Search Results for: Jay Som

At the American Music Awards on Sunday (November 23), Miley Cyrus, celebrating her 16th birthday, broke character a bit, performing a saucy, seductive version of her new single, “Fly on the Wall”; Mariah Carey delivered a riveting rendition of “I Stay in Love”; and a barely lucid Scott Weiland ironically introduced Pink’s performance of “Sober,” calling her “one of the greatest artists of our time.” Later, Pink even joined Sarah McLachlan for a duet on “Angel.” The New Kids on the Block and Christina Aguilera both performed medleys of their most beloved tunes. Justin Timberlake gave us a lesson on… Read more »

DJ AM was back on the decks for the first time since surviving a fiery plane crash. The visibly scarred celebrity disc jockey, whose real name is Adam Goldstein, joined Jay-Z at a special concert Wednesday celebrating the reopening of the Hollywood Palladium, the historic venue which once hosted the likes of Frank Sinatra, “The Lawrence Welk Show,” Led Zeppelin and the Emmy Awards on its more than 11,000-square-foot circular wooden floor. The concert was 35-year-old DJ AM’s first performance since surviving a Sept. 19 plane crash with former Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker at the main airport in Columbia, S.C.… Read more »

With his spiky mohawk, cluttered canvas of tattooed skin and punk rock pedigree stretching back to childhood, Travis Barker isn’t exactly pleading to be taken seriously as a hip-hop head. A former drummer for the multi-platinum-selling power pop trio Blink-182 who also has done turns behind the kit for rock outfits including the Aquabats, +44 and Box Car Racer, he boasts impeccable Warped Tour credentials and critical props as one of modern rock’s most exciting, exacting percussion players. But a funny thing happened when Barker posted a video of himself on YouTube last September drumming thunderously in time with Southern… Read more »

Concert promoter Live Nation Inc. is negotiating the exit of its chairman, Michael Cohl, amid a dispute between him and CEO Michael Rapino, according to a newspaper report Thursday. Cohl and Rapino have been battling over contracts known as “360 deals” that give the company an all-encompassing stake in an artist’s business, including albums, touring, merchandising, and television and film projects, The Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site. Live Nation already has inked such deals with artists Madonna and Jay-Z, reportedly worth $120 million and $150 million, respectively. Cohl wants to accelerate the pace of the dealmaking, while… Read more »

Search for an artist on any of the popular search engines, and the top three results are practically guaranteed: the artist’s official Web site, Wikipedia entry and MySpace page — often in that order. But while artists and their handlers devote massive attention to the Web site and MySpace, the Wikipedia page is often overlooked. Recent data suggests they may want to reconsider their priorities. According to data provided to Billboard from Yahoo — the second-most popular search engine on the Web after Google — those searching for artist information are selecting the Wikipedia entry link over artists’ MySpace pages… Read more »

N.E.R.D.’s new single “Everybody Nose,” which depicts a club-hopper’s drug use, could be the theme song for out-of-control party girls on the celebrity circuit. But frontman Pharrell Williams says the song is not chastising people for their questionable habits. “The message is just making an observation. It’s not us condoning or glorifying it or talking about people who do it,” the superproducer told “Everybody Nose” is the first new music from the eclectic trio in years. The group – which includes Williams’ Neptunes production partner Chad Hugo and friend Shay Hayley – haven’t released an album since 2004, and were… Read more »

If you ask Boy George if he really wanted to hurt him, the answer’s an emphatic no. The “Karma Chameleon” purveyor pleaded not guilty Thursday to a charge of false imprisonment for allegedly chaining a male escort to a wall and threatening him at the former’s east London home last April. George, 46, whose real name is George O’Dowd, turned up at Snaresbrook Crown Court dressed in black and sporting shades. The ’80s icon was mostly mum during the 20-minute hearing except to enter his plea and confirm the conditions of his bail. He subsequently left without speaking to reporters.… Read more »

Amy Winehouse and Paul McCartney set their recent troubles aside to steal the show Wednesday at the Brit Awards, the British music industry’s most prestigious prizes. Rockers Foo Fighters and British bands Take That and Arctic Monkeys were all double winners at Britain’s equivalent of the Grammys. Although she wasn’t up for any awards, troubled retro-soul diva Winehouse received a rapturous reception when she appeared to perform “Valerie” with Mark Ronson. She followed that up with the sultry ballad “Love is a Losing Game” from her breakthrough album “Back to Black.” Winehouse, who appeared composed and confident, urged the crowd… Read more »

In a dramatic demonstration of the economic toll of digital piracy on the music industry, EMI Group is expected to fire more than a quarter of the London-based company’s employees and radically alter the way it does business to further cut costs. Guy Hands, who was installed as chief executive of the world’s fourth-largest record company after it was bought last year by investment company Terra Firma, is expected to announce cuts of at least 1,500 employees today as part of a major restructuring, two EMI executives said. EMI also will become the first major label to eliminate the large… Read more »

Britney Spears was derailed yet again in her struggle to get her life back on track, losing custody of her two sons to ex-husband Kevin Federline. A court commissioner Friday gave sole physical and legal custody of the former couple’s two little boys to Federline and suspended the troubled pop star’s visitation rights. Spears was hauled away from her home to a hospital by paramedics a day before, after police had to intervene when she refused to return the children to Federline after a court-monitored visit. Commissioner Scott Gordon ordered another hearing to be held Jan. 14. Federline had previously… Read more »