Image Credit: Larry Busacca/Getty Images
It’s the mark of an evolving life to learn at least one new thing every day.
Today, we learned that James Franco has recorded a duet with Smokey Robinson. The two met on a plane, Robinson told Page Six, and basically said “Why the heck not?” Robinson confirmed, “It’s as simple as that. There’s no deep dark secret.” READ FULL STORY »
Once upon a time, many months and Lana Del Rey posts ago, we asked Aubrey Plaza what was on her iPod.
The Parks and Recreation actress tipped us off to the then-unreleased “Hollywood Forever Cemetery” from J. Tillman, formerly of the Fleet Foxes, and mentioned that she’d be starring in its video.
And Aubrey Plaza is not a liar!
Under the moniker Father John Misty, Tillman has released the song (now titled ”Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings”) as the lead single off his forthcoming debut Fear Fun (out May 1), as well as a video to match. Named for one of L.A.’s oldest burial grounds, the droney psych-rock dirge is a bit of a departure from Fleet Foxes’ fey forest-folk, but one that will likely please old fans nonetheless.
As for the video: “We created this trippy funeral scene in Laurel Canyon,” Parks and Rec‘s deadpan doyenne told us back in September. “I play a crazy person who destroys the funeral.”
Watch Plaza go certifiably H.A.M. — eating flowers, smashing turntables, smoking apples — in the video below:
Image Credit: History Channel
Wonder what Jack White’s been up to lately?
As viewers of the History Channel’s American Pickers know, the ex-White Striper, vinyl revitalizer, and Insane Clown Posse collaborator has been busy bartering for stuffed elephant heads.
The show recently went down to White’s Third Man Records headquarters in Nashville to unload the exotic animal segment, buy some of Jack’s vintage wares, and meet Tempest, the world’s oldest burlesque dancer.
“I really do love animals,” White — whose fourth White Stripes album, as many fans know, bears (ha!) the title Elephant – tells the cameras. “And I love the majesty of taxidermy.”
But does he love its majesty enough to fork over the $12,500 sticker price for a stuffed pachyderm, or will he be able to wheel and deal his way to a lower price? READ FULL STORY »
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: DanSteinberg/AP
The bed where Michael Jackson took his last breath is up for sale. The queen-size piece is among hundreds of items from the Holmby Hills mansion where Jackson spent his final days that are set to hit the auction block next month. “We want to preserve the history of these items,” said celebrity auctioneer Darren Julien, president of Julien’s Auctions, which will sell the various antique furnishings, paintings and sculptures that surrounded the King of Pop as he prepared for a series of comeback concerts. The Carolwood Drive home where Jackson lived with his three children from December 2008 until his death on June 25, 2009, is separately up for sale.
A note from one of the children remains on a chalkboard inside the home’s sprawling kitchen, where three barstools were lined up against the center island — a perfect breakfast spot for the kids. “I (heart) Daddy. SMILE, it’s for free,” the chalk note reads in childlike scrawl. The chalkboard will be sold as-is, and is expected to fetch more than $400. READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Jon Furniss/WireImage.com
OK, James Franco. We get it. You are bionically high-achieving.
You go to school, you teach, you write, you act, you paint, you host award shows, you are an excellently homicidal soap-opera villain. You’re willing to give stuff a try, and that’s noble, but it got ridiculous about 67 projects ago.
And now you’re going to drop an EP of experimental electronic tracks with drag performer Kalup Linzy (who acted alongside Franco on General Hospital)?
It’s called Turn It Up and it’s set to drop July 12. In fact, there’s even a little snippet of a song called “Broken”:
Back in December, an unfinished version of Kanye West’s video for “Monster,” a standout (and star-packed) track from West’s best-of-2010 album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy) found its way onto the Internet.
Though it was obviously still rough—scenes and effects were clearly missing—the idea came across, with disturbing images of apparently dead women lying in bed with West and hanging from chains by their necks.
West finally released the official, finished version of the clip a full six months after that initial leak, and it’s just as disturbing and fascinating as the rough cut.
Check it out below, though be warned—the lyrics are uncensored, and the images are pretty dark (and though there’s no scandalous nudity, the ladies are scantily-clad enough to also make it unsafe for work).
On the heels of the leak of latest single “Judas,” Lady Gaga revealed the cover image for her forthcoming album Born This Way in a series of tweets yesterday and today.
(The reveal of Gaga’s album artwork has become something of an event in itself.) As you probably expect, the image, shown here, is one clearly intended to make you think and, maybe, wonder a bit: It depicts Gaga as something of a metal minotaur, part human and part…motorcycle? Yup, part motorcycle.
Image Credit: Rob Grabowski/Retna Ltd
A line of showgoers—most of them teenagers, and collectively wearing approximately one metric ton of glitter—furled down three city blocks in Midtown Manhattan last night to see Ke$ha perform at the Roseland Ballroom.
The crowd was about what one would expect from a Ke$ha concert: Boys wearing mesh tank tops, girls sprinkling glitter on each other’s bare legs, some put-upon parents who’d rather be anywhere else, some Cool Moms who were all too happy to chaperone, and 20-somethings like myself who were pretending to be there for ironic purposes but were actually pretty stoked.
I was surprised, though, by how unexpectedly awesome the show was. Judging from some less-than-stellar TV performances, my expectations were low, but for what it’s worth, Ke$ha sounded at least as good live as she does on her recorded tracks. And as far as onstage antics go, she packed infinitely more entertainment value and energy into the show by way of pure, unabashed silliness than Britney Spears did in her much more expensive and lavish Circus tour.
I left the concert with an understanding and appreciation for Ke$ha that I hadn’t had before—and having to pick glitter out of my hair for the next three weeks is a small price to pay for enlightenment. READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Michael Tullberg/Getty Images; Michael Buckner/WireImage.com
“Oscar-winning actress and my sister Gwyneth Paltrow emailed me,” Jay-Z begins in a blog post he published this morning, “and said, ‘I love your new site. Can I ask you five questions about it?’”
The site Jay’s “sister” is talking about is his newly launched Life + Times. That’s right. The guy who said, “I don’t do too much blogging” has thrown his Yankee cap into the interweb. It features Q&As, videos, music, art, tech pieces and whatever else piques the legendary rhymer’s interests.
Ever the shrewd businessman, Jay wasn’t just going to let Paltrow interview him for her site, GOOP, without having the actress return the favor. “I said, ‘I’ll show you mine if you let me see yours’,” he jokingly reveals. So the two besties have brief, albeit amusing Q&As on their respective sites. Paltrow’s interview with Jay is a slightly bland “What made you start a website” convo.
Jay says he began thinking about creating a Life + Times over a year ago after “seeing other sites and being either inspired or saying, ‘That’s s—. I would do it like …’” Other things we learn are that Jay, like Gwyn, enjoys Mario Batali dining, and says the women in his life keep him cool. “The hotter the chick, the cooler the guy,” he declares. Obviously, being married to Beyoncé makes him ice-cold.
