Search Results for: GRAMMYs

Los Angeles – Chicago rapper Kanye West, who survived a near-fatal car crash to record a debut album that ranked among the year’s biggest sellers, led the field of Grammy Award contenders with 10 nominations, organizers said on Tuesday. R&B singers Alicia Keys and Usher picked up eight nominations each, followed by late “Genius of Soul” Ray Charles with seven, and punk rock band Green Day with six. Jazz pianist Norah Jones, country veteran Loretta Lynn, funk musician Prince and engineer Al Schmitt each earned five. “If I get any nominations, I’m good,” West told Reuters after a press conference… Read more »

Washington – Music legend Elton John, opera diva Joan Sutherland and conductor John Williams – along with actors Warren Beatty, Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee – were being honored Sunday with a star-studded tribute at The Kennedy Center. The six recipients of the 27th annual Kennedy Center Honors were being saluted for their lifetime contributions to American culture through the performing arts. First lady Laura Bush greeted the honorees – as well as actors Louis Gossett Jr., Robert Downey Jr. and Bo Derek – at a reception at the White House Sunday afternoon. Later, President and Mrs. Bush were honored… Read more »

With the Dubliner’s new album, How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, hitting stores on Nov. 23 and their tunes already featured in everything from iPod commercials to episodes of CSI and The O.C., the group is now making plans to blanket the globe. Billboard reports that U2-which last rocked North America four years ago on their mega-successful Elevation trek in support of the 2000 release All That You Can’t Leave Behind -will kick off their jaunt March 1 in Florida. “We’ll play approximate 35 shows in the arenas in the spring in the U.S.,” the group’s longtime manager Paul McGuninness… Read more »

The trophy is a silly Moonman. Treasured memories include girl-on-girl kisses, a flying Fartman and the bobbling of a pasty-covered breast. Where other shows confer honors and respect, this one relishes gaffes, guffaws and giggles. Forget “The envelope, please.” It’s time to push the envelope. MTV’s Video Music Awards is among the most irreverent of awards shows. Which may be precisely why it matters. “It’s pop music; how seriously can you take it?” said MTV news correspondent Kurt Loder. “It’s not Martin Heidegger or something. There’s a lot of empty pomp associated with other shows, like the Oscars and even… Read more »

After you’ve disrobed Janet Jackson at the Super Bowl, and presumably disrobed Cameron Diaz someplace, can you really go back to being just one of the boys? For Justin Timberlake, the answer is no, per a report in the new People magazine. Timberlake “doesn’t want any part” of a planned ‘N Sync reunion, a source says in People. “Justin said he’s not in the mood and doesn’t think it will work,” the spy tells the magazine. ‘N Sync, with the Backstreet Boys, the leading boy band of the teen-pop explosion of the late 1990s/early 2000s, has been on hiatus since… Read more »

Four years after the launch of “Survivor,” the show’s chief, Mark Burnett, is reuniting with CBS in search of a rock star. After a healthy bidding war, CBS has landed an untitled reality series described as a cross of “American Idol,” “Big Brother” and “Survivor” set in the world of rock music. It will feature aspiring musicians competing for the chance to become the new lead singer of Australian rock band INXS, a gig that opened up after the 1997 suicide of frontman Michael Hutchence. After a multicontinent search with auditions in cities throughout the United States and Canada as… Read more »

MTV will take its irreverent Video Music Awards to Miami this year. The live event, in its 21st year, will be held Aug. 29 at the AmericanAirlines Arena, the cable television network announced Friday. It will be the first time the show is held outside Los Angeles or New York, which has hosted the awards in recent years. But because the Republican National Convention is scheduled for Aug. 30 to Sept. 2, having the VMAs in New York would have been difficult, said the VMA’s executive producer, Salli Frattini. “There were very, very limited venue possibilities in New York because… Read more »

Avril Lavigne has been previewing songs from her upcoming album Under My Skin during her Avril Live And By Surprise mall tour. The singer has typically performed five of the new songs-“Don’t Tell Me,” “He Wasn’t,” “My Happy Ending,” “Take Me Away,” and “Nobody’s Home.” Under My Skin comes out May 25. Lavigne revealed that Under My Skin will have a somewhat different feel than her 2002 debut, Let Go. “My singles are like pop songs, but the rest of the record is just, like, dark and it’s just my type of music,” Avril said. “I’ve got, like, dark piano… Read more »

Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl flash lasted less than three seconds, but the impact continues to ripple through Viacom, the media giant that broadcast the game. Congress, the Federal Communications Commission, right-wing radio commentators and outraged citizens are calling for stricter decency standards – and the artists and executives who make a living from edgy music, performances and videos are in retreat. MTV in particular, which produced the Super Bowl halftime show, is in the midst of a wide-scale re-evaluation of its musical, news and dramatic content. Within a week of the game, MTV – no stranger to criticism, most recently… Read more »

Ozzy Osbourne may be famous for biting a head off a bat, but he’ll never bite the hand that feeds him-that is, his fans. Chomping at the bit to get back onstage again since his near-fatal ATV crash late last year, the Prince of F-king Darkness has confirmed plans to headline this summer’s Ozzfest, the monstrously successful heavy metal touring festival he founded in 1996, Billboard.com reports. Details are still sketchy but the bill is also said to include such other headbangers as Slayer, shock-rockers Slipknot and enduring British metal mavens Judas Priest, who recently reunited with vocalist Rob Halford… Read more »