Search Results for: grammy

Los Angeles – Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson has been named the 2005 MusiCares Person of the Year by the Recording Academy. Wilson, 62, will receive the honor at a tribute dinner, concert and auction Feb. 11 in Los Angeles, the academy said Tuesday. A slate of performers who will pay tribute to Wilson will be announced in January. The gala is part of a weeklong festival leading up to the 47th Annual Grammy Awards, which will be presented by the academy Feb. 13. The songwriter was selected for his accomplishments as a musician and for his philanthropic efforts benefiting… Read more »

That’s the word from Ruben Studdard’s rep after the second-season American Idol champ otherwise known as the Velvet Teddy Bear checked himself into a Birmingham, Alabama, hospital Monday night. Studdard’s Los Angeles-based publicist, Liz Morentin, says the silky-voiced 26-year-old is suffering from exhaustion. Per doctors’ orders, Studdard is expected to remain hospitalized for the remainder of the week, forcing him to cancel several gigs in support of his new gospel-flavored disc, I Need an Angel, which hit stores Tuesday. “All promotion for his new album this week has been canceled along with his concert dates in Atlantic City on November… Read more »

SANTA MONICA, Calif. – The evolution of digital downloads marks another milestone on November 23, 2004, with the debut of UMe Digital, the world’s first all-digital download label from a major music company. UMe Digital product – individual songs, EPs, and full-length albums – will be distributed exclusively online. With its unparalleled music and video marketing capabilities and the power and scope of UMe to place songs in films and TV shows and commercials, UMe Digital offers unprecedented access and exposure for artists. The releases on UMe Digital will be consistent with UMe’s philosophy of marketing established acts and acts… Read more »

Los Angeles – U2 has sold more than 120 million albums worldwide and won 14 Grammy Awards during the course of its 26-year career, so you would think that there would be a level of ease that comes with a new release. Not so, says the Irish band’s longtime manager Paul McGuinness. “There is absolutely no resting on our laurels,” he tells Billboard. “I say to people we have to break the band every time we put out a record.” And this is with an album that McGuinness expects to debut at No. 1 in “32 or 33 countries.” “How… Read more »

Los Angeles – After a three-year hiatus, Destiny’s Child is picking up where it left off: at the top. “Lose My Breath,” the first single from the R&B trio’s hotly anticipated album “Destiny Fulfilled,” quickly marched its way to No. 3 on The Billboard Hot 100. Now industry observers are handicapping how the group’s sales destiny will be fulfilled following the release of its first album since 2001’s “Survivor.” The Sony Urban Music/Columbia album debuted this week at No. 19 on the Billboard 200, based on only three days of sales in the week ended Nov. 14. It officially went… Read more »

With the Dubliner’s new album, How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, hitting stores on Nov. 23 and their tunes already featured in everything from iPod commercials to episodes of CSI and The O.C., the group is now making plans to blanket the globe. Billboard reports that U2-which last rocked North America four years ago on their mega-successful Elevation trek in support of the 2000 release All That You Can’t Leave Behind -will kick off their jaunt March 1 in Florida. “We’ll play approximate 35 shows in the arenas in the spring in the U.S.,” the group’s longtime manager Paul McGuninness… Read more »

On the heels of her Oscar victory earlier this year, singer Annie Lennox recently wrapped up the Sacred Love tour, with Sting. Critics and music fans across the country were treated to dazzling performances each and every night by the incomparable musician and her band. Lennox projected a vast range of emotion, complexity, and power with every note. Lennox’s set lists spanned her entire career, from her first hits with Eurythmics through her latest, multi-platinum release, Bare, which earned her another Grammy Nomination. Lennox also gave the fans a treat during Sting’s set as she joined her tour-mate on stage… Read more »

Milwaukee – Guitar legend Les Paul can use only his left thumb and pinkie to perform at his weekly nightclub gigs in New York. The 89-year-old takes no medication for his painful arthritis and permanent injuries from a car accident 56 years ago, because it exacerbates his ulcers. But twice every Monday night, the renowned musician also known for his innovations on the solid-body electric guitar and multitrack recording gets on stage with his trio at the Iridium Jazz Club. “It’s quite a challenge but I enjoy it,” the Waukesha, Wis., native said in a recent phone interview from his… Read more »

Washington – Music superstar Elton John will appear in a national TV advertising campaign for the Delphi MyFi satellite radio, the first portable, hand-held unit for listening to XM Satellite Radio, the nation’s leading provider of satellite radio with more than 2.5 million subscribers. The TV spot will premiere the week of November 15, following the November 9 release of Elton’s much-anticipated, critically-acclaimed album “Peachtree Road.” The spot, directed by award-winning music video director and photographer David LaChapelle, features Elton and his new hit single “Answer in the Sky.” “Elton John is one of the most important and beloved artists… Read more »

Los Angeles – Vanessa Carlton is realistic. She knows today’s musical environment is not always friendly toward pop-oriented artists who play their instruments and write their songs, as she does. In fact, Carlton says she is gladly straddling the fence between “being true to myself as a musician and being embraced commercially” with her sophomore album, “Harmonium,” due Nov. 9 from A&M/Interscope Records. “It’s nice to be back and be the alternative to the more calculated, poppy acts out there,” the 24-year-old artist says. “I feel lucky that I’m able to appeal to real music lovers, and it also somehow… Read more »