Search Results for: the voice

Ray Charles, the Grammy-winning crooner who blended gospel and blues in such crowd-pleasers as “What’d I Say” and ballads like “Georgia on My Mind,” died Thursday, a spokesman said. He was 73. Charles died at his Beverly Hills home surrounded by family and friends, said spokesman Jerry Digney. Charles’ last public appearance was alongside Clint Eastwood on April 30, when the city of Los Angeles designated the singer’s studios, built 40 years ago in central Los Angeles, as a historic landmark. Blind by age 7 and an orphan at 15, Charles spent his life shattering any notion of musical boundaries… Read more »

After keeping a low profile since the 1999 release of “The Fragile,” Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor has finally begun revealing details about his next album. “Bleed Through” is due later this year via Interscope and will find Reznor “touring extensively” in support of it, according to NIN’s official Web site (http://www.nin.com). “One of the ‘rules’ of this record has been to orchestrate using only monophonic voices. No chords. Anywhere,” Reznor says. “Most of the synthesis has been done with a rather elaborate (and ever-growing) modular rig and recorded live.” The set will feature a combination of live and… Read more »

Simon Cowell will soon get a taste of his own venom. The ruthless Brit is creating a new “American Idol”-like series called “The X Factor” in which he and two other judges will not only choose the finalists, they’ll work with them on the performances and together face the critiques of the other judges. “It’s too safe sometimes for me on this show, ‘Idol,’ because I have no responsibility,” Cowell said. “I just sit there smugly and pass on judgment. I wanted to actually create one show where I was held responsible, as well as the artist.” “The X Factor,”… Read more »

Fans of safe and sentimental melodic pop-rock were treated to the best of both worlds Thursday, when Something Corporate and Yellowcard hit the Roseland Ballroom stage near the end of their six-week co-headlining tour. Where Something Corporate mostly played amidst an air of soul-baring and introspection, Yellowcard’s cheer and bravado helped dissipate any gray clouds that may have hovered overhead. With three flags marked by upside-down hearts hanging from the rafters and spotlights almost always fixed on Andrew McMahon’s upright piano at center stage, Something Corporate’s set alternated between songs about being in and out of love from their 2002… Read more »

The Dirrty girl’s summer tour is a wash. Christina Aguilera has canceled all upcoming performances on the advice of her doctor, due to a set of stripped pipes sustained in the studio. Medical types advised the “Beautiful” singer to rest and give her voice time to recover-and, apparently, words can keep her down. “I am extremely disappointed to have to cancel this tour,” Aguilera said in a statement. “I was looking forward to being on the road again and spending time with my fans.” The 29-date North American tour was set to kick off May 13 in Auburn, Washington with… Read more »

People sometimes say Britney is the new Madonna, but then who’s going to be the new Britney? Ms. Spears had a hand in deciding that for herself recently, when she helped cast “Brave New Girl,” an ABC Family film adapted from the book she wrote with her mom. The story, adapted from Lynne and Britney Spears’ book “A Mother’s Gift,” is based on the singer’s life but is fictionalized a bit so that it becomes more about the relationship between the mother and daughter than the rise of Spears’ star. In the film, the Britney character, named Holly, wants to… Read more »

The viewer-voted talent show “Nashville Star” offers hope to all the whiskey-voiced singers out there, says Lynyrd Skynyrd frontman Johnny Van Zant. “I think it’s great,” said Van Zant, who belted out “Sweet Home Alabama” on the USA network show with the rest of the Skynyrd crew recently. “On ‘American Idol,’ if you can’t sing higher than a bird, you can’t be on there, really.” The contestants, who are competing for a Sony Music Nashville recording contract, paid homage to the classic Southern rockers by performing “What’s Your Name.” With their blend of rock, blues and country, Lynyrd Skynyrd has… Read more »

Of all the things N.E.R.D. and Black Eyed Peas have in common – a progressive hip-hop sound, a talented live band, a vibrant catalog of songs – what most impressed Thursday’s crowd was a mutual friend. That’s what happens when you’re homies with Justin Timberlake… or, to his friends, J.T. The crowd at the sold-out Wiltern LG Theater went into an uproar midway through the Peas’ encore of “Where Is the Love?” when Timberlake casually strolled onstage to sing the song’s classic “People living, people dying…” hook. At that point, the promoters might as well have added Justin’s name to… Read more »

After it caused the cancellation of 10 shows earlier this month, Davey Havok’s voice will have plenty of time to get back in shape. AFI have no plans to make up the canceled dates or to follow up their current hit single, “Silver and Cold.” Instead, they’ll hole up to work on their next album. “We’re on our third single now,” guitarist Jade Puget said. “A lot of bands only have one. Having four would be like the Red Hot Chili Peppers or something, and I don’t think we’re quite there. We’re more than happy that we had three that… Read more »

After more than two years in hibernation, Slipknot are about to re-emerge with a new look and a new album, which is cryptically titled Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses. The band will don its third series of masks on this year’s Jägermeister Music Tour, which begins March 30 in Orlando, Florida.The new masks are more streamlined than those Slipknot wore on the 2002 tour for their second album, Iowa, but the look is basically the same. “It’s just an extension of what we wore last time, they just have more elaborate detail,” said drummer Joey Jordison. “You can still tell… Read more »