Search Results for: NeX GEn

As former President Jimmy Carter nailed down the front porch of a home under construction Wednesday, singer Harry Connick Jr. gave an update on the progress being made in the Upper 9th Ward, an area slow to recover from Hurricane Katrina. The two are supporters of Habitat for Humanity, and both expressed their excitement about the organization’s construction of houses in this section of the city, where block after block of flooded-out homes still sit vacant on lots with overgrown grass. “To be part of this rebuild is thrilling,” said Connick, who took his 12-year-old daughter, Georgia, to the construction… Read more »

Even with the overwhelming success of the acoustic ballad “Hey There, Delilah” last year – which earned the band two Grammy nominations – Plain White T’s lead singer Tom Higgenson says he’s been writing songs for the band’s next record since they finished their last one. Today, the Chicago-based quintet headed into a Malibu recording studio to begin work on their second major label album, the band’s fourth overall, which is expected to hit stores September 24th. While the band isn’t consciously trying to create a “Delilah Part II” (Higgenson points out all of the band’s albums have had slower… Read more »

As I write this, iTunes ranks as the 2nd largest seller of music in the U.S. — only Wal-Mart’s physical stores sell more. Digital revenue is real, and there is a lot of it being earned. Sales from iTunes alone can provide a band enough revenue to achieve true financial success. Don’t take my word for it, just look at some of the sales by the following unsigned artists utilizing the Net for both digital distribution and marketing: Kelly sold over 500,000 songs in five months, Eric Hutchinson sold 120,000 songs in three weeks, The Medic Droid sold over 25,000… Read more »

The personal assistant charged in the beating death of real estate agent and punk rock pioneer Linda Stein was denied bail Wednesday even though the defense argued new DNA evidence justified it. Stein’s blood was spattered around her Manhattan penthouse after she was bludgeoned to death in October, but not a drop was found on the clothes of Natavia Lowery, 26, who is charged with second-degree murder, her attorney said. Male DNA also was mingled with Stein’s blood in a bathroom sink – suggesting her killer was a man, not the female assistant, Ronald Kuby argued while about 100 people… Read more »

It may be almost 38 years since they officially split but the ability of all things Beatles to shake the world continues unabated. If proof were needed, reports yesterday that Sir Paul McCartney had given the go-ahead for the Fab Four’s back catalogue to be made available on iTunes and other digital download services “within months” made front-page news and set fans’ internet chat rooms buzzing. Official “no comments” that anything was imminent from both Apple Corps, owners of the Beatles’ legacy, and Apple, the creator of iTunes, which dismissed suggestions as “rumour and speculation,” could do little to dampen… Read more »

With the 2006 release of “Sound of Melodies,” Texas-based rock band Leeland became the critical darling of the Christian music community. Its debut disc earned the group a Grammy Award nomination for best pop/contemporary gospel album as well as four Dove Award nominations. Now Leeland is hoping to deliver big with its sophomore album, “Opposite Way,” released February 26 via Essential. The first single, “Count Me In,” is No. 28 this week on Hot Christian Songs. In addition, the songwriting prowess of the band’s 19-year-old frontman, Leeland Mooring, caught the attention of Christian music titan Michael W. Smith, and the… Read more »

When rapper Flo Rida set a digital sales record with his single “Low,” which moved 470,000 copies the first week of January despite not being available on an album, it was emblematic of an intriguing trend. Digital hip-hop song sales are at an all-time high, but in terms of digital album commerce, hip-hop is lagging behind other genres. In 2007, of 500.4 million albums sold industry-wide, 10 percent were sold digitally. In comparison, of the 41.7 million rap albums sold, only 7 percent (2.9 million) of those were digital. So far this year (through the week ending February 17), according… Read more »

The dream of many kids learning to play guitar or prancing in front of a mirror with a faux microphone is to play in front of a sold out crowd singing along to their songs and chanting their name; Linkin Park has lived their dreams and then some. After a very successful Projekt Revolution tour this past summer, the band was back out on the road with an arena tour bringing Chiodos and Coheed & Cambria along for the ride. For the near sold-out crowd in Baltimore on February 19th, it was a rock show to remember. Probably one of… Read more »

Don’t hold your breath waiting for the next Spice Girls reunion. Geri Halliwell, a.k.a. Ginger Spice, said a second outing “probably won’t happen ever again.” The quintet’s Return of the Spice Girls World Tour wraps February 26 in Toronto. “This is the last time you will ever get to see this Girl Power, the five Spices on the stage as one,” said Halliwell, who left the group in May 1998 but was a chief proponent of the current reunion. That said, Halliwell told Billboard.com that she would not entirely shut the door on a bit more Spice if fans really,… Read more »

Lil Wayne was arrested on three felony drug charges Wednesday after federal agents said they found illegal drugs, including cocaine, on his charter bus at a checkpoint in southwestern Arizona. The rapper, whose real name is Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., spent the day at the Yuma County jail on the state drug charges before being released, Capt. Eben Bratcher said. After posting more than $10,000 bond, the rapper signed autographs for fans outside a bondsman’s office. James Tilson, a local lawyer retained by Carter, said that his client was not formally charged and that his next court date was scheduled… Read more »