A good bar band singer knows the importance of conversing with the patrons. “Did you come to have fun?” Justin Timberlake asked after taking the House of Blues stage early Tuesday morning (June 17) for his first crack at what he’s dubbed the Show After the Show. “The point of this is to have fun.” And fun it was, yet it certainly seemed there were other reasons for JT – as he was billed – to play a club show a few hours after the lights went up on the Justified and Stripped Tour at the Staples Center. Mainly, the… Read more »
As an independent band that manages to sell more than 300,000 copies of your self-released albums, signing with a major label might seem like the most logical move to the next level. But O.A.R. bassist Benj Gersham tells Billboard.com the Maryland-bred, Ohio State University-brewed group’s decision to ink with Lava/Atlantic was anything but simple. “We had been going over the decision for at least two years before we finally made it, because we wanted to do it when the time was right,” says Gersham. “And all of those numbers are great but we didn’t do it because of that. We… Read more »
Arista recording artist Wakefield hit the road opening for All-American Rejects starting May 4th in Portland, Oregon. Two days later on May 6th, Wakefield’s debut album, American Made, will officially arrive in stores, it was announced today by Antonio “L.A.” Reid, President and CEO, Arista Records. Set to impact at radio on May 19th at modern rock, “Say You Will,” is described as a love song inspired by the movie Scream. “Get your heart broken a few times and the tragedy begins to unfold,” says Ryan the band’s frontman. The video for “Say You Will” was directed by Marc Webb,… Read more »
Wanna feel old? Fall Out Boy‘s From Under The Cork Tree turned 20 years old on May 3, 2005. Now, the band is ready to celebrate two decades of the LP with a 20th anniversary edition. Today, the quartet also officially shared their cover of Gorilla Biscuits‘ “Start Today,” finally. Per their social media, the anniversary edition features b-sides, alt mixes, remixes, BBC sessions, and beyond. Plus, their bundles will arrive with a letter from Pete Wentz, a “Dance, Dance” prom photo frame, a “Sixteen Candles…” inspired comic book cover, and tour memorabilia. Fall Out Boy adds, “This record changed… Read more »
Save Face have kicked off their new era as an independent band with a bang with their frenzied new track “Found Dead At The Crime Scene”.
Los Angeles – To his eight Grammy nominations and slew of No. 1 singles, R&B singer Usher has added the honor of most-shipped U.S. album of 2004 for “Confessions,” according to year-end certifications from the Recording Industry Assn. of America. With 8 million units shipped to retailers (but not necessarily sold through to consumers), the set is the highest-certified album in the star’s catalog. His previous best was 1997’s “My Way,” which is six times platinum. Usher also picked up three honors under the RIAA’s new digital awards program. “Yeah!” featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris, which spent 12 weeks atop… Read more »
Los Angles – You only need one word to sum up the year in pop 2004: Usher. Clearly, it was his house. The rest of us were just overnight visitors. It began innocently enough, right at the beginning of the calendar year. On the Billboard Hot 100 dated Jan. 10, 2004 (coincidentally, the 55th anniversary of the introduction of the 45 rpm record), the highest new entry was “Yeah!” by Usher Featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris. Six weeks later, “Yeah!” had assumed pole position, and remained there for 12 weeks, tying it as the longest-running No. 1 (with “Lose Yourself”… Read more »
Los Angeles/New York – Columbia Records has moved up by one day the North American release of the new Destiny Child’s album, just as the R&B trio confirmed the first dates for its 2005 world tour. “Destiny Fulfilled” will be issued off-cycle from a traditional Tuesday stateside release on Nov. 15, the same date that the disc will be available internationally. The company says the change is due to the “potential for Internet leaks and ‘burned’ CD counterfeits” that could “lead consumers to experience inferior and incomplete versions of the album.” The move by follows Wednesday’s (Nov. 3) announcement that… Read more »
Canadian band the Barenaked Ladies have completed their sixth full-length studio album, “Everything to Everyone,” and will release it on Oct. 21. The 14-track Reprise set will be preceded by the radio single “Another Postcard.” Chris Bowen, Matt Goldman, Brian Scott, Phil Stanton and Chris Wink of Blue Man Group fame contribute their PVC tube percussion to the song “Shopping,” which is one of four songs featuring strings arranged by bassist Jim Creegan. Producer Ron Aniello (Lifehouse, Days Of The New) adds percussion, guitar and banjo to the set. Over the past few months, fans of the band have been… Read more »
You can tell Fred Durst’s been kind of down lately by the way he’s all agitated when responding to the have-you-and-Britney-been-dating questions and, more importantly, the fact that he’s not sporting his usual jaunty red baseball cap. At the 45th annual Grammy Awards in New York he wore a brown cap, an olive T-shirt over a gray long-sleeve top, and a sour though resolved expression when he admitted that he and Britney were seeing each other for a while, before she “played him out.” Durst was pretty much alone in his dressed-down look at the event, however. The men, everyone… Read more »
