (December 28) that there will soon be "a visual" for his track "So Disrespectful."
The track, produced by Tha Bizness, is from the rapper's Before I Self-Destruct album and features some choice lines directed at friends-turned-foes, including the mother of his son and former G-Unit cohorts the Game and Young Buck.
"Come on, Game, you'll never be my equal/ Your homies shoot dogs, my homies shoot people," 50 raps on the song. "See, me, I'm what you never gonna be/ I'm in that tax bracket you're never gonna see."
"There will be a visual for it," 50 told Dutch outlet Big FM. "The record is working by itself, that one. It just plays with no assistance from the record company, because people like it and personally enjoy it. I wrote that record about people I had issues with that were pretty cool, but at some point, I felt like they crossed me. So I wrote those different things, and it came out good. People enjoy it."
In an interview with MTV News earlier this year, Game appeared open to reconciling, even going as far as to publicly apologize to 50. But the G-Unit boss didn't seem to accept Game's pleas, despite Dr. Dre having patched things up with his Compton protégé.
"You shouldn't really hold your breath," 50 said about collaborating with Game again. "If Dre decides to work with him, that's Dre's prerogative — his album, he can do what he wants. He's Dre."
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Consider it a late Christmas present from Hova Claus. Jay-Z (booking agent) announced Monday (December 28) that the next video from The Blueprint 3 will premiere during "NBC's New Year's Eve With Carson Daly."
The Brooklyn MC is set to debut a clip for "On to the Next One," a futuristic number produced by Swizz Beatz. The video arrives on the heels of the Anthony Mandler-directed "Young Forever," which hit the Internet last week. That video was serviced for overseas use only, according to a representative for Atlantic Records, which distributed the Roc Nation project.
The clip for "On to the Next One" will be the fifth from The Blueprint 3, following "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)," "Run This Town," "Empire State of Mind" and the aforementioned "Young Forever."
Jay-Z will also appear on NBC's New Year's Eve special, alongside Rihanna. The two pre-taped performances of "Umbrella" and "Run This Town" a week ago in New York at Rockefeller Plaza during a snowstorm. In addition to Jay-Z (booking agent) and Rihanna (booking agent), Green Day (booking agent) are also scheduled to appear on the Carson Daly-hosted celebration.
"The real star of any New Year's Eve show is New York City, and Jay-Z is New York," Daly said in a statement. "Green Day and Rihanna were already an impressive lineup, and now, with the addition of Jay-Z, it's our most exciting lineup yet."
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There's a chill in Billboard's country charts this week with no new albums and only two new songs to report. But Taylor Swift (booking agent) and Lady Antebellum (booking agent) are still red hot as her Fearless and their "Need You Now" continue their multi-week reigns as the No. 1 album and song, respectively.
Swift's Fearless now has 5 million copies in the retail pipeline.
Not surprisingly, the two new songs are both Christmas ditties, which mean they face a relatively brief chart life. Rodney Carrington's tension-titled "Camouflage and Christmas Lights" debuts at No. 52, while Darius Rucker's "Candy Cane Christmas" (not to be confused with Dolly Parton's "Hard Candy Christmas") slides down the chimney at No. 60.
Two familiar album titles return to the list this week: the Cracker Barrel restaurants' edition of the Zac Brown Band's The Foundation (popping back at No. 63) and Joey & Rory's The Life of a Song (edging in at No. 74).
Trailing Swift in the Top 5 albums cluster are Carrie Underwood's Play On, Sugarland's Gold and Green, Lady Antebellum's self-titled album and Tim McGraw's Southern Voice, in that order.
Songs No. 2 through No. 5 are Luke Bryan's "Do I," Reba McEntire's "Consider Me Gone," Craig Morgan's "Bonfire" and Dierks Bentley's "I Wanna Make You Close Your Eyes."
Now ask yourself, "Have I done my part to ensure Taylor Swift a merry Christmas?"
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Taylor Swift (booking agent) ranks first on a list of the top female artists in 2009 from all genres by Billboard magazine. The list is tallied by the artists' overall chart success during the past 12 months.
Beyoncé (booking agent) came in second in the female artist category, followed by Lady Gaga (booking agent), Miley Cyrus (booking agent), Britney Spears (booking agent), Pink (booking agent), Katy Perry (booking agent), Kelly Clarkson (booking agent), Rihanna (booking agent) and Keri Hilson (booking agent).
No male country stars were included on the list of top male artists, which was topped by Kanye West. Following Swift, the Top 10 country artists of the year are, in descending order, Rascal Flatts (booking agent), the Zac Brown Band (booking agent), Keith Urban (booking agent), Sugarland (booking agent), Darius Rucker (booking agent), Kenny Chesney (booking agent), George Strait (booking agent), Toby Keith (booking agent) and Jason Aldean (booking agent). Swift celebrates her 20th birthday Sunday (Dec. 13).
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To say Taylor Swift (booking agent) had a remarkable year would be a comic understatement.
She sold more albums than any artist not named Michael Jackson. Her first headlining tour, Fearless 2009, sold out every show within minutes. She became the youngest woman to win the Country Music Association's entertainer of the year award, and she set seemingly every chart record that exists.
But most important, she proved herself a graceful, timeless celebrity, handling hosting duties on "Saturday Night Live" and a rampaging Kanye West at the MTV Video Music Awards with equal aplomb. Billboard caught up with her on the phone from London to discuss her exhilarating last 12 months.
Billboard: Have you spent much time reflecting on your growth in the past year?
Taylor Swift: I do a lot of reflecting. I'll be driving down the streets I used to drive down in Nashville and my song will come on the radio or I'll pass my high school and something will remind me of how my life was before all of these crazy dreams started coming true. We wished for this, my parents and I, every single day without actually believing it would come true.
Billboard: You've set a ton of records this year and won a slew of awards. I'd like to run down a couple. You became the youngest person to win the entertainer of the year award at the Country Music Association Awards.
Swift: I'd have to say that was the most mind-blowing experience, hearing my name called and winning that award. That is an award I had placed in an unattainable spot in my head. To be the youngest to win it makes me love country music even more for being so open-minded.
Billboard: And you spent more weeks on the Billboard 200 than any other artist this decade.
Swift: It's really hard for me to wrap my mind around that one. In a business where longevity is what you aim for and hope for and strive for, having my album on the charts that long just absolutely floors me. That is such a long time. That's another one of those times where I've gotten a phone call and I really had to ask the person several times if they were serious and if they had really checked the math.
Billboard: You were the 12th person in 35 years of "Saturday Night Live" to host and perform, and the first female country star in 20 years to do so, the last being Dolly Parton.
Swift: Hosting "Saturday Night Live" was the best week of my life. I started as a theater kid, so "SNL" has been up on a pedestal for me and I've always wondered what it would be like to actually experience it. You don't even notice you're so busy that you have to eat while walking to your next meeting. I was at 30 Rock at 7 a.m. until 1 or 2 at night a lot of times. I didn't want to leave.
I was definitely stepping out of my comfort zone in terms of how people have seen me in the past. To see the reviews come in and them being positive and the ratings come in, and the fans were so wonderful and made a point to watch, it made me so thankful and so happy.
Billboard: Do you have a single favorite moment from the past year?
Swift: The high moment of this year was my Fearless tour. Every night of that tour felt like a celebration. I never expected it to be as successful as it was.
Billboard: And what about a low point?
Swift: (Pauses) I've had a few days -- and everyone has them -- where you feel humiliated or you're shocked by something or something knocks you down a few pegs. But in those moments I've been very quick to realize and remind myself that there are people out there with real problems. To get hung up on any bad moment that happened this year would be unfair to all the good moments I've had this year.
Billboard: Are there careers that came before you that you tried to learn from?
Swift: When I was growing up I didn't watch much kid television. When I was 10 I watched a special on Faith Hill and how she went to Nashville and made it in country music. I watched how Garth Brooks kept his ticket prices low. I watched how Shania Twain was able to be a blend of different genres. I just love what I get to do so much that there's never a moment of my day when I'm not thinking about a certain aspect of it, and there's never a point when I feel like I know all I need to know about the music industry.
Billboard: Have you had time to write amid all this craziness?
Swift: I actually am best writing on the road. I only have time to write the songs that hit me the hardest. Those are songs like "Fifteen" -- that's one I wrote on the road. It hits me and I needed to write it, so I found time to write it, whether it's 15 minutes between meet-and-greets or at 4 a.m. If they haunt me throughout my meet-and-greets and interviews, and all I'm playing in my head is this song, then I know I've got something.
I'm well into writing my next album. I think my biggest goal for this next record is to write in real time, as I always have. I want to continue to write about things that I'm going through. My first record was my diary from my early teens. My next was my diary from 16 to 18. My biggest hope for this next record is that the feelings I'm feeling right now will be accurately portrayed.
Billboard: So what's left for you now? Will we see an album next year?
Swift: My next goals are to continue on with the Fearless tour. I'd love to be able to perform on the Grammys again. They gave me a unique opportunity last year to perform a song I hadn't even released as a single. Obviously I'll be making my third record. I'll be taking time to make it everything I've got dreamed up in my head so far. I like to have about two years between records -- so possibly next year.
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Mariah Carey (booking agent), who hasn't toured in more than three years, will embark on a national "Angels Advocate" trek beginning December 31 at Madison Square Garden in New York, and wrapping February 27 at the Pearl Concert Theater in Las Vegas.
The eight-week, 19-city tour will feature opening act RydazNrtist, a new R&B group signed to NCredible Entertainment, the label of Carey's husband, Nick Cannon.
The "Angels Advocate" tour is in support of Carey's latest album, "Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel," which has sold 344,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Presale tickets will be available for members of Honey B. Fly, the official Mariah Carey fan club, for all show dates. Tickets for most of the tour will go on sale December 19.
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Kylie Minogue's (booking agent) Debut U.S. Tour Highlighted in New Live Album was a top story for this week. Here it is again: Pop superstar Kylie Minogue (booking agent) has announced that she will release a live digital album Kylie Live In New York (EMI's Astralwerks Records) on December 15th. The album was recorded on Oct. 13th on the last date of her sold out North American tour at NYC's Hammerstein Ballroom.
Fans will be able to listen to the first half of the New York concert pre-release, exclusively on YouTube for 24 hours, starting at Midnight on December 12th on Kylie's youtube at http://www.youtube.com/kylieminogue.
iTunes customers will receive 3 bonus tracks. Kylie's sold out U.S. tour, her first in the region was nothing less than a spectacle with dazzling costumes, set changes, a live band, dancers, back-up singers and a light show built for a stadium.
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After sitting down with Barbara Walters for her "10 Most Fascinating People of 2009" special on Wednesday night, Adam Lambert (booking agent) returned to ABC on Thursday to chat with the ladies of "The View." It was only his second appearance on the network since his American Music Awards performance.
Although "The View" is usually a live show, Lambert's interview and performance were pre-taped. The "American Idol" runner-up said he wasn't exactly hurt that the network didn't trust him to do a live broadcast. "I'm surprised," he said. "I'm like, 'Really? Is it really that big of a deal?' "
Earlier on the show, Walters guessed that there was a chance that Lambert could perform on the Oscars (also on ABC) with his "2012" song, "Time for Miracles." Lambert didn't address her speculation, but he did say he learned his lesson about live TV performances. "I think now I'm a little more conscious of it," he said. "I wasn't up there on stage like, 'Oh, this is going to get them.' I'll probably stay more consistent in rehearsal to performance."
Lambert was much more toned down when he performed "Whataya Want From Me" on the show. Joy Behar joked that Lambert wasn't exactly a nice Jewish boy, to which he responded, laughing, "Well, I'm a little different. My dreidel spins the other way."
As the conversation stayed mostly on Lambert's image in the wake of the performance, and he said that if anything, the controversy helped put a spotlight on a double standard for homosexual artists. "I brought awareness and visibility," he said, but added, "It may not have been the exact visibility I was looking for, and they're not focusing on [my music], which is what I'm about."
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One top producer inspired another. Timbaland (booking agent) says Will.I.Am's handiwork on "I Gotta Feeling" spawned "If We Ever Meet Again" on his Shock Value II LP.
"When I did this song, I was in love with this record called ... you're gonna be surprised. The record didn't have anything to do with ['If We Ever Meet Again'], but when I heard [the Black Eyed Peas (booking agent)'] 'I Gotta Feeling,' I said, 'I want a record just like that on my album.' I said, 'I gotta do me a "I Gotta Feeling" record.' Me and one of my producers, Jim Beanz, we came up with this concept. I said, '["I Gotta Feeling"] is happy, but I like it.' It gives a good feeling."
On the record, Tim enlists Katy Perry (booking agent) to sing about meeting that special someone — Timbo sings too, instead of rapping.
"It's not like it's incredible singing, but it made sense for me and it fits my voice," he explained. "To get somebody else to sing it, it might sound too overdone. I like it better with mistakes — I make mistakes. With me singing it, it gives it a different kind of swagger to it."
Look for that song to be a strong contender for a single and video. Timbaland (booking agent) says he wants the clip to be serious and maybe have Katy playing his guardian angel.
"I wanna make something deep," he said. "I don't know if I wanna make it like a relationship. I wanna make it like she saved my life with whatever depression I was going through, whether it be drug depression, weight-loss depression — something. ... Will she be around if I go through this again?"
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Jason Aldean (booking agent) will extend his Wide Open tour into 2010 with opening act Luke Bryan (booking agent) on most dates. The itinerary includes a sold-out concert in Aldean's hometown of Macon, Ga., on Jan. 23, and will continue through March 27 in St. Charles, Mo. "Luke and I grew up playing in some of the same clubs down in Georgia, so it will be really cool to have him out with us ... playing bigger rooms with bigger crowds," said Aldean. "He's a total trip, so we'll definitely have some laughs backstage every night. I'm pumped about this tour, and I can't wait to take a few weeks off for the holidays and get right back out there." The first date of the tour will take place on Jan. 22 in Greenville, S.C., with Eric Church (booking agent) as the opening act.
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Keith Urban (booking agent), Kid Rock (booking agent) and Miranda Lambert (booking agent) are among the performers booked for the Country Thunder USA music festival taking place April 14-17 in Florence, Ariz.
Additional artists include Gary Allan (booking agent), Luke Bryan (booking agent), Eric Church (booking agent), Kevin Costner & Modern West (booking agent), Gloriana (booking agent), Randy House (booking agent)r, Love and Theft (booking agent), Neal McCoy (booking agent), Jo Dee Messina (booking agent) and Willie Nelson (booking agent), among many others. Four-day passes are now available for $99.
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Stop me if you've heard this one before: After bumping around to various December dates, Lil Wayne's (booking agent) perpetually delayed rock-influenced album Rebirth has now been pushed to a 2010 release.
Wayne's Cash Money boss, Baby (a.k.a. Bryan "Birdman" Williams), announced on Twitter Wednesday that the album, which has had more than half a dozen release dates so far, has now been pushed back from a December 21 street date to February 1. "Rebirth album pushback Feb. 1," Baby tweeted, adding, "Young Money [coming] out December 21." So, while the compilation album from Weezy's Young Money All-Stars, which was supposed to be bundled with Rebirth, appears to still be on track for a holiday release, fans will now have to wait a few more months for Wayne's disc.
A spokesperson for Wayne's label, Universal, did not return requests for comment on the latest delay in the album, which the rapper has been tinkering with nonstop as track after track from the effort has leaked over the past six-plus months.
"Yes, the album is still rock," Wayne has said about the disc, after confusion arose over whether it really represented a trip to the rock side for the rapper fond of strapping on a guitar onstage. "I play guitar on 80 percent of the songs, and there's a lot of rock influences and rock beats. I also have Travis Barker on the album. But I don't want people to think I'm trying to do something I can't do. Don't think you're going to put on the album and hear me screaming and singing.
"When I said I was doing a rock album, it was about doing a freedom thing," he continued. "This album isn't hip-hop. When I do my Carter albums, I know I've got to rap, I know I've got to spit. I know the words I've got to say and the subjects I've got to talk about. I also know the things I shouldn't say, the things I shouldn't talk about. There's none of those limits on this album. I say what I want, how I want. That's what this album is: a freedom album."
While frustration among fans is growing due to the multiple delays for the first new studio album from Wayne since 2008's smash Tha Carter III — which was first slated to street in April, then May, then August, then several dates in December &8212; it's worth keeping in mind that Carter III suffered a similar fate prior to its release and went on to be the best-selling album of the year.
Though Wayne's camp is not discussing the reason for the latest delay, the new February release date, if confirmed, does fall around the time that the rapper is expected to be sentenced to a one-year prison term following his October guilty plea for attempted criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree.
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Nick Jonas (booking agent) knows how to pick talent. For his solo side project, Nick Jonas and the Administration, he hooked up with members of Prince's New Power Generation, and said that Prince's signature sound has helped shape several of the songs on the February release, Who I Am. But he admits he's still not sure if the superstar has heard the music.
"I don't know," he told MTV News, noting the track "Conspiracy Theory" has heavy Prince (booking agent) influences. "I've heard one or two stories about how the guys in the band were asked by Prince to come and do some things with him, but they had to decline."
He added that he might get the chance to hear from the man himself when the band makes a tour stop in his hometown of Minneapolis in January. "I think it's going to be really funny when he sees them up on the stage," Jonas added. "We're playing a show in Minneapolis and it will be the homecoming for all the guys in the band. And [I'm] just waiting to see if Prince is gonna show up and be sitting there, like, with a blank face on. Hopefully he likes it."
While most of the tracks are Prince-inspired, one in particular, "Olive and Arrow," has the same vibe John Mayer (booking agent) had on his early albums. "[I] admire his work and I think that using some of his songs as inspiration for this was a big thing," Jonas explained.
Other than Prince and Mayer, there were several other iconic musicians Jonas looked to for creative inspiration. "The artists that I was kind of going for was people like Stevie Wonder, Bill Withers and, as far as lyrics, Elvis Costello, Johnny Cash. ... [I] really try to pour some heart and soul through these songs," he said. "And Prince played a big role, obviously, with the band being the New Power Generation. So it was fun."
On The Net
Nick Jonas booking agent | Nick Jonas management | Nick Jonas agent
While Chris Brown (booking agent) has been reluctant to talk in detail about what triggered his assault against Rihanna (booking agent), a song from his recently released Graffiti album called "Famous Girl," has many wondering if he's saying more about their relationship and its problems in the song than he's said in recent interviews.
"Since I thought I found my woman/ There were other guys who thought the same thing about it/ Like damn, you let me down, down, down/ 'Cause you're famous, girl, for breaking hearts," he sings on the track.
So who, exactly, is this famous girl Brown is referring to? Is it Rihanna? Brown declined to specify.
" 'Famous Girl' is what it is," he told MTV News on Tuesday. "I mean, it really doesn't need any explanation. I think what 'Famous Girl' does is just explain how I felt and how I feel about certain situations. So if you want to know what it is, listen to it."
In the Ryan Leslie-produced song, Brown refers to Rihanna's rumored romance with Drake ("While we're on Drake/ Say that you're the best he's ever had"), a romance Drake was quick to deny after rumors swirled last spring. He also seems to verify a report that he broke a car window during an argument with Rihanna (referencing Jazmine Sullivan's "Bust Your Windows"), and also references Keri Hilson's "Knock You Down" ("Keri would've said my love knocks her down") among other songs mentioned in the lyrics.
Brown, for his part, may be enjoying the confusion over "Famous Girl."
"Watch the blogs talk about this one," he ad-libs during the song.
On The Net:
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Kanye West (booking agent) has been keeping a relatively low profile in the wake of his interruption of Taylor Swift's acceptance speech at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, but he took to his blog on Wednesday (December 9) for a familiar all-caps post, responding to his 2004 debut LP, The College Dropout, being honored as Best Album of the Decade by Entertainment Weekly.
"Wow ... This is really flattering..." he wrote. "I've had some ups and downs this year, well actually this decade. Just seeing this cover takes me back to that time of my life. I remember how much pain and love went into this album. No one saw it coming. This project wasn't about me, it was about a time in people's lives where people force opinions on you and you have to make choices for yourself. We loved 50 cent but we wanted to be the yang. We wanted to wear pink polos and rap about being hurt instead being invincible. There was a core group of people who worked on this album everyday.... Plain Pat, John Monopoly, Don Crawley, Anthony Kilhoffer, Manny Marroquin, John Legend (booking agent), Devon Harris, Rhymefest, Gee Roberson, Hip Hop, Al Branch, Damon Dash, Gabe Tesoriero, Craig Bauer, GLC, Ol' School Ice Gree, Consequence, B Nice and my mom. I was most inspired by The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (booking agent) and I listened to that album every day while working on my debut.
"Thank you for this acknowledgment and also for putting [Jay-Z's] The Blueprint on the list also. I loved [Andre 3000's disc of Outkast's] The Love Below and [50 Cent's] Get Rich or Die Trying also. They both equally deserved the number one spot in my eyes but there can only be one number one!!!"
On The Net:
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Ciara's oft-delayed Fantasy Ride album finally saw the light of day earlier this year. "Love Sex Magic," featuring Justin Timberlake (booking agent), earned her a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals, but after everything she went through while making it (a split with management, a spat with the editors of Vibe magazine) you'd think she'd want to take some time off before jumping right back into the recording process.
But Ciara (booking agent) is already hard at work on the Fantasy Ride follow-up, recording tracks with producer Tricky Stewart (two of which are reportedly called "Gifted" and "Speechless") for what she promises will be a very hot album.
"Well, I have to tell you the new record is going to be pretty hot," she laughed. "No, it's gonna be fun. I'm going to have a good time. I don't want to say too much about it, but I'm very proud of what's happening right now. I'm working hard. I want to make sure I give my fans what they want, and I want to give them more. So I'm just taking my time and just trying to create something that just really feels good to the masses."
While making Fantasy Ride was a struggle, Ciara (booking agent) said she grew during the process. And, emboldened by the album's success, she's ready to get back at it.
"The Fantasy Ride album, I'm very proud of that. And it was really a journey for me, behind the actual album, like, I made so many changes and so many things happened, so it really was a journey for me," she said. "But I'm very proud of that, and I'm also very proud of one record in particular: 'Love Sex Magic,' was a very successful record for me off of that, so I'm proud of that. Grammy-nominated record. Who-hoo!"
On The Net:
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Miley Cyrus (booking agent) might not have been alive in the '80s, but that doesn't mean she doesn't appreciate the decade's music. According to People magazine, Cyrus has recorded a cover of Poison's 1988 hit "Every Rose Has Its Thorn."
" 'Every Rose' is one of her all-time favorite songs, and she is really excited about cutting it," Miley's mom, Tish Cyrus, told the magazine. The remake was recorded in New York alongside Poison (booking agent) frontman Bret Michaels, who is rumored to play guitar on the track.
Cyrus is also hard at work on her next album, but she revealed in an interview with U.K. television show "GMTV" that she's planning a musical hiatus.
"I want to do my last pop record. I'm working on a record right now," she told the show. "I kind of want this to be my last record for a little while and be able to take a break and just get all the types of music that I really love ... you know, my favorite styles, because in a few years, as I grow up, so will my fans, and I won't have to focus on that as much, and I'll be able to have more of the sound of music that I'm into."
In a recent interview with MTV News, Timbaland (booking agent) compared the singer to a friend of his and praised the young singer's drive.
"I look at Miley as a female Justin Timberlake (booking agent)," Tim said. "The reason why I say that is her work ethics are incredible. That girl can sing so good that I was very impressed. I couldn't believe it. I'm like, 'This is Miley Cyrus? She's singing the song?'" he revealed.
On The Net:
Miley Cyrus booking agent | Miley Cyrus management | Miley Cyrus agent
Lady Antebellum (booking agent) will perform the national anthem at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on Jan. 1. The group will also headline a free New Year's Eve concert in the French Quarter as part of the Allstate Fan Fest.
In addition, the group will sing the national anthem prior to the game between the St. Louis Rams and the Tennessee Titans in Nashville on Sunday (Dec. 13). Lady Antebellum will release their second album, Need You Now, on Jan. 26.
On The Net:
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It may have been a charity event, but Jamey Johnson (booking agent) and Randy Houser (booking agent) held nothing back Tuesday night (Dec. 8) at Nashville's Wildhorse Saloon. The Parade of Pennies event, benefiting the Nashville Rescue Mission, turned out to be a four-hour concert with the two friends bringing their unique CMT on Tour experience to the sold-out club. The evening also included a guest appearance by Kellie Pickler (booking agent).
The Parade of Pennies concert, sponsored by Nashville radio station WSIX, is held every year around the holidays, but this year's event was more than just a casual gathering of singers and musicians. Johnson and Houser have been on the road with CMT on Tour for a few months now and have honed their performances into outlaw country revivals with all the swagger that goes along with the music.
From the first few notes, Houser seemed to relish his role as the hell-raiser who starts the show. The energetic set was punctuated by infectious laughter and hard-rocking numbers off his debut album, Anything Goes. "My Kind of Country," "Boots On" and the title track were clear crowd favorites, but covers of Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings' "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys" and Hank Williams' "Kaw-Liga" were just as well received.
Those songs filled the large floor area and kept the bartenders busy, but Houser was quick to seize this rare hometown opportunity to preview some new music. Calling Nashville "the greatest songwriting community in the world," he must have felt at ease while singing songs from an upcoming release that's still in its early stages.
"It's Hard to Be a Hippie Anymore" got some laughs, but the supremely country "A Man Like Me" may have been the standout song of the night. Houser is a sly craftsman when it comes to a chorus, and this song's chord changes drew the audience in immediately. It would not surprise me to hear it all over the radio in the coming months, and it would be a welcome addition.
Johnson was the big draw of the night, and after a quick break, it was his turn at the mike -- which he used exclusively for singing. I got the impression that Johnson doesn't need to talk to get his message across, and although some fans mentioned that Houser gave more of a show, they wholeheartedly backed Johnson's music and mystique.
Flashy showman or not, Johnson had the crowd in the palm of his hand. They were there to hear songs from That Lonesome Song and sang along readily to "High Cost of Living," "Mowin' Down the Roses," "The Door Is Always Open" and "Mary Go Round," among others.
The steel guitar rang slow and sad at the end of each performance, and in an extreme case of a practice I usually don't care for, Johnson sang only a few lines of "In Color." It's always better to hear the star of the show sing one of their most popular songs, not an incoherent crowd, but the effect was incredible this time. After offering the first line, Johnson stepped back while the audience took over note for note, word for word, loudly and all together. Johnson came back only to sing the last chorus but was almost drowned out by the crowd.
Right about then, some people starting thinking the show was over and headed for the exits. They were only off by about two hours, I guess.
Houser and his band returned to the stage, and Johnson finally addressed the audience, saying "If you feel like staying, we'll all have some drinks and have a good time." From there, it was a long list of big, baritone duets on Johnson and Houser's favorite songs by the likes of Johnny Paycheck ("Take This Job and Shove It"), Charlie Daniels ("Long Haired Country Boy"), Merle Haggard ("Ramblin' Fever"), George Jones ("Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes"), Hank Williams Jr. ("Dinosaur") and Bob Seger (booking agent) ("Turn the Page").
About halfway through the set, as weary concertgoers called it a night, Houser remarked, "It looks like we got rid of the faint of heart, so say hello to Miss Kellie Pickler (booking agent)." Earlier in the evening, she appeared at the nearby Schermerhorn Symphony Center to assist the Country Music Association in presenting a $1 million donation to Metro Nashville Public Schools for musical instruments and education.
Sporting a large peace symbol on the back of her black jacket and a return to her usual blond hair, she only sang one song, Tammy Wynette's "Stand by Your Man." After sharing hugs with the two burly frontmen, she left the stage. Amid cheers for her return, the list of roadhouse favorites continued on.
"Still Doin' Time," "That's the Way It Goes," "Write Your Own Songs" -- which may have hit a little close to home for some in attendance -- "Behind Closed Doors" and "Hoochie Coochie Man" were played as the crowd continued to slowly thin. At this point, the end seemed near. Incredible song choices aside, it had to be getting close to closing time.
About 10 songs later, the Wildhorse staff still stood impatiently with mop buckets in hand, but it wasn't until the last note of "Give It Away" that Johnson and Houser shed their guitars and took a bow.
At just about four hours in length, you almost needed a meal to get through it. But as far as charity events go, this was a smashing success. No one went away unsatisfied. And if even a sliver of the bar proceeds are donated to charity, the Nashville Rescue Mission will be requesting Johnson and Houser again next year for sure.
On The Net:
Jamey Johnson booking agent | Jamey Johnson management | Jamey Johnson agent
The second issue of the Luke McBain comic book series, based on Trace Adkins (booking agent)' likeness and persona, will be released on Dec. 16 by 12 Gauge Comics. The first issue of the four-part series was released in early November and sold out at the distributor level in two days. Luke McBain's character is an innocent ex-con who returns to his Louisiana hometown after 14 years to take care of business at his family's timber mill, only to find it in trouble.
On the Net:
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Reba McEntire's red dress that she wore during a performance at the 1993 CMA Awards is currently the subject of a spotlight exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville. McEntire wore the instantly famous gown, with sequins and a plunging neckline designed by stylist Sandy Spika, during a duet performance of "Does He Love You" with Linda Davis. McEntire later said, "I got more press off that dress than if I'd won entertainer of the year." The exhibit will conclude on June 13.
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Rolling Stone readers love Green Day (booking agent) ... a lot. In the magazine's Decade-End Readers' Poll, the Berkeley-bred punk/pop trio grabbed the #1 spot for Best Single, Best Album and Top Artist of the '00s. As the #1 single, readers picked the ballad "Boulevard of Broken Dreams," one of two Green Day tunes that made the cut, along with "American Idiot" (#13). The rest of the top five were Beyoncé's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)," U2's "Beautiful Day," Britney Spears' "Toxic" and Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together." Also getting love in the top 15 were Kanye West (booking agent), Avril Lavigne (booking agent), My Chemical Romance (booking agent), Kelly Clarkson (booking agent), the White Stripes (booking agent) and Coldplay (booking agent). A number of acts notched two albums on the list of the decade's top releases. While Green Day took the #1 spot with American Idiot, Radiohead landed at #3 (Kid A) and #5 (In Rainbows). U2 scored a twofer at #6 (All That You Can't Leave Behind) and #15 (No Line on the Horizon), and Kelly Clarkson hit #8 (All I Ever Wanted) and #11 (Breakaway). The top 20 also featured discs from Jay-Z (booking agent), Lady Gaga (booking agent), Beyoncé (booking agent), Avril Lavigne (booking agent), Christina Aguilera (booking agent), My Chemical Romance (booking agent) and Justin Timberlake (booking agent). A notable absence was Eminem, who was deemed the top-selling artist of the '00s by Nielsen SoundScan but failed to get a single mention on the RS readers' albums list. Green Day topped the Artist of the Decade list, followed by Radiohead (booking agent), U2 (booking agent), Coldplay (booking agent), the Black Eyed Peas (booking agent), Justin Timberlake (booking agent) and Bruce Springsteen (booking agent). Slim Shady finally worked his way in on that list, dropping into the #8 slot, just ahead of the White Stripes' Jack White, Jay-Z (booking agent), Kings of Leon (booking agent) and Fall Out Boy (booking agent). Despite having last year's biggest album and becoming hip-hop's reigning superstar, Lil Wayne checked in at a modest #18, coming in behind the Arcade Fire (#13), M.I.A. (#14), Wilco (#15), Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst (#16) and Bob Dylan (#17). Rolling Stone readers' top singles of the decade: 1. Green Day, "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" 2. Beyonce, "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" 3. U2, "Beautiful Day" 4. Britney Spears, "Toxic" 5. Mariah Carey, "We Belong Together" 6. Kanye West, "Stronger" 7. My Chemical Romance, "Welcome to the Black Parade" 8. Avril Lavigne, "Complicated" 9. Kelly Clarkson, "Since U Been Gone" 10. White Stripes, "Seven Nation Army" 11. Black Eyed Peas, "I Gotta Feeling" 12. Coldplay, "Viva la Vida" 13. Green Day, "American Idiot" 14. Christina Aguilera, "Beautiful" Top albums: 1. Green Day, American Idiot 2. Kanye West, Graduation 3. Radiohead, Kid A 4. Avril Lavigne, Let Go 5. Radiohead, In Rainbows 6. U2, All That You Can't Leave Behind 7. Britney Spears, Blackout 8. Kelly Clarkson, All I Ever Wanted 9. Jay-Z, The Blueprint 10. Lady Gaga, The Fame 11. Kelly Clarkson, Breakaway 12. Beyoncé, I Am ... Sasha Fierce 13. Christina Aguilera, Stripped 14. My Chemical Romance, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge 15. U2, No Line on the Horizon 16. Mariah Carey, The Emancipation of Mimi 17. Justin Timberlake, Futuresex/Lovesounds 18. Coldplay, Viva la Vida 19. Bruce Springsteen, The Rising Top artists: 1. Green Day (booking agent)2. Radiohead (booking agent)3. U2 (booking agent)4. Coldplay (booking agent)5. Black Eyed Peas (booking agent)6. Justin Timberlake (booking agent)7. Bruce Springsteen (booking agent)8. Eminem (booking agent)9. Jack White (booking agent)10. Jay-Z (booking agent)11. Kings of Leon (booking agent)12. Fall Out Boy (booking agent)13. Arcade Fire (booking agent)14. M.I.A. (booking agent)15. Wilco (booking agent)16. Conor Oberst (booking agent)17. Bob Dylan (booking agent)18. Lil Wayne (booking agent)19. My Morning Jacket (booking agent)20. Beyoncé (booking agent)21. Kelly Clarkson (booking agent)22. My Chemical Romance (booking agent)23. Kanye West (booking agent)
Last week, a new Eminem song called "Elevator" hit the Internet, on
which the rapper may or may not have used an anti-gay slur in a lyric
about Adam Lambert (booking agent) (and Clay Aiken and Lance Bass). "Sorry,
Lance, Mr. Lambert and Aiken ain't gonna make it/ They get so mad, when
I call them both fake/ It's all these f---ing voices in my head, I
can't take it/ Someone shut that f---ing baby up, before I shake it,"
he apparently raps on the tune — with the "Fake/ It's" combination
sounding a lot like a common anti-gay slur. In the time since,
fans of both artists have weighed in on the lyric in question, Em's
label has declined to comment on it (or confirm what he was actually
saying) and gay-news sites like Towleroad.com have decried it as
"boorish" and "homophobic." But, aside from a pair of Tweets, we hadn't
heard much on the matter from Lambert himself. But Tuesday
night, on the red carpet for the launch of online music service Vevo,
MTV News had a chance to ask Lambert about "Elevator," the lyric in
question, and whether or not he felt Eminem crossed a line with either.
Turns out, he's not taking any of it personally. In fact, he said the
whole thing was a pretty smart business decision by Mr. Mathers. "Well,
you know, he used a word that's not necessarily very nice, but I'm sure
he's got some sort of justification for it. And I'm not going to take
it personally. It's cool, Eminem!," Lambert said, giving a sarcastic
thumbs up. "If you get mentioned in an Eminem song, you're doing
something right. And I'm sure he was planning on creating some
controversy, because he's a smart guy." "Elevator" is one of several new songs from Em's upcoming album, which hits stores on December 21. On The Net: Adam Lambert booking agent | Adam Lambert management | Adam Lambert agent
"The Boss" is backing gay marriage in the Garden State.
Bruce Springsteen (booking agent) posted a
statement on his Web site urging support of the gay marriage bill
that's up for a vote in New Jersey's Senate on Thursday.
Springsteen wrote that he's long believed in and has "always spoken out for the rights of same-sex couples."
The native son says he agrees with Gov. Jon Corzine that marriage equality is a civil rights issue.
Gov.-elect Chris Christie is a big Springsteen fan. The Republican has said he would veto the bill.
A state Senate committee approved the bill by one vote on Monday.
Democrats concede the measure may fall short of the 21 votes needed to pass the Senate.
On The Net:
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R. Kelly (booking agent) is writing more chapters, only this time, it's not for his "Trapped" saga, but for a new memoir.
The 42-year-old singer, writer and producer says in a statement issued
Wednesday that he is working on an autobiography with David Ritz that
will "tell it like it is."
He has a lot to talk about. He's one of the best-selling recording artists in history but also one of the most controversial.
The book promises to go through all his drama, including child pornography charges that ended with an acquittal.
The autobiography is untitled right now, just like his new CD. It's scheduled for release by Tavis Smiley's SmileyBooks in 2011.
On The Net:
R.Kelly booking agent | R. Kelly management | R.Kelly agent
Kenny Chesney (booking agent), Miranda Lambert (booking agent) and Sugarland (booking agent) have been announced as the headliners for Country Thunder USA music festival taking place July 22-25 in Twin Lakes, Wis. Four-day general admission passes are $99.
Additional performers include Jason Aldean (booking agent), Luke Bryan (booking agent), Eric Church (booking agent), Kevin Costner & Modern West (booking agent), Billy Currington (booking agent), Gloriana (booking agent), Randy Houser (booking agent), Jo Dee Messina (booking agent), John Michael Montgomery (booking agent), David Nail (booking agent), Collin Raye (booking agent) and Sawyer Brown (booking agent), among many others.
Twelve artists on the Universal Music Group Nashville roster will perform at a private luncheon at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on Feb. 24 during Country Radio Seminar (CRS), an annual industry event sponsored by the Country Radio Broadcasters Inc.
Performers will include Gary Allan (booking agent), Easton Corbin (booking agent), Billy Currington (booking agent), Vince Gill (booking agent), Mallary Hope (booking agent), Julianne Hough (booking agent), Jamey Johnson (booking agent), David Nail (booking agent), the Randy Rogers Band (booking agent), Sugarland (booking agent), Josh Turner (booking agent), and Lee Ann Womack (booking agent). This marks the first time the Ryman will serve as an official CRS venue.
iTunes' top 10 selling singles and albums of the week ending Dec. 7, 2009:
Singles:
1. "Bad Romance," Lady Gaga (booking agent)
2. "Tik Tok," Ke$ha
3. "Empire State of Mind (feat. Alicia Keys)," Jay-Z
4. "Fireflies," Owl City
5. "Replay," Iyaz
6. "Meet Me Halfway," Black Eyed Peas (booking agent)
7. "Sexy Chick," David Guetta
8. "Whatcha Say," Jason DeRulo
9. "3," Britney Spears (booking agent)
10. "Party in the USA," Miley Cyrus (booking agent)
Albums:
1. "My Christmas," Andrea Bocelli
2. "The Fame Monster (deluxe)," Lady GaGa
3. "I Dreamed a Dream," Susan Boyle
4. "The Fame Monster (standard)," Lady GaGa
5. "Battle Studies," John Mayer (booking agent)
6. "Untitled," R. Kelly
7. "The Swift Holiday Collection," Taylor Swift (booking agent)
8. "Let it Snow!" Michael Buble
9. "Rated R," Rihanna (booking agent)
10. "The Twilight Saga: New Moon (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack," various artists
Wynn Las Vegas officials say they're in preliminary talks with Beyonce (booking agent) to bring the superstar singer back to the Las Vegas resort.
Wynn Resorts spokeswoman Jennifer Dunne says there's no deal yet, despite published rumors of a lucrative, long-term contract.
Beyonce (bee-AHN'-say) appeared at the resort from July 30 through Aug. 2 this year while filming a concert DVD. Her shows helped boost visitation to Wynn and its sister Encore Las Vegas resort during a typically slow tourist season in Las Vegas.
Beyonce sang in the Encore Theater, where country star Garth Brooks plans to play a series of solo acoustic shows starting on Friday. Brooks' deal puts him in Las Vegas 15 weeks a year for possibly the next five years.
On The Net:
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Progressive-rock veterans Yes return to the U.S. in February for an 18-date run of small venues that kicks off February 2 in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. and wraps 26 days later in Boca Raton, Fla.
The group's lineup remains founding bassist Chris Squire, longtime guitarist Steve Howe and drummer Alan White, and 2008 newcomers Oliver Wakeman, son of former band member Rick Wakeman, on keyboards and Benoit David from the Montreal Yes tribute band Close to the Edge in place of Jon Anderson, who has been unable to tour due to health reasons.
"I think they're doing a tremendous job," Howe told Billboard.com about Wakeman and David. "We've mapped out a period of time for (Yes) to work, so in that period of time things are going to stay as they are now with Oliver and Benoit. Were things to feel right with any other lineup, then that will happen, but at the moment this is what we're focusing on."
Yes wraps its European tour Saturday (December 12).
The group has been playing "Aliens," a new song written by Squire, in some of its shows, but there's no word yet on prospects for a new Yes album. "We've got to build ourselves. We've got to pace ourselves like Asia did with 'Phoenix,'" Howe said, referring to his other band's 2008 release, the first by Asia's original lineup in 25 years.
Yes and Asia toured North America together during the summer. "(Asia) kind of had an almost 18-month (touring) run at things, so when we started making a record everything was on solid ground. ... I think that's how I'd like to approach it with Yes as well, to have a little bit more time to do a little bit more (live) work and playing and then divert to recordings."
Yes' last studio album was 2001's "Magnification," and it released a "Symphonic Live" album earlier this year.
Tickets for the U.S. tour go on sale Friday (December 11).
On The Net:
Yes booking agent | Yes management | Yes agent
American pop singer-songwriter Pink will headline the 2010 Wireless festival in London's Hyde Park on July 2.
U.K. alt-rock act the Ting Tings will be special guests on the same date, promoter Live Nation announced Tuesday.
Wireless will be staged for the sixth consecutive year in 2010. Previous headliners at the festival, which features four stages, include the White Stripes, Kanye West, Morrissey, Fatboy Slim and Daft Punk.
"Hyde Park is such a legendary place to play, and I feel so honored that I am going to be the first female to headline the festival," Pink said in a statement.
Further acts will be announced at a later date for the July 2-4 weekend.
Meanwhile, U.K rapper Dizzee Rascal and dance act Chase & Status are the first artists to be confirmed for the Lovebox Weekender 2010. Dizzee Rascal will headline the first day of the July 16-18 festival. The event in east London's Victoria Park has been expanded to three days for 2010.
On The Net:
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Justin Timberlake (booking agent) is featured on a track called "Carry Out" on Timbaland's (booking agent) new LP, Timbaland Presents Shock Value II, out Tuesday (December 8). And considering the magic the two have made in the past (particularly on Timberlake's FutureSex/LoveSounds LP), it's no surprise that even alongside collabos with Miley Cyrus (booking agent) and Katy Perry (booking agent), the JT track stands out as a potential radio blockbuster.
Tim and Timberlake have a can't-miss musical ESP, similar to the connection the Virginia-bred producer/rapper has with frequent collaborators Nelly Furtado (booking agent), Missy Elliott (booking agent) and Jay-Z (booking agent). The Tim/J.T. vibe is effortless and whenever they get together, he said, everything just seems to fall into place.
"That is my favorite, favorite record," Tim said of "Carry Out." "Me and my best friend J.T. — Justin Timberlake. That [song] reminds me of a 2010 'Drop It Like It's Hot.' All these sounds from all over. We tried to give another slang for women. Instead of 'Your phat butt' or 'Your big breasts,' we say, 'Oh, I need you. Can I be your carry out? Be my carry out. I want you to be my dinner, my leftovers, my everything.' It's a different slang. We're grown men, I wanna be subliminal to females. Like, 'Oooh, carry out? That's kinda sexy.'
Riding a Middle Eastern groove and one of his signature fat electro funk beats, Tim sets the stage on "Carry Out" with a string of some of those sung/spoken food-as-sex metaphors: "Baby, you lookin' fine/ I have 'open all night' like IHOP ... Let me get my ticket, baby/ Let me get in line/ I can tell the way you like it baby, supersize," he raps.
Then Timberlake comes in on the chorus, setting up some of the nastiest hooks this side of late funk legend Rick James and unveiling a seductive lower register that compliments his signature falsetto. "Take my order 'cause your body like a carry out/ Let me walk into your body 'til you hear me out/ Turn me on my baby, don't you cut me out," JT sings in his signature laid-back, come-on-style voice.
"We got a chemistry that cannot be described," Timbaland added. "People ask, 'Well, what are you and Justin like?' Can't tell you what it's like — it's a chemistry that can't be described. Something you would have to see for yourself and be, like, 'Them two got magic.' "
Timbaland says the studio session for "Carry Out" was similar to their previous collaborations. Timberlake came in, heard the track, and without a pad or pen, composed the lyrics in his head.
"Came in the lab, I started the beat. Beat playing, he mumbling to himself, 'Got it. Let's go.' He said, 'Oh, this is gone! No-brainer! Gone.' I'm like, 'OK, J.T. Whatever you say, buddy. I'm with ya. Don't doubt cha.' He did his thing. Sang in a different register. People will be like, 'Who is that?' I say, 'That's Justin.' [They say,] 'No it ain't ... that low.' Yeah, that's J.T."
Timberlake, who has been on an extended hiatus from making solo music, provides clear proof that he could jump back into the game at any minute if wants to, dropping in an instant-classic hook halfway through when he teases, "What's your name?/ What's your number?/ I'm glad I came/ Can you take my order?" over a pinging syncopated beat.
The MVP comeback from J.T. isn't the only surprise on the disc. It also features the rapping debut of Brandy (booking agent), who hangs in verse-for-verse with Tim on the banging "Meet in Tha Middle," as well as songs with Cyrus, Perry, Drake (booking agent), Esthero, the Fray, Jet, and Nickelback's (booking agent) Chad Kroeger.
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Clint Eastwood is quite possibly the most badass man in movie history. From "Dirty Harry" to "The Man With No Name" to last year's "Gran Torino," his steely glare, clenched teeth and no-nonsense style have made lesser men soil their pants in fear.
But that doesn't mean the guy can't rock out to Lady Gaga every once in a while.
"Oh, yeah, now you're getting really exciting," the 79-year-old living legend responded when we asked which hot acts he's into. "I know [Gaga] is very big. I know she's very important, and my kids have listened to her too."
In addition to giving birth to nearly a hundred movies, Eastwood has three children (including a 12-year-old) and two grandchildren (including a 15-year-old). And, according to the actor/director, they help keep him young.
"Taylor Swift? I kind of like her," he revealed to MTV News. "I have [listened to her music]; I was listening to some the other day. And I think I like her."
In town to promote "Invictus," the most recent awards-season contender in an arsenal that has included instant classics like "Million Dollar Baby," "Mystic River" and "Letters From Iwo Jima," the late-in-life Oscar-winning filmmaker said it's important to him to stay relevant with the nation's youth.
"I'd be pretty embarrassed if I'm going, 'Taylor who?' " he said. "Sometimes you listen to pop radio, just to see what's going on. You don't necessarily have to embrace it, but you want to know what's going on, so when you mention Taylor Swift, at least I can say, 'Yeah, I know who she is.' "
For the time being, Gaga and Taylor will likely get a thrill out of knowing that their music has hit the eardrums of a Hollywood legend. But, as he was quick to point out with his trademark gruff attitude, today's chart-toppers will never replace Eastwood's beloved Charlie Parker.
"I didn't switch off of a jazz station to hear it," the "Bird" director said. "But you listen to things because the kids are listening to them."
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Hey, if he can get on the same stage with his D-Block rivals, 50 Cent can share the screen with former love interest Vivica A. Fox. The actress appears in 50's new video for "Do You Think About Me." In the clip, a distraught, crying Fox might literally blow up the spot if you mess with her emotions.
In the video, Fox walks in a restaurant and sees Fif with his new girl, actress Tamala Jones. Vivica's character goes into a tizzy, slashing tires, stabbing voodoo dolls of the G-Unit General and, at the end, bringing C-4 to his door. Throughout the video, we also see real photos of the two when they were together as a couple, including during the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards.
50 said the treatment for the video was inspired by watching Martin Lawrence in "A Thin Line Between Love and Hate."
"I actually wanna write a sorta 'Thin Line Between Love and Hate' — a piece that kind of has that energy that the film with Martin Lawrence had to it," Fif said. "You know, of course they were happy in the beginning. [Then] she only sees what she wants. She was so angry, she could hurt him."
Last month, 50 also told MTV News that the song was written after analyzing past relationships.
"So many people are gonna identify with it," Fif told us about the single, his favorite on the album. "The 55 percent of people that have been married and divorced are gonna identify with it.
"I was writing about the difference of how it felt when it was only about money, once it got down to me dealing with the child-support situation," he continued. "The friendship we had was forgotten. I believe people invest in each other, and it's never even when you're in a relationship. One person is loving harder than the other. When the expectations aren't being met, they kinda resent the other party. A lot of times they don't go from being boyfriend and girlfriend or to getting engaged or being married back to being friends. They kinda gotta part ways from each other because one still has feelings and one is ready to move on."
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Back in 1999, Eminem (booking agent) was best known as the slightly screwy, bottle-blond protégé of Dr. Dre. Ten years — and millions of albums — later, he's about to be known as the best-selling artist of the decade.
On Tuesday (December 8), Nielsen SoundScan — which tabulates the Billboard charts — released their lists of the best-selling artists, albums and songs of the '00s. And let's just say the past 10 years have been very good for Mr. Mathers.
Em sold more than 32.2 million albums in the 2000s, edging out the Beatles to claim the title of top-selling artist. The Beatles ended up with the decade's best-selling album (they sold nearly 11.5 million copies of 2000's greatest-hits comp 1,) besting the likes of 'NSYNC's No Strings Attached (11.1 million copies sold) and Norah Jones' (booking agent) Come Away With Me, (10.5 million). Eminem (booking agent) was the only artist to place two albums on the list; his The Marshall Mathers LP and Eminem Show records landed at #4 and 5, selling 10.2 million and 9.8 million copies, respectively. Interestingly, of the top 10 albums of the decade, the most recently released is Usher's Confessions, which came out in 2004.
The only areas in which Eminem (booking agent) or the Beatles didn't dominate the decade were songs and radio play. According to Nielsen — which began keeping track of digital sales in July 2003 — Flo Rida's "Low" was the decade's top-selling digital song, having been downloaded more than 5.2 million times. It bested the likes of Lady Gaga's (booking agent) "Just Dance" (nearly 4.7 million downloads), Jason Mraz's (booking agent) "I'm Yours" (4.6 million) and the Black Eyed Peas' (booking agent) "Boom Boom Pow" (4.3 million).
And there was none of that funny downloading stuff when it came to the decade's most-played radio songs (generational divide, anyone?) a list topped by Nickelback's (booking agent) "How You Remind Me" — which was spun more than 1.2 million times since being released in 2001 — and featuring names like Train (booking agent) (whose "Drops Of Jupiter" was racked up more than 1.1 million plays), Lifehouse (booking agent), 3 Doors Down (booking agent) and Lee Ann Womack (booking agent).
Nielsen Soundscan created the decade lists using data collected from January 1, 2000-November 1, 2009, and though figures might rise through December 31, they won't alter the rankings.
The top-selling albums of the decade, according to Nielsen SoundScan:
1. The Beatles, 1,11,499,000 units sold
2. 'NSYNC, No Strings Attached, 11,112,000 units sold
3. Norah Jones, Come Away With Me, 10, 546,000 units sold
4. Eminem, The Marshall Mathers LP, 10,204,000 units sold
5. Eminem, The Eminem Show, 9,799,000 units sold
6. Usher, Confessions, 9,712,000 units sold
7. Linkin Park, Hybrid Theory, 9,663,000 units sold
8. Creed, Human Clay, 9,491,000 units sold
9. Britney Spears, Oops! ... I Did It Again, 9,185,000 units sold
10. Nelly, Country Grammar, 8,461,000 units sold
The top-selling digital songs of the decade, according to Nielsen SoundScan:
1. Flo Rida feat. T-Pain, "Low" 5,214,000 units sold
2. Lady Gaga feat. Colby O'Donis, "Just Dance," 4,690,000 units sold
3. Jason Mraz, "I'm Yours," 4,619,000 units sold
4. Timbaland feat. OneRepublic, "Apologize," 4,439,000 units sold
5. The Black Eyed Peas, "Boom Boom Pow," 4,349,000 units sold
6. Soulja Boy Tell'em, "Crank That," 4,315,000 units sold
7. Lady Gaga, "Poker Face," 4,200,000 units sold
8. Coldplay, "Viva la Vida," 4,140,000 units sold
9. Taylor Swift, "Love Story," 4,005,000 units sold
10. Katy Perry, "Hot N Cold," 3,945,000 units sold
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Now sporting a "4" beside its title to indicate that it's shipped 4 million copies to record stores, Taylor Swift's (booking agen) Fearless rebounds to the top of Billboard's country albums chart, elbowing aside Carrie Underwood's (booking agen) Play On, which held No. 1 for the past three weeks.
Lady Antebellum's (booking agen) "Need You Now" is also in its third week at the peak of the songs list.
Jimmy Wayne's (booking agen) Sara Smile is the highest-debuting album this time around, bounding in at No. 32.
The only other newcomers are Jason Aldean's (booking agen) Live Sessions EP (No. 43) and Rascal Flatts' four-song Christmas package, Unwrapped (No. 48). Rodney Atkins' (booking agen) It's America revisits the albums chart at No. 75.
There are just two new songs to recognize: Underwood's "Temporary Home," which settles in at No. 48, and Love and Theft's "Dancing in Circles," arriving at No. 59. Returnees include Jack Ingram and Patty Griffin's "Seeing Stars" (No. 55) and Mica Roberts' "Days You Live For" (No. 58).
Rounding out the Top 5 albums, in descending order, are Lady Antebellum (booking agen), Tim McGraw's (booking agen) Southern Voice and Sugarland's (booking agen) Green and Gold.
The No. 2 through No. 5 songs are Luke Bryan's "Do I," Reba's "Consider Me Gone," Underwood's "Cowboy Casanova" and Craig Morgan's "Bonfire."
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Michael Jackson and Mother Teresa. Stephen Hawking and the Dalai Lama. And now, Shakira (booking agent).
The Colombian singer who is famous for hits like "Hips Don't Lie" and "Whenever, Wherever" joins a diverse group of luminaries when she addresses the Oxford Union on Monday.
The 32-year-old is also a UNICEF ambassador, and will address the union about the work of her Barefoot Foundation, which helps child victims of violence. The union is the ancient university's famous debating and social society.
Oxford Union spokesman Conan McKenzie said Shakira's philanthropy was one reason for her invite, but added that "she's an immensely popular singer with a large fanbase among Oxford students. And the Oxford Union has a tradition of inviting a wide variety of speakers."
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Katy Perry (booking agent) has already gone on record as saying that her new album will show the influence of artists like Ace of Base (booking agent) and the Cardigans (booking agent), but now she appears to be tempering that goal a bit.
"Yeah, I guess the idea was to have, like, roller-skating music, like ['The Sign' by Ace of Base] or 'Lovefool' by the Cardigans. But actually, what I'm focusing on is the actual song and the story and having it say something, because then I can put the bells and whistles around it," she told MTV News Wednesday night at the Grammy nominations telecast in Los Angeles, where she picked up a Best Female Pop Vocal Performance nomination for "Hot n Cold." "But if I don't have the song, then I don't really have anything. I really want to continue to be able to make a record that ... I can make [another] 'Unplugged' with."
In recent months, Perry's been working with the likes of Weezer's Rivers Cuomo and frequent Rihanna (booking agent) collaborator Tricky Stewart on crafting the songs for the follow-up to her breakthrough One of the Boys album. And, so far, she's happy to report that things have been going swimmingly. But she doesn't want to say too much about the process, lest she jinx.
"I was in Las Vegas working with Tricky Stewart, who is amazing, and I'd been bottled up for about two years," she explained. "I haven't written on the road. I was focusing on the One of the Boys record and making that visual and touring, so all of that stuff that I've kind gathered has just been spilling out. And it's hard for me to talk about it, because I don't want to jinx it. ... I'm not usually one of those people but ... I'm like 'It's going to be great, but let's see.' "
Just when will she be ready to unveil some of her new songs? Seems like that's still a ways off. Perry's gunning for greatness on the new album, and you can't put a timetable on that.
"It's too premature, but I know that I really want to make a record that I can never make again. I didn't think I had it in me to get to this capacity, so what do I have to go to the next level, you know?" she said. "I'm really encouraged, and nobody's really stopping me or telling me what to do or say. ... I'm just kind of letting it all come out."
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Weezer (booking agent) canceled the rest of their 2009 tour dates on Sunday, following a tour bus crash in upstate New York that resulted in serious injuries to singer Rivers Cuomo. According to an account of the crash on the band's Web site, the bus carrying Cuomo, his family and assistants hit a patch of black ice on a highway near Albany, New York, early Sunday morning, sending the vehicle skidding into a muddy ravine on the side of the road. Though the bus ran over a guardrail and flattened it, it did not roll or turn over when it came to a stop.
Cuomo's wife and 2-year-old daughter were not injured in the accident, but his assistant, Sarah Kim, was thrown from her bunk and suffered two fractured ribs and a fractured lower vertebra. Cuomo, 40, was tossed violently around in his bunk and was taken to St. Mary's Hospital in Amsterdam, New York, after complaining of rib pain. Doctors found that he had cracked three ribs and sustained "mostly minor but very painful internal damage" as well as a lower leg injury. The band was traveling from Toronto to Boston for a Monday night (December 7) show at the Agganis Arena, on the tour to promote their latest album, Raditude.
Longtime band friend Karl Koch provided the detailed description of the crash and its aftermath for the band's site. "The interior of the bus was a chaotic mess with broken glass, smashed glasses and plates, food and clothing items strewn everywhere, as well as the refrigerator flying off the wall and many drawers coming right out of their slots, spewing their contents everywhere," he wrote. "On top of it the sliding interior doors were fused shut and the bus's electronics were ruined, so no one could get into the back lounge where Rivers lay immobile and unable to speak due to the pain in his ribcage. To top it off, the front door was jammed shut with 5 feet of heavy wet mud up pressed against it so there was no way to leave the bus."
Koch said that police and emergency personnel used the Jaws of Life to remove the rear window bar so that responders could climb across a ladder laid over the ravine to reach Cuomo and remove him and Kim on stretchers. At the other end, officers dug out the front of the bus so the other passengers could escape. The rest of the buses in the band's entourage pulled up within 20 minutes of the accident to find a long line of fire trucks and EMT vehicles.
"I threw on my shoes and walked up just as the Jaws of Life were being turned on, catching a glimpse of Rivers lying inside on his back surrounded by EMTs," Koch wrote. "I couldn't believe what was happening in front of me, as Rivers lay so helpless, shivering in the center of the chaos, and meanwhile the sun was coming up and revealing an utterly beautiful light covering of snow on the surrounding trees."
While a spokesperson for the band's label had no update on Cuomo's condition on Monday morning, Koch reported that the singer had been transported to a larger area hospital where he remains under observation and is resting comfortably. As a result of the crash, the rest of the band's December dates have been canceled, but Koch said the group will try to reschedule them if they can.
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Shakira (booking agent) has once again proved that she's got some hip-hop cred. She hooked up with Kid Cudi (booking agent), for the remix of her song "Did It Again," which came out last month, and now the up-and-coming rapper appears in a video for the remix that leaked online over the weekend.
The scenes of Cudi standing in a room are cut into the original video of Shakira (booking agent) performing contemporary dance with a guy on a bed and relaxing in a sauna full of beautiful women. Cudi's most elaborate verse comes about halfway through the song, after he's spent the first part just saying "yeah" behind Shakira's lead vocals.
He sings, "I can put you where you need to be/ You can believe that," and raps about bringing good vibes to Shakira's life. Then the song returns to its original images of Shakira dancing around being sexy.
"It was a collaboration between this friend of mine who's a dancer and me. She showed me this contemporary dance piece that was produced in Iceland. So we said, 'Hey, maybe we could do something like this for "Did It Again,"' " Shakira (booking agent) recently told MTV News about the Sophie Muller-directed clip. "So we brought this choreographer from Iceland from this contemporary dance company, and we worked on this piece."
Shakira (booking agent) also recently talked about working with Lil Wayne (booking agent) on her She Wolf album, noting that in a musical landscape with no genre rules, it makes sense that she include hip-hop on her album.
"[I'm] starting to understand and assimilate and internalize hip-hop music and hip-hop influences, so I'm trying to incorporate them within my own music," she said. "Which is a new thing in my life, and I'm completely over the moon. I'm like a kid with a new toy. I'm playing with these new ideas."
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Rihanna (booking agent) and Lady Gaga (booking agent) have a lot in common. They are both innovative pop stars with a concrete vision for their music and image. They are both fashionistas with a love for forward-thinking style. And they certainly both have swagger.
Maybe that's why Rihanna (booking agent) has so much respect for her contemporary. "She has a very bold, fearless image," Rihanna (booking agent) told MTV News on the set of her "Hard" music video.
Rihanna (booking agent) also admires Gaga because she doesn't apologize for those bold moves. "I have to say, I have so much respect for original artists and artists who aren't afraid to do what they want to do," Rihanna said. "That's what I respect most, so she's awesome."
Recently, everyone from frequent collaborator RedOne, who described Gaga as "very talented, very ahead of the curve," to Smokey Robinson have been praising the new pop diva for her individuality and her ability to take over the charts and garner five Grammy nods this year.
"I think that Lady Gaga (booking agent) is so different and she has taken the world by storm," Robinson told MTV News on Wednesday at the Grammy nominations concert. "I enjoy her music. So I think that she's unique. Unique always has a chance."
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With a new DVD landing and more touring set for 2010, the members of Creed (booking agent) -- reunited after a nearly five-year split -- plan to keep the band a going concern for the foreseeable future.
"As long as things still just flow smoothly, I don't see why we can't," guitarist Mark Tremonti tells Billboard.com. "Now that the record's out and the first tour's been done and everything, there haven't been any fights or disagreements...It feels good. We've been gone a long time, and we've got a lot to prove, still."
Tremonti says Creed plans to hit the road again in late April "for about a four or five-week Stateside tour of all the tertiary markets that we didn't hit last summer." The group will play in Australia, New Zealand and South America in June, then return to North America for another summer tour of mostly amphitheaters.
Creed's first studio album in eight years, "Full Circle," debuted at No. 2 on the Top 200 chart following its Oct. 27 release. On Dec. 8, the group is releasing its first-ever concert DVD, "Creed Live," a 17-song set that was filmed in Houston and set a world record for the most cameras (239) used for a live concert recording. Director Daniel E. Catullo III also used "big freeze" effects popularized by "The Matrix" film series.
"We're happy with it," Tremonti says. "I don't know how much of a difference all those cameras really made in the end...The coolest thing is we got a plaque that says we're Guinness Book of World Record holders, which is something I never thought I was going to be unless I grew my fingernails real long or something really silly."
Tremonti will not be idle while waiting for Creed to resume touring, however. He and Myles Kennedy have regrouped in Florida to continue work on the third album by Alter Bridge, the group the guitarist and Creed mates Scott Phillips and Brian Marshall formed when Creed first split. Tremonti says they hope to be ready for that band to hit the studio in February and finish before Creed heads out again. Alter Bridge is slated to tour Europe starting in October, with North American dates expected in late 2010 and 2011, followed by European festival appearances that summer.
"Me and Myles need to get on the same page with our ideas, and once we're there we'll realize what kind of work load we have," Tremonti says. "We don't have much time to spare. We feel like we're cutting it really close, but I feel like I'm very well organized at this point, which makes me feel better."
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Though Chris Brown (booking agent) hasn't discussed the intimate details about his assault of Rihanna (booking agent) in interviews to promote the Dec. 8 release of "Graffiti," several tracks from the just-leaked album seem to directly address the singer's feelings about his ex-girlfriend.
"I might have cheated in the beginning/ I was wrong for writing 'Disturbia'/ But I meant it in 'Forever'/We were supposed to be together/And I can't let you go," Brown sings on "Famous Girl." The 20-year-old wrote the song "Disturbia" for Rihanna's "Good Girl Gone Bad" album, while "Forever" likely refers to his own hit of the same name that spawned a viral wedding video.
Brown also sings, "Sorry I bust the windows out your car," on the song, possibly alluding to reports that he smashed the window of a vehicle during an argument with Rihanna that occurred before the February assault.
In addition to "Famous Girl," Brown dabbles in various influences throughout "Graffiti," from dance and rock to reggae, pop and of course, R&B. The slow jam "Take My Time" features Tank and recalls Brown's smooth-talking 2008 single "Take You Down." On the '80s-influenced "I.Y.A.," Brown AutoTune'd voice echoes, "I wanna wake up in your arms." Producers Da Bizness and Brian Kennedy, who also worked on "Disturbia," borrow from Eric Prydz's 2005 European Hot 100 chart-topper "Call on Me" for the dance-R&B track "Pass Out."
"Wait," featuring Trey Songz (booking agent) and Game, delivers a thumping beat that rivals "I Can Transform Ya," Brown's lead single from "Graffiti" that currently stands at No. 20 on the Hot 100. The ballad "Fallin' Down" incorporates rock elements and features Brown's vocals at their most raw. Brown also dabbles in reggae on the song "Brown Skin Girl" featuring Sean Paul.
Like "Famous Girl," Brown's second single "Crawl" implies that the singer would like to be reunited with his ex-girlfriend (the song recently entered Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs at No. 69). On "Sing Like Me," however, Brown expresses an entirely different sentiment, boasting about his celebrity status and his skills with women over a beat that harkens R. Kelly's "Feelin' on Yo Booty."
One of the most striking tracks on the album, "I'll Go" is a lush ballad that creatively blends piano with violins and electric guitar. "There's a star in the palm of my hand/ And I think it's yours/ If you don't want it then I'll understand/ You deserve much more," laments Brown.
Other songs on "Graffiti" include the apologetic mid-tempo ballad "So Cold;" the flashy, Plies (booking agent)-assisted "What I Do;" and "Lucky Me," on which Brown thanks music for keeping him strong.
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Australian pop singer Kylie Minogue is to release a download-only concert album, "Kylie Live in New York."
Set for global release December 14, the album was recorded at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom earlier this fall as part of the diminutive singer's first North American tour.
The 25-song set contains live versions of international hits "Confide in Me," "The Locomotion" and "Can't Get You Out of My Head" -- the latter in its remixed form with the New Order track "Blue Monday" and renamed "Boombox/Can't Get Blue Monday Out of My Head." ITunes customers will also receive three bonus tracks.
International release is being handled by Parlophone/EMI, excluding Australia and New Zealand, where the artist is signed to Mushroom Records.
To preview the release, YouTube will be running a one-hour audio stream of the first half of the show from midnight U.K. time December 12. The stream will be available for 24 hours.
Kylie Minogue's debut U.S. tour took place September 30 to October 11 this year.
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The 52 annual Grammy nominations were announced this week on a Wednesday night TV special hosted by LL Cool J (booking agent), and it was definitely ladies night, with Beyonce (booking agent) (10 nominations), Taylor Swift (booking agent)(eight), and Lady Gaga (booking agent) (five) leading the pack.
But one diva who was somewhat surprisingly shut out was onetime Grammy sweetheart Whitney Houston (booking agent).
The Grammy committee usually loves comeback stories. Whether it's artists who left the spotlight for a while and then returned with a vengeance (Bonnie Raitt (booking agent), Natalie Cole (booking agent), Tina Turner (booking agent)), veterans who reinvented their careers by collaborating with other musicians (Carlos Santana (booking agent), Herbie Hancock (booking agent), Robert Plant (booking agent)), or artists who struggled with their demons and made great music as a result (Dixie Chicks (booking agent), Amy Winehouse (booking agent)), such rising-from-ashes back stories usually strongly resonate with industry voters. In this regard, Whitney Houston's "comeback" album I Look To You--released after the singer's long hiatus, divorce from Bobby Brown (booking agent), and infamous battles with drugs--seemed a shoo-in for multiple nominations.
Her record label Arista seemed so sure of Whitney's chances, in fact, that it moved her album release date up in order for it to qualify for this year's voting window. But Whitney was actually completely shut out, with NO nominations whatsoever--not only was she snubbed in the major categories like Album Of The Year, but even in the secondary Pop and R&B categories. This was a shock considering her Grammy history of 24 nominations and six wins, including winning Album Of The Year and Record Of The Year in 1994.
Many industry people and fans alike are wondering why Whitney was overlooked this time. Some say it might have been all the hype. From the moment it was announced that Whitney would be releasing her first original studio album in seven years, the Arista promo machine went into overdrive--with Whitney hosting a star-studded listening party with her longtime mentor, Arista honcho Clive Davis (at which Clive reminded everyone of Whitney's millions and millions of albums sold), and doing a headline-garnering Oprah interview about her struggles. And it seemed many were rooting for her, with I Look To You debuting at #1 with more than 300,000 units sold in its first week (it has sold about 800,000 as of this writing), but the hype was still a little overwhelming.
But then there was Whitney's series of disappointing, poorly received performances on Good Morning America, The X Factor, and Dancing With The Stars, on which her now-hoarse voice was a mere shadow of its former glory, and many started to doubt that this was much of a comeback at all. Perhaps the Grammy voters doubted it as well. Guess Whitney will just have to settle for the lifetime-achievement "International Artist" trophy she picked up at last month's American Music Awards.
Late Thursday, a pair of brand-new Eminem (booking agent) tracks from his upcoming Relapse: Refill album hit the Internet, and while both are filled with his trademark lyrical irreverence, a line in one of the songs — "Elevator" — is raising more than a few eyebrows.
In the track, Em jabs at former 'NSYNC member Lance Bass and a pair of former "American Idol" contestants, Clay Aiken (booking agent) and Adam Lambert (booking agent), all of whom are openly gay. While the actual wording of the lyric is in question, here's what Eminem appears to be rapping, according to several sites, including ThisIs50.com:
"Sorry, Lance, Mr. Lambert and Aiken ain't gonna make it/ They get so mad, when I call them both fake/ It's all these f---ing voices in my head, I can't take it/ Someone shut that f---ing baby up, before I shake it."
However, as gay-news site Towleroad.com has noted, "fake it's" sounds phonetically like "f----ts," a similarity that they claim is anything but coincidental, given the rapper's previous history with the word.
"Eminem cleverly avoids using the word 'f----ts" in his new song 'Elevator' when referring to Adam Lambert (booking agent) and Clay Aiken (booking agent), replacing it with the words 'fake it's,' " site founder Andy Towle writes in a post. "Of course, phonetically, it sounds just like 'f----ts.' "
Contacted by MTV News on Friday (December 4), a label rep for Eminem had no comment, and official lyrics for the song were not available at press time.
At the moment, Lambert seems to be leaning toward the less provocative lyric. On his Twitter account Thursday night, Lambert wrote, "Wow, Eminem (booking agent) mentioned me in a song?! I must be doing something right!? Even if he used the 'F word,' whatever," then followed that up with a second tweet, which reads: "Oh, he says 'fake it.' My bad."
In 2001, Eminem (booking agent) drew the ire of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation over his use of gay slurs on songs like "Kill You" and "Criminal" — from his The Marshall Mathers LP — which featured lines like "You f----ts keep eggin' me on/ Till I have you at knifepoint, then you beg me to stop," and "My words are like a dagger with a jagged edge/ That'll stab you in the head/ Whether you're a f-g or a lez."
GLAAD called the lyrics "homophobic" and "hate filled," and protested outside the Staples Center in Los Angeles during the 2001 Grammy Awards, where Eminem (booking agent) was nominated for a number of awards, including Album of the Year. During the show, Em answered his critics by performing a now-famous duet with Elton John (booking agent), which ended with the two embracing and Eminem (booking agent) giving the finger to the crowd.
In the lead-up to the 2001 Grammys, Moby also famously called Eminem (booking agent) "a homophobe," which Em responded to by referring to the DJ/producer as a "36-year-old, bald-headed f-g" on the song "Without Me," and threatening to fight him during the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards. Eminem said in interviews at the time that the content of his songs shouldn't be taken literally, and told MTV News' Kurt Loder, "I think that some people are a little too uptight, and take things a little bit too seriously."
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Two high-profile collaborations from Alicia Keys' (booking agent) forthcoming Element of Freedom LP hit the Internet on Friday (December 4) — along with news that Jay-Z (booking agent) will not be featured on Keys' retake of "Empire State of Mind," although plans originally called for him to contribute a new verse to the song.
One of the collaborations, "Put It in a Love Song," a duet with Beyonce (booking agent) is a bouncy pop track about a girl who just wants her lover to write her a song and prove to her he's worth her time. The song features a brief chat ("Hey yo, B!" "What up, A?") between B and Keys at the beginning.
On the other, "Un-thinkable (I'm Ready)," Keys gets a helping hand from Drake (booking agent), but he sings backing vocals rather than contributing a rapped verse. The song is a gentle, dreamy ballad about contemplating a relationship, with Drake softly crooning in the background.
Finally, although Jay-Z (booking agent) was originally scheduled to contribute a new verse to Keys' remake of their #1 single, "Empire State of Mind," a rep for Keys confirmed to MTV News on Friday that Jay will not appear on the new version of the song, which is titled "Empire State Of Mind (Part II) Broken Down." No reason was given for the change of plans.
Earlier this fall, Keys promised fans they should "expect the unexpected" on the disc. "You can expect, like, to be moved," she said. "You can expect to really be into a zone. I think you can expect the unexpected, 'cause there's going to be things that you're going to be like, 'Wow, is that her? Is that her?' And I love that about it. You can definitely expect to see major growth, but you're going to fall in love with this album."
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When Rihanna (booking agent) first arrived on the scene, she was a sun-kissed Caribbean singer who managed to score a minor hit with the reggae-tinged "Pon de Replay." And with each subsequent album, the Def Jam star has evolved, with hits like "Umbrella," "S.O.S." and sweeping ballads such as "Take a Bow" added to the mix.
On Thursday night at Manhattan's Hammerstein Ballroom, Rih Rih's repertoire was on display as the singer powered through a 30-minute set during a special performance for The Release, a MySpace Music concert series. She was continuing to celebrate the release of her fourth album, Rated R.
"New York City, make some noise!" Rihanna urged the crowd.
The leggy singer arrived onstage decked out in a shimmering sequined minidress as paparazzi pictures of her appeared on the television screens behind her. Rihanna's accessories, in contrast, were dark: black shades, black gloves and a heavy dose of black eye makeup.
The booming synths of "Wait Your Turn" then flooded the sound system.
"I pitch with a grenade," she sang as two backup singers and dancers flanked her. "Swing away if you're feeling brave."
The lights quickly dimmed after one verse, and Rihanna took a seat onstage as she launched into a sultry version of "Russian Roulette."
Along with "Take a Bow" and "Disturbia," Rihanna (booking agent) delivered a spirited rendition of "Don't Stop the Music," during which she swaggered back and forth across the stage, at one point fondling a male mannequin. The audience roared in approval.
After a quick wardrobe adjustment, Rihanna (booking agent) returned to the stage, this time with a black vest over her dress and coordinating boots. T.I.'s "Live Your Life" kicked in, and Rihanna (booking agent) appeared at the top of the stairs near the middle of the stage. By the time she hit the bottom step, "Run This Town" blasted through the speakers and Rihanna — sans Jay-Z (booking agent) and Kanye West (booking agent) and with a whiplike microphone in her hand — took command again.
"Feel it coming in the air," she sang. "And there's screams from everywhere/ I'm addicted to the thrill/ It's a dangerous love affair."
Rihanna (booking agent) closed things out with her Grammy-winning hit "Umbrella," for which fans fittingly opened countless umbrellas in celebration of the hits that rained down on them tonight, giving the Ballroom an appearance not unlike an aerial shot of a domed stadium.
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Drake, Mos Def, Q-Tip, and Eminem are just a few of the Hip Hop artists who scored Grammy nominations yesterday (December 2).
For Best Rap Album, the following artists were nominated: Common (Universal Mind Control), Eminem (Relapse), Flo Rida (R.O.O.T.S.), Mos Def (The Ecstatic), and Q-Tip (The Renaissance).
Notable Grammy newcomer’s include Drake and Kid Cudi who were both nominated for their first ever Grammy. Both artists received nominations for Best Rap Solo Performance and Kid Cudi also received nominations for Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance By a Duo or Group.
Highly anticipated ‘09 albums including Jay-Z’s Blueprint 3 and Wale’s Attention Deficit were left without nominations because of their release dates and the Grammy deadline.
The 52nd annual Grammy Awards will air on January 31, 2010. See below for a complete list of Hip Hop nominations:
Best Rap Album
Common – Universal Mind Control
Eminem – Relapse
Flo Rida – R.O.O.T.S.
Mos Def – The Ecstatic
Q-Tip – The Renaissance
Best Rap Solo Performance
Drake – “Best I Ever Had”
Eminem – “Beautiful”
Jay-Z – “D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)”
Kid Cudi – “Day ‘N’ Nite”
Mos Def – “Casa Bey”
Best Rap Song
Drake – “Best I Ever Had”
Kid Cudi – “Day ‘N’ Nite”
T.I. & Justin Timberlake – “Dead And Gone”
Jay-Z – “D.O.A. (Death Of Auto-Tune)”
Jay-Z, Rihanna & Kanye West – “Run This Town”
Best Rap Performance By a Duo or Group
Beastie Boys & Nas – “Too Many Rappers”
Eminem, Dr. Dre & 50 Cent – “Crack A Bottle”
Fabolous & Jay-Z – “Money Goes, Honey Stay”
Kid Cudi, Kanye West & Common – “Make Her Say”
Kanye West & Young Jeezy – “Amazing”
Best Rap/Sung Collaboration
Beyonce & Kanye West – “Ego”
Keri Hilson, Kanye West & Ne-Yo – “Knock You Down”
Jay-Z, Rihanna & Kanye West – “Run This Town”
The Lonely Island & T-Pain – “I’m On A Boat”
T.I. & Justin Timberlake – “Dead And Gone”
Kid Cudi's upcoming album, tentatively titled Cudder, will be very different from his debut, according to the emcee. After crafting the critically acclaimed Man on the Moon, Cudi recently told MTV about his new album, noting that it will feature music that will make it vary from his first official release.
“We got Snoop. We got Pharrell. I just was in the studio with him. We got Jim Jonsin. I did a record with him. I’m gonna get back in the studio with him. Trying to get the right amount of hit records on this. It’s gonna be the complete opposite of what Man on the Moon was. Man on the Moon was so serious. This one is gonna be more playful and fun. It’s about having a good time.”
Presently, Cudi is touring with Lady Gaga and is up for two Grammy's.
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Trace Adkins will play the role of a bodyguard named "Scared" in a TV pilot shooting this week in Nashville. Titled Tough Trade, the original pilot is the first for EPIX, a new entertainment venture between Viacom, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (a division of Viacom's Paramount Pictures unit) and Lionsgate. Press materials refer to the pilot as "a provocative, contemporary one-hour drama about a three-generation Nashville music dynasty whose penchant for drink, debauchery and divorce has left them morally corrupt and on the verge of bankruptcy.
The family with little left is pinning its hopes on its former black sheep, a budding country star turned alternative-rock heart throb." Music producer, musician and songwriter T Bone Burnett will be the executive music producer for the project. Burnett, whose production credits include Robert Plant and Alison Krauss' Raising Sand album, won five Grammy Awards for his work on the O Brother, Where Art Thou? film soundtrack.
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The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville will update its main exhibit in May 2010 with a display dedicated to contemporary artists such as Brad Paisley, Taylor Swift and Keith Urban. An additional case will be devoted to Americana and contemporary bluegrass music with artifacts from Alison Krauss, Jim Lauderdale, Del McCoury and Buddy Miller. Titled Sing Me Back Home: A Journey Through Country Music, the primary update to the exhibit's timeline and narrative will begin with developments that took place around 1965. In addition, the second floor gallery's theater will feature a new video exhibit of how topical events and social and political issues are reflected in country music, with examples such as Merle Haggard's "The Fightin' Side of Me," Loretta Lynn's "The Pill," the Dixie Chicks' "Goodbye Earl" and Toby Keith's "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)." An extensive exhibit featuring Hank Williams and Hank Williams Jr., titled Family Tradition, will also remain on display through the end of 2011.
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Sugarland and several other Grammy nominees praised Taylor Swift to a room of reporters in Los Angeles when the nominations were announced during a concert on Wednesday (Dec. 2). The 19-year-old singer-songwriter secured a total of eight nominations in pop and country categories.
"I think it's exciting for country music now in the sense that Taylor has done a lot for the genre," said Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles. "She's brought a lot of young people into country music and exposed them to country music, so I think it's exciting. I was just laughing about it, though, the other day. I was thinking, 'All right, she's 20 years old and she is nominated for Grammys and she's done all this and she's making all these decisions. When I was 20 years old, I was playing clubs and learning how to drink Jim Beam and Coke. You know, very different. Very different, but I think she's doing great things for herself."
Sugarland's "It Happens" received a Grammy nomination for best country performance by a duo or group with vocals. During the CBS telecast of the nominations special, they were backed by a gospel choir in front of Club Nokia to perform "Coming Home," a song from their new Gold and Green holiday album.
"We thought it would be appropriate to do it in front of a Christmas tree, so it was nice," Nettles said. "It was fun, and it was my first time playing piano on national television. Normally, that's just for me in my house and the studio."
"Put a choir on anything, and it gets good," added her bandmate, Kristian Bush.
Backstage at the event, Colbie Caillat, Kings of Leon's Nathan Followill and LL Cool J also spoke highly of Swift.
"I'm so excited for Taylor," said Caillat, a singer-songwriter who earned four Grammy nominations. "She deserves everything that's happened for her this year. She has eight nominations. She deserves it all."
Two of Caillat's nominations were for her work with Swift -- as a featured artist in the all-genre album of the year category (Fearless) and for pop collaboration with vocals ("Breathe").
"We're Nashville boys so we'll pull for our locals -- Taylor Swift, Sugarland, all the country people that live in the same town that we bump into at Whole Foods every weekend," Followill said. Among their four nominations, Kings of Leon's "Use Somebody" is up for record of the year and song of the year. Swift's "You Belong With Me" landed in those same categories.
"I think the future is limitless for Taylor," said LL Cool J, who hosted the concert that was televised on CBS." I think that she's young, she's pretty, talented -- you know, pretty and talented, just to be clear. She's an amazing artist."
Neil Portnow, President of National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, remarked, "Taylor is a phenomenon, I think, in entertainment. She crosses so many genres and so many generations. She's really struck a chord with people because her music is so honest. She writes her music. It comes from her heart, speaking to an audience that perhaps hasn't been spoken to in a way that she has these days. So I'm not surprised, and I'm very happy for her."
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Carrie Underwood never had to play for tip jars. She never had to take gigs in honky-tonks, bars and clubs on her way to the top. Her journey to superstardom brought her down a different path than most country stars. And yet, she looked so very much at home onstage at a small bar here Thursday night (Dec. 3).
She kept the standing-room-only crowd of about 900 at Joe's Bar thoroughly engaged for about an hour with a mix of songs and stories and even some genuine self-deprecating humor. Like when she forgot a few words on "Mama's Song," a track from her new album, she remarked that she may forget a few lyrics from time to time but at least she wasn't lip-synching. She even offered to just make up new words. "But I don't want to make you guys envious of my rap skills," she laughed.
And with each new song she introduced, Underwood let even more of her personality shine through. On "Last Name," she told the audience, "I have little girls come up to me all the time and go, 'Do you really not know your last name?'" Regarding her new single, "Temporary Home," she put things in perspective by saying of the heaven-bound ballad, "This is such a great song for this time of year -- to remind us all of why we're here."
But she knew enough to open the show with a rowdy rocker, "Flat on the Floor," to show the fans that while she fits in at arenas, awards-show stages and chandeliered theaters, she can nail this bar thing, too.
Even her outfit was, for her, a dressed-down, casual style. After seeing Underwood in her recent "Cowboy Casanova" glittery short shorts and in her cascading burgundy dress from the ACM Awards, watching her perform in the comfort of jeans, boots, a yellow tank top and a boyfriend blazer was a welcome change of pace. And while she occasionally picks up a guitar during her live shows, all she did was sing Thursday night. Which, with a voice as pure and powerful as hers, was more than OK with the crowd of enthusiastic Underwood fans. With every note she sang, she proved that the size of the room you are playing is almost irrelevant. Talent is talent, no matter where you are doing the singing.
Her 12-song set was a nice breather from her recent string of television appearances, including Good Morning America, The Ellen DeGeneres Show and The Late Show With David Letterman. She was admiring the dense crowd and said how nice it was to play a real show for a real group of fans, as opposed to a tiny studio audience.
This audience was a new breed for Underwood. With the bar's 21-and-over rule, there were no little girls and no screaming teenagers, so there was no one for Underwood to bring up onstage to sing "All-American Girl" with her. But she told a story about how one of the last times she did that, which was actually at another Chicago show in August, the girl had a bit of stage fright and refused to sing.
Underwood was more than capable of doing that song on her own. Her vocals never seem to falter. In fact, it sounds as if she gets better with every tune she sings. New ones, like "Undo It" and "Cowboy Casanova," felt every bit the hits that older ones, including "Wasted," "Jesus, Take the Wheel," "So Small" and "Just a Dream" did.
She closed the show with the cheatin' song that made country fans out of so many people -- "Before He Cheats." But for the fans who didn't get to see her at Joe's Bar, she'll be hosting Carrie Underwood: An All-Star Holiday Special, a two-hour variety program airing Monday (Dec. 7) on the Fox network.
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Keith Urban (booking agent) flew all the way from Los Angeles to Nashville and back Tuesday (Dec. 1) just to personally applaud the writers of his latest No. 1 single, "Only You Can Love Me This Way."
The celebration spotlighting co-writers Steve McEwan and John Reid, both of whom are British, was held at the BMI headquarters on Music Row. Reid was in Scotland and unable to attend the event.
"I just feel very blessed to do what I do," Urban told the partygoers. "I don't take it for granted. That's why I'm here today."
"Christmas has come early," said McEwan with a grin as he held one of the several awards presented him by BMI, EMI (his music publishing company) and Capitol Records (Urban's label).
No newcomer to country music, McEwan also co-wrote the Kenny Chesney (booking agent) hits "Young" and "Summertime," has had three cuts by Faith Hill (booking agent) and boasts three more songs on Carrie Underwood's (booking agent) current album, Play On.
By e-mail, Reid described Urban's rendering of "Only You" as "pure magic" and added, "You made it your own."
Jody Williams, BMI's vice president of writer-publisher relations, praised Urban for both his artistry and compassion. He noted that Urban recently won three BMI awards for his own songwriting and that in October, he had headlined the All for the Hall benefit concert in Nashville that raised more than $500,000 for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
"If you're talking about Keith Urban," Williams continued, "you're talking about all heart."
Urban saluted his producer, Dann Huff, who stood among the celebrants, for alerting him to McEwan and Reid's song.
"Dann brings me very few songs," Urban said, "and we cut almost everything he brings us."
Urban announced he was going to give his BMI award to Donna Jean Kisshauer, who works for his management company, Borman Entertainment, for her labors on his behalf. When someone shouted out that she had left the party, Urban quipped, "That's what I love about her. You know, she's already out there busting somebody's you-know-what."
To cap the celebration, Urban sat on stool, cradled his acoustic guitar and sang the song of the hour. The applause had hardly died down before he was out the door and headed back to the airport.
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Fans of Creed (booking agent) will be able to check out the rock band's show from the comfort of a theater seat Monday (December 7).
As part of the Sony Digital Cinema Music Series, a full-length Creed concert will be broadcast on 142 theater screens across the country.
"Creed Live" will be the third installment of the series, which is managed by Media Push Entertainment LLC, and will continue into 2010.
The event will broadcast the band's September 25 concert, performed in front of 17,000 fans in Houston. The show is notable for having entered the Guinness Book of World Records for its record use of 239 high-definition cameras for a live music event. The performance will be broadcast on HD and 5.1 surround-sound technology. Select theaters will use Sony's 4K digital cinema projectors.
Creed (booking agent) will be attending and signing autographs at the West Palm Beach screening in Florida.
According to Media Push Entertainment, the series targets those who live in areas that the tour did not visit, "tweenagers" who might not have had access because of age restrictions, and fans who may have attended the original concert and hope to experience it again.
"Creed Live" will expand to Germany and the U.K. in January, with a similar one-night event in conjunction with the international release of the concert DVD. In the U.S. the DVD will be available Tuesday (December 8).
Those with Sony's Bravia television will be able to watch "Creed Live" on-demand for 30 days. In January, the PlayStation Network will offer the performance through video-on-demand.
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Nominees announced Wednesday in top categories for the 51st Annual Grammy Awards:
Record of the Year: "Halo," Beyonce; "I Gotta Feeling," The Black Eyed Peas; "Use Somebody," Kings Of Leon; "Poker Face," Lady Gaga; "You Belong With Me," Taylor Swift.
Album of the Year: "I Am Sasha Fierce," Beyonce; "The E.N.D.," The Black Eyed Peas; "The Fame," Lady Gaga; "Big Whiskey And The Groogrux King," Dave Matthews Band; "Fearless," Taylor Swift.
Song of the Year: "Poker Face," Lady Gaga and RedOne, songwriters (Lady Gaga); "Pretty Wings," Hod David and Musze, songwriters (Maxwell); "Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)," Thaddis Harrell, Beyonce Knowles, Terius Nash & Christopher Stewart, songwriters (Beyonce); "Use Somebody," Caleb Followill, Jared Followill, Matthew Followill and Nathan Followill, songwriters (Kings Of Leon); "You Belong With Me," Liz Rose and Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift).
New Artist: Zac Brown Band, Keri Hilson, MGMT, Silversun Pickups, The Ting Tings.
Pop Vocal Album: "The E.N.D.," The Black Eyed Peas; "Breakthrough," Colbie Caillat; "All I Ever Wanted," Kelly Clarkson; "The Fray," The Fray; "Funhouse," P!nk.
Rock Album: "Black Ice," AC/DC; "Live From Madison Square Garden," Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood; "21st Century Breakdown," Green Day; "Big Whiskey And The Groogrux King," Dave Matthews Band; "No Line On The Horizon," U2.
R&B Album: "The Point Of It All," Anthony Hamilton; "Testimony: Vol. 2, Love and Politics," India.Arie; "Turn Me Loose," Ledisi; "Blacksummers' Night," Maxwell; "Uncle Charlie," Charlie Wilson.
Rap Album: "Universal Mind Control," Common; "Relapse," Eminem; "R.O.O.T.S.," Flo Rida; "The Ecstatic," Mos Def; "The Renaissance," Q-Tip
Country Album: "The Foundation," Zac Brown Band; "Twang," George Strait; "Fearless," Taylor Swift; "Defying Gravity," Keith Urban; "Call Me Crazy," Lee Ann Womack.
Latin Pop Album: "5to Piso," Ricardo Arjona; "Te Acuerdas ...," Francisco Cespedes; "Sin Frenos," La Quinta Estacion; "Hu Hu Hu," Natalia Lafourcade; "Gran City Pop," Paulina Rubio.
Contemporary Jazz Album: "Urbanus," Stefon Harris and Blackout; "Sounding Point," Julian Lage; "At World's Edge," Philippe Saisse; "Big Neighborhood," Mike Stern; "75," Joe Zawinul and The Zawinul Syndicate.
Classical Album: "Bernstein: Mass," Marin Alsop, conductor (Asher Edward Wulfman; Baltimore Symphony Orchestra; Morgan State University Choir and Peabody Children's Chorus); "Mahler: Symphony No. 8; Adagio From Symphony No. 10," Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor (Laura Claycomb, Anthony Dean Griffey, Katarina Karneus, Quinn Kelsey, James Morris, Yvonne Naef, Elza van den Heever and Erin Wall; San Francisco Symphony; Pacific Boychoir, San Francisco Girls Chorus and San Francisco Symphony Chorus); "Ravel: Daphnis Et Chloe," James Levine, conductor (Boston Symphony Orchestra; Tanglewood Festival Chorus); "Ravel: L'Enfant Et Les Sortileges," Alastair Willis, conductor (Nashville Symphony Orchestra; Chattanooga Boys Choir, Chicago Symphony Chorus & Nashville Symphony Chorus); "Shostakovich: The Nose," Valery Gergiev, conductor (Orchestra Of The Mariinsky Theatre; Chorus Of The Mariinsky Theatre).
Taylor Swift (booking agent) has won just about every top music award there is this year, but the possibility of winning not just one, but eight Grammys, had the 19-year-old screaming for joy as the nominations were announced.
"I started freaking out and jumping up and down," Swift said in a telephone interview Wednesday night after learning of her nominations, which included album of the year for her sophomore CD "Fearless" and mentions for song and record of the year.
"I honestly never would have predicted this, eight nominations — I'm ecstatic, and blown away and so so thankful," the stunned country sensation said.
Swift's haul of eight nods was only second to another blonde superstar — Beyonce (booking agent), who got 10. The multi-hyphenate diva, who had an amazing year even on Beyonce (booking agent) terms, including performing at the inauguration for President Barack Obama and the first lady and a No. 1 movie with "Obsessed," was rewarded for her fierce year. The Grammy-winner was nominated once again, this time for album of the year for her double CD, "I Am ... Sasha Fierce," song of the year for her ubiquitous anthem, "Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)" and song of the year for "Halo," as well as other awards.
Another diva was also nominated in all three categories: Lady Gaga (booking agent). The eccentric entertainer, who had five nominations overall, garnered a best album mention for her debut CD, "The Fame," while her "Poker Face" got nominations for record and song of the year. Other nominees for album of the year were the Black Eyed Peas (booking agent) for "The E.N.D." and Dave Matthews Band (booking agent) "Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King."
The Black Eyed Peas (booking agent) were also nominated for record of the year for their feel-good song, "I Gotta Feeling," while the Kings of Leon (booking agent) were nominated for "Use Somebody." The Kings of Leon (booking agent) hit was also nominated for song of the year, as well as Maxwell's comeback hit, "Pretty Wings."
The Black Eyed Peas (booking agent), Maxwell (booking agent) and Kanye West (booking agent) got six nominations each, while Jay-Z and DJ David Guetta got five.
The country act the Zac Brown Band (booking agent) was nominated for best new artist, along with R&B siren Keri Hilson (booking agent), rockers MGMT (booking agent), the punk duo the Ting Tings (booking agent) and the rock group the Silversun Pickups. The year's most popular new artist, Lady Gaga (booking agent), wasn't eligible; her single "Just Dance" had been nominated last year, before she was a platinum-selling act; previous Grammy nominees can't be nominated in the category.
Recording Academy President Neil Portnow said that scenario won't likely happen again: "There will be some changes so that particular situation won't repeat itself."
Wednesday's nominations were unveiled at Club Nokia in Los Angeles as part of a prime-time CBS special. It was the second year in a row that the Recording Academy revealed a handful of its 109 nominees during a televised concert; in the past, they had been announced during a morning news conference.
Swift, who turns 20 later this month, said she was holed up in a Los Angeles hotel room with her mother, editing home videos on her computer, when the nominations were being read. It was then she got a text from her producer, Nathan Chapman, that just read "AAUUGGH!!!!!"
Taylor didn't know what to make of it.
Then he called and told her about her first nomination, song of the year, for her hit, "You Belong With Me." And then the screams started, and continued when the nominations kept coming in.
Besides album and song of the year, she was also nominated for record of the year for "You Belong With Me" and country album.
"To be recognized by the Grammys is the ultimate honor, and all I know is that when I write about this in my journal tonight it will be in all capital letters and underlined four times, and there will be lots of exclamation points in this entry because I never imagined I'd get to write this kind of journal entry," she gushed.
Swift may be in shock, but her nominations are not a big surprise to many: She was the year's best-selling artist outside of Michael Jackson, and her "Fearless" CD, released late last year, has sold more than 4.5 million copies. She is not just a country superstar, but a pop one as well.
Just last month, Swift won five American Music Awards, including artist of the year. She's also won top honors at the Academy of Country Music Awards, the Country Music Association Awards and won an MTV Video Music Award (which was infamously snatched away by Kanye West).
But Swift, who has been nominated for a Grammy before, says winning one would be her dream triumph: "The thought of that absolutely is something that you daydream about."
Swift was in Los Angeles to do a concert and to do some work on her upcoming movie "Valentine's Day"; she had an early call on the set Thursday morning.
When asked how she planned to celebrate her nominations, she said: "I'm just gonna call a bunch of people and tell them that I love them."
The Grammys will be presented on Jan. 31 in Los Angeles.
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MGMT booking agent | MGMT booking agent | MGMT booking agent
The Ting Tings booking agent | The Ting Tings booking agent | The Ting Tings booking agent
Singer-songwriter Ashley Monroe spent the fall on the Ten Out of Tenn
tour with nine other independent artists based in Nashville -- although
judging from their compilation album, almost none of the other
performers draw on traditional country in their own music.
The tour and the album, Ten Out of Tenn, Vol. 3, are designed to
showcase Nashville's musical diversity beyond its reputation as the
country music capital of the world. During their first rehearsal,
however, Monroe pulled aside the group's founder, Trent Dabbs, to make
sure she belonged there.
"I said, 'Now you know I'm country right?'" she explained. "He said, 'Yeah.'
"'And you know I can't really change my accent. When I sing, it sounds country. You know that, right?'
"He was like, 'Yes, I know.' It's so interesting because when we started rehearsing, it just fell into place."
After her long-delayed album was finally released digitally earlier
this year, Monroe is continuing to make her own contribution to country
music. In this interview, Monroe talks about working with the
Raconteurs and Ricky Skaggs (booking agent), finding commercial success as the co-writer of Jason Aldean's (booking agent) new single and writing songs with Miranda Lambert.
CMT: What's your favorite part about performing with Tenn Out of Tenn?
Monroe: This is so different than what I have normally done by myself.
Everybody just grabs a tambourine. You can't help but dance on stage,
which is just a new way of performing for me. It's taught me a lot
about engaging the audience, the Jewel tour taught me that, too. It's
OK if you mess up. Laugh at it. Don't freak out, and they like you
better, because I messed up every single night.
What was most memorable about collaborating with the Raconteurs and Ricky Skaggs on "Old Enough"?
That day was honestly one of the best, memorable, humbling days of my
life, honestly. There was so much love and so much respect for each
other in that room. I made friends with everyone there, and I'm still
really good friends with them. We stayed till, I guess, 1 or 2 in the
morning, and we kept singing the song. We felt like a bunch of kids
just playing. Jack White was showing Ricky his mandolin, and they
started playing together, and then I had a song idea that came up, and
I was like, "Jack, can I take your guitar?" And so I took his guitar in
the corner and just started writing a song. There was just so much
creative energy.
Brandon Benson [one of the Raconteurs] and I are doing a project
together that I'm crazy about, and so we've already recorded, I guess,
maybe 15 songs that will probably come out next year. I'm also securing
a deal, just for me.
Jason Aldean's new single, "The Truth," is a song you co-wrote with
Brett James. How does it feel to hear your song on the radio?
It humbles me, really. I'm just so blessed and fortunate to even have
amazing artists to consider -- to even record -- one of these songs,
and then to able to get it out to that many people. When I write songs,
I automatically want to share it. To get the opportunity to have
something that I helped create be heard by millions of people with
these amazing artists singing it, who I respect greatly, it's just
really humbling.
What do you think of his version?
Oh, I love it! He sings his butt off! He and I have the same manager,
so as soon as I could get an advanced copy of [Aldean's album] Wide
Open, I did. I listen to it all the time and forget that I wrote it. I
literally just listen to the song and listen to him sing it, and
realizing like, "Oh, my gosh. I'm a part of this?" He's an amazing,
amazing singer.
You wrote "Heart Like Mine" and "Me and Your Cigarettes" with Miranda Lambert (booking agent). What do you remember about the days you wrote those?
"Me and Your Cigarettes" was actually called "Your Cigarettes and Me,"
and there was a whole another melody, but I had these words. I went to
her house in Lindale, Texas, right before [2007's Crazy Ex-Girlfriend]
album came out. We were sitting on her back deck and she finished it
with me. She liked the idea. ... She called me the day they cut it, and
she goes, "I just wanted to tell you that Blake [Shelton] and I were
kind of fiddling with it, and it's kind of changed a bit. It's still
our words, but it's a different beat, and we've changed it to 'Me and
Your Cigarettes.'" I went to the studio and heard it and was like, "Oh,
please. This is amazing." She was like, "I hope you're not mad." Are
you kidding me?
Then "Heart Like Mine," she and I went to Pigeon Forge, Tenn.,
together. I'm from East Tennessee, so I took her to Dollywood. I was
like, "You've got to go to Dollywood." We got a little cabin in
Gatlinburg, and we were sitting on the porch there picking on guitar,
and I kept hearing things. She was like, "Oh, my God. Bring me a steak
knife so you'll shut up!" She's tougher than I am. She had a steak
knife next to her. We were like, "Let's write something really honest."
All of it's true to her life.
What made you want to move to Nashville at such a young age?
When I was 13, my dad got sick. He got pancreatic and liver cancer. He
was only 40, and three months after he was diagnosed, he passed away.
When that happened, my life as I knew it went completely opposite.
Nothing was stable. My mom was devastated. ... I had this dream, and I
knew my dad believed in me, and I just thought, "I can't give up. I
can't crawl into a dark hole and just give up. I have to keep going, I
have to." So we stayed in Knoxville until I was about 15. Finally, I
told my mom, "We need to get out. We need a fresh start. I'm going to
write songs. I'm going to sing." We knew nobody in Nashville or knew
nothing about the music industry -- nothing. Looking back, it's almost
like I feel my dad was kind of guiding us, like yelled, "Hey, you two
blond girls, go this way." Because it's just amazing how I met some
really great people that are still a part of my career. Brett James was
one of the first writers that I wrote with, and that's who I wrote "The
Truth" with. I think it was my daddy up there kind of helping us out.
Ashley Monroe booking agent | Ashley Monroe booking agent | Ashley Monroe booking agent
Carrie Underwood's Play On is spending its second straight week at the peak of Billboard's country albums chart. But there's a new champ on the list of top country songs. It's Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now," which bumps Underwood's "Cowboy Casanova" into second place.
Dolly Parton's Live From London, arriving at No. 36, is the week's highest-charting new album. Also making their first entrances are Big Kenny's The Quiet Times of a Rock and Roll Farm Boy (No. 37), Rodney Carrington's Make It Christmas and Mickey & the Motorcars' Live at Billy Bob's Texas (No. 72).
The Zac Brown Band seems to have impressed a sizable number of music buyers with its appearance on the CMA Awards show. The group's Live From Bonnaroo EP returns to the chart at No. 63, and the Cracker Barrel restaurant edition of its hit album, The Foundation, comes back on at No. 75.
Keith Urban claims the week's highest charting new song with "'Til Summer Comes Around." It bows at No. 41. The other first-timers are the Zac Brown Band's "Highway 20 Ride" (No. 54), Chris Young's "The Man I Want to Be" (No. 58), Clay Walker's "She Won't Be Lonely Long" (No. 59) and the Brooks & Dunn-Mac Powell pairing, "Over the Next Hill" (No. 60).
Rolling in behind Underwood in the Top 5 albums are Taylor Swift's Fearless, Lady Antebellum's self-titled debut, Tim McGraw's Southern Voice and the Zac Brown Band's The Foundation, in that order.
At No. 3 through No. 5 on the country songs chart: Luke Bryan's "Do I," Reba's "Consider Me Gone" and the Zac Brown Band's "Toes."
Did you notice this column bristles with references to the Zac Brown Band? Spooky, isn't it?
Carrie Underwood booking agent | Carrie Underwood booking agent | Carrie Underwood booking agent
Lady Antebellum booking agent | Lady Antebellum booking agent | Lady Antebellum booking agent
Dolly Parton booking agent | Dolly Parton booking agent | Dolly Parton booking agent
Big Kenny booking agent | Big Kenny booking agent | Big Kenny booking agent
Rodney Carrington booking agent | Rodney Carrington booking agent | Rodney Carrington booking agent
Zac Brown Band booking agent | Zac Brown Band booking agent | Zac Brown Band booking agent
Keith Urban booking agent | Keith Urban booking agent | Keith Urban booking agent
Chris Young booking agent | Chris Young booking agent | Chris Young booking agent
Taylor Swift booking agent | Taylor Swift booking agent | Taylor Swift booking agent
Clay Walker booking agent | Clay Walker booking agent | Clay Walker booking agent
Tim McGraw booking agent | Tim McGraw booking agent | Tim McGraw booking agent
Luke Bryan booking agent | Luke Bryan booking agent | Luke Bryan booking agent
Jennifer Lopez plans to include fireworks and an on-stage costume change in her performance at the American Music Awards. "American Idol" runner-up Adam Lambert will incorporate leather and chains into his.
Lopez and Lambert will be among more than a dozen performers at Sunday's ceremony, and they took time out Thursday to perfect their performances.
Lopez is in top form, but she's still a little nervous. She'll be singing a song fans have never heard before and performing live on TV for the first time in years.
"You know what you're doing and you feel very good about it, but at the same time, you wouldn't be human if you're not afraid," she said after her rehearsal.
She's set to perform "Louboutins," the first single from her new album, "Love?" — due in stores next year. Flanked by backup dancers, the 40-year-old entertainer busts out her Fly Girl moves in a number that begins in a boxing ring and ends in the audience. Famed sports announcer Michael Buffer is in the act, too.
"I think it's going to be good," she said. "Dancing again, singing, the lights and the costumes — it all feels like second nature."
Veteran choreographer Kenny Ortega, director of "Michael Jackson's This Is It," gave Lopez's performance a positive review.
"Awesome," he said after dropping by the Nokia Theatre to watch her rehearse.
Lambert, 27, said he's eager to see how the star-studded crowd responds to his provocative performance, a sexed-up rendition of "For Your Entertainment," the first single off his upcoming album of the same name.
"I can't wait to see people I look up to as artists in the audience watching. I think that will be a trip, and exciting and motivating all at the same time," he said after his rehearsal. "It will be really interesting to see what kind of reaction the number gets. It's different. It really does have an edge to it."
The performance is heavy on leather and chains and includes Lambert dragging a woman across the stage.
Other artists set to perform at the 37th annual American Music Awards include Rihanna, Whitney Houston, Green Day, Lil' Wayne, Lady Gaga, Eminem, Keith Urban, Jay-Z and Carrie Underwood.
Janet Jackson will open the show with a medley of songs, but producer Larry Klein wouldn't say whether her performance would be a tribute to her late brother.
"It's a surprise," he said.
Fans voted online to choose the winners of the American Music Awards, which honor the year's top-selling artists in eight popular genres. The ceremony will be broadcast live on ABC from the Nokia Theatre.
Jennifer Lopez booking agent | Jennifer Lopez booking agent | Jennifer Lopez booking agent
Adam Lambert booking agent | Adam Lambert booking agent | Adam Lambert booking agent
Rihanna booking agent | Rihanna booking agent | Rihanna booking agent
Whitney Houston booking agent | Whitney Houston booking agent | Whitney Houston booking agent
Lady Gaga booking agent | Lady Gaga booking agent | Lady Gaga booking agent
Eminem booking agent | Eminem booking agent | Eminem booking agent
Keith Urban booking agent | Keith Urban booking agent | Keith Urban booking agent
Carrie Underwood booking agent | Carrie Underwood booking agent | Carrie Underwood booking agent
Sting's "If on a Winter's Night..." may feature holiday-inspired songs, but don't call it a Christmas album. "The whole season is much broader than that," he says. "Winter is about inspiration and imagination."
While culling source material for "Winter's Night" -- which debuted at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 and has sold 139,000 copies since its October 26 release, according to Nielsen SoundScan -- Sting found inspiration in everything from a 14th-century carol ("Gabriel's Message") to traditional lullabies and poems.
He also collaborated with a host of musicians from the British Isles and performed with the ensemble at England's Durham Cathedral in a concert that will be broadcast Thanksgiving night on PBS' "Great Performances" and released November 23 on DVD.
Billboard: How did you decide on the concept for "If on a Winter's Night ...?"
Sting: It was during last winter that I decided I would do an album based on the season. It has this kind of gravitational pull toward one's roots -- the family home, the cradle or church -- but a lot of people face it without any of those things. The sadness of not being able to go home is probably encapsulated best in "Christmas at Sea," which is based on a 19th-century Robert Louis Stevenson poem about a sailor who is sinking off the coast and realizes his home is on the cliff top. He's pulled toward home, yet he's in terrible danger. That sums up the ambiguous feeling of this record. It's not entirely happy, and I also avoided symbols that I think have been overused, like Santa Claus or Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
Billboard: What was it like recording with such a large group of musicians?
Sting: My first instinct was to look for traditional musicians from north of England: Kathryn Tickell, who plays the Northumbrian pipes; her brother, Peter, who plays the fiddle; and the Melodeon player Julian Sutton are all from my hometown. We started recording in my house in Italy last January. We sat around the kitchen table with the fire on, huddled up with coats and scarves and explored these songs together. It was like method recording -- it had to be cold for us to begin this thing.
Billboard: Many of the songs on "Winter's Night" are deeply rooted in Christian themes. Did you have to reconcile your own agnosticism with recording nonsecular material?
Sting: I was brought up in the church, and the Christian story is part of my background. At the same time, I can't really accept a lot of the elements of those stories as articles of faith. I think there is one true unassailable religion, and that is the human ability to tell stories -- to make myth of why we're here and what we do. So I put those Christian stories next to pre-Christian stories. I treated them with a great deal of reverence and respect. But again, I'm not singing articles of faith; I'm singing magical stories.
Billboard: Your daughter recently said in an interview that your practice of tantric sex is just a myth. What's the real story?
Sting: People get very silly about what tantra is. It's using your normal life as a devotional practice, which includes breathing, walking, eating, being and making love. All of those things are practiced consciously, and that's really what it's about. Music is my tantra. It's my way of saying "thank you" to anything, whatever it may be.
Billboard: What was it like reuniting with the Police through last year?
Sting: We tied up a lot of loose ends with the last Police tour. I was glad I did it, and people were very happy to see us together again. They came out in droves to see us play. It was an exercise in nostalgia, but we don't need to keep repeating that. I need to be doing something new all the time.
Billboard: Would you like to make another concept album?
Sting: I don't know, we'll see how this one does. It's an interesting way of working, collecting or writing material around one theme rather than just writing songs. But if you said to me, "Are you going to do spring next?" No, that would be far too expected.
Sting booking agent | Sting booking agent | Sting booking agent
At what may be the height of her early career, teen sensation Taylor Swift finds herself facing the downside of stardom -- naysayers.
The 19-year-old pop/country singer-songwriter heads in to Sunday's American Music Awards with a leading six nominations after a dream year of sold out concerts and the best-selling album in the United States.
Swift will compete Sunday against the late Michael Jackson for artist of the year, and is nominated for favorite female artist in the pop/rock, country and adult contemporary categories, along with favorite album for "Fearless".
But her higher profile, including becoming the youngest person to win the Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year award, has left her open to recent sniping by some music lovers who complain about her voice in live performances.
Just three years after releasing her first single, the pop/country singer-songwriter has struck an emotional chord with millions of fans for heart-felt songs like "Fifteen" and "You Belong With Me" about first loves, being an outsider and the perils of high school.
"I can't think of anyone else (in pop) music who inspires the level of passion in their fans on the scale she does right now," said Rob Brunner, music editor of Entertainment Weekly.
Still, that view is not shared by all and in recent weeks, her detractors seem to have raised their level of criticism just as Swift has seen her star soar into the stratosphere.
"Wobbly" and "embarrassingly weak" are some of the comments -- many from disgruntled fans of traditional country music -- found on web sites after recent live performances, including on television show "Saturday Night Live."
"I think the songs are great, the records are great. But she doesn't have the pipes," said Bob Lefsetz, a former music industry executive and author of The Lefsetz Letter blog.
NO TOPPLING TAYLOR
The negative chatter has done nothing to dissuade fans from snapping up tickets to Swift's recently extended concert tour. Nor has it curtailed sales of "Fearless" -- the biggest selling U.S. album of 2009 with 2.1 million copies, and No. 3 in 2008.
And many industry watchers question the importance of technical ability in an era where Britney Spears can happily lip-synch her way around the world during her "Circus" tour, and where the vocal pitch correcting device, Auto-Tune, is widely used in recording studios and at concerts.
Swift, who plays guitar and piano, never lip-synchs. As for Auto-Tune: "I have never used Auto-Tune in a live television performance, and I have never used Auto-Tune in any of my concerts. That is a promise," she said in a statement to Reuters.
She has performed live for more than one million people and won a slew of awards voted on by fans and the industry. If her singing is occasionally off-key, that's what makes her genuine and is what she brings to the music arena, her managers say.
"(Taylor) tries to hold herself to a better standard but perfection is not one of them. At 19-years-old, I don't know how she deals with the nerves (of singing live). And sound issues are not always in our control," Robert Allen, one of Swift's managers, told Reuters.
Lefsetz agrees with music critics that Swift "is phenomenal live". But he added: "I think it is a sad state of affairs when one of the biggest artists in the world can't sing."
Brunner said comments like that are missing the point.
"I don't listen to pop music to hear people hitting the note but because it connects with me in some profound emotional way. While it may not be a Celine Dion or Barbra Streisand voice, whatever she's got is something that people are really connecting to," he said.
Swift will not be at the AMA's on Sunday because she is on tour in England ahead of going to Australia in February.
Taylor Swift booking agent | Taylor Swift booking agent | Taylor Swift booking agent
It's 5 a.m., and while most of his neighbors in Los Angeles sleep, Puddle of Mudd frontman Wes Scantlin is lounging on his couch with an acoustic guitar, a six-pack of beer and a small recording device to capture new song ideas for his rock band.
His early-bird method of songwriting has proved a success on radio. Since Puddle of Mudd's 2001 debut album, "Come Clean," the group has had five No. 1 songs on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart, tied for second most this decade with 3 Doors Down, Godsmack and Linkin Park.
But some of those hits have come at the expense of a concerned wife, who often comes down the stairs at about 4:30 a.m. to ask Scantlin, "When are you coming to bed? Are you ever coming to bed -- ever?" he recalls with a laugh.
But Scantlin knows how to make the best of the situation. On Puddle of Mudd's fourth studio set, "Volume 4: Songs in the Key of Love & Hate," due December 8 on Flawless/Geffen, the musician used his wife's complaints as inspiration for the song "Pitchin' a Fit."
"She's my little muse," he says, noting that new track "Keep It Together" is another love song written for her. "I get a song out of any mood that my wife is in."
In contrast, the first single from "Volume 4" -- the follow-up to 2007's "Famous," which has sold 363,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan -- is the sexually charged rocker "Spaceship." The track is No. 11 on Mainstream Rock, No. 11 on Active Rock, No. 15 on Heritage Rock and No. 33 on Alternative. "Spaceship" premiered on AOL Music's Noisecreep blog in mid-October and has sold 10,000 downloads, according to SoundScan.
The band embarks on a North American tour of small arenas in January and February.
Meanwhile, Scantlin says he's already busy working on the group's next album.
He collaborated with his bandmates -- including guitarist Paul Phillips, who rejoined the band in February after leaving in 2005 -- for several songs on "Volume 4." And he's willing to do it again for future material -- if, of course, they can stay up past their bedtime.
Puddle of Mudd booking agent | Puddle of Mudd booking agent | Puddle of Mudd booking agent
When R&B artist Omarion sings, "I done cut the braids, low cut, got my grown on," in a raspy croon on his new single "I Get It In," he's referencing a turning point in his career.
"I felt like my braids defined who I was, and there's so much more to me," says the 25-year-old singer, who shed his signature hairstyle in July, like Ludacris and Mario before him. "I'm not a kid in the industry anymore; I have a sense of self."
"I Get It In" is No. 26 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and No. 18 on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop. The track, which features a cameo by in-demand rapper Gucci Mane, provides a solid setup for the former B2K singer's third solo album. Due January 12, "Ollusion" will be released on the artist's own Starworld Entertainment imprint through EMI Label Services.
"It's the first record I've put out since (2005's) 'Touch' that has a high-energy dance vibe," Omarion says. "I have a new look and my own label now, so it felt like the right way to kick things off."
Omarion, whose real name is Omari Grandberry, recently released a highly choreographed music video for "I Get It In." His second single will be a song he co-produced with four-person production team 253. Titled "Speed'n," the midtempo number recalls past hits "O" and "Ice Box."
Other tracks include "Hoodie," a boastful jam featuring Jay Rock, and "What Do You Say," a ballad Omarion co-wrote with his friend Chris Brown.
In early August, the future of "Ollusion" and Omarion's label home looked unclear. The singer's deal with Young Money fell through two weeks after label founder Lil Wayne introduced him at a concert. This followed an earlier split from Timbaland, who was set to produce and release Omarion's new album under his Interscope-distributed Mosley Music Group.
"Timbaland had so much on his plate," Omarion recalls. "And when I saw I couldn't have the relationship I wanted to have with him, I knew it wasn't the home for me. With Young Money, it was getting close to the end of the year, and I wanted to build momentum for the first quarter. Wayne had other plans, though ... he's the captain of his ship."
Those events could easily have derailed another artist's career. Yet Omarion pushed ahead, striking a new deal with EMI by late September.
"Everyone was speculating that I was out for the count," he says, "but I never sweat. Stepping out as an entrepreneur was the smartest thing I could do."
Omarion already has a stable of acts at Starworld: one female and one male solo singer, a singing group and a male rapper, whom he'll likely introduce while touring in support of "Ollusion."
The singer says he's ready for the challenge, noting that he's been especially determined to take his career to the next level ever since his idol, Michael Jackson, died. "I was sitting at his funeral next to Chris (Brown)," he recalls, "and I just had this moment where I said to myself, 'I have to step up to the plate now and drive myself further than I've ever gone before.'"
Omarion booking agent | Omarion booking agent | Omarion booking agent
Adam Lambert -- the man with the outsize personality who delivered an audacious octave-and-a-half sitar-tinged purr of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" on the most-watched TV show in the country, dodged sex toys thrown at him onstage during the "American Idol" tour and did it all without smearing his eyeliner -- is curled in the fetal position.
Balled up in a patio chair on the 10th-story balcony at the offices of 19 Entertainment in Los Angeles, Lambert is the portrait of the goth as a young man -- black clothes and combat boots; dyed black hair and black nail polish; Egyptian-themed jewelry matching the Eye of Horus tattoo on his wrist.
He grabs his knees and constricts himself even tighter as he reveals why he's so emo right now: He's attending the premiere of the film "2012" in a few hours. And his song, "Time for Miracles," plays over the closing credits.
"I'm going to be like this, in my seat, hiding in my popcorn bucket," he says. "It's going to be really weird."
Lambert laughs, unfurls his legs and straightens up in the chair. His worry is, of course, all a joke, an act, a performance. Because, true to the title of his upcoming album, Lambert is here for our entertainment.
DREAM CONTESTANT
When "American Idol" launched in 2002, creator Simon Fuller must have dreamed of a contestant like the 27-year-old Lambert -- one who mixes style and substance, one who can sing anything and cares about cultivating his public image. In a year, Lambert's gone from being one of a herd of auditioners at the San Francisco tryouts to landing the covers of Entertainment Weekly and Rolling Stone before his album, "For Your Entertainment," was even released.
For Fuller's music company, 19 Entertainment, the eighth season of "American Idol" was something of an embarrassment of riches. The eventual winner, Kris Allen has sold 1.1 million digital downloads of his "Idol" songs, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and contestant Allison Iraheta, with her preternaturally gravelly vocals and artful red and blue hair, is prepared to court the Hayley Williams/Avril Lavigne demographic.
But in a year when the clubby stylings of Lady Gaga and the Black Eyed Peas are setting sales records, it's Lambert's slinky set of dance songs that are poised to steal the spotlight. "For Your Entertainment" will be released Monday (November 23); the title-track lead single sold 18,000 in its first week of release, according to SoundScan, while "Time for Miracles" has sold 68,000 in three weeks. This comes on top of the 997,000 digital tracks sold of Lambert's songs from "Idol."
"He's an artist with a true sense of who he is," RCA Music Group general manager/executive VP Tom Corson says. "It's our job to work with him and present him with options to help steer the ship -- but ultimately it's his call. He has a vision."
'ENTERTAINMENT' TONIGHT
The cover of "For Your Entertainment" shows Lambert as a three-dimensional version of Patrick Nagel's artwork for Duran Duran's "Rio": all glam makeup and sharp angles. It's not subtle in any way -- Lambert is gleeful as he points out that he wore all that makeup -- but it's true to his image as a showman who combines singing talent with a theatrical bent.
It's an image he flaunted throughout "Idol" -- and was never more exemplified than in Lambert's retort to judge Simon Cowell's critique that one of his performances was too "Rocky Horror." ("I like 'Rocky Horror,'" Lambert patiently explained.)
But it's rare that a persona crafted on "Idol" doesn't go through some sort of intensification as the performer transitions from contestant to professional: Texas cutie Kelly Clarkson took on a pop sheen; Carrie Underwood's country chops were honed on the show.
For Lambert, he was "Glambert" from the start.
"I think there's a misconception -- people think that 'Idol' is like a Svengali puppeteer," Lambert says. "I think that may be the perception because certain people that have gone through the system didn't have a strong idea of what they wanted to do visually. I think the minute you do, they respond to that. And I've been very verbal and opinionated about what I want to create, and they've been nothing but supportive of that."
When Lambert moved to Los Angeles from San Diego eight years ago and began working in theater and as a session singer, he quickly learned that business acumen was just as important as musical talent. At 27, he's in the upper age range of "Idol" contestants -- the cutoff for the show is 28 -- and the simple fact of his added life experience could serve him well as he transitions away from the spotlight that is built into the show.
"I do consider myself part artist, part businessperson," Lambert says. "I find marketing interesting, I find publicity interesting. I find the whole process interesting. I think there's some artists that are really focused on the music and the artistry, but I also think being a showman and being an entertainer is more than just being a musician. It's everything -- it's something to look at and to listen to."
SURPRISE FACTOR
The songs on "For Your Entertainment" rely heavily on dance beats, but there are a number of ballads for contrast. "When I was picking my singles, I thought maybe I should do more of a rock thing because that's what people expect. But if I did what people expected of me, I don't think I would have gotten through 'Idol' the way I did," Lambert says. "It's part of my shtick as an artist to keep surprising people."
One defining characteristic is the A-list writing and production credits throughout the album: "Soaked," which Lambert says is about a one-night stand, was written by Muse's Matthew Bellamy and produced by Rob Cavallo, who worked on four tracks on the album; "Strut" was written by Lambert, "Idol" judge Kara DioGuardi and Greg Wells, who also produced; Ryan Tedder wrote and produced "Sleepwalker" alongside co-writers Aimee Mayo and Chris Lindsey.
"If an artist has the skills and ambition to write songs, then we will actively encourage and pursue this, often by pairing our artists with the world's very best songwriters, allowing them to learn and develop their writing skills," 19 Entertainment founder/CEO Simon Fuller says.
The announcement of the pairing of Lambert and Lady Gaga on the track "Fever" was fodder for gossip blogs, but Gaga doesn't actually perform on the track, Lambert says, explaining, "She was on the other side of the glass just egging me on."
Of the title track, which was produced by Dr. Luke, who co-wrote it with Claude Kelly, Lambert says, "I wanted to release something that would be played in a club, that would make you dance on New Year's."
He means that literally -- "Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve With Ryan Seacrest" is one of the TV appearances lined up for Lambert in the coming month. The promotional campaign starts Sunday (November 22) with his show-closing performance at the American Music Awards.
'IDOL' GIVES BACK
All of this is the result of a heady year. At this time in 2008, Lambert was waiting for the Hollywood elimination rounds of "Idol" to start. In TV time, it takes six months for "Idol" to crown a winner, but the production process runs year-round.
Despite the artifice of the show, it does drop-kick contestants into the media spotlight -- a valuable lesson for any pop star. "They put you through it to see if you can hang," Lambert says.
The 2009 season of "Idol" attracted an average of 25.1 million viewers, according to Nielsen, the lowest average in several years; but it's still the most-watched show on TV, as it has been since 2004. The finale in which Allen was proclaimed the winner over Lambert drew 28.8 million viewers -- 10 million more than the 2009 Grammy Awards.
"The finale of 'Idol' was pretty epic," Lambert says. "I got up there and was singing with Queen and Kiss -- I got to put on a costume. I really feel the finale summed up what I'm trying to do, and what I'm going to do. I think that being onstage with legendary people like that reminds you of what showmanship is."
Weeks after the "Idol" season wrapped, the top 10 contestants embarked on the Idols Live tour -- a valedictory sprint of 52 cities in three months that grossed $30 million this year, according to Billboard Boxscore.
While group numbers are a standard part of the touring show, each high-placing "Idol" contestant gets his or her chance to shine in a solo. Lambert did a medley of David Bowie's "Life on Mars?," "Fame" and "Let's Dance." He saw it as a chance to stage-test the sound he had in mind for his debut. "I always wanted to do Bowie songs, and I never did them on 'Idol' because it wasn't ever the right fit," he says. "We did a different, slightly modern production, which is basically what I'm doing on my album."
And much like the TV show, the "Idol" tour puts its participants through the wringer. "I've done theater for years and I've sung for a long time, but I've never done a solo set in concert night after night while traveling," Lambert says. "It was a good way to learn about how to take care of yourself and how to pace yourself while on the road."
PERSONAL MATTERS
With the fame come challenges; Lambert has become a favorite subject of the tabloids and paparazzi. "Yeah, it's weird," he says. "You know, it's like, 'Hi, I'm just walking to my car -- why do you care?'"
It's very likely that they care because of the wink-wink, nudge-nudge game that was played in the media about Lambert's sexuality during his "Idol" tenure. Lambert didn't answer the questions about whether he was gay until the Rolling Stone cover article in June; since then he's become Adam Lambert, Icon for Gay Youth -- not a mantle he shoulders easily.
"I don't want to be a spokesperson for anybody, no matter who they are," he says. "I'm not following this career path to be a role model or to be a poster child for anything except for music. If there's an indirect impact that my presence has on certain issue, then I think that's a good thing."
It's an issue that will get raised again and again -- as he walked the red carpet for "2012," for example, he was asked if he brought a date. His laughing response? "My date is my jacket, actually."
A few days after the premiere, Lambert is sitting in Fuller's office, swiveling back and forth in a white office chair as he prepares for another long day of media interviews. The movie, as it turned out, was a blast, and "Time for Miracles" was warmly received. "People stayed and listened," he says, honestly happy.
Of course they did. That's entertainment.
Adam Lambert booking agent | Adam lambert booking agent
New York police shut down a mall appearance by teen pop singer Justin Bieber (BEE'-ber) after thousands of young girls showed up and got a little too wild.
Nassau County police say girls and adults in the crowd of nearly 3,000 started pushing and shoving as they waited for the 15-year-old sensation to arrive Friday at the Roosevelt Field Mall in Garden City.
Five people were taken to hospitals with minor injuries.
Police arrested a vice president from Bieber's record label, Island Def Jam Records. They say he wasn't cooperating with attempts to disperse the crowd.
Some fans had camped out overnight for the event.
Bieber never made it into the building. He told WBLI radio that police turned him away.
Bieber's debut album, "My World," was released Tuesday
Justin Bieber booking agent | Justin Bieber booking agent
One person was killed Friday (Nov. 20) when a bus traveling as part of Miley Cyrus' concert tour overturned on Interstate 85 near Dinwiddie, Va., a community located 41 miles south of Richmond, Va. Cyrus, who was traveling separately from the caravan of buses, was not among the 10 people aboard when the accident occurred shortly after 8 a.m. Authorities said the bus driver, William G. Douglas, 53, of Austin, Texas, was killed. Another member of the entourage, Marty Zilio, 48, of Canada, was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment of a broken nose. Most of the passengers were believed to be sleeping when the bus overturned. They escaped the wreckage by crawling through the front windshield. In a statement posted on Cyrus' Web site, she and her family said, "We are deeply saddened by the loss of Bill 'Uncle Bill' Douglas. Members of our tour are like members of our family. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family in the midst of this tragedy. He will truly be missed." Cyrus appeared Wednesday and Thursday (Nov. 18-19) at the Nassau Coliseum in Long Island, N.Y., and is scheduled to perform her next concert Sunday (Nov. 22) at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C.
Miley Cyrus booking agent
Rascal Flatts will participate in an episode of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution TV show being taped Saturday (Nov. 21) in Huntingdon, W.Va. The 30-minute acoustic concert will begin at 2:30 p.m. at the Keith-Albee Theatre. The episode, hosted by the celebrity chef, is expected to air on ABC in February. The free performance will take place during a food festival in downtown Huntingdon that will feature 30 local food vendors.
Rascal Flatts booking agent
Reba McEntire and the Broadway casts of West Side Story, Ragtime and
Dreamgirls will perform during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in
New York City on Thursday (Nov. 26). As previously announced, Billy
Currington will also ride on a float in the parade. This year, the
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will follow a new route, not taking
Broadway for the first time in its history. The parade will air on NBC.
Reba McEntire booking agent
Carrie Underwood has donated a plaque with lyrics and sheet music to "I Ain't in Checotah Anymore" to the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame, which she joined earlier this year. The plaque was unveiled Thursday (Nov. 19) at a ceremony in Muskogee, Okla. The organization also announced plans to expand the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame and to create an Oklahoma Music Trail for tourists to learn about the state's historical contributions to all genres of music. Carrie Underwood booking agent
Michael Buble booking agent plans to give fans another dose of "Crazy Love" in 2010.
The Canadian singer tells Billboard.com that he will reissue the album -- which recently spent its first two weeks at No. 1 on the U.S. charts -- with some tracks left over from the recording sessions.
Among them will be "Hollywood Dead," which will be the third single from "Crazy Love" after "Have I Met You" and "Hold On."
"That's probably the best pop song I've ever been part of," says Buble, who co-wrote the track with Toronto songwriter Robert Scott.
"It's kind of like our take on the culture of celebrity and how f--ked up it is and how people lose their way in the hunt for fame...It's just one of those things saying, 'If you're gonna go for it, don't give everything up for it. Remember where you came from...You need to remember what you asked for when you get it.'"
Another candidate for the expanded version of the album is "The End of May" by a group called The Actual Tigers, which Buble says "is so beautiful I can't even tell you. I think it might be one of the best vocal performances I've ever given...If I could go back I probably would have replaced something (on the album) with this song."
A release date for the new edition of "Crazy Love" has not yet been determined and will depend on the life of "Hold On" at radio.
Meanwhile, Buble is gearing up for his world tour in support of the album, which begins during March in North America and will last into 2011. He plans to play mostly in arenas and is currently working with production designers from the late Michael Jackson's planned This Is It shows in London.
"I'm gonna have a huge production, yeah," Buble says, "but I do not want to rely on lasers or pyrotechnics or a set to make my show entertaining. I think a good entertainer should be able to have a stool and a microphone and a glass of water and you should be able to entertain people. I think all the production should be a bonus. What I want to create is intimacy. You're playing an arena and it can be so cavernous and cold; I want to make it really intimate. That's the most important thing."
Darius Rucker booking agent was just a young boy with a love for "Hee Haw" and FM radio when he made a discovery — and a decision — that would shape the rest of his life.
"When I was 4, I just kind of found these Beatles 45s," Rucker said. "I think I just said to myself, 'I'm never going to let anybody tell me what I can listen to.' And I never did. When I was sitting there watching 'Hee Haw,' my brother didn't want to watch it. He was older than me but there was going to be a friggin' fight if they didn't let me watch 'Hee Haw.'"
That mindset has led the singer best known as the frontman of Hootie and the Blowfish to a career renaissance in country music marked by the kind of success no one could have predicted and few other black performers have experienced.
Rucker is up for two Country Music Association Awards and could join Charley Pride as the only African-Americans to win best male vocalist if he wins. And he has sold more than 1 million copies of his debut country CD, "Learn to Live."
Both milestones are receiving a lot of attention, and Rucker enjoys the comparisons.
"You can't help but smile when someone mentions your name in the same sentence as Charley Pride," Rucker said.
It's been nearly 40 years since Pride, the best-selling African-American performer in country music, won entertainer of the year in 1971 and male vocalist of the year in 1971-72, a feat not since repeated by a black artist. Rucker, who also has a chance to be the first black to win for new artist, will perform during Wednesday's live broadcast on ABC.
Pride's was one of the voices in that stewpot of influences that launched Rucker on his eclectic run through the rock and country charts.
"You have those memories of Charley Pride coming on 'Hee Haw' and doing his hits," Rucker said. "When I was 7, you could have Charley Pride and Buck Owens, Stevie Wonder and The Who on the same radio station."
Pride thought he would be the first in a string of black country music singers creating hits, and admits he is puzzled why it took so long for another to break through. (Ray Charles, a CMA Award nominee, sang some country songs and had a strong connection to the genre's audiences but was never considered country performer).
Pride has introduced fans to others over the years he thought might catch on, but never did.
"I don't know why," Pride said. "I think you need to go to the industry and ask them about that."
There are only two black performers in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum — Pride and DeFord Bailey, who was a member of the early Grand Ole Opry cast.
Some black singers like Lionel Richie, Solomon Burke, Esther Phillips and Al Green had fleeting success in country music on their way to other destinations, Country Hall of Fame historian Jay Orr said. And relatively recently, performers such as Stoney Edwards, Big Al Downing, Cleve Francis, Rissi Palmer and Cowboy Troy have registered on the country charts.
Pride figures he cleared most of the obstacles facing those who followed him. Signed by Chet Atkins in the midst of the civil rights movement, the platinum-voiced Mississippi native has had dozens of No. 1 hits and sold tens of millions of albums.
Perhaps his most significant achievement was disproving those who thought country's heavily Southern audience wouldn't support black performers at a time when race relations were marked by violence.
"I never had even one hoot call from the audience in all these years," Pride said. "Not one iota of hoot calls. I know it happened to Jackie Robinson when he was in that same kind of position, sort of. I never had to go through nothing like that. Once I started singing they didn't care."
Rucker's transition in this era has been seamless, too. The honey-coated baritone's music outweighs everything else and he's had three straight No. 1 singles.
"It seems clear to me that if I didn't deliver songs that country music fans wanted to hear, then radio wasn't going to play them," Rucker said. "
No matter the reason, Orr said Pride and Rucker stand alone in terms of album sales by African-Americans.
Rucker's not sure his success will clear the way for other black performers to mine country music for hits. But he hopes it has opened some minds.
"I don't know if I proved it can work," he said. "But maybe someone will give a second listen now instead of just saying no."
Aerosmith's lead guitarist Joe Perry says the legendary rock band isn't breaking up — although they may be in need a new singer.
Perry said on the micro-blogging site Twitter late Monday that Aerosmith booking agent is "not splitting up" but "looking for a new singer to work with" amid growing speculation about the future of the band and the role of front man Steven Tyler.
Tyler has been quoted as saying he is considering a solo career.
Perry said Monday on WKXL, a radio station in Concord, New Hampshire, that Tyler hasn't communicated his intentions with anyone in the band and that he found out about Tyler's solo wishes after going online.
Tyler could not immediately be reached for comment.
The 61-year-old Tyler was injured when he fell off a stage during an Aug. 5 performance in South Dakota, and the band canceled the remainder of its summer tour.
"After the tour got canceled, he just kept drifting off and doing other things. We would hear things from different people. He wasn't talking directly to anybody in the band," Perry told WKXL, referring to Tyler. "So basically, he just made the announcement that he was taking
Rihanna booking agent says recording songs on her new album was such an emotional experience that she sometimes had to leave the studio to prevent herself from breaking down.
"I walked out the studio a few times just trying not to be in tears," she said Monday about recording her fourth studio album, "Rated R," to be released on Nov. 23.
"It was about me, and so much so that songs got really personal to the point where it took three months for me to start recording it because it was too deep for me to even listen to," she said.
The CD comes nine months after the 21-year-old singing sensation was attacked by ex-boyfriend Chris Brown. Rihanna booking agent said recording helped ease the pain — giving her an outlet to express how she truly felt.
"I got to vent because I didn't really talk a lot. I didn't talk to a lot of people about anything I was feeling. I just did it on the record," she said.
Brown was arrested Feb. 8. He was accused of beating Rihanna after they attended a pre-Grammy party. Brown later pleaded guilty to felony assault and was sentenced to five years' probation, six months of community labor and a year of domestic violence counseling.
Following the attack, Rihanna booking agent said she was sick of sitting at home and decided to head to the studio.
"I was tired of just being in the house and I just felt like I was wasting so much time and just being lackadaisical, so I just wanted to work again and we started recording," she said.
Rihanna booking agent, who won a Grammy for the megahit "Umbrella," says the new album's sound is "darker" than her previous ones because it reflects her turbulent year.
"The recording experience was different because it was from a completely new mind space, from a different perspective. Usually I was thinking of fun stories, things to talk about, different topics that might be cool, but this time is really about my life," she said.
She also said she's excited for fans to hear a song called "Stupid In Love."
"You're blinded by love, love is blind and sometimes you can't see it coming and it's just coming to the realization of the state of a relationship and just saying, 'This is not what I like. It doesn't make me happy,'" she said.
Rihanna booking agent said the album is a reflection of Rihanna booking agent the woman — not the image we've come to know.
"I feel like my fans, they knew me, they knew what I looked like, but they didn't really know what my personality was. They didn't really know how I think or what I stand for. They didn't really know much about me as a person. They just knew my image and the idea of me," she said.
"But I wanted to give them more of who I really was because I feel like that was a connection I was missing."
Rihanna booking agent credits this album with helping her look forward instead of dwelling in past.
"Venting is a part of moving on, like you have to get it out no matter what, and this album for me helped me do that — being in the studio, writing, working with producers and songwriters, making music," she said. "It made it even more special that it came from my heart and my real... my feelings, the exact way I felt."
Randy Houser has no illusions when it comes to the Country Music Association Awards.
The new artist of the year nominee doesn't think he's got even the longest of shots in that category during Wednesday's awards show, where he faces the Zac Brown Band, Darius Rucker, Jamey Johnson and Jake Owen.
"I think my chances are somewhere right between slim and none," Houser joked last week. "I'm just a new guy. The fact that I got nominated was just a recognition of things that may come in the next couple of years."
Houser started writing songs and performing on his own as a teenager and had a pretty comfortable life as a honky tonk hell-raiser on a circuit of bars around Meridian, Miss. He arrived in Nashville in 2003 with all his worldly possessions stuffed into a 1992 Falcon.
Six years later, the 33-year-old is up for two awards, including best video for "Boots On." He just released a new single and his next album is due in the spring.
But first, the red carpet and a chance to fulfill a lifelong dream — win or lose.
"I think about all the years I spent sitting on the couch watching those awards and wishing I could just go to them one year," Houser said. "And here I am being nominated for two categories."
Randy Houser booking agent | Zac Brown Band booking agent
A California judge granted a temporary restraining order Tuesday barring Jennifer Lopez's first husband and his manager from distributing 11 hours of home video footage the singer-actress claims includes sexual situations.
Lopez claims ex-husband Ojani Noa is exploiting her private life with the footage and the proposed film, "The J.Lo and Ojani Noa Story."
The order by Superior Court Judge James C. Chalfant also applies to Ed Meyer, who is Noa's manager.
Lopez and Noa wed in 1997, but the marriage lasted just 11 months.
In 2007, she won $545,000 in damages and attorney fees in another lawsuit that blocked Noa from publishing a ghostwritten tell-all book. Lopez claimed Noa demanded $5 million to keep from publishing the book.
Lopez believes the video footage and proposed film are exploitive and offensive and would damage her career and reputation.
Noa disputed the claim.
"It's a movie about my life," he said outside court. "They're trying to ruin my life again ... She don't want me to succeed and that's the problem."
Noa, who represented himself, claimed the footage included nothing sexual and is used to develop characters.
Meyer's attorney, Frank Sanes Jr., said the criticism is undeserved.
"Noa has an interesting story that should be told. He has nothing but respect for Jennifer," Sanes said. "The talk about sex tapes is a smoke screen."
Jennifer Lopez booking agent
An unseasonal gust of wind greets Alicia Keys (booking agent) as she steps out of a doorway behind a Beverly Hills hotel on a late October afternoon. Decked out in a black leather vest and black leggings brightly accented by turquoise suede knee-high boo a hint of matching eyeliner, the Grammy Award-winning singer is surprised by the chilly blast before she ducks into a waiting black sport utility vehicle. Commenting on the wind's force, she laughs when it's suggested the quick dust-up is a forecast of the whirlwind activity cranking up on behalf of her latest studio album, "The Element of Freedom."
On this particular afternoon, the singer/songwriter/producer/musician was being whisked off to CBS Studios to perform her second single, "Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart," for an episode of "Dancing With the Stars" that will air November 17. From there, she hopped on the freeway -- in rush hour traffic -- to neighboring Long Beach, California, where she spoke at California first lady Maria Shriver's annual Women's Conference and closed the event with a rendition of her hit "Superwoman."
Superwoman indeed. That same night Keys boarded a plane home to New York to prepare for her and Jay-Z's rocking Yankee Stadium performance of "Empire State of Mind" during Game 2 of the World Series. Just two weeks prior, Keys hosted her sixth annual Black Ball at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom, where among the 1,000 guests were Chris Martin, John Mayer (booking agent) and David Bowie. The benefit was for the nonprofit AIDS organization the singer co-founded, Keep a Child Alive, which helps families in Africa and India -- and it raised $2.4 million. Between all this, the indefatigable artist launched a new company, AK Worldwide -- prepping a new Web site and jewelry line as part of that endeavor -- and recorded additional music for "The Element of Freedom," her fifth album.
Originally slated for December 1 (World AIDS Day), the MBK Entertainment/J Records project is now set for worldwide release December 15.
Using more viral marketing this time, J Records alerted fans to the project's lost-love lead single, "Doesn't Mean Anything," through announcements on "Live With Regis and Kelly," MTV, BET and various blogs including PerezHilton.com. "Doesn't" is No. 14 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. On its heels is "Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart." Keys performed both songs during her "The Element of Freedom: The Lecture & Performance Series" October 21 at New York University's Skirball Center.
Upcoming performances by the singer include the American Music Awards (November 22), the "Today" show's outdoor concert series (November 24), the U.K. program "The X Factor" (November 29), the "Christmas at Rockefeller Center" special (airing December 2), a headlining stint at the 2009 Cayman Jazz Festival (December 3-5), "Late Show With David Letterman" (December 14) and "The View" (December 16).
When Billboard caught up with Keys again in early November, the tireless superwoman was finally "taking a small respite" for a few days before the promotional juggernaut kicks into gear. "Music is my first love," she says. "But what drives me is the excitement and challenge of trying new things, stretching myself creatively on as many different levels as possible."
Billboard: Why did you decide to go back into the studio to record more songs?
Alicia Keys: It was just a natural progression. While we were mixing the last couple of songs, it felt like we would have been rushing for no reason to put the finishing touches on songs that deserved one more week or so to do properly. So we gently moved the album back.
Billboard: You've now released two singles, "Doesn't Mean Anything" and "Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart." What other sonic hints can you share about the new album?
Keys: This album is really just about growth and freedom. Sonically, the sound is grand and massive. It feels emotional and vulnerable but there's also a kind of freedom in it. I can't quite find a better word than freedom to really describe it. Even though every song has touches of different textures and sounds, the overall (sense of) freedom is the thing that grounds it. It's definitely the theme of where I am in my life.
Another song example is the track "Love Is Blind." Some people say the piano on it sounds like something from Marvin Gaye or Bob Marley. We've been using a lot of different keyboard sounds on this album. This particular song uses the CP 70 keyboard. It looks just like a piano but has a different tone; more of an electric sound. The song has a darker tone to it and the beats get real heavy. But then the vocals are very soulful and bluesy.
Billboard: What triggered this whole freedom feeling?
Keys: The process began with "As I Am." I was trying to find the way to totally be myself and what that meant; figuring out what choices I wanted to make and not make in order to truly honor myself. That was the beginning of learning how to do that. And now it's culminated into "The Element of Freedom": the ability to have nothing holding you back; to be totally brave enough to be completely yourself in all of its glory.
Billboard: You worked with Whitney Houston on her current single, "Million Dollar Bill." Are there any other outside projects on your plate now?
Keys: Whitney is an artist who inspired me from (the time I was) a little girl. Fast-forwarding to now and being able to work with her to help create this song that took off was fun. We had a lot of laughs; it was like being with a long-lost friend. Although I'm staying focused now on my project, I definitely see myself working with more artists as time goes by and moving more into the writer/producer lane. It's another interesting and fun way to express my thoughts, ideas and feelings in another style.
Billboard: Do you also envision having your own label?
Keys: I don't really have a desire to do my own label, to be honest with you. It's like a pain in the ass (laughs), because you've got to deal with so much irrelevant stuff. To do like me times six or seven other people, I don't know. I might totally lose it. I have more of a desire to bring talented people to the forefront and help support them. That's why I see myself doing more of the writer/producer thing. But not necessarily running a label because labels are dying. It's a whole different world.
Billboard: You could feel the fun you were having performing "Empire State of Mind" with Jay-Z during the World Series. What jazzes you about being onstage?
Keys: One of my favorite things is experiencing the spontaneous moment that only happens once. No matter how many times you perform, you never have the same moment twice. And I love that. I love the magic of that one moment in that one place shared only by myself and all the people who attended that night. It's our special connection. There's nothing like the energy, communication and unity that happens through music. Even if you don't speak the same language, you understand music.
Billboard: If you weren't in music, what would you be doing?
Keys: I definitely love people and being a part of people's lives. I guess I'd be of service to people in some way. Still on my list of things I want to accomplish is creating charter schools.
Billboard: Looking back on your career, has the journey been what you thought it would be?
Keys: This industry is difficult to break into. Like anything you want to do, you have to love it and be completely focused on it. Nothing can divert or distract you. It's not going to happen quick, it's not going to be real easy. It's not going to be the answer to all your problems or like some Cinderella story. There's no such thing.
I look back and see where I started from and, in my eyes, I'm just starting. Honestly, all of it is one big surprise. The many accomplishments that I've been able to be a part of ... I feel extremely humble, grateful and excited to continue on that path. It's all one big "wow."
NEW YORK (Billboard) – A year ago, Justin Bieber (booking agent) was a kid from Toronto who had a gift for singing sweet-natured covers of Usher hits, a penchant for playing the drums and a resourceful mother who posted clips of him on YouTube.
Today, Bieber could be the biggest tween heartthrob in music. After signing with Island Records, with the support of his mentor, Usher (booking agent)., the 15-year-old released his debut single, "One Time," in the summer and almost instantly turned his online audience into an army of dedicated fans. "Bieber mania," as his management now calls it, has spread so quickly that NBC says more than 2,000 people attended his October 12 "Today" performance at New York's Rockefeller Plaza -- the largest crowd for any artist this year, including Miley Cyrus (booking agent).
Bieber's second single, "One Less Lonely Girl," recently joined "One Time" on the Billboard Hot 100, and a third, "Love Me," which lifts its hook from the '90s Cardigans' hit "Lovefool," also looks poised to enter the fray. With his debut album, "My World," due November 17, Bieber reflects on his whirlwind of a year, the experience of recording and co-writing his album and how he stays connected with fans.
Billboard: When did you first think you might have a talent for music?
Justin Bieber: I've always loved music, especially percussion ... I'm a big fan of (Blink-182 drummer) Travis Barker. My mom bought me my first drum kit when I was 4 because I was banging on everything around the house, even couches. I picked up the guitar when I was 6 and taught myself to play, but I didn't really start singing until I was 10.
Billboard: How did you start taking it seriously?
Bieber: I entered a singing competition, and some of my relatives who couldn't make it wanted to see how I did. I posted the videos on YouTube, and then other people started viewing and subscribing. I didn't tell my friends because they didn't really know that I could sing. They knew me for playing sports. I just wanted to be a regular kid, and I knew they wouldn't treat me the same way if I told them.
Billboard: Your first three singles are all about young love. What are the rest of the songs on "My World" like?
Bieber: Most are about love and stuff that girls can appreciate, but I also co-wrote a song called "Down to Earth." It's a ballad about the feelings I had when my parents split up and how I helped my family get through it. I think a lot of kids have had their parents split up, and they should know that it wasn't because of something they did. I hope people can relate to it.
Billboard: Do you still keep up with your fans on YouTube?
Bieber: Oh, definitely. I think the Internet is the best way to reach your fans. A couple of years back, artists didn't have that tool, so why not use it now? I'm also on Facebook, and my fans got together and sent me a "Get Well" card on Twitter when I was sick the other day. That was really cool. For now, I'm too worried about getting too close to the fans. I don't share much personal information.
Billboard: What has been the biggest change for you in the past year?
Bieber: I've gained a lot more fans, and I'm able to travel a lot more. I went to the U.K. for the first time in the summer, and hundreds of girls came out to see me. I wasn't totally surprised because a lot of the people who comment on my YouTube videos are from overseas, but I still had no idea that many people would come.
Billboard: In September, you presented at the MTV Video Music Awards and defended Taylor Swift after Kanye West interrupted her acceptance speech. What was that like?
Bieber: When I first found out I was going to the VMAs, I was like, "Wow, this is such a big deal -- let's go shopping!" After I presented, Taylor Swift (booking agent). thanked me for saying that she deserved to win her award. She said, "Thanks for sticking up for me, lil' bro," and I was like, "Yeah, I've got your back." I wasn't nervous at all, though ... I never get nervous. I don't think any performer really does.
It was by no means vicious, but Taylor Swift (booking agent) finally got in a few digs at Kanye West (booking agent) when she hosted NBC's Saturday Night Live this weekend.
West and Swift made national news in September when he walked onstage at the MTV Video Music Awards to interrupt her acceptance speech for winning the best female video award. Other than some brief comments she made on The View shortly after the awards show, Swift has made it a point to avoid saying anything else about the incident.
In the SNL episode that aired Saturday (Nov. 7), Swift said she decided to sing her opening monolog in a new composition titled, appropriately, "Monolog Song (La, La, La)."
In it, she offered some self-deprecating humor, such as, "I like writing songs about douche-bags who cheat on me/But I'm not going to say that in my monolog/I like writing their names into songs so they're ashamed to go out in public/But I'm not going to say that in my monolog."
After taking a swipe at Joe Jonas ("who broke up with me on the phone") and gleefully acknowledging her current relationship with Twilight film star Taylor Lautner, she finished the song by singing, "You might be expecting me to say something bad about Kanye/And how he ran up on the stage and ruined my VMA monolog/But there's nothing more to say 'cause everything's OK/I've got security lining the stage." At that point, two SNL cast members in black suits stood on each side of her as bodyguards.
Following the song, she introduced the commercial break by saying, "We have a great show. Kanye West is not here, so stick around, and we'll be right back."
Swift was backed by her band when she sang two other songs -- "You Belong With Me" and "Untouchable." She was also prominently featured in eight skits or pre-recorded segments, assuming the character of Kate Gosselin, star of the reality series Jon & Kate Plus Eight, in one skit parodying The View. Swift also performed an impersonation of pop singer Shakira (booking agent) in a movie trailer promoting the soundtrack to a fictional animated film titled Bunny Business. Another skit featured Swift as a teenager with braces featured in a public service announcement for another fictional entity -- Teens Raising Awareness About Awful Parent Drivers.
Taylor Swift (booking agent) will be adding to her list of accomplishments this weekend on Saturday Night Live. She previously performed on the show, but Saturday (Nov. 7), she'll serve as host -- and musical guest.
Although she has enjoyed working with all of the cast members, Swift singles out Kristen Wiig as one of her favorites. In particular, she's fond of Wiig's character, Penelope, who seems to have a divine talent for one-upmanship.
"I think my favorite things I see on SNL are the things that Kristen does, where she's being these incredible characters that you've kind of seen a little bit in real life. Like, everybody's kind of been at that party with the Penelope character."
Earlier this week, MTV News talked to Swift during rehearsals in New York City. Here's an except from that interview.
MTV: We're here on the set of Saturday Night Live. What's it like to be back here?
Swift: Right now, it's actually quiet. I was here last year, and I was the musical guest. It was colder in here, and there were a million people running around, scurrying around doing different things. Today ... it's quiet, so everybody is writing and imagining.
I know you've been looking forward to this, but what can we expect for the big show?
I want to look nothing like myself.
How do you do that?
We do that with costumes and wigs and makeup. I told all the writers, "Don't count anything out. I want to completely go 100 percent in this." I really, really don't want to be only halfway involved ... just because I have a lot of things to do as far as being musical guest and host.
What do you think it was about Fearless that made it resonate so well that it has stayed on the charts for such a long period of time?
I think with Fearless and with my first album, I've just written songs about what I go through. I was a teenager in the music industry, so you have a lot of people pitching you songs that are kind of older than what you've been through. But I always insisted on writing my own songs and writing songs about the period of time I was actually going through in life, like I write in real time. I try not to go too far ahead of myself. I guess because my songs were so personal, people were able to relate to them and I'm thankful for that.
You gave everyone a real treat when you released the platinum edition of Fearless and offered new material. What's your favorite song on that -- and why?
I think my favorite song on the new record is "Jump Then Fall."
Why?
It's really bouncy and happy and lovey. It's got this really cool banjo part that's like bouncy and ... I don't know ... it's just got this really, really feel good vibe to me. I was stoked when it came out, it went to No. 1 on iTunes -- and I was like, "Yes!"
In the aftermath of a shooting spree at Fort Hood, Texas, that killed 13 people and injured another 30, Dierks Bentley (booking agent) learned that he had a connection to the civilian police officer who stopped the rampage. The singer was featured in a photo with the officer, Kimberly Munley, that made its way to television news shows and the Internet. Bentley met Munley earlier this year during a meet-and-greet at a Fourth of July music festival at the U.S. Army post near Killeen, Texas. Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, opened fire Thursday (Nov. 5) at Fort Hood. Munley was at the scene within three minutes and shot Hasan in the upper torso, which allowed authorities to apprehend him. Munley was shot in the thighs and wrist. In a Twitter message sent Friday (Nov. 6), Bentley said he managed to contact Munley, who is still being treated at a Killeen-area hospital. Later, during an interview that appeared on ABC's World News With Charles Gibson, Bentley said, "I told her that she was in our prayers, and we wanted her to get a speedy recovery, and that we'll get down there when all the hoopla is over." Bentley added, "I feel like I should be asking for the meet-and-greet now because she's a hero. I'm just a country singer. She's a national hero."
Willie Nelson (booking agent) is certainly a treasure trove of American music and a master interpreter of all styles. As if to prove this, he departed from his normal routine to play a concert dominated by cover songs Thursday night (Nov. 5) at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium. Even more surprising, perhaps, is that he didn't use his usual touring band for the show.
Leading up to the sold-out show that was opened by Rhonda Vincent & the Rage, there was no mention of the special performance, but it became obvious after seeing the stage that something different was going on. There were no drums in sight and the instruments that were onstage didn't add up to a typical Willie Nelson concert, aside from a stand holding the famously battered Martin guitar Nelson calls Trigger.
Once the anticipation finally ended, Nelson took the floor just before 9 p.m. to an extra-excited audience. He mentioned how good it felt to be on that particular stage, saying simply, "Now, let me find something to play."
After the pre-requisite "Whiskey River," his quickly-formed band of Nashville session musicians, including Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale, deftly felt their way through songs that seemed to just pop into Nelson's head. The band itself eventually turned out to be a nine-piece outfit and offered instrumentation that was bluegrass in form -- if not in function. It included fiddle, mandolin, banjo, acoustic guitars and upright bass and featured only one member of Nelson's band -- Mickey Raphael on harmonica.
Even though there were rumors that the musicians hadn't practiced with Nelson at all, no one in the audience seemed to notice -- or care. In fact, Nelson is at his best when he improvises, and the crowd cheered him on and shouted encouragement even when he admitted to being lost in a song.
"I haven't learned to do this one," he said, introducing Bob Wills' "Gotta Walk Alone." Losing his place once, he quickly regained footing with his group of experts following in support. No harm, no foul -- as if he could do any wrong by this audience.
The crowd actually seemed somewhat subdued for a Willie Nelson show, partly because they were kept on the edge of their seats wondering what he would do next and partly because it sounded so good that no one dared interfere with the moment. Since Nelson was just playing whatever he felt like, he led each song in sparse arrangements, showing that his vocal cords have lost none of their strength or control during tunes like Ray Price's "You Done Me Wrong." He also added just the right hint of fear to Merle Travis' "Dark as a Dungeon," a song that deals with the ever present danger of a coal mining cave-in.
And if anyone has wondered how he's handling that guitar nowadays, he showed off his familiar "where is this going?" solo technique to great effect on a rendition of the Louvin Brothers' "My Baby's Gone." In fact, Nelson did tend to take a conservative approach to his solos, possibly because the songs were off the cuff. Not that the songs were new to him, though. In fact, he remarked in an apparent moment of realization, "Many of these songs are by old buddies of mine."
One of those songs was Porter Wagoner's "A Satisfied Mind" and another was Bill Mack's "Drinkin' Champagne." Nelson said Mack had "huge cajones for putting this line in a love song -- 'I never loved you much when you were mine.'"
That brings up another point worth mentioning: His sense of humor and quick wit are still very much intact. While segueing into "Satan, Your Kingdom Must Come Down," he said, "Here's one that kinda jumps out at you," to which one of the more free-spirited female audience members replied with something to the effect of, "I'd like to jump on you, Willie!" With a cocked head and a sly grin, he countered, "Really?"
Other songs seemed to be chosen in respect of the Ryman itself. Nelson played a number of tunes from artists who had graced the stage of the fabled hall, including Hank Williams' "House of Gold," Jimmy C. Newman's "Cry, Cry Darlin'" and Johnnie & Jack's "Poison Love." He also offered a few standards like "Freight Train Boogie" and "Pistol Packin' Mama."
After finishing Buddy Cannon's "Dream of Me" (sung with Nelson's distinctive vocal warble) and "Trouble in Mind" (which gave Miller and the rest a chance to offer solos), it was on to a few of Nelson's classics. That's what the crowd was waiting for, and they happily stood to sing and clap along with "On the Road Again," "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" and "I'll Fly Away."
That ended his 75-minute set, but Nelson stuck around to sign autographs at the foot of the stage for anyone who wanted one -- which was pretty much everybody in the auditorium. It goes to show that even at age 76, he's still a wonderful performer and gracious entertainer who truly loves what he does. Just don't assume you'll always know what to expect at his shows. He could decide to play an entire show of reggae songs from his Countryman album or maybe some jazz standards with Wynton Marsalis. After all, with a bag of songs as deep as his, it's good to stir things up from time to time.
R&B singer Jason DeRulo (booking agent) has become the fourth artist this year to claim the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with his first charting single.
DeRulo's "Whatcha Say" traded places with "Fireflies," from fellow newbie synth-pop star Owl City, which slipped to No. 2. The other artists to take their debut singles to No. 1 this year were Jay Sean (booking agent) with "Down" (off one to No. 4 on the new chart) and Lady Gaga (booking agent) with "Just Dance."
Gaga, meanwhile, held at No. 6 with "Paparazzi" and boasted the chart's top debut at No. 9 with "Bad Romance," one of the new tracks from her upcoming album re-release "The Fame Monster."
Another album reissue has led to one of the most intriguing Hot 100 happenings. Taylor Swift (booking agent), with each of the new tracks on her "Fearless" reissue, has become the first artist in the history of the Hot 100 to debut five songs within the top 30 in a single week.
"Jump Then Fall" fared the best, opening at No. 10, followed by "Untouchable" (No. 19), "The Other Side of the Door" (No. 22), "Superstar" (No. 27) and "Come In With the Rain" (No. 30). Those tracks joined three other Swift singles on the list. A new version of "Forever & Always" re-entered at No. 34, alongside chart holdovers "You Belong With Me" (No. 14) and "Fifteen" (No. 49).
Swift's eight chart listings give her the record for most charted titles in a single week by a female artist. Among all artists, the Beatles lead with 14 entries (April 1964).
Back in the top 10, Jay-Z (booking agent) and Alicia Keys (booking agent) jumped 10 places to No. 3 with "Empire State of Mind." The duo performed the song prior to game 2 of the baseball World Series last Thursday. Jay-Z's prior single "Run This Town," with Rihanna (booking agent) and Kanye West (booking agent), fell two to No. 7. Miley Cyrus (booking agent) slipped one to No. 5 with "Party In The U.S.A." and Britney Spears (booking agent) held at No. 8 with "3."
Rock band No Doubt (booking agent) sued video game publisher Activision Blizzard Inc over the use of their likeness on its new "Band Hero" product, accusing the company of turning the rockers into a virtual karaoke act.
No Doubt and Activision had a contract allowing the company to use the band members in the game, but Activision, which is based in Santa Monica, California, went beyond the agreement by allowing gamers to use avatars of the band performing songs from other rock groups, the lawsuit states.
"Band Hero" is a variation on Activision's "Guitar Hero" game, which was launched in 2005 and passed the $2 billion sales mark at the beginning of this year.
The lawsuit was filed on Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, a day after "Band Hero" hit stores, and it accuses Activision of fraudulent inducement and breach of contract.
In one instance of how "Band Hero" allows for unauthorized use of No Doubt's likeness, a feature on the game has the band's Gwen Stefani singing Rolling Stones song "Honky Tonk Women," the band's lawsuit states.
The feature "results in an unauthorized performance by the Gwen Stefani avatar in a male voice boasting about having sex with prostitutes," the lawsuit states.
In a statement the company said: "Activision believes it is within its legal rights with respect to the use and portrayal of the band members in the game and that this lawsuit is without merit."
With its lawsuit, No Doubt is seeking unspecified damages and an injunction preventing Activision from distributing the game. No Doubt wants Activision to recall existing copies.
No Doubt hails from the suburban community of Anaheim, California, south of Los Angeles, and the band scored hits with the songs "Don't Speak" and "Underneath It All."
In September, Courtney Love, the widow of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, criticized Activision for using Cobain's likeness in "Guitar Hero 5" in ways that she did not approve of, including singing songs from other bands.
Beyonce (booking agent) will later this month release a live concert DVD and companion CD, and a new song, "Video Phone" featuring Lady Gaga (booking agent).
The DVD, entitled "I Am ... Yours: An Intimate Performance At Wynn Las Vegas," will be released November 23 by Columbia Records. Three days later, ABC will air a Beyonce Thanksgiving special.
The DVD, culled from an August stand in Las Vegas, will mix biographical storytelling, performances and behind-the-scenes footage, showcasing over 30 songs from all three Beyonce solo albums. A CD of the concert will be included in the package.
Also due on November 23 is a deluxe version of her current studio album "I Am ... Sasha Fierce," which will feature two bonus tracks, including "Video Phone (Extended Remix)," featuring Lady Gaga. The music video for "Video Phone" will premiere on MTV on Thursday.
Rihanna (booking agent) says dealing with the media attention after being assaulted in February by ex-boyfriend Chris Brown was humiliating. But she now hopes to speak for young women who are afraid to talk openly about domestic violence.
The 21-year-old pop star told Glamour magazine in an interview posted online Tuesday that the police photo of her bruised face that was leaked to reporters added insult to injury.
After the assault, she awoke to find helicopters circling her house and reporters swarming her street. "I felt like I went to sleep as Rihanna (booking agent) and woke up as Britney Spears (booking agent)," she said.
Rihanna (booking agent) said she felt disappointed and taken advantage of, especially when she heard that the two officers under investigation for leaking her photo were women.
"I felt like people were making it into a fun topic on the Internet, and it's my life," she said.
Rihanna (booking agent) said she didn't realize how much her decisions affected people she didn't know, like her many fans. She feels stronger, wiser and more aware now, she added.
"Domestic violence is a big secret," Rihanna (booking agent) said. "The positive thing that has come out of my situation is that people can learn from that. I want to give as much insight as I can to young women, because I feel like I represent a voice that really isn't heard. Now I can help speak for those women."
Brown, 20, pleaded guilty to felony assault in June. He was sentenced to five years' probation, six months of community labor and a year of domestic violence counseling for the attack, in which he was accused of hitting, choking and biting Rihanna (booking agent) in a rented sports car.
TMZ published the photo of Rihanna's bruised face less than two weeks after the beating, and the LAPD immediately launched an internal investigation of the leak.
George Strait (booking agent) and Reba McEntire (booking agent) will tour together in early 2010, starting Jan. 22 in Baltimore and visiting 19 cities before concluding on April 10 in Des Moines, Iowa.
"I can't wait to get back out there and perform some of my new favorites from Twang along with hits the fans already love," Strait said in announcing the tour. "And with my friend Reba, we will make it a really spectacular night."
Strait and McEntire also performed together in June at the opening of the Dallas Cowboys' new stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Here's a complete list of their 2010 tour dates:
Jan. 22: Baltimore
Jan. 23: Greensboro, N.C.
Jan. 29: Knoxville, Tenn.
Jan. 30: Charlottesville, Va.
Feb. 5: Phoenix
Feb. 6: Las Vegas
Feb. 18: St. Louis
Feb. 19, Wichita, Kan.
Feb. 20: Tulsa, Okla.
Feb. 25: Atlanta
Feb. 26: Orlando, Fla.
March 4: Memphis, Tenn.
March 5: New Orleans, La.
March 6: Little Rock, Ark.
March 26: Portland, Ore.
March 27: Tacoma, Wash.
April 8: Omaha, Neb.
April 9: Kansas City, Mo.
April 10: Des Moines, Iowa
Bon Jovi (booking agent) has added a performance at the 20th anniversary celebration for the fall of the Berlin Wall in Germany to what's already a jammed promotional schedule for its new album, "The Circle."
The group is currently slated to be the only entertainment act at the Nov. 9 ceremony, performing "The Circle's" first single "We Weren't Born to Follow." Jon Bon Jovi (booking agent) tells Billboard.com that he "wrote a fan letter, 'to whom it may concern,' stating about how we've had such a relationship with Germany for all these years and how relevant the song is to the situation and how I was there chipping away a piece of the wall 20 years ago when it came down."
The German government responded with an invitation. "They heard the lyric and got it and said 'yeah,'" Bon Jovi notes. "It's a pretty big deal."
With "The Circle" coming out Nov. 10, Bon Jovi (booking agent) is also gearing up for its Artists in Residence partnership with NBC, which will kick off with a Nov. 4 "Today" show performance of the single from London, where the group is currently promoting the album. The quintet will play each Wednesday during November, with an interview on Nov. 18 and an outdoor plaza concert on Nov. 25.
Also on the docket are appearances on the "NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams," participation in the network's The More You Know public service campaign and an episode of the NBC-owned Bravo channel's "Inside the Actor's Studio." "James Lipton, Christ almighty, that guy's crazy," Bon Jovi (booking agent) says with a laugh. "He made us sit there for four hours! He wouldn't stop asking questions. But it worked. I think it's gonna make for an interesting program."
Bon Jovi's music, meanwhile, will also be used for Notre Dame football and NFL broadcasts; the Nov. 15 prime-time game between the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts will feature one of three new songs Bon Jovi recorded for a greatest hits album that's slated to be released in late 2010.
While all this is going on, Bon Jovi (booking agent) is gearing up for a world tour that kicks off Feb. 19 in Seattle and is expected to last two years, covering 30 countries. Over the weekend the group sold out the first 10 of its 20-show residence next June at London's O2 Arena as well as three concerts at the New Meadowlands Stadium in New Jersey. Bon Jovi says more shows will be added to the latter stand.
"We're gonna go out for quite while," Bon Jovi (booking agent) says, "but it's what I like to call a gentleman's tour. We take long breaks. I actually told the guys...'Get used to it; we're actually gonna rehearse for a change.' They were like, 'Oh, no...' We're not big on pre-production, y'know?"
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Lady Gaga (booking agent) becomes the first artist in the 17-year history of Billboard's Pop Songs chart to notch four No. 1s from a debut album, as "Paparazzi" rises 3-1.
The singer - recently honored as Billboard's Rising Star - previously led Pop Songs with "Just Dance," "Poker Face" and "LoveGame" from her debut release, "The Fame." The set has sold 1.56 million copies to date, according to Nielsen SoundScan, The album will be re-released in expanded form as "The Fame Monster" Nov. 23.
Since the Pop Songs chart debuted in October 1992, two artists prior to Lady Gaga had plated three No. 1s from their first albums: Ace of Base and Avril Lavigne. (Alanis Morissette also enjoyed a trio of leaders from her first U.S. album, "Jagged Little Pill").
KMVQ (Movin' 99.7)/San Francisco played "Paparazzi" the most times - 131 - of all Pop Songs reporters in the current chart's tracking week (Oct. 26-Nov. 1), according to Nielsen BDS. "Lady Gaga has come on to our station like a tornado," says Movin' Program Director Michael Martin. "When you make hit records, the audience responds, and we would be foolish not to give them what they want."
Tim McGraw's (booking agent) Southern Voice enters Billboard's country albums chart this week at a resounding No. 1, propelled to that prominence, says Nielsen SoundScan, by first week sales of 137,000 copies.
And after an 18-week climb, "Toes," the Zac Brown Band's (booking agent) single, digs in as country music's No. 1 song.
There are three other new albums to report -- Lyle Lovett's (booking agent) Natural Forces (debuting at No. 8), Bomshel's Fight Like a Girl (No. 24) and Brantley Gilbert's A Modern Day Prodigal Son (No. 74).
Terri Clark's (booking agent) CD, Long Way Home, re-enters the chart at No. 44.
This week's two new charted songs are Uncle Kracker's (booking agent) "Smile" (No. 57) and Jack Ingram (booking agent) and Patty Griffin's "Seeing Stars" (No. 60).
McGraw's arrival pushes Taylor Swift's (booking agent) Fearless back into the No. 2 spot, a nice irony when you consider Swift got her start with a song called "Tim McGraw." (The six-degrees-of-separation phenomenon does not apply to Nashville. Here, it's never more than three degrees.)
Rounding out this week's Top 5 albums are the Zac Brown Band's The Foundation (which now boasts total sales of more than 1.1 million copies), Toby Keith's (booking agent) American Ride and Miranda Lambert's (booking agent) Revolution -- in that order.
The No. 2 through No. 5 songs are Brad Paisley's (booking agent) "Welcome to the Future," Keith Urban's (booking agent) "Only You Can Love Me This Way" (last week's No. 1), Chris Young's (booking agent) "Gettin' You Home (The Black Dress Song)" and Carrie Underwood's (booking agent) "Cowboy Casanova."
Another stellar Christmas album has arrived at our door, albeit not yet on the charts. It's John Cowan's Comfort and Joy, a collection of eight standards and four newer pieces. Cowan is the former lead vocalist of New Grass Revival and is assisted here by the voices of Bonnie and Bekka Bramlett. Their blended sound creates wonderful winter chills of a different sort.
Montgomery Gentry (booking agent), Jamey Johnson (booking agent), Little Big Town (booking agent) and Jack Ingram (booking agent) will serve as headliners for the Country Throwdown Tour 2010, an amphitheatre tour that will feature one main stage and two side stages. Eric Church, the Eli Young Band (booking agent), Jonathan Singleton & Grove, the Lost Trailers, Ryan Bingham and Emily West are also part of the tour which will begin on May 13 and conclude on June 20. The complete schedule will be announced at a later date. In addition, the Bluebird Café tent will feature nine emerging singer-songwriters and in-the-round performances. The ticket presale will take place in February. The tour is produced and created by 4 FINI Inc., the organization behind the Vans Warped Tour.
Martina McBride (booking agent) will appear on an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show about first jobs on Tuesday (Nov. 3), returning to the Dairy Queen in Hutchinson, Kan., where she worked after high school. In the episode, McBride works the counter and the drive-through window of the restaurant, which is still owned by the same couple who once hired her. McBride also appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show on Oct. 26 during a visit to the State Fair of Texas.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Pop-country has made superstars out of acts like Rascal Flatts (booking agent), Taylor Swift (booking agent) and more, but the term is not particularly endearing in Nashville, even to the artists who have come to define it. "I hate saying pop-country — I hate using that," Carrie Underwood (booking agent) says during a recent interview while talking about some of her favorite artists. Underwood, who has sold more than 10 million albums since her 2005 debut with hits that have appealed to both the MTV and CMT set, prefers to describe such music as "contemporary." But she acknowledges the sonic shift between some of her childhood idols and today's country stars. "I loved Alan Jackson (booking agent) and Brooks & Dunn (booking agent), those were the people that really first made me love country music. Then there were people like Bryan White who were like coming on the scene," the 26-year-old Oklahoma native explains. "And he was like one of the people that was like 'OK, they don't have to all sound like this.' People can sound all kind of ways. And he was young and hot." "I've had people tell me, 'I never listened to country music until I saw you on "American Idol," and now I've been to a Rascal Flatts (booking agent) concerts, and I went and saw so and so,'" she adds. "And it's wonderful that we all kind of have our place in country music and we all pull listeners in for different reasons, and because of that we can hear everything." Her third album, "Play On," out this week, stretches her country boundaries even further. Not only did the she re-team with "American Idol" judge and pop hitmatker Kara DioGuardi, who worked with her on her multiplatinum sophomore album, "Carnival Ride," she also worked with producers known for producing smashes for the likes of Britney Spears (booking agent), Kelly Clarkson (booking agent) and Katy Perry (booking agent) (Max Martin) and Eminem (booking agent) (Mike Elizondo). "I love all kinds of music and I think it's all kinds of fun when you take a slightly different element and you bring it to you and incorporate that into your music," she says. There are high expectations for "Play On." Underwood, whose debut CD "Some Hearts" sold about 6 million copies and whose second album sold nearly 3 million, is expected to debut at the top with this record. But not everyone was happy about her choice of collaborators on "Play On." "I think everybody kind of freaked out at first. And it was something that we did take into consideration, that people would be like, 'What's going on here?'" she recalls. "Everybody kind of flipped out over Mike Elizondo, who I really like," she says of the producer and songwriter, who co-wrote the CD's first single, "Cowboy Cassanova," a country and pop hit. "They're like, 'He's a rap producer.' And it's like, well, yes, he has done that, but he's also worked with Nelly Furtado (booking agent) and Pink (booking agent) and Fiona Apple (booking agent). I'm just another name he's adding to his resume of all different kinds of music." "Play On" is still very much country — there's banjo, peddle steel and mandolin — but Underwood has added different musical textures, which points to her maturation as an artist. "I'm not trying to move anywhere away from country music," she declares while sitting in a production studio, dressed comfortably in jeans, a T-shirt and sandals. "I love what I do. And let's say 'Cowboy Casanova' crosses over, it's going to cross over as it is — fiddles, steel and all. Growing up I never liked it when people would have a country song and then change it for a different format." And while Underwood had great pop success, she's still firmly a country queen. She nabbed the Academy of Country Music's entertainer of the year this spring, and has four nominations for Nov. 11's Country Music Association awards, for which she will also serve as host for the second straight year. But Underwood is adept and bridging the gaps between country and pop, and does so again on "Play On." During one stint on Los Angeles, Underwood and songwriter Luke Laird, a friend who wrote several songs on "Carnival Ride," teamed up with DioGuardi and Marti Frederiksen to produce two of the album's most interesting tracks, "Undo It" and "Mama's Song." The two songs couldn't be more different. "Undo It," with its revved up banjo intro and na-na-na chorus, is a great spurned love song. "I like to be sassy. I'm a smart aleck and it's just fun to have a little sass," says Underwood. "Mama's Song" is a straight-up love tune about helping a mother gain trust for a good man who wants to marry her daughter. The presence of her boyfriend, Ottawa Senators center Mike Fisher, can be felt on the song, the most personal of the seven Underwood wrote for the album. "I think a lot of girls around her age are thinking about getting married," said Laird. "I think that was probably easier for her to write — not that she's thinking about getting married. I wouldn't know." For the record, she's not getting married. But she feels comfortable enough in the relationship that it's starting to show through in her work — and add depth to it as well. "This has been kind of my first attempt at love songs," Underwood says. "And I think there's a reason for that. I think it's because I'm a private person anyway, and I'm not so great with emotions. I consider myself more boyish in that way, so I'm pretty closed off. But you know when you're happy in your life, you can just kind of tell."
NASHVILLE (Billboard) – Carrie Underwood (booking agent) just spent several hours sitting in Audio Productions -- a Music Row radio and TV production facility -- doing interviews with radio stations across the country, but she looks fresh and relaxed as she prepares for her final chat of the day. She talks with the engineer about how excited she is to hear Miranda Lambert's (booking agent) new CD, "Revolution." And when someone offers to give her a copy, Underwood sweetly protests, "Oh, no, I'm going to buy it." It's that combination of girl-next-door charm and a killer set of pipes that has made Underwood the best-selling artist to emerge from "American Idol" in any genre. Since winning the fourth season of the Fox competition, Underwood has released two albums, the 2005 "Some Hearts," which has sold 6.8 million, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and the 2007 "Carnival Ride," which has sold 2.9 million. She's won four Grammy Awards and numerous other accolades, including three Country Music Association female vocalist titles and three Academy of Country Music female vocalist honors. Last spring, she took home the ACM's entertainer of the year award, becoming only the seventh woman in the show's 42-year history to earn that accolade. With such impressive accomplishments just four years into her career, one might expect Underwood to feel a little pressure before the Tuesday (November 3) release of her new Arista Nashville album, "Play On." Instead, she radiates a quiet confidence. "I feel like the second album had the most pressure for me," she says, acknowledging that she felt the first one had a shot at succeeding because of her built-in "Idol" audience. Then it exceeded expectations. "It kept going and kept going and kept going, and the next thing it was like triple platinum and quadruple platinum and five times platinum, and it was like 'Oh, my gosh!'" 'I'M HOME' Looking svelte in a black sweatshirt dress with a red belt, red bracelet and red Marc Jacobs flats, 26-year-old Underwood is the epitome of casual chic -- but don't mistake laid-back for unambitious. "I want to be somebody in the music business, not just somebody that (people say), 'Oh, yeah, five years ago she won that. Where did she go?' So making ("Carnival Ride") was pretty stressful, but on this one I feel like I'm home," she says. "I'm in the music business. When people mention names like Kenny Chesney (booking agent) and Keith Urban (booking agent) and Brad Paisley, (booking agent) sometimes my name is in there too." Of the 13 tracks on "Play On," Underwood co-write seven. "I'm not an easy person to get to know, and I feel like I keep a lot of myself closed off to the world," she says. "It's really nice to be able to scratch the surface and to be able to open myself up a little more." In recording "Play On," Underwood once again worked with producer Mark Bright, who produced "Carnival Ride" and seven tracks on "Some Hearts." "Over the summer, we spent more time with arrangements, and Carrie experimented more than ever with vocal textures," Bright says. "What came out on the other side is extraordinary. I think we got it right." Underwood says she trusts Bright, and that makes recording a more comfortable process. "I've known him now for five years," she says. "I've worked with him on every album, and I trust him and he trusts me. I'm comfortable with him now -- whereas in the beginning it was like, 'Oh, my gosh. This guy is a big-time producer. What if I do bad?' I was really afraid to mess up. Now I'm not afraid to screw up. I can screw up royally when I'm in the studio and it's OK. I trust him." In the past, Underwood co-wrote with a stable of Music Row tunesmiths including Hillary Lindsey and Luke Laird, who co-wrote "So Small" and "Last Name," and Brett James, who co-wrote "Jesus Take the Wheel" with Lindsey and Gordie Sampson. For "Play On," she expanded her circle to collaborate with "American Idol" judge/BMI 2007 pop songwriter of the year Kara DioGuardi; Mike Elizondo, known for his work with Dr. Dre and Eminem (booking agent); and Raine Maida, co-founder of the rock band Our Lady Peace, and his wife, Canadian singer Chantal Kreviazuk. "I listen to all kinds of music, all genres," Underwood says. "Bringing somebody from a different world into my world to see what their influence can do in my writing style -- it's a lot of fun." These new collaborations don't mean that Underwood's about to switch genres -- she's still a country girl at heart. "I'm promising right now it would never happen," she says. MULTIGENERATIONAL APPEAL Judging by the success of the first single, "Cowboy Casanova," "Play On" looks sure to follow the platinum path of its predecessors. In its first week, "Casanova" sold 110,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. "An unfinished version leaked," Underwood says of the label rushing the finished version to radio. "It was really frustrating, but then it was exciting too. Radio stations were immediately putting it into heavy rotation and it was like, 'Oh, my gosh, this is good.'" Sony Music Nashville chairman Joe Galante attributes much of Underwood's success to her multigenerational appeal. "Carrie goes from cradle to grave," he says of her fans. "She has positioned herself as somebody that cares about this format deeply. She is a country artist. She's made it very plain." In the past four years, Underwood has dominated country radio with such No. 1 hits as "Jesus Take the Wheel," "Before He Cheats," "Wasted," "All-American Girl," "So Small" and "Just a Dream." Galante speaks with obvious pride of how Underwood has handled success. "I think it all hit her like a ton of bricks in the first couple of years, and now this year has been easier," he says. "Carrie has grown up a lot, considering she got dropped into this format on her head, not on her feet, and people were standing on the sidelines going, 'You're not really country, you're a TV show star.' I think she's impressed the heck out of people by her reverence for country music." Underwood's manager, Simon Fuller, chief executive of 19 Entertainment and creator of the "Idol" franchise, has high expectations for "Play On." "I think we'll exceed the success of the last album with this album," he says. "It's stronger in depth and there's more variety." 'ORGANIZED STALKING' Part of the efforts to alert Underwood's fans that there's a new album coming involved revamping her Web site, CarrieUnderwoodOfficial.com, to be more community-based and allow for fan participation. One thing Underwood doesn't plan to use is Twitter. "It just sounds like organized stalking to me," she says. "I'll be in a restaurant and I'll get home and somebody tweeted and talked about what I ordered and what I was wearing. In some cases that could be dangerous because you don't want everybody to know where you are in every second of every day." (Someone is posing as Underwood on Twitter, in the comments on her Web site and on MySpace, and she warns fans that it isn't her.) Though some alumni tire of talking about their "Idol" backgrounds and try to distance themselves from the show, Underwood says she'll always be appreciative. "I do credit the show for every single thing that I have," she says, "and as long as they want me to come back year to year and perform, I am so there." She'll also stake out new territory on the small screen, with her first TV special, slated to air December 7 on Fox. Guests will include Paisley, Dolly Parton and David Cook. Nearer at hand, Underwood looks forward to co-hosting the CMA Awards and embarking on her new tour in 2010. "We'll go into rehearsals early next year, but it's going to be bigger. It's going to be awesome. We're pulling out all the stops," says Underwood, who was the top-ranked female country touring artist of 2008, according to Billboard Boxscore, grossing $27.1 million from 90 shows. "I don't need to make any money, let's just do this," Underwood jokingly told her handlers about the tour. "Let's just step it up. I know everybody is going to say, 'Oh, my gosh. This cost what?' But, shoot, we can come back next year with an acoustic tour. This year let's just go for broke."
NEW YORK – U2 brought three generations of chart-toppers — Mick Jagger (booking agent), Bruce Springsteen (booking agent) and the Black Eyed Peas (booking agent) — with them onstage Friday at another night of mix-and-match magic at Madison Square Garden. Metallica (booking agent) brought the thunder to Lou Reed and Ray Davies. It was the second of two concerts to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and they will be edited into an HBO special to be seen on Thanksgiving weekend. During U2's set, Bono was waxing poetic about the spiritual, physical and political power of rock 'n' roll until finally the Boss had had enough. "Let's have some fun with it," Springsteen said. They performed U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," with Bono and Springsteen trading call-and-response vocals during the final verse. U2 topped the bill for the four hours of music. True to the spirit of Rock Hall events, producers sought some unusual pairings for artists to pay tribute to influences: Annie Lennox (booking agent) and Lenny Kravitz (booking agent) joined Aretha Franklin (booking agent) onstage, and Sting (booking agent) popped up to sing "People Get Ready" with Jeff Beck. Jagger, who sang "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of" with U2, also danced a duet with the Black Eyed Peas' Fergie on "Gimme Shelter." Jagger stuck his microphone in his waistband as the black miniskirted Fergie (booking agent) approached. U2 stood in the background, the world's most expensive "house band," as Jagger called them. "Weddings, funerals, bar mitzvahs ... ," Bono joked. U2 asserted authority when everyone left the stage, closing the show alone with "Beautiful Day." Just to show music's finest aren't perfect: U2, Springsteen and Patti Smith needed a do-over when they mangled their version of "Because the Night." They almost needed a third, when Smith missed the cue to start. Metallica went for an easy cheer from the New York crowd by playing video of the Yankees' Mariano Rivera behind them during "Enter Sandman." The song is played at Yankee Stadium when Rivera enters a game. Metallica paid tribute to influences by playing songs by Bob Seger and Queen. Frontman James Hetfield noted the band's trepidation when Rock Hall officials suggested artists to share the stage with. "We're not the most jammy kind of band," he said. "We're kind of a tight little unit. We don't let a lot of people in." One choice was unsurprising: Ozzy Osbourne (booking agent), who sang "Paranoid" and "Iron Man." The others were less obvious but went over hugely well, judging by the crowd. New York's Reed had a muscular backing for "Sweet Jane" and Davies had the type of riffing he hadn't seen since the Kinks on "You Really Got Me" and "All Day and All of the Night." Jerry Lee Lewis (booking agent) began the show with his hit "Great Balls of Fire." A half-century ago, he might have ended it with some leaps or kicking of furniture; now, he slowly pushed his piano stool over at the song's end. Franklin was a teaser, introducing one song as being "for those of you who don't feel they're getting enough respect" — then sang a show tune from "Ragtime." She introduced her band and drew a blank on the name of her guitar player. She barely acknowledged Lennox when they shared the stage for "Chain of Fools. She still has a gale's force voice, though. And, in the end, audience members got their "Respect."
LILONGWE, Malawi – Madonna has left Malawi after a nearly weeklong visit with her family, airport and charity officials said Saturday. Officials said Madonna flew out of the southern African country on Friday. The 51-year-old celebrity arrived in the impoverished country on Sunday accompanied by her four children — daughters Lourdes and Mercy, and sons Rocco and David. Mercy and David were adopted from Malawi. While in Malawi, she broke ground for her $15 million Raising Malawi Academy for Girls and visited the orphanage that cared for her son David before she adopted him. Madonna's Raising Malawi, a charity founded in 2006 when she first visited the country, helps feed, educate and provide medical care for some of Malawi's orphans. Malawi, a nation of 12 million, is one of the poorest countries in the world. About 500,000 children have lost a parent to AIDS.
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