Miscellaneous Music News

[salwita]

Britney Spears pines for Justin

Britney Spears pines for Justin

Britney Spears is begging Justin Timberlake to visit her in rehab, it has been claimed.

The singer - who is allegedly being treated for depression and alcoholism at Malibu's Promises centre - has been asking her ex-lover to support her at her Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

Cell phones are banned in the rehab centre, but Britney has reportedly smuggled one in and has been making secret phone calls to Justin. advertisement
A source told America's Star magazine: "She was hiding in a closet and talking to a guy named Justin, probably Justin Timberlake. She was talking to him about coming to support her at a group Alcoholics Anonymous meeting on Wednesday, March 7 in Santa Monica.

"She kept saying 'Come on Justin, please, please, please come!' She was begging him!"

Justin reportedly offered to visit the troubled singer in rehab last month, but Britney's mother Lynne begged him to keep away, insisting it would be too much of a distraction.

Justin is also said to have written a letter of support to Britney.

[Google]

 

[salwita]

Christina the chameleon - Aguilera: Shifting look stays true to ‘real’ me : Local Entertainment : gosanangelo.com

Christina the chameleon - Aguilera: Shifting look stays true to ‘real’ me

Christina Aguilera changes her image about as often as Britney Spears switches rehab centers.

There was the blazingly blond Christina oozing vintage Hollywood glam, in last year’s video of “Ain’t No Other Man.” Suddenly, she has become the Andrews Sisters — with three hair colors — in the new “Candy Man” video. It wasn’t long ago she was a raven-haired, scantily clad sexpot in “Dirrty.” That was a huge stretch from the perky pixie who emerged with “Genie in a Bottle.” And let’s not even talk about “The New Mickey Mouse Club.”

So, who is the real Christina?

All of the above, she’ll tell you.

“If I didn’t change, I would be lying about the real Christina,” said Aguilera, 26. “I’m really showing people I do get bored easily. Not only is it important for me to challenge myself and evolve as an artist, but it’s important for me personally.

“I’m not the same person that I was on the last record, ‘Stripped,’ and I wasn’t the same person on ‘Stripped’ that I was when I first came out. And the different looks is just me having fun with that whole style, because when I really dove into this world, I really wanted to literally get involved.”

Her new world is “Back to Basics,” a collection inspired by her childhood musical influences. Before recording started, she put together a “producer packet” — two CDs of her favorite blues, jazz and R&B tunes by Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Otis Redding and others — and challenged songwriters and producers to create modern-day answers to those sounds.

Linda Perry, who has worked with Pink and Gwen Stefani, responded with an organic, old-school approach of live instruments while DJ Premier (Jay-Z, D’Angelo) preferred the more contemporary mode of drum machines and samples. The results added up to a strikingly mature double disc packed with 23 songs that show off Aguilera’s remarkable range, both vocally and musically.

“Ain’t No Other Man,” a horn-accented R&B rouser about her love for her husband of 16 months, earned Aguilera her fourth Grammy last month. The bluesy “Oh Mother” addresses the abuse her mom suffered. On “Candy Man,” she swings “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” style, and she gets gospelly on “Makes Me Wanna Pray” with Steve Winwood on organ.

Releasing a double disc at a time when CD sales are declining was a bold decision — one driven by creative, not commercial, impulses, she said. She didn’t have that kind of freedom when she made her bubblegum-pop debut in 1999.

“I had to play by the rules and go according to what my label kind of wanted me to do,” she said. RCA must have known what the public wanted, because more than 8 million copies of “Christina Aguilera” were sold, and it earned her a Grammy for best new artist. In 2002, she startled with “Stripped,” her sex-rated “coming of age” disc that featured two very different hits: the skanky disco stomp “Dirrty” and the pained piano ballad “Beautiful,” which snared her another Grammy.

During an hourlong conversation, the chameleonic Aguilera exuded ambition and focus. That, more than any of her changes, might define the real Christina. Whether talking about the staging of her tour or the sadness of her childhood, she sounded intense and driven. Only once did she seem emotional, when she relived her genie-in-a-bottle wish come true.

Aguilera got to meet her idol, 69-year-old R&B great Etta James, at a photo shoot for a July 2006. Aguilera found her conversations with the Rock Hall of Famer rewarding and reassuring.

“She called me an old soul and said that my voice actually reminded her of almost a Janis Joplin to a Dinah Washington. She made my life with her compliments.”

Moreover, James encouraged Aguilera to ignore detractors and “just keep doing what you’re doing and stand up for what you believe in.”

Even over the phone, one could sense Aguilera beaming with pride.

“Those words will stick with me forever,” she said. “It was just so inspiring to hear that, not only from another woman, but a woman that lived at a time when artists didn’t have any say-so over anything.”


To top it off, Aguilera got to sing an impromptu gospel song with her idol at the piano.

Since she was 6, Aguilera has been serious about a singing career. At 8, she tried “Star Search” (and lost with Etta James’ “A Sunday Kind of Love”). At 12, she joined Disney TV’s “The New Mickey Mouse Club” for one season. At 19, she exploded into teen stardom with her first album. But, unlike her former Mousketeer buddy Britney Spears, who released four albums in five years and then flamed out, she said she didn’t want to exploit the youth market.

“I never wanted to rush,” said the singer, whose three pop albums have sold 25 million albums worldwide (she also has released a Christmas CD and a Spanish-language disc). “Growing up, you see the Debbie Gibsons burn out and you see people just come and go so often. I did want to make a conscious effort and choice early on to make sure it was about quality and not the quantity.”

Her tour is a balance of quality and quantity: Eight dancers, nine musicians, three backup singers, 10 knockout outfits for the star and various set pieces, including a circus, a pole dance and a military scene.

“I’m so into the visuals and making sure that the image that goes along with my music definitely tells the story and lets my audience’s imagination run wild,” she said. “This tour is the most fun I’ve ever had with a show of my own onstage — ever.”

While the show draws heavily from “Back to Basics,” the star promises oldies reimagined, including “What a Girl Wants” with “an old-school reggae twist.”

On her previous arena tour, Aguilera shared the bill with Justin Timberlake. This time, her opening acts are Pussycat Dolls and Danity Kane, girl groups that want to be as glammed up as she is.

“It’s nice to have an all-female, girl-empowered kind of show,” she said. “I’m happy that we all are able to do it together and be in support of other women. I think so much out there tries to pit people against people, especially females, and instigate catfights. Trust me, I’m not a stranger to being the victim of that in the press. At this point, why any drama at all? Let’s team together and really give them something to talk about.”

[BoBoFan]

Singer Luther Ingram dies | The Courier-Mail

Singer Luther Ingram dies

Cheryl Wittenauer
March 20, 2007 11:00pm

LUTHER Ingram, the US R&B soul singer and songwriter best known for his hit If Loving You Is Wrong I Don't Want to Be Right has died. He was 69.

Ingram died yesterday at a Belleville, Illinois, hospital after suffering for years from diabetes, kidney disease and partial blindness, his wife, Jacqui Ingram, said today.
He had lived in nearby O'Fallon, Illinois, outside St Louis, for 10 years.

Born November 30, 1937, in Jackson, Tennessee, Ingram wrote and sang music his whole life, starting as a boy in a sibling group, the Midwest Crusaders, after his family moved in 1947 to Alton, Illinois.

He roomed with Jimi Hendrix when each was recording in New York, performed with Ike Turner at clubs in East St Louis, and was the opening act for Isaac Hayes.

He recorded through the 1980s and performed in concert until the mid-1990s when his health began declining.

"His instrument was his voice; his heart and head were his inspiration," said friend Bernie Hayes, a St Louis journalist, disc jockey and author of The Death of Black Radio.

"He was a big name until (singer) Luther Vandross came onto the scene," when younger audiences started to confuse them, he said.

Ingram recorded with Decca Records in New York and in 1965 wrote and sang I Spy for the FBI with his brothers in their group, Luther Ingram and the G-Men, for Smash Records, part of the Mercury label.

He eventually had a five-year association with Memphis-based Stax Records during the height of its commercial success.

In 1971, Ingram and songwriter-performer Sir Mack Rice (Mustang Sally) co-wrote Respect Yourself for the Staple Singers, the biggest hit Stax ever had.

The song evolved from Ingram's concern that young black men needed to respect themselves more.

Rice said he thought it would be a great idea for a song, said Tim Sampson, spokesman at Soulsville USA, the nonprofit group that built the Stax Museum of American Soul Music in Memphis.

Ingram recorded If Loving You Is Wrong (I Don't Want to Be Right), in 1972 on Koko Records, which Stax distributed. The song placed No. 1 on Billboard magazine's R&B chart in 1972.

He stayed with the Stax family until Stax was forced into bankruptcy in 1975.

"Luther was constantly in the studio, working with writers and arrangers," said Deanie Parker, who spent her career at Stax and Soulsville.

"He was a soft-spoken, quiet, person that I think relished peace. He was a very intense singer; he took it very seriously. When he was rehearsing, he'd go over it and over it and seek perfection."

His other popular songs include Ain't That Loving You (For More Reasons Than One), I'll Be Your Shelter and You Never Miss Your Water.

Ingram was one of the performers in Wattstax, a 1972 documentary based on a concert by Stax artists to raise funds for rebuilding the Watts area of Los Angeles after the 1965 race riot.

A "musical visitation" will be held from 4pm to 6pm on Sunday at St Augustine Catholic Church in East St Louis. He will be buried Monday at Mount Carmel Catholic Cemetery in Belleville.

He is survived by his wife of 46 years, Jacqui, as well as by sons Eric Luther and Kenneth Knight and two grandsons.

AP

[ArchieComic Fan]

Elton John to release entire catalog online - Music - MSNBC.com

Songs available exclusively on iTunes on March 26, other sites on April 30

March 21, 2007 LONDON

More than 30 albums from Elton John will be made available for digital download later this month, the singer said on Wednesday, marking the first time his whole catalog of more than 400 tracks will go online.

The 59-year-old, who has sold more than 200 million hard copies of records in a career spanning more than 40 years, has already released some of his more recent work online in the United States, but this will mark the first time his entire catalog is available.

John said he had wanted all his music to be online for some while but time was needed to prepare the entire catalog.

“I knew that the entire catalog — not just the hits — needed care and attention to be released in this way,” he said in a statement. “Now that it’s happening, I’m pleased for the fans’ sake.”

The catalog will be available exclusively from Apple Inc.’s iTunes service from March 26 until April 30 before being made available on other legal download services.

It will include his debut 1969 album “Empty Sky” and ”Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” and tracks such as “Tiny Dancer,” ”Your Song” and “Candle in the Wind.”

The move will coincide with the singer and songwriter’s 60th birthday and the global release in physical and digital formats of a new, 18-track compilation of his work, “Rocket Man — The Definitive Hits” from Universal Music Group’s Mercury Records.

John will also release some of his biggest hits as mobile phone realtones and a selection of video clips through digital music services including the duet “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” with Kiki Dee.

In January, new chart rules came into force in Britain which made any song eligible for chart entry regardless of its age or whether a physical copy was also available in shops.

That means Elton John could enjoy hits with his old songs if he sells enough downloads.

“The world has certainly changed since Philips Records issued my first single on seven-inch vinyl -- 39 years ago this month,” he said.

John’s back catalog is owned by Universal Music Group, a unit of France’s Vivendi.

[rt1ky]

Giant Magazine unveiled the Top Five Ugliest Musicians in all music genres this week.

The controversial article, laced with hilarity, names Bobby Brown (”The Ugly Bad Boy”), Janis Joplin (”The Ugly Legend”), Craig Mack (”The Ugly Rapper”), Fergie (”The Ugly Butterface”) and Steven Tyler (”The Ugly Rock N’ Roll Frontman”).

Honorable mentions went out to Ne-Yo, Mike Tyson and Lloyd. Lil’ Wayne, B.G., Juvenile and Birdman tie for fifth place. Chamillionaire, Papoose, Consequence and Rich Boy rounded out the Top Five.

Pretty good list, but a few people were omitted. Scott Storch looks like one of the Rugrats and his ex Lil Kim is starting to look like an old White woman. Who else should find their behind planted firmly on the list of Top Ugliest Celebs?

Link

Giant Magazine

I've never understood why guys go crazy over Fergie. She looked pretty from Kids Incorporated, but not so much anymore. I don't know if it was surgery or a make-up person who should be fired.

[Amy Lee]

I resent Fergie being on that list.

Anyway, i meant to post this last week. From Post Secret again.

[Unklescott]

With mate in jail cell, Wynonna seeks split - Nashville, Tennessee - Wednesday, 03/28/07 - Tennessean.com

By BEVERLY KEEL

Country singer Wynonna Judd filed for divorce Tuesday from her estranged husband, Dan Robert Roach, who is in a Texas jail and faces three counts of aggravated sexual battery against a minor under age 13 in Davidson County.

"I am obviously devastated," Judd, 42, said in a statement released Tuesday. "Our family will pull together, begin the healing process and hopefully — by the grace of God — become stronger. We will move forward with our faith, family and our friends to find resolution to this difficult situation."


On Tuesday, officials at the Taylor County Jail in Abilene said Roach had no comment.

A Nashville grand jury indicted Roach, 49, on the three sexual battery charges against a minor late last week, said Don Aaron, Metro Police Department spokesman.

"The indictment is the result of an investigation by the Metro Police Department's sex crimes unit that began in late February of this year," said Aaron, adding that he could not discuss details, given the status of the child sex abuse investigation.

Sexual battery is inappropriate fondling, touching but not penetration, Aaron said. The aggravated nature stems from the child being under age 13.

Upon the indictment's return, word was sent to the authorities in Abilene, Texas, where Roach was believed to be, Aaron said. Roach was arrested at Shades of Hope treatment center in Buffalo Gap, Texas, and remains in the Taylor County Jail. His bail was set at $750,000.

"He was arrested in Texas as a fugitive from justice in regard to that Nashville indictment," Aaron said. "He is incarcerated now in Abilene and will be returned to Nashville within the next several days."

Arrangements are being made for Metro officers to travel to Abilene and return Roach to Nashville, where he will be formally served with the indictment.

The fugitive charge, which merely holds him in custody in a state other than the one in which he is charged, will be dropped or dismissed upon his return to Tennessee, Aaron said.

Although Roach was charged with being a fugitive from justice, there is no indication that he was running from authorities.

"We have no way of knowing if he knew about the warrants," said Lt. Carol Taylor of the Taylor County Sheriff's Office in Abilene.

On Tuesday, attorney Rose Palermo filed a divorce complaint on Judd's behalf, citing irreconcilable differences in Williamson County Chancery Court. Palermo had no comment about the filing, which said Judd and Roach are "unable to live together successfully as husband and wife."

Couple married in 2003

In 2003, Judd married Roach, who had served as her security director since 1981. Roach, who has 27 years of security experience, is the vice president of Rock Solid Security Inc. in Nashville. It was the second marriage for both. The two have no children together, although Judd has two children from her first marriage to Arch Kelley. Roach has a son from a previous relationship.

According to a statement released by Judd, Roach had been seeking treatment for drug and alcohol addiction at the Shades of Hope treatment center, where Wynonna was once treated for food addiction, since Feb. 21. The divorce filing said the couple separated Feb. 18.

Here's a booking picture of her husband.

[Unklescott]

Chesney parties big on birthday - Nashville, Tennessee - Tuesday, 03/27/07 - Tennessean.com

Chesney parties big on birthday
Last-minute bash on small stage stirs up fans, stars

By PETER COOPER
and TIM GHIANNI
Staff Writers

The most famous bar band in the world got together Monday night on Demonbreun Street, played for more than three hours and then disbanded.

The occasion was Kenny Chesney's 39th birthday party, the venue was the funky little Tin Roof, and the scene was surreal. Chesney leaked word to his fan club members online, and by midday the Tin Roof was Nashville's top tourist destination.


When the show got going at 6:30 p.m., Chesney and his band ran through a relatively normal set list, with a few surprises thrown in for good measure. By night's end, the band had gone beyond Chesney's material and into Rolling Stones, U2 and John Mellencamp covers, all to the screeching delight of the shoulder-to-shoulder audience.

There was Chesney, onstage with Kix Brooks, singing "You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone."

There was Chesney, onstage with Gretchen Wilson, singing "Hurts So Good."

There was Chesney, onstage with Wilson and John Rich and Jewel and Montgomery Gentry, singing "Sweet Home Alabama." And with much of that crew, plus 3 Doors Down lead singer Brad Arnold, doing the Stones' "Honky Tonk Women."

"It's like a celebrity casserole up there," said Carla Clackstone of Franklin, who works down at the Tin Roof II in Williamson County.

For his part, Chesney sang a lot, smiled a lot, swigged from drinks a lot and smiled some more. He was careful to alert the crowd to the presence of many of the people who wrote his songs, bringing, for instance, Craig Wiseman up to sing and sort of dance on "Summertime."

Big star goes casual

As is the case with many of Chesney's "Keg in the Closet" tours of college bars, the singer chose to be decidedly informal for the Nashville show. Instead of a cowboy hat and form-fitting stage-wear, he wore a St. Louis Cardinals ball cap, a white T-shirt and baggy shorts.

The reigning Country Music Association and Academy of Country Music entertainer of the year, Chesney didn't rely on video screens or pitch-modulating electronics at the Tin Roof. Like the musicians who play the Tin Roof most nights, he just popped up on the little stage and sang.

"I love getting up in a place like this," said Wilson, who drew wild applause for her vocal contributions. "It makes you a better singer."

The parking lot behind the Tin Roof was as star-studded as the stage, as artists mingled with industry power players. Tim McGraw and Faith Hill were there, and Chesney turned around before "Big Star" and dedicated the song to Hill.

Sara Evans, Tracy Lawrence, Rivers Rutherford and numerous other bigwigs also populated the backstage area at what served as a springtime party, a Music Row hang and an acknowledgment of Chesney's stature as one of popular music's most successful entertainers.

Having sold 1.3 million tickets last year and playing to more people in North America than the Dave Matthews Band and The Rolling Stones, Chesney is set to continue the trend this year, with six NFL stadiums on the schedule. Two of those, Boston and Philadelphia, sold out in 15 minutes.

"This is going to be a big night," he told the crowd. "I've got so many friends coming to sing tonight."

And it was, and he did, and they did. Only in Nashville.

Here's a link to some pictures of the party.
Nashville RAGE Rage columnists-Heather Byrd

[ArchieComic Fan]

Wow, I'm shocked by the accusation against Wynonna's husband . I wonder if the child in question is a family member. I think Wynonna has been trying so hard to get her life together and she thought she found a good man this time. And she's known him for so long that you'd think there would have been signs that he could possibly be a child molestor. I guess we'll have to wait and see if we hear more about the charges.

[BoBoFan]

MTV News | Modest Mouse Beat Out Joss Stone To Score First Billboard #1
Mar 28 2007 12:24 PM EDT

Modest Mouse Beat Out Joss Stone To Score First Billboard #1
Elliott Yamin, Marques Houston make the top 10 on albums chart.
By Chris Harris

It was a tight race for the #1 spot on Billboard's next albums chart, one that pitted enigmatic indie rock outfit Modest Mouse against soulful British songstress Joss Stone. And no matter how it all played out, someone was going to score the first chart-topping debut of their career.

While Stone was a solid contender for the top spot, Modest Mouse take the crown on next week's chart by a margin of 10,000 scans with their latest offering, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, selling nearly 129,000 copies. But Modest Mouse's conquest was perhaps more significant because of the band's newest member.

It took 25 years, but at long last, Johnny Marr — the iconic guitarist behind the music of influential alternative rockers the Smiths, a band that released four studio albums and a pile of singles before calling it a day back in 1987 — has himself a #1 album. Marr entered the Mouse fold last year, and We Were Dead — the follow-up to the band's breakout Good News for People Who Love Bad News, which opened at #19 with 68,000 sold back in 2004 — marks his first collaboration with the group.

Stone's hunt for #1 isn't yet over, but the singer can take solace in the fact that she's scored the highest-charting debut of her career with Introducing Joss Stone, her third studio LP. The disc sold 118,000 units to finish at #2, according to the latest SoundScan tallies. Following closely behind at #3 is the self-titled debut from Elliott Yamin, the third-place finalist on the fifth season of "American Idol." Yamin's album sold more than 90,000 copies its first week in stores, edging out the inaugural eponymous effort from the rock act fronted by fellow "Idol" hopeful Chris Daughtry. Daughtry racked up another 76,000 sales for #4 and an overall total that tops 2 million units.

Another new release lays claim to the chart's #5 slot with R&B heartthrob Marques Houston's third LP, Veteran, netting nearly 69,000 scans during its first week in stores. Akon's Konvicted drops one spot to #6, with nearly 69,000 sold, while Lloyd's Street Love sinks five to #7, scanning more than 55,000 copies.

The previous chart champ, Musiq Soulchild's Luvanmusiq, drops to #8 with 54,000 sold. Down six to #9 is Rich Boy's self-titled effort, which racked up sales of 49,000 in its second week in stores. Amy Winehouse slips three to #10, selling close to 48,000 copies of her debut, Back to Black.

A total of 23 new releases enter Billboard's top 200, including the Insane Clown Posse's latest, Tempest, which claims the #20 spot with 33,000 sold. New Orleans rapper Baby Boy Da Prince debuts in the #26 position, having sold nearly 26,000 copies of his LP, Across the Water, while Devin the Dude's Waitin' to Inhale bows at #30 with close to 25,000 scans. Crunk specialists Crime Mob open at #31, scanning more than 22,000 copies of their latest, Hated on Mostly, while Stephen Marley's Mind Control debuts at #35 with nearly 20,000 discs sold.

LCD Soundsystem's Sound of Silver pops up at #46, with 15,000 copies sold, while Squirrel Nut Zippers' Andrew Bird follows at #76 with Armchair Apocrypha moving 11,000 units. El-P's I'll Sleep When You're Dead claims the #78 opening with 11,000 sales, with Haste the Day's Pressure the Hinges finishing at #89 with nearly 10,000 scans. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists' Living With the Living debuts at #109 with sales just shy of 8,000 copies, while J Dilla's posthumous Ruff Draft follows at #112 with 7,700 scans.

Coming in at #156 with 5,500 copies sold is Maylene and the Sons of Disaster's latest, II, while Everything But the Girl's Tracey Thorn takes the #172 spot with her Out of the Woods generating 4,800 scans. Rapper Haystak's new one, Crackavelli, follows at #186, with 4,400 sales, while Low's Drums and Guns makes the cut at #196 with 4,000 copies sold.