Search Results for: GOLD

Marilyn Manson may just have blown his street cred. The raunchy rocker allegedly popped the question to his gal-pal, burlesque artist Dita Von Teese, on Mar. 22, according to Us Weekly. Manson (real name Brian Warner) even took the traditional route, reports the tab, getting down on bended knee to present her with a seven-carat round-cut diamond ring. A call to his publicist was not returned, but Us expects the pair to tie the knot within a year. Prior reports suggest the two may already have gotten secretly hitched. Out with the old, in with the new. Just over a… Read more »

Leland Cobain spreads a few yellowing pieces of art across his dining room table. The Aberdeen Museum of History, in the next town over, has asked him to contribute to an exhibit about his grandson, late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. One adorable Christmas card Kurt made for his grandparents at age 13 shows a hapless toddler, fishing, who has hooked the back of his shirt. There are radiant watercolor seascapes and depictions of Disney characters. Then there are the other paintings, in an apartment 55 miles northeast of Leland’s trailer. They are surrealistic, stark and powerful, revealing skeletons, aliens and… Read more »

Jan Berry, a member of the duo Jan & Dean that had the 1960s surf-music hits “Deadman’s Curve” and “The Little Old Lady from Pasadena,” has died. He was 62. Berry had a seizure and stopped breathing Friday at his home. He was pronounced dead that evening at a hospital, said his wife, Gertie Berry. He had been in poor health recently from the lingering effects of brain damage from a 1966 car crash. Jan & Dean had a string of hits and 10 gold records in the 1960s with their tales of Southern California. Among them were 1964’s “The… Read more »

After tracking drum parts in Los Angeles, then shifting operations to their hometown of Toronto, Sum 41 have at least one more trip scheduled before they release the follow-up to 2002’s Does This Look Infected? And this one’s sure to give their frequent-flyer miles a boost. The pop-punk quartet will visit the Democratic Republic of the Congo in mid-May to film a documentary on the war-torn African country, according to an Island Def Jam spokesperson. “From the Front Lines,” produced by the Canadian charity organization War Child, will detail Sum 41’s two-week trip to the Congo, where they will examine… Read more »

Federal regulators opened a new front in their crackdown on offensive broadcasts Thursday, saying that almost any use of the F-word on over-the-air radio and television would be considered indecent. The Federal Communications Commission overruled its staff and said an expletive uttered by rock singer Bono on NBC was both indecent and profane. It marked the first time that the FCC cited a four-letter word as profane; the commission previously equated profanity with language challenging God’s divinity. The FCC on Thursday also proposed maximum fines for the broadcast of the Howard Stern radio show and for a program on two… Read more »

Apple has a smash hit on its hands with the new iPod mini digital music player. The little cousin of the full-size iPod is virtually sold out after less than two weeks in stores, with nearly 100,000 snapped up. The Apple iPod mini in various colors. “I’ve never seen a product line sell like this,” says Jack Wahrman, senior merchandising manager at New York’s J&R Music World. “The iPod is a phenomenon.” The $249 mini is the business-card-sized market extension of the regular iPod, which, while larger, also easily fits into a pocket. The bigger iPod starts at $299 with… Read more »

Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl flash lasted less than three seconds, but the impact continues to ripple through Viacom, the media giant that broadcast the game. Congress, the Federal Communications Commission, right-wing radio commentators and outraged citizens are calling for stricter decency standards – and the artists and executives who make a living from edgy music, performances and videos are in retreat. MTV in particular, which produced the Super Bowl halftime show, is in the midst of a wide-scale re-evaluation of its musical, news and dramatic content. Within a week of the game, MTV – no stranger to criticism, most recently… Read more »

Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson’s respective careers may be causing some newlywed tension, according to Extra. The TV entertainment news show reports that as Simpson’s career has been skyrocketing lately, her husband has become, quote, “the man in her shadow.” Last week on the couple’s MTV reality show, Lachey was upset about his wife’s bigger role on a VH-1 skit. In addition, his contribution to their public service announcement was all but cut from the final product. The latest issue of Us magazine reports that the couple may be headed for tough times. The magazine’s cover story on Simpson and… Read more »

It was a breakthrough deal that would have put the Napster kitty on millions of Hewlett-Packard computers. But in the days leading up to Napster’s re-launch in late October, HP suddenly – and without explanation – returned Napster’s $250,000 check and canceled the agreement to install a link to Napster’s online music service on its computers. Worse, in January HP announced a surprise partnership with Napster rival Apple Computer to feature the iTunes Music store on HP computers and sell Hewlett-Packard branded iPod music players. Neither HP nor Napster’s parent company, Roxio, would comment on the soured deal, whose details… Read more »

Beyonce Knowles may be “Crazy in Love,” but she kept her cool Sunday at one of the more sober Grammy Awards shows in memory. She was the night’s big winner, taking home a record-tying five trophies to join recent Grammy queens Lauryn Hill, Alicia Keys and Norah Jones with the most wins in a single year by a female performer. OutKast’s Speakerboxxx/The Love Below won Album of the Year, giving the eccentric Atlanta funk/rap group three wins, including Best Urban Alternative Performance and Best Rap Album. British band Coldplay took home the prize for Record of the Year for “Clocks,”… Read more »