Search Results for: David Bowie

Pete Yorn plans to release two albums next year – the follow-up to 2001’s acclaimed Musicforthemorningafter and a record he made before his major-label debut. While the former will feature the same introspective singer/songwriter roots rock showcased in singles like “For Nancy (‘Cos It Already Is)” and “Strange Condition,” the latter will reveal another side of Yorn, who is currently touring with Weezer. “At the time, I was really into Guided by Voices, so it’s lo-fi, really blown-out vocals and guitars,” Yorn said backstage at the Coachella Festival in Indio, California, this weekend. “A lot of reverb. I started every… Read more »

Angst-ridden Mancunian rock quartet The Smiths have beaten off competition from the Beatles and the Rolling Stones to be declared music bible NME’s most important rock group of the last 50 years. The band, renowned for its fatalistic lyrics and fronted by the misery-wallowing Morrisey, have not troubled the pop charts for more than a decade, but NME – the fanzine formerly known as New Musical Express – ranked them as more important than Elvis, the Sex Pistols and Madonna. Bands were assessed on the number of front covers, letters and features they generated as well as end-of-year polls. Beatle… Read more »

When Audiovent tour with Adema next month, they surely won’t hit the road under the banner the Sibling Rivalry Tour, but maybe they should. Adema’s frontman, Marky Chavez, is of course the half-brother of Korn’s Jonathan Davis. Audiovent’s blood runs even thicker: singer Jason Boyd and guitarist Ben Einziger are the brothers of Incubus vocalist Brandon Boyd and guitarist Mike Einziger. And bassist Paul Fried is Ben and Mike’s stepbrother. Audiovent are capped off by drummer Jamin Wilcox, son of Jon Wilcox from Todd Rundgren’s Utopia. However, the band, whose major-label debut, Dirty Sexy Nights in Paris, comes out June… Read more »

What would you say if someone told you Linda Perry, the unforgettable voice behind 4 Non Blondes’ 1992 hit “What’s Up?,” has become one of the hottest producers in pop music? Perhaps, in her words, “Hey, what’s goin’ on?” It’s a behind-the-boards comeback, that’s what, and all the one-hit wonders are doing it. Find it hard to believe Perry co-wrote and produced several songs on Pink’s Missundaztood, including the title track? Or that she’s behind upcoming projects from Christina Aguilera (see “Christina Aguilera: Not Your Puppet”), Solange Knowles and Courtney Love? Consider that Deep Blue Something’s Todd and Toby Pipes,… Read more »

Pop diva Mariah Carey was axed by record company EMI on Wednesday with a $28 million pay-off, as the British music group decided it could not justify her huge contract after a dismal year for the company. EMI severed its ties with the Grammy-winning American vocalist after signing her to its Virgin Records label only last year in one of the most expensive recording contracts ever. Carey’s first album for Virgin, “Glitter,” fell well short of her previous hits, selling just two million copies worldwide. EMI’s shares fell 0.72 percent to 344 pence in early trade in London, as the… Read more »

EMI Group Plc. on Monday threw cold water on reports that it had agreed to pay pop diva Mariah Carey a lump sum to end her multimillion-dollar recording contract after her latest album, “Glitter,” flopped. Recent reports suggested EMI had agreed to pay Carey off with as much as $50 million, just eight months after its Virgin label signed the star in one of the most expensive recording deals ever only to see “Glitter” sell a mere 2 million copies. “EMI wishes to make clear that it has made no such payment or agreement,” EMI said in a brief statement… Read more »

The Concert For New York City benefit, which brought in over $12 million, is Amusement Business’ top-grossing concert event of 2001, capping a list that puts pop artists in seven of the year’s top 10 moneymaking positions. Held on October 20 at New York’s Madison Square Garden, the Concert for New York City was organized to raise funds for the families of policemen and firefighters killed in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Paul McCartney, Elton John, the Who, David Bowie, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, Backstreet Boys, Destiny’s Child, Jay-Z and many others performed at the concert,… Read more »

Columbia Records will release The Concert For New York City – a 2-CD collection documenting the historic all-star concert event held to benefit those in need affected by the World Trade Center tragedy. The Concert For New York City album will be released on Tuesday, November 27. DVD and VHS versions will be available thereafter. “The Concert For New York City” took place on October 20, 2001 at Madison Square Garden. Produced by VH1, Cablevision, Miramax and AOL, the concert was a celebration of the strength of New York and a thank you to the heroic firefighters, police officers and… Read more »

The stage where John Lennon met Paul McCartney all those years ago is up for sale, and Beatles fans wanting a slice of the world’s most famous pop group can also buy the Bechstein Grand Piano used on The White Album and to record “Hey Jude.” The church hall stage where pop history was made is expected to fetch up to $72,000 at a London auction on Nov. 27, auctioneers Fleetwood Owen said in a statement Thursday. Lennon was playing with his group the Quarrymen at St. Peter’s Church Hall in Woolton, in northern England, on July 6, 1957, when… Read more »

Virgin Records vice chairman Nancy Berry, the estranged wife of ousted music executive Ken Berry, Tuesday became the latest casualty of a restructuring at ailing British music company EMI Group Plc, where the couple reigned over rock ‘n’ roll for several years. Alain Levy, who abruptly replaced Ken Berry as chief executive officer of EMI’s recorded music division last week, announced Tuesday that Nancy Berry will leave Virgin immediately after more than two decades at the EMI unit. The news, which was not a surprise to many industry insiders, broke as Virgin prepares to release key albums in coming weeks… Read more »