Search Results for: walk the moon

In early 1984, when Epic Records executives presented their slate of upcoming releases at the convention in Hawaii of parent company CBS Records they couldn’t resist playing up the success they were experiencing. So between the pitches for new albums, Epic inserted stock footage of semi trucks and a voice-over that thunderously announced, “There goes another load of Michael Jackson’s Thriller albums!” Trucks weren’t really leaving the warehouse every few minutes, but Thriller was still shattering expectations more than a year after its November 30, 1982, release. Epic was selling more than 1 million copies per month in the United… Read more »

“As individuals, we’re misfits,” says Fergie, the sultry female singer of the Black Eyed Peas “Together, we’re like one big misfit. People are always questioning who the hell we are.” It is the day after the group’s May 6th performance, on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Chilling out in a small, sparsely furnished room at Center Staging in Burbank, California, she and fellow members of the multiracial group resemble a live version of a United Colors of Benetton ad. Fergie is dressed in black-and-white capri-length leggings set off by a hot pink shirt and a sharp pair of black ankle-strapped heels… Read more »

LOS ANGELES — Bono’s adding to his résumé for sainthood. For today’s 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day, the U2 frontman and all-around good guy is helping launch (RED)WIRE, a music-themed site to benefit the cause.   “Through music [people] are not just celebrating their life, they are celebrating lives and the saving of them,” Bono says in a video message. And he’s getting some help from a few all-star pals. Among the featured tunes: the Dixie Chicks’ “Lucky Ones,” the Texas trio’s first new music since 2006’s Taking the Long Way; Jay-Z ‘s “Brooklyn Go Hard,” featuring Santogold ;… Read more »

Some of the biggest names in music are contributing exclusive songs to RED(WIRE), a digital music magazine that launches on World AIDS Day ( December 1). U2, Coldplay, the Killers, the Dixie Chicks, John Legend, R.E.M. and Bob Dylan are on board for the initiative, which is an outgrowth of the Bono-reared activist organization called (RED). All proceeds from subscriptions will benefit HIV-infected people in Africa; MSN.com will host a kickoff party December 1. For $5, users will receive a new issue of RED(WIRE) every Wednesday, featuring an exclusive song from a major musician, a song from a performer who… Read more »

Backstage notes from the 25th annual MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday. 1. After winning three Moonmen, including video of the year, Britney Spears got cold feet before she met the press. She peeked into the media room with personal assistants and camera crew in tow, then promptly turned around and left. A few moments later, Chris Brown hurried in to take her place — prompting a round of disappointed “Awwwww!” from disappointed Britney-wannabe paparazzi (a reaction that seemed to miff Brown, who maybe didn’t understand that he wasn’t being booed personally.) Never fear, Britney returned after Brown; she said… Read more »

The first time Arcade Fire performed in Paris, Mathieu Saura stood outside the venue with his girlfriend, holding up a sign that read, “Please, we want to come to the show.” The band’s bassist, Richard Reed Perry, got them in, and ever since, Saura might as well have not left. Under the name Vincent Moon, he’s gone from a fan begging for tickets to an in-demand filmmaker who has revolutionized music video. His films are stripped down, intimate videotaped performances – shot in one take, often of an act simply strolling down a street or playing in a parking lot.… Read more »

Arthur C. Clarke, a visionary science fiction writer who won worldwide acclaim with more than 100 books on space, science and the future, died Wednesday in his adopted home of Sri Lanka, an aide said. He was 90. Clarke, who had battled debilitating post-polio syndrome since the 1960s and sometimes used a wheelchair, died at 1:30 a.m. local time after suffering breathing problems, aide Rohan De Silva told The Associated Press. Clarke was regarded as a technological seer as well as a science-fiction writer, and was known as “the godfather of the telecommunications satellite.” His most famous novel, “2001: A… Read more »

Michael Jackson appeared in a video to thank fans for the success of “Thriller,” the landmark record the reclusive singer is marking with a 25th anniversary edition. Jackson will release the new version of the blockbuster album Tuesday, featuring new collaborations with Kanye West, Akon, Fergie and will.i.am. “It’s hard to believe that 25 years ago Quincy Jones and I embarked on an album named `Thriller,’” Jackson said in a video message to fans released Monday by his record company, Sony-BMG. It was not immediately clear exactly when Jackson had made the video, or where it was recorded. He also… Read more »

Michael Jackson is on deadline. A Los Angeles Superior Court judge on Wednesday issued a court order giving the reclusive entertainer 25 days to turn over financial information to a law firm that previously won a $256,000 judgment against him in July. Should Jackson balk at turning over the records requested by the firm of Ayscough & Marar, he instead has the option of making good on his unpaid legal fees. Jackson engaged the firm during his 2005 child-molestation trial to perform such tasks as obtaining court orders to block information from being publicly released and delaying discovery in several… Read more »