Search Results for: Coldplay

It was another brush-with-an-icon moment for the Killers : back in May of this year, joining Duran Duran – the first name in ’80s fashionista Britpop  – onstage, aptly in Las Vegas, to perform the vets’ chestnut “Planet Earth.” Brandon Flowers, resplendent as ever in a tux, looked like a young James Bond. And you know he had to have been stirred, if not a little bit shaken. There are no more unabashed Anglophiles among U.S. pop-rockers than the Killers. From day one, they have made that clear: They took their name from a New Order video, they’ve covered Joy… Read more »

At the American Music Awards on Sunday (November 23), Miley Cyrus, celebrating her 16th birthday, broke character a bit, performing a saucy, seductive version of her new single, “Fly on the Wall”; Mariah Carey delivered a riveting rendition of “I Stay in Love”; and a barely lucid Scott Weiland ironically introduced Pink’s performance of “Sober,” calling her “one of the greatest artists of our time.” Later, Pink even joined Sarah McLachlan for a duet on “Angel.” The New Kids on the Block and Christina Aguilera both performed medleys of their most beloved tunes. Justin Timberlake gave us a lesson on… Read more »

With his spiky mohawk, cluttered canvas of tattooed skin and punk rock pedigree stretching back to childhood, Travis Barker isn’t exactly pleading to be taken seriously as a hip-hop head. A former drummer for the multi-platinum-selling power pop trio Blink-182 who also has done turns behind the kit for rock outfits including the Aquabats, +44 and Box Car Racer, he boasts impeccable Warped Tour credentials and critical props as one of modern rock’s most exciting, exacting percussion players. But a funny thing happened when Barker posted a video of himself on YouTube last September drumming thunderously in time with Southern… Read more »

While millions around the world spent Sunday watching the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, 7,000 fans lucky enough to score a ticket to Radiohead’s show at the Hollywood Bowl witnessed not only a band at the top of its game but also an act that at times seemed to be the best on the planet. Certainly that’s high praise, but during its two-hour set — the first of two sold-out nights at the Bowl — the quintet from Oxford, England, managed to cast a spell over the crowd without resorting to fist-pumping anthems like U2, Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam… Read more »

Not only have the Jonas Brothers notched the year’s third-biggest debut album, they’ve managed the rare feat of having two albums in the top 10 at the same time. “A Little Bit Longer,” the third album from the trio of siblings, sold more than 525,000 copies to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 album charts, according to figures released by Nielsen SoundScan on Wednesday. Only Lil Wayne (whose “Tha Carter III” sold a little more than 1 million in its first week) and Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida” (which topped the chart with 720,000 its first week) have… Read more »

Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl” led Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart for a seventh week on Thursday, tying the Beatles to become the longest-running No. 1 in the rock era for the singer’s Capitol Records label. The Fab Four ruled for seven weeks in 1964 with “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” Perry was previously tied at No. 2 with the Knack’s 1979 song “My Sharona.” If Perry’s song can hang on for three more weeks, it will tie rapper Flo Rida’s “Low” as the second longest-running No. 1 of 2008. But challenges loom from R&B singer Chris Brown’s… Read more »

At first it seemed like overkill, being able to download American Idol performances from iTunes the day after they aired. Until we realized we could pay 99 cents and listen to David Cook’s version of “Hello” as many times as we wanted! And thousands of people are clamoring for more, giving the newly crowned Idol winner four out of the five top spots on iTunes’ list of Top Songs. His victory anthem, the songwriting-contest winner “The Time of My Life,” is perched loftily at No. 1. The other big digital hits for Cook at the moment (literally, at this moment)… Read more »

In the months since Army of Me’s “Citizen” was released, the band has enjoyed nationwide airplay of its hit single, “Going Through Changes,” has been featured on MTV, and has toured the country. But the local rockers, whose sound would fit perfectly alongside the noises Bono and Chris Martin make, aren’t quite satisfied quite yet. “It’s like there’s this big mountain we’re trying to climb, and when you’re far away from the mountain, it doesn’t look that big,” lead singer Vince Scheurman said. “It’s like Mount Everest. There’s ‘false summits.’ When you get to one peak, there’s always another one.… Read more »

Universal Music’s publishing division has overtaken EMI as the world’s leading major music publisher, according to market research on Monday. Music & Copyright (M&C), which is published by Informa said Universal’s market share among major music groups rose to 24 percent in 2007 from 11.9 percent a year earlier. Over the same period, EMI’s music publishing share remained steady at 17 percent. Independent publishers account for around one third of the global market. EMI was bought by private equity firm Terra Firma, which earlier this month announced plans to cut up to 2,000 jobs at the music company as part… Read more »

In a dramatic demonstration of the economic toll of digital piracy on the music industry, EMI Group is expected to fire more than a quarter of the London-based company’s employees and radically alter the way it does business to further cut costs. Guy Hands, who was installed as chief executive of the world’s fourth-largest record company after it was bought last year by investment company Terra Firma, is expected to announce cuts of at least 1,500 employees today as part of a major restructuring, two EMI executives said. EMI also will become the first major label to eliminate the large… Read more »