Search Results for: VH1

Sensitive rockers Incubus toured, toured and toured some more while building an audience fan by fan. And, like Crazy Town, Incubus broke massive only when their third single crossed over to pop radio. “It sounds self-serving to say it,” said Incubus manager Steve Rennie, “but the plan was always to get to ‘Drive.’ We just didn’t think it would take a year to do it.” The band’s first two singles, “Pardon Me” and “Stellar,” did well on rock radio and helped their October 1999 album, Make Yourself, sell nearly 1.5 million copies during its year-and-a-half chart climb. It wasn’t until… Read more »

With production and rapping courtesy of megaplatinum hip-hopper Kid Rock, you’d think Uncle Kracker’s debut, Double Wide, would have been a sure-fire hit. Kracker, who came to prominence as Kid Rock’s DJ, released his southern-rock-hip-hop album last June to a collective shrug. The poppy first single “Yeah Yeah Yeah” failed to hit the charts and a follow-up single, “Follow Me,” seemed headed for the same dead end. Then, earlier this year, “Follow Me,” with a video featuring a cameo from pal Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray, began to pick up steam. Suddenly the soft-spoken Kracker was camping out in the… Read more »

Paul McCartney’s Wingspan project looks to be as much a tribute to his late wife, Linda, as it is to his former band Wings. The Wingspan double-album compilation hits stores Tuesday, and a two-hour special of the same name will air Friday on ABC. “Basically, it’s the story of me and Linda struggling to put a band together and raise a family at the same time,” McCartney told VH1’s Rebecca Rankin of the TV documentary. “The original idea came from Linda putting together a surprise video for our anniversary,” McCartney said. “It was done by Allaster [Donald, McCartney’s son-in-law]. He… Read more »

He was Rotten … and now he’s Death. John Lydon, aka punk rock pioneer Johnny Rotten of Sex Pistols fame, has been cast as the grim reaper in “Bad News, Mr. Swanson,” a comedy pilot for FX from Columbia TriStar Television Distribution. The pilot stars Frank Whaley as a guy whose life is falling apart. When he learns that he has incurable cancer, he ditches all of his obligations and problems and goes wild. The role of Death won’t be any holiday in the sun for Lydon. The character becomes an edgy and taunting presence in Clark Swanson’s life, one… Read more »

RioPort.com and the MTVi Group have announced that they will offer paid music downloads from all five major music labels on Radio MTV.com and VH1atWork Radio beginning this month. Leveraging RioPort’s PulseOne Media Service, Radio MTV.com, (which officially launches today) and VH1atWork Radio will be the first online destinations to link Internet radio with commercial downloads for consumer use. Through its partnership with RioPort, Radio MTV and VH1atWork Radio, both of which are DMCA-compliant, will be the first Internet radio destinations to offer listeners a blend of streaming and downloadable music in addition to providing features that allow consumers to… Read more »

The hobbled Michael Jackson and sweetly nostalgic Paul Simon made their second entrances into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Monday, joined by fellow inductees Aerosmith, Queen and Steely Dan. Fifties vocal group The Flamingos, soul singer Solomon Burke and “La Bamba” singer Ritchie Valens completed the list of honorees at a New York ceremony Monday night. Jackson, already in the Hall of Fame with his brothers as a member of the Jackson 5, was earmarked for a solo career that includes “Thriller,” which Sony estimates has sold more than 47 million copies worldwide. He wore a white… Read more »

The pop icon’s latest video, for the song “What It Feels Like for a Girl,” which was directed in a handheld style by her husband, Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels director Guy Ritchie, has been deemed too violent to make its way into regular rotation on MTV or VH1. The networks have opted to air the video, which features the Material Girl as an angry woman on a crime spree and ends in a car crash that may or may not be fatal, just one time, a decision they say is irrevocable. MTV News will air the four-and-a-half-minute video… Read more »

Pop heartthrobs ‘N Sync have conquered the pop charts, and now they’re the No. 1 act on a new chart detailing the savviest earners in the music industry. Other top money-making acts on music cable network VH1’s inaugural “Music Money Power” list include rival vocal group Backstreet Boys, the rap combo of Dr. Dre and Eminem, teen pop singer Britney Spears, and husband-and-wife country stars Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. VH1 joined forces with Money magazine to analyze the commercial power of music’s big guns, calculating gross revenues from album and concert ticket sales, and assessing their star and money… Read more »