Search Results for: emo nite

Singer A.J. McLean has launched the JNN Foundation, named for his alter ego “Johnny No-Name,” to focus on efforts to raise awareness, as well as funds, for the VH1 Save The Music Foundation and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. The superstar singer made the announcement Thursday at Hard Rock Live in his hometown of Orlando, FL, and kicked off the Foundation’s initial funding with a $1 million personal donation. The VH1 Save The Music Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of education in America’s public schools by restoring music programs in cities across America, and raising… Read more »

Thousands turned out Saturday for the opening of a city festival despite calls from some black activists for a boycott of the event to protest a police shooting that ignited days of rioting. Small groups of demonstrators moved through the crowds at the 22nd annual Taste of Cincinnati festival event passing out leaflets and chanting, “What do we want? Justice. When do we want it? Now.” The demonstrators said a boycott would pressure city officials to address racial tensions heightened by the April 7 shooting of a black man, 19-year-old Timothy Thomas, by a white officer. But the demonstrators were… Read more »

Long before gun-toting rap stars roamed America, the first manager of the Rolling Stones was terrorizing “Swinging” London, throwing errant journalists out of windows and others off bridges. Accompanied by a thuggish bodyguard, teenage pop Svengali Andrew Loog Oldham was said to be quite the rogue 40 years ago: Sporting a cape, he would careen around the city in his Mini Cooper, speakers blaring from the roof of the tiny car. This is not all completely true – especially the bit about the cape – but the anecdotes and rumors metamorphosed into “facts” over the years, a consequence of the… Read more »

Former Beatle George Harrison has undergone lung cancer surgery in the United States, the singer’s lawyers said. Harrison, 58, had surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., to remove a cancerous growth from one of his lungs, according to the lawyers. The lawyers did not say when the surgery occurred. They said the operation went according to plan and that Harrison was relaxing in Tuscany, Italy. “The operation was successful and George has made an excellent recovery. He is in the best of spirits and on top form – the most relaxed and free since the attack on him… Read more »

The American ear has been both excited and soothed, thanks to the crystal clear sound of CDs and digital music downloaded from the Web. So that makes the hiss, crackle and static of the AM and FM radio even less appealing, and more frightening for those who make a living in radio. Facing the reality that consumers are demanding better quality audio, broadcasters gathered here at a convention are looking to retool by moving from analog to digital. The result of this, say industry leaders attending the National Association of Broadcasters meeting, will be FM radio in CD-quality and AM… Read more »

Long-quiet pop superstar Michael Jackson will return to the spotlight in September with a massive concert tribute to his own career that will include a reunion with the Jackson 5 and collaborations with ‘NSYNC, Britney Spears and Whitney Houston. The September 7 event at New York’s Madison Square Garden will reunite Jackson and his brothers for the first time since the ’80s, with the Jacksons teaming with ‘NSYNC on at least one song, according to Jackson’s publicists. Jackson will duet with both Spears and Houston, as well as debut a new single from his upcoming album during the show, billed… Read more »

ABC follows Clear Channel and others to discontinue web streams in the wake of the AFTRA contract controversy. Another major group of stations-ABC Radio-has indefinitely suspended the streaming of its signals on the Internet as a result of the continuing controversy over fees demanded by the new AFTRA contract. ABC had allowed talk radio stations to continue streams until today, while all other formats were taken down last week. ABC’s removal of streams this week follows similar moves by Clear Channel, Cox and Emmis have also shut down streams until a solution can be reached. Ad insertion companies like RealNetworks,… Read more »

When in Jamaica, No Doubt do as the Jamaicans do. The bandmembers are kicking it reggae style as they record their fifth album on the “Island in the Sun.” “[Bassist] Tony [Kanal] and I have been playing tons of crazy, dub-sounding keyboard tracks on all the demos,” guitarist Tom Dumont wrote in an e-mail interview Thursday. Their new duties have resulted in “a noticeable lack of guitar and bass” in the sound, he said. After laying down a handful of tracks in Los Angeles, No Doubt hopped a plane to the Caribbean to collaborate with a few of Jamaica’s renowned… Read more »

In the aftermath of his acquittal on gun-possession and bribery charges, Sean Combs doesn’t just plan to change his life – he’s going to change his name, too. In an effort to break from his past, the artist formerly known as both Puffy and Puff Daddy now wants to be known as P. Diddy, he told MTV News Wednesday morning (March 28) in his first on-camera interview since his acquittal on gun possession and bribery charges. “No more Puff Daddy – the first week in June we’re gonna have a name change ceremony,” Combs said. “I’m not doing it as… Read more »

In the latest attempt to link music and school violence, the songs of California pop-metal band Linkin Park are being implicated in Monday’s Santee, Calif., shooting, in which 15-year-old Charles “Andy” Williams opened fire on his Santana High schoolmates, killing two and wounding 13. A friend of Williams’ appearing on NBC’s Today show said that Williams was a fan of the band and that he was influenced by three songs on the band’s Hybrid Theory album: “One Step Closer,” “Papercut,” and “In the End.” Linkin Park released a one-sentence statement about the shooting via its publicist. It reads, “Like everyone… Read more »