Search Results for: Living With Lions

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 »

For the humdrum New England Patriots and Carolina Panthers, putting on a show to match the glitz, glitter and star power of the rest of Super Bowl Sunday was no easy task. Typical of America’s biggest unofficial holiday, the game was only the icing on an over-the-top extravaganza. There was a gleaming new $450 million stadium to show off, a slew of pricey new ads, and Beyonce, Janet Jackson and P. Diddy to share the field. The biggest cliffhanger of the week wasn’t who would win, but whether Janet’s brother, Michael, would show up. He didn’t, but Justin Timberlake did,… Read more »

Bertelsmann Music Group has completed its Jive lessons. The major label group said Tuesday it has closed its acquisition of Zomba Music Group, home to teen-pop label Jive Records, paying more than $2.74 billion to acquire the stakes in the closely held group it didn’t already own. BMG already held 20% of Zomba’s record labels and 25% of its music-publishing portfolio. The deal, which got rolling in June after Zomba owner Clive Calder triggered a long-standing “put” option to sell his interest, gives BMG full access to Jive’s roster of pop megastars, including ‘N Sync, Britney Spears and the Backstreet… Read more »

Sony Music moved swiftly Tuesday to stamp out a swirl of speculation that it was maneuvering to acquire the remaining half of ATV Music Publishing – which includes more than 250 songs from the Beatles’ back-catalog – from waning superstar Michael Jackson. “We are not in discussions with Mr. Jackson over the sale of his share of the ATV catalog,” a Sony rep insisted. “These rumors are completely baseless.” But the insider chatter over a possible deal nevertheless put a spotlight on the Gloved One’s financial situation, which has reportedly deteriorated steadily amid declining record sales, legal expenses and superstar-level… Read more »

Billy Joel and Elton John are back together in the new year for the continuation of the pair’s magical “Face To Face” performances kicking off on Sunday, January 13th in Washington, DC at the MCI Center. Billy and Elton first toured the successful “Face To Face” tour in the United States in 1995 and again in 1996. The tour was extended to Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Europe in 1998. The 31-date “Face To Face” 2001 tour grossed $59 million. Early sales for the Billy Joel/Elton John “Face To Face” 2002 tour of the American northeast immediately set box office… Read more »

Black Crowes singer Chris Robinson may have just married a famous actress, but the man at the helm of America’s “most rock ‘n’ roll” rock band has not gone Hollywood just yet. Yes, that is the lanky, longhaired Robinson accompanying his wife, Kate Hudson, to the Oscars and the Golden Globes. Yes, he does hobnob with famous actors and directors, but they discuss obscure records and movies, not box office grosses. “I’ve met so many cool people in my lifetime, but… just because you’re famous and wealthy doesn’t make me want to sit down and have dinner with you,” he… Read more »

Rufus Wainwright’s goals for his sophomore album, Poses – due in stores June 5 – are not modest. “This time, I basically had the idea in my mind that I’m going to write a huge pop album that’s going to sell millions of copies and going to be all hit songs,” declares the 27-year-old son of singer-songwriters Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle. “I’m totally selling out.” Actually, he’s kidding only a little bit. “My main objective was to sort of scale it down a little and make it more accessible,” explains Wainwright, whose 1998 debut won critical raves, including… Read more »

The American ear has been both excited and soothed, thanks to the crystal clear sound of CDs and digital music downloaded from the Web. So that makes the hiss, crackle and static of the AM and FM radio even less appealing, and more frightening for those who make a living in radio. Facing the reality that consumers are demanding better quality audio, broadcasters gathered here at a convention are looking to retool by moving from analog to digital. The result of this, say industry leaders attending the National Association of Broadcasters meeting, will be FM radio in CD-quality and AM… Read more »