Search Results for: christmas

Veteran entertainer Liza Minnelli collapsed on stage a few songs into a performance in Sweden’s second city and was taken to hospital before being discharged on Thursday, a concert promoter said. Minnelli collapsed during a Christmas show Wednesday night and fell off the side of the stage but was caught by a technician and escaped additional injuries, said Michael Silfverskiold, a local promoter. “It was a terrible situation,” he said. “She fell off the side of the stage. The production manager caught her.” Minnelli, 61, was appearing in a Christmas show, together with Swedish performers. It was the final show… Read more »

Josh Groban’s “Noel” led the U.S. pop album charts for a third week Wednesday, tying Elvis Presley as the record-holder for the most consecutive weeks at No. 1 with a Christmas album. Now in its ninth week of release, “Noel” moved 581,000 units in the period ended December 9, according to Nielsen SoundScan, an 8% boost over the previous frame. Presley’s “Elvis’ Christmas Album,” meanwhile, ruled the charts for three weeks in 1957. Alicia Keys’ “As I Am” rose one to No. 2 with 234,000 copies, swapping places with the Eagles’ “Long Road Out of Eden,” which sold 204,000. The… Read more »

The scope of a yearlong download promotion planned between Pepsi and Amazon, Billboard has learned, is among several developments forcing further consideration by Warner Music Group (WMG) and Sony BMG Music Entertainment to follow EMI and Universal Music Group’s lead in distributing music in the MP3 format. News of the Pepsi promotion, which is expected to be announced Feb. 3 during the Super Bowl, coincides with an ultimatum from Wal-Mart asking major labels to supply walmart.com with their music in MP3, sources say. Labels, meanwhile, say they have been watching the success of an MP3 test UMG began in August;… Read more »

The Grinch might be stealing Christmas from music retailers, but thanks to Josh Groban and Oprah, there’s still some singing in Whoville. For the sales week kicked off by Super Tuesday–the release date before Thanksgiving when record labels typically schedule their big guns–the figures were abnormally bad, with only one Top 10 bow and a seven-week-old album topping the charts. Still, that album, Groban’s Noël, can thank last week’s performance on The Oprah Winfrey Show for driving it past Alicia Keys and into the number one spot. Noël crowned the Billboard 200 by selling 405,000 copies for the week ended… Read more »

Just as he’s reached the top of the album charts for the first time, Kid Rock has made a major change at the top of his business operations. Rock’s manager, Detroit-based Ed “Punch” Andrews, who also handles Bob Seger, has resigned after seven years of working with the Michigan rocker. Sources tell Billboard.com that Andrews has decided to retire after shepherding Rock’s latest album, “Rock N Roll Jesus,” to release last week. “Rock N Roll Jesus” is Kid Rock’s first No. 1 album on The Billboard 200, selling just over 170,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Kid Rock has reportedly… Read more »

Special administrators appointed to look into the handling of James Brown’s estate have told a judge that a former trustee may have misappropriated up to $7 million of the late soul singer’s money. The judge agreed that Brown’s heirs could pursue those claims and ordered the ex-trustee to pay $370,000 back to the estate, on top of $350,000 the man repaid last month. State Circuit Judge Jack Early gave David Cannon, who has resigned as co-executor of Brown’s will, 10 days to repay the additional $370,000 and 20 days to pay $30,000 for attorney fees and to produce other documents.… Read more »

Busta Rhymes was sued in New York State Supreme Court on Monday by a Bronx man who alleges he was roughed up by The Big Bang rapper and his posse last summer after spitting on Rhymes’ SUV. The plaintiff, Roberto LeBron, 20, claims he was repeatedly punched and kicked in the body and face by the 35-year-old Rhymes during the wee hours of Aug. 12 as the hip-hopster’s nine bodyguards stood by and watched. LeBron was treated at a nearby medical center for a concussion, split lip and injury to his wrist and later released. Rhymes, whose real name is… Read more »

KT Tunstall’s apparently tireless capacity for work makes even her laugh. “I feel like a camel,” the Scottish singer-songwriter says with a giggle. “Because I had 10 years of nothing, it does give me an enormous capacity for embracing what’s going on and remembering all that time when I was really wishing things would happen.” That’s why, after two straight years of touring and promotion behind her multiplatinum debut, “Eye to the Telescope” — first released in the United Kingdom at the end of 2004, although its U.S. release was not until February 2006 — Tunstall is, eagerly, right back… Read more »

Would one expect anything less than a double album from the Cure on the occasion of its 13th studio release? “Rather than cut it down, at the stage we’re at with the band, I’m making this record because I want to enjoy the process and be proud of the finished result,” frontman Robert Smith told Billboard of the as-yet-untitled effort, due in October via Suretone/Geffen. “It isn’t a commercial concern for me.” “What will probably happen is that a double album will come out like a limited edition, mixed by me,” he said. “A single-disc version, which I assume will… Read more »