Category: Music (51-60 of 3931)

May 3 2013 11:25 AM ET

Rihanna's Brooklyn concert postponed because of NBA playoffs

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It’s not just Chicago Bulls fans who are upset about the Brooklyn Nets forcing a seventh game of their NBA playoff series on Saturday night. Rihanna’s concert at Brooklyn’s Barclays center will now be postponed to accommodate the winner-take-all contest.

In a statement to fans, Brett Yormark, CEO of Barclays Center and the Brooklyn Nets, said, “I want to apologize to Rihanna’s fans for the inconvenience of having to reschedule her show at Barclays Center from Saturday, May 4 to Tuesday, May 7 due to Game 7 of the Brooklyn Nets-Chicago Bulls NBA Playoffs series. I want to thank Rihanna for working with us on this new date and for understanding what a Game 7 in Brooklyn means to the borough. We are looking forward to a special concert and I hope Rihanna will be our guest at Game 7.”

Tickets for Rihanna’s show will be honored on the new night, or refunds will be given.

Read more:
MTV Video Music Awards to make history with move to Brooklyn
Rihanna inks a deal with MAC Cosmetics
Rihanna sulks in a bathtub in ‘Stay’ video: Watch it here

May 3 2013 10:00 AM ET

Hear This Century's 'Deadly Weapon' from their upcoming album 'Biography of Heartbreak' - EXCLUSIVE

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Image Credit: Dirk Mai

Phoenix-based This Century began chipping away at the rock scene with their sweet, jangly 2011 debut, Sound of Fire. Their second album, Biography of Heartbreak, out on May 14, pushes their sound forward with some new rhythmic tricks and production depth (courtesy of knob-twiddler Colby Wedgeworth).

Their evolution is clearly evident on the dramatic track “Deadly Weapon,” which you can listen to exclusively below.  READ FULL STORY »

May 2 2013 07:22 PM ET

Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman dies

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Jeff Hanneman, guitarist for legendary thrash metal band Slayer, has died of liver failure. He was 49. The band posted the news on their website and Facebook page Thursday. Hanneman founded the band with fellow guitarist Kerry King in 1981 and created a sound influenced by heavy metal and punk, writing Slayer classics like “Raining Blood” and “Angel of Death.”

The full statement on Slayer’s website reads:

Slayer is devastated to inform that their bandmate and brother, Jeff Hanneman, passed away at about 11AM this morning near his Southern California home. Hanneman was in an area hospital when he suffered liver failure. He is survived by his wife Kathy, his sister Kathy and his brothers Michael and Larry, and will be sorely missed.

In 2011, Hanneman suffered a spider bite and contracted a flesh-eating disease, taking time off from the band to recuperate, but it is unclear if this contributed to his death.
READ FULL STORY »

May 2 2013 01:44 PM ET

NPR is streaming the 'Gatsby' soundtrack: What's worth talking about

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Stop whatever you are doing and listen to The Great Gatsby soundtrack, which is streaming in full over at NPR days before its May 7 release. The album arrives pre-buzzed, thanks to behind-the-scenes work from Jay-Z and a series of tracks from a series of high-wattage artists such as Florence + The Machine, Beyoncé, Fergie, and Jack White.

What results is very good (Lana) and very bad (Florence) and very, very interesting, as is the nature of projects that overflow with talented people all working at once. Also: very period. If you didn’t know the movie is set almost 100 years ago, the soundtrack shouts it out at you, all honking brass and a preference for tempos that slide up the scale like liquor, getting hot just as they hit the chorus. It’s Baz Luhrmann’s costume party-version of the ’20s. But it’s fun! Also sad! (People have a way of dying in Gatsby.) Talking points from the 14-track soundtrack:

READ FULL STORY »

May 2 2013 12:26 PM ET

Did Kanye West just announce that his new album is coming out next month? Signs point to yes

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Only Kanye West could tweet two words capable of shaking up everything we thought we knew about music, 2013, and life in general: “June Eighteen.”

That short missive is all that remains of ‘Ye’s once-boisterous Twitter feed. All of his prior tweets have been deleted, giving his cryptic message an extra-mysterious aura.

So what does it mean? Well, the obvious answer is that it could be the release date for his next album. West has been conspicuously absent from the spotlight while holing himself up in his studio in Paris all spring, fueling rumors that his follow-up to 2010′s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy might be imminent.

Just this week, Hot 97 DJ Peter Rosenberg claimed that Island Def Jam recently had a listening session for the album at their New York offices. “Everyone at the label that listened to the album loved it,” said Rosenberg. “I’ve heard it’s dark, but it’s really good.”

Also fanning the flames is Daft Punk’s recent Rolling Stone interview, where the French robots confirmed that they’d reteamed with West in the studio. “It was very raw,” Thomas Bangalter said. “He was rapping — kind of screaming primally, actually.”

READ FULL STORY »

May 2 2013 09:21 AM ET

Janelle Monae and Erykah Badu slink through 'Q.U.E.E.N.' video: Watch it here!

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The sexy, slinky, impossibly funky grooves of Janelle Monae’s new Erykah Badu-assisted single “Q.U.E.E.N.” demanded a next-level video, and the forward-thinking Monae has certainly delivered.

Last night, Monae pulled back the curtain on her new clip, which takes place in an alternate future that casts Monae and her musical accomplices as exhibits in a living museum, imprisoned there because of some sort of unsavory undermining of authority (or maybe they just got freaked out by Badu’s hair).

The video was directed by Alan Ferguson, who previously directed the clip for Monae’s “Many Moons” and has also guided spots for Beyoncé, Katy Perry, and Fall Out Boy.

Check out the clip below, which stars Monae as herself and Badu as “Badoula Oblongata,” which is a fantastic alter ego. READ FULL STORY »

May 2 2013 09:00 AM ET

Lady Antebellum's 'Golden': Watch an acoustic performance here -- EXCLUSIVE

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On May 7, Lady Antebellum will release its fourth studio album, Golden – and the title track, a honey-soaked love letter, was the last song Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott, and Dave Haywood wrote for the record.

They invited Eric Pasley, a fellow Nashville artist and songwriter (Eli Young Band’s “Even if it Breaks Your Heart,” Love and Theft’s “Angel Eyes”) to write with them at Kelley’s home. After a couple false starts on other ideas, Kelley suggested they begin again from scratch: “I said, ‘Just start playing, and I’m gonna start mumbling some words over these melodies, and the song just started pouring out,” he says. “We probably wrote it in a couple of hours over a bottle of wine and delivery pizza. I think the good ones usually come fast like that. ‘Need You Now’ we wrote really quick. Once you find the inspiration” — in this case, their spouses and Scott’s new baby — “everybody’s just throwing out ideas.”

Watch an exclusive acoustic performance of the song below: READ FULL STORY »

May 1 2013 10:37 PM ET

Chris Kelly of Kris Kross dead at 34

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Rapper Chris Kelly, best known as one half of the rap duo Kris Kross, has died, the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office confirms to EW. He was 34.

Kelly (pictured, right) was reportedly found unresponsive at his Atlanta home Wednesday afternoon. No further details are currently available.

In the 1990s, Kris Kross — which comprised of Kelly and Chris Smith — was best known for their hit song “Jump” and wearing their clothes backward. In 1992, when both singers were just 13 years old, their debut album, Totally Krossed Out, was released and went on to sell four million copies in the U.S.

May 1 2013 03:24 PM ET

Tyler, the Creator's Mountain Dew ad pulled after being called sexist and racist

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PepsiCo is once again learning the risks of celebrity partnerships after an ad for Mountain Dew was criticized for portraying racial stereotypes and making light of violence toward women.

The soda and snack food company said it immediately pulled the 60-second spot after learning that people found it was offensive. The ad was part of a series developed by African-American rapper Tyler, The Creator, and depicted a battered white woman on crutches being urged to identify a suspect out of a lineup of black men.

A goat character known as Felicia is included in the lineup and makes threatening comments to the woman, such as “Ya better not snitch on a playa” and “Keep ya mouth shut.” READ FULL STORY »

May 1 2013 01:21 PM ET

The Civil Wars announce new album, possibly still aren't getting along

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One year ago, folk duo the Civil Wars (a.k.a. John Paul White and Joy Williams) seemed like they had everything going for them.

Their debut album, Barton Hollow, had earned Gold certification and won a pair of Grammys; their collaboration with Taylor Swift, “Safe and Sound,” became the breakout track of The Hunger Games; their music was regularly getting played on ABC’s Nashville; and they were performing to sold-out crowds across the country.

But all their momentum came to a screeching halt last November, when they canceled upcoming tour dates due to “internal discord and irreconcilable differences of ambition.” (Despite the divorce language used in the statement, Williams and White are both married to other people.) The singers didn’t explain their hiatus any further, though they did end their sad statement on an encouraging note: “Our sincere hope is to have new music for you in 2013.”

Well, that hope will become a reality this summer. The Civil Wars announced today that they will release a self-titled sophomore album in late summer 2013, but they didn’t dispel any of the chatter about the turmoil within the group. Each member posted vague personal statements on their official site this afternoon: READ FULL STORY »

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