Search Results for: Thursday

Universal Music Group said on Thursday it reached a deal to buy Spanish-language Univision Music Group for an undisclosed sum, including its recording and publishing operations. The Univision Music Group includes Univision Records, Fonovisa Records and Disa Records, with Marco Antonio Solis, Los Tigres del Norte and Gloria Trevi on its artist roster. Universal — the world’s largest music company, which is owned by France’s Vivendi — said it would phase out use of the Univision name but retain the brands Fonovisa and Disa. Universal had already been Univision Music’s distributor in the United States, Puerto Rico and Mexico. It… Read more »

If you ask Boy George if he really wanted to hurt him, the answer’s an emphatic no. The “Karma Chameleon” purveyor pleaded not guilty Thursday to a charge of false imprisonment for allegedly chaining a male escort to a wall and threatening him at the former’s east London home last April. George, 46, whose real name is George O’Dowd, turned up at Snaresbrook Crown Court dressed in black and sporting shades. The ’80s icon was mostly mum during the 20-minute hearing except to enter his plea and confirm the conditions of his bail. He subsequently left without speaking to reporters.… Read more »

Mike Smith, the lead singer of the 1960s British band the Dave Clark Five, died on Thursday of pneumonia at an English hospital, his U.S. agent said. Smith, 64, was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday morning with a chest infection resulting from complications of a 2003 spinal cord injury that had left him paralyzed from the waist down, his New York agent, Margo Lewis, said in a statement. His death at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, north of London, came just two weeks before the Dave Clark Five — one of the leading bands of the 1960s “British invasion” — was… Read more »

“SIMPLE PLAN,” the long-awaited new album from Lava/Atlantic recording group Simple Plan, has made a triumphant chart debut, both here and around the world. The Montreal-based band’s third studio effort — which features the singles “When I’m Gone” and “Your Love Is A Lie” — was the Billboard 200’s highest-charting debut of the week at #14, while also placing high on a variety of additional tallies, including #3 on “Top Rock Albums,” #4 on “Top Modern Rock/Alternative Albums,” and #7 on “Top Digital Albums.” In addition, the album reached the #1 spot on the iTunes Store’s “Top Pop Albums” ranking.… Read more »

British rock band Coldplay will release its new album through EMI Group this summer, the band’s manager was quoted as saying on Thursday, a month after he threatened to withhold the record in protest of major cost-cutting by the beleaguered London label’s new owners. The album will be a key test for private-equity investor Guy Hands, who led a 3.2 billion pound ($6.25 billion) buyout of EMI last year. He quickly unnerved musicians by looking for ways to trim the fat in an industry known for its wanton excess and loss-making deals. Hands’ strategy includes laying off up to a… Read more »

The night before they were set to play for thousands of people at one of the world’s most famous venues, Linkin Park performed a midnight show for a small group of fans in an unlikely venue – an Apple store. The rock-rap group did a short but energetic set, including hits such as “Bleed It Out,” for about 200 fans early Thursday, just hours before their show that evening at Madison Square Garden. “We’re actually in the middle of our first U.S. arena tour in years,” guitarist Brad Delson told The concert, which ran about 30 minutes, will be available… Read more »

The integrity of “American Idol” as a contest for raw, undiscovered talent was called into question again after an Irish singer who once had a major-label deal, and solo album that flopped, advanced to the top rung of the competition this week. Dublin native Carly Smithson, who formerly recorded for MCA Records under her maiden name, Carly Hennessy, was one of the 24 “Idol” contestants who made it on Wednesday to the semifinal rounds voted on each week by the show’s home TV audience. Online critics immediately seized on her initial success, and her professional recording background, as further evidence… Read more »

Radiohead is chasing Rainbows with its first North American tour in two years. The band announced Tuesday that it will kick off an eight-concert trek May 5 in West Palm Beach, Florida, continuing on to locales including Tampa, Atlanta and Houston before wrapping up in Dallas on May 18. Tickets to the shows go on sale Saturday, with presale beginning Thursday. From there, the British rockers will head back across the pond for the European leg of their tour, kicking off June 6 in Dublin and wrapping up July 8 in Berlin. Radiohead is then due to return to the… Read more »

50 Cent captained an all-star team during his pre-game Super Bowl concert. Between performing hits like “Candy Shop” and “Ayo Technology” with his crew, the rapper welcomed Deion Sanders and Ludacris on the Pontiac Garage Stage during Thursday’s performance at the 944 Super Village, a makeshift venue constructed by 944 magazine in an empty lot adjacent to Scottdale’s Fashion Square Mall. Paris Hilton also made a cameo about halfway through 50’s performance. Hilton – who appears topless on the February cover of 944 magazine – emerged from the front row and partially danced her way onstage with 50, drawing the… Read more »

Microsoft chairman Bill Gates announced Friday at the World Economic Forum that his foundation would give $306 million to use green technology and farming techniques to boost millions out of hunger and poverty. The announcement by Gates, who is a long-time favorite speaker at the annual meeting of business and government leaders, injected a shot of optimism into the gathering which had been weighed down the first two days by fears of a global economic downturn. Gates, who is stepping down as Microsoft chair later this year and expected to focus more on philanthropy, received a standing ovation at the… Read more »