Search Results for: The Maine

Troubled rapper O.D.B., in a casket surrounded by red and white flowers, was remembered by family and friends Wednesday at a Harlem church where the focus was on the positives in his life. “I grew up in this man’s music,” said Jason Davis, 25, who traveled to New York from Camden, N.J., to bid farewell to the man born as Russell Jones. The wake, which was open to the public, will be followed Thursday by another wake and a funeral. Jones, who would have turned 36 Monday, complained of chest pains, collapsed and died Saturday inside a Manhattan recording studio.… Read more »

Rome – The singer once known as Cat Stevens, now a peace activist whose name was on a U.S. list of people suspected of having terrorist links, will receive a peace prize from a foundation headed by former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, organizers said Monday. The singer, now named Yusuf Islam, is expected to attend the ceremony on Rome’s Capitoline Hill on Wednesday, said Enzo Cursio, a spokesman for the Gorbachev Foundation. Islam will receive the award from Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni and Gorbachev, the spokesman said. In September, the British musician was expelled from the United States after authorities… Read more »

Los Angeles – Vanessa Carlton is realistic. She knows today’s musical environment is not always friendly toward pop-oriented artists who play their instruments and write their songs, as she does. In fact, Carlton says she is gladly straddling the fence between “being true to myself as a musician and being embraced commercially” with her sophomore album, “Harmonium,” due Nov. 9 from A&M/Interscope Records. “It’s nice to be back and be the alternative to the more calculated, poppy acts out there,” the 24-year-old artist says. “I feel lucky that I’m able to appeal to real music lovers, and it also somehow… Read more »

While the vote count in Ohio plays out, there is one fact that is not in dispute. The same percentage of eligible voters between 18-29 showed up to the polls yesterday as they did in the 2000 Presidential election. Despite the fact that over $40 million was spent by the New Voters Project, Rock the Vote, MTV Choose or Lose, Declare Yourself, Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, and Smack Down Your Vote, as well as the Democratic and Republican National Committee, the percentage of eligible voters between 18-29 in yesterday’s election remained at 17%. However, the campaigns did increase the number… Read more »

New York – Multi-platinum, Grammy nominated 3 Doors Down will host a dinner and auction for their new charity- The Better Life Foundation (TBLF). The event takes place Saturday, December 18th at the Grand Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi and along with 3 Doors Down, will feature performances by Lynyrd Skynyrd, Tracy Lawrence, Shinedown and a few surprise guests.. Floor seats and tables have been selling fast at $100 per person and include dinner, drinks, and the concert. Balcony seats for the concert only are $50 and can be purchased through ticket master or the Grand Casino. Booths for VIP sponsors… Read more »

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – In the last day before the election, Bush’s challenger John Kerry has opened up a more decisive lead (56% – 44%) in an online music poll tracking Republican and Democratic musical tastes conducted by free hi-fi digital radio service http://www.BlueBeat.com. More than 40,000 users have logged their choices for Republican and Democratic- themed musical playlists on the site. Users can still vote at: http://www.bluebeat.com/cgi-bin/pres_kp_vote.cgi. In addition to music by artists favored by the Bush/Cheney and Kerry/Edwards campaigns, as well as partisan musicians on both sides, the site features a reissue of Kerry’s original garage band album… Read more »

Saturday marks the second anniversary of the death of Jam Master Jay. As his family members have pressed on, they continue to keep their loved one’s name alive. A small gathering is planned in the Hollis neighborhood of Queens, New York, on Saturday (October 30), and in January they want to put on a benefit concert to celebrate what would have been the Run-DMC DJ’s 40th birthday. “Basically, we are doing fine,” Jay’s mother, Connie Mizell, said on Monday in New York. “We thank God we are doing as well as we are. I’d be remiss if I didn’t say… Read more »

Johnny Ramone, guitarist and co-founder of the seminal punk band “The Ramones” that influenced a generation of rockers, has died. He was 55. Ramone, who had been fighting a five-year battle with prostate cancer, died in his sleep Wednesday afternoon at his Los Angeles home surrounded by friends and family, said the band’s longtime artistic director Arturo Vega. “He was the guy with a strategy. He was the guy who not only looked after the band’s interest but he also was their defender,” Vega said in a telephone interview from New York. Ramone, whose birth name is John Cummings, had… Read more »

Green Day will toast the release of American Idiot on Tuesday, but perhaps an even bigger cause for celebration these days is the 10-year anniversary of their breakthrough LP, Dookie. The modern-day classic not only launched the Bay Area punk trio into the mainstream, it opened the door to a mid-’90s wave of popped-up punk and provided a launching pad for the current crop of melodic pop-punkers. “[Dookie] changed my life,” confessed Good Charlotte’s Joel Madden. “It made me want to start Good Charlotte…. Right after that record came out, we were like, ‘We have to start a band in… Read more »

Elton John tells Interview magazine that the U.S. government is using “bullying tactics” to prevent anti-war music from being heard, and that performers are so scared that they are just letting it happen. “There’s an atmosphere of fear in America right now and that is deadly,” John explained, according to the New York Daily News, noting, “Everyone is too career-conscious. They’re all too scared… things have changed.” The British pianist pointed out that supporters of the war in Iraq-such as country star Toby Keith-are given free reign, while the Dixie Chicks faced a huge backlash after singer Natalie Maines made… Read more »