Search Results for: Avril Lavigne

The debut album from Montreal pop-punk band Simple Plan has been certified gold this week in the U.S. “No Pads, No Helmets?Just Balls” has sold more than 500,000 copies since its release last year on Lava Records. This year, the band has reached international fame, playing on 5 continents and performing over 300 shows. They’ve already gone gold in Canada and Japan. But there’s no slowing down in sight for Pierre Bouvier (vocals); Chuck Comeau (drums); David Desrosiers (bass, vocals); Sebastien Lefebvre (guitar, vocals) and Jeff Stinco (guitar). Simple Plan will play some dates on the Warped Tour and Avril… Read more »

If the variety of producers she’s working with is any indication, Britney Spears’ next record will be her most adventurous yet. Sure, mainstays Rodney Jerkins and the Neptunes are again logging time with the pop princess, but she has also recorded with Ashanti producer 7 Aurelius and the Matrix, the production team behind Avril Lavigne’s hit singles. And don’t forget Fred Durst. Both 7, who also worked on the latest Tupac album, and the Matrix have done three tracks with Spears and are hoping to do more. “I’m doing something for her, something really ridiculous. [A] record I’m going to… Read more »

In a year fraught with political turmoil, turbulence and insecurity, music fans turned to their favorite songs to take them away from many of their problems and help them come to terms with others that were impossible to escape. Whether it was Eminem rapping, “Lose yourself in the music,” or Bruce Springsteen singing, “Come on up for the rising/ Come on up, lay your hands in mine,” the messages of unity were universal. At the 45th annual Grammy Awards, held Sunday (February 23) at New York’s Madison Square Garden, apolitical hedonists and social activists alike rallied together to celebrate the… Read more »

The music of pop-jazz chanteuse Norah Jones garnered seven Grammy awards Sunday night, catapulting her past crowd favorite Bruce Springsteen and his three awards for the Sept. 11-inspired “The Rising.” As unknown as Springsteen was acclaimed before the last year, Jones won four individual Grammys while her producer, engineers and the writer of her hit “Don’t Know Why” were honored as well. “I never ever thought that the music I made would become popular music, so this is amazing,” Jones said as she picked up an award for best pop vocal album. She also won for best female pop vocal,… Read more »

The Grammy Awards return to New York for the first time in five years on Sunday, with songs influenced by the Sept. 11 hijacked plane attacks on the city in the running for the music industry’s top annual prizes. Veteran rocker Bruce Springsteen’s “The Rising” and country singer Alan Jackson’s emotional “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)” are both nominated for Song of the Year. Young singer and pianist Norah Jones with her mellow mix of jazz, blues and country song and album “Come Away With Me,” is among eight stars most frequently mentioned by music critics as… Read more »

Instead of visiting a bounty on any single artist, the nominations announced Tuesday for the 45th Annual Grammy Awards were sprinkled around in an unusually equitable manner-eight musicians tied for the most nominations with sounds as diverse the elegiac rock of Bruce Springsteen, the gossamer, jazzy blends of newcomer Norah Jones and the whipsaw rhymes of Eminem. In year’s past, a glut of nominations would push as single artist such as Lauryn Hill or Carlos Santana above the fold, but this year the flattened field presented more subtle story lines amid the sprawl of 104 categories. Among those themes: The… Read more »

Songs by Nickelback, Puddle Of Mudd, Linkin Park, and Jimmy Eat World scored the most spins on the radio this past year, according to Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems (BDS), which monitors radio play. Nickelback’s most-played status with 421,770 spins of “How You Remind Me” earned the Canadian band Billboard Award honors in early December. Second place goes to Puddle Of Mudd’s “Blurry” with 411,487 spins, while Linkin Park’s “In The End” comes in at Number Three with a reported 393,409 spins. At Number Four is Jimmy Eat World’s “The Middle” with 362,479 spins, and just behind is the Calling’s “Wherever… Read more »

Hip-hop phenomenon Eminem trounced all comers in 2002 and tentatively claimed top album of the year honors after selling more than 7.4 million copies of “The Eminem Show” (Interscope/Shady) in the U.S., according to figures released Thursday by Nielsen SoundScan. The album’s performance defied a sharply downward trend in the industry as a whole, as CD album sales tumbled by 9% to 624.2 million for the year through Dec. 22. In fact, Slim Shady beat his nearest rival, Universal Music Group label mate Nelly by more than 2.6 million discs. Nelly’s “Nellyville” (Universal) shifted just under 4.8 million albums and… Read more »

The dress code for MTV’s New Year’s Eve party gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “casual chic.” The cable music channel will ring in 2003 with a pajama party, with performances from the Foo Fighters, Avril Lavigne, Busta Rhymes and Good Charlotte. Ashton Kutcher and Brittany Murphy, who co-star in the upcoming movie “Just Married,” will host the party with Carson Daly. Sway from MTV News and comedian Jeffrey Ross also will take part. The festivities will air live from MTV’s Times Square studios starting at 10:30 p.m. EST Dec. 31. Leading up to New Year’s Eve, the… Read more »

‘Tis the season for holiday radio shows. As much a tradition as eggnog, mistletoe and broken resolutions, December always brings a bumper crop of all-star shows in which bands give back to their fans (and the radio stations that play their music) by jetting around the country and serving up short hit-heavy sets. The month of December will be especially star-packed for those living near Indianapolis, San Diego or Philadelphia. If you love Good Charlotte, Coldplay, Destiny’s Child and Queens of the Stone Age, you might want to cash in some frequent flyer miles, because those bands are among a… Read more »