With a hit Broadway show and its own edition of the “Rock Band” franchise, Green Day is establishing itself as a punk-rock brand.
Despite reports that Bret Michaels’ condition had “stabilized” after he suffered a brain hemorrhage late Thursday, his website was updated April 24, noting that the Poison singer remains in critical condition.
DETROIT – Amidst tough economic times and an ever changing music industry, not everybody can sell records like Lil’ Wayne. Mix in the rise of illegal file sharing and an over saturation of acts flooding the music scene, and it’s easy to see why bands can’t carry on, much less sell thousands of records.
Hayley Williams owns a car, though she prefers to ride her bike. If you live in Franklin, Tennessee, you probably know this by now, because she pilots the thing – a beige, kid-size rattletrap with a basket on the front – all around her hometown, chatting up the locals and stopping in at places like Puckett’s Grocery and the Ivey Cake bakery. She paid $60 for it at a nearby thrift store. It’s probably worth $30. Williams also owns a house in town, and though it’s certainly worth more than her bike, it’s not much flashier: a modest stone number… Read more »
In early 1984, when Epic Records executives presented their slate of upcoming releases at the convention in Hawaii of parent company CBS Records they couldn’t resist playing up the success they were experiencing. So between the pitches for new albums, Epic inserted stock footage of semi trucks and a voice-over that thunderously announced, “There goes another load of Michael Jackson’s Thriller albums!” Trucks weren’t really leaving the warehouse every few minutes, but Thriller was still shattering expectations more than a year after its November 30, 1982, release. Epic was selling more than 1 million copies per month in the United… Read more »
The show’s era as an icon ended with the death of Johnny Carson, but as long as his “hi-yo” sidekick, Ed McMahon, was still with us, some part of the era was as well. Tuesday, at age 86, McMahon died, taking what was left of the old Tonight Show with him. McMahon put himself through college pitching products on the Atlantic City boardwalk, which may have been a more useful education than college itself. In a way, that’s what McMahon did with startling success for 30 years: He pitched Carson to the public. His laugh made Carson’s jokes seem funnier;… Read more »
Lance Bass wouldn’t mind dancing with a man on a reality competition show, but he doesn’t think ABC’s Dancing With the Stars is the right place for fancy same-sex footwork. “I think it would be so silly that it would just overshadow everything else going on,” Bass tells me. “It would just be like making fun of something. But if it was another show with all guys dancing and all girls dancing, that’s a different story. I think that’s sexy.” He adds with a laugh, “I should pitch that.” I caught up with Bass just before his practice earlier today… Read more »
The album that will put the new EMI under its greatest global scrutiny to date is also 2008’s most eagerly awaited release. That’s the official word from Coldplay’s new boss. The band’s “Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends” will be released June 12 internationally on Parlophone/EMI and on June 17 in North America on Capitol. EMI Group chairman Guy Hands, who led the buyout of the music company last summer through his private-equity firm Terra Firma, says, “Right across the world, this is the most anticipated album of the year.” As the follow-up to the British melodic… Read more »
Most young men can be forgiven for not knowing what they’ll be doing two days from now, much less two years. Not the three siblings who comprise the hit trio the Jonas Brothers. The superstars-in-the-making have every day mapped out for the next 24 months. If you’re not a tween/teenage girl or don’t live in proximity to one, you may not yet be in on the phenomenon created by 20-year-old Kevin, 18-year-old Joe and 15-year-old Nick. They opened for Miley Cyrus on her fall “Hannah Montana” tour to the delight of shrieking girls everywhere. Their song, “S.O.S.,” catapulted to No.… Read more »
2007 was a year of duality for music. While the industry continued to tank, it was quietly a very good year for rock ‘n’ roll and indie music. The Boss returned with his old band, the Police actually got along and even Led Zeppelin reunited. The most exciting music was busy breaking down barriers. Arcade Fire played in intimate churches; Web site TakeAwayShows.com and the film “Once” returned music to the streets; and a certain British band eliminated a very big middle man. “In Rainbows,” Radiohead: The much-ballyhooed online release of “In Rainbows” in some ways obscured what an excellent… Read more »
