Tag: Adele (51-60 of 106)

Dec 16 2011 11:09 AM ET

Adele, Florence and The Machine, Bon Iver, or Fleet Foxes: Who made EW's album of the year?

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There are only a handful of days left in 2011, which means it’s time to sum up the year that was in various cultural formats.

Entertainment Weekly‘s Best and Worst of 2011 issue hits newsstands today, and inside you’ll find music critic Melissa Maerz’s list of the 10 greatest albums of the year, along with our staff’s picks for the 10 best singles, the five worst, our favorite soundbites, and a look at some key breakout performances. It’s a good way to reflect, look back on the previous 12 months, and remember, “Oh yeah, Limp Bizkit did put an album out–and it was terrible!”

The most important question, of course, is who scored the coveted number-one spot? The debate among the music aficionados here at EW was fierce, but it ultimately came down to a quartet of sophomore albums: Adele’s 21, Florence + the Machine’s Ceremonials, Bon Iver’s Bon Iver, and Fleet Foxes’ Helplessness Blues. Check out the video below for the arguments made for each of these stellar releases. READ FULL STORY »

Dec 14 2011 01:26 PM ET

Michael Buble continues to dominate; The Black Keys enter at No. 2 -- this week in charts

MICHAEL-BUBLE

Image Credit: Steve Jennings/Getty Images

In its seventh week, Michael Bublé’s Christmas continued to utterly dominate the Billboard 200, increasing by 64 percent to 479,000 copies, topping the chart for a third straight week and lifting its U.S. total to a whopping 1,517,000.

Whether the crooner’s compilation was boosted by Bublé’s recent NBC special or the fact that people are just becoming more eager to hear Christmas music is unclear. What is certain, though, is that Bublé will finish 2011 with one of the best-selling albums of the year — in only two months’ time.

Josh Groban achieved a similar feat in 2007, when his holiday compilation Noël moved 3.6 million copies in eleven weeks, and became the best-selling title of all of 2007. Susan Boyle’s debut I Dreamed a Dream was only on the chart for the last six weeks of 2009, but it sold 3.1 million copies, enough to become the second-biggest album in the U.S. that year (behind Taylor Swift’s Fearless). The holidays can be major boon for gift-ready albums like Bublé’s.

In second place, garage-rock wunderkinds the Black Keys avoided any sophomore slump (alright, technically this is their seventh album, but it’s their second record since they broke into the mainstream in 2010) with El Camino, which shifted 206,000 discs in its first week. That number marks the duo’s best sales week by far, trumping the 73,000 debut of their last album Brothers.

Adele and Justin Bieber fill out the third and fourth place slots, respectively. Adele’s 21 experienced a nice 30 percent boost to 187,000, which officially pushed the British songstress’ collection past the 5 million mark. According to Yahoo’s Paul Grein, this is the first time an album has sold 5 million copies in one calendar year since Usher’s Confessions in 2004.  Bieber’s Under the Mistletoe ticked up 19 percent to 153,000, bringing its total to 824,000. It could pass the platinum threshold next week.

Rounding out the top 5, Amy Winehouse’s posthumous release Lioness: Hidden Treasures started in fifth place, selling 114,000 copies. While far from Michael Jackson sales levels, that figure did beat out other debuts like Glee, the Music: Season 3, Volume 7 (No. 9, 58,000) and Korn’s The Path of Totality (No. 10, 55,000), as well as the Roots’ undun (no. 17) and Robin Thicke’s Love and War (No. 22).

Check out the top 10 below: READ FULL STORY »

Dec 9 2011 02:04 PM ET

Adele says fans may have to wait a while for her next record

adele

When Entertainment Weekly visited with Adele last spring, the singer said that she couldn’t wait to get back into the studio and record the follow-up to her hugely successful 21.

“I need to write my record,” explained the British chanteuse. “[My heart] is already broke. That’s why I need to write the record.” But Adele seems to have changed her tune about recording new tunes.

In a new email interview with Billboard, the 23 year old, who is currently recovering from throat surgery, makes clear that she is now in no hurry to return to the studio: “I imagine I’ll be 25 or 26 by the time my next record comes out, as I haven’t even thought about my third record yet. I’m just gonna lay some concrete, set up home and just ‘be’ for a bit. I’ll disappear and come back with a record when it’s good enough. There will be no new music until it’s good enough and until I’m ready.” READ FULL STORY »

Dec 8 2011 11:46 AM ET

Adele or Faux-dele? Watch the singer's doppelganger in new 'Set Fire to the Rain' video

Adele better hurry up and release the official video for her third single off 21, because it looks like she’s got some (scarily similar) competition.

In this decidely non-official video for the soul star’s upcoming official third single “Set Fire to the Rain,” the song is reimagined as a love triangle between a woman, her boyfriend and her boyfriend’s lover, who appears to be stealing him away with some modern dance. Watch the clip, intercut with moody, hidden-in-the-shadows shots of Adele (or “Adele”), below:

READ FULL STORY »

Dec 6 2011 05:11 PM ET

Because she ruled everything else this year: Adele is now tweeting!

Though you cannot technically set fire to the rain, you can light up the internet. Temporarily silenced Adele is now Tweeting @officialadele.

The handle has been in use for a while — with her production company giving admirers updates, such as her recent six Grammy nominations. Up until now, however, Adele herself has been mum. But it seems even the “Someone Like You” star can’t resist the lure of hashtags and retweets.

Yesterday she made her debut, writing, “Right! Its me! I will start tweeting if 10k of u start following @drop4drop &their trip to India this wk. Its a wonderful charity. Go! A xxx”

Naturally, Adelaholics immediately rose to the challenge, hoping to hear more from the 21 songstress.

The cheeky gal (seriously, check out her blog) seems to be holding  up well after her vocal cord surgery. After rabid fan response to her first tweet, she shared a photo, posing in front of a Beyoncé poster, saying, “”F*ck me that was quick! ThankU! I’m in bed, watchin Gladiator, eatin an apple. Here’s a pic of me & Queen B last wk in NYC! X.”

Donning her best fierce face and pretending to be Bey? Stars! They’re just like us.

Readers: Who are your favorite singers to follow on Twitter?

Read more:
Adele’s ’21′ now officially the best-selling UK album of the 21st century
Adele invites fans to see ‘Royal Albert Hall’ DVD for free, drops awesome trailer: Watch it here 
Adele undergoes throat surgery in Boston; spokesman says a ‘full recovery’ is expected

Dec 5 2011 04:05 PM ET

Adele's '21' now officially the best-selling UK album of the 21st century

adele

Adele is still recovering from throat surgery, but that hasn’t stopped 21 from continuing its tear through the record books.

After picking up a half dozen Grammy nominations last week, 21 also officially became the best-selling album in the UK in the 21st century. In doing so, it eclipsed Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black, which has shifted 3.3 million copies since its release in 2006. 21, meanwhile, has moved 3.4 million copies in less than a year, a pretty remarkable feat in the current music-business climate.

What’s even more amazing is the number of high-profile homegrown acts who have released albums in the UK in the past 11 years who still haven’t sold as many albums as Adele. Considering the length of time the albums have been out, and the stature of the artists involved, you would think that U2′s All That You Can’t Leave Behind, Coldplay’s A Rush of Blood to the Head, or Radiohead’s Kid A would be contenders for the sales crown. In fact, the only other album from the 21st century that has put up Adele- and Winehouse-sized numbers is James Blunt’s 2004 debut Back to Bedlam (which was notable for its inclusion of “You’re Beautiful,” easily one of the most polarizing radio hits of the modern era).

If she can keep up the same kind of momentum, Adele could find herself in striking distance of some all-time sales figures in her homeland. She’s right behind the biggest-selling albums of all time there, which include Queen’s Greatest Hits, the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Oasis’ (What’s the Story?) Morning Glory, and ABBA’s ABBA Gold. That’s some pretty rare company, and it’s incredible to think that those albums have had decades to accumulate the kinds of numbers Adele has done in less than twelve months.

Are you surprised at Adele’s dominance, or is it merely one more clear victory for the critical and commercial behemoth that is 21? Let us know your thoughts in the comments, and tell us: What’s your favorite British album of the 21st century? I’m partial to Jarvis Cocker’s debut solo album, but that’s because I’m kind of weird.

Read more on EW.com:
Grammy Nominations: Snubs and Surprises
Adele, Maroon 5, and (yes) Miley Cyrus pay tribute to Bob Dylan on new album
Adele invites fans to see ‘Royal Albert Hall’ DVD for free, drops awesome trailer: Watch it here!

Dec 3 2011 02:45 PM ET

TV Jukebox: 'Ringer,' 'Hell on Wheels' feature our favorite songs on TV this week

Sons-Anarchy-AWOLNATION

Image Credit: FX

TV Jukebox is back, music fans! What better way to emerge from last week’s tryptophan coma and kick off December than with a roster of rousing numbers? This week’s stand-out “show tunes” got our blood pumping during a shoot-’em-up sequence from Sons of Anarchy, a Ringer revelation, and a delightfully kooky Rocky IV reference on New Girl — and that’s just the start. See our picks below! (Warning for those still catching up on DVR: SPOILERS follow!) READ FULL STORY »

Dec 1 2011 06:16 PM ET

Grammys: Who got snubbed?

kanye-west

Image Credit: Joe Kohen/WireImage.com

Here ‘Ye, here ‘Ye! Or don’t: Kanye West may have lead the pack with seven nods when the 54th annual Grammy nominations were announced on Wednesday, but the rapper, whose album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy  topped countless critics’ end-of-year lists, was snubbed in the Album of the Year category, as well as every major category except Song of the Year. Academy voters were most comfortable relegating West to genre categories like Best Rap Performance.

Taylor Swift (for Speak Now) and Beyoncé (for 4) were also overlooked for Album of the Year. (Taylor’s probably doing a very different kind of surprised face right now.) Despite a grand roll-out that included multiple videos and the big VMAs reveal of her baby earlier this year, poor Bey scored only two nominations, both in fairly minor categories: “Party,” her collaboration with Andre 3000 (and, frankly, not the best song on 4), earned a Best Rap/Sung Collaboration nod, while “I Am…World Tour” is in the running for Best Long Form Video. Does this mean we won’t be able to see Beyoncé shake her best tassled maternity dress onstage this year?

And That Song that’s been playing on the radio, in your car, at the grocery store, at the gym, and in your head for the better part of 2011? Sadly, Foster the People went largely unrecognized for “Pumped Up Kicks,” which will no doubt anchor many Best Singles of 2011 lists. Passed over for Song of the Year, Record of the Year, even the Best New Artist category, the group was left to compete only for Best Alternative Album.

Of course, that leaves more space for the big surprise of the night: rave kingpin Skrillex. Racking up five nominations, and taking up a slot in the Best New Artist category that could’ve been filled by, say, Fleet Foxes, Foster the People, or the Civil Wars, he may soon be famous for more than just being the Most Hated Man in Dubstep.

Readers, what’s your take? Find our extended gallery of snubs and surprises here.

More on EW.com:
Grammy nominees list 2012
Trey Parker and Robert Lopez on ‘Book of Mormon’ Grammy nod
On the scene at the 2012 Grammy Nominations Concert: Best and worst moments

Nov 30 2011 10:07 PM ET

Grammy nominees list 2012

Adele

Kanye West’s seven nominations leads the pack of 54th Annual Grammy Award nominees — announced  with great fanfare at Wednesday night’s now-traditional Grammy Nominations Concert Live!! (read our on-the-scene report) – though he was nearly shut out in all major categories other than Song of the Year. Adele, Foo Fighters, and Bruno Mars follow with six, and Lil Wayne and Skrillex each earned five.

The awards ceremony will air live on CBS on Feb. 12 at 8 p.m. ET.

Record of the Year
Adele, “Rolling in the Deep”
Bon Iver, “Holocene”
Bruno Mars, “Grenade”
Mumford & Sons, “The Cave”
Katy Perry, “Firework”

Song of the Year
Kanye West, “All of the Lights”
Mumford & Sons, “The Cave”
Bruno Mars, “Grenade”
Bon Iver, “Holocene”
Adele, “Rolling in the Deep”

Best New Artist
The Band Perry
Bon Iver
J. Cole
Nicki Minaj
Skrillex

Album of the Year
Adele, 21
The Foo Fighters, Wasting Light
Lady Gaga, Born This Way
Bruno Mars, Doo-wops and Hooligans
Rihanna, Loud

For the full list of nominees beyond those announced tonight on the live Grammy concert telecast, go the Academy’s official site here.

ALSO: On the scene at the 2012 Grammy Nominations Concert: Best and worst moments

Nov 30 2011 01:45 PM ET

Michael Buble just barely beats Nickelback on the Billboard 200; Rihanna debuts at No. 3

Michael-Buble

In its fifth week on the chart, Michael Bublé’s Christmas climbed into the top spot on the Billboard 200, shifting just over 227,000 copies.

Thanks to a Black Friday sales boost, the album increased 37 percent from last week, thereby giving Bublé the best sales week of his career and lifting total sales to 745,000. It should pass 1 million by year’s end. READ FULL STORY »

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