Search Results for: atlantic

With two fewer selling days than most releases have when they hit the charts, rock stalwart Metallica manages an opening-week sum larger than that which greeted its last album in 1999. The band’s new St. Anger thus leads the Billboard 200 for the week ended June 8, marking the fourth straight week – and the seventh time in the past 11 – that a rock album has topped the chart. The shorter selling window came as a result of the decision by the band’s U.S. label Elektra and distributor WEA to shift the album’s release date from June 10 to… Read more »

As an independent band that manages to sell more than 300,000 copies of your self-released albums, signing with a major label might seem like the most logical move to the next level. But O.A.R. bassist Benj Gersham tells Billboard.com the Maryland-bred, Ohio State University-brewed group’s decision to ink with Lava/Atlantic was anything but simple. “We had been going over the decision for at least two years before we finally made it, because we wanted to do it when the time was right,” says Gersham. “And all of those numbers are great but we didn’t do it because of that. We… Read more »

With anticipation building to a feverish pitch in advance of the imminent release of the eagerly awaited Led Zeppelin live recordings, Atlantic Records has announced that “LED ZEPPELIN DVD,” a 2-DVD set, will be shipping quadruple-platinum in the U.S. alone, and “HOW THE WEST WAS WON,” a 3-CD set, will ship platinum. “The enormous pre-release response from retailers and fans alike to the announcement of these Zeppelin releases dramatically demonstrates the enduring power, timeless influence, and undiminished popularity of this truly phenomenal band,” said Atlantic Group Co-Chairman/CEO Val Azzoli. “To have been associated with Zeppelin for their entire career has… Read more »

The Black Eyed Peas will be going on tour with Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera beginning June 4 in Phoenix and finishing up in St. Paul on August 24. There are now four peas in the pod, with the addition of female vocalist, Fergie. They will also be headlining club dates on their own throughout the tour. BEP will be on the road in support of their new CD, Elephunk to be released on June 24. The first single is “Where Is The Love” featuring Justin Timberlake. Elephunk is pushing the boundaries on every front from rock to pop, R&B… Read more »

Sire Records, the label that introduced the world to Madonna, Talking Heads and the Ramones, is being resurrected and will officially rejoin the Warner Bros. Records family of labels. Label founder Seymour Stein’s first signing under the new deal is the Von Bondies. Also on the Sire roster are Morcheeba, Guster, the Distillers, Hot Hot Heat, Less Than Jake and the Hives (through a joint venture with Burning Heart/Epitaph). When Roger Ames was named chairman and CEO of Warner Music Group in 1999, Ames’ London Records was merged with Sire Records to create London-Sire. That label closed its doors in… Read more »

The Donnas were added to the lineup of 2003’s Lollapalooza. The band joins Jane’s Addiction, Incubus, Queens Of The Stone Age, Audioslave, Jurassic 5, and others for the jaunt. Jane’s Addiction frontman and Lollapalooza founder Perry Farrell said in a statement: “I bought a pair of silk pajamas for the road because we’re going to have a Lollapajama party with the Donnas!” Torry Castellano, a.k.a. Donna C., said of joining the tour: “We all went to Lollapalooza when L7 was on the main stage in 1994. We are really excited to be a part of this festival because of its… Read more »

Music fans have until Monday to register for their $5 to $20 share of a settlement involving major U.S. record distributors and retailers. All U.S. residents who purchased at least one compact disc, cassette or album between 1995 and 2000 can register online for a piece of the $44 million class-action settlement. The latest figures, from October through Tuesday, indicate 2.8 million people had signed up on the Web. That may seem like a lot, but it probably represents just a small fraction of Americans who purchased retail music during the late 1990s. Figures from the Recording Industry Association of… Read more »

Singer-actress Courtney Love was detained Tuesday at Heathrow airport after an airline claimed she verbally abused the crew of a trans-Atlantic flight. Love was “verbally abusive toward our cabin crew and disruptive” on a Virgin Atlantic flight from Los Angeles to London, airline spokesman Paul Moore said. No one was injured on the Boeing 747, which carried 201 passengers and 20 crew. TV channel Sky News aired pictures of Love, 38, being escorted by two officers from the plane to a police van on the runway after the flight landed about 11 a.m. She smiled at the camera and covered… Read more »

From Eminem to Christina Aguilera, the superstars of pop strut their stuff Thursday night for a worldwide audience of 1 billion fans tuned into the MTV Europe Music Awards. Barcelona is reliving the glory days of the 1992 Olympics but this time it is pop and not athletic stars who are taking center stage at the Palau Sant Jordi to compete for glory. Even James Bond has come to town to help give out the prizes. More than 15 million viewers of the music channel have cast their votes in this year’s awards. U2, Kylie Minogue, Eminem, Coldplay, Pink, Shakira… Read more »

Sugar Ray is back in the studio working on what will become the band’s fifth album for Atlantic Records. Frontman Mark McGrath is pleased with the progress and the prospects of some potential developments, from working with the group’s original producer to hooking up with one of the hottest production teams in music right now: McGrath said, “It’s coming along, man. A lot of creative turmoil involved, you know, which is great, because if we don’t find, punch each other, then it’s not going to be a great record. So there’s plenty of brawls happening, so it should be a… Read more »