Search Results for: R&B

The help for tsunami victims keeps on coming from the music community. No Doubt, Linkin Park with Jay-Z, Blink-182, Jurassic 5, Story of the Year, Crystal Method and Ozzy Osbourne will perform at a benefit concert Feb. 18 in Anaheim, Calif. The organizer, Music for Relief, hopes to raise over $1 million from the show, with proceeds going to UNICEF and Habitat for Humanity programs in South Asia. R&B star Alicia Keys led an array of singers and other international celebrities who entertained thousands at a separate benefit event on Feb. 3. The MTV Asia Aid show in the Thai… Read more »

It’s a good day for pop-punk as Avril Lavigne, Simple Plan and Billy Talent are all up for a handful of Juno awards. This year’s Juno nominees were just announced and leading the charge is Lavigne, one of Canada’s biggest international exports. She’s up for five awards including Artist Of The Year. Toronto rapper K-OS, West Coast jazz star Diana Krall and 2003’s Juno host, Shania Twain, join Simple Plan and Billy Talent with three noms each. Single Of The Year: River Below, Billy Talent; One Thing, Finger Eleven; Crabbuckit, k-os; Not Ready To Go, The Trews; Party For Two,… Read more »

New York – Inside the giant factory of cool known as MTV headquarters, a crew of hip twentysomethings has been hard at work creating a two-headed monster. This beast wants to be man’s new best friend. On Sunday, during the Super Bowl halftime, MTV2 is relaunching with a new focus on 12-24 year-old guys – and a new logo. This silhouette of a dog with two heads (you may have seen the intentionally vague posters) is at the center of the new MTV2. The revamped network will maintain most of its current music programming, bonded with swirling graphics and constant… Read more »

New York – At a time when reality and youth lifestyle shows – not videos – dominate MTV’s main programming hours, the network is looking to music-related contests, tour sponsorships and other off-channel marketing initiatives to drive its identity as a music brand. Case in point: MTV in February is sending eight contest winners on a private island getaway with Columbia Records act Destiny’s Child in a stunt it is billing as Destiny’s Isle. The promotion – which MTV has been plotting since last August and was aggressively promoting last fall – will culminate with clips from an afternoon meeting… Read more »

“Backstreet Men” doesn’t really have the same ring, but make no mistake, the Backstreet Boys are coming back more mature on their first album in five years. The group, which hasn’t released a collection of new music since 2000’s Black & Blue, just wrapped sessions for the as-yet-untitled album, which might surprise people expecting the same pop sound of old, according to member Howie Dorough. “We’ve been working on it for more than a year now, but it really started taking shape and changing over the past six months,” Dorough said. “It’s going in a more pop/rock direction, kind of… Read more »

It seems that things really are “unwell” in the Matchbox Twenty camp, as guitarist Adam Gaynor has reportedly left the band. According to Billboard.com, after being with Matchbox Twenty throughout their three albums – which have sold 20 million copies worldwide – the guitarist has left without any official statement. The band have also remained tight-lipped, but a source told Billboard that the band didn’t want to “renew his services.” Ouch. Matchbox Twenty are currently on a break as many of the members are busy with other projects. Obviously, the most highly anticipated of those is singer Rob Thomas ‘s… Read more »

licia Keys will sing “America the Beautiful” prior to this year’s Super Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla. It will be just the third time the song is sung at the Super Bowl – previously performed only by Vicki Carr and Ray Charles. Accompanying Keys will be 150 students from the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind, which Charles attended as a youth in 1937. “I’m very excited to be playing at the Super Bowl for the first time especially because I will be singing a song made famous by an artist I admire, miss and respect, Ray Charles, along… Read more »

Los Angeles – To his eight Grammy nominations and slew of No. 1 singles, R&B singer Usher has added the honor of most-shipped U.S. album of 2004 for “Confessions,” according to year-end certifications from the Recording Industry Assn. of America. With 8 million units shipped to retailers (but not necessarily sold through to consumers), the set is the highest-certified album in the star’s catalog. His previous best was 1997’s “My Way,” which is six times platinum. Usher also picked up three honors under the RIAA’s new digital awards program. “Yeah!” featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris, which spent 12 weeks atop… Read more »

Merchants are describing this year’s holiday-season sales as a roller-coaster ride. That could hardly be said about the full-year sales experience. At least a roller coaster offers the contrast of intermittent highs and lows. Album sales started with one long rise toward a hopeful tally for the first eight months of 2004, followed by a steep decline that stole back most of the year’s advances in just a few weeks, as if a thrill ride had been designed by a party pooper who did not fully grasp the concept. But maybe a better analogy – as Ludacris replaces Jay-Z and… Read more »

Los Angeles – According to the Chinese calendar, 2005 will be the year of the rooster. Looking back at the year in music, 2004 goes down as the year of Usher, not only in pop, but certainly in R&B/hip-hop. The seemingly invincible singer-songwriter commandeers the top of the R&B and pop charts this year, thanks to his album “Confessions.” In the R&B realm, the Atlanta-based artist takes the No. 1 spot on year-end recaps including Top R&B/Hip-Hop Artists, Top R&B/Hip-Hop Artists-Male and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. That’s in addition to his status on the pop recaps: Top Pop Artists, Top Pop… Read more »