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Why name a songbird Tweet? It’s a simple question, but Charlene Keys, a.k.a. Tweet, can’t remember exactly how the nickname came about. “Maybe I had a big head like the Tweety Bird character,” she joked recently. “I’ve been Tweet since I was a little girl. It’s been a nickname that everybody in my family wants to get credit for. ‘I named her that. No, I named her that.’ ” The Rochester, New York, native does know how she can justify naming her album Southern Hummingbird, despite hailing from the North. That ties back to her kinfolk as well. “I’m the… Read more »

Remember how psyched you were as a kid to build a little car or a castle out of Lego pieces? Bet you never fashioned a fully functioning punk-rock duo and a kaleidoscopic world where they could swim, ride bikes and whale on the drums, though, did you? Don’t feel bad. You probably never got that sophisticated, but pioneering director Michel Gondry did, thanks to the White Stripes. In the eye-popping video for “Fell in Love With a Girl,” a two-minute blast of O.P.P.-like fantasy, the candy-colored pair from Detroit strum, jump and sprint their way through a building-block realm that… Read more »

The inspiration for “She Loves Me Not,” the first single from Papa Roach’s upcoming album, Lovehatetragedy, didn’t come easy to frontman Jacoby Shaddix. The track is about his sometimes-turbulent relationship with his wife, Kelly, who recently gave birth to their first child, Makaile Cielo Shaddix. The chorus, which includes the lines, “I don’t know if I care/ I’m the jerk/ Life’s not fair/ Fighting all the time/ This is out of line/ She loves me not,” illustrates the stress of trying to juggle your relationship and your band. “I feel like anything I do is just not enough,” Shaddix, formerly… Read more »

*NSYNC gave its Detroit-area fans an unexpected encore on Monday night (April 1)-and it was no April’s Fool joke. Following its performance at the Palace Of Auburn Hills, the quintet followed the recommendation of opening act Tony Lucca, a Detroit-area native, and took its tour bus to catch a set by local funk band the Brothers Groove, at Fifth Avenue Billiards in the suburb of Royal Oak. After hanging out and watching the group play for awhile, *NSYNC’s J.C. Chasez delighted the packed club by finally accepting an invitation to hop onstage and did some impromptu verses on the Brothers… Read more »

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame welcomed its first members from the new wave and punk eras on Monday night, inducting The Ramones and Talking Heads along with classic rockers Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, soul and R&B icon Isaac Hayes, versatile vocalist Brenda Lee and singer/songwriter Gene Pitney. Legendary guitar sideman Chet Atkins was also inducted, as was Jim Stewart, founder of and driving force behind revolutionary soul music label Stax Records. The hall’s 17th annual induction ceremony got off to a rousing start with Hayes performing his Oscar-winning “Theme from ‘Shaft.”‘ Hayes, who saw eight of his… Read more »

‘Pop Idol’ Will Young has announced he is gay, and said he has never hidden his sexuality. The 23-year-old singer, whose first record became the fastest-selling debut single in UK history, said he was very comfortable with his sexuality. In an interview with the News of the World, the former drama student said: “I feel it’s time to tell my fans I’m gay.” “It’s totally no big deal, just part of who I am. For me it’s normal and nothing to be ashamed about. I’m gay and I’m comfortable with that. I really don’t know what the fuss is about.… Read more »

British punk legends the Sex Pistols are to reissue their anarchic song “God Save the Queen” to mark Queen Elizabeth’s 50 years on the throne, their record company said Thursday. “(The record) is to be reissued around the Golden Jubilee celebrations on May 27,” Virgin Records said in a statement. “It will feature the original artwork.” The single’s anti-royal lyrics and cover image of the queen with a safety pin through her nose caused outrage on its first release in 1977. The song includes the verse: “God save the Queen/She ain’t no human being/There is no future/In England’s dreaming.” While… Read more »

The suit filed against Arista Records for royalties from the re-release of Whitney Houston’s “The Star-Spangled Banner” was dropped Monday (December 17), according to a spokesperson for Arista Records. “It was the shortest lawsuit in history,” the spokesperson said. “It was an administrative oversight from [Houston’s] Greatest Hits album.” Leonard David Stone, executive director for the orchestra, said until a resolution has been reached, he was prohibited from commenting on the matter. The Florida Orchestra, which recorded the national anthem with Houston in 1991, filed a suit Friday (December 14), asking a judge to ensure that Arista honored an agreement… Read more »

Mark Mothersbaugh says the score he wrote for The Royal Tenenbaums is a logical progression from the work he did on director Wes Anderson’s two previous films, Bottle Rocket and Rushmore. “Bottle Rocket was a jazz quintet, a little bit quirky,” says the former Devo singer. “Rushmore was a little more Vivaldi influenced, a lot more sixteenth notes. This movie, although the sounds are related to the last two movies, kind of branched out further. I’d never used any horns before. The core of it is a cello and piano. There’s a lot of harp in this movie, a lot… Read more »

It’s official. Michael Jackson, the self-proclaimed “King of Pop,” is the “King of Sales” this week, but music industry insiders predict he will soon lose the crown to pop teen queen Britney Spears. Jackson’s first album of original music in six years, “Invincible,” sold 366,272 units in the week ended Nov. 4, the first week of its release, topping all other U.S. albums, according to Soundscan, which tracks music retail figures. The pop star made an unprecedented in-store appearance Wednesday at the Virgin Megastore in New York’s Times Square, wearing a shiny royal blue outfit, complete with his signature finger-less… Read more »