Archive: June 2011 (11-20 of 101)

Jun 28 2011 05:10 PM ET

Counting Crows frontman Adam Duritz struggling with 'severe mental illness' and weaning himself off medication, he says

Adam_Duritz

Image Credit: Mike Coppola/Getty Images

Adam Duritz, the lead singer of ’90s hitmakers Counting Crows, is battling his issues with an apparent mental illness, and the medication prescribed to treat it.

And though he’s not enjoying the process, it seems he’s slowly but surely winning. Yesterday he turned to the Crows’ Who Say page to give an update on the painstaking progress he’s made. The withdrawal symptoms aren’t helping the recording of their new album much, he recounts.

“I stopped dropping the meds dosages for recording. Couldn’t shake uncontrollably & sing at the same time. Forgivable. But…I got home. Docs Friday instructions: cut Lithium dose in half-F*** me–not so good now. Gotta keep pushing/get off this s***. Going faster than I should but it still takes too long. All my friends say how clear & present I am. ‘Clear & present.’ Horror. Not mutually exclusive.”

He also assures his fans that he wasn’t addicted to drugs. Rather, the medicine prescribed by his doctor is tough to stop using. “These are not drug addiction problems,” he continues. “I was f***ing crazy. I needed meds. I took meds. Now I’m less crazy. I need less meds. I’m stopping meds. That’s it. These meds just happen to have some freaking vicious withdrawal symptoms when you stop so you can’t do it all at once.”

In 2008 Duritz revealed to Men’s Health Magazine that he suffered from, “a form of dissociative disorder that makes the world seem like it’s not real.” Though, he hasn’t confirmed if he’s still suffering from that specific condition.

Read more:
Adam Duritz exclusive: Why Counting Crows Left Geffen
Counting Crows’ Adam Duritz talks with the Music Mix

Jun 28 2011 04:15 PM ET

Inside Lady Gaga's Japan relief lawsuit: Does it have real merit? And who will benefit?

Filed under: Music and tagged: , ,
lady-gaga

Image Credit: CFDA Fashion Awards Gallery

As we continuously learn from the likes of Madonna, Wyclef Jean and Kanye West, celebrities wading into the world of charity can bring about tremendous change and influence but can also lead to big-time headaches.

Lady Gaga just joined the club yesterday, when legal network 1-800-LAW-FIRM filed a suit in their native Michigan claiming that funds raised through the sales of Gaga-designed-and-endorsed bracelets for the benefit of earthquake relief efforts in Japan were misused.

The suit (which you can read in full at the firm’s official site) claims that Gaga and a number of other companies connected to her, including her various publishing arms, her merchandising company and Live Nation, over-charged for shipping and did not properly allocate tax fees. The suit says that because of these details, Gaga is in violation of consumer protection laws, especially because of the promise that all proceeds would go to the victims of the Japanese earthquake.

“This misguided lawsuit is without merit and unfortunately takes attention away from the kind deeds of the fans around the world who are supporting the people of Japan,” Gaga said through an announcement distributed by her publicist. “The entire $5 donation made with the purchase of each bracelet is going to support the disaster relief. No profit is being made on shipping costs. Sales tax charges were made in accordance with local legal requirements. Lady Gaga has personally pledged her own funds to this cause and continues to support the victims of the disaster.”

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Jun 28 2011 01:40 PM ET

The Voice top eight headed out on tour this summer: How can they make the tour amazing without their superstar coaches?

Filed under: TV and tagged: , , ,
colon_framton

Image Credit: NBC

As we reported yesterday, NBC’s The Voice is following the lead of smash singing competition American Idol, planning to send their best and brightest out on the road following the show’s finale Wednesday night.

The eight finalists–Vicci Martinez, Dia Frampton, Nakia, Xenia, Beverly McClellan, Casey Weston, Frenchie Davis, and Javier Colon–will anchor The Voice Live on Tour. Unfortunately, the show’s esteemed squad of coaches, Adam Levine, Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, and Blake Shelton, will not be joining them. Apparently talks broke down because compensating stars of that caliber would be too costly (and also, Blake and Adam have tour and promotional commitments of their own this summer).

That said, the eight finalists have proven they’re ready for the big stage: I could listen to Javier Colon sing his soulful cover of “Time After Time” or “Angel” all day. Same for Beverly McClellan and her headbanging rendition of “I’m the Only One.” These guys are worth seeing, even without Mr. Levine hummingbird vocals or Ms. Aguilera’s sassy theatrics.

The tour’s budget likely won’t be as robust as the millions spent on each episode of the show, so count on there being a lot less Hollywood sheen on this outing. But as they saying goes, good music trumps everything. The key question is, without all the bells and whistles NBC’s production crew provided and sans the guidance of veteran superstar talents, can the final eight give stellar performances nightly? I think so.

Which Voice star are you guys looking forward to seeing hit the stage this summer? And what songs should they sing?Anything or anyone you think would be better left off the setlist?

By the way, whoever wins on tomorrow’s episode will make an appearance The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Thursday, July 7.

Read more:
InsideTV Podcast: Picking who should win and will win ‘The Voice.’
Miranda Lambert set to duet in ‘The Voice’ finale
‘The Voice’: What you didn’t see on TV

Jun 28 2011 11:24 AM ET

Drake drops 'Marvin's Room' video: Watch here!

His record label may be pulling all of his new tracks off the Internet, but Drake continues to be a one-man promotional machine for his forthcoming album Take Care.

So while his new single “Marvin’s Room” remains somewhat elusive, that didn’t stop the rapper from uploading the song’s brand new video, which finds him laying out a pretty literal interpretation of his own lyrics about drinking heavily and pining over a woman you know he shouldn’t be messing with in the first place.

It looks like it was made for about nine bucks (plus the cost of those whiskey shots and bottles of Heineken), but it’s so direct that it hits way harder than the more expensive, more cinematic and more jumbled Eminem video that premiered yesterday. Check out Drake’s moody clip for “Marvin’s Room” after the jump.

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Jun 28 2011 10:26 AM ET

Lady Gaga sued over Japanese tsunami relief efforts

A Michigan legal group sued Lady Gaga on Friday, claiming that not all the proceeds from the sale of her Japanese earthquake relief wristbands went to the victims, according to Reuters. 1800LAWFIRM filed the federal class-action lawsuit, which also claims that Lady Gaga and her partners overcharged on shipping costs. Gaga is reported to have raised about $3 million for Japan disaster relief through the sales of the wristbands and other efforts. “Our intention via this lawsuit is to uncover any improprieties committed by Lady Gaga and appropriate the full donations assumed to the victims in Japan,” Alyson Oliver, an attorney for 1800LAWFIRM told Reuters. Lady Gaga’s spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Read more:
Lady Gaga takes up Japan quake cause
Lady Gaga will stream songs from ‘Born This Way’ on FarmVille
EMI artists auctioning off cool stuff for Japan relief

Jun 28 2011 10:00 AM ET

Matt Nathanson enlists Sugarland and Little Big Town for cover of 'Room at the End of the World' -- EXCLUSIVE

Filed under: Music, News and tagged: , , ,

Singer-songwriter Matt Nathanson has been performing “Room at the End of the World” — a great, slow song from his just-released album Modern Love — on tour quite regularly.

We’re fans of it. But how do you improve on an already solid tune? Simple: Add Sugarland and Little Big Town. EW has acquired an exclusive backstage video of Nathanson performing “Room” with the two bands (sadly, minus Jennifer Nettles!) while the three acts were on tour together this past spring. It’s pretty dope when it’s all said and done. Watch it here:

READ FULL STORY »

Jun 28 2011 08:00 AM ET

Missy Elliott on VH1's 'Behind the Music': The raptress discusses Graves' disease, childhood abuse, and more -- EXCLUSIVE VIDEO

Filed under: Music, News, TV and tagged: , , ,

On the heels of the revelation last week that Missy Elliott has been suffering from Graves’ disease since 2008, the raptress sat down for an in-depth interview with VH1′s Behind the Music series to talk about those health issues, as well as a variety of other hot-button topics in her life, including the poverty and abuse she endured as a child. EW has an exclusive first look at the episode that will air tomorrow, June 29, at 10 p.m. on VH1.

In the episode, Missy—and those close to her, like her mother and fellow artists Timbaland, Mary J. Blige, and Ciara—discuss the challenges and triumphs she’s faced. Specifically, in the clip below, Elliott talks about the abuse she and her mother dealt with when she was a child. “He pulled the gun out in front of me,” Elliott recounts of her father. “I was screamin’, ‘Daddy, please don’t kill my mother! Please don’t kill my mother!”Later, she adds: “I never forget it. Like, it was the most scariest time in my life.”

In the special, Elliott will also talk at length about her near-fatal battle with Graves’ disease, including the day she first realized something was wrong. “One day I was riding in the car and I realized that my foot couldn’t hold the break down,” Elliott says in the special. “And my leg started shaking real bad, then I started having dizzy spells, bad dizzy spells and I realized I had a knot in my throat and it was huge. I knew something was wrong, I was very scared.”

Additionally, Missy will address rumors about her weight and open up about being sexually molested as a young child, a subject she rarely discusses, as well as the reasons behind why she had to walk away from DeVante Swing of Jodeci and her first group Da Bassment after she got signed for a record deal at the age of 19.

Watch the full, exclusive—and rather juicy—preview video here:

READ FULL STORY »

Jun 27 2011 06:23 PM ET

Bjork's new single 'Crystalline': Hear it here

Bjork

Image Credit: Jamie McCarthy/WireImage.com

Four years have elapsed since Björk dropped her last album, 2007′s forgettable Volta.

But it’s been even longer since we’ve heard classic Björk. The one who put together crazy genre-hopping classics like 1995′s Post, 1997′s Homogenic and 2001′s Vespertine refreshingly shows up on “Crystalline,” the just-leaked first single from her upcoming album Biophilia.

It’s got everything a classic Björk track needs, including some wigged-out xylophones, some crazy-voweled caterwauling about “inner nebulae” and a Roni Size-channeling bit of jungle breakbeat science to wrap things up. It’s fantastically weird and remarkably thrilling, and contains all of the twitchy glitching Björk has been obsessed with since her landmark 1993 debut.

Give “Crystalline” a spin here:

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Jun 27 2011 02:07 PM ET

Sade live -- and stunning as ever -- at New Jersey's Izod Center: An EW concert review

sade_concert

Image Credit: Splash News

I’ve never seen so many people fill a venue so big to see so little. But then again, Sade’s little is a lot.

Last Friday (June 24) the band, led by veteran British Nigerian songstress Sade Adu, stopped at New Jersey’s Izod Center. She surfaced from beneath the stage just after 9pm, in a sheer black shirt, matching pants and heels, and bathed in purple lighting, to sing her last album’s title track, “Soldier of Love.”

To pack a venue as large as the Izod, one might think that there would be more to Sade than what the audience got that evening. There was no glut of costume changes nor were there any elaborate dance sequences like you’d expect at, say, a Beyoncé concert.  In fact, Sade never even broke a sweat (I was eight rows from the stage, close enough to have seen a bead on her brow or forehead—had there been one).

The beauty of her show was in its simplicity. At 52, Adu is gorgeous and elegant. Her gentle sways and slow struts during “Kiss of Life” were sexier than anything I’ve seen from performers half her age. Her moves were smoother and effortless, not contrived and fixed. READ FULL STORY »

Jun 27 2011 12:31 PM ET

Eminem's 'Space Bound' video: Suicide and porn stars - Watch it here!

Even though he has album sales in the tens of millions, a continuously budding film career, and a commitment to sobriety, Eminem still lets women get under his skin.

Such is the case in the just-released video for “Space Bound,” one of the more emo tracks from the mega-platinum 2010 album Recovery.

The clip, directed by Joseph Kahn (who also pointed the camera at Eminem for his “Love the Way You Lie” video last year), co-stars porn star Sasha Grey as Slim Shady’s source of torment.

The pair do a lot of driving at night and end up at seedy diners, and Eminem wrestles with himself (sometimes via split screen) and ultimately decides to take his own life. Or does he? Check out the dark, jarring video after the jump.

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