Search Results for: Rock am Ring

New York – Christmas sales came in the nick of time, saving the holiday selling season for most merchants at the last minute. After watching sales waver on an almost daily basis in the first half of December, most retailers say that because the weeks before and after Christmas were strong, stores could top last year’s numbers. “Christmas was late coming, but once it did, it came crushing in,” says Geoffrey Caruso, manager of the Amoeba store in Berkeley, Calif. “In the first part of December, it vacillated from day to day.” Indeed, Nielsen SoundScan numbers confirm that for the… Read more »

Los Angeles – NBC hasn’t received any calls about the F-word that Motley Crue rocker Vince Neil dropped during the live New Year’s Eve broadcast of “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno.” “Happy f–ing New Year, Tommy!” Neil said to bandmate Tommy Lee shortly after midnight Friday. The remark was carried to viewers on the East Coast but was edited out before it was broadcast in the West, according to the entertainment trade paper Variety, which reported the incident on its Web site Monday night. Leno normally tapes his show for broadcast later in the evening but does a live… Read more »

Washington, D.C. – With the Jan. 20 inauguration of President Bush, visitors to the capital won’t be able to swing a cat next week without hitting a ball or party. Although there will be free daytime festivities open to the public during inauguration week, the closed soirees are the hot tickets. The nine “official” nighttime balls, all sponsored by states’ societies, most set for Jan. 19, command most of the attention. All are closed affairs reserved for the Republican Party faithful, with campaign contributors flying in from all over the country. There are also boatloads of “unofficial” parties being thrown… Read more »

Many artists say the greatest reward is to have an effect on people’s lives. Johnny Borrell, 24-year-old frontman for Razorlight, won’t settle for merely having an effect, he wants his music to save the lives of others. After all, it was his music that saved his life. When he was 17, Borrell started shooting heroin, and for the next two years, he made a daily habit of shooting up and snorting cocaine. Over time, he lost most of his friends, some who overdosed, and some who couldn’t stand watching Borrell destroy himself. It was only after he decided to mold… Read more »

Sugarcult have a video – “She’s the Blade” – that’s garnering major airplay, an opening slot on Blink-182’s European tour and an extremely devoted female fanbase. But as singer Tim Pagnotta is reminded every day, there’s still a whole lot of ground to cover before the band can count itself among rock’s elite. “Whoa, somebody is totally screaming,” Pagnotta said recently while standing backstage in Paris. “Sorry, some kid just saw Travis Barker eating a sandwich, and he just started screaming.” The fact that a kid wandered by the lead singer of Sugarcult without even pausing – but went totally… Read more »

New York – The year began with the Super Bowl halftime show fiasco and ended with aftershocks from Howard Stern flipping his detractors the bird and taunting the Federal Communications Commission with a just-try-and-get-me-now move to satellite radio. Between those two seismic events, the FCC levied a record number of indecency fines, responding to an avalanche of complaints carefully orchestrated by conservative zealots and election year political pressure. The results from the government crackdown were widespread. Top-rated personalities were fired. Zero-tolerance edicts were issued. On-air delays and indecency tutorials became commonplace. Warhorses like Pink Floyd’s “Money,” Nine Inch Nails’ “Closer”… Read more »

New York – Irish rockers U2, R&B singers The O’Jays and soul balladeer Percy Sledge are among five musical legends to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame during the foundation’s 20th annual induction ceremony next year, the organization announced Monday. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation will hold its induction ceremony March 14 at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Manhattan. U2, which became one of the planet’s most popular bands in the 1980s with their megahit “The Joshua Tree,” is still making the charts: Their November release, “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb,” is… Read more »

Los Angeles – Chicago rapper Kanye West, who survived a near-fatal car crash to record a debut album that ranked among the year’s biggest sellers, led the field of Grammy Award contenders with 10 nominations, organizers said on Tuesday. R&B singers Alicia Keys and Usher picked up eight nominations each, followed by late “Genius of Soul” Ray Charles with seven, and punk rock band Green Day with six. Jazz pianist Norah Jones, country veteran Loretta Lynn, funk musician Prince and engineer Al Schmitt each earned five. “If I get any nominations, I’m good,” West told Reuters after a press conference… Read more »

December 07, 2004 01:53 PM US Eastern Timezone Ray Charles’ Multi-Platinum “Genius Loves Company” Nominated for 10 GRAMMY Awards, Including Best Album of the Year BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.-(BUSINESS WIRE)-Dec. 7, 2004- Music Legend’s Final CD is Best Selling Recording of His Career; First Ever GRAMMY Nominations for Starbucks Hear Music; CONCORD Nominations Now Tally Over 100 Genius Loves Company, the final recording from music legend Ray Charles, has been nominated for 10 GRAMMY® Awards; it was announced today. The “Genius” received nominations for Best Album of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album, Record of the Year (“Here We Go Again”… Read more »

New York – After taking himself out of the music business “to regenerate, get free of myself and make an album for the right reasons,” Billy Idol has completed his first album featuring new songs in over 10 years, aptly titled DEVIL’S PLAYGROUND. The CD, which may or may not be named after a location deep inside the Idol mind, is scheduled for release on March 22, 2005, and is the English rocker’s first for CSP Records/Sanctuary Records. The first single, “Scream,” is a down and dirty love romp featuring the sinister signature guitar of Steve Stevens and Idol’s rock… Read more »