Search Results for: dr dre

Eminem and mentor/producer Dr. Dre share the Number Two position on this year’s Forbes’ Celebrity 100 list. The power ranking is based on a composite score created by calculating total income, website hits, press, radio & TV appearances, and magazine covers. The pair earned an estimated $35 million last year, garnered 1.9 million website hits, 27,130 press clippings, and 452 Radio/TV spots, and were the subject of seven cover stories. Jennifer Aniston landed the top spot; Tiger Woods was Number Three; Steven Spielberg, Number Four; Jennifer Lopez, Number Five; Paul McCartney, Number Six; Ben Affleck, Number Seven; Oprah Winfrey, Number… Read more »

Phil Spector’s lawyer addressed his client’s arrest in the February shooting death of Lana Clarkson for the first time on Tuesday, contesting an investigator’s comments ruling out the possibility of a suicide. “I am convinced that the thorough and accurate investigation of the evidence by the Los Angeles sheriff’s department, its criminalists and the county coroner will prove that Phil Spector is innocent of any crime,” attorney Robert Shapiro told the Associated Press. Shapiro, who did not return calls from MTV News, commented after Captain Frank Merriman told the AP that the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department believes a crime… Read more »

Singer, actor, now writer – Madonna has taken up the pen. Penguin Group announced Monday that the singer has written five illustrated story books for young readers aged 6 and above. The first title, “The English Roses,” will be published in hardcover in September and distributed simultaneously worldwide, Penguin Group said. No further details were given. “Madonna is an artist with a universal appeal and these books will touch children of all backgrounds everywhere in the world,” said chairman and chief executive John Makinson. Penguin Group has bought the English language rights to the five books, each of which will… Read more »

You can tell Fred Durst’s been kind of down lately by the way he’s all agitated when responding to the have-you-and-Britney-been-dating questions and, more importantly, the fact that he’s not sporting his usual jaunty red baseball cap. At the 45th annual Grammy Awards in New York he wore a brown cap, an olive T-shirt over a gray long-sleeve top, and a sour though resolved expression when he admitted that he and Britney were seeing each other for a while, before she “played him out.” Durst was pretty much alone in his dressed-down look at the event, however. The men, everyone… Read more »

Hoping to shine in one of the music industry’s few bright spots, Dreamworks Records on Wednesday announced a joint venture with newly-formed Melee Entertainment to release music DVDs that go beyond the typical concert video genre. With music video DVDs selling at a fast clip and in sharp contrast to the recording industry’s protracted decline in CD sales, Dreamworks and Melee hope in part to cash in on the trend while also developing a roster of creative talent. Melee president Bryan Turner, former co-owner and chief executive of Priority Records, an urban-slanted label sold to EMI Group Plc in 1998… Read more »

Sony chose Andrew Lack, NBC’s president and chief operating officer, to take the helm of its music division on Friday, a day after Sony Music chief Tommy Mottola resigned to start a new label. The move was surprising, considering Lack has no experience in the music industry; a veteran newsman, he worked at CBS News from 1976 to 1993 before joining NBC News. He was named president of the entire network in May 2001. “We are delighted that Andy will join Sony and lead our music company,” Howard Stringer, chairman of Sony Corp. of America, said in a statement. “He… Read more »

Christine Lewis wrapped herself in the flag – an Elvis flag – to celebrate what would have been the king of rock ‘n’ roll’s 68th birthday. The 52-year-old from Somerset, England, was among 600 to 700 fans gathered Wednesday on the front lawn of Graceland, Elvis Presley’s last home, to cut a cake and sing “Happy Birthday.” Celebrants stood in line up to 90 minutes to get onto the grounds for the party. “I could imagine him being here. I cried so much,” Lewis said. For the occasion, she wrapped herself in a flag with red and blue stripes and… Read more »

Britney Spears and Los Angeles’s Universal Amphitheatre will be honored with the prestigious Children’s Choice Award at the Neil Bogart Memorial Fund’s (NBMF) annual Bogart Tour For A Cure on November 4 in L.A. Spears will receive the award for her strong commitment to children’s issues and charitable giving. Spears’s contributions to kids include her Britney Spears Foundation, which creates playrooms for sick children on extended hospital stays, and the Britney Spears Camp For The Performing Arts, which offers disadvantaged children the opportunity to learn from top acting, singing, and dancing professionals during a 10-day camp stay in Cape Cod,… Read more »

Among those cheering Eminem’s sweep at last week’s Video Music Awards were the members of Aerosmith. The band, currently touring with Run-D.M.C. and Kid Rock, has a connection with “Slim Shady”-Eminem sampled the Aerosmith classic “Dream On” for the track “Sing For The Moment” on his latest album, The Eminem Show. Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton said that the Boston rock veterans were both surprised and pleased by the move. “We were really excited, you know, when we first heard that he wanted to do it, and it came out great,” he says. “It kinda surprised me a little, in a… Read more »

Just when it seemed all systems were go, it now appears that Lance Bass’ trip into space may be off – though his team insists otherwise. When Bass returned to Moscow over the weekend following a weeklong crash course at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Russian space officials didn’t welcome the singer with open arms. The sticky issue of payment had not been resolved by the last Russian deadline of Friday (August 30), and on Tuesday (September 3), the Russian Space Agency pulled Bass off his training regiment in Star City. To make matters seem more dire, spokespeople for… Read more »