Search Results for: Body Count

Kurt Cobain and his band, Nirvana, spent only three years in the public eye, and they released only three studio albums. But what he accomplished before committing suicide 10 years ago Monday at age 27 – deciding it was “better to burn out than fade away,” as he quoted Neil Young in his suicide note – was remarkable. Beneath this bridge above the muddy banks of the Wishkah River, a troubled young Cobain would come to escape his unhappy home and the persistent gray drizzle of the Washington coast. Among the cracking concrete supports, he would smoke pot and drink… Read more »

Despite more than ten years difference in age, fellow Canadians Chantal Kreviazuk and Avril Lavigne formed a relationship of mutual respect and sisterhood – and become songwriting partners – after they met last summer. “We became really good friends, and no one knew we were writing together,” says Lavigne. “Every single night for two weeks, we would write a new song. And then I was like, ‘OK, I’m ready to record them.’” The pair co-wrote six songs on Lavigne’s forthcoming album, Under My Skin (due May 25th): “Slipped Away,” “Forgotten,” “Together,” “How Does It Feel,” “He Wasn’t” and “Who Knows.”… Read more »

Internet music piracy has no negative effect on legitimate music sales, according to a study released today by two university researchers that contradicts the music industry’s assertion that the illegal downloading of music online is taking a big bite out of its bottom line. Songs that were heavily downloaded showed no measurable drop in sales, the researchers found after tracking sales of 680 albums over the course of 17 weeks in the second half of 2002. Matching that data with activity on the OpenNap file-sharing network, they concluded that file sharing actually increases CD sales for hot albums that sell… Read more »

The year 1954 was full of pop culture benchmarks. Elvis Presley recorded his first single, the Miss America pageant was televised for the first time, Ernest Hemingway won the Nobel Prize for “The Old Man and the Sea.” And in a small factory in Fullerton, California, an inventor named Leo Fender created his Stratocaster. If the general public overlooked that last milestone, musicians do not. In fact, for many it’s a pivotal event. “Who knows how many different designs they’ve used to imitate and top it and nobody’s come close,” says Nils Lofgren, guitarist for Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band.… Read more »

If the 6 million fans who made Avril Lavigne’s first album, Let Go, among the best-selling records of 2002 think they know what makes the 19-year-old rocker tick, they’re just scratching the surface. As her second album’s title, Under My Skin, suggests, Lavigne’s about to show them what lies beneath. “There are some songs that are really deep,” she said. “I have this song called ‘How Does It Feel.’ It’s just a very mature song. Just me stepping back and looking at my life, talking about how I am small and the world is big. I’m a deep person and… 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 »

Singer Courtney Love showed up as scheduled in Los Angeles Superior Court Tuesday (February 17) for a hearing, prompting a judge to throw out an arrest warrant for her, according to the Associated Press. Judge Elden Fox issued the warrant last Tuesday (February 10) when Love failed to appear for the hearing, but allowed Love a week to comply before ordering her arrest. Judge Lisa Hart Cole dismissed the warrant Tuesday and scheduled Love’s next hearing for March 16. Love, who is known for being brash and outspoken, was reportedly reserved in court, answering only, “Yes, ma’am,” when the judge… Read more »

Apple, the US computer company behind the iTunes music service, has become the latest group to oppose the proposed deal between Sony Music and BMG, the recorded music arm of Germany’s Bertelsmann media group. The development comes as the European Commission begins an intensive second-stage investigation of the merger, a probe it is due to close by June 22. In an announcement on Thursday, the Commission said it had “decided to investigate whether the deal might create or strengthen a collective dominant position between the remaining four major record companies”. It said it would examine “the extent to which the… Read more »

After nearly a year of reading scripts, Justin Timberlake has finally decided on his first feature-film role, and it’s not Jimmy Olsen. While rumors had the pop star taking on the role of the superhero’s pal in the upcoming “Superman” flick, that film still has no director or star, leaving Timberlake free to pursue another part. Timberlake has signed on for his big-screen acting debut in the crime drama “Edison,” in which he’ll play Joshua Pollack, “a fresh-out-of-college kid with a counterculture bent” who gets his start by interning at a big-city newspaper, writer/director David Burke said. The character is… 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 »