Search Results for: 2007

This year’s transformation of the annual Grammy Awards nominations announcement into a full-blown prime-time TV special could help provide a badly needed boost in sales at a difficult time for the music industry. But the December 3 “Grammy Nominations Concert Live!” telecast on CBS fell short of being a ratings winner. The one-hour show finished fourth in its 9 p.m. time slot, averaging 7 million viewers, behind NBC’s “Life” with 8.1 million, Fox’s “Secret Millionaire” with 8.1 million and ABC’s “Private Practice” with 7.8 million, according to Nielsen Media Research The audience for the nominations special was also less than… Read more »

He had one of the biggest opening sales weeks of 2008, and now, Lil Wayne is the year’s most-nominated Grammy contender. Wayne and his latest LP, “Tha Carter III,” lead the pack with a total of eight nominations, while one of the year’s other biggest sellers, Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends,” garnered seven nods. Jay-Z, Ne-Yo and Kanye West each earned six nods, while Alison Krauss, John Mayer, Robert Plant, Radiohead and Jazmine Sullivan received five each. Adele is up for four – including Best New Artist – as are Lupe Fiasco and T.I. The… Read more »

In an interesting clash of inspiration that combines ” The Divine Comedy ” and a highway accident, Red’s sophomore album, “Innocence & Instinct,” echoes the emotional ups and downs the Grammy Award -nominated rock act has experienced over the last two years. “Dante’s Inferno became a cool metaphor for some of the roads we’re taking and exploring the darker stuff that we all deal with,” guitarist/songwriter Jasen Rauch says. A van accident in late 2007 added real-life drama to the process. “We hit a guardrail head-on at about 75 miles per hour on the highway,” Rauch recalls. “There were seven… Read more »

NEW YORK —-  On the heels of the release of the second volume of Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo’s home recordings, the alternative rock group is now taking a look back into its own vaults. Cuomo told Billboard he has “no idea” when the tentatively titled “Odds and Ends” will be released, but describes it as “just another fun project to do. They’re great songs, but for some reason they didn’t make the final cut for (a) record. They span a vast period of time from the very beginning of our career in the early ’90s right up to the present… Read more »

NEW YORK —-  Beyonce has scored her third straight No. 1 debut on the pop album chart with the double-disc “I Am … Sasha Fierce.” The Music World/Columbia album shifted a whopping 482,000 copies in the United States during the week ended November 23, according to Nielsen SoundScan . The set, split between material credited to R&B star Beyonce and her new alter-ego, Sasha Fierce, has already spawned the hits “If I Were a Boy” and “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It).” Beyonce’s 2003 solo debut, ” Dangerously in Love ,” started with 317,000, while 2006’s “B-Day” moved 541,000.… Read more »

Some of the biggest names in music are contributing exclusive songs to RED(WIRE), a digital music magazine that launches on World AIDS Day ( December 1). U2, Coldplay, the Killers, the Dixie Chicks, John Legend, R.E.M. and Bob Dylan are on board for the initiative, which is an outgrowth of the Bono-reared activist organization called (RED). All proceeds from subscriptions will benefit HIV-infected people in Africa; MSN.com will host a kickoff party December 1. For $5, users will receive a new issue of RED(WIRE) every Wednesday, featuring an exclusive song from a major musician, a song from a performer who… Read more »

My Chemical Romance singer Gerard Way ‘s newest creation isn’t a CD – it’s an upcoming baby. A representative for the singer says Way, 31, and wife Lindsey, bass player of the band Mindless Self Indulgence, are expecting their first child. The baby is due early in the summer 2009. The pair have been married since Sept. 4, 2007. My Chemical Romance is known for hits like “Famous Last Words” and “Welcome to the Black Parade.”

Fall Out Boy announced today that they believe they set the Guinness World Record for the Most Interviews On Radio In a 24 Hour Period By A Pair of Two (final certification to come from Guinness World Records after receiving documentation) with 72 radio interviews. Pete Wentz and Patrick Vaughn Stump took over the radio airwaves on Halloween, starting at 3:00am, at Premiere Studios in Los Angeles to set the new record. The previous Guinness World Record for the Most Interviews On Radio In a 24 Hour Period By A Pair of Two was 57 radio stations in 24 hours… Read more »

These days, the old west rail hub of Las Vegas, New Mexico, is little more than a dusty economic dead zone amid a boneyard of bare mesas. In national elections, the town overwhelmingly votes Democratic: More than 80 percent of all residents are Hispanic, and one in four lives below the poverty line. On February 5th, the day of the Super Tuesday caucus, a school-bus driver named Paul Maez arrived at his local polling station to cast his ballot. To his surprise, Maez found that his name had vanished from the list of registered voters, thanks to a statewide effort… Read more »

Britney Spears' new single "Womanizer" made a record-breaking leap to top spot on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart on Wednesday, underscoring her musical comeback after making headlines with her personal woes. Billboard said the song, the first from a new Spears album due for release in December, jumped from No.96 to No.1 in the past week and returned Spears to the top of the list for the first time since her 1999 debut single "Baby One More Time." "Womanizer" is also No. 1 on iTunes charts in Canada, France, Spain and Sweden, Spears' record company Jive said. Billboard said the… Read more »