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David Letterman, who got an eyeful of Courtney Love’s breasts during Wednesday’s “Late Show,” has booked another noted breast-barer, Janet Jackson. The singer will grant Letterman her first network TV interview on the “Late Show” on March 29, the show announced Thursday. Starting that week, Jackson is making a round of media appearances to promote her new album, “Damita Jo.” She’ll appear on ABC’s “Good Morning America” and Fox’s “On the Air With Ryan Seacrest.” She’ll also be on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.” Her appearance on Letterman is a coup for the talk-show host, considering it was also on CBS… Read more »

Confirming that interest in the Pixies’ music has not waned since the band’s 1993 demise, 11 of the 12 shows scheduled for the group’s impending reunion tour sold out within minutes over the weekend. At the 1,600-seat Prairieland venue in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, capacity has been doubled to accommodate additional fans. “The demand has been so great,” Prairieland events manager Carl Schlosser told Billboard.com. “We are the largest venue, so we’ll be that overflow for fans who may have been shut out in other cities.” Tickets for the 12th show on April 29 in Davis, Calif., go on sale March 1.… 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 »

Randy Jackson is a hero. And it’s not just because the music-industry veteran – who is a judge on “American Idol” – has given a lot of great advice in his Hyperion book, “What’s Up, Dawg? How to Become a Superstar in the Music Business.” He is not afraid to rock the boat by criticizing the music industry, even though he could easily coast on his success. The industry, Jackson tells Billboard, is “in the toilet” and does not seem to know how to pull itself out of it. “I think record companies are so out of touch with the… Read more »

Beyonce Knowles may be “Crazy in Love,” but she kept her cool Sunday at one of the more sober Grammy Awards shows in memory. She was the night’s big winner, taking home a record-tying five trophies to join recent Grammy queens Lauryn Hill, Alicia Keys and Norah Jones with the most wins in a single year by a female performer. OutKast’s Speakerboxxx/The Love Below won Album of the Year, giving the eccentric Atlanta funk/rap group three wins, including Best Urban Alternative Performance and Best Rap Album. British band Coldplay took home the prize for Record of the Year for “Clocks,”… Read more »

The Grammy RSVPs are in and it looks like the boobylicious Super Bowl tandem of Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake are still on the guest list, but Luther Vandross will be MIA. The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the group behind the Grammys, told E! Tuesday that “as of right now, Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake are still on the Grammys. “If we took everyone who is controversial off the show, no one would perform.” The remark came in the wake of CBS affiliates asking the network to broadcast Sunday’s Grammy Awards on a slight delay in case… Read more »

In what looks like the first big heavyweight arena tour of the year, Beyoncé, Alicia Keys and Missy Elliott are joining forces for what promises to be a sizzling, sassy bill. Beyoncé and Keys will co-headline the monthlong springtime trek. According to a schedule provided by Keys’ representatives, the tour starts in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, on March 12 and wraps up on April 18 in Oakland, California. Label representatives said some of the dates could change. Talk of the three pop stars getting together has been circulating for the past few weeks. For Alicia and Beyoncé, it’ll be the first… Read more »

A dispute over royalty rights on copy-protected CDs and other types of music discs is helping to stall the release of some new music technology, and could result in record labels owing tens of millions of dollars in back payments to music publishers. At issue are “double session” CDs that include two versions of each song on a disc, formatted for playback on different kinds of devices. The most widely distributed type are copy-protected discs that prevent CD tracks from being copied to a hard drive, but that also include a digital version of the songs, often in Microsoft’s Windows… Read more »

Paul Simon has signed a worldwide agreement with Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) that covers his catalog and future work. The multi-year deal, which went into effect Jan. 1, calls for UMPG to administer his catalog and new songs worldwide except in North America, where the material will continue to be handled by Paul Simon Music. Additionally, UMPG will represent Simon’s work globally, including the U.S. and Canada, for synchronization opportunities in TV, film and advertising. Simon was previously with Warner/Chappell. The 300-song catalog includes many modern-day pop classics penned by Simon as part of Simon & Garfunkel and as… Read more »

Hot off the heels of two platinum albums and a sold out US tour, the members of R&B/Hip-Hop super-group B2K have parted ways. B2K’s Omarion, Lil Fizz, J-Boog and Raz have broken up after six years together. B2K’s hit singles include “Bump, Bump Bump” featuring Sean “Puffy” Combs, “Girlfriend” and “Gots Ta Be.” The group has received a bevy of awards, nominations and accolades including American Music Awards, MTV, BET, Billboard Music and Soul Train Award wins and nominations. Rumors have been speculating a breakup inside the B2K camp for some time now. Disagreements amongst the quartet are the reason… Read more »