Search Results for: stateside

Do they know it’s Christmas? Maybe, maybe not. The bigger question is: Do we care? Band Aid 20’s new version of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” is selling at a record pace-in England, anyway. The story, though, is different on this side of the Pond. The updated take on the 1984 Christmas charity smash features some of Britain’s biggest names, including Dido, Chris Martin of Coldplay, Joss Stone, Paul McCartney and, for good measure, one Irish megastar in the form of U2’s Bono. The performers, checking their egos at the door (in theory, anyway), gathered together to help victims in… Read more »

Los Angeles – U2 has sold more than 120 million albums worldwide and won 14 Grammy Awards during the course of its 26-year career, so you would think that there would be a level of ease that comes with a new release. Not so, says the Irish band’s longtime manager Paul McGuinness. “There is absolutely no resting on our laurels,” he tells Billboard. “I say to people we have to break the band every time we put out a record.” And this is with an album that McGuinness expects to debut at No. 1 in “32 or 33 countries.” “How… Read more »

Cleveland – In pinpointing the platinum success of Hoobastank’s sophomore Island album, “The Reason,” lead singer Doug Robb tells Billboard the high-profile inclusion of the album’s title track on last-season episodes of “Friends” and “The O.C.” proved pivotal in breaking the band to new listeners. “That was probably the single largest reason why the audience basically tripled,” says Robb. “Because once it hit top 40 or pop radio, which is something that we were really hesitant about because we’re not really a pop band, the success of those formats really just opened doors to a lot of new fans. And… Read more »

Los Angeles/New York – Columbia Records has moved up by one day the North American release of the new Destiny Child’s album, just as the R&B trio confirmed the first dates for its 2005 world tour. “Destiny Fulfilled” will be issued off-cycle from a traditional Tuesday stateside release on Nov. 15, the same date that the disc will be available internationally. The company says the change is due to the “potential for Internet leaks and ‘burned’ CD counterfeits” that could “lead consumers to experience inferior and incomplete versions of the album.” The move by follows Wednesday’s (Nov. 3) announcement that… Read more »

New York, Ny – Punk superstars Simple Plan saw plenty of action as their new album Still Not Getting Any…soared to the top of the charts. The band’s sophomore album entered the Billboard Top 200 at #3 (trailing closely behind hard core rappers Jay Z/R. Kelly and Trick Daddy.) The album, with sales of 139,928, marks the band’s highest chart position to date and the highest rock debut this week. In addition to their monstrous success stateside, Still Not Getting Any…topped the chart in their native Canada at #2 and was the #3 top selling album in Japan. “Simple Plan… Read more »

In Britain, Busted are headlining stadiums. In America, the pop-punk trio are playing parking lots outside stadiums. So which do they prefer? Prepare to be surprised. “It’s awesome at gigs here, because you kind of have to win the crowd over,” bassist Matt Jay said recently. “Like in England, it’s awesome and stuff, but we could just go ‘Bugger!’ and they would go ‘Yeah!’ Which is awesome, but here, you really have to work hard.” “It’s nice to kind of see the first-time reaction of the crowds again,” guitarist James Bourne added. “It’s like it’s a little déjà vu of… Read more »

Oops. A bus driver who’s part of Britney Spears’ Onyx Hotel Tour brigade failed to stay within the safety zone and is now facing charges of speeding and disobeying police. The Tennessee trucker, who was transporting crew and equipment, led cops on a high-speed chase through New Hampshire Monday and later failed to show for his arraignment. A trooper tagged David Raines going 78 mph in a 65 mph zone Monday morning around 7 a.m. traveling south on Interstate 93 near Northfield, according to state police. Raines gave every indication of pulling over but then kept driving for approximately 10… Read more »

Their last recording had a budget of about $300. Still, Toronto duo Death From Above managed to use that small sum to create an aural masterpiece that led to worldwide attention and a tour across the Great White North with Billy Talent andAlexisonfire. It was probably the best three bills the band ever spent. And now they’ve got a solid grand – $1,000 – burning a hole in their pockets. You can just imagine how giddy bassistJesse F. Keeler and drummer/singer Sebastien Grainger must be as they gear up to record an 11-song full-length. “Considering what we spent with the… Read more »

In their 13 years together, the members of P.O.D. have never denied their faith. And frontman Sonny Sandoval says the group never will. “It’s going to come out, whether I build houses or collect garbage,” he says. Spirituality and positivity have saturated the band’s material to date and have helped turn P.O.D. into a multiplatinum-selling act in the wake of Sept. 11, 2001. With the new Atlantic effort, “Payable on Death,” both band and label hope that the faith of the 2.7 million U.S. fans who bought P.O.D.’s previous album also remains intact, as the new set – the group’s… Read more »

Barenaked Ladies’ drummer Tyler Stewart jokingly tells Billboard.com that heads better roll at their label Reprise, which mistakenly printed early versions of the band’s new disc, “Everything to Everyone,” as “Everything for Everyone.” “Either they laid off the spell-check person or they are just so frickin’ negligent, that they deserve to go out of business anyway,” Stewart says with a laugh. The album is the band’s first studio release since 2000’s “Maroon.” The 14-track disc finds the band changing paces a bit and approaching songwriting from a totally different direction. “I think this album marks a new beginning because there… Read more »