Search Results for: Avril Lavigne

Nothing spices up a cheeky pop-punk act like a naughty double entendre. Avril Lavigne’s “Things I’ll Never Say” wouldn’t be quite as euphoric without the line, “I wanna blow you… away.” And who could forget Blink-182’s sort-of-dirty album title Take Off Your Pants and Jacket? English may not be Simple Plan’s first language (French is their native tongue), but they’ve got a firm grasp on how to use it to craft bathroom humor. Their debut album is called No Pads, No Helmets… Just Balls, and on their latest hit, “Addicted,” the group snuck a swear word past the censors before… Read more »

The White Stripes’ much-heralded new album “Elephant” (XL Recordings) stampeded the U.K. chart on Sunday, going straight to No. 1, while “Make Luv” by Room 5 featuring Oliver Cheatham (Positiva) retained its place at the top of the singles chart. The singles survey also saw a new entry at No. 4 for Liverpool trio Atomic Kitten’s latest hit, “Love Doesn’t Have To Hurt” (Innocent/Virgin), and a No. 7 debut for Avril Lavigne’s “I’m With You” (Arista). The only other top-20 debuts were Mario’s “Just a Friend” (J) at No. 18 and “Satisfaction” by Eve (Ruff Ryders) at No. 20. Last… Read more »

Bertelsmann said Monday it is seeking bids by the end of the week for its academic and professional publishing business, which the German media company intends to sell for about 1 billion euros ($1.06 billion) to cut debt. Bertelsmann expects “at least half a dozen” bids for its BertelsmannSpringer unit, spokesman Oliver Herrgesell said. Berlin-based BertelsmannSpringer has 5,200 employees in 16 countries and publishes books, periodicals, databases as well as CD-ROMs in scientific and medical fields. Guetersloh-based Bertelsmann AG’s other divisions include music group BMG, whose labels have artists such as Avril Lavigne, Dave Mathews and Pink, Random House book… Read more »

Zomba Music Group, home to teen-pop powerhouse Jive Records, will be saying “bye, bye, bye” to as many as 350 employees out of its 1,800-strong global staff over the next nine months as part of its long-awaited integration into parent company Bertelsmann Music Group. The layoffs, which will be spread out evenly over the course of the year, are part of a larger effort to bring Zomba’s stable of imprints – including Jive, Verity, Silvertone and Volcano – into the major-label group’s worldwide infrastructure. From a brand standpoint, Zomba will remain very much independent from BMG, with major imprints and… Read more »

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 »