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You know you’re a long way from home when Groove Armada and Faithless play for wilder crowds than the godfather of heavy metal. “I can’t f-ing hear you!” is Ozzy Osbourne’s standard concert rallying cry, but it took on a new urgency Friday night at the kickoff of the three-day Rock Im Park festival in Nuremberg. As the 53-year-old showman peered out at the half-full Frankenstadion, his famous baffled expression – mouth agape, black-lined eyes open wide, arms extended as though desperately soliciting a hug – looked a bit more confounded than usual. Of course the metal madman delivered, leading… Read more »

For once, Eminem can breathe easy when he hears that people are rallying to have a rapper’s album banned. The usually lovable Nelly – who is dropping Nellyville on June 25 – has made an enemy of KRS-One, and the Blastmaster is calling for a boycott of the rapper’s album. “Nelly challenged a sovereign power,” KRS said Wednesday of his latest vocal adversary. “The MC part of it, I can slap him around for days. I got joints for days!” The microphone legend is certainly not inhibited, especially when talking of his iconic battle-rhyme dexterity. On “Ova Here,” the incendiary… Read more »

Elvis Costello and his band, the Imposters, were nearing the end of a rousing, rocking set at a Manhattan club when the audience’s attention began to wander. As he started his final encore, the chilling tale of a jilted sociopath, “I Want You,” loud conversations and laughter could be heard from the Bowery Ballroom bar. Costello didn’t say anything, or even look annoyed. Instead, a malice-filled reading of the song did the work for him. The music quieted to a whisperlike level as Costello stepped away from the microphone to shout the line, “Did you call my name out as… Read more »

Call it “Like Kurtis.” Bow Wow, with help from Jermaine Dupri and Fabolous, has remade Kurtis Blow’s “Basketball” for the soundtrack to his upcoming film “Like Mike.” The rappers will gather in Los Angeles next week with director Chris Robinson (Alicia Keys, Snoop Dogg) to shoot a video for the single. Like the movie, which stars the 15-year-old rapper as an orphan who becomes an NBA star when he finds a pair of Michael Jordan’s old shoes, the “Basketball” clip will find Bow Wow on the court with several hoops elite, although a spokesperson for the movie could not confirm… Read more »

“The Osbournes” have not only captivated you, your bleeping grandma and your bleeping hairdresser, but probably your favorite bleeping rock star as well. The most popular series in MTV history, with nearly 8 million viewers a week, has acquired a particularly loyal audience in perhaps the only people who can truly relate to the madness – other musicians. Incubus, for example, fell so hard for the show they asked their management to record it when they are on the road and send them copies for tour bus screenings. Singer Brandon Boyd said when “The Osbournes” is on, his eyes are… Read more »

The tagline for “Still Not a Player,” a documentary on fallen rap star Big Pun, reads: “At 26 he became the first Latin solo hip-hop artist to go platinum. At 28 he was dead.” But as the movie shows, there was more to Pun than most ever knew. Family members, such as his wife, Liza Rios, and peers like Nas, Noreaga, Ice-T and his mentor, Fat Joe, all give firsthand accounts of their dealings with the lyricist, helping to paint his biography. “To hear other people talk about him, it helped me out,” Rios said. “It was therapy. [There were]… Read more »

Despite what Lil’ Bow Wow and Britney have shown us, stardom doesn’t always come before you can vote or get behind the wheel of a car. The past few years have been a boon for the high school (Aaron Carter, B2K, Lil’ Romeo) and graduation set (Michelle Branch, Vanessa Carlton). Even though it may have felt like it, it hasn’t been all teens all the time, though. Veteran acts such as U2, Nickelback, Creed, No Doubt, Train, Sugar Ray and R. Kelly have been banging the charts all along. And lately, singers like Tweet and rockers Unwritten Law and Jimmy… Read more »

Brian Johnson is writing music and lyrics these days, but not for AC/DC or any other rock band. He’s working with British composer Brendan Healy and Sarasota Ballet Artistic Director Robert de Warren on a musical called “Helen of Troy,” an action-filled love story based on Greek mythology. While in past years Johnson has specialized in penning naughty double-entendres in songs like “Hard as a Rock,” “Stiff Upper Lip” and “The Honey Roll,” this time he’s crafting music that’s more in line with the dramatic musical “Les Misérables.” So far, he’s written 14 songs for the production, which will debut… Read more »

The Island Def Jam Music Group (IDJ) continues to make history this week with the highest debut of a first-time female artist as Ashanti sells 502,524 copies of her self-titled debut album to be the #1 sellingalbum in the country, on both the Top 200 and R&B charts, while her single, “Foolish,” tops the nation’s Hot 100 Singles and R&B Singles & Tracks charts. Moreover, The Island Def Jam Group scored four records in the Top 10, achieving one of the biggest market shares of current new albums by any record label so far with 14.3% for the week ending… Read more »

Columbia/Roadrunner/Island Def Jam/Sony Music Soundtrax will release “Spider-Man (Music From and Inspired By)” on Tuesday, April 30. “Spider-Man,” the live action motion picture released by Columbia Pictures in conjunction with the 40th anniversary of the classic graphic character’s Marvel Comics debut, will be in theaters nationwide on Friday, May 3. “Spider-Man (Music From and Inspired By)” is a collection of music written and performed by a generation of musicians influenced by the power and mystery of the Spider-Man character, his conflicts and his adventures. The album’s lead singles and videos are “What We’re All About (The Original Version)” from Sum… Read more »