All hopes of Lily Allen making a splash with her upcoming album have gone down the drain. The other British pop wreck is set to record a duet with train wreck from the US Lindsay Lohan. Lily is working on finishing her second album but reports are saying that she still wants to add another song to it called ‘Wherever You Go’ and plans to record it with Lindsay. If Lily really wanted to further her career and make a big deal out of it, she should have just enlisted label mate and rumored rival Katy Perry to do the duet with her.
The New Kids on the Block recorded a song last week with a fellow 80s boy band, New Edition. The thing is the most infamous member, Bobby Brown, was cut out of the picture. The track called ‘Full Service’ will be on NKOTB’s as yet untitled upcoming album. Producer RedOne says “Donnie Wahlberg had this idea for a few months, since New Kids had the idea of getting back together really. Donnie’s been looking for that one track for all of them and I think we found it.” New Edition’s Ralph Tresvant recently spoke about the bands’ rumored feud saying “The thing people were going back and forth with was we’d been doing what we were doing for the longest [but] we couldn’t get cartoons and things that the white guys were getting. It was like, ‘wow’. But the guys themselves, we have mad love.”
The video for Miley Cyrus’ first single for her upcoming studio album ‘Breakout’ has just dropped. ‘7 Things’ was shot in Los Angeles last month with director Brett Ratner, the same guy who directed ‘X-Men: The Last Stand’ and ‘Red Dragon’. It features Miley and other heartbroken girls using the lyrics of the song to attack their respective exes. It looks like Miley has a vindictive side to her. It’s pretty obvious anyway – just look at what she and her family keep saying about the Vanity Fair scandal. The official premiere of the video took place Saturday night on the Disney Channel.
The cover art for Miley Cyrus sophomore album ‘Breakout’ has been revealed. The ‘Hannah Montana’ star’s new CD will be dropping in stores everywhere on Tuesday, July 22. The album’s first single, ‘7 Things’ debuted on Radio Disney earlier this month. So what do you think of the album cover? If you ask me, I think it’s still a little on the phallic side. But at least she’s not showing of her bare back and teasing people that she may have nothing on under a sheet. Seriously, the girl needs to start acting her age if she doesn’t want people thinking bad things about her.
Hilary Duff threw on a killer pair of cork-colored boots to spend her entire Tuesday afternoon at a recording studio in Burbank, California. It looks like the more successful of the Duff sister is getting back in music mode and is back to recording a new album after making a film, ‘War Inc’. Later in the evening, Hilary ate hearty at Mr. Chow with her hockey player boyfriend Mike Comrie. I wonder if any of her new songs will be about her beau just like some songs from her last album were about ex-boyfriend and now Nicole Richie baby daddy Joel Madden.
Vanessa Hudgens has received the first review of her sophomore album ‘Identified’, which comes out on July 1, from Entertainment Weekly. Vanessa said of the album that “[The album] is definitely sophisticated. But it’s also funky and fun–something that I would, like, actually listen to.” I’m not sure who really reviews the album here. Of the three tracks EW listed, most of the reviews of the songs came pretty much from Vanessa herself. The songs they heard were her first single off the album ‘Sneakernight’, the Dr. Luke (Kelly Clarkson, Pink) produced sassy anthem ‘First Bad Habit’ and the stripped-down ballad ‘Gone with the Wind’.
Amy Winehouse is working on a new track with Babyshambles.
Band frontman Pete Doherty confirmed the ‘Rehab’ singer teamed up with guitarist Mick Whitnall in the studio while he was in London’s Wormwood Scrubs Prison.
He said: ‘Mick and Amy have a great relationship. They have been working on material while I was in prison. When I came out I went straight to the recording studio. I just want to get the music going. We’ve been told we will be doing a third album. That will keep me busy and hopefully out of trouble.’
The collaboration, first sounded out last year, is tipped to be released as a single and will appear on the next Babyshambles album.
Earlier this month, producer Mark Ronson reportedly halted sessions to record the new James Bond theme with Amy, 24, saying he was not sure she was ready to work on new music. Pete was released from jail last week after serving 29 days of a 14-week sentence for drug offences.
Scarlett Johansson has recently premiered her first music video ‘Falling Down’ which comes off of her debut solo album ‘Anywhere I Lay My Head’. The cover song, which also features David Bowie on vocals, was originally from Tom Waits’ album ‘Big Time’. It’s a good song but when it comes to the video, forget it. It’s pretty bad with its lame theme of ‘a day in the life of Scarlett’ and with the very shaky camera. It just gave me a headache really. Anyway, Scarlett’s album is set for release through Acto/Rhino Records on May 20. Here’s to hoping that the rest of her album doesn’t give me the headaches.
It’s not your average pairing… but Usher wants to work with Michael Buble.
The R’n’B star is desperate to team up with the Canadian jazz artist on his new album ‘Here I Stand’ and has even written a song for them to perform together.
He said: ‘I would love to perform my track ‘Forever Young’ with Michael Buble. I actually wrote that song with the intention of him and me doing it together.’
The ‘Love in This Club’ singer is also keen to collaborate with US singer-songwriter John Mayer.
Usher added: ‘I would like to do something with John Mayer on one of my songs ‘Something Special’ which is on my new album. I would love him to play the guitar and sing with me on that.’
The 29-year-old star, who has recorded a track with Ne-Yo for his new LP, insists he is happy his 18-year-old chart rival Chris Brown has enjoyed such success.
Usher explained: ‘All of this new energy is great for the industry. Chris is the guy who dances and sings, which is a lot like I do and did as a young artist. If time serves us correctly, and artists continue to better themselves, then hopefully he will follow the same path that I did.’
‘Here I stand’, which is Usher’s fifth studio album, is scheduled to be released worldwide on May 27.
Check out the latest episode of “Being..Ashlee Simpson” presented by Pepsi Smash on Yahoo! Music. This time around Ashlee makes a stop in Houston on her first ever club tour. The late nights and early mornings might take getting used to, but they don’t stop Ashlee from putting on a good show. See her get the party started as she performs a few tracks from Bittersweet World.
The album cover for Clay Aiken’s new album ‘On My Way Here’ has just been released. His new studio effort will hit stores on May 6 but that’s not going to stop the singer from performing all new songs on Monday, April 28 at 7PM on QVC. The American Idol alum commented on his album unveiling saying “Starting my career on national, live television, it seems fitting to be unveiling my new album live on QVC. To be able to connect with QVC’s viewers and broadcast my performance to over 93 million households is an amazing opportunity.” Whatever floats your boat.
While Leona Lewis is the first British musician to have gone to the top spot of the American charts with her album in around 20 years, Mariah Carey’s album is predicted to have one of the biggest opening weeks on any album in recent years. Leona’s album ‘Spirit’ has sold 205,000 copies this past week in the US. Mariah’s new album ‘E=MC2’ opened with sales of 154,000 in the first day. And as I previously said, she is predicted to go over the 500,000 mark with first week sales. Mariah is hot on Leona’s tail and the curvaceous diva is pretty set to kick the Brit’s pretty butt off the top spot.
The Jonas Brothers were spotted in Los Angeles just as they got finished running a couple of errands on Tuesday. Mark your calendars now as the band of brothers consisting of 20-year old Kevin, 18-year old Joe and 15-year old Nick will be releasing their new album called ‘A Little Bit Longer’ on August 12. They recently talked to Popstar about their upcoming ‘Burnin’ Up’ tour where Nick said “We’re definitely talking about having some fire and maybe some explosions.” He even jokingly added “We’re going to [swallow swords of fire]!” Are we going to see a concert or a circus act?
A new promo picture of ‘High School Musical’ star Vanessa Hudgens has been released from her sophomore album ‘Identified’. Could this possibly be the artwork for her new album cover? Vanessa has also released a new single called ‘Sneakernight’ and it’s gotten nothing but good reviews. Blender magazine reviewed the song saying “Teens will dance (and giggle), parents will overpay for the concert and all will be right with the teen pop universe.” If you go by nothing but that, then I guess it really is a good song. It may be a teeny bopper song but hey, it’s a pretty big market.
The artist who’s arguably the most talented to have come out of the Spice Girls camp has just released her solo album ‘This Time’ in Canada and she’s gracing the Canadians with her presence. Mel C is going on a tour across Canada in support of her solo album. Her tour kicks off on May 4 at Club Soda in Montreal and will round off on May 17 at The Plaza Club in Vancouver. Sporty is going places people and she’s taking her amazing music with her! Canada better love her or they’ll have me to answer to! Go Sporty!
Mariah Carey’s new album ‘E=MC2’ got leaked onto the internet this past weekend. I’m not going to say where and how to download it but if you know you’re way around the cyber world, then you’ll figure it out. The leak kind of dampens the plans as Mariah’s album is supposed to come out on April 15th. Now that her music can be downloaded for free on the internet, I wonder if her fans will still buy her music. Considering that previews of Mariah’s music aren’t all good, I’m guessing her sales numbers would drop. That definitely sucks for her.
Madonna is on the cover of the May 2008 Green issue of Vanity Fair. Along with the cover feature is an interview. She talks about adopting her son David from Malawi, the birth of her daughter Lourdes putting her on the road that ended in Malawi and even her favorite children’s books. Basically, she talks about anything and everything under the sun except for her upcoming album ‘Hard Candy’ and that’s coming out by the end of April! Aside from releasing her single ‘4 Minutes (To Save the World)’ which features Justin Timberlake, she’s hardly done anything to promote her album. But considering she’s been on the covers of countless magazines within 3 months, I guess that’s enough hype for her.
I said, in not so many words, that Madonna was going to win over Mariah Carey in their unofficial diva battle. An industry expert explains why that is so. Mariah always gets to go first, with her song being on radio for more than a month while Madonna’s has only been on for a week. Mariah’s album also comes out before Madonna’s. Mariah’s song dropped on iTunes a day before Madonna’s. All that really means is that Mariah will have a strong first week and go down while Madonna’s will gain airplay and get stronger as Mariah drops. In short, Madonna still wins in the end.
Mariah Carey’s new album ‘E=MC2’ is set to come out on April 15. Madonna’s new album ‘Hard Candy’ will be dropping in on April 29. Mariah’s been on 1, maybe 2, magazine covers and was obviously photoshopped. Madonna’s been in 4 now and she’s fiercer than ever. While Madonna has her own Sunsilk ad, Mariah has to share the spotlight with the likes of Martha Stewart, Carlos Santana and Gabriel Aubry. The 38-year old curvaceous diva will debut in a spot for Macy’s next week. And like I’ve said before, she needs a new stylist. It’s no wonder why she’s losing to Madonna on this one.
REM has been resurrected as the band has a new album coming out. The band members grace the cover of the new issue of Spin magazine wherein front man Michael Stipe talks about his own coming out. He said “It was super complicated for me in the ’80s. I was totally open with the band and my family and my friends and certainly the people I was sleeping with. I thought it was pretty obvious.” He also adds that going public was easier on him when he realized that it might inspire people to change their views about homosexuality and even help out some troubled kid somewhere out there.
Madonna recently released her ‘Hard Candy’ album cover with the Queen of Pop wearing a title belt with ‘M’ on it in front of a lollipop backdrop. It’s very reminiscent of the single cover of her and Justin Timberlake for ‘4 Minutes (To Save the World)’. It looks nice but she can still do better. Madonna also recently unleashed a mystery website called tick-tock.tv to help promote her new studio effort. There are a lot of number fours. ‘Hard Candy’ is expected to drop internationally on April 28 but if the website is a clue, maybe we should expect something big to happen on April 4th.
It seems that American Idol reject David Hernandez has no problems in milking the publicity he gained from being a former male stripper. He may have gotten the boot early on in the show but the guy is still a hot commodity. Several Hollywood record execs are still dying to work with David. Apparently, the thinking is to strike while the iron is hot and release a quick single rather than wait and release a full album. Whether that is to happen or not is still up in the air. In any case, big publishing companies have already singled David H and David Archuleta early on and have already told songwriters to create songs that would suit the two.
Scarlett Johansson and Alanis Morissette – on the surface, there’s not much that the two have in common. The most obvious answer would be that they’re both singers – Scarlett is just about to go pro with her singing – and that both have dated Ryan Reynolds. In the case of Scarlett, she’s the current girlfriend. But here’s another thing they have in common: Alanis is set to drop her new album ‘Flavors of Entanglement’ on May 20th – the same day that Scarlett is dropping her debut album of Tom Waits covers. If you’re going to ask me, this looks like the makings of a very juicy battle. I bet Ryan would love to referee.
Forget having a white Christmas – we’re going to have a Whitney Christmas! According to the head of her label Clive Davis, the diva’s first album of original material since 2002 will be out by the holidays this year. He says that 4 songs have already been completed for the as yet untitled album and 4 more will be put to tape later this month. Songs for the album have been produced or written by the likes of will.i.am, Sean Garrett and Akon who says “The voice is there; I don’t think anyone could ever take that from her. As long as we apply that voice to hit records, she’ll be right back where she left off.”
Ashlee Simpson is still out promoting her upcoming album ‘Bittersweet World’. However, I doubt that being drunk on radio is the proper way to do it. She appeared on Hot 99.5’s Kane in the Morning radio show this past week and she was sloshed off her head. She was slurring her words and could barely talk about a tattoo of a flower that she got the night before the radio appearance and she forgot the lyrics to her new single. However, her rep came out with a statement saying that she wasn’t intoxicated during the interview and was just chalking it up to being tired. Whatever you say Mr. PR man.
Forget Elle and Vanity Fair! The winner of the cover wars is British magazine Dazed & Confused as they are the first publication to get the Queen of Pop Madonna on a new cover and the pictures are said to be just as racy as the ones she did for the other two. If the cover is anything to go by, the results are fantastic! For Dazed & Confused, Madonna teamed up with longtime collaborator Steven Klein. Three magazines, three shoots, three photographers, one theme. Madonna has already begun the media onslaught to promote her upcoming album ‘Hard Candy’ which will be out on April 29.
Max Liron Bratman is one lucky baby boy. Christina Aguilera flaunted her svelte post-pregnancy body at the signing of her new DVD ‘Back to Basics – Live and Down Under’ at Best Buy in West Hollywood on Tuesday. This was the singer’s first appearance since the birth of her son in mid-January.
In an interview earlier than day, Christina revealed to Ryan Seacrest that her pregnancy experience will play a role on her next album. She said “I’m very excited! I’m so inspired. This whole incredible thing that’s taken place in my life, between the pregnancy and the birth… I’ve got so much in me to write about. This next record, I want to have a lot of fun with it. I’ve been brainstorming for the last nine months of my pregnancy. This next album will have a whole new me. A different me.”
The Queen of Pop has landed in New York. Madonna was spotted in Manhattan on Monday. The singer has just wrapped a music video in London with Justin Timberlake and Timbaland. And yes, Madonna and Justin did a little bit of dancing on the video. That’s going to be hot!
Madonna is taking care of some business meetings in New York. She will be going off to Berlin soon for the premiere of her short film. But back to Madonna music news – the singer’s much anticipated album is expected to drop in April. Finally! It’s coming! I’m so excited, I can’t wait!
Mika has revealed he wants to collaborate with Amy Winehouse on a Jewish album.
Beirut-born Mika’s mother is Lebanese, and having learned that Amy was planning an album of Christmas and Hanukkah songs, he is keen to get involved to “make a statement”.
The flamboyant singer revealed: “I heard Amy will be recording an album of Jewish music once she gets well and I’d like to make a contribution to it. I really like her music. Think about this - me, a part-Lebanese artist working on a Jewish album. I think that’s a nice statement. I’d like to make a statement some day.”
Israel and Lebanon have had years of violent conflict. I’m not sure that Mika singing about Big Girls or Lollipops will make much of an impact on the situation; but I like his sentiment.
Once upon a time, in a not so far away place, no one thought of Michael Jackson as one mangled freak or a potential pedophile. Back in that day, he was also considered one of the best musicians of all time. But that’s way back in the day. Now, the so-called King of Pop is trying to relive his glory days as he has re-recorded ‘Thriller’, the best selling album of all time, for its 25th anniversary with some “contemporary” artists. Some of the songs are hit or miss but should they release a single off of it, Akon’s take on ‘Wannabe Startin’ Something’ is sure to be a killer hit.
