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High School Musical officially graduated at the top of its class. The surprise monster hit soundtrack accompaniment to the Disney Channel’s tween song-and-dance fest, finished as 2006’s chart valedictorian, selling more than 3.7 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan figures released Thursday. In the SoundScan era, the only other soundtracks to finish atop the yearend chart were The Bodyguard in 1993 and Titanic in 1998. Remarkably, High School Musical debuted on the charts way down at number 143 in January 2006. The disc increased its position each week, eventually hitting the top spot on two nonconsecutive weeks in March. It… Read more »

With the decade fast approaching it’s musical climax, 2006 proved to be a big winner for an industry hit by piracy. The live music scene proved to be the biggest release for most acts, with top grossing tours for some of the world’s biggest bands, and an explosion in music festivals across the globe. Firstly, let’s recap on albums were still waiting on from last year; OutKast’s first studio album since 2004’s “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below” (which was one of the year’s biggest releases) is rumoured now for the spring, and Guns N’ Roses failed to deliver on their promise of… Read more »

Not every A-lister rang in the New Year in style. Britney Spears’ evening, for one, was quite the snoozefest. At least, that’s the official no-partying party line. The singer’s recently rehired rep, Larry Rudolph, is lashing out at reports that the star passed out–and had to be carried out–while hosting a New Year’s Eve party in Las Vegas, claiming instead that the mother of two was just catching some zzz’s. “By about one o’clock she was just done, so we took her out,” Rudolph told the Associated Press. “She was not drunk. She was just tired and falling asleep.” The… Read more »

Following are previews of albums due out within the next few months from debut acts or under-the-radar artists due for a breakthrough. PAOLO NUTINI Scottish singer/songwriter Paolo Nutini, who turns 20 January 9, was one of the most noteworthy breakout artists of 2006 for Atlantic Records in the United Kingdom. After an appearance at South by Southwest in Austin last March, his debut single, “Last Request,” reached No. 5 in July on the British charts and also became a substantial airplay hit. His debut album, “These Streets,” subsequently opened at No. 3 with out-of-the-box sales of 35,000, according to his… Read more »

When writing the lyrics for “From Under the Cork Tree,” Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz, far right, shifted his focus from a romance gone horribly wrong to a more introspective vew of the world. After writing an album’s worth of lyrics about a girl who shattered his heart, Pete Wentz realized that the world is a bigger place than a cold-hearted woman and he needed to pen tunes that reflected that – a world where tsunamis could devastate parts of Asia, a war in Iraq could affect people on a global scale and the Molly Ringwald vs. Samantha Fox debate… Read more »

It’s officially ok for me to start dating Hilary Duff. In case you haven’t heard, she’s a college girl now, cramming in a few online classes in her free time through the Harvard Extension School. Unfortunately, when she made this announcement on her Web site a month ago, she chose to omit the word “Extension” and in doing so implied that she went to the “real” Harvard. And let me tell you, the Harvard kids were wicked pissed. Within days, the editorial staff of “The Crimson,” Harvard’s school newspaper, published an “Oh no you didn’t, girl” editorial calling Duff a… Read more »

Has Maynard James Keenan, the frontman of both the dark, heavy-metal art band Tool and the somewhat lighter A Perfect Circle, found Jesus and been born again? Well… Recent postings on two Tool Web sites – one of them purportedly by Keenan himself – contend that the singer has found religion and has left Tool. Could this really be? On Tuesday afternoon (April 5), MTV News’ Kurt Loder e-mailed Keenan for confirmation, and this is what he e-mailed back: “I did, in fact, find Jesus. More news to follow. God bless ya.” Keenan’s letter to fan site toolshed.down.net explains that… Read more »

A fire broke out Friday at Ozzy Osbourne’s Buckinghamshire mansion, causing considerable damage to the home. No one was reported injured during the blaze, but Ozzy and his wife, Ozzfest mastermind Sharon Osbourne, were treated for smoke inhalation, as were two of their employees, according to Reuters. Heavy metal’s first couple was stirred from bed when fire alarms started sounding late that evening. Fire officials initially suspected the blaze, which ripped through the family’s living room, may have been due to an electrical problem. But fire investigators have since revised their findings, saying now that heat from a fireplace ignited… Read more »

San Diego – You know it was a powerful show if every single seat in the arena is still occupied by fans singing at the top of their lungs even after the band is done and the house lights go up. That was the scene Monday at the San Diego Sports Arena, where U2 kicked off their Vertigo Tour with a two-hour celebration of the new and the old and a few favorites in between, including a grand finale of “40” that felt more like the end of an Easter service than a rock concert the night after. “We haven’t… Read more »

The “American Idol” final twelve (Photo: Kevin Winter) For the first time in “American Idol” history, the producers have called a revote. After incorrect voting phone numbers were displayed during the performance recap at the end of Tuesday’s show, the producers decided to throw out all of the votes and ask “Idol” viewers to revote Wednesday (March 23) night, a FOX spokesperson said late Tuesday. While the phone numbers that spell out IDOLS were correct for all contestants, the phone numbers listed in all numerals below the IDOLS number for contestants Mikalah Gordon, Anwar Robinson and Jessica Sierra were incorrect.… Read more »