Image Credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Just two days old, and Blue Ivy Carter is already at the center of wild-eyed internet speculation. (Lucifer’s daughter? Okay. Illuminati? Why not!)
Here, a helpful guide to the finer points of all things Baby Carter:
The first order of business is to get the name right; it’s Blue Ivy Carter — not Ivy Blue Carter, as E! initially reported. That’s half the battle right there.
Image Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage.com
How does one sell nearly 50 million downloads in six years? By releasing nearly 50 million singles in six years.
Hyperbole aside, Nielsen Soundscan revealed that Rihanna is now the top-selling digital artist of all time (time here being about as old as the iTunes Store), having moved 47.5 million digital tracks since her 2005 debut.
This gives her a safe lead ahead of runners-up the Black Eyed Peas, who have 42.4 million digital tracks under their Tron belts, and Eminem, who ranks third with 42.29 million.
The Grammy-winning singer’s previous accomplishments include eclipsing Madonna to become the fastest artist to produce 20 Hot 100 top-10 singles, which she pulled off with “We Found Love.”
Of course, one might say RiRi breaks a lot of records largely by making a lot of them. Since 2005, the Barbadian chart beast has released six studio albums and an astonishing 27 singles — more than the BEPs and Eminem combined in the same amount of time.
The full list is below; see if you can count how many of them haven’t collaborated with Rihanna before: READ FULL STORY »
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Sorry, Seacrest: Kelly Clarkson is making a Breakaway from American Idol.
The singer and first Idol winner will serve as a mentor on the next season of The Voice, the New York Post reports. The episode will air in the spring and feature the “Mr. Know It All” songstress giving tips to contestants under Voice coach Blake Shelton’s wings.
Could this mean that Idol is officially square now, eclipsed by newcomers like The Voice and The X Factor?
“The thing I love about The Voice is that they’re more mentors — they’re not judges,” Clarkson said of Idol‘s hotter, younger sister in an interview last September. “I would never really want to be a judge, just because I don’t want to break people’s hearts.”
Added Clarkson, “I so want to audition for The Voice and see if I can get the chairs to turn around!”
Elsewhere, Billboard reports that the Ron Paul bump that supposedly lifted Clarkson’s sales ended up being a bit of a hoax.
While her most recent album Stronger did in fact experience a rise in the charts, it actually dropped in sales — just not as steeply as other albums, likely due to a big promotional push from the Apple iTunes Store.
Read more on EW.com:
Kelly Clarkson sees sales pick up following Ron Paul endorsement
Kelly Clarkson gets into extended Twitter war over endorsement of Ron Paul
Kelly Clarkson isn’t the only celeb showing support for a presidential hopeful
Jason Derülo famously impressive dance moves have landed him in the hospital. On Wednesday, the singer tweeted he had injured himself while rehearsing for his upcoming world tour. “I fractured my neck doing tumbling & acrobatics 4 tour! Always tryin 2 push boundaries 4 YOU!” Derülo tweeted, along with a photo of himself wearing a neck brace. But the singer is keeping an upbeat attitude, tweeting, “Like my new chain? 
“
Derülo’s website confirmed his injury, noting the singer’s tendency to “push boundaries.” Unfortunately, he won’t be able to push too far. According to a release from his reps, Derülo is canceling his tour and all upcoming promotional appearances thanks to his fractured vertebra. (Those who planned to see Derülo on tour will be refunded.) Said Derülo to his fans in a statement, “The pain of letting you down cuts me way deeper than this injury I’ve sustained. My fans mean everything to me, so I’m praying for a speedy recovery in order to perform for you in the near future.”
Despite his bad luck, the singer could have fared worse — doctors told him he could have been paralyzed following his fall. Thank goodness we’ll get to see him break out his moves again sometime in the Future (History).
Read more:
EW Review: Jason Derülo’s ‘Future History’
They’ll be playing arenas when they tour next month, but on Thursday night, a regrouped Van Halen provided thrills in a tiny club where a VIP crowd stood elbow to elbow as the storied band played some of their greatest hits including “Jump” and “Panama.”
“Welcome to Occupy Van Halen, ladies and gentleman!” frontman David Lee Roth yelled just before the band launched into “You Really Got Me,” the first in an approximately hour-long, high energy set.
The show was at the famed Café Wha? in New York’s West Village — a club owned by Manny Roth, the uncle of Roth. READ FULL STORY »
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We here at The Music Mix love Parker Posey. Not just because she’s a longtime indie-cinema darling (Dazed and Confused, Waiting for Guffman, Party Girl) and now a recurring Good Wife guest star, but because in everything she does, she is always so awesomely, kookily herself.
Read on to find her eclectic playlist below:
CANDI AND THE STRANGERS “SHE WALKS IN BEAUTY” “I love this song because it has this kind of Spanish feel, really fun and relaxed—you know, put on your muumuu, have a glass of wine, and just be.”
ANIMAL COLLECTIVE “MY GIRLS” “This is always on repeat in my car. It’s so positive, and the lyrics are so good: ‘I don’t care for fancy things/Or to take part in the vicious race.’ I really like this trend of songwriting that is honest and intelligent and serious and longing.”
BOB DYLAN “IDIOT WIND” “Picking my favorite Bob Dylan song is so hard, but this is one of my favorite songs ever. He sings it acoustic, and there’s no track, it was never produced. There’s a tape called Blood on the Tracks, but his acoustic version of ‘Idiot Wind’ is incredible, it’s amazing. It is kind of a mean song. It’s really mean! This is his song about the press. So good! Come on, it’s amazing! Oh my God, it’s so good! He’s the real deal. He’s the man, I think. This song is almost too poignant — I can just picture the producer saying, ‘You know what, this is really too honest. This is a little too real.’”
MIDLAKE “ROSCOE” “Oh my God, I love them. I forget how I got turned on to this band, but usually boyfriends out in L.A. will let me know about them. Or I’ll go to Other Music in New York, and say, ‘What do you guys think I’d like?’ They help me out. I like to support local record stores. I heard it when I was in New Mexico, this album, The Trials of Van Occupanther, and the whole thing feels like it’s got a big frontier vibe, like they’re early-American settlers or something. They really create an atmosphere. The guys kind of present themselves as these bearded dudes who would get water from the well and kill a rabbit.”
Image Credit: Larry Busacca/Getty Images
Was yesterday a casting fairy tale for Taylor Swift? It was reported yesterday that the country-pop superstar is likely to play Éponine in the big-screen musical adaptation of Les Misérables.
So far, Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Helena Bonham Carter are all signed on, and Amanda Seyfried is in talks to play Cosette. More than any of the other casting choices, though, Swift’s inclusion changes the dynamic of Les Mis and begs the question: Will the fan base of a bankable artist like her have any impact on ticket sales? READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: John Peets
So, Nickelback or a pickle? It’s an age-old question, but Patrick Carney of the Black Keys thinks he’s got the answer.
It’s the pickle.
“Rock & roll is dying because people became OK with Nickelback being the biggest band in the world,” the “Lonely Boy” drummer told Rolling Stone. “So they became OK with the idea that the biggest rock band in the world is always going to be s—.”
But Carney wants you to know that he is not one of those people:
You should never try to be the biggest rock band in the world. F— that! Rock & roll is the music I feel the most passionately about, and I don’t like to see it f—ing ruined and spoon-fed down our throats in this watered-down, post-grunge crap, horrendous s—. When people start lumping us into that kind of s—, it’s like, ‘F— you,’ honestly.
Tell us how you really feel, Patrick!
Yet despite this rock-on-rock violence, the Black Keys and Nickelback do have something in common: the two bands’ most recent albums – El Camino and Here and Now, respectively – both debuted at No. 2 behind Michael Buble’s incessant chart-topper, Christmas. Maybe the two parties should come together over their common enemy?
More on EW.com:
Here and Now (2011) Nickelback
Michael Buble continues to dominate; The Black Keys enter at No. 2 — this week in charts
The Black Keys premiere new single ‘Lonely Boy,’ release hypnotic dancing video
Image Credit: Dan Steinberg/AP
Once upon a time, 50 Cent had birthdays on his mind.
But 2003 was a long time ago, and now the rapper’s been weighed down by the other end of that spectrum, as evidenced by a number despondent dispatches he sent out on his Twitter account recently.
“I don’t think I’m gonna live much longer,” the rapper told his nearly five-and-a-half million followers.
Shortly before that, 50 had lamented, “I have lost all the faith in the team I’m on,” alluding to the troubles he and his label Interscope have been having. “I have nothing left to say,” the rapper continued. “I will not be promoting my music.”
Of course, 50 — who reportedly made more than $50 million when he “took quarter-water and sold it for two bucks” as VitaminWater — does have something to promote: his new six-hour energy drink, Street King.
Perhaps it was with that in mind that the rapper assured us in a later tweet, “To be conscious that life is short is not suicidal.” Though 50 did add,”I’m good if I die tonight.”
More on EW.com:
Cee Lo Green apologizes for changing lyrics to John Lennon’s ‘Imagine,’ kind of
First chapters of 50 Cent’s novel, ‘Playground’ — EXCLUSIVE
Snoop Dogg launches Celebrity Charity Week on ‘The Price Is Right,’ knows the cost of bird seed: Watch it here
World-music icon Youssou N’dour says he plans to run in Senegal’s presidential election next month, challenging an 85-year-old incumbent whose plans to seek a third term have sparked violent protests. N’dour, who made the announcement late Monday on his private radio and TV stations, joins some 20 other candidates already running against President Abdoulaye Wade.
While the Grammy-winning artist sells out concert venues worldwide and is the West African country’s most famous cultural export, his prospects with Senegalese voters remain unclear. The election is less than two months away, and the incumbent president has been in power for more than a decade. “For a very long time, many Senegalese of different backgrounds have called for my candidacy for the presidency next February,” N’dour said. “I’ve listened, I’ve heard and I am responding favorably to their request. I am a candidate. It’s a supreme patriotic duty, the best I can give of myself. I am the alternative to the current leadership in place in the country.” READ FULL STORY »
