Search Results for: the voice

Though making last year’s Return of Saturn was a long, often straining process for No Doubt, the band has learned to loosen up for its successor. As the Southern California pop-rockers work to get it out by year’s end, they continue to take a free-form attitude, collaborating with producers from all over the musical spectrum, including reggae, hip-hop, electronica and new wave. “I think this [album] is going to be our happy road,” said guitarist Tom Dumont. No Doubt, who spent two years on Return, have already laid down tracks for the still-untitled disc with red-hot production duo the Neptunes… Read more »

The invisible band, indeed. No sibling battles, no arrests, no controversy and thus hardly anybody on this side of the pond knows who Travis is. It’s a band, not a man, by the way. If you’re a fan of Brit-pop but don’t like the snivelling banality of many bloated groups wearing that tag, you’re in for a treat. The Scottish band’s latest record is neo-folk rock at its finest, gentle in attitude, intelligent in theme, refreshing in its simplicity and honesty and unafraid to be as sentimental as Paul McCartney when the mood calls for it. It’s amazing what can… Read more »

Hip-hop, in a push to clean up its image, came out Thursday in favor of warning parents about violent and sexually explicit lyrics and said it would organize politically to help the urban poor. Rappers, music executives and black leaders at a Hip-Hop Summit in New York said they would label sexually explicit and violent music, as well as Web sites and posters that promote it. They also plan to mentor young rappers, set up hip-hop think tanks, and form a political group to address such issues as free speech and racial profiling. “One of the things we discussed was… Read more »

Depeche Mode, the influential British technopop band that has flourished for two decades, kicked off a five-month world tour in Quebec City Monday night, promoting its new songs in an effort to leave behind its 1980s hits and its years of rock ‘n’ roll excess. The two-hour show, which will tour 24 countries, focused on Depeche Mode’s new album “Exciter,” offering a smoother sound that returns to the band’s roots of pop music with romantic lyrics and electronic melodies. The show was meant to capture the imagination of a new generation of fans, not necessarily the die-hard 1980s supporters. Solid,… Read more »

Legendary artists from different worlds will cross paths to set off a Black Star Power explosion at the First Annual BET Awards on June 19 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Amazing vocalist Whitney Houston will receive the first-ever BET Lifetime Achievement Award, hand-crafted by revered graffiti artist Carlos “MARE 139” Rodriguez. The two will meet at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel as part of BET’s live star-studded telecast recognizing la creme in music, film and sports. “I am extremely honored to be recognized by Black Entertainment Television in this way,” said Houston about the honor. “BET is the preeminent television network… Read more »

Stars figured they could say and do just about anything at the 2001 MTV Movie Awards on Saturday night. “And I’m gonna,” presenter Halle Berry predicted two hours before she took the stage with her Swordfish co-stars, John Travolta and Hugh Jackman. Playing off the rumor (which she later denied) that she received an extra $500,000 to show her breasts in her upcoming action movie, Berry encouraged the two men to show a body part. Then she patted their buns as they playfully unbuttoned their jackets in striptease fashion. It was all part of the fun that took place at… Read more »

Mariah Carey launches fashion trends like other people change socks. Indeed, as she waited for a TV crew to get its lighting right during a recent interview, Mariah laid back on a chaise longue, kicked off one sparkly high-heeled shoe and had another inspiration. “Maybe I’ll do the interview with one shoe off, just to be crazy,” she said to her manager, who looked over and laughed. “Wouldn’t that be great, if it caught on and people started wearing one shoe?” Don’t laugh. It could happen, and Mariah would be OK with it. A different kind of biting recently did… Read more »

Capitol recording artist Pru has broken the rules by cutting a brand new version of her signature composition “Aaroma (Of a Man),” which will be serviced in June. This version of the seductive ballad will be added to her self-titled debut album PRU, which will be redesigned and repackaged as part of a newly-organized campaign. The video for “Aaroma” will be shot this month. “Aaroma (Of a Man),” produced by Andrew Slater, President and CEO, Capitol Records (whose producer’s credits include Macy Gray, Fiona Apple, and the Wallflowers) and mixed by Mike Shipley, whose credits range from Shania Twain, Faith… Read more »

The MTV Movie Awards are raunchy and irreverent, and while they have a reputation for being outrageous, they’re also quite canned. When Tom Cruise’s publicist was spotted nervously pacing outside the Shrine Auditorium, gossip fans knew the 2001 Movie Awards would be rich with fodder. It was more than an hour into the show, and the star still hadn’t appeared.   When Cruise finally showed up in a chauffeur-driven SUV, he was dateless and slumped in the passenger seat, looking glum and listless. When he got out, his publicist Pat Kingsley gave him a long, affectionate hug. “How are you,… Read more »

Coldplay guitarist Jonny Buckland has plenty of memories from the British group’s last North American tour earlier this year – and not all of them good. “The one that overshadows everything was going on for one song in New York and having to leave the stage ’cause Chris [Martin] had lost his voice,” Buckland says. “We did ‘Yellow’ with someone from the crowd singing. It wasn’t the best experience. And the gig we did in Chicago, the biggest indoor gig we ever headlined, there was a bucket by the side of the stage ’cause I was so sick. Guy [Berryman]… Read more »