This Saturday May 31st, some of the biggest names in rock & roll come together in the HBO debut of the 2014 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. This year's inductees include Peter Gabriel, Daryl Hall & John Oates, KISS, Nirvana, Linda Ronstadt, Cat Stevens, The E Street Band, Brian Epstein and Andrew Loog Oldham. Don't miss it, Saturday May 31st at 8pm. Only on HBO.
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Why was Courtney Love being booed at the RRHOF?
I will forever love and miss you...my sweet Prince.
Because most people think she contribute to his death + her on going fued with the band & label and music rights.
Soundgarden's 20th Anniversary 'Superunknown' Concert to be Broadcast on Howard Stern (Exclusive)
12:16 AM PDT 6/2/2014 by Tim Appelo
iTunes Festival at SXSW
In a first for the Sirius XM host, the band's 1994 masterpiece will be played live in its entirety on Howard 101.
For the first time ever, Howard Stern's SiriusXM channel Howard 101 will exclusively broadcast a concert, and it's a big one:Soundgarden's June 2 Superunknown show presented by Citi® at New York's Webster Hall, slated to air June 13 at 10 pm ET.
The Chris Cornell-fronted Soundgarden, whose Superunknown album debuted at No. 1 on Billboard in 1994 and won Grammy Awards for singles “Black Hole Sun” and “Spoonman,” sold over 9 million copies of their influential masterpiece, and is ranked near the top of Seattle's grunge heap by most critics, alongside Pearl Jam and Nirvana. "When Nirvana started out, Soundgarden was huge, and they were like, 'We're not worthy,'" said Cameron Crowe in 1992.
But Soundgarden never played the album live until SXSW in Austin on March 13. The Webster Hall show will be their second performance of Superunknown, which will be reissued with many rarities on June 3 via A&M Records/UME. As the record's producer Michael Beinhorn told Billboard in 1994, Superunknown is "both incredibly dense and overwhelmingly present. There is a tangible sense of air being moved."
Soundgarden's North American tour with fellow 1994 breakout band Nine Inch Nails begins July 12.
Rock Hall of Fame: Dave Grohl on Nirvana Honors, Reuniting with Courtney Love: 'It Was Beautiful' (Q&A)
4:36 PM PDT 5/31/2014 by Shirley Halperin
Charles Sykes/Invision/AP
The Foo Fighters frontman talks about the "f---in' magical" event, airing May 31 on HBO, and reveals further plans for his "Sonic Highways" TV show at the network.
On a chilly night in April, 20 years to the month since the death of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, Dave Grohl did what many people thought was unimaginable. Taking the stage at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony at New York's Barclays Center, the 43-year-old rocker embraced Courtney Love, his friend and bandmate's widow with whom he'd had a long acrimonious relationship. It was the hug felt around the world.
Airing May 31 on HBO, the Rock Hall promises the rare real TV moment -- one that will no doubt spur a surge of emotion and an unlikely bond both for those watching and those experiencing what looked like a magical coming-together: Krist Novoselic, Cobain's mother Wendy, Love and Grohl, among them.
The showing was accompanied by an unforgettable performance -- Nirvana songs delivered by Grohl, Novoselic and a slate of fierce female singers including Lorde and Joan Jett. Ahead of the Rock Hall's HBO premiere, Grohl talked to THR about how it all came together and revealed further plans for his forthcoming docuseries on the network.
Tonight on HBO, we’ll all be witnessing that gulp of a moment at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame when you and Courtney Love embraced on stage. Now that you’ve had some time to reflect on the evening, what are your thoughts?
You know, the wonderful thing about that night was the personal side of it. It was the Hall of Fame ceremony, but it meant so much to all of us personally that sometimes you forgot about the other stuff -- like the arena and the trophy -- and focused on real, personal things. I saw Courtney walking past [earlier in the night], and I just tapped her on the shoulder and we looked at each other in the eyes and that was it -- we're just family. We've had a rocky road. We've had a bumpy past, but at the end of the day we're a big family and when we hugged each other it was a real hug.
Yeah, that was not on camera -- that was just the two of us in the hallway. And we said, “How are you doing? Are you good?”
“Yes. Are you good?”
“Yes. OK, let's do this.”
And that was it. And after we walked off stage, we just walked down the hallway together, it was almost like no time had passed at all. Those things are real and no matter what it looks like in a magazine or on a website. That's real shit and I was very, very happy that we had those moments. It was beautiful.
As was the Nirvana performance with Lorde, Kim Gordon, Joan Jett and Annie Clark from St. Vincent. Tell us about how that came together.
When we started thinking about how we were going to choose performers, that was heavy. It was tricky. It was more complicated than just jumping up onstage and playing music. It was emotional, there's a legacy to preserve, there's so much to take into consideration. And Joan Jett was the first name to come up and there was no question that she should be there. I mean she is the queen of rock and roll.
Kurt and Nirvana had always tried to promote women in music. And I think we just felt like this is perfect. Then a few names bounced around that didn't seem to pan out and we finally decided that we wanted all of our performers to be these incredibly talented and powerful women.
We had fashioned the sequence of songs in chronological order. So we had Joan Jett first, because she's the queen, then we had Kim Gordon, who is an iconic hero to us, and then Annie St. Vincent. We didn't only want to focus on the past. We wanted to emphasize the future and that music is moving forward. Because Annie is surely doing that. And Ella [Lorde] is a great example of what we have to look forward to. She is able to have the biggest song of the year be something deep and meaningful and real -- that's what I hear when I listen to that song. So once we had that locked we knew that it was gonna be something special and it was just a matter of rehearsing and getting it together. And it's still hard to believe that it happened but it did and I loved it.
After the ceremony, the rock continued -- and was also filmed -- on stage at Brooklyn’s Saint Vitus bar. Any plans to use that footage on your forthcoming HBO show or elsewhere?
I don't know what we'll do. We did film it and it's f---in' amazing. When we walked into that little bar to play songs that we hadn't even touched in 20 years, I thought, “Well, this is great -- our good friends get to watch us jump around and have a good time.” And then it turned out that I got to watch our friends jump around and have a good time. People I've known for 20 years bouncing around, moshing. I did not expect that to happen. The front row was Carrie [Brownstein] from Portlandia and Annie St. Vincent, going f---in' bananas the whole time. It was like, “Wow, really? You guys like it that much? Holy shit!” Yeah, it was fun.
You're really in bed with HBO these days, having recently announced the docuseries Sonic Highways. Tell us about the genesis of that idea.
I've been working on this for a year and a half. After making the Sound City movie, I realized that the pairing of music and documentary worked so well because the stories give substance and depth to the song, which makes a stronger emotional connection to it. If you know the story behind the artist, or the story behind the studio, or the song, it widens your appreciation for the music. The four-minute long video is a blessed thing but sometimes it can be just an image. And these stories and these people give so much more depth to the music.
So on the last day of the Sound City tour, my producers, [Jim Rota and John Ramsay] handed me a present: it was a journal with a pen and said, “Congratulations on the success of Sound City, now get to work.” I had a blast on Sound City and a wonderful team that worked on the movie with me and I thought, I wanna do this again. I love music, I know music, I understand music, so I wanna stay in this world. But instead of just walking into a studio and telling its story, I want to travel across America and tell its story.
So it became a deeper project. And I thought OK, this is going to be the story that will influence the next Foo Fighters record. We're coming up on our 20th anniversary, we're an American band. Each one of these cities have had artists and music that have influenced us directly, so let's go there. Yeah, and that was the idea. And that was just a matter of actually making it happen.
Watch a teaser for Sonic Highways below:
What was the criteria to pick the cities or the studios?
At first, we wanted to go all over the world. But that seemed logistically impossible so we zeroed in on eight cities. Some of them we have personal connections with -- the studio in Washington, D.C., a studio in Seattle, a studio in Los Angeles -- these are all places that are part of our band's history. Then there are some we've never been to. Preservation Hall in New Orleans is a great example. It's one of the great things about this project -- that we get to spend a week in each city, and by the time we leave each place, I feel like I know the people, I know the food, the music. Seven days is enough to get a little bit of each city under your skin. And New Orleans is just so deep -- there's not only a musical community but it's a community of families where generations of musicians have been playing music in the city for hundreds of years. … It was just f---in' magical.
Were certain songs earmarked for certain studios? Or did you get to the studio and start writing?
Yes and no. Each city has a theme. As we're telling the story of not only the music but the history of the city, I had to find the theme first and then match it to the music. The lyrics I don't write until the night before I sing them or sometimes an hour before. So once the music and the theme of each city was set, we traveled to each place and spent a week there. We’d get there, start recording and I would just run around town filming and interviewing as many people as I can. I did over 100 interviews. At the end of the week, I’d take all of my transcripts, put them on the floor, sit there with a pen and my journal and I reduce all of these stories into a song. I take from peoples' backgrounds, anecdotes, the environment -- it's like reporting. It's musical bungee jumping. It's just f---in' crazy.
It was tricky because it's not just a series, it's an album. And so when you're sequencing the series, you're sequencing the album, so what do you sequence first? And how can you write the music before you shoot the episode? How do you know what the theme is going to be and how can you tell the story? These things would keep me up at night. I'm not only thinking about the lyric I have to spin the next day, I'm thinking about how it fits into the overall arc of the history of American music.
It's meant to be the musical equivalent of the finale of Usual Suspects. Like that scene where he's sitting there, you're going back through the whole episode. It’s basically that.
Do you feel a sense of responsibility to tell the story?
I don't know if I feel it's a responsibility but I have the opportunity and the resources. I am fortunate to be the guy that can send an email to Chuck D or Gibby [Haynes] from the Butthole Surfers or Rick Nielsen from Cheap Trick or Carrie Underwood and say, “Hey, can I interview you for a project I'm doing?”
How does the show connect to the sound of the next Foo Fighters album?
You'll recognize Foo Fighters in this record but you'll also be surprised by us. We're doing things that we've never done before. And I want to say that it's only eight songs but I think it might be our longest record because, as I was writing these songs, I had to take a cinematic approach. Like I couldn't just write a three-and-a-half-minute long KROQ jingle and film it for the finale of an episode about the history of music in New Orleans, ya know? We really had to step up what we do. The music is a progression or an evolution for sure, but it's a Foo Fighters record.
So there could there be horns on a Foos record?
There could be horns on a Foos record, absolutely. We've never done that before. Honestly, there are sections of songs that will really take you by surprise. And then there are choruses that you'll just recognize as Foo Fighters within the first three seconds.
How is the album being recorded?
We've been dragging two 24-track tape machines around the country because we still love the sound of tape. Some of the places [we recorded] are houses and some are stages and some of them are old rooms so we’d have to build a studio in some of these locations. And that's easy to do when you just open up the laptop. It's not easy to do when you're dragging two 800-pound two inch tape machines across the country, but we've done it everywhere we've went.
That sounds a little crazy.
I don't know, man. I mean, I already know what we're doing for the next Foo Fighters record and that's even f---in' crazier!
What the f--- are you talkin' about?
[Laughs] I don't know. I came up with this idea a month and a half ago. The guys were, like, “Dude, we have to finish this first.” I know, f---!
You’ve long been considered one of rock’s greatest overachievers. Now, in addition to drummer, frontman and guitar great you can add director, TV producer, talent booker. Is a feature film in your future? Are we looking at Dave Grohl’s fourth act?
It's all pretty complicated. I'm used to making records on my label with the Foo Fighters in my studio, doing what we've done. Now this is an album and a TV series with HBO. And so I have sat at the head of the f---in’ board table and had meetings with 65 people. This is a whole new ballgame for me. But if there's a story to tell, f---, I'll tell it. I don't really know what it means to be a director. I don't really know my way around the film industry, but I can gather a team of people and fire 'em up to make something great. I know that because we've done it. And who knows? I feel more comfortable on this side of the camera than the other side, that's for f---ing sure.
Perry marks the first person ever to receive this top honor from the women's mag.
"Katy's music and attitude have universal appeal to young women everywhere," Joanna Coles, editor in chief of Cosmopolitan, said in a statement.
"She crosses all cultural boundaries. Her music is soulful and empowering in equal measure. She's the first Cosmo global icon."
Comedian Chelsea Handler sits down with Perry and fires off questions for the inside of these very special issues.
Matt Jones/ CosmopolitanKaty Perry gets a top honor from Cosmo for the month of July.
"You were married to (Russell Brand). Then you broke up and started dating John Mayer. These are two men that most people would say, 'If you're not going to date two people in this world, it should be these two,’" Handler grills Perry during their chat.
That wasn't the only controversial topic the funny gal brought up during the interview. She also gets straight to the point by asking about the "Birthday" singer's sex life and the juiciest aspects of her successful career.
Perry made sure to send her Katy cats a personal message about the magazine while talking to Handler.
"If you're secretly reading this mag and not really allowed to, don't worry, I did it too."
Off the Wall and Onto the Throne: How Michael Jackson Became the King of Pop
Though it may shock many contemporary readers to discover this, there was once a time when Michael Jackson was an attractive young black man. Furthermore, there was once a time when Michael Jackson was an attractive young black man with an uncertain musical future. The year is 1979. Jackson is a 20-year-old former child star, four years removed from his last solo release which capped his career as a Motown artist, ending the relationship with the legendary studio Jackson had been with since the age of ten. While Jackson’s early solo efforts were extremely successful, they were never quite on the same level as what he had achieved as a younger artist or what he would achieve later as the biggest musical act of all time. I mean, before Off the Wall, Jackson’s solo career was highlighted by a song he had penned about his pet rat. Not a bad song, mind you, but not exactly the sort of stuff that makes you a demigod. While he was far from the gutter, things weren’t exactly going swimmingly for the once and future King of Pop. In reality, it could have been the end of the line for MJ, and surely would have been for many less talented artists. After all, this was a kid who had won over Sam & Dave, Gladys Knight, and a packed house at the Apollo before he had turned nine, who could really have blamed him if he had washed out before he turned twenty?
But a funny thing happened on the way to obscurity; Jackson landed a role in The Wiz. For the uninformed, The Wiz is a retelling of The Wizard of Oz, but just replace the endless parade of white people with an endless parade of awesome black people; Dianna Ross is Dorothy, Richard Pryor is The Wiz, Lena Horne is the Good Witch, and Jackson is the Scarecrow. Seriously, Michael Jackson may have never been Michael Jackson if he hadn’t have landed a role in the black Wizard of Oz. Now The Wiz isn’t a particularly renowned film, but that’s beside the point; the point is who did the music for The Wiz, and the man who did the music for The Wiz was none other than Quincy Jones. For the uninformed, Quincy Jones is as revered a musician as ever has been, a man who has had as many Grammy nominations as he has had birthdays (deadlocked at 79 apiece), and a man with one hell of a gene pool. Jones would work with Jackson on Off The Wall, Thriller, and Bad, and if you’re wondering which three Michael Jackson albums are the best the conversation pretty much starts and ends right there. It all began with The Wiz though, where their work alongside one another led to Off the Wall.
One of the things I like best about Off The Wall is how some of the best songs take their time. Before hip-hop taught us to wait until the beat dropped, Quincy and Michael were doing it to perfection in ’79. More than anything this is a sign of supreme confidence, not in the same vein as a rapper’s bravado or a country singer’s stoicism, but a confidence that can only be achieved when an artist knows they’re making a masterpiece. Listen to the opening track, “Don’t Stop ‘til You Get Enough,” or “Workin’ Day and Night,” and neither track is rushed. They quickly yet patiently build to perfection and unleash an energy which defines the record. Thusly, listening to Side 1 of Off the Wall in particular is a solid test of whether or not you’re a sociopath; if your foot isn’t tapping or your head isn’t bobbing at the very least, it’s entirely possible that you may not have a soul.
“Don’t Stop ‘til You Get Enough,” isn’t just the beginning of Off the Wall, it is, in every conceivable way, the beginning of Michael Jackson: King of Pop. A seductive bass line is coupled with Jackson softly muttering something you can barely make out but easily get turned on by, and before you have time to ask yourself if this is the same kid from the Jackson 5 MJ unleashes a “Wooo!” and it’s on.
And that was pretty much the change; more than anything else, Michael got sexy. It’s hard for a lot of us youngsters to imagine now, but there was a period of time, before he got creepy and after he was a child, where Michael Jackson was sexy as shit. He dressed sharp, he could move like nobody else, he could sing like nobody else, and he seemed so genuinely nice you actually wanted to take him home to your momma…and I’m a heterosexual male. Every truly transcendent musical icon is coveted by the opposite sex; it’s what separates incredible musicians from the incredible musicians who shape pop culture. “Don’t Stop ‘til You Get Enough,” is a tangible moment wherein a human being went from being one thing to being something entirely different, and what ‘little Michael’ became was Michael Jackson.
Off the Wall is invariably a pop album, but to reduce it to this singular genre would be to do a disservice to the worlds of funk and disco among others. The one thing it is above all else is a non-stop dance party. Nothing illustrates this more than Side 1, which, despite comprising of just four tracks, is as perfect a side of a record as there ever was. “Don’t Stop ‘til You Get Enough,” starts the party, “Rock With You,” makes you wonder if it will ever end, “Workin’ Day and Night,” makes you realize it won’t, and “Get on the Floor,” wraps things up just in case you aren’t already up and dancing right where you ought to be.
If the album were to have a weak point it would have to be midway through Side 2. After opening with “Off the Wall,” and the Paul-McCartney-penned-specifically-for-Michael “Girlfriend,” the soft ballad “She’s Out of My Life,” seriously slows things down. Any good dance party has to have its slow jam, though, and I would sway with a sexy woman middle school style to this track any day of the week. I’d even be willing to bet Michael’s gentle crooning could coax a head on the shoulder out of her as well. The bass line in “I Can’t Help It” eases us out of our slumber, “It’s the Falling in Love,” gets us tapping our feet again, and by the time the record closes with “Burn This Disco Out,” you honestly couldn’t agree more.
What’s left when the record stops spinning is a brand new figure; not the child who could pull off anything Motown asked, or the teenager who fronted The Jacksons. Whereas Michael Jackson the man may have never matured into a fully functioning adult, forever stripped of the comforts of a normal childhood, Michael Jackson the artist became fully realized the minute the album was released in August 1979. Off the Wall was Michael’s launching pad from cute little kid to full blown sex symbol, from Justin Bieber to Mega-Usher (unfortunately for Justin Bieber this transition may never take place, as he seems doomed to forever resemble a lesbian). When you’re a child star it’s inevitable that you will one day cease to be a child. Whether or not you cease to be a star depends on your ability to reinvent yourself. Michael spent the four years between his split with Motown and the release of Off the Wall learning how to be Michael Jackson. Given the creative control Motown would never surrender while making new recordings at Epic Records with The Jacksons, freed to find his feet as a songwriter and mature into a young man beyond the strict control of his father, Michael Jackson became who he was always destined to be; the most incredible, jaw-dropping, successful and beloved singular performer in the history of mankind. And if you think that’s hyperbole…well never mind, you know it isn’t.
Pharrell Williams just keeps sharing the happiness and with the Web, he's able to extend that reach.
The Happy singer and director Spike Lee are the next pairing in the American Express Unstaged live stream music series in partnership with Vevo and YouTube. Lee is directing Williams' Tuesday concert, which will be presented live 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT at amexunstaged.com (can also see on Roku player live)from the Apollo Theater in New York .
Ahead of the performance, fans can watch a conversation between the two artists at the website. The concert represents the 14th pairing in the series. This is Lee's second directorial effort in the project. His first was a partnership with John Legend and The Roots in 2010. Other previous pairings have included Vampire Weekend and Steve Buscemi; Kings of Leon and Fred Armisen; and The Killers and Werner Herzog.
"Spike Lee is an incredibly visionary and I'm thrilled he agreed to collaborate with me," Williams said in a statement. "I know with his direction, this will be a really special experience."
In addition to watching the pre-show videos, fans can prep to be a part of the concert by submitting a photo of themselves, which may be shown onstage during Tuesday's concert. To participate, fans 18 and older can go to amexunstaged.com/pharrell by Monday to upload their photo for a digital image mosaic.
Two months into 2014 Bruno Mars had already enjoyed a better year than many artists can ever hope to have in an entire career. After taking home the GRAMMY for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 56th GRAMMY Awards on Jan. 26 (marking his second career win), a week later the multitalented singer/songwriter/producer turned in one of the best Super Bowl halftime performances in recent years. Yet, Mars seemed genuinely humble on June 1 as he headlined his second consecutive sold-out show at the Hollywood Bowl.
At various points in the 90-minute set, Mars showed his chops on guitar, delivered heartfelt ballads and presided over a drawn-out R&B jam. Though the latter went on a bit long, his ability to play in any style was impressive. And he paid homage to his musical roots with a little doo-wop action. While Mars is a musical chameleon who can shine in any format, he has established himself first and foremost as an artist who writes great pop hooks. His craftsmanship was on display starting with the up-tempo opener, "Moonshine," which was augmented by lasers and lights. Mars has learned a lot from the masters as a showman, as evidenced by his choreography, which found him and his Hooligan band showcasing some nimble dance moves in a line on multiple occasions. And perhaps what sets Mars apart from so many other pop artists is his ability to work choreography seamlessly into his set, having it feel natural and good-natured, as it should be. It only added to the joy of songs such as "Natalie" and "Treasure."
"I want you to know how surreal this is for me," he told the crowd, before recalling how he used to perform covers during three-hour sets at local L.A. clubs such as King King and Molly Malone's. "Would you want to hear what we would do back in the day for pizza?" Mars and his superb band then showed what they used to do, starting with Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love." They then ran through four decades in moments, including the Outfield's "Your Love," Bell Biv DeVoe's "Poison," Bobby Brown's "Every Little Step," Michael Jackson's "Rock With You," as well as his Record Of The Year-nominated collaboration with B.o.B, "Nothin' On You." Other highlights were as expected, including the main set closers "Just The Way You Are," "Grenade," and a medley of "Money (That's What I Want)" and "Billionaire."
The honesty of "When I Was Your Man," which he introduced by talking about the difficult personal situation that led to the song, was another standout performance and cemented the bond between Mars and his adoring audience, which ran from 6 to 70. In one box near me, a mom and her young daughter held hands and danced often throughout the night. Such a wide audience demographic is something you'd expect to encounter at a classic rock concert. But to see a contemporary artist with cross-generational appeal is rarer.
Mars is able to reach multiple generations because of the scope of his talent and his acute appreciation of music history. Maybe more up-and-coming artists should work their way up playing covers — you can't argue with Mars' success.
Set List:
"Moonshine" "Natalie" "Treasure" "Money (That's What I Want)" (Barrett Strong cover)/"Billionaire" /"California Love" (2Pac cover) (medley) "Bam Bam" (Sister Nancy cover)/"Show Me"/"Our First Time"/"Pony" (Ginuwine cover)/"Ignition" (R. Kelly cover) (medley) "Let It Please Be You" (Desires cover)/"Marry You" "If I Knew"/"It Will Rain" "Runaway Baby" "Whole Lotta Love" (Led Zeppelin cover)/"Your Love" (Outfield cover) (medley) "Poison" (Bell Biv DeVoe cover) "This Is How We Do It" (Montell Jordan cover) "Every Little Step" (Bobby Brown cover) "Rock With You" (Michael Jackson cover) "Nothin' On You" "When I Was Your Man" "Grenade" "Just The Way You Are" Encore: "Locked Out Of Heaven" "Gorilla"
^^Thanks for posting the review Shawy89. Please feel free to post more often.
Whitney Houston's New Jersey Home Bought by Fan
6:50 AM PDT 6/3/2014 by Ashley Lee
Bertrand Guay/AFP/Getty Images
The late singer's 1987 creation -- with five bedrooms, six bathrooms, two Jacuzzis, a swimming pool and a tennis court -- was purchased for $1.5 million.
The New Jersey home of Whitney Houston now belongs to a longtime fan.
According to Zillow, the 13,607-square-foot home on five acres was purchased by Matthew Krauthamer, a 33-year-old emergency room physician with various real estate investments, for $1.5 million. Along with five bedrooms and six bathrooms, the 1987 creation and site of Houston's 1992 wedding to Bobby Brown also includes a large swimming pool, two Jacuzzis and a tennis court, among other amenities.
The property has been on and off the market since 2009, and following Houston's death in 2012 the listing price was repeatedly reduced (at one point, the home was listed for $1.75 million), Zillow also reports. It was sold to Commercial Property Management Group (CPMG) in February for $999,900. Selling agent Greg Taylor, who represented the investment company, said renovations were considered before putting the property back on the market, since it had been vacant for so long, but Krauthamer -- who lived just a few blocks away -- quickly purchased the home.
Krauthamer said he has turned down filmmakers and fans who have contacted him to view the property, and he told the late singer's family that he does not plan to exploit Houston's fame. "She got, obviously, some bad press at times, but one thing that she was was a very kind and generous person," he said. “She took care of the people that were closest to her, and that’s something that’s always stuck in my mind."
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Prince watches the men's singles match between Rafael Nadal of Spain and Dusan Lajovic of Serbia on day nine of the French Open in Paris, France on June 2nd, 2014.
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The Rolling Stones perform with Bruce Springsteen at the Rock in Rio Lisboa music festival at Bela Vista Park in Lisbon on May 29th, 2014.
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Chad Smith attends NAMM's Music Learning Festival at Savoy Elementary School in Washington, DC in May.
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Kirk Hammett of Metallica performs during the San Francisco Giants 'Metallica Night' at AT&T Park in San Francisco, California on May 16th, 2014 .
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David Thornton and Cyndi Lauper attend the Pittsburgh Penguins vs New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden in New York City on May 11th, 2014.
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Jimmy Page receives an Honorary Doctor of Music Degree from Berklee Senior Vice President and Provost Lawrence Simpson and President Roger Brown at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts on on May 10th, 2014.
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Gene Simmons poses with bride and groom Lee Samango and Michael Gottlieb after officiating his first wedding At Rock & Brews in El Segundo, California on May 10th, 2014 .
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Jimmy Fallon, Judd Apatow, Trudie Styler, Billy Joel, Sting, Howard Stern, Beth Stern and Paul Rudd backstage at Madison Square Garden on May 9th, 2014 in New York City.
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Bruce Springsteen photobombs Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw at the SUSC Shoah Foundation's 20th Anniversary Gala in Century City, California on May 7th, 20
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Kristen Bell Freezes Her Singing Talents for CMT Awards
Actress hints she will stick to hosting duties on Wednesday's show
Among the hugely popular roles actress Kristen Bell has played during her career are high-school private eye Veronica Mars, crafty management consultant Jeannie van der Hooven in Showtime's "House of Lies," and, of course, the voice of Princess Anna in what is now the highest-grossing animated film of all time, 2013's "Frozen." But playing her effervescent self is why CMT has asked the 33-year-old back to host the CMT Music Awards for a third year in a row.
After co-hosting with Toby Keith in 2012 and Jason Aldean last year, she'll fly solo this time out when the show airs June 4th. In years past, producers have utilized Bell's singing talents to the smallest degree and often for comedic effect. Although she remains tight-lipped on what this year has in store, it's natural to assume that being so closely associated with what has become an iconic musical film will work its way into the show somehow. Still, she's not about to bite off more than she can chew.
"The irony is although it's been a big year for me musically, I am the smallest fish," the actress tells Rolling Stone Country. "I don't even know that I would be considered a fish in this pond. There are so many talented singers and musical acts and groups that I am more than happy taking a musical backseat to their talent. Despite whether or not I can hold a tune I don't think I'm about to jump on stage with some of the acts that we have performing this year."
Bell looks at the show as less an awards ceremony and more of a live concert, where just about anything can happen.
"The first time I hosted was the first time that I saw Miranda [Lambert] in concert, and she's just effortless onstage," she explains. "That really made an impression on me especially because that year she sang "The House That Built Me," which is just an exemplary song, and she performs it with so much heart. I remember that being one of my favorite moments. And also last year they had Journey perform. That was such a wonderful curveball. Especially this year I feel like they're focusing on having really strong musical acts and having a lot of them. It's an amazing concert."
Even if she isn't as willing to jump on stage with the artists slated to perform, Bell has given some thought to which singers she'd love to collaborate with, and not surprisingly would welcome any opportunity to duet with Miranda. She also notes that she'd love to sing with The Band Perry's Kimberly Perry.
"If I had to choose a guy it would be Luke Bryan," adds the Michigan native. "His song, "Drunk on You," is anthemic in my house. It's one of the better songs I've ever heard. It just tickles me to hear that song."
Married to actor Dax Shepard, the couple has a daughter, 1-year-old Lincoln, who prefers R&B (thanks to her dad) to country. Mom is a fan of all genres, but country blares from her speakers when she needs an escape.
"What differentiates country in the genres is that there's so much storytelling. Each country song is really a story from start to finish, more so than other musical genres, and I think people appreciate that. The stories tend to be very relatable and they focus a little more on the comedy or heartbreak or happiness or angst in day-to-day life, as opposed to the glamour."
She credits the biggest-selling country star of all time with her initial love for the genre.
"I think when I realized I wanted to pay attention during a country song was hearing Garth Brooks sing 'Papa Loved Mama,'" Bell explains. "It's really fast and it tells this crazy story that makes you want to pay attention beyond just being pleasing to the ear. I immediately had to memorize all the words because I liked the song so much."
When it comes to two of her most recognizable characters, Bell admits Jeannie van der Hooven, as opposed to Veronica Mars, is more likely to be the country fan.
"Some of the country songs from the girls talk about how they don't need a man to handle their business and I think that's right up Jeannie's alley," she says.
Watch Bell host the CMT Music Awards Wednesday at 8:00 PM ET.
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John Lennon Artwork and Poetry to Feature in Extensive Auction
The works cull from the Beatle's mid-Sixties books, 'In His Own Write' and 'A Spaniard in the Works'
John Lennon's original poetry and drawings for his mid-Sixties books In His Own Write and A Spaniard in the Works are headed to auction. The books' U.K. publisher, Tom Maschler, has held onto the works over the past 50 years and, when the 89 pieces hit the Sotheby's auction block on June 5th, will comprise the largest-ever private collection of Lennon's work to be offered up. Prices for the works range from $500 to $70,000, according to The Associated Press.
One notable work going to auction is a drawing of a boy with six birds that appeared in the 1965 book A Spaniard in the Works. It was later used on the cover of the Beatles' 1995 single "Free as a Bird" and is expected to sell for between $12,000 and $15,000.
Two other works of interest are a nine-page manuscript for "The Singularge Experience of Miss Anne Duffield," a Sherlock Holmes parody, and a nonsensical poem titled "The Fat Budgie." The former is expected to go for between $50,000 and $70,000, while the latter could earn between $25,000 and $35,000.
Lennon released In His Own Write, which contained 31 short stories and poems, in 1964. He put out A Spaniard in the Works – whose title puns on the British idiom "a spanner in the works," similar to "a wrench in the works," AP points out – the following year.
Lennon discussed the books in a lengthy 1971 interview with Rolling Stone, saying they were an extension of exploring his emotion in songs like "I'm a Loser" and "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away." "I was already a stylized songwriter on the first album," he said. "But to express myself I would write Spaniard in the Works or In His Own Write, the personal stories which were expressive of my personal emotions."
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Clint Eastwood's Jersey Boys Film Sets June 2014 Release
Clint Eastwood's film adaptation of the Tony-winning musical Jersey Boys, which will feature members of the Broadway cast including Tony Award winner John Lloyd Young, will arrive in theatres June 20, 2014, according to Deadline.com.
In addition to Young, who will play Franki Valli, the cast will also feature Erich Bergen, Michael Lomenda and Vincent Piazza as Four Seasons Bob Gaudio, Nick Massi and Tommy DeVito, respectively.
Graham King ("Argo") and Robert Lorenz ("Million Dollar Baby") are producing. Sergio Trujillo, who choreographed the original production, will repeat his work for the film.
Tony Award-winning playwright John Logan (Red, I'll Eat You Last) has penned the screenplay based on the original Broadway script written by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, who earned Tony Award nominations for their work.
The film will include the hit songs from the Broadway production by Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe.
Casting includes Mike Doyle ("Shameless," "Gayby," "A Gifted Man") as music producer Bob Crewe, Johnny Cannizzaro ("The Muppets, Lost Angels") as Nick DeVito, Donnie Kehr as Norm Waxman, Jeremy Luke ("Don John," "Lost Angels") as loan shark Donnie, Joey Russo ("Turbo and Joey," "It's You Not Me") as Joe Pesci and Christopher Walken as Angelo "Gyp" DeCarlo.
Erica Piccininni, also a member of the original Broadway cast, will repeat her performance as Lorraine. Kathrine Narducci will play Mary Rinaldi, Valli's mother. Renée Marino will play Mary Delgado.
Eastwood's directorial credits include "Million Dollar Baby," "Flags of Our Fathers," "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" and "The Bridges of Madison County."
Jersey Boys is the winner of the 2006 Best Musical Tony Award, the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album, the 2009 Olivier Award for Best New Musical and the 2010 Helpmann Award for Best Musical (Australia).
Jersey Boys is the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons: Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi. According to press notes, "This is the story of how a group of blue-collar boys from the wrong side of the tracks became one of the biggest American pop music sensations of all time. They wrote their own songs, invented their own sounds and sold 175 million records worldwide - all before they were thirty."
Steve King, Grammy-Winning Engineer of 'The Eminem Show,' Dead at 56
12:00 AM PDT 6/5/2014 by Gary Graff, Billboard
The Detroit native's resume included work with Aretha Franklin, Patti Smith and George Clinton. He also mixed "Lose Yourself" from the "8 Mile" film soundtrack.
Eminem is among the many in the music and recording worlds mourning the death of Steve King, the engineer who won a Grammy in 2003 for The Eminem Show and also mixed the rapper's award-winning "Lose Yourself" from the 8 Mile film soundtrack.
King's resume also included work with Aretha Franklin, Patti Smith, George Clinton, Eminem's D12 crew and its individual members and 50 Cent and members of G-Unit. He died on Tuesday in a suburban Detroit hospital at the age of 56, not long after being diagnosed with liver disease. In a statement, Eminem said that, "I'm very sad to hear about Steve King's passing. I had the honor and pleasure of working with Steve on many projects in my earlier years and he was a greatly talented engineer, musician and friend. I will miss Steve's friendly way and sense of humor the most. My condolences go out to his family and all that knew Steve."
Fellow Eminem collaborator Luis Resto remembered King as "a very genuine, nice human being and good friend" and "the central hub of our team" in the studio. "When we -- (Eminem), Steve and I -- would be in the studio stuck with a technical snafu or creative Rubik's cube to figure out, it was often the calm clarity that Steve had that pushed us through to move forward and on to the next thing."
King established himself first as a musician in the Detroit area, playing in bands such as the Pigs, the Traitors, Paper Hearts, the Boners, the Rushlow-King Combo and, most recently, with poet ML Liebler in Coyote Monk, which was in the process of making an album. King's first job behind the boards was recording vocals for Aretha Franklin's 1982 album "Jump To It," produced by Luther Vandross. He went on to work with Kem, the Winans, the Romantics, Juan Atkins and scores of others, and also shared his craft and insights via monthly forums at a suburban Detroit bar and at schools and youth centers.
"Steve was always cool under pressure," fellow Grammy Award winner and Detroit native Don Was said. "He carried himself with a sweet nature, positive spirit and profound humility that belied his incredible power as a soulful musician and inspired songwriter. His work made a major contribution towards defining the Detroit Sound over the last quarter century. Steve was a wonderful and irreplaceable cat and will be profoundly missed."
Joel Martin, owner of 54 Sound in Ferndale, Mich., where King primarily worked, called him "the coolest hipster I ever met in my life. He had every reason to have a huge... ego. But he was so unassuming and so genuine in his love for recording and music, it was just disarming to not run into an ego. Those Eminem records could not have been made without him."
King is survived by his wife, Roberta, and their son Nick, as well a sister, Jennifer Orr, stepdaughter Kimberly Coppolino and stepson Christopher VanderBerg. Memorial contributions can be made to the Deaf Performing Artists Network at www.D-Pan.com. Roberta King said that, as per her husband's wishes, the family is planning "a huge party to celebrate his life" with performances by King`s music friends from in and out of town. A date is currently being determined.
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Doc Neeson dies of brain tumour at 67
Family announces on Facebook that Angels frontman has died in his sleep after 17-month illness
Tuesday 3 June 2014 22.03 EDT
Doc Neeson at the Tamworth country music festival in 2012. Photograph: Tracey Nearmy/AAP
The Angels frontman Doc Neeson has died aged 67, after battling an aggressive brain tumour for 17 months.
Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett paid tribute to Neeson as a "big man with a huge heart" as Angels fans flooded social media with condolences.
"We love you Dad. You couldn't have made any of your sons more proud of you if you tried," his sons wrote in a Facebook post confirming the singer's death.
"A mighty talent ... You showed us how," Garrett tweeted.
Angels drummer Buzz Bidstrup posted on Facebook on Wednesday morning:
"It is with deep sadness that we say goodbye to Bernard "Doc" Neeson today. He left this world early this morning and I join music lovers everywhere in mourning this great man."
Screaming Jets bassist Paul Woseen said he was sad to hear the news but feared the worst after seeing Neeson about six months ago.
"The last time I saw him he looked worse than the time before –it looked like the end was imminent," he told AAP.
Woseen said his favourite memory of Neeson was a classic pose of holding a towel above his head with sweat pouring off him during a gig.
But away from the stage Neeson was a different person, he said.
"He was quiet but friendly ... You do put on a different sort of `suit' so to speak before you hit the stage."
Some musical contemporaries of Neeson were too distressed to comment after they heard the news on Wednesday.
Fans hailed the Irish-born performer as a true showman and a member of Australian rock royalty.
Others fondly remembered listening to the band's string of hits in the late 1970s and '80s.
"Most potent memory of young suburban life was watching The Angels blow the roof off Blacktown RSL sometime early 80s," Adrian Michaels tweeted.
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Common Signs to No I.D.'s Artium/Def Jam Label
12:57 PM PDT 6/4/2014 by Roy Trakin
Paul A. Hebert/Invision/AP
The two-time Grammy winner reunites with his longtime friend and collaborator for his new album, "Nobody’s Smiling," set for a July 22 release.
Two-time Grammy Award-winning Chicago rapper and actor Common has signed to longtime friend and collaborator No I.D.’s Artium/Def Jam Recordings label. “Kingdom,” featuring Vince Staples, is out now, the lead track from his upcoming 10th studio album, Nobody’s Smiling, set for release on July 22. The album marks a creative reunion between the hip-hop icon and No I.D., Def Jam’s evp and co-head of A&R, who produced the rapper’s first three albums on then-indie Relativity Records. Executive produced by No I.D., Nobody’s Smiling commemorates the 20th anniversary of Common’s breakthrough album, 1994’s Resurrection, with its signature title track and “I Used to Love H.E.R.” It’s the first new album for him since 2011’s The Dreamer/The Believer.“Common and I have a long history of making great music together,” said No I.D. “His rich legacy and robust talent are perfect additions to the Def Jam family. It's particularly significant that he's coming under our roof for his 10th album as a matured artist and cultural ambassador. It's a tremendous boost for the spirit of Def Jam as well as the world of hip-hop.”Since his motion picture debut in 2006’s Smokin’ Aces, Common has carved out an impressive career in more than a dozen films, including such major box office successes as American Gangster (2007), Street Kings (2008), Terminator Salvation (2009) and Date Night (2010). He’s also the lead co-star on AMC’s post-Civil War western action series Hell on Wheels, returning for a fourth season this summer.STORY: Common Joining Liam Neeson in 'Run All Night' (Exclusive) Common explains the new album title was inspired by his troubled hometown of Chicago: "I'm honored to team up with No I.D. and be a part of the Artium and Def Jam family. Creating this album and signing to Def Jam feels like a new beginning for me. I feel like a new artist because I created this album with the purpose to give back to my city and to the culture of hip-hop. Def Jam is part of the foundation of hip-hop and being able to work with No I.D. was returning to my foundation now with new energy and new hunger."
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Kiss' Gene Simmons to Produce 'Ugly Models' Series for Lifetime
The show will document the U.S. emergence of a British agency that represents unique models
Kiss vocalist-bassist Gene Simmons has signed on to co-produce a Lifetime series titled Ugly Models about a U.K. modeling agency that works with "character models with unique and unusual looks," as it makes its way into the U.S. market. The show will document how the business adapts to a different market.
The agency's motto is, "Any beauty can be airbrushed but we want to have true character." It currently represents over 1,000 models, reportedly between the ages of 18 and 100 and sizes six and 30. Among its models are the Guinness World Record bearer for the tallest man – Sultan Kösen, who is just over eight feet tall – and a woman with 2,520 piercings. It has been in business since 1969.
The show is not Simmons' only endeavor into TV at the moment. Together with his bandmate Paul Stanley, Kiss' songwriting nucleus has teamed with AMC for a reality series about the arena football team they own, the L.A. Kiss. The show, which is titled 4th and Loud and is set to premiere in the summer, will focus on the players, coaches and, of course, its rock-star owners, as well as Kiss manager Doc McGhee. "There's been a lot of attention to detail… so that people don't think this is a rock band in football helmets," Simmons said when the team started out. "This is real football."
Earlier this year, Kiss were inducted into the Rock an...ll of Fame. All of the original members were in attendance and, despite an acrimonious buildup in the press that led to them not performing, appeared onstage together peacefully. "To Peter [Criss, original drummer], Ace [Frehley, original lead guitarist], Gene – we are the original four, so we could not have done this if we didn't start this together," Stanley said in his acceptance speech. "Everything we've done is built on the past. We've got a great, great legacy."
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Stevie Wonder song Another Star to be BBC’s World Cup theme music
Thursday 5 June 2014 05.17 EDT
The Stevie Wonder song Another Star has been chosen as the BBC’s theme music for its World Cup coverage in Brazil.The track originally featured on the singer’s Songs In The Key Of Life album in 1976 and was released as a single in the UK the following year, reaching No29.It will feature in the opening sequence for all the BBC’s World Cup programming and will make its debut on a preview show for the competition to be screened on Wednesday on BBC1.Wonder, who plays an outdoor conc...on 29 June, saw a recent spike in sales for the track when he played it at the Grammy Awards in January as he performed alongside Daft Punk and Pharrell Williams.The inclusion of the song in the BBC’s coverage is said to be the first time the 64-year-old star has allowed his music to be used in such a way.For the South African tournament in 2010, the BBC’s coverage featured a specially commissioned piece by the London band Dallas Guild. Other notable years have included Pavarotti’s rendition of Nessun Dorma for the 1990 finals in Italy and Fauré’s Pavane for the 1998 tournament in France.Ian Finch, senior producer for BBC Sport who looks after the music, said: “This song perfectly captures the feelgood, carnival atmosphere we will bring to our viewers during the World Cup this summer.“It is very rare for an artist of this stature to approve the use of their music in this way, so we are thrilled and honoured to have the opportunity.”
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Michael Stipe issues first new music since REM disbanded
Former REM singer records a soundscape to accompany a film made by his friend Tom Gilroy
Michael Stipe … 'I can't play an instrument to save my life.' Photograph: Graeme Robertson
Michael Stipe has revealed his first new music since REM split in 2011. The recordings accompany bonus footage for the film The Cold Lands, made by his friend Tom Gilroy. Stipe worked in collaboration with another Athens, Georgia, musician, Andy LeMaster of the band Now It's Overhead. "He’s a tremendous producer, he’s a tremendous person. I know I work well with other people — to have someone to bounce something off of works for me, and I don’t actually write music. I wrote melodies and I tend to write along to other people’s music. That’s what I’ve done most of my career as a musician," Stipe told Salon."I went to Andy knowing that if I painted myself into a corner, he’d pull me out — and also that he’d be more than a neutral engineer/collaborator to work with. We work really well together. This is, in fact, the first thing that I’ve done musically since R.E.M disbanded. So, of course, I wanted it to be for something that meant a lot to me. That was important."What Stipe has offered isn't a song, but soundscape – you won't hear him singing – compiled from four different song parts. Though Stipe said he "can't play an instrument to save my life", he played keyboards and percussion on the recording.
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Beastie Boys: 'We can't make new music' and may never play live again
Appearing in court as part of their lawsuit against Monster Energy Drink, Mike D has spoken of the hip-hop group's future following the death of Adam Yauch
Tuesday 3 June 2014 03.36 EDT
Beastie Boys in Chicago in 1987. Photograph: Paul Natkin/WireImage
Beastie Boys' Michael "Mike D" Diamond has reportedly stated that the group will never stage live shows or record new music without the late Adam Yauch, AKA MCA. Appearing in court as part of the band's lawsuit against Monster Energy Drink, Mike D suggested the trio's two surviving members have decided to discontinue the project following Yauch's 2012 death.
"We have not been able to tour since MCA, Adam Yauch, died," Diamond told the court on 30 May, according to New York Daily News. "We can't make new music … [and] we do not let our music get used in in commercials for commercial products."
Beastie Boys' opinion on advertising has been known since August 2012, shortly after Yauch died of cancer aged 47. His will stated: "Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, in no event may my image or name or any music or any artistic property created by me be used for advertising purposes." This promise was at the root of the Beastie Boys' recent dispute with the toy company GoldieBlox and it is at the heart of their current legal battle with Monster.
In the weeks after Yauch's death, Mike D told Rolling Stone that although he could foresee making music again, he wasn't sure about "a band format". "But Yauch would genuinely want us to try whatever crazy thing we wanted but never got around to," he said.
However, this is the first time that surviving members Diamond or Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz have said the group may stop performing or recording. Horovitz and Diamond are currently working on a Beastie Boys memoir, due in 2015, and they collaborated on a Yoko Ono Plastic Band remix last year.
A unique voice, a prolific artist, a man with a deep soul, a versatile musician: this is Sananda Maitreya. Follow the special that Radio Barrio will dedicate to him on Friday June 6th at 11.30, and enjoy an exclusive interview with one of the most charismatic artist of international music.
Ray Seville Looks Back At 30-Plus Year Entertainment Career By Harry Colbert, Jr., Insight News May 23, 2014
Ray Seville sits next to his uncle's (Noble "Duke" Samuels)bass with his gold plaque from Sounds of Blackness behind him. (Photos by Harry Colbert, Jr.)
. Sitting down in Ray Seville's Robbinsdale home to discuss his career in entertainment was no quick trip down memory lane.
. In a nearly four-hour conversation, 53-year-old Seville – born Ray Samuels – recalled stories of his life as a disc jockey, promoter, manager, host, Flyte Tyme go-to-guy and so much more. "When I was on tour with Jesse Johnson I was the body guard, bus driver, road manager, emcee, hairdresser ... I did it all," laughed Seville. "I had to do everything, he kept firing everybody."
. But let's back up for a minute. Before Seville worked with Johnson, the extravagant front man of the Jesse Johnson's Revue and original member of The Time, Seville was still just Ray Samuels, a guy who grew up in north Minneapolis and had a love for music and a couple of key connections.
. "I was driving in my car with Jimmy Jam (yes, that Jimmy Jam) and we went to the old Studio 94, a club on McKnight and (Interstate) 94 so Jam could buy the club's old turntables – Jimmy Jam was a cold DJ," recounted Seville. "He used to spin records and play the keyboard at the same time. So we're driving with the turntables and we get pulled over by Prince (yes, that Prince) and he asked Jimmy to be in a band (that band would become The Time). Jam said cool and just gave me the turntables he just bought."
. Seville, who was just out of high school and working for the Federal Reserve at the time, began practicing on his gift tables, but with little musical guidance wasn't progressing. That's when Jam stepped in again.
. "I had the tables about a year and when Jam came off tour he asked me how I was doing DJing and I told him I didn't know how to mix. So in a day he showed me how to mix, blend records, told me about beats per minute, everything I needed to know," said Seville. "That was in 1981." People tend to gravitate to Seville. Maybe it's his personality. Maybe it's the natural salesperson in him. So once Seville felt his skills were worthy of showcasing he decided to throw a house party.
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According to the Twin Cities entertainment pioneer, whose home is full of gold and platinum plaques, the party had 300 people inside and an additional 200 out on the lawn that the police made disburse. Seville was a DJ, but he quickly realized he was cut out to be a promoter. "That kind of sparked my career," said Seville. "Jam was a better DJ and I felt I had to be better in other aspects and that was promoting."
. According to Seville, early in his career he was DJing and promoting at five different clubs each week while maintaining his day job at the Federal Reserve until he was passed over for a promotion and quit. His "night job" earnings were far outpacing his $7,500 annual salary at the Fed.
. OK, fast-forward some years. Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis have splintered off from The Time to form the now famous Flyte Tyme Studio and Seville is back from tour with Jesse Johnson. Seville said he wasn't working a "regular" job so during the day he was hired to gut the 15,000 square foot warehouse that would become Flyte Tyme. Once he finished, he stayed on to assist in construction and ... well just kind of stuck on from there.
. "They (Jam and Lewis) hired me to do their record parties and as a music consultant," said Seville. "It was the perfect job." According to Seville it was one of his events that led to a fateful connection.
. "I threw a concert for three bands and one was Mint Condition," said Seville. "I invited Jam and Lewis down and so did 'Popeye' (who worked with Mint at the time). Jimmy and Terry came down and said they liked them and were going to sign them."
. Now let's talk about those plaques.
. Seville, who became the operations manager at Flyte Tyme, assisted in one form or another with several successful projects. In his home are plaques of gratitude from artists such as TLC, Usher, New Edition, Mariah Carey, Gladys Knight, Janet Jackson, Johnny Gill, Boys II Men, Jesse Johnson, Mya, Solo, Sounds of Blackness and more. The Sounds of Blackness and Janet Jackson plaques are mounted in the dining room. The only other mounted plaque is one from a movie. It's a gold plaque for sales of over 500,000 copies of the soundtrack to "How Stella Got Her Groove Back." Seville said that's the plaque that means the most to him.
. "Jimmy and Terry didn't know anything about reggae music," said Seville, discussing the reggae themed soundtrack produced by the duo. "I did all the consulting on that one. I picked all the artists and co-producers. I even mixed and edited on a couple of songs."
. As a promoter and event producer, 53-year-old Seville has worked with everyone from Salt n Pepa to Keith Sweat, to Tyler Perry to Mike Epps. Each Friday he's out at Knights of Columbus in Bloomington with Walter "Q Bear" Banks, Jr. and Lorna Pettis. Annually as part of Sumthin' Special, the group produces the two largest urban parties in the state – the White Out Affair and Black Out Affair.
. During our marathon talk Seville threw out a slew of names that many old schoolers would immediately recognize such as DJ Cowboy, Brother Jules and DJ Carl Ray. Seville showed me an "antique" turntable/mixer in his garage next to thousands of boxed-up records. We discussed his musical pedigree – his uncle, Noble "Duke" Samuels was a bassist and president of the jazz union in Kansas City and his father and siblings were part of a traveling band while orphans. We talked about the state of music today and we talked more about Seville's career, which he summed up as such.
. "When I first started, a girl who went to North (Community) High School asked me if she could interview me for the school paper. She asked me what I wanted out of my career and I said, 'Longevity.' She said that wasn't a word." Seville has proven that longevity truly is a word.
You can take a black guy to Nashville from right out of the cotton fields with bib overalls, and they will call him R&B. You can take a white guy in a pin-stripe suit who’s never seen a cotton field, and they will call him country. ~ O. B. McClinton
The story of the two member band Wham!, formed by George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley which was one of the most successful English bands of the 1980's, will now be brought to the big screen.
According to a source, the film, which is already in production under a British film company, will follow the duo's climb to fame and will also portray their amicable split in 1986, Daily Express reported.
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Casting is being done at the moment to fill the role of Michael, added the insider.
With hits like 'Freedom', 'Last Christmas' and 'I'm Your Man', the band sold more than 25 million records worldwide between 1982 and 1986, and became the first Western pop group to perform in China in 1985.
You can take a black guy to Nashville from right out of the cotton fields with bib overalls, and they will call him R&B. You can take a white guy in a pin-stripe suit who’s never seen a cotton field, and they will call him country. ~ O. B. McClinton
Surviving Bee Gee delivers a stunning career-spanning tribute to his late brothers and still-living collaborators in a true family affair.
Venue
Hollywood Bowl Los Angeles (Wednesday, June 4)
A touching look back at his remarkable career serves as a tribute to those Gibb brothers no longer with us.
"Stayin' Alive," the 1977 disco anthem, may be the Bee Gees' best-known song, but it also served as the stated purpose for Barry Gibb's solo tour, which wrapped its first American leg last night at the Hollywood Bowl.
Following the deaths of his brothers and bandmates, Maurice in 2003 from a heart attack, and Robin in 2012 from complications of cancer, Barry Gibb had kept a relatively low profile before emerging late last year with the Mythology Tour, his first solo trek.
Like Brian Wilson, the eldest Gibb brother is the surviving sibling of a pop institution. But whereas Wilson, who's been ravaged by various demons over the years and has to rely highly on his support singers and musicians, Gibb showed that he still has his talent fully intact. That was most evident midway through the set, when he delivered a jaw-dropping sparse reading of Bruce Springsteen's 1985 hit "I'm on Fire." Explaining that Springsteen, his "favorite artist," had recently paid tribute to the Bee Gees by performing "Stayin' Alive" at an Australian tour date, he was "returning the compliment." Sitting on a stool, with eyes closed tight, arms often open wide, he delivered a chill-inducing rendition -- closing with his trademark soprano wordless vocalization -- that sounded just as hip as something on the latest album by the War on Drugs.
And of course, Gibb, now 67, spent ample time digging into the Bee Gees' disco-era hits. The set opened with "Jive Talkin'," but didn't truly get moving until two songs in, when Gibb pulled out "You Should Be Dancing," a percolating disco gem that got the crowd moving, just as the title implored.
For many rock fans who grew up in the '70s, the Bee Gees were often considered public enemy number one, as our favorite radio stations and peers told us "disco sucked." The trio's misstep in the 1978 film flop Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Band didn't help. Of course, with time and distance and rock acts such as the Rolling Stones, KISS and Blondie releasing disco-fied hits, most of those same rock fans realized they were dead wrong, especially in the case of the Bee Gees, who had an impressive run of hits pre-disco, and whose entire catalog ranks up with the best in pop music history.
Backed by an eight-piece band and three backup singers, Gibb touched upon different phases of the band's vast history, with nods to his late brothers and still-living collaborators. Dressed all in black, with his famed mane now thinning and gray, Gibb performed much of the show armed with a blue acoustic guitar. He dipped into the band's classic catalog, performing a slowed down version of "To Love Somebody," pausing for dramatic effect before delivering the song's final line.
Early in the set, he paid tribute to his younger brother Andy, who died in 1988 at age 30 of a heart condition, likely brought on by substance abuse. Noting that "Andy wanted to be a Bee Gee, but he was too young," Gibb performed the ballad "Our Love (Don't Throw It Away)" in his honor as images of the younger Gibb appeared on video screens.
Maurice was remembered with the presence of his daughter, Sammy, who joined her uncle for the first time of the night on a duet on "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?," and returned several other times in the set.
Robin was brought back via video on "I Started a Joke," a song that Barry began singing before Robin took the lead in a duet from the great beyond that worked surprisingly well with accompaniment from the live band.
The family affair also included Barry's eldest son Stephen, one of three guitarists, who stepped up to sing the Maurice Gibb-penned bluesy rocker "On Time," effectively giving his father a breather from the spotlight. He also sang a gritty verse in "I Gotta Get a Message to You," Robin's song about a death row inmates final hours before execution.
Yet mixed in with all the melancholy, there was humor. When Gibb performed "Spirits (Having Flown)," a backdrop of clouds appeared on the video screen, which Gibb faced with out-stretched arms to take flight. Soon after, a jet with the song's title appeared on the video screen, flying amongst the clouds. Later in the set, as a photo of him alongside Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon dressed as the Bee Gees, from his recent Saturday Night Live cameo, appeared on the screen, Gibb noted, "If you're going to have a guy on either side of you, you can't do much better, unless it's my brothers," before dedicating "Nights on Broadway" to Timberlake.
Aside from unearthing such early hits as "New York Mining Disaster 1941" (the first time the band was heard on American radio, Gibb noted) and "Spicks and Specks" (the first time the group was heard on "any radio"), late in the set, Gibb turned the spotlight on his songs that became hits for other artists. He brought up backup singer Beth Cohen to duet with him on the Dolly Parton-Kenny Rogers hit "Islands in the Stream" and his Barbra Streisand collaboration "Guilty," before Cohen took a solo turn on "Woman in Love."
A triple shot of disco heaven followed with "Nights on Broadway," with Gibb once again hitting those incredible high notes, followed by a mash-up of "Night Fever/"More Than a Woman," with the Bowl's disco-ball spinning for full effect. Then, he once again turned to one of his songs made famous by another artist, "Grease," a song that proved his late '70s chart dominance.
In a final tribute to his brothers, accompanied by photos on the screen, Gibb recounted memories of each of his siblings, before launching into "Immortality," the Bees Gees' collaboration with Celine Dion.
Closing with "Tragedy," Gibb reminded us that yes, it's a shame that his brothers are no longer with us, but proved his solo show is the next best thing and shouldn't be missed by any true fan of popular music. Gibb hinted he may return with additional dates later this summer. Catch him while you can.
Set list:
Jive Talkin' You Should Be Dancin' Lonely Days Our Love (Don't Throw It Away) To Love Somebody How Can You Mend a Broken Heart? Stayin' Alive How Deep Is Your Love? On Time I've Gotta Get a Message to You Morning of My Life New York Mining Disaster 1941 Run to Me I'm on Fire (Bruce Springsteen cover) Spirits (Having Flown) You Win Again With the Sun in My Eyes I Started a Joke Spicks and Specks One Islands in the Stream Guilty Woman in Love Nights on Broadway Night Fever/More Than a Woman Grease Immortality ----- Words Tragedy
Though he’s been very quiet during his period of recovery, Randy Travis was actually in attendance at Dolly Parton’s Thackerville, Okla., show on Saturday, May 31, and seemed to be in good spirits.
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Dolly discovered the country star was in the crowd and promptly acknowledged him with a shout-out.
“There are some people you just love and admire for their talents,” she said from the stage. “Tonight, one of those people are here. I actually think he is hiding somewhere way back there or dressed up like Kenny Rogers. But anyway, Randy Travis is here. So wherever you are, I hope you are enjoying the show.”
Randy hung around after the show and spent time with Dolly and fellow singer Janie Fricke.
“Randy was in such great spirits and looked great,” said Janie. “To see how happy he was to be at Dolly’s show, and up and walking was just wonderful!”
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It’s an encouraging sign of progress for the “Forever and Ever, Amen” singer, who endured a scary series of health troubles last summer, including a stroke and a viral infection that led to heart failure.
In late 2013, Randy’s longtime label released Influence Vol. 1: The Man I Am, a collection Randy recorded with his touring band of songs by artists who influenced him.
[Edited 6/6/14 23:40pm]
You can take a black guy to Nashville from right out of the cotton fields with bib overalls, and they will call him R&B. You can take a white guy in a pin-stripe suit who’s never seen a cotton field, and they will call him country. ~ O. B. McClinton
^^He look healthy, hope he's rid of his demons for good.
New Music Seminar Starts Sunday in New York
1:39 PM PDT 6/6/2014 by Roy Trakin
Seymour Stein, Kenny Gamble, Al Bell, Craig Kallman, Nile Rodgers, Peter Asher will be among the panelists.
The New Music Seminar actually predates the likes of SXSW. The industry gathering has memorably hosted keynote speeches by the likes of Malcolm McLaren since being co-founded by Tommy Boy’s Tommy Silverman in 1980.
The Seminar lasted until 1994 as the go-to get-together for the then-emerging indie business, but took a 15-year hiatus, returning in 2009.
“The Beginning of a Brand-New Music Business,” is the theme to this year’s three-day affair, beginning Sunday night at the Wyndham New Yorker Hotel in Manhattan.
Some of the must-attend panels are as follows:
SoundExchange president/ceo Michael J. Huppe will deliver the keynote address on Monday morning before the NMS kicks in big-time with “Turning the Stream into a River,” examining subscription models and moderated by Bloomberg Television’s Cristina Alesci, including Google director of international partnerships Sami Valkonen and Sirius XM svp music licensing George White.
Silverman and Jerry “The Geator” Blavat will be “The Conductors” for “Music Business Legends: It’s Still About the Music,” featuring an impressive panel featuring legendary Sire Records co-founder Seymour Stein, Philly International’s Kenny Gamble and Stax Records Al Bell, which will take place at the Grand Ballroom at 12:45 p.m.
Glassnote’s Daniel Glass, Shazam vp head of music and west ad sales Peter Szabo will take part in “MIDEM Presents: The Globalization of Music,” a look into how music’s worldwide ubiquity affects the marketing of developing artists, at the Crystal Ballroom.
Atlantic chairman/ceo Crag Kallman and Nile Rodgers will moderate “The Producers Movement,” featuring knob-twisters Howard Benson, Andy Kipnes, Mike Caren, Luke Laird, Peter Asher, Tor Hermansen and David Bendeth.
S-Curve’s Steve Greenberg, Razor & Tie’s Craig Balsam, Wind-Up’s Edward Vetri, Mom + Pop’s Michael Goldstone, Average Joes’ Shannon Houchins, ATO’s Jon Salter and Domino’s Kris Gillespie will hold forth on “Independent Labels Coming to Power,” extrapolating on their 35 percent marketshare, making the case for artists as preferable homes to the majors.
DigSin’s Jay Frank will lead the discussion on “Online Media Music Discovery” featuring such journalist types as Billboard’s Andrew Flanagan, Pitchfork’s Mark Richardson, Republic svp publicity Joe Carozza, The Fader’s Andy Cohn and Your EDM’s Elliot Sachs.
Sirius XM president/chief content officer Scott Greenstein, the man who brought Howard Stern to satellite radio, will sit for a Q&A in the Grand Ballroom at 5 p.m. Monday afternoon.
Lava Records music biz vet Jason Flom will lead the charge for “Label Heads: The Gamblers,” sharing “success stories,” “mistakes made” and “lessons learned” with RCA’s Tom Corson, Republic’s Monte and Avery Lipman, Atlantic’s Julie Greenwald, Entertainment One’s Alan Grunblatt and Warner Bros’ Cameron Strang.
Billboard’s Ray Waddell will moderate the discussion for “The Billboard Touring Conference Presents: The Live Music Business and Emerging Artists” with Paradigm’s Marty Diamond, House of Blues’ Ben Weeden, AEG Live’s Casey McCabe and Photo Finish Records’ Matt Galle.
Tuesday’s highlights include sessions on Music Videos, High Resolution Audio, a digital radio workshop and a session with Spotify’s director of economics Will Page.
Danny Goldberg will be among the participants in “The Managers Movement,” Peter Asher will moderate “The Songwriters Movement,” while Island Records president David Massey will oversee “The A&R Movement.”
Republic Records evp Charlie Walk will moderate “Radio: The World’s Best Discovery Engine” with Sirius XM’s Steve Blatter, CBS Radio’s Michael Martin, Power 106’s Jimmy Steal, Radio One’s Jay Stevens and Shazam’s Peter Szabo.
The NMS closes with the “Artist on the Verge Awards” and a final “New Music Nights” party featuring a variety of new performers.
Tonys: Hugh Jackman, Surprise Performances and More About Sunday's Awards Ceremony
2:30 PM PDT 6/6/2014 by Suzy Evans
Getty Images
Hugh Jackman
Producers hint at unannounced appearances, performers and other secrets in store for CBS' Tony Awards broadcast June 8 from Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
NEW YORK -- "You never know who's going to show." That's host Hugh Jackman's motto for this year's Tony Awards, which will be broadcast live from Radio City Music Hall on Sunday night at 8 p.m. on CBS. Jackman launched the campaign by making a surprise appearance at the nominations announcement at the end of April, and now with the actual show approaching, secrets and rumors are flying about what's in store.
"Broadway is where all the stars align," says Heather Hitchens, executive director of the American Theatre Wing, which produces the Tonys in tandem with the Broadway League. "If you're a music person, a film person, or a television person, everybody comes to Broadway."
Let's start with what we do know.
Jackman is hosting for the fourth time, and will be bringing his own personal style of showmanship to the performance. (According to his Instagram videos, there will be jumping and tap-dancing.) "He moves like Gene Kelly," says Warren Carlyle, who is choreographing the three-hour show and is also nominated in two categories as director and choreographer of After Midnight. Carlyle has known Jackman since they appeared in Oklahoma! together -- Jackman as Curly and Carlyle in the ensemble -- at London's Royal National Theatre in 1998. He also staged the hit one-man show, Hugh Jackman, Back on Broadway in 2011.
"He'll be on a lot," adds executive producer RickyKirshner, who with his partner Glenn Weiss make up White Cherry Entertainment. "He'll be doing things you'd expect him to do and things you wouldn't expect him to do."
Kirshner and Weiss (who also directs the telecast) have been the production team for the Tonys since 2003, and they've collectively won eight Primetime Emmy Awards, including the statue for outstanding special class program for the past three consecutive years. Weiss also won a Directors Guild Award for his work last year. The pair have signed on to continue working on the broadcast through 2016. But in the wake of last year's show -- which boasted 7.2 million viewers, marking a 21 percent increase over the year before and the largest audience since 2009 -- the pair have set themselves a high bar to top.
"There are more performances than last year, and it's killing us," Weiss jokes. "We're also trying to figure out what counts," Kirshner adds. "Mr. Jackman has a lot of presence in the show and some of them are little mini-performances or little songs that lead into something else, so we're counting those. We're up to 47 now. I’m kidding! I think we're at, like, 16-ish."
And not all those numbers have been announced, though about 14 of them have. Before 2008, only shows nominated for best musical and best revival were invited to perform. Now, any show with a nomination, along with upcoming productions or those having a noteworthy year -- such as Wicked celebrating its 10th anniversary this season -- might be given a coveted slot in the broadcast, generating exposure that frequently translates into a box office boost.
Headliners this year include nominee Idina Menzel performing a number from If/Then; Alan Cumming in his Tony-winning role as the Emcee in Cabaret; Jennifer Hudson previewing a number from the new musical Finding Neverland, which will play a limited engagement at American Repertory Theater in July (though Hudson is not involved in the production); and Sting performing a song from his musical, inspired by the 2013 concept album of the same name, The Last Ship, which starts tryout performances in Chicago on June 10 ahead of a Broadway debut in the fall.
Patti LaBelle and Gladys Knight will also join Fantasia and the cast of After Midnight in a special number choreographed by Carlyle just for the broadcast. Both LaBelle and Knight will follow in Fantasia's footsteps, taking turns as special-g...his summer in the jazz revue, inspired by the music of Duke Ellington's reign at the legendary Cotton Club in Harlem. "I've tried to do something special with them," Carlyle explains. "The show has 27 individual pieces, and I didn't want to choose. There's a whole new surprise coming."
Neil Patrick Harris, a four-time Tony Awards host and a nominee this year for his performance in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, will perform a number on the show. But the real question on everyone's mind is will he perform with Jackman again? "I think we did that once," Kirshner says slyly of the dueling hosts medley the pair did together in 2011 when Harris emceed. "I'm sure they'll encounter somewhere, some point," Weiss hints.
Another element that might be different this year is the presentations. "I'm very excited about the way the awards are going to be presented," says Charlotte St. Martin, executive director of the Broadway League. "It might be different than any other awards show you've seen."
Boldface names among the presenters include Tina Fey, whose movie Mean Girls is in development as a musical; Bradley Cooper, returning to Broadway in The Elephant Man this fall; and stars who appeared on stage this season like Zachary Quinto, Zachary Levi, Ethan Hawke, Leighton Meester and Zach Braff. Carole King will be introducing her bio-musical Beautiful and is expected to join the cast in a performance.
However, another reason to watch this Sunday is the suspenseful races themselves, most of which are far more difficult to predict than in recent seasons. Will A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder take the top prize over Beautiful? Does Jessie Mueller have the leading actress in a musical trophy in the bag, or will five-time nominee Kelli O'Hara pull an upset? Is this Audra McDonald's year to make history by taking home a sixth award, putting her over Angela Lansbury and Julie Harris for the most acting Tony wins and giving her an award in all four acting categories?
"It's anybody's ball game," Weiss says. "These are live theater performers, and I find the acceptance speeches so much more compelling. That's a segment of the show that we have very little control of. The speeches are the most compelling of any of the awards shows that I've seen -- not just because we happen to be doing them -- but there's a stronger sense of community here. They're respectful of their fellow nominees so they don't necessarily run away with it either. There are some really terrific television moments."
Maya Angelou Remembered by Oprah Winfrey, Bill Clinton at Memorial Service (Video)
7:10 AM PDT 6/7/2014 by The Associated Press
AP Photo/Doug Mills
Maya Angelou
Family and friends, both famous and anonymous, gathered Saturday to remember one of the 20th century's most famous black writers. "Maya Angelou is the greatest woman I have ever known," Winfrey said.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — Maya Angelou liked to say that people will forget what you said or did in your life, but they will never forget how you made them feel. Former President Bill Clinton, First Lady Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey said Saturday they were among the millions touched by Angelou's wisdom when they needed help to rise.
Family and friends, both famous and anonymous, gathered Saturday to remember one of the 20th century's most famous black writers. Amid tears, laughter, and gospel singing, they met at Wake Forest University, where she taught for 32 years though she never graduated from college. Dr. Angelou, as she liked to be addressed out of respect for all the honorary degrees she received, died May 28 at age 86.
Hers was a remarkable life, linking worlds of civil rights, poetry, acting and teaching — those present recalled at the two-hour-long tribute.
"We could just all be up here talking about how Maya Angelou represented a big piece of American history. And triumphed over adversity. And proved how dumb racism is," Clinton said at the private memorial service. "But her great gift in her action-packed life was she was always paying attention. And from the time she starting writing her books and her poetry, what she was basically doing was calling our attention to the things she'd been paying attention to. And she did it with a clarity and power that will wash over people as long as there is a written and spoken language."
The words of the indomitable woman, who Clinton said seemed to pack five lifetimes into one, changed a little black girl on the south side of Chicago whose Malibu Barbie doll was the standard of female perfection.
"Her voice lifted me right out of my own little head," Obama told those gathered in the wooden pews of the main campus chapel. A large photo of her husband awarding Angelou the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011 hung from the campus chapel's oak wall.
The first lady added, "She told us that our worth has nothing to do with what the world might say. Instead, she said, each of us comes from the Creator trailing wisps of glory. She reminded us that we must each find our own voice, decide our own value, and then announce it to the world with all the pride and joy that is our birthright as members of the human race."
Tall and majestic, Angelou added heft to her spoken words with a deep and sonorous voice. She once described herself as a poet in love with "the music of language." She recited the most popular presidential inaugural poem in history, "On the Pulse of Morning," when Clinton opened his first term in 1993.
Clinton remembered that voice, and how Angelou chose not to speak for five years after she was raped by her mother's boyfriend as a child.
"She was without a voice for five years and then she developed the greatest voice on the planet. God loaned her His voice," Clinton said. "She had the voice of God. And he decided he wanted it back."
Winfrey said the close and constant friend she met before becoming a talk show host could shake her out of bouts of self-doubt. Angelou taught her to look beyond trouble and spot the rainbow in the clouds, Winfrey said.
"Maya Angelou is the greatest woman I have ever known," Winfrey said, then almost sobbing: "She was my anchor. So it's hard to describe to you what it means when your anchor shifts."
Winfrey and Obama, seated next to each other in the chapel's front row, swayed in unison as Grammy-winning gospel singer Bobby Jones prompted hands to wave and clap. Actor and producer Tyler Perry assisted actress Cicely Tyson and former United Nations Ambassador Andrew Young to the podium before country singer Lee Ann Womack drew cheers with her hit "I Hope You Dance."
Angelou was born Marguerite Johnson in St. Louis and raised in Stamps, Arkansas, and San Francisco. Her life included writing poetry by age 9, giving birth as a single mother by 17, and becoming San Francisco's first black streetcar conductor. She also danced at a strip joint, sang on records, acted alongside James Earl Jones and earned a Tony nomination for her work on Broadway. She wrote music and plays, received an Emmy nomination for her acting in the 1970s TV miniseries Roots and danced with Alvin Ailey.
Angelou also worked as a coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and lived for years in Egypt and Ghana, where she met South African liberation pioneer Nelson Mandela. In 1968, she was helping the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. organize the Poor People's March in Memphis, Tennessee, where the civil rights leader was slain on Angelou's 40th birthday.
Her son, Guy Johnson, said Angelou's last decade was filled with pain — the toll of her career as a professional dancer and respiratory failure. She was bound to a wheelchair and oxygen tanks. Still, she was able to write four more books, had all of her mental faculties, and died quietly in her sleep.
Born on January 22, 1931, in Clarksdale, Mississippi, Sam Cooke sang with the gospel group the Soul Stirrers before going on to land huge hits like "You Send Me," "Wonderful World," "Chain Gang" and "Twistin' the Night Away." Forging a link between soul and pop, he had a diverse repertoire that attracted both black and white audiences, and started his own record label and publishing company. Cooke died on December 11, 1964, in Los Angeles, California.
Early Life
Sometimes called the father of soul music, singer Sam Cooke first reached the top of the charts in 1957 with "You Send Me." A string of pop and R&B hits soon followed, but he actually started out as a gospel performer. Born Samuel Cook in Clarksdale, Mississippi, he grew up in Chicago as the son of a minister.
Cooke began performing with his family as a child. In his teens, he formed a quintet called the Highway QCs. Cooke modeled his early work after one of his greatest inspirations, the Soul Stirrers, a popular gospel group. Not long after graduating from high school in 1948, he got the chance of a lifetime: being asked to join the Soul Stirrers, which provided him with an opportunity to hone his craft.
Career Highlights
After six years with the Soul Stirrers, Cooke began to branch out into secular music. He recorded his first single, 1957's "Lovable," under the pseudonym "Dale Cooke." Later that year, Cooke released his first number one hit, "You Send Me." Music fans loved this ballad so much that it toppled Elvis' "Jailhouse Rock" from the top of the charts. Before long he put his crystal-clear, velvet-smooth voice to work on such up-tempo tunes as "Only Sixteen" and "Everybody Loves To Cha Cha Cha."
In addition to being a talented singer and songwriter, Cooke had business smarts. He established his own publishing company for his music in 1959 and negotiated an impressive contract with RCA in 1960. Not only did he get a substantial advance, but Cooke would also get ownership of his master recordings after 30 years. Getting this was a remarkable feat for any recording artist at the time. He continued to be a pioneer behind the scenes, founding his own record label in the early 1960s. Working with other artists on his label, Cooke helped develop the careers of Bobby Womack and Billy Preston, among others.
More hits followed Cooke's move to RCA, including 1960's "Chain Gang." Behind the song's catchy rhythm mimicking the sound of prisoners breaking rocks, the song also served as a social commentary by Cooke. He continued to win over fans with a variety of musical styles, from the 1960 ballad "Wonderful World" to the 1962 dance track "Twistin' the Night Away." In 1963, Cooke once again charted with his ode to loneliness, "Another Saturday Night."
Tragic Death and Legacy
No one knows for certain what exactly happened in the early hours of December 11, 1964. Cooke had been out the night before, reportedly drinking at a Los Angeles bar where he met a woman named Elisa Boyer. The pair hit it off and eventually ended up at the Hacienda Motel. There the couple had some type of altercation in their room, and Cooke then ended up in the motel's office. He reportedly clashed with the motel's manager, and the manager shot Cooke. Cooke died from his injury, which the manager claimed was inflicted in self-defense. It was later ruled justifiable homicide.
Thousands turned out to mourn the legendary singer. Ray Charles and Lou Rawls sang at his funeral in Los Angeles, and another service was held in his former hometown, Chicago. The year after his death, Cooke's record company released his song "A Change Is Gonna Come." He wrote this civil rights anthem in response to Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind." It was perhaps his most pointedly political song.
No matter the circumstances of his passing, Cooke left behind a tremendous musical legacy. It only takes a listen to recordings of his live shows, such as his 1963 performance at Miami's Harlem Square Club, to recognize his contributions to soul music. And as a pop icon, Cooke has endured through his songs. Otis Redding and Al Green are among the artists who have covered his work. He was inducted into the Rock and Rock Hall of Fame in 1986.
Sir Mix-A-Lot Performs 'Baby Got Back' With Seattle Symphony (Video)
7:57 AM PDT 6/9/2014 by Mitchell Peters, Billboard
The rapper gave a symphonic makeover to his '90s hit but still invited ladies to join him onstage: "I don't touch. We will not bite unless you want us to."
Rapper Sir Mix-A-Lot teamed up with the Seattle Symphony on Friday to give his classic ode to backsides, "Baby Got Back," a symphonic makeover.
"Something you really should not do, but since tonight is orchestral movements from the hood night," Sir Mix-A-Lot told the crowd at Seattle's Benaroya Hall on June 6. "I'm going to leave some of this open if a couple of ladies would like to get up on the stage. I don't touch. We will not bite unless you want us to."
The concert was part of the Seattle Symphony's Sonic Evolution project, which aims to combine classical music with Seattle's homegrown musical icons, according to NBC News. "Baby Got Back" was orchestrated by London-based composer Gabriel Prokofiev.
"My aim with this new Sir-Mix-A-Lot-inspired orchestral work was to really get inside the musical mind of Sir Mix-A-Lot, to understand how his rhythms, textures, sounds and harmonies worked, and to create a contemporary orchestral composition that was true to the music of Sir Mix-A-Lot," Prokofiev wrote on his blog.
"I think 12 songs is too much to listen to all at once," says Caillat, who will release the rest of her new album later this year.
On Monday (June 9), Colbie Caillat surprised fans by releasing five new songs as a standalone EP, "Gypsy Heart Side A," that preludes the official follow-up to her 2011 album "All Of You." The five new tracks, which include the empowering single "Try," will be rounded out by seven more tracks to form "Gypsy Heart," to be released later this year on Republic Records.
"The reason I wanted to do the EP is because, right now, I think everyone's attention spans are very short," Caillat tells Billboard. "I think 12 songs is too much to listen to all at once. When I buy a record, I get to the fifth song, and then I don't get to really hear the rest of the record. People can listen to the first five songs, fall in love with them, get to know them, and then a few months later, have the rest of the record available for download."
"Gypsy Heart Side A" follows a two-year writing and recording process for the pop singer-songwriter, best known for the Top 20 hits "Bubbly" and "Fallin' For You." After her third studio album, "All Of You," sold 331,000 copies according to Nielsen SoundScan but failed to spawn a radio smash, Caillat released the holiday album "Christmas In The Sand" in 2012 and promised fans to deliver a new album by the fall of 2013.
"I wrote a full record last year, and then my label and I thought maybe we should keep working and see if we got anything better," says Caillat. The response frustrated Caillat, who says she was told to return to the studio and find a "new sound" for her fourth LP. "To be told that your work isn't good enough -- to do better, to be more like those pop artists out there that dress sexy and use Auto-tune on their voices -- to be compared to someone so different, it hurt," she says.
"Try," which was co-written by R&B legend Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, resulted from a "venting experience" for Caillat, who translated her disappointment about her scrapped album into a message of self-love aimed at women. "You don't have to try so hard," Caillat sings on the refrain, in an effort to bestow young girls with a stronger sense of self-worth.
"It's exhausting being a woman," says Caillat. "This song is not to say that we should never wear makeup, but to say that, sometimes, it's okay not to."
The lyric video for "Try" will feature female fans and celebrities like Sheryl Crow, Miranda Lambert, Sara Bareilles, Christina Perri, Hayden Panettiere and more appearing without makeup, to help prove Caillat's point. "I have a couple celebrity friends that would be more impactful for everyday people to see what we look like normally," says Caillat, who will unveil the lyric video during an appearance on NBC's "TODAY" on Tuesday (June 10).
In addition to Babyface, Caillat worked with producers like Max Martin, Johan Carlsson and Julian Bunetta on "Gypsy Heart." An official music video for "Try" -- which is currently being offered as a free download on iTunes -- is in the works as well.
Jack White Shoots the Moon After the Sun Sets at Day 2 of Governors Ball: Concert Review
10:21 AM PDT 6/9/2014 by John DeFore
Matthew Allen
The Bottom Line
The day's most exciting performances all came near the end.
Venue
Randall's Island New York City (Saturday, June 7)
Festivalgoers had more tough choices to make than usual with a schedule that pitted one demographic against the other.
If Governors Ball opened on Friday with almost the easiest weather one could imagine, Day Two reminded attendees that the event is held in summer. Headliner Jack White, playing long after dusk, revealed his bafflement at the appeal of summer fests when he thanked listeners for "standin' in the hot sun all day long — my heart goes out to you, man. Damn."
That sun was likely the main reason anyone over 30 spent more than a few minutes watching Chance the Rapper, who performed a midday set at the fest's only tent-covered stage. Though he delighted a horde of younger fans, the Chicago native gave newcomers little reason to agree with critics who've been praising him since the release of last year's Acid Rap mixtape. The same went for local band Lucius, whose songs sound fine on their highly produced debut Wildewoman, but fared less well in the open air. Here, the group's performing style — with singers Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig wearing identical dresses and platinum wigs while pounding on snare drums — looked like a hollow gimmick compensating for pleasant, but underwhelming, repertoire.
Broken Bells, on the other hand, might benefit from a little gimmicky stagecraft. Their musically solid set felt impersonal even when James Mercer, accompanied by silent partner Danger Mouse, was clearly singing from the heart. The title track from their second album After the Disco, which could easily have been on the soundtrack for The Breakfast Club,but wouldn't have been its hit single, was significantly less futuristic than the space-travel videos accompanying the band on the Jumbotrons.
Childish Gambino aka Donald Glover lacked nothing in the personality department, connecting easily with a large crowd who couldn't have cared less that The Strokes were playing simultaneously on the main stage. He hardly needed the massive jets of fire that shot off during set-opener "The Crawl," but nobody complained, and in fact the crowd surged forward two or three times in pushes that seemed to defy physics — had a couple hundred people in the front simply dematerialized?
Crowds did appear and disappear here. Those who thought they needed to stake out territory early for Spoon's show were wrong — perhaps the group's audience was all catching the end of The Strokes' set, because it wasn't until a few minutes before showtime that the field filled up. Latecomers missed a preview of "Knock Knock Knock," taken from a new record due in August, but were treated to a tight and energetic set whose highlights included "The Way We Get By" and "Who Makes Your Money?" Strangely, at a show with plenty of excited fans in the crowd, filmmakers shooting a performance doc at the fest felt the need to bring in a plant: A photogenic man was hoisted over a barrier mid-show just to dance near the stage for a few minutes. The director had to coach him when his means of expressing enthusiasm was out of sync with that of the actual fans surrounding him.
Spoon frontman Britt Daniel probably wasn't thinking about competition from Jack White when he chose to play a song referencing the White Stripes — "Small Stakes," on which he admits "I don't dig the Stripes, but I'll go for Har Mar" — but fest scheduling ensured that it would be impossible to watch all of Spoon's set while getting anywhere near the stage for the night's headliner playing immediately after.
Just as Skrillex started dropping beats from a laser-shooting spaceship-like set across the field, White offered a more subtle brand of showmanship. Enormous blue curtains set a crepuscular mood (and as one would expect from this design-conscious musician, the color theme extended even to the crew wardrobe in the sound booth), but this performance was no lullaby: The White Stripes number "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground," which started the show, displayed as massive a rock swagger as anything heard during the day; the drummer attacked his kit so aggressively that stagehands made multiple trips out to mend it in a single song.
The heavy mood worked perfectly for a spat-out rendition of "Sixteen Saltines," the instant classic from White's 2012 solo debut Blunderbuss, and for the Stripes' "Seven Nation Army." After two days of hearing groups of amped-up bros tunelessly chanting that song's iconic riff while waiting for other shows to start, it was gratifying to hear White show them how it's done with a ferocious version that ended his encore.
In between, the set ranged in mood: From the lighters-in-the-air ballad "The Rose with a Broken Neck," which appeared on the Danger Mouse/Daniele Luppi collaboration Rome; to the sweet "We're Going to be Friends," for which the band's violinist picked up a ukulele; to a deconstructed version of The Raconteurs' "Steady As She Goes." At one point, White's pedal steel player switched to theremin for "Missing Pieces" — incorporated into an old tube TV whose image oscillated in response to White's guitar; it was the kind of instrument artist Nam June Paik might have made. The moon, which had been hiding off and on, came out for good during this number, echoing the stage's hues and protecting White from the sun he worried fans might have had too much of.
BET, Louder Than Life Partner for 'Music Matters' Compilation Series
4:55 PM PDT 6/9/2014 by Gail Mitchell, Billboard.com
Kevin Winter
Big Sean performing at the BET Awards.
Miguel, Big Sean, Melanie Fiona, Mack Wilds, The Internet are among featured acts.
BET Networks and its new artist program Music Matters has partnered with Louder Than Life/Red Associated Labels to launch a compilation album series: BET Presents Music Matters Vol. 1. Featuring new music from Miguel, Big Sean, Mack Wilds, Melanie Fiona and The Internet, among others, the compilation will be released June 23 in support of the second annual BET Experience (June 27-29). The three-day music and lifestyle festival culminates with the BET Awards on June 29, hosted by Chris Rock.
Now available for preorder at Amazon, the 15-track compilation sports a mix of established acts and rising stars. Music Matters is a multiplatform initiative that provides exposure for groundbreaking talent across BET and Centric, in addition to national tours and monthly showcases. Kendrick Lamar, Miguel, Elle Varner, J. Cole and Marsha Ambrosius are among the artists who have been spotlighted by Music Matters.
Salaam Remi, who founded Louder Than Life last July and doubles as executive vp A&R and production at Sony Music Entertainment, is the executive producer of the BET Presents Music Matters compilation album series. Collaborating with Remi is Kelly G, senior director of music programming for BET Networks.
Governors Ball 2014: Top 10 Best Performances of the Weekend
12:45 PM PDT 6/9/2014 by Billboard Staff
AP Images
Jack White, Chance the Rapper, Disclosure and Interpol all brought their A-games. But who ranks no. 1?
The 2014 edition of the Governors Ball Music Festival was a weekend punctuated by stellar performances and non-stop surprises, spread across the four stages constructed on New York's Randall's Island. With so much going on during the three-day extravaganza, it was impossible to catch every single act -- but we saw a whole lot of them, and these 10 artists elevated the city fest. When all was said and done, these were the 10 sets that highlighted Governors Ball 2014:
10. Disclosure: Sure, Madonna was one of the attendees at Disclosure's Governors Ball jamboree, but the Instagramming presence of Madge should not distract from an extremely enjoyable performance from the U.K. wunderkinds. Pumping through most of their 2013 album Latch, Guy and Howard Lawrence unfurled their house jams to a more-than-game crowd, and provided a set worthy of the Queen of Pop.
9. Phoenix: Phoenix's songs have always been highlighted by lush, high-energy peaks and pretty, pensive low-energy valleys, and that dynamic was more pronounced than ever on the opening day of Governors Ball. The crowd was undeniably partial to the band's 2009 breakout album Woflgang Amadeus Phoenix, and the prettiest moment in the set came when they played their two-part opus "Love Like a Sunset" at the same time that the real-life sunset began peaking through the skyscrapers of Manhattan across the water.
8. Chance the Rapper: Backed by a live band, including a lively trumpet player, Chance the Rapper had the massive crowd at the Gotham Tent jumping to such tracks as “Pusha Man/Paranoia,” “Favorite Song,” “Brain Cells” and “Paradise.” And, as he did at the Sasquatch! Festival in May, the rapper had the Governors Ball crowd chanting “Every day it could be wonderful” when he performed the theme song from the ‘90s cartoon “Arthur.”
7. Vampire Weekend: During its headlining set on Sunday, Vampire Weekend effortlessly hopscotched between its three excellent full-lengths, and the selections from Vampire Weekend's 2013 LP Modern Vampires of the City were especially strong. With tracks as likable as "A-Punk" and "Diane Young," one couldn't help but get sucked into the weekend-capping dance party.
6. Banks: "Every woman is a goddess and every man is a fucking God," Banks declared before delving into the title track of her forthcoming album Goddess. Banks was just that and more at Governors Ball: her moody R&B stylings, as well as her cover of Aaliyah's "Are You That Somebody?," sounded more confident than when she first hit the festival circuit at Coachella in April, and the new artist effectively captivated the Sunday afternoon crowd.
5. Outkast: Whatever the problems may have been between Outkast when they officially came back at Coachella, the pair seemed to have all the answers on Friday night, at their triumphant closing set on the first-day at Governors Ball. The Atlanta rappers' newfound, high-energy focus was noticeable from the get-go: both were smiling, dancing and bouncing, and it was hard to not follow their lead.
4. Diarrhea Planet: Even though the Nashville six-piece’s 12:45 p.m. set on Saturday was testing the limits of the crowd, Diarrhea Planet kept matters positive -- and with its four-guitar arsenal in the fold, that wasn’t very difficult. Once the crowd got into gear, the garage-rockers responded by crowd-surfing themselves and even climbing the lighting towers (mid-riff, even), much to the chagrin of the security. Mosh pits sprung up, and even though it was early, the Diarrhea Planet devotees knew what to do.
3. Interpol: Interpol might seem a little too cool for school with their fancy suits and ties, but Paul Banks and company weren't shy about expressing their adoration for their hometown crowd on Sunday night. With a new album on the way (El Pintor, due Sept. 9 via Matador), Interpol played three new songs, but in the end, the classics stole the show. "Evil" and "Say Hello to the Angels" were brought out early, moody hometown ode "NYC" was a middle-of-the-set highlight and "Obstacle 1" capped off a well-deserved encore.
2. Jack White: "Y'all feelin all right? If you wanna sing along I'm not gonna get mad at you!" Jack White joked to the crowd during his Saturday headlining set before launching into fan favorite "Hotel Yorba." Mixing solo material, White Stripes classics and even a Raconteur ditty or two, White's set was marked by a series of dramatic stops and starts, with the band exceptionally tight in their movements, giving off the impression White must have found the best of the business in Nashville.
1. Axwell ^ Ingrosso: It’s been more than year since Swedish House Mafia, the influential house trio that helped make EDM a pop and arena-tour juggernaut, walked away at the top of its game, but two-thirds of the group delivered a high-octane set, their first as a duo, featuring fireworks, lasers, pyrotechnics and, best of all, several new songs. Behind them, a giant screen flashed trippy, Matrix-chic graphics that made it seem as if they were DJing inside an android’s acid trip. In front of them, pyrotechnics, lasers and steam machines blasted off, causing early leavers streaming over the overlooking RFK Bridge to stop and watch with a pang of regret. Confetti and streamers showered the crowd throughout the set. And then there was the fireworks — several rounds of it. The over-the-top spectacle could’ve threatened to outshadow the new music, but the songs’ drops were too big, brash and bass-heavy to play second fiddle.
UPDATED: At a New York screening of the Warner Bros. film, the director and actors also speculated about the audience for the R-rated title based on the hit Broadway musical, and co-writer Marshall Brickman revealed what the Oscar-winning director brought to the project.
The cast of the movie version of the hit Broadway musical Jersey Boys may not be filled with household names, but many of the actors starring in Clint Eastwood’s tale of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons are certainly familiar with the material.
All but one of the members of the big-screen version of the Four Seasons previously starred in stage productions of the musical, with at least two actors even auditioning for roles in the long-gestating film when Jon Favreau was attached as the director.
John Lloyd Young reprises his role as Valli in the movie after originating the part on Broadway.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter ahead of Monday night’s New York screening of the Warner Bros. movie, Young said he was excited to have the chance to play Valli in a more permanent medium.
“I grew up watching Hollywood movies and some of my favorite movies of all time were Hollywood musicals, and my grandparents were big Broadway fans and talked about seeing legendary performances on Broadway like Yul Brynner in The King and I or Robert Preston in The Music Man or Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady. Of course, those were before my time, so I never got to see those performances, except on film,” Young said. “And so I knew when I had the opportunity to maybe do this, how historically significant it is in Hollywood musicals for someone to originate the role in the Broadway show and to be able to reprise their role on screen.”
Erich Bergen, who plays fellow band member Bob Gaudio, launched Jersey Boys’ first national tour before spending two years in the Vegas production. Like fellow cast member Mike Doyle, Bergen auditioned for the project when Favreau was set to direct, but the film’s former team didn’t see what Eastwood’s team did.
“After my audition, the casting director called my agent and said, ‘He’s not right for the role,’ and my agent asked, ‘You mean the role he’s played for three years?’ And he said, ‘Yeah.’ So we dropped it, we let it go and then this happened,” Bergen told The Hollywood Reporter at a pre-screening dinner at the Angelo Galasso House at the Plaza Hotel.
Both Bergen and Doyle later experienced Eastwood’s quick casting process, in which they taped a couple scenes for Eastwood’s casting director, Eastwood watched them and then the actors found out if they got the part, next seeing Eastwood on set.
“Clint is very confident in his choices, confident in what he does and if he recognizes something in you, he goes with that,” Doyle, who plays record producer Bob Crewe said. “So you feel really trusted and free to do your thing.”
Indeed, working with Eastwood both Bergen and Young felt they could trust their instincts as actors, knowing the film was in the hands of the Oscar-winning director.
“I think what he really taught me was to have confidence as an actor, because especially as a theater actor, you’re micromanaged a lot because there’s set pieces coming in and there’s lights and sound and you have to make sure you do the exact same thing in the performance every single night. And when it came time to do the film, he was much more open and wanted me to trust my best instincts,” Bergen said of working with Eastwood. “He got me to do that, and I’m forever grateful to him because of that.”
Young added that unlike on Broadway where they actor’s responsible for telling the story, on film, the director’s responsible for telling the story.
“So for me it was a much more pure acting experience because I knew what I was doing for Clint was giving him the best raw material I could in every single set-up and every single take, and then it would be his decision and his editors’…to put together the story later and choose from what I gave them, the pieces that worked,” Young told THR.
Although Eastwood’s a well-regarded director, his name might not be the first that many people associate with helping the film version of a Broadway musical.
But co-screenwriter Marshall Brickman, who also co-wrote the book for the Broadway show with Rick Elice, said that Eastwood brought a useful musical background to the project.
“There’s something about having a sense of rhythm and a sense of timing and patterns that help you as a director and that’s all through the movie,” Brickman said. “He gets to set and he knows the rhythm of the speeches, he certainly knows what the tempo of the whole piece is like. It’s all of a piece I think because of his musical sensibility.”
Speaking of music, Eastwood also worked with the writers, Brickman said, on rejiggering the music for the movie.
“You know, a two-minute number in a live performance environment like a theater, a legitimate theater can hold because somehow there’s some magical thing that happens when the audience is in the same room as the live performance,” Brickman explained. “It doesn’t quite hold on screen. So you’ve got to figure out ways of keeping the thing visually interesting while the music is playing and continuing on the track. So that’s a combination of what we did, Rick and I, in the screenplay, and what Clint did in combining the music as a score and an underscore and then moving around a little.”
Eastwood was also committed to filling the cast with actors from Jersey Boys’ stage productions, Brickman said. One of the few outsiders is Boardwalk Empire’s Vincent Piazza, who plays Tommy DeVito and told THR he was interested in making the movie both because of Eastwood and the multiple layers and challenges that came with playing his character.
In particular, Piazza sings, dances and plays guitar for the first time on screen in Jersey Boys.
“It was daunting, and I really had to take care of myself day to day to keep up my confidence, and be humble in the work and…get to a place in the work where I’m in great hands and they told me not to worry about it, just keep working hard," Piazza said. "I did and hopefully people will appreciate it within the context of these incredible singers and dancers and actors.”
Both Piazza and Brickman think that the musical’s core audience of fans will be the first to check out the movie, but Piazza believes the R-rated title will eventually cross over to younger adults.
Eastwood concurred, telling THR, “Hopefully young audiences will be interested in the music and they’ll enjoy it too and enjoy it for the story.”
Iggy Azalea photographed by Miller Mobley on May 31, 2014 at Root Studios in Brooklyn.
Miller Mobley
The say-anything, foulmouthed, lightning rod rapper suddenly owns summer as she ties a Beatles chart record (but she doesn't even care): "I'd rather be the Stones"
Late one early-summer Saturday night, Iggy Azalea, one of the hottest pop stars on the planet, enters the lobby of Manhattan's Mondrian Soho, one of the hottest hotels on the planet. In the lush garden patio, expensively dressed couples finish up elaborate dinners, while in the bar, women in this season's Louboutins are half-dancing to a steady electro throb and fielding the attentions of well-heeled bankers.
Tall and pale, wearing track shorts and dirty sneakers, her blonde hair pulled back from her face, Azalea looks like a gangly teenager who has just come home from soccer practice to find a bunch of her parents' boozy friends in her living room. "Ugh," she exclaims. "I forgot that it's a f-ing nightclub around here." If you only know her from the Southern inflections of her rhymes on hits like "Fancy" and Ariana Grande's "Problem" - the Nos. 1 and 2 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 dated June 14 - her starkly Australian accent is momentarily jarring.
She ducks right and heads up the stairs to her room. "This is how I feel about hotels," she says, as she settles into a dining chair in her small suite. "If mainly people under 30 stay there, I'm not interested. I want to stay in a place where 50-year-old rich people stay. It's not that I care who's around me - I just don't want anyone around me. And if it's an old rich lady, they're usually pretty quiet and disgusted I'm even here, which I like. I want to be at the pool and nobody is at the pool - not you and all your bridesmaids."
With that clarified, she picks up the phone and orders dinner: a hamburger with extra cheese, "that weird peperonata thing on the side" and four Arnold Palmers with mint. It's tempting to say that this image - the party-hating, teetotaling, old-lady-loving shut-in - is inconsistent with Azalea's public persona, a short-short-wearing, baller-dating, expert twerker. But as a white, 24-year-old female Australian rapper, upending convention and defying categorization is what defines her brand, though for a while it appeared to be what would sink her career.
Two years ago, Azalea was just another casualty of the record business, trying to turn a handful of accomplished mixtapes and press accolades into a label deal. The road to the April release of her debut album, The New Classic, has been a long one, but the results have been quick: The album bowed at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and at No. 1 on Rap Albums for the week ending May 4, and has sold 146,000 copies through the Nielsen SoundScan tracking week ending June 1. Her single, "Fancy," settles in for a second week atop the Hot 100, leading all three of the chart's metrics: sales, streaming and airplay.
With its bouncily insistent beat, "Fancy" is a strong early contender for song of the summer. And Azalea's collaboration with Grande - who she first met last November when they presented together at an awards ceremony - "Problem," gives her a unique accomplishment: She is the first act since The Beatles to have her debut Hot 100 hits ("Fancy" and "Problem") reach Nos. 1 and 2 on the chart simultaneously.
Azalea is aware that other people think this is a big deal, but to her, "it doesn't mean anything," she says, with a somewhat weary sigh. Then she smiles mischievously, seizing another opportunity to lean into her role as a rebel. "I'd rather be The Rolling Stones."
It has been seven years since Azalea first showed up in Miami, a 16-year-old from a tiny town of 3,000 on Australia's Gold Coast who had told her mother she was going on vacation with a girlfriend but was actually alone and not planning to return home until she had made it as a rapper.
In the years that followed, Azalea ran the gauntlet of music-industry hazing, from watching a deal with a major label (Interscope) unravel to falling in love and then breaking up with another high-profile up-and-comer (ASAP Rocky) to publicly feuding with a peer (Azealia Banks) to slogging through press tours filled alternately with questions about her status as a feminist and her favorite sexual position. Despite her youth, Azalea is already an industry veteran, and as such she has learned to put less stock in the symbols of her success (like matching a Beatles chart record) and more in the unique sound and image that fueled it.
"What does 'new classic' really mean?" she muses, when asked about what drives her life and her art. "For me, as a rapper, I just think whatever classic hip-hop is, the classic image of that? I don't think that's what it is anymore. And I am a good example of what it could look like now."
For many, the idea that a white girl from Australia could be the new face of hip-hop is distressing. At every step of her rise Azalea has been dogged with criticism about her outsider status, accused by some of not paying enough homage to the legacy of hip-hop and by others of too casually co-opting the genre's traditions. To her, it's a Catch-22: Is she not hip-hop enough because she comes from the Gold Coast of Australia, or too hip-hop because she rhymes in an accent that's more Atlanta than New South Wales?
"We get so caught up, especially in rap, with what's authentic, and I wish people would think more about what the f- that even means," says Azalea, glancing absentmindedly at the TV, broadcasting the recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. "One critic was like, 'Why didn't you talk about more Australian things?' I don't understand why I'm supposed to write a song about living in the outback and riding a kangaroo to be authentic."
Iggy Azalea On Lorde's Nirvana Tribute: 'She Is Not Kurt Cobain's Peer' Ariana Grande, Iggy Azalea Dominate Billboard's Twitter & Social Charts Iggy Azalea-Led Songs Of the Summer Chart Returns to Billboard Hot 100: Iggy Azalea Tops Hot 100 Again Azalea is full of colorfully expressed opinions about everything from her detractors and rivals to the awesomeness of Shania Twain's 1990s fashion statements ("She's such a queen"). You can tell she enjoys the comic drama of getting worked up. When Lorde's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame performance of "All Apologies" with the remaining members of Nirvana comes on the TV, Azalea blurts out, "Oh, it's her." There's a long pause, then she goes for it. "Nothing against her, but I think when you're doing a tribute to someone that's dead, generally it should be the person's peer," says Azalea. "Lorde is not Kurt Cobain's peer. No matter if she killed the performance or not, I just don't think it's appropriate." Like all good aspiring superstars, Azalea relishes attention, whether that comes from being worshipped, disagreed with or seen as unusual, the way she was as a child. "I was always the kid that was f-ing weird," she remembers of her experience growing up with her younger sister in Mullumbimby, New South Wales, a remote town approximately 400 miles north of Sydney, nestled among an enclave of hippie surf spots. Her mother cleaned houses and encouraged her daughter's interest in art. Her father worked as a landscaper, but also had a career as a standup comic and played in a punk band. Her parents had an unsteady relationship and eventually split. There were several years when Azalea was a child when she didn't really see her father but as she has gotten older, they've become "close in our own way," she says. As the story goes, Azalea first heard Tupac Shakur's "Baby Don't Cry" when she was 11 and decided then and there to become a rapper. By 14, Azalea was writing her own raps and hanging out in one of Sydney's two hip-hop clubs. But more than a desire to become the Aussie Tupac, Azalea was driven by broader, more classical themes: escape and reinvention. "When I first started rapping, I thought I'd move to the city [Sydney]. But when I got there I was like, 'These people are still not my people,'" says Azalea. "They're still too practical for me. I need some real mental people to be around. I need a lot of batshit-crazy people who are completely excessive and ridiculous. I need to go to America." Azalea landed in Miami in 2007, dabbling in audio engineering and pursuing her GED. The next year she moved to Houston, then Atlanta, where she lived in 2009 and 2010. It was around this time that she put up online her early, attention-getting tracks like the deliciously depraved, witty "Pussy," which began to earn her label attention. In 2010, Azalea moved to Los Angeles, where a deal with Interscope beckoned then fell apart. But after she released two buzz-stoking mixtapes (Ignorant Art in 2011 and TrapGold in 2012), a fan vote secured her the 10th spot on XXL's 2012 Freshman Class cover (Macklemore was also featured that year). That's when T.I. called. "I felt like T.I. could help me get to know producers and help me with my direction," she recalls. PHOTOS: GO BEHIND THE SCENES OF IGGY'S COVER SHOOT Still, by the spring of 2012, her momentum had stalled as quickly as it built. Azalea had no record contract, no publishing deal, and what she says was a sticky-fingered booking agent. She also had split with ASAP Rocky and was feuding with R&B singer Banks. She retreated to Atlanta and went in search of new management. "I didn't want to work with a guy because they just seem to think you're impulsive," she recalls, "so I was like, 'I need to find some bitches that understand me. Like, big mean bitches.'" T.I. put her in touch with his booking agent, Cara Lewis at Creative Artists Agency, who connected the young rapper with her current manager, Sarah Stennett of Turn First Artists. "I didn't even want to meet her," recalls Azalea. "I came to the lunch 40 minutes late in gym clothes, purely for the free food. Sarah was like, 'What is wrong with you, luv? Are you just really rude or are you heartbroken?'Â " Azalea was, in fact, heartbroken. "I'd just broken up with my boyfriend and nobody would return my calls," she remembers. "I told Sarah the whole thing and she was like, 'These f-ing c-s trying to f-ing dick you over. We're going to show them.' Then she sent me to Wales over Christmas to write." Sending her to a remote U.K. location was deliberate. "I wanted her to get really away from all the glitz and glamour and really back to basics," says Stennett. "It was harsh - it was very cold and very dark in deepest Wales at a very faded glory studio, but it became a hugely important part of the process." As sisters in arms, Stennett set up Azalea with production team The Invisible Men, whom she feels are particularly gifted at coaxing what she calls "artist-defining" songs out of young musicians. When the Wales work began to bear fruit, Azalea and The Invisible Men continued working on tracks for nearly two years, a long development process enabled by Turn First's funding and, eventually, Island Records, where president David Massey signed Azalea in the spring of 2013 (she's now under the Def Jam wing of Universal Music Group). One of the many demos they turned out, "Leave It," eventually became "Fancy." "When you have the time to create more tracks than you're ever going to use, the real jewels come to the top," says Jon Shave of The Invisible Men. "It was a very, very promising, strong demo with a really great hook and an overall concept that was so promising. But the actual recording [of it] into a single really became something special," says Massey. "Leave It" was one of many "nuggets" The Invisible Men presented to singer-songwriter Charli XCX that might benefit from a killer pop hook. It immediately leapt out at her. "'Who dat who dat/I-G-G-Y,'" says Charli XCX when asked about it, quoting Azalea's key hook in the song. "I was so into it. I wanted to make it into, like, a 2014 girl power moment. There aren't enough high-profile female collaborations happening." The "Leave It" demo leaked last December, and if you listen to it on YouTube, you can hear the difference between a good rap song and an undeniable pop hit. The beat and verses are in place, but without the Charli XCX hook, it lacks a chorus and easily graspable concept. "I really give Invisible Men a lot of credit for making the record magic," says Massey. "The No. 1 thing people in the music business do to make you do what they want is tell you that your life will be over if you don't do it. They say, 'If you f- up, it will all be over. You'll never have another chance,'" says Azalea. "If I listened to those people, I would have been the girl who had the song called 'Pussy' and almost got a record deal and then didn't and went back to Australia." But she didn't, and now she's free. "You can't ever again make me scared of what's going to happen because I've already seen what happens: You end up in Wales and it's fine. I'm glad I know that."
Shakira Takes to Instagram to Rally World Cup Supporters
10:10 AM PDT 6/11/2014 by Stuart Kemp
John Shearer/Invision/AP
The global pop sensation, a coach on the Voice US, asked her 3 million plus followers to send in "daretodream" pictures along with country code.
Global pop icon Shakira is looking to stir up interest in the World Cup 2014 soccer tourney which kicks off Thursday in Brazil with the host nation taking on Croatia in the opening match.
The singer, who provided the quadrennial tournament's last official song Waka Waka (Let's Hear it For Africa) when it kicked off in South Africa in 2010 has corralled the power of social media, taking to Instagram to call on her fans to "Dare to dream" ahead of the global soccer jamboree.
The Colombian singer -- whose boyfriend Gerard Pique is on the Spanish national soccer team -- asked her three million Instagram followers: "Are you daring to dream about your country's World Cup success? Send us a flag-based selfie using #daretodream plus the country code!"
With more than 65 percent of Instagram's 200 million monthly active users based outside of the United States, there have been a flood of posts for the cause whose "goal" is to unite the world around the global sport.
Columbia and Spain will likely feature highly on Shakira's list of dreams.
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'Searching for Sugar Man': Where Is Sixto Rodriguez Today?
9:00 AM PDT 6/11/2014 by Roy Trakin
The subject of the Oscar-winning documentary went from obscurity in his native U.S. to playing 5,000-seat arenas.
The Oscar-winning documentary Searching for Sugar Man helped launch a brand-new career for its subject, Sixto Rodriguez, 71, who went from obscurity in his native U.S. to playing 5,000-seat arenas like L.A.'s Greek Theatre.
Since the film opened, Rodriguez's two albums -- his 1970 debut, Cold Fact, and 1971's Coming From Reality -- have sold 173,000 and 105,000 copies, respectively. Not all has been rosy, though. Litigation claims his former Sussex label boss Clarence Avant, the music business veteran last seen in the film laughing off the validity of contracts signed 40 years ago, allegedly had him change his song credits on Cold Fact to "Jesus Rodriguez" to circumvent a previous publishing deal.
He still lives in the same rundown Detroit neighborhood and even plays his trusty old, out-of-tune guitar. And his live concerts tend to be spotty affairs; as noted by the Orange County Register's recent review of his Greek Theatre show: "It was a performance that felt closer to a public rehearsal than a concert."
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Morrissey Cancels U.S. Tour Dates Due to Respiratory Infection
1:47 AM PDT 6/11/2014 by Colin Stutz, Billboard
Kyleen James
The crooner has been touring in support of his upcoming album, "World Peace Is None of Your Business," which is slated for release on July 15.
Morrissey has canceled the remainder of his U.S. tour. According to a spokesperson, the former Smiths frontman contracted a respiratory infection in Miami that resulted in a number of subsequent shows being rescheduled. Today it was announced that the infection has worsened and the rest of his tour, including those rescheduled shows, are off.
"In the interest of making a full recovery, all further touring plans have been halted,” said the press statement. “Morrissey thanks his fans for their compassion, understanding, and well-wishes during this difficult period as he recuperates.”
In a bizarre twist, a lengthy statement posted Tuesday night on official fanzine True to You alleges that tour opener Kristeen Young is the source for Moz's recent respiratory problems. The site claims that Young confessed to a "horrendous cold" following a May 31 show in Miami, "the symptoms of which were passed on to Morrissey," resulting in the cancelation of an Atlanta show. The site said that she was asked to take a break from the tour.
Young wasted no time responding, denying she ever boasted of having a bad cold. "I had an allergy attack that was over within 16 hours," she said on Facebook (in a post since removed). According to Young, an allergy specialist prescribed medication, which worked, but Morrissey's management ultimately asked her to leave the tour entirely.
"I am very sorry that Morrissey is not feeling well," Young said. "But I will not tolerate these lies…particularly about my health. This is really too much and bizarre."
Morrissey’s U.S. tour began May 7 in San Jose -- where he was rushed onstage by fans, cutting the show short -- and was originally supposed to extend to June 21, with a closing performance at New York City’s Barclays Center. Following his May 31 show in Miami, Morrissey canceled his performance in Atlanta and postponed dates in Atlantic City, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., all of which are now canceled as well.
The singer has been on tour supporting his upcoming album, World Peace Is None of Your Business, which is slated for release July 15 on Harvest Records.
I don’t know what they’re putting in the water in and around Stockholm, Sweden, but it’s churning out excellent musicians at an alarming rate. Joining the ranks of indie darlings like Jens Lekman, Jose Gonzalez, Lykke Li, and The Knife are sisters Johanna and Klara Söderberg, better known as First Aid Kit. Since making waves in 2008 with a cover of Fleet Foxes’ “Tiger Mountain Peasant Song,” the sister act’s country-tinged blend of indie pop, Americana, and sweetly ethereal harmonies has earned them an international following. With two albums under their belt and a third on the way, the Söderberg sisters seem poised to take over the world — or at least its ears. Now, they’re embarking on a massive world tour in support of their forthcoming third album Stay Gold (available June 10th), but before they metamorphose into international rock goddesses, I managed to catch up with the Söderbergs during a recent stop in Los Angeles.
Nerdist: So let’s talk about Stay Gold. I’ve heard a couple of tracks off of it. I’m really enjoying it so far. Tell me a bit about the recording process. I know you guys worked with Bright Eyes producer Mike Mogis, and you worked a little bit with the Omaha Symphony Orchestra. Tell me a little bit about that – what was the recording process like?
Johanna Söderberg: Yeah, we went to Omaha for five weeks. We were there for – we made our last record in Omaha, too - so we decided to come back. It was a familiar place and an amazing studio, and we just kind of – well, we always record live. For the first week, we kind of just track all of the songs live, which means you do vocals and guitar and keyboard and stuff.
Klara Söderberg: We added lots of strings.
JS: And guitar players.
KS: Lots and lots of nice stuff.
N: Is tracking live sort of standard for the course, or is it just something you guys feel is important for getting the sound that you’re going for?
JS: Well, for us, we sing harmonies together, Klara and I, so we kind of have to be in the same room and sing at the same time. So we kind of like that. We just like the feeling. It’s different than when you layer stuff afterwards. It’s more fun to do it live, I think. It’s different.
N: Yeah, and I guess you probably capture some more of that live energy that you wouldn’t get if you were recording separately, then layering it on top of each other.
JS: Absolutely. Absolutely.
KS: Yeah, definitely.
N: Nice. So what about Omaha in particular – you said you recorded your previous record there as well – what about Omaha draws you there as a recording destination? Is it the studio? Is it the environment?
JS: Yeah, it’s all of that. The first band that we started listening to – really listening to – was Bright Eyes. So for us, it has a lot of positive feeling. And there’s just such a big music scene there. I mean, Mike Mogis, who we’ve gotten to know so well as a friend, and his studio, and also the way he works – he’s just an incredible producer. We just had to go there again.
KS: Yeah. No, I mean, it’s just such an amazing studio. It has such a great vibe. Very nice, friendly – you just feel like you’re at home. Yeah, and also, like, Omaha isn’t like, the biggest city in the world, which is kind of nice.
JS: There aren’t that many distractions.
KS: Yeah. It’s good. When you’re making a record, you should just be focused, and you certainly are when you’re in Omaha.
N: Yeah, I can imagine. Especially a place like that gets you in the frame of mind. Fewer distractions would make it easier to buckle down to work, especially on something like an album. So with Stay Gold, how do you think that your sound has evolved from your previous records?
JS: Well, we worked more with the arrangements. We tried to be more ambitious with them. I think bigger was something we were trying to strive for. Like, we went epic on some songs.
KS: Yeah.
JS: We’ve never tried that before. We always felt like, we kept it really simple, because there are only three people on stage, we wanted to not go too big, or do too complicated things. Now, we’re like, “You know what? Let’s have no limitations and see where we’ll go.
KS: Yeah.
JS: Let’s try it out. We loved the results of that.
N: You guys have this sort of – I always hate pigeon-holing genre stuff – alt-country, maybe. That might not be the right term, but it has sort of that sensibility to it.
KS: Oh, yeah.
JS: Yeah, I mean, we’ve heard a lot of different things. I understand that. It’s nice to label things, but I don’t know. Yeah, sure – alt country.
N: How would you guys describe your sound? What would you like people to describe it as?
JS: It’s really hard to say, but it’s like folk and country influenced pop music.
KS: Yeah, it’s like, if you say alt-country, I immediately think of, like…
JS: People might get the wrong idea. Well, it’s not really like standard country, in a way. We have our own little – we give it our own touch.
KS: I think, like, with all labels, if that makes me think of other people that I like, then I don’t have a problem with it.
JS: Yeah, I think sometimes it’s easier to just list references than to …
N: Yeah, exactly. Well, in that case, who would you say, in terms of influences on Stay Gold, in particular?
JS: Um… Townes Van Zandt.
KS: Yeah.
N: Awesome.
JS: Simon and Garfunkel. Kate and Anna McGarrigle. Yeah.
KS: Ryan Adams. Neko Case.
JS: Neko Case. I mean, there are so many people that inspire us. I could list a hundred people more.
KS: I mean, really…
JS: We could go on for two hours.
KS: That would be kind of boring.
JS: Yeah. [laughs]
N: Shifting gears slightly, I feel like the music scene in Sweden has been really blowing up over the last decade or so. My entryway into that whole scene was with Jens Lekman, and I’ve been finding myself wanting to find more and more. How are you guys received over in Sweden as compared to abroad? Where have you found more of a foothold? Or is it definitely sort of an international appeal?
JS: I don’t know. I think we’re really popular in Sweden.
KS: Yeah, we’re popular enough.
JS: That’s probably where we’re the most popular. But it’s a small country, too. If they play you on the radio…
KS: Yeah, you’re only heard by, like, a hundred people, and we’re all called Sven. [laughs]
N: I read that on Wikipedia before this.
JS: Oh, good. You’re informed.
N: Of course.
JS: [laughs] No, but, like, I don’t know. I feel like everywhere, especially where people know English, like in the UK and Australia, because our lyrics are very important. They like to get that aspect of it.
KS: Mm-hmm. Otherwise you just listen to it and you go, “What?”
JS: No, but, like…
KS: I’m just kidding.
JS:…we try not to think about that too much. We think like, “Whoa, someone likes us over here? That’s crazy!” That’s kind of the attitude I have.
KS: It’s not like, “These are our markets.”
N: Yeah, exactly. Once you try to start breaking it down into key demos and all that it just gets a little obtuse.
JS: Yeah, for sure.
N: So you guys – are you about to go on tour? What do you have coming up in the next few months?
KS: We are about to go on tour for quite a while, and we’re going to start on – the first tour we’re doing is in North America, so we’re coming to the US and to Canada, which is going to be amazing…
JS: It’s our first proper long-length tour in a while.
KS: …and the first one for this record, so we’re going to try it out on the American audience and see if they approve of it.
JS: Yeah. [laughs]
N: Awesome. Do you have a favorite venue or place to play?
JS: So many.
KS: Yeah.
JS: So many terrific venues. We just played – we got to open for Rodriguez at Radio City Music Hall. That was pretty cool.
KS: We liked like that.
JS: We love the Union Transfer in Philadelphia.
KS: Yeah, that’s really good.
JS: That’s where we’re playing in May.
KS: The Orange Peel.
JS: And Orange Peel in Asheville.
KS: We like Asheville. Asheville’s amazing. Yeah.
JS: Everywhere is great. The El Rey, where we’re playing. Webster Hall. We’re playing Webster Hall.
KS: Webster Hall – we did that two years ago. It was incredible. We’re excited to go back there. There are so many places.
N: Awesome. If you had to dance to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?
KS: If I had to dance…
JS: ”I can’t dance” by Gram Parsons. It makes me feel good about not being able to dance.
KS: It’s like a very – it’s not an easy song to dance to, but I think we’re both pretty terrible.
JS: We’re silly dancers. Whenever we dance…
KS: We’re ugly dancers.
JS: You just go for it, but you look ridiculous, but you’re having fun. It’s good to listen to a song that tells you “I can’t dance, but I do it anyway.”
N: I just came from – I was covering Coachella recently, and I can assure you you would have been in great company there.
Both: [laughing]
N: As long as you’re having a good time, that’s all that matters.
KS: Exactly.
JS: That’s all that matters.
KS: Except when you go to dance and you see people who are really amazing, and it really bums me out. I’m like, so jealous! ARGH! But, you know you can’t take yourself too seriously. You can’t be good at everything, you know.
N: That’s when you start entering reality show territory, and those are dangerous waters. Our outlet is called Nerdist, and our audience is very passionate about certain things; they nerd out about stuff. What do you nerd out about?
KS: I’m such a nerd. I get so obsessed with things. Oh, man.
JS: Well, music in general. You know, like, everything. You know their birthdays, when they died.
KS: Yeah.
JS: Like, all their family and every single…
KS: I know! But I want to know it all! And then I have real memory skills. I’ll remember these things too, and, like, five years from now, if you ask me something, I’ll be, like, “Oh yeah, that was blah, blah, blah,” and it’s like, how did I even know that? Where was that hidden in my brain?
JS: It’s strange.
KS: I don’t know what I’m obsessed with, right now…
JS: You’re playing a lot of Nintendo.
KS: Oh my God, Johanna!
JS: What? Is that a secret? I’m sorry.
KS: Yeah, I’m playing this game called Professor Layton that’s pretty awesome.
N: Oh, yeah! That game is rad!
KS: It’s SO good! I got really proud of myself, because I solved this math puzzle thing yesterday, and I suck at math.
N: Yeah, once you solve some of the puzzles in that game, you just want to post up for a high five, but then you realize no one knows what you just did.
KS: Exactly. Yeah.
JS: You always talk out loud, like, “Oh my god, I got it!” And I’m like, “What?”
N: “Great. Good for you.”
KS: I’m trying to figure out what my current obsession. I can’t figure it out. I get obsessed with TV shows, too.
N: Are you guys big Game of Thrones fans?
KS: Not really. I think I got confused with too many names, so I watched the first season, but then by season two, I started watching it and I had forgotten so much. I was like, “Who? Who is that?”
N: Yeah, you need flash cards while watching that show sometimes.
JS: Yeah, I don’t know. Maybe we’ll pick it up.
KS: Yeah.
JS: Otherwise, what do you like? You watch so many TV series. You watch, like, every TV series there is.
KS: Yeah, I do. I follow. I have an app that shows me – it’s called TV Show Time.
JS: It lets you catch up.
KS: Yeah. And then I just watch them. On my lonesome.
N: Very nice.
KS: I’m re-watching Friends for, like, the 15th time, which I realize is kind of lame. But Friends is so nice – it’s so familiar and comfortable. I just remember watching it when I was, like, a kid, and it’s just this nice feeling of these characters. I know exactly what’s going to happen,. and I know the jokes and I still laugh at these lame jokes. [chuckles]
N: Well, Friends is also one of those shows that you can always find on television. At any hour of the day they’re going to be playing reruns.
KS: Yeah, but I’m actually watching it…
JS: From start to finish.
KS: Yeah, right.
N: Oh, nice. Nice. You’ve got to get that continuity in there. Thank you guys very much for taking the time to speak to me today. Have a blast on your tour!
JS: Yeah, it was cool talking with you!
KS: Yeah!
First Aid Kit’s third album, Stay Gold, is available on June 10th from Columbia Records. You can find out where to catch them on tour on their website.
The actress, poet, playwright and an indefatigable voice for Civil Rights passed away at home on Wednesday.
Ruby Dee, an Oscar nominated actress whose career in film and theater spanned five decades, died on Wednesday, her agent Michael Livingston confirms to The Hollywood Reporter. She was 91.
Dee passed away peacefully at her New Rochelle, New York home from age-related causes, Livingston said.
Dee won an Obie Award in 1971 for her portrayal of Lena in Athol Fugard's Boseman and Lena (1970) and a Drama Desk Award for Wedding Band (1974). She was nominated for an Academy Award for her role in Ridley Scott's 2007 drama American Gangster.
She had an impressive stage career, including a highly praised performance in Purlie Victorious (1963). Also on stage, Dee was notable as the proud working-mother Ruth in A Raisin in the Sun (1961). In 1988, she starred with Denzel Washington and Paul Winfield in Checkmates on Broadway and was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame.
Along with her late husband, Ossie Davis, Dee was honored with the Screen Actors Guild's Life Achievement Award in 2001. They were the second couple to receive that honor, with Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward tributed in 1995. With Davis, Dee was also honored in 1970 with the Frederick Douglass Award from New York's Urban League for bringing “a sense of fervor and pride to countless millions.”
In 1989, Davis and Dee were voted into the NAACP Image Award Hall of Fame.
Dee was the first black actress to play a leading role in the American Shakespeare Festival in Stratford Connecticut when she played in King Lear (1965). She later triumphed in Taming of the Shrew (1965) on Broadway.
Dee and Davis conceived the acclaimed PBS series With Ossie & Ruby (1981).The couple co-hosted, performed and co-produced 26 half-hour programs. She co-produced The Ossie Davis and Rudy Dee Story Hour (1974) broadcast over the national Black Network from 1974-78.
In film, she starred most notably in Buck and the Preacher (1972), which featured Sidney Poitier's directorial debut. She also performed in such movies as St. Louis Blues (1958), Cat People (1982) and Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing (1989), where she starred as the stern mother of the block. She also performed in two other Spike Lee films: Get off the Bus (1996) and Jungle Fever (1991).
Other films include: Go, Man, Go! (1954), St. Louis Blues (1958), Our Virgin Island (1959), The Balcony (1963), The Incident (1967) and, more recently, Cop and a ½ (1993).
On TV, she performed in All God's Children and Roots II: The New Generation. She had a leading role in Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and It's Good to Be Alive, a bio on Roy Campanella. She also starred in To Be Young, Gifted and Black. She also played on Peyton Place.
She played Mary Tyrone in the ABC cable production of Long Day's Journey into Night, which was her husband's favorite performances of hers.
She directed and starred in Zora is My Name! for PBS.
She was born Ruby Ann Wallace on Oct. 27, 1924 in Cleveland but was raised in Harlem. She graduated from Hunter College. She first performed professionally in 1941 at the American Negro Theatre, where her classmates included Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte. The three starred in Buck and the Preacher, with Dee playing a no-nonsense pioneer woman. Dee made her Broadway debut in 1946 with a rave performance in Anna Lucasta.
She made her film debut in No Way Out in 1950. That same year she played Jackie Robinson's wife in The Jackie Robinson Story. Forty years later, she played Robinson's mother in a TV biopic.
Dee's talents included writing: She penned a column for the Amsterdam News and served as a contributing editor on Freedomways Magazine. She also co-wrote a film, Uptight. In addition, she created a “poedansical,” Take it From the Top. She made many recordings of poems and stories and regularly gave concert readings, primarily from the works of black writers.
Active in politics, Dee was a member of the NAACP, CORE, Southern Christian Leadership Council and the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee. The couple had three children: Nora, Guy and Hasna.
The classic music star will precede the final match for the sixth time.
Dan Steinberg/Invision/AP
Placido Domingo
Placido Domingo will sing before a World Cup final for the sixth time, announcing Wednesday he will perform at Rio de Janeiro's HSBC Arena on July 11.
The concert featuring the 73-year-old classic musical star will take place two days before the final at Maracana Stadium. The show also is scheduled to include pianist Lang Lang, soprano Ana Maria Martinez, conductor Eugene Kohn and the Orquestra Sinfonica Brasileira.
Domingo has attended every World Cup final since 1970 with the exception of 1978 in Argentina. He sang the 1982 theme song in Spain, "El Mundial." He said the program next month will include classical music and Brazilian songs.
"I always think music and sport are the two great things many people can understand without any need to really speak the language," Domingo said in a telephone interview from London, where he is to conduct Puccini's Tosca next week at The Royal Opera. "I have friends from all around the world, and they are really fanatics of soccer and music. It's great to see many of the people I know."
He joined Luciano Pavarotti and Jose Carreras at the Rome's Baths of Caracalla in 1990 to form The Three Tenors. They returned in 1994 at Los Angeles' Dodger Stadium, in 1998 at Paris' Champ de Mars and Eiffel Tower and in 2002 at Japan's Yokohama Arena.
Pavarotti retired from staged opera two years later and sang publicly for the last time at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. Before the 2006 World Cup final, Domingo was joined by soprano Anna Netrebko and tenor Rolando Villazon for a concert at Berlin's Waldbuehne.
Domingo remains active on opera stages, increasingly in baritone rather than tenor roles, and has been general director of the Los Angeles Opera since 2003.
He wasn't invited to sing before the 2010 World Cup final in Johannesburg, when he was in the middle of a run of Verdi's Simon Boccanegra at Covent Garden. He traveled to South Africa for the final between performances and celebrated with players from his native Spain after it beat the Netherlands 1-0 for its first world title.
Domingo hopes Spain repeats as champion. "I think they have as many chances as anybody else," he said. "There's Italy or Germany — they always smell the success. They are the other two teams that have been so many times champions, and they are ready."
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Amazon Launches Prime Music Streaming Service
6:31 AM PDT 6/12/2014 by Hilary Lewis
AP Images
Madonna is one of the artists whose music is included in Amazon's Prime Music service.
The tech giant, which is reportedly releasing a smartphone next week, takes on Apple on another front.
Amazon has launched a free music-streaming service called Prime Music, available to Amazon Prime subscribers.
The tech giant, which unveiled Prime Music on Thursday, boasts that it’s offering more than a million songs and hundreds of playlists.
The playlists are programmed by experts, with users able to select from Amazon’s pre-created mixes, arranged by genre, occasion, artist, mood and activity.
Still, Amazon’s offering doesn’t include songs from Universal Music Group, which features artists like Taylor Swift, Jay-Z, Justin Bieber, Iggy Azalea and Lady Gaga, since the label reportedly has yet to reach a deal with the tech company. The service is also only available to Prime members in the U.S.
Universal didn't reach a deal with Amazon because it disagreed with the value of the lump-sum royalty payment on offer for the albums in question, according to two people familiar with the matter. One said the royalty amounted to about $40 million to $50 million for the entire music industry over two years.
Labels other than Universal concluded the amount would be equal to or better than a per-play streaming royalty, given how often the songs were played on other digital services, the person said. Neither source was authorized to speak publicly, and both spoke on condition of anonymity.
The service also doesn’t include tracks released in the past six months for a number of popular artists.
Amazon says Prime Music won’t feature any playback restrictions, allowing users to skip as many songs as they want, repeat their favorite song, or download music to a mobile device to listen offline. Users’ Prime Music collection is stored in the cloud.
In addition to online radio and streaming services such as Pandora and Spotify, Prime Music also takes on Apple’s iTunes radio.
Although Prime Music has no additional cost for Prime members, the Amazon Prime service costs $99 a year for new members, following a recent price increase from $79 a year.
Steve Boom, Amazon's vp digital music, said the service will pay for itself and isn't part of the reason why the company raised the price of Prime from $79 in March, a move Amazon said would cover higher shipping costs. Instead, the company will benefit because Prime members tend to buy more from Amazon and remain loyal customers.
"If they come to Amazon for their music needs, they become better and longer-term Amazon customers, and we think that's a good thing," Boom said.
The deal comes on the heels of Apple's announcement that it is purchasing headphone and music-streaming company Beats for $3 billion and is a further acknowledgement of the rise in popularity of streaming and the decline of digital downloads. U.S. sales of downloaded songs slipped 1 percent last year to $2.8 billion while streaming music revenue surged 39 percent to $1.4 billion, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.
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Spike Lee Releases Soccer Short Film Shot in Rio (Video)
2:16 AM PDT 6/12/2014 by Stuart Kemp
Spike Lee on location in Brazil.
The filmmaker has made "The Game" available on iTunes ahead of the 2014 World Cup, which will kick off Thursday.
Spike Lee has created a short film, The Game, about Brazil's beloved soccer as the World Cup 2014 tournament kicks off Thursday night in Rio, with the host nation taking on Croatia in the opening game.
The film details the story of a young Brazilian boy who, sporting his country's colors, follows a football through the streets in pursuit of his ultimate dream: to score a goal in the stadium.
Lee shot the short on location to be the latest film track from Pepsi Max's Beats of the Beautiful Game visual album, a collection of 11 anthemic songs and companion short films, or "filmtracks," that capture the spirit, sights and sounds of soccer. It is set to Grammy Award-winning Kelly Rowland's latest release, "The Game."
Lee's film joins 10 other short films, made by Idris Elba, Jessy Terrero, Diego Luna, Andy Morahan and The Kolton Brothers, among others.
Distributed by Caroline, the complete album and project backed by PepsiCo is available on iTunes, with tracks from musicians including Janelle Monae, Rita Ora, Don Omar, Timbaland, Santigold, R3hab and Jetta, alongside regional favorites Pearls Negras (Brazil), Jolin Tsai (Taiwan) and Hassan El Shafei (Egypt).
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Honda Civic Tour Expands to Include More Music Genres, Three Separate Tours
1:26 PM PDT 6/11/2014 by Roy Trakin
Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Grouplove and Portugal. The Man will be up first, followed by American Authors, before culminating with 3BallMTY.
The 2014 Honda Civic Tour is taking a new turn in its 13th year - with three successive tours and three distinct genres of music for what is intended as the "pillar" of the new Honda Stage music platform.
Alternative rock bands Grouplove and Portugal. The Man will co-headline the first 2014 Honda Civic Tour this summer with Tokyo Police Club and Typhoon supporting on various dates, kicking off August 10 in Seattle, WA. The second of the three tours will begin in the fall, with Brooklyn-based pop/rock band American Authors on October 1. In addition, Latin DJ trio3BallMTY will headline the final tour of the series starting mid-November.
"I would say that this is a dream tour," said Grouplove's Hannah Hooper. "Honda is really invested in all art forms and connecting music with fans."
The Honda Civic Tour kicked off in 2001, with headliners blink-182 and Everclear, and has featured such bands in previous years as Incubus (2002), New Found Glory and Good Charlotte (2003), Dashboard Confessional (2004), Maroon 5 (2005), The Black Eyed Peas (2006), Fall Out Boy (2007), Panic! at the Disco (2008), Paramore (2010), blink-182 and My Chemical Romance (2011), Linkin Park and Incubus (2012) and Maroon 5 and Kelly Clarkson (2013).
Tickets for the Grouplove and Portugal. The Man Honda Civic Tour will go on sale starting June 20.
As they have in the past, headlining bands will once again design their very own custom Honda Civic.
Honda's commitment to music includes, aside from the annual tour, hosting Honda Stages at leadingU.S. music festivals including Governors Ball, Music Midtown and Austin City Limits Music Festival.
Under the program, American Honda brings together entertainment and technology leaders including Clear Channel (iHeartRadio), Live Nation, REVOLT, Vevo and YouTube to produce and distribute original music content through dozens of live events and exclusive online content.
"There is a new generation of music fans that can now share in Honda's passion for music and fun-to-drive vehicles with the expansion of the Honda Civic Tour, reaching a wider and broader fan base," said Nick Lee, Honda brand manager, American Honda Motor Co., Inc. "We are thrilled to work with so many talented artists, sponsor their tours and underwrite ticket prices so that fans have access to the music they love at an affordable price."
L.A.-based indie band Grouplove released their 2011 debut full-length, Never Trust a Happy Song, in 2011 on Canvasback Music/Atlantic, followed by last year's Spreading Rumours, which included the Alternative hit, "Ways to Go." The band performed at Austin City Limits music festival as well as Coachella Music and Arts Festival earlier this year.
Portland-via-Wasilla, AK-based band Portugal. The Man's most recent album, Evil Friends, was produced by Danger Mouse. Most recently, the band partnered with the Smithsonian Institute to raise awareness of the endangered Sumatran Tiger, by releasing a new song, "Sumatran Tiger," on 400 custom polycarbonate records which degraded after a certain amount of plays.
American Authors recently scored a platinum, No. 1 hit with their debut single, "Best Day of My Life," which was included on a Lowe's TV ad and in trailers for the films Delivery Man and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. The group was chosen for both the Vevo Lift emerging artists program and VH1's "You Outghta Know."
3BallMTY (Tribal Monterrey) are an award-winning electronic Latin music group from Mexico named Best New Artists at the Latin Grammys. As one of the most important representatives of "La Generacion Tribal" (The Tribal Generation), the trio has broken cultural, generational and language barriers. Their debut album, Interntalo, went platinum in the U.S., with iTunes selecting them for "Best Latin Breakthrough Album."
Majka Voss Romme has already broken numerous hearts with the emotionally fraught, gossamer-fine music she’s made under her pseudonym Broken Twin. Her highly-anticipated debut album May is out this month through ANTI-. Self-produced and mixed by Ian Caple (Kate Bush, Tindersticks, Tricky) and Brian Batz, May is sure to be making deep waves over the summer with tracks like The Aching and Sun Has Gone already making people weep.
As with all new artists, she’s had to fend off numerous comparisons to already-established acts in her own bashful way. The names of luminaries like Hope Sandoval and Elizabeth Fraser have been mentioned in reference to her elegiac, searing vocal talents – proof if any were needed that this is an artist to get excited about.
She makes up part of the incredible line-up scheduled to hit musicOMH’s stage at The Great Escape in Brighton in May, after a year of touring with Daughter and James Vincent McMorrow. She’ll be joined by many other stunning new acts that we can’t wait for you to hear.
Before she gets swept up in the tide of the British summer, we caught up with Majke for a few getting-to-know-you questions ahead of her inevitably successful album release …
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Can you tell us a bit about how you became Broken Twin? What kind of musical background do you have?
I grew up playing piano and singing with my father. We went through these classic pop songs, like The Beatles’ Here, There and Everywhere. I loved that and when I got older I started sitting by the piano by myself, making up small songs. Then I started playing with a good friend of mine. We taught ourselves to record. That’s when I really started putting all my time and energy into writing songs. Slowly this evolved into the work I’m now releasing.
What kind of music do you find most inspiring? Some artists make a point of not listening to music when they’re recording, others swear by it. Where do you fall on that spectrum?
I listen to a lot of different music that I find inspiring, but when I worked on the album I didn’t listen too much to anything. It wasn’t a conscious decision – I was just working hard on the record and had music around me all day. I couldn’t really take in anything else.
There have been a lot of reviews that compare you to a lot of artists ie. Hope Sandoval. Do you find those comparisons to be complimentary or unnecessary pressure (or both)?
It’s a little strange with comparisons. I understand why people do it – especially when something is new to them. But it’s funny to me, cause often I’m compared to names I’ve never really listened to – sometimes never heard of. But well, people compare with music they know well and I’m just happy if they compare me to something they like. Then I take it as a compliment! Even if I can’t see the connection.
How long do you think it took from your first idea for May to signing off the album as ‘complete’? Was it an easy ride?
I’ve been working on the album for over a year, but some of the sketches were almost three years old. I guess, since I’m a new artist, you could say that I’ve had my whole life to prepare for this album. But that doesn’t really lower the pressure!
Making this album has been everything but an easy ride and I’m grateful for that. At times it’s been a difficult and draining process, but I’ve learned so much from it. I wouldn’t be without that experience now.
Can you tell us a bit about how you work in the studio? Like do you have any set routine?
I worked in different studios and at home, trying to combine both processes, so there was no set routine. I’m very compulsive when I work on my own, so working in a studio with other people was kind of new to me. Challenging and good. I’ve learned a lot from all these great people.
Sun Has Gone has a kind of tenderness that a lot of people find in Lou Reed’s music – do you find it easy to convey depths of emotion in your songs or is it something that you have to work at?
Thanks! I don’t know. I honestly never think about it that way. If I convey anything or not. I try to just write. When I don’t think – usually, that’s where the magic happens.
Do you find it easier to compose something in the studio or to play live? How well does the live medium allow you to convey the meaning of your songs?
I love to write, but it’s a very solitary and inward experience where you allow yourself to forget everything and everyone else around you – including yourself. When you play live there’s people, so there’s a different kind of energy, which you have to relate to. I still try to forget myself like I do when I write and let the music convey it’s own meaning for those listening.
Your cover of Johnny Thunders’ You Can’t Put Your Arms Around A Memory was incredible, what made you choose to cover that particular song?
Thank you! I stumbled upon the song at some point and instantly loved the title. I also really love his version, but figured that if I did it, I would do something completely different with it. I like when covers don’t replicate the original, but take the song somewhere else. I mean, I could never deliver a slightly out of tune vocal the way he did it! It’s amazing, but that’s his voice.
Are there any other songs that you haven’t written that you’d love to record?
Oh yes, there are many. For instance the Tim Hardin song: Reason to Believe. I’ve played that one live.
You’re playing musicOMH’s stage at The Great Escape this year, along with Lyla Foy, James Bay, Oy and Sea Change. Have you heard of any of those guys? If you have, what do you think of them?
To be honest I haven’t heard of them – but I’m always really late at discovering new music! I hope I can catch some bands while I’m there, though. That’s a great thing about playing good festivals – you get to hear a lot of acts you’ve been too lazy to discover. I’m looking forward to that!
Are you excited to be playing the festival? Your appearance has got a lot of people interested.
Definitely! I’ve heard so many great things about this festival and I’ve wanted to go to Brighton for quite some time now. Also, I’ll be playing with a band, which is still kind of new to me. So I’m very excited!
Finally, how close are you to what’s happening in Denmark? Are there any bands/artists that we should keep an eye out for?
Uh, I’m not the most up to date person when it comes to Danish music. Chorus Grant has released a very fine record! And I love Under Byen, but they’re old news. Good news, though!
My Major Company The success story of Irma has not escaped anyone: it is the pioneer of a generation of artists revealed by the Net. Found on YouTube, she signed her first album with the label crowdfunding My Major Company in 2008. Since she was soaking up American culture in France only to return with a new album. More mature, but still with that freshness which the audience love it. Meeting with a singer who knows where it comes from and where it goes.
Why have called this album "Faces"?
Because they are real faces ("faces" in English), real experiences, real-life people who inspired me songs. Both those that I met in New York in the year j ' I wrote and recorded this album all those I met six years since I saw all this crazy adventure.
Does it work differently for a second album for a first?
At first I was a bad start because I thought so! In fact I think it should not. Even if you work differently with the experience we have gained. During these six years I was in the studio, on the road, concerts ... So the design of the songs is not the same, there are more mature, especially technically. But cons I really tried to work and dial the second album to be in the same spirit as the first. Precisely because I realized that it was a handicap to ask too many questions. To say that as this is the second must do this and must do that. Trying to anticipate.
"Faces" was recorded in New York. How has he influenced your music?
It has greatly influenced my music. Themes that I discuss in the album, and then, in purely musical terms, work in New York studios that already is a crazy experience that many artists dream of living and many French artists will live . Because the sound is really a science for New Yorkers. It's crazy how it worked! See work greatly influenced the way I worked on the album. There has occasionally occur songs that are produced enough, heavy enough, provided more than the first album.
The first single from this album, "Hear Me Out", talks about child maltreatment. You consider yourself a committed artist?
Not at all! This song I illustrated by children because for me the form most odious of these sufferings are those inflicted on them to them. But in fact she talks about all forms of suffering, whatever. This song was inspired in New York. I was walking down the street early in the morning and I saw a couple of homeless when they woke up. They were face to face, they looked and they smiled. This moment was an absolute grace, because there was really a contrast between the fact that they are on the street and that kind of happiness that was in their eyes. I sat down and I started chatting with them. And I thought we did not open his eyes, it was commonplace to meet people who live in the street. We say we can not do anything, the world is like that ... So we can not claim to change the world, as the mere awareness of all these sufferings that are completely unmarked, it is already lot. I do not think we should be engaged, I think we should show things. Should be given to see all those things that have become commonplace, whether beautiful things as less beautiful things. This is also the role of the artist, not necessarily to denounce, but to show.
You collaborated with M for the song "Trouble Maker". How this is done and what it has brought you?
M is one of the artists who put my foot in the stirrup. I started by turning its early stages. Was always kept this relationship there because he taught me a lot on stage. He looked at everything from backstage and at the end of my show he advised me. For this song, I heard a solo and of course I thought of him. I just called and I asked him if he would tell him to do. He listened to the song, and that he really liked. We recorded it in Paris and it was magical because I saw Matthieu Chedid, who is one of the artists I admire most, do a solo on one of my songs. Symbolically it was really strong.
Why did you shoot the video for "Save Me" studio while this is not what you used to do?
To Save Me I wanted something very aesthetic. Because this is a song for which the emotion is not so much of what I say but the arrangement and harmonies, choruses. I needed something visually striking of marking. So I ' I met the director Xavier Maingon. This is the first time he is working on a clip. It has a sensitivity that I immediately Plue, and he told me about this concept mapping, that is to say, live 3D projection. I loved this performance next sequence shot.
You saved your two albums with a label crowdfunding (My Major Company ed.) What does this imply?
Beacoup things. Already, a lack of pressure. I felt that to rely on people who help me to produce my album because they like because they want to support the project, took me out of this kind of fantasy that was the middle of the music: a producer who comes barging, which places an artist and presents to people. Here I built with people who followed me everything that happened. For me, it changed everything. That's just why I signed, otherwise I would never have signed with a label. At the time I was doing my videos on Youtube, I had a lot of proposals, but it made me really scared to go in the middle there. My Major Company has completely debunked and desecrated my vision of the world of music, I imagined a little closed and narrow. Actuallythis label is synonymous with freedom. Starting when people support a project that they have already seen, there is no reason to change. All the people I met there were in this label always had at heart I remain who I was and that I make my music as I did from the beginning. I was really reassured me.
Pete Wentz Relaunches Decaydance Records. Signs Lolo(Lauren Pritchard).
Fall Out Boy bassist speaks exclusively about the "expansion" of his label, DCD2
June 12, 2014 9:20 AM ET
DCD2's new logo
Courtesy DCD2
Pete Wentz never considered his Decaydance Records to be a traditional label; he saw it as more of "an apartment building cut in half, so people can see what we're all doing inside." So, naturally, he doesn't consider its relaunch and rebranding as DCD2 to be traditional, either.
"I'm saying it's an 'expansion' of what Decaydance was," he laughs. "We've always tried to do what Jay Z did with Roc-A-Fella, so maybe this is our RocNation. It's going to be home to some of the past Decaydance artists who are still making music, plus a couple of new artists that represent the next logical step forward."
That means DCD2 will relaunch – or expand – with flagship artists Panic! at the Disco, Cobra Starship, Travie McCoy and Fall Out Boy still in the fold. In typical Wentz-ian fashion, the new members of the team have strong ties to the label, too: Lolo, a singer who showed up on Panic!'s 2013 single "Miss Jackson" (you can get a first look at her new video for "Hit and Run" below), and New Politics, the Danish rock outfit who have toured with FOB in the past, and will join them on the Monumentour trek this summer.
"One of the things about this label is that the artists are friends; we tour together, work together, have fun together. It's always authentic," Wentz explains. "And when Fall Out Boy took time off, I was thinking of what the next chapter of it would be. And with Lolo, who's got such exciting songs, and New Politics, who I've always wanted to take under my wing, I think we've got it."
Wentz launched Decaydance in 2005, with Panic! at the Disco's breakout A Fever You Can't Sweat Out album, and the label continued its hot streak with subsequent hits by McCoy's Gym Class Heroes and Cobra Starship. It also served as a rather convenient clubhouse for Wentz and his associates, a group that grew to include rapper Tyga – three years before he released "Rack City" – and Florida pop-punk act Hey Monday, fronted by Cassadee Pope, who, four years later, would win The Voice.
Clearly, the ear for talent was there; the sense of timing was not. So, when Wentz talks about "expansion," this time, he means gradually.
"I'm stoked on Tyga, and everything he did with Young Money, and I'm stoked for Cassadee winning The Voice. But in regards to both of them, sometimes I think we were like Michael J. Fox playing gu...chool band; we were a little too early," he says. "The goal this time is to focus at the beginning, work with the artists we have, then go from there. Who knows though? I have a hard time focusing on any one kind of music."
The first DCD2 music will come from Lolo, and Wentz teased that there will be "a big announcement from Cobra Starship" coming soon after. It's a fitting way to kickstart the label; something new and something old. Which, turns out, was the plan all along.
"I don't ever want to be the kind of guy who sits there, like, 'Yeah, in high school, I was the star quarterback! C'mon, let's watch old videos!'" Wentz laughs. "I'm really excited about the future, whether it's Fall Out Boy or DCD2. When you quit adapting and starting living in the past, you wither and die. You can pay homage to the past, but at the same time, you've got to always look towards the future."
Lolo on Facebook:
I'm so excited to announce that I'll be joining Pete Wentz's label DCD2 Records! I now get the pleasure of sharing a musical home with my friends Panic! At The Disco along with Fall Out Boy, New Politics, Travie McCoy, and Cobra Starship. Also, my mind was recently blown when Fall Out Boy asked me to be a part of their set during #MONUMENTOUR with Paramore & New Politics. Trust me, I'm still reeling. The tour starts next week, come out to the shows and say hi http://bit.ly/1hKAGdt
Last but most certainly not least, to celebrate, I have released a brand new song and music video for "Hit and Run" on Rolling Stonehttp://rol.st/1pMW8yw It got the Whitey McConnaughy treatment and we're all dressed up for a video premiere. Enjoy it, watch it, share it, scream!!
I cannot wait for this amazing adventure to begin. Thankful for these moments. The fun is just beginning. LOLO
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Doc Neeson at the Tamworth country music festival in 2012. Photograph: Tracey Nearmy/AAP
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Beastie Boys in Chicago in 1987. Photograph: Paul Natkin/WireImage
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