Search Results for: madonna

Despite just being in the beginning stages of her career, Brit trip-pop singer Jem has many a story to tell. She’s on Dave Matthews ‘ label, used to do promotional work for Fatboy Slim, appeared as the wedding singer at the season-ending nuptials of teen soap The O.C. and got her first writing credit with a song that ended up as a Madonna single. It seems everybody in the business loves this girl – but why did it take so long for her to record an album? In November of ’99, Jemma Griffiths quit her job with a record label… Read more »

Los Angeles – Privately held Warner Music Group on Wednesday named Michael Fleisher, former chief executive of research firm Gartner Inc., as executive vice president and chief financial officer of the music company that is home to artists like Madonna and Josh Groban. Fleisher, 40, will report to Warner Music Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Edgar Bronfman Jr. He will oversee all finance functions, information technology and investor relations for Warner, which is the smallest of the four big record companies. Michael Ward, the company’s interim CFO, will return to his full-time position as managing director of Bain Capital. Last… Read more »

New York – Irish rockers U2, R&B singers The O’Jays and soul balladeer Percy Sledge are among five musical legends to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame during the foundation’s 20th annual induction ceremony next year, the organization announced Monday. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation will hold its induction ceremony March 14 at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Manhattan. U2, which became one of the planet’s most popular bands in the 1980s with their megahit “The Joshua Tree,” is still making the charts: Their November release, “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb,” is… Read more »

Los Angeles – Warner Music Group reported a narrower loss Monday, crediting a restructuring effort that cut costs. The privately held New York-based firm, home to artists like Madonna and Kid Rock, reported a $136 million net loss for the 10-month period ending Sept. 30, compared to a $239 million loss in the same period last year. The company was reporting on a 10-month period because it has changed its 2004 fiscal year-end from Nov. 30 to Sept. 30. The period covers three months ending Feb. 29, when the recording company was still part of Time Warner, and the following… Read more »

So much for that “Ebony and Ivory” stuff. At least as far as Stevie Wonder and Eminem go. Speaking to Billboard magazine, Wonder comes to the defense of old Motown roster mate Michael Jackson, saying he was “disappointed” Em mocked Jackson’s child-molestation allegations in the rapper’s video for “Just Lose It.” “Kicking someone when he’s down is not a good thing,” Wonder tells Billboard. “I have much respect for his work…[b]ut I was disappointed that he would let himself go to such a level. “He has succeeded on the backs of people predominantly in that lower pay bracket, people of… Read more »

New York – Rock ‘n’ roll fans with deep pockets can buy a Beatles guitar or a mugshot of the pop star formerly known as Cat Stevens at what Christie’s said on Wednesday was its biggest auction of show business memorabilia. The Gibson SG electric guitar, played by George Harrison from 1966-1969, is the star attraction among over 400 lots, ranging from Britney Spears’ book report to a handwritten 1991 letter from the late Kurt Cobain to Courtney Love. The guitar, expected to fetch around $500,000, was used while recording the Beatles’ “Revolver” album and in two Beatles films “Paperback… Read more »

Las Vegas – On November 6, 2004, YANNI will tape his first TV special in seven years, and his first ever in America, from the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. The TV special will be filmed live from the opening performance of his upcoming YANNI LIVE 2004/5 World Tour. His last three television specials were recorded in spectacular overseas locations at the Acropolis in Greece, the Taj Mahal in India, The Forbidden City in China and at London’s legendary Royal Albert Hall. The show will be a 16-camera production shot on High Definition and will include a… Read more »

America Online, Inc. the world’s leading interactive services company, will celebrate its landmark 100th AOL® Music First View by unveiling the exclusive world premiere of the new video by U2. The video for the band’s hit song, “Vertigo,” will be available for 24 hours beginning Wednesday, October 27, at 12:01am ET for all AOL members and those on the web, at aolmusic.com. “Vertigo” is the first single off of U2’s hotly anticipated new album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, scheduled for release by Interscope Records on November 23. The video, the band’s first in four years, will mark the… Read more »

The MTV Video Music Awards featured a lot of star power this year, but some fans were left wondering: Where were Britney and Justin? Britney Spears has practically made a tradition of not only appearing at the VMAs, but giving the ceremony some of its most talked about moments. She performed her schoolgirl hit “… Baby One More Time” in 1999, stripped to “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” and “Oops!… I Did It Again” in 2000, became a snake charmer for “I’m a Slave 4 U” in 2001, presented birthday cake to Michael Jackson (who mistook it for an award)… Read more »

Holding its festivities for the first time in the city of skin, Sunday’s MTV Video Music Awards was sizzling, energetic and colorful – yet tame, by MTV standards. There were no wardrobe malfunctions (sorry TiVo). Britney didn’t kiss Madonna like last year – or anyone else, for that matter (neither were at the blowout affair). The most skin shown was from Usher, who preened in front of the camera barechested as simulated raindrops fell on his chiseled body during the opening performance. Even the Christina Aguilera was classy, dressed sexy yet demurely as she debuted a jazzy number, “Tilt Ya… Read more »