Image Credit: AP Images
In a move that shouldn’t shock anybody, Amy Winehouse has called off all of the remaining dates on her European tour (that’s 11 shows in all).
The announcement came only a day after the singer canceled dates in Athens and Istanbul following a disastrous performance in Belgrade, Serbia over the weekend. READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
Katy Perry brought her sugarcoated psychedelic dreamland to New Jersey last night, using her California Dreams tour to tell the story of a young lady who follows her feline companion Kitty Purry into a circuitous Candy Land-esque setting filled with hallucination-inducing brownies, a slutty slot machine (ha?) and a cavalcade of Top 10 hits.
Say what you will about Katy Perry—sure, she has a weak singing voice and her songs are mostly devoid of substance—but as a courier of frothy delights and eye-catching effulgence, she’s become one of today’s most-satisfying pop stars.
Her stage show—which boasted airborne mimes, floating cotton candy clouds and a gingerbread man kick-line—was a visual feast that brought to mind a tweenage version of Cirque du Soleil. And make no mistake: this stage show was a dream constructed for, and occupied almost exclusively by, teens. I doubt more than ten percent of the crowd was over twenty, and most of those adults were chaperoning fist-pumping teens in blue wigs and candy-button dresses. READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Samir Hussein/Getty Images
How was your weekend? No matter what you did, it probably went better than Amy Winehouse’s.
The troubled singer, who just wrapped up a stint in rehab, cancelled two upcoming dates on a brief tour after a disastrous performance in Belgrade.
After taking the stage an hour late at a festival in the Serbian capital, Winehouse stumbled around, fought with her microphone, only occasionally sang her own songs and talked a lot about how much she likes some of her band members more than others.
While the crowd at the show seemed to go along with her for a while, they eventually turned on her, sending boos and heckles in her direction. Naturally, much of it was caught on video:
No one can ever say that Panic! at the Disco singer Brendon Urie isn’t hardcore.
During a concert on Sunday night in Pompano Beach, Florida, Urie came down hard in the midst of a typically manic performance and managed to break his ankle.
While still onstage, he removed his boot and sock to assess the damage; a giant carbuncle had already formed. “What does this mean?” he asked the crowd between songs. “There’s like a softball in my foot.”
Luckily, fans caught the whole thing on tape, which you can check out the slightly gruesome video below:
Image Credit: Wade Payne/AP Images
When Keith Urban thinks of summer, one of the first things that comes to mind is tailgating under the awning of his tour bus. In the Best of Summer issue of Entertainment Weekly on stands now, Urban shares five things on his Must List for the North American leg of his Get Closer world tour, which kicks off June 16 — including a Frisbee that he insists he tosses with wife Nicole Kidman (we love that visual) and his six-string banjo, which he likes to play along with any song on his old boom box that sounds like it should have banjo nowhere near it (OutKast’s “Hey Ya!” for example).
But what does Urban have planned for when he hits the stage? “I’m going into the crowd on several occasions. This tour is not just called Get Closer, it’s literally gonna be that, too,” he promises. Having seen him multiple times over the years, we’ve always been amazed at how surprisingly tame fans seem when he’s in the seats playing “You Look Good in My Shirt” among them. Or have we just caught shows with particularly respectful audiences? “I’ll have you walk with me one time,” Urban says, when he’s done laughing. “Maybe from the outside it looks very different, but the lost buttons and ripped sleeves testify to something very different. I’ve come home a few times with scratches on my chest and on my back, and my wife’s gone, ‘What is that?’ And I’m like, ‘Well, I’ll show you,’ and we’ve filmed the audience. She’s like, ‘Oh my god!’ [Laughs] It can be a bit treacherous out there sometimes, but it’s always different, always unpredictable, and I love it.” READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Rankin; Emma Summerton
For Entertainment Weekly‘s big Best of Summer issue (which hits newsstands this Friday, May 27), we got together the two key players from the season’s hottest tour. Katy Perry will be continuing her non-stop road trip in support of last year’s Teenage Dream, and she’s bringing along Swedish pop sensation Robyn (who had her own big year behind the release of her far-reaching Body Talk project). It promises to be an energetic night full of wild dancing and sugary-sweet pop hooks, and should provide the definitive soundtrack to the hot summer months.
In order to properly preview the tour, we listened in on an intercontinental phone call between Perry (who was traveling from New Zealand to Japan as part of her tour of the Pacific) and Robyn (who was chilling with friends in Los Angeles). Their full conversation will be in the issue, but check out this brief exchange they had about when Perry caught Robyn’s live show.
Katy Perry I saw you at Coachella. It was hands down the best show that I saw all weekend. Everybody was dancing for their life, like they didn’t have a choice.
Robyn Yes they did! I’m so happy you were there to see it.
Perry And you were dancing for your life too! Your dance moves are on another level.
Robyn I don’t know. It’s on another level of frenzy! But I’m happy people got inspired.
Image Credit: Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images
British rockers Judas Priest are famous for breakin’ the law, breakin’ the law (at least in song). But today it was announced that guitarist and founding member K.K. Downing has broken with the metal muthas after 40 years of service.
In a statement on the official Judas Priest website the band announced “with regret” that Downing has retired and will not be joining them on their forthcoming tour. Downing will be replaced by a British guitarist called Richie Faulkner.
(Follow the Music Mix on Twitter: @EWMusicMix.)
Read more:
Duff McKagan gives us the lowdown on reuniting with Axl Rose, his band’s new CD, and how to invest your poker winnings
Dave Grohl Q&A: The Foo Fighters frontman talks about the new Foos album, saying no to ‘Glee,’ and playing ‘Smells LIke Teen Spirit’ for the first time in 18 years
Image Credit: Vallery Jean/FilmMagic.com
Lauryn Hill’s latest tour, Moving Target, finally made its way to Los Angeles on Monday night, following a weekend appearance at the Coachella Festival in Palm Springs.
The singer hit up downtown’s Club Nokia for a healthy dose of songs pulled from several realms of her musical history, including her time with the Fugees, her Grammy-winning album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, and even a little tribute to Bob Marley. [Note: The photo shown here isn't of Hill on Monday evening, because press photos were not made available.]
Hill opened her concert—which, despite reports of extreme tardiness in the past, started only about 20 minutes after the scheduled time—by declaring to the crowd: “If it’s okay with you, we’d like to do some classic music.” And classic music she certainly did, launching with her Miseducation hit “Everything Is Everything,” before rolling into Refugee Camp All-Stars’ “Sweetest Thing” and weaving back to Miseducation with “Lost Ones.”
But to be honest, her use of term “classic” should be interpreted loosely, especially when you consider how Hill, wearing an oversized dress and suit jacket, performed the songs. While she certainly sang the lyrics to the aforementioned tunes, they were only recognizable as the songs we’re familiar with at certain, fleeting points. Not that that’s a bad thing—Hill’s voice is still deep and luscious as it ever was but anyone hoping for a tour through the recorded versions of her songs will be sorely disappointed.
Image Credit: Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Sin City veteran Elton John has signed on for another three-year run of shows at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas which he is calling The Million Dollar Piano.
The “Pinball Wizard” star will return to Nevada in September and tickets for the first 16 shows go on sale April 25. “The show will be a gargantuan feast of music and imagery,” John was quoted as saying in a statement on his website. “I’m going to have a fabulous piano that Yamaha has been working on for four years, and that’s the reason why the show is called ‘The Million Dollar Piano.’”
John’s previous stint at Caesars Palace lasted five years and concluded in April, 2009.
More from EW.com:
Matthew Morrison unveils Elton John duet
‘Saturday Night Live’ recap: Elton John hosts
After Enrique Iglesias begged off becoming an homme fatale — and denying us the much-coveted “Hold It Against Me”/“Tonight” mash-up — Britney Spears was left without an opening act for her huge upcoming tour.
After a few weeks of speculation and a lot of false starts, Spears finally confirmed this morning that chart-topping rapper Nicki Minaj will indeed join her on the road for the Femme Fatale tour. READ FULL STORY »
