Search Results for: christmas

Joel Madden isn’t giving girlfriend Nicole Richie diamonds for Christmas. Believe it or not, the Good Charlotte rocker insists, the fabulously fashionable former reality-TV star is completely OK with that. “I have no clue right now what I’m getting her, but I think it’s going to have to be creative,” Madden told me earlier today. “She appreciates more of the creative rather than something like a diamond. She’s not really into diamonds.” As for baby daughter Harlow, who turns 1 on Jan. 11, Santa’s going to be earth-friendly. “Nicole is very organic, so probably a lot of organic toys like… Read more »

You’ve played the iPhone app. Now get the soundtrack. EMI Music has become the first major label to line up multiple artists for an edition of Tapulous’ popular iPhone game application Tap Tap Revenge. The new version of the rhythm game, called Tap Tap Dance, features songs by five EMI acts — Moby the Chemical Brothers Digitalism Daft Punk and Basement Jaxx — as well as independent acts Justice, Junkie XL Soul Magic Orchestra and Morgan Page Tapulous will release all 10 tracks included in the game by the end of the year as a digital soundtrack that will be… Read more »

He had one of the biggest opening sales weeks of 2008, and now, Lil Wayne is the year’s most-nominated Grammy contender. Wayne and his latest LP, “Tha Carter III,” lead the pack with a total of eight nominations, while one of the year’s other biggest sellers, Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends,” garnered seven nods. Jay-Z, Ne-Yo and Kanye West each earned six nods, while Alison Krauss, John Mayer, Robert Plant, Radiohead and Jazmine Sullivan received five each. Adele is up for four – including Best New Artist – as are Lupe Fiasco and T.I. The… Read more »

LOS ANGELES — Bono’s adding to his résumé for sainthood. For today’s 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day, the U2 frontman and all-around good guy is helping launch (RED)WIRE, a music-themed site to benefit the cause.   “Through music [people] are not just celebrating their life, they are celebrating lives and the saving of them,” Bono says in a video message. And he’s getting some help from a few all-star pals. Among the featured tunes: the Dixie Chicks’ “Lucky Ones,” the Texas trio’s first new music since 2006’s Taking the Long Way; Jay-Z ‘s “Brooklyn Go Hard,” featuring Santogold ;… Read more »

NEW YORK —-  On the heels of the release of the second volume of Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo’s home recordings, the alternative rock group is now taking a look back into its own vaults. Cuomo told Billboard he has “no idea” when the tentatively titled “Odds and Ends” will be released, but describes it as “just another fun project to do. They’re great songs, but for some reason they didn’t make the final cut for (a) record. They span a vast period of time from the very beginning of our career in the early ’90s right up to the present… Read more »

NEW YORK —- The 82nd annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade wound its way through Manhattan streets under sunny skies on Thursday, as thousands of marchers carried giant balloons past throngs of holiday revelers cheering them along the route. Quincy Kersbergen of Wyckoff, N.J., found a prime viewing spot – perched on a police barricade near the beginning of the parade – and proclaimed herself a big fan of a giant dog balloon. “This is just fantastic!” the 11-year-old Kersbergen said. “So amazing to be here in person! I’m just so excited about today!” New to the revelry this year were… Read more »

Some of the biggest names in music are contributing exclusive songs to RED(WIRE), a digital music magazine that launches on World AIDS Day ( December 1). U2, Coldplay, the Killers, the Dixie Chicks, John Legend, R.E.M. and Bob Dylan are on board for the initiative, which is an outgrowth of the Bono-reared activist organization called (RED). All proceeds from subscriptions will benefit HIV-infected people in Africa; MSN.com will host a kickoff party December 1. For $5, users will receive a new issue of RED(WIRE) every Wednesday, featuring an exclusive song from a major musician, a song from a performer who… Read more »

It was another brush-with-an-icon moment for the Killers : back in May of this year, joining Duran Duran – the first name in ’80s fashionista Britpop  – onstage, aptly in Las Vegas, to perform the vets’ chestnut “Planet Earth.” Brandon Flowers, resplendent as ever in a tux, looked like a young James Bond. And you know he had to have been stirred, if not a little bit shaken. There are no more unabashed Anglophiles among U.S. pop-rockers than the Killers. From day one, they have made that clear: They took their name from a New Order video, they’ve covered Joy… Read more »

BALTIMORE–Quick, what means the opposite of prima donnas? Whatever it is, that’s how you’d summarize Relient K, a Christian rock group that has just put out one of the sleeper holiday albums of the year, “Let it Snow Baby… Let It Reindeer.” “We actually had a lot of the songs done several years ago, but we didn’t release them,” said guitarist Matt Hoopes. “We just wanted to have fun doing some songs.” The album is a mix of holiday classics and songs written by frontman Matt Thiessen. It does for music what the films “Home for the Holidays” and more… Read more »

The pressure had been building up behind the scenes for longer than most music fans realized. But when the teen-pop explosion burst onto the charts in early 1999 it felt like the music world had been blindsided overnight by a flood of squeaky-clean acts who would dominate the charts for years to come. And in some cases, those ripples are still being felt today. It’s hard to believe it now, but over the course of a few months between late 1998 and early 1999, radio and MTV were inundated with the debuts and breakthroughs from Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, ‘NSYNC,… Read more »