Search Results for: from first to last

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 »

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 »

Rocker David Cook won the coveted title of “American Idol” on Wednesday, dealing an unexpected but decisive defeat to a silken-voiced teenager, also named David, on the most popular U.S. television show. Cook, 25, who was tending bar and playing in a band before he auditioned for the singing competition, stood back to applaud rival David Archuleta, 17, and then bent over crying after host Ryan Seacrest said he had won by 12 million votes. “This is amazing. Thank you,” said the Blue Springs, Missouri, native, who in addition to being crowned this year’s “Idol” will receive a recording contract.… Read more »

Ashlee Simpson and Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz got married Saturday night (May 17) in an intimate ceremony. “We’re delighted to confirm that Pete Wentz and Ashlee Simpson were married this evening in front of family and close friends,” the spokesperson told the mag on Saturday, when the couple reportedly exchanged vows in front of 150 guests at her parents’ Los Angeles-area home. People’s report also apparently confirmed Ashlee’s long-rumored pregnancy, stating Simpson is “pregnant with the couple’s first child.” Although Wentz told MTV News via e-mail, “Blah, I got nothing,” when asked if he were getting married this… Read more »

Newly-released figures from the Official UK Charts Company – the group which tracks UK chart positions – reveal that digital album sales climbed by 69.3 per cent in comparison with the first quarter of 2007. That’s encouraging because it means digital music buyers are beginning to see album purchases as viable using services such as iTunes. The industry has often voiced concern that iTunes does not stimulate enough album sales, but this seems set to change. The company also confirmed that sales of digital single tracks climbed 42.3 per cent, year-on-year. These figures are all the more interesting because 2007… Read more »

The album that will put the new EMI under its greatest global scrutiny to date is also 2008’s most eagerly awaited release. That’s the official word from Coldplay’s new boss. The band’s “Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends” will be released June 12 internationally on Parlophone/EMI and on June 17 in North America on Capitol. EMI Group chairman Guy Hands, who led the buyout of the music company last summer through his private-equity firm Terra Firma, says, “Right across the world, this is the most anticipated album of the year.” As the follow-up to the British melodic… Read more »

The AST Dew Tour announced that alternative pop-punk band Good Charlotte will headline the Verizon music stage on Friday, June 20 at the first stop of the 2008 AST Dew Tour, Baltimore’s Panasonic Open. Additionally, the band’s hit song “Misery” will serve as the theme song for the 2008 season. Hailing from Waldorf, Maryland, Good Charlotte has earned international fame with 2004’s tremendously popular The Young and the Hopeless, featuring hit singles “Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous” and “Girls and Boys.” Their latest release, Good Morning Revival, is the fourth album from the multiplatinum selling group and features the… Read more »

Even with the overwhelming success of the acoustic ballad “Hey There, Delilah” last year – which earned the band two Grammy nominations – Plain White T’s lead singer Tom Higgenson says he’s been writing songs for the band’s next record since they finished their last one. Today, the Chicago-based quintet headed into a Malibu recording studio to begin work on their second major label album, the band’s fourth overall, which is expected to hit stores September 24th. While the band isn’t consciously trying to create a “Delilah Part II” (Higgenson points out all of the band’s albums have had slower… Read more »

CHARLOTTE, N.C. –Wading back into the Democratic presidential race, billionaire businessman Bob Johnson said Monday that Sen. Barack Obama would not be his party’s leading candidate if he were white. Johnson’s comments to the Charlotte Observer echoed those of former vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro. She stepped down as an adviser to Sen. Hillary Clinton last month after saying Obama wouldn’t be where he is if he were white. “What I believe Geraldine Ferraro meant is that if you take a freshman senator from Illinois called ‘Jerry Smith’ and he says I’m going to run for president, would he start… Read more »

My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way has spoken directly to fans about the problem of anti-emo related violence in Mexico. Tensions have escalated in the country over recent months with a series of reported attacks against people who have “an emo look”. Addressing the audience at Zero Fest in Mexico City last Saturday (April 12th), Way said the band no longer wanted to see “any fucking violence”. “I want to say something today before we continue. Recently we’ve been hearing a lot of stuff about some violence here in your country having to do with kids who want to wear… Read more »