Search Results for: decade

When Hartmut Ostrowski was an up-and-comer in Bertelsmann’s printing and services division in the 1990s, his bosses were discouraged from speaking at meetings of the top executives. In the glamorous world of Bertelsmann, a global media empire with music, television, and publishing properties – Germany’s answer to Time Warner – services were viewed as strictly a backstage function. Now, with Mr. Ostrowski at the helm of Bertelsmann, the stagehands are striding into the spotlight. Two weeks ago, he named Markus Dohle, a 39-year-old German who runs the company’s printing operations, as chief executive of Random House, the world’s largest consumer… Read more »

It’s 4 a.m. on the last night of the South by Southwest music conference, and Jim James is belting out Rod Stewart’s “You’re in My Heart.” A few hours earlier, the My Morning Jacket frontman dazzled an intimate crowd at an Austin church with a mostly solo acoustic set, and the full band’s three other performances during the week were some of the most acclaimed of the industry event. But of all the places James could be right now, it’s a cozy terrace suite at Austin’s famed Driskill Hotel, surrounded by a few close friends, a bucket of Miller Lites… Read more »

Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler, a poster boy for rock ‘n’ roll decadence in the 1970s, has entered a Los Angeles rehab facility after two decades as a passionate advocate of sobriety, according to an report. The Web site TMZ.com reported on Wednesday the 60-year-old rocker sought treatment for an unspecified substance abuse problem at Aurora Las Encinas Hospital. The Pasadena clinic’s physicians include high-profile addiction medicine specialist Drew Pinsky. A publicist for Aerosmith said she did not know about the report. Earlier this month, Tyler performed at a concert in Hollywood to raise money for a charity that helps addicts… Read more »

Indie rock band Death Cab For Cutie claimed the No. 1 spot on the U.S. pop album charts for the first time in its decade-long career on Wednesday, while a hits package from Frank Sinatra opened at No. 2. “Narrow Stairs,” the band’s second album for Atlantic Records, sold 144,000 copies during the week ended May 18, according to Nielsen Soundscan. Death Cab’s previous album, 2005’s “Plans,” debuted at No. 4 with 90,000 copies and spent 50 weeks on the chart. The Sinatra collection “Nothing But the Best” (Reprise) followed with 99,000. It’s been nearly 15 years since Old Blue… Read more »

Feist dominated Canada’s music awards on Sunday, scooping up five Junos for a year in which the singer-songwriter shot to international stardom when Apple Inc. used her single “1234” in iPod TV ads. Feist, 32, won the top Canadian music honors for single of the year for the breezy “1234,” album and pop album for “The Reminder,” as well as artist and songwriter of the year. She collected the trophies and performed at the Juno Awards show at the Saddledome arena in her hometown of Calgary, Alberta, two blocks from a community hall where she began her musical career as… Read more »

Arthur C. Clarke, a visionary science fiction writer who won worldwide acclaim with more than 100 books on space, science and the future, died Wednesday in his adopted home of Sri Lanka, an aide said. He was 90. Clarke, who had battled debilitating post-polio syndrome since the 1960s and sometimes used a wheelchair, died at 1:30 a.m. local time after suffering breathing problems, aide Rohan De Silva told The Associated Press. Clarke was regarded as a technological seer as well as a science-fiction writer, and was known as “the godfather of the telecommunications satellite.” His most famous novel, “2001: A… Read more »

You’ll usually find R.E.M. playing arenas and esteemed concert halls. But this week, the rock hall of famers were among the acts trying to catch a break and artists looking to build their audience at the sprawling South by Southwest music festival. The multiplatinum rockers played Stubbs BBQ shortly after midnight Wednesday before an energetic crowd of a couple thousand, marking the first time they’ve played the annual extravaganza in their nearly three-decade career. But it’s hardly a downgrade: Playing a showcase at SXSW has often been a way for a veteran act to make a big splash with a… Read more »

Amy Winehouse and Paul McCartney set their recent troubles aside to steal the show Wednesday at the Brit Awards, the British music industry’s most prestigious prizes. Rockers Foo Fighters and British bands Take That and Arctic Monkeys were all double winners at Britain’s equivalent of the Grammys. Although she wasn’t up for any awards, troubled retro-soul diva Winehouse received a rapturous reception when she appeared to perform “Valerie” with Mark Ronson. She followed that up with the sultry ballad “Love is a Losing Game” from her breakthrough album “Back to Black.” Winehouse, who appeared composed and confident, urged the crowd… Read more »

A start-up co-founded by famed Norwegian hacker “DVD Jon” is on Tuesday introducing a service that enables users to copy and use copy-protected Apple Inc iTunes songs on many popular non-Apple devices. The San Francisco-based company, doubleTwist, is releasing a service that makes it easy for consumers to share both user-generated and professionally created audio, photos and video clips via computers, certain mobile phones or PSP game players. Beyond computer-to-computer media-sharing, doubleTwist lets users synchronize media sitting on their computers to mobile devices they or their friends own, simply by “dragging and dropping” media files into a desktop folder that… Read more »

“Queen of Soul” Aretha Franklin added another jewel to her illustrious musical crown on Friday night when she was honored at the annual MusiCares dinner, a Grammy-related event that raises money for musicians in need. “There may be a debate about who is the president, but there is no debate on who is the queen,” said civil rights leader Al Sharpton, one of many luminaries on hand to pay tribute to the 65-year-old Franklin. The singer, who has garnered 17 Grammy Awards and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in a career spanning four decades, will perform this Sunday at the… Read more »