Search Results for: pop

In a world where artistic lifespans are often judged in terms of fads, most pop music acts last no longer than the trends that briefly catapulted them to fame. And those are just the ones that are lucky enough to end up in the “where are they now?” files. It’s rare to find a band like the Bee Gees, who started their musical career when nine-year-old brother Barry was joined by his six-year-old twin siblings Robin and Maurice. The group scored their first No. 1 hit in their native Australia back in 1966 and broke out to a world audience… Read more »

Music makers are stepping up attempts to stamp out piracy with the public release of CDs that cannot be played on computers. Natalie Imbruglia’s latest album is the first to go on general release with a copy-protection system built in. Commentators say that soon many more CDs employ similar anti-pirate technologies. Before now, such systems have been added in a piecemeal fashion to a limited number of releases in different countries. Critics say record companies should do more to tell consumers about the copy-protection systems used, and warn that many devices other than PCs will also have problems playing the… Read more »

Less than 24 hours after a marathon gig in New York, music stars including Michael Jackson, the Backstreet Boys, and Mariah Carey kicked off a concert in Washington to help lift the spirits of a nation’s capital rattled by the Sept. 11 attacks and anthrax. The Backstreet Boys, the chart-topping boy band, opened the eight-hour fund-raiser before a 46,000 capacity crowd at RFK stadium with their rendition of the national anthem followed by a string of their hit songs. One of the numbers was dedicated to a member of their tour crew who was aboard one of the hijacked airplanes… Read more »

Fans of Michael Jackson can participate in a contest sponsored by his official website that will give you a chance to meet the “King of Pop.” Unlike other online sweepstakes, however, the Michael Jackson Ultimate Fan Contest requires entrants to correctly answer 10 trivia questions based on various Jackson videos. Ten winners receive a flyaway trip to a Jackson event, with one lucky winner receiving face-to-face time with the singer himself. To help you answer the contest questions correctly, Michaeljackson.com has placed the videos for “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough,” “Rock With You,” “Billie Jean,” “Beat It,” “Thriller,” “Bad,”… Read more »

Rapper-entrepreneur Jay-Z settled in at the top of the heap in this week’s charts, but sales for all of the top performers ebbed from last week’s levels amid a general retail malaise nationwide. “Blueprint” (Def Jam) claimed the No. 1 spot with just under 174,000 units sold during the week ended Sept. 30, SoundScan reports indicated Wednesday. That’s down 36% from the album’s prior outing, but still good enough to put it within a week’s sales of platinum territory after less than a month inthe running. Holding strong at No. 2 was J Records’ Alicia Keys, who won raves for… Read more »

This is a difficult transition for the entertainment community. There is a growing desire, if not need, to return to some form of business as usual, yet an uncertainty as to whether this is a viable option. Parties and premieres are being resurrected, but companies are doing so furtively, like children worried about parental admonition. Stars are returning to the business of hyping their movies, albeit sheepishly. The TV trade wants its Emmys, yet seems bent on making the ceremony at once non-competitive and non-ceremonial. Dealmakers who have been struggling with the rules of the “new civility” are starting to… Read more »

Brooklyn-born rapper Jay-Z’s latest LP, “Blueprint,” led a torrent of new releases at the top of the album charts this week as America’s record buyers continued to shop despite Sept. 11’s terrorist attacks. The Island/Def Jam release flew off shelves last week, shifting nearly 427,000 units, according to data compiled by SoundScan. Sales of “Blueprint” were powered by the near-ubiquity of its first single, “H.O.V.A. (Izzo),” on both urban radio and music television. Island/Def Jam’s chart dominance continued in the latest session with Nickelback’s “Silver Side Up,” which came in at No. 2 with 178,000 copies sold. “Silver Side Up”… Read more »

Reminiscent of 1985’s “We Are the World” fund-raising effort, a group of pop stars led by Michael Jackson plans to record a new song to raise $50 million for survivors and families of victims in Tuesday’s attack on the East Coast. Jackson, R&B trio Destiny’s Child and Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys all plan to record a new song, titled “What More Can I Give,” which Jackson will produce, according to a statement Sunday. Other singers committed to the effort include teen pop couple Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake of ‘N Sync, and Mya. “I believe in my heart… Read more »

Courtney Love and Don Henley will lead a charge of pop artists at a hearing in the California state legislature on Wednesday to denounce what they claim are corrupt business practices by big recording companies. The hearing takes place against the backdrop of several bitter lawsuits against major labels by acts like Love and the Dixie Chicks, who allege “unconscionable” contracts and accounting practices by the recording conglomerates. The hearing at the Select Committee on the Entertainment Industry in Sacramento will focus specifically on California’s so-called “seven-year statute,” which restricts entertainers from being tied to any company for more than… Read more »

Once a punk rock outcast who was locked up in a psych ward, Iggy Pop is now a celebrity, a Reebok model who rubs shoulders with the cream of society. But his elevated status does not stop him from noticing the absurdity of the situation, as he told Reuters in a recent interview: the kid raised in a Michigan trailer park is often the center of attention at various phoney-baloney shindigs. “Occasionally I’ll go to one of these VIP affairs or parties, and I always sorta look around thinking, ‘My God, how shallow and crass these people are! Not like… Read more »