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Tonight on SiriusXM’s The Highway, channel 59, Blake Shelton—who’s currently atop the Billboard 200 album chart with the highest debut of his career—will host a special called “Blake Shelton’s Top Ten Voices in Country Music” at 6 p.m. ET.
You’ll have to wait till then to hear his countdown, but Sirius, which snapped this pic of him signing the autograph wall at its studio, did give us a sneak peek of his picks in alphabetical order: READ FULL STORY »
The trials and tribulations of R&B/soul/hip-hop legend Mary J. Blige are well documented, especially when you go through her discography—the singer has famously used her music to tell the stories of her own struggle.
And now, the newest episode of VH1′s Behind the Music: Mary J. Blige, which will air on the cable network Sunday, July 24, at 10 p.m., continues to tell the story, specifically about her struggle to quit drinking for her husband, record executive Martin Kendu Isaacs. EW has the exclusive preview clip of the hour-long episode. READ FULL STORY »
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Looks like Blake Shelton’s side gig as a coach on NBC singing competition The Voice is paying off in other lanes.
The country man leads the Billboard 200 album charts this week. His latest album, Red River Blue, sold 116,000 units, making it the highest debut of his career.
Surprisingly, following at No. 2 is Incubus’ If Not Now, When? with 80,000 copies bought. And again, Adele posts a strong week. Her 21 moved 77,000 albums. Check out the rest of the top 10 after the jump.
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Leona Lewis has had a hard time trying to get back to the Oprah-approved level of success she attained with her smash single “Bleeding Love” a few years back, and her latest single “Collide” isn’t going to do her any favors.
For one thing, it is not awesome: EW’s Tim Stack declared it “a misguided dip into dance-pop” that “lands with a major thud” in his review of the track, which appears in the forthcoming issue of the magazine. (In other words, it’s no “Buffalo Stance.”)
But the other thing that may stand in her way is the fact that she has been accused of stealing the track wholesale from dance artist Avicii. They have had a track called “Penguin” that has been circulating for a few months, and Lewis’ “Collide” is little more than her singing over their track. READ FULL STORY »
Nine months ago, Justin Timberlake and Late Night host Jimmy Fallon brought us the first edition of The History of Rap—a sort of hip-hop history Cliff Notes, told in song—and the people rejoiced.
Now comes the second edition, featuring cuts as varied as N.W.A.’s “Express Yourself,” Salt n’ Pepa’s “Push It,” and DJ Khaled’s “All I Do is Win.” Watch Jimmy and Justin pelvic thrust, bop, and shimmy through their five-minute set after the jump.
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After seven months in prison, embattled rapper DMX (Earl Simmons) was released from an Arizona prison in Yuma earlier today. His manager Nakai Walker confirmed to Reuters .
X was imprisoned in December after pleading guilty to breaking the rules of his probation and consuming alcohol during a concert in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The rapper, 40, whose got solid albums like It’s Dark and Hell is Hot to boast, is no stranger to legal problems. Between drug violations, driving violations, and fraud attempts, his rap sheet has been more prevalent than his music as of late. He was also cited six times for rules infractions during his latest prison stay, including failing to submit to a drug test, which added a week to his jail stint.
“I can tell you one thing, he’s not going to be going back there (to prison) again,” Walker said. Let’s hope she’s right.
Read more:
DMX arrested in Arizona for violating probation
DMX Arrested in Arizona for speeding
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Though plenty of music-related awards have lost their luster over the years (does anybody not have a Grammy at this point?), the annual Barclaycard Mercury Prize still retains its value.
The honor, given to the finest album from the U.K. and Ireland by a panel of British music experts, tends to get it right most of the time, and each of the dozen nominees are typically worthy of the title of “Album of the Year.”
This time around is no different: The 12 discs named as finalists are all pretty great, and they range from commercial juggernauts (Adele’s 21) to stuff you’re probably just discovering (Ghostpoet’s Peanut Butter and Melancholy Blues).
There are also debuts (Tinie Tempah’s Disc-Overy) and veteran efforts (PJ Harvey’s Let England Shake). There are even two entries from acts who have already won the award (Harvey won in 2001 for Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea, and Elbow, nominated this year for Build a Rocket Boys!, took home the prize in 2008 for The Seldom Seen Kid).
The nominees (along with some helpful song samples) are below. READ FULL STORY »
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The Beastie Boys have always been on the cutting edge when it comes to making music videos, but their latest winning streak might be unprecedented even for them.
After the hilarious triumph that was “Make Some Noise,” the Boys have unleashed their second clip from their excellent comeback album Hot Sauce Committee Part Two. It’s called “Don’t Play No Game That I Can’t Win,” features Santigold, stars a handful of awesomely low-fi action figures, and was directed by Spike Jonze (who also lensed classic Beastie clips like “Sabotage” and “Sure Shot.”)
Want to see one of the best videos of the year? Watch the whole thing after the jump.
Image Credit: Kenneth Cappello
There are a handful of necessary elements that go into any great edition of MTV Unplugged.
There should be acoustic instruments, of course, but there should also be an almost uncomfortable level of intimacy between the artist and the audience (who always seem to be sitting extremely close to the action). And for it to become truly memorable, there should be at least one cover song thrown into the mix (or, if you’re Nirvana, covers should make up half of your set list).
For their Unplugged debut, 30 Seconds to Mars delivered all of the above, including a pretty stellar run through U2′s “Where the Streets Have No Name” (for which they also invited a gospel choir). You can check out Jared Leto and friends’ exclusive performance of that U2 classic after the jump. READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Lauren Dukoff
The distance between Adele’s lovely, competent debut 19 and her chart-ruling, music-business-buoying sophomore effort 21 was only two short years. But really, the Adele that we’re currently enjoying (especially the Adele tearing the walls down with “Rolling in the Deep” night after night) is light-years removed from the Adele who first tried to win our hearts a few years back.
That point was driven home when Billboard recently resurrected a fascinating piece of video. It’s Adele performing “Chasing Pavements,” the Grammy-winning single from her first album, in a stripped-down, unplugged environment as part of a performance series for the industry mag’s website. Give it a spin after the jump. READ FULL STORY »
