Search Results for: from first to last

Say what you will about Fall Out Boy, the dudes are punctual. Facing a day during which they’ll play three shows in three cities across the country over the course of 19 hours, the band arrived at the “TRL” studios in Times Square bright-eyed and relatively bushy-tailed at the very un-rocking hour of 8 a.m., ready to kick off the festivities with a ripping performance in front of a throng of extremely vocal fans – many of whom had lined up at 6 a.m., braving subzero wind chills to secure a spot in the studio. “I’m not tired yet,” FOB… Read more »

Swizz Beatz has his birthday celebration to thank for his latest hit. The producer, who cranked out songs for Busta Rhymes (“Touch It”) and Beyoncé (“Ring the Alarm”) last year, had been working on an album of his own material – One Man Band Man, set for a March 6 release – and hadn’t found a single to kick-start the project. But late last August on his birthday, Swizz found himself in the studio, tipsy and in a good mood, and decided to take a crack at making a beat. “It was like around 4 or 5 in the morning.… Read more »

It’s no secret – particularly to various employees at Gambleversity.com, MyBookie.org and/or BetOnAnythingThatMoves.net – that we here at MTV News enjoy the occasional foray into the exhilarating world of wagering. Of course, the key word here is occasional. But with Sunday’s Grammy Awards on the horizon, we convened the MTV News Bet-ological Braintrust – which is really nothing more than a couple of writers and “Hammerin’ ” Hank Goldberg on speakerphone – and determined just which of the Grammy’s 108 categories are most ripe for some sweet speculation. While there are plenty of intriguing possibilities – the battle between Eddie… Read more »

Phew! CBS got through the halftime show without a “wardrobe malfunction.” The Artist Formerly Known as a Munchkin of Wardrobe Dysfunction began by singing “Let’s Go Crazy,” but he didn’t. Prince, who became a Jehovah’s Witness in the mid-1990s, no longer wears yellow, butt-baring pants as he did at the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards (prompting Howard Stern’s send-up at the ’92 VMAs). The closest thing to a fashion statement Sunday night was an odd kerchief on his head. So the NFL had no repeat of the 2004 Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake show, which happened the last time CBS broadcast the… Read more »

When Jonathan Davis refers to having the terrible twos behind him, it’s not a parenting reference. (His son, Pirate, will actually turn 2 in March.) “We always say that, musically, our 20s are the terrible twos,” the Korn singer explained. “When you are 20 you do the stupidest stuff to your body, you’re close-minded, you’re like a 2-year-old – just grown up and can drink. Once we hit 30, we started really playing the stuff that opened our minds up.” It’s with that open mind that the 36-year-old Davis was able to envision his metal band playing a 14-song acoustic… Read more »

After all the work entailed by the simultaneous release of the analog-sounding I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning and the electronica-tinged Digital Ash in a Digital Urn a little more than two years ago, Bright Eyes mastermind Conor Oberst says he wised up. “I think we had enough of the double record last time,” he laughed. “It was pretty hectic, and the tour that followed, to promote both albums, ended up being a lot on us. We’re trying to be a little smarter this time around. The idea was definitely to make one strong album that made sense.” That album, Cassadaga,… Read more »

Last year, sibling trio Hanson spent time lecturing performance and entertainment law students in college about its bumpy 5-year arc of major-label heartache, chronicled in the documentary “Strong Enough To Break.” But this year, fans can expect talking, walking and rocking from the band in the form of a new album, “The Walk,” as well as an accompanying “making-of” video podcast, “Taking the Walk.” The group’s sixth full-length effort, “The Walk,” will be released May 22 through Hanson’s own 3CG label. “Taking a Walk” will become available, in increments, before the end of this month via the band’s Web site… Read more »

During the first two weeks in January, the most popular album in the country was the soundtrack to “Dreamgirls.” But that statistic was less impressive than it might have been, because for those two weeks, “Dreamgirls” sold around 60,000 copies each week, which made for the two lowest totals for a #1 album in the history of the SoundScan era, which began in 1991. Granted, January is always a pretty slow month for album sales and releases. But around that same time, the new Fall Out Boy album, Infinity on High, leaked online and was one of the most eagerly… Read more »

Sony Corp and Bertelsmann AG have refiled a request for EU regulators to clear a 2004 deal merging their music units, the European Commission said Thursday. Regulators have to re-examine the deal they cleared in July 2004 because an EU court struck down their original approval last July, citing “manifest errors” in how authorities decided that combining the two music majors would not restrict customer choice. The judgment sent lawyers into a flurry because it undermined the legality of the Sony BMG deal that formed the world’s second-largest record label behind Universal, bringing Sony artists like Aerosmith, George Michael and… Read more »

Fall Out Boy is reviving a tried-and-true promotional gimmick for Feb. 6, the day its new Island album, “Infinity on High,” hits stores. The group will play shows in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles in the course of 24 hours, all of which will be documented by MTV. The first stop will be the network’s New York studio for a performance on “TRL,” which the band will also host. In late afternoon, Fall Out Boy will play Chicago’s House of Blues, and will wrap the day with a set atop a rooftop in downtown Los Angeles. Fans can gain… Read more »