Search Results for: prince

Cocktail waitresses in black leather hot pants shuttled trays of drinks across the casino floor. Slot machines with names such as “Filthy Rich” and “Deuces Wild” chattered endlessly. Meanwhile, in a line that snaked past display cases bearing outfits worn by the likes of Prince, Shania, Alanis and Britney, Oasis fans from around the country anxiously waited to enter the Hard Rock Hotel’s small concert venue, the Joint. It was there that the members of Oasis chose to place their first foothold in the return climb for Stateside success with a ripping show on Friday for 1,400 of their closest… Read more »

Four years ago the record industry and some technology companies banded together to match wits in a combined effort to stamp out Internet music piracy. Their goal: to usher in an age of secure digital songs wrapped in unbreakable code. The Secure Digital Music Initiative was supposed to be just the medicine to marginalize the Napster phenomenon. Soon, there would be SDMI protected CDs and SDMI digital music downloads playing only on SDMI-compliant devices. Failure would mean “the Internet will simply become a world where nothing happens – where nothing has value,” SDMI’s director, Leonardo Chiariglione, said at the time.… Read more »

Imagine your friends’ reaction when at your next Sunday night no-holds-barred karaoke jam you not only perform a rockin’ rendition of Ozzy’s “Crazy Train,” but you kick it out gripping a mic autographed by the self-proclaimed prince of darkness himself. Now that’s the stuff of which local legends are made. An array of artists including Osbourne, ‘NSYNC, Christina Aguilera, the Dave Matthews Band and Moby have signed on to contribute their John Hancocks to “Bid for Hearing,” a charity auction beginning April 29 on eBay which will feature microphones autographed by various musicians. Nelly Furtado, AC/DC, Hank Williams Jr. and… Read more »

For the second week in a row, Ashanti, the new princess of R&B, will lord over the Billboard 200 albums chart. Her self-titled debut sold nearly 250,000 copies, according to SoundScan figures released Wednesday (April 17), enough to keep Celine Dion’s A New Day Has Come at #2 on sales of more than 225,000 copies. Now That’s What I Call Music! Vol. 9, featuring songs by Pink, Ludacris and ‘NSYNC, moves up one spot to #3 after selling over 140,000 units. Entering at #4 are the Goo Goo Dolls, whose Gutterflower sold more than 100,000 copies in its first week.… Read more »

Walking away empty-handed from the Academy Awards might faze some people. Will Smith is not some people. The former Fresh Prince is already onto his next project and taking it back to where it all began: the recording studio. Smith’s next album, which is still untitled, will hit stores on June 25. Hot on the heels of that release, Big Willie will reprise his role as Agent J in this summer’s “Men in Black 2,” the sequel to the 1997 blockbuster. Two songs from Smith’s forthcoming LP will be featured in the movie. One, “Nod Ya Head,” will also be… Read more »

Cult rock duo Ween will put off the recording of its next studio album in favor of a summer North American tour. Dates begin Friday (April 19) in Asheville, N.C., and are booked through a June 23 appearance at the Bonnaroo Festival in Manchester, Tenn. Ween will also drop in May 25 at the Mountain Aire Festival in Calaveras County, Calif. “We plan on hitting many cities where we haven’t played in a few years – places like Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis, New York, etc.,” group member Mickey “Dean Ween” Melchiondo writes on Ween’s official Web site. “Our plan is to… Read more »

Will Smith may not have come up a winner at the Academy Awards, but the actor/rapper can revel in a victory elsewhere in Hollywood. He and his production company, Overbrook Entertainment, have just secured the rights to produce the remakes of the ’70s films “Uptown Saturday Night,” “Let’s Do It Again” and “A Piece of the Action,” according to a spokesperson for the company. All three motion pictures starred Bill Cosby and Sidney Poitier, who was honored at the Oscars on Sunday. The Overbrook spokesperson said it’s too early to tell when the films will come out or if Smith… Read more »

“One-man band”: when you hear that phrase you probably picture a dude on a street corner with a pair of cymbals between his knees, a drum on his back, some kazoos in his mouth and a guitar case full of quarters. Think again. While naming a band after yourself is fine and good for guys like Dave Matthews and Jon Spencer, some band names are actually just cryptic pseudonyms for a single, mad studio genius. The past year has seen an explosion of do-it-yourself-ers, including ex-Eels bassist Tommy Walter with his band Abandoned Pools, stone alone emo-ter Chris Carrabba of… Read more »

Apparently the pop princess came pretty darn close to burning down-well, not the house-but a New York City apartment building a few days ago. The tidbit comes courtesy of the latest edition of Lynne’s Corner, a diary written by Spears’ mom that appears on the singer’s Website, BritneySpears.com. According to Ma Spears’ weekly update, published Wednesday, Britney nearly torched the apartment she was staying in by leaving a candle burning while she and a pal went out. Spears was in town for a four-day vacation with one of her friends (identified only as “Jenny” on the Website). The two spent… Read more »

Are Britney Spears and *NSYNC singer Justin Timberlake still a couple? Well, it depends on who you ask these days. While on a European promotional tour for her Crossroads feature-film debut earlier this month, Spears publicly and repeatedly said that breakup rumors were not true, but rumblings about the status of her relationship continue to make headlines worldwide. Spears’s spokeswoman Lisa Kasteler released a statement on Wednesday (March 20) in an attempt to clarify the couple’s current status. “To set the record straight, both of them are very busy and focusing on their careers. They love each other very much… Read more »