Music News & Videos

Really, you should be listening to music every day, but thanks to Twitter, Monday has become the best day of the week to discover new songs, show some love to the tune currently dominating your iPod playlist and quietly judge the listening habits of your closest friends. Yes, it's #MusicMonday, one of Twitter's most enduring trending topic. Hence "MTV News' #MusicMonday," a weekly look at the songs we're obsessing about here in the Newsroom. Here's what's on our playlists right now.

Jim Cantiello, MTV News Correspondent: "She Wolf, Shakira's jaw-droppingly wild and deliciously unpredictable new CD, is one of my favorite pop albums of the year (if not the decade — yes, I said decade). The standout Shakira song for me is "Mon Amour," a playfully nasty kiss-off. In the song, the She Wolf hopes her ex and his new lover have a horrible relationship-ruining vacation in Paris. The brilliantly-specific lyrics elevate the song to dizzying heights of lover-scorned insanity. "Hope the French fleas eat you both alive/ And your room smells and the toilet doesn't flush." Love it. Even better? The track's new wave sound mashes influences as varied as the Cure, the Beach Boys and Cyndi Lauper. As far as "Pissed Off Ex-Girlfriend" anthems go, "Mon Amour" belongs right up there with Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone" and Alanis' "You Oughta Know." Can I get an amen? (Or at least an "Awooooo?")"

Kyle Anderson, Newsroom Blog Editor: "Lately, my brain is melted daily by the self-titled debut album from Them Crooked Vultures, the supergroup that brings together Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme, Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl and Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones. The most brain-meltingest song on the album is a track called 'Mind Eraser, No Chaser.' Like the best Queens of the Stone Age tunes, it's probably about taking copious amounts of drugs (or at least contemplating taking copious amounts of drugs), and it's got an incredibly heavy riff. It's also one of the few spots on the album that features Grohl's vocals. The back half of the record gets a little too psychedelic, but I haven't found a better first six songs on a rock record this year."

Jocelyn Vena, MTV News Pop Writer: "Sure the song leaked a few weeks back, but that doesn't mean John Mayer and Taylor Swift's 'Half of My Heart' is any less catchy. Harkening back to Mayer's Room for Squares days, the song combines his keen knack for writing perfect pop love songs with Swift's sweet vocals. They make 'Half of my Heart' a perfect pop duet in a world where there are too few. When these two halves combine, they make a lovely whole."

Joel Hanek, MTV News Production Assistant: "My Music Monday is Blakroc's 'Ain't Nothing Like You (Hoochie Coo).' They're comprised of the Black Keys and a bunch of different rappers. This one has Mos Def, and it's excellent. Ohio represent!"

After rocking Japan and making plans to share the stage in London, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame guitarists and former Yardbirds Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton plot out their first three North American concert dates together. Plus, Norah Jones waits until the spring to hit the road in support of The Fall and Willie Nelson extends his current trek into 2010. Check out all the dates for all three jaunts below.

Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck
February 18 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
February 21 – Toronto, ON @ Air Canada Center
February 22 – Montreal, QC @ Bell Center

Norah Jones
Mar. 5 – Tulsa, OK @ Brady Theater
Mar. 6 – Kansas City, MO @ The Midland
Mar. 7 – Omaha, NE @ Orpheum
Mar. 9 – Des Moines, IA @ Civic Center
Mar. 11 – Akron, OH @ E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall
Mar. 12 – Louisville, KY @ Whitney Hall
Mar. 13 – Indianapolis, IN @ Murat Theatre
Mar. 15 – Madison, WI @ Overture Hall
Mar. 17 – St. Paul, MN @ The O’Shaughnessy
Mar. 19 – Milwaukee, WI @ Riverside Theatre
Mar. 20 – Chicago, IL @ Chicago Theatre
Mar. 25 – Boston, MA @ Wang Theatre
Mar. 26 – Mashantucket, CT @ MGM Foxwoods
Mar. 27 – New York, NY @ WaMu Theater
Mar. 30 – Baltimore, MD @ Lyric Opera House
Apr. 1 – Charlottesville, VA @ The Paramount Theater
Apr. 2 – Washington, DC @ Warner Theatre
Apr. 3 – Philadelphia, PA @ Tower Theatre
Apr. 18 – Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre
Apr. 19 – Portland, OR @ Arlene Schnitzer Hall
Apr. 21 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
Apr. 23 – Los Angeles, CA @ Orpheum Theater
Apr. 24 – San Diego, CA @ Spreckels Theatre
Apr. 25 – Phoenix, AZ @ Dodge Theater
Apr. 28 – Albuquerque, NM @ Kiva Auditorium
Apr. 29 – El Paso, TX @ Plaza Theatre
May 1 – Austin, TX @ Stubb’s Bar-B-Q
May 4 – Dallas, TX @ Majestic Theatre
May 5 – Houston, TX @ Verizon Wireless Theater
May 6 – Mobile, AL @ Saenger Theatre
May 8 – Memphis, TN @ Orpheum Theatre
May 9 – Birmingham, AL @ Alabama Theatre
May 11 – Asheville, NC @ Thomas Wolfe Auditorium
May 12 – Charlotte, NC @ Ovens Auditorium
May 14 – Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium
May 15 – Atlanta, GA @ Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre

Willie Nelson
Dec. 2, 3 – Sahuarita, AZ @ Desert Diamond Casino
Dec. 4 – Indio, CA @ Fantasy Springs Casino
Dec. 5 – Las Vegas, NV @ Planet Hollywood Resort
Dec. 6 – San Jose, CA @ San Jose Civic Auditorium
Dec. 7 – Bakersfield, CA @ Fox Theater
Dec. 8 – Los Angeles, CA @ Club Nokia
Dec. 9 – Thousand Oaks, CA @ Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza
Dec. 10 – Highland, CA @ San Manuel Indian Casino
Dec. 12 – Rio Puerco, NM @ Route 66 Casino
Dec. 13 – Mescalero, NM @ Inn of Mountain Gods Casino
Dec. 15 – Austin, TX @ Austin Music Hall
Dec. 16 – Carl’s Corner, TX @ Willies Place Theater
Jan. 12 – Baton Rouge, LA @ Varsity Theatre
Jan. 15 – Bossier City, LA @ Horseshoe Casino Riverdome
Jan. 16 – Biloxi, MS @ IP Casino Resort & Spa
Jan. 17 – Montgomery, AL @ Montgomery Performing Arts Center
Jan. 19 – Huntsville, AL @ Von Braun Center
Jan. 21 – Dothan, AL @ Dothan Civic Center
Jan. 22 – Myrtle Beach, SC @ House of Blues
Jan. 23 – Augusta, GA @ Bell Auditorium
Jan. 29 – Rome, GA @ Rome Forum
Jan. 30 – Asheville, NC @ Thomas Wolfe Auditorium

For three albums, the Cribs — twin brothers Gary and Ryan Jarman and their younger bro Ross — kept things familial on their way to becoming a buzz band in their native England. But for their fourth album Ignore the Ignorant, the U.K. indie trio welcomed a big non-Jarman name as a formal member, recruiting the Smiths — and more recently, Modest Mouse — guitarist Johnny Marr. In this exclusive Rolling Stone interview, Gary Jarman and Marr discuss the genesis of this new union (”We just got together to play, really informally, just to see how it would go. Just for fun, really,” Marr tells RS) plus Jarman talks about how the crappy music of the 1990s forced him to seek musical refuge in the music of the Smiths.

"For a second there, I was like, 'Wait a minute?' Right after 'Idol' [I didn't know what to do] because that's when we started planning the album. And I was just like 'I don't really know what direction I need to go in. I don't know if I should be doing straight-up rock music because I got a lot of my cred on 'Idol' doing '70s rock, or if I should be doing the electro-pop dance stuff that I love, that I listen to now. I couldn't decide: Do I do what I love to listen to or what I'm best at or what am I best at? It was a moment of kind of tossing it around and then I thought to myself, 'Why not throw it all together in a big melting pot and come up with my own thing, so that's what we did."

-"American Idol" runner-up Adam Lambert, talking to MTV News' Jim Cantiello about the genesis of his album For Your Entertainment, which just got released last week and should debut near the top of the Billboard chart this week. Lambert's performances on "American Idol" were so eclectic — he bounced from Broadway to glam rock to straight pop and back again — that the focus of his album was up for grabs from the beginning. But For Your Entertainment brings together everything that stood out about Lambert's personality (along with everything that is great about cutting-edge pop in 2009). Stay tuned to MTV News for more from our exclusive "Extended Play: Adam Lambert."

The Strokes have announced their first gig in over three years, grabbing the Saturday night headlining slot at the U.K.’s Isle of Wight Festival on June 11-13, 2010. New York City acts will have a big presence at the fest across the Atlantic as both Jay-Z and Blondie are also on the bill. Pink, Orbital and Squeeze will also perform at the fest. Jigga is no stranger to playing the British music festivals having already headlined Glastonbury in 2008, and the U.K. has already proven their love of the Strokes, with the NME naming the band’s debut Is This It the best album of the decade. Rolling Stone’s own decades poll will come out December 8th — and voting in our Readers Poll wraps today, so hurry and get those votes in!

Pending the announcement of any more dates, it’ll be the NYC quintet’s first gig since October 2006. Following their tour behind First Impressions of Earth, the bandmembers splintered into offshoots like Nickel Eye, Little Joy and Albert Hammond Jr. and Julian Casablancas’ namesake solo projects, but now there’s finally confirmed evidence that the Strokes’ long hibernation may be coming to an end. According to bassist Nikolai Fraiture’s Twitter, the band will reportedly reenter the studio in Los Angeles in January to continue work on their fourth album. The news comes after Casablancas admitted the band had a “disagreement” over the direction of the songs they had written.

Related Stories:

• Casablancas Says Strokes Are Divided Over Progress of Fourth LP
• Strokes Top NME’s Decade List: Vote in Rolling Stone’s Poll Now
• Julian Casablancas Gifts Fans “SNL” Christmas Song on MySpace

Even though the clip for "Video Phone (Extended Remix)" features two of the most recognizable women in pop music in Beyoncé and Lady Gaga, perhaps the most notable and striking image in the video has little to do with either of those stars. The opening scene of the clip perfectly apes the credit sequence of Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs," which, like "Video Phone," features a line of people in black suits walking in slow motion.

Tarantino is a popular character in the hip-hop world (he has most notably worked with Wu-Tang Clan mastermind the RZA) and has been given nods in music videos since he first became a major player in the film world in the early '90s. Though he was not aware of the latest homage when MTV News' Eric Ditzian caught up with him last week, he was still flattered. "There's been a lot of videos that have used my imagery and stuff," Tarantino said. "I love it. I think it's great." He noted that he was especially amazed that Jay-Z named a song "Reservoir Dogs" (from 1998's Vol. 2 ... Hard Knock Life) and called out the video for Missy Elliott's "I'm Really Hot." "Missy Elliott did a whole take-off on 'Kill Bill,'" he explained. "She even rented the P---y Wagon for her video!"

Tarantino's popularity in the hip-hop community is not difficult to parse: Both QT and rappers love gangsters, slick-talking hustlers and Blaxploitation flicks, so they've got a common language between them. Tarantino concurs. "My stuff has always done well in that community," he explains. "I'm thankful for that. It's cool, it's larger than life and you can have fun with it."

Clay Aiken, the popular Season 2 runner-up, has done everything from releasing albums to touring to performing on Broadway to acting on TV. The 31-year-old Raleigh natives more recent debut is becoming a father to son Parker.

After a successful run on American Idols second season, Clay was signed to RCA Records. He released five albums on the label, the multi-platinum debut album Measure of a Man in 2003, Merry Christmas with Love in 2004, A Thousand Different Ways in 2006, the 2006 EP All Is Well, and On My Way Here in 2008.

On March 31, 2009, Clay released Playlist: The Very Best of Clay Aiken, a compilation of some of his greatest hits which included Solitaire and Bridge Over Troubled Water, songs that Clay sang as a contestant on American Idol.

Clay has launched eight tours and authored a New York Times best-selling book called Learning to Sing: Hearing the Music in Your Life. Hes also had a number of television appearances including the 2004 televised Christmas special A Clay Aiken Christmas which he also executive produced, Scrubs, Saturday Night Live, and 30 Rock. In January of 2008, Clay made his Broadway debut as Sir Robin in Monty Pythons Spamalot. We caught up exclusively with Clay in 2008 to learn more about his role in Spamalot. Read the interview.

Before becoming an American Idol superstar, Clay tutored a child with autism. Due to his passion to help children with autism, Clay co-founded the National Inclusion Project in 2003 ... read more

We've already provided your Cyber Monday playlist (which features holiday commerce-friendly tunes from the likes of 50 Cent, My Morning Jacket, those bizarre robot hamsters, Chicago-based doll company American Girl has gotten in on Cyber Monday action and has subsequently become one of the most sought-after sales across the Internet today. Though the company rarely puts things on sale, there are dozens of accessories available for cut rates (though the incredible surge in traffic has slowed the company's retail site to a crawl, so best of luck getting to the deals).

Still, even if you can't get your hands on some top-shelf doll clothes at discount prices, you still have an excuse to crank up Counting Crows' 2002 hit "American Girls." Since their instant classic debut August and Everything After hit the airwaves in 1993, Counting Crows have managed to swing with all manner of rock trends: Though they mostly borrowed their sound from the Byrds and Bob Dylan, they were a clear product of the grunge era (what with all the moping) and have found a home with fans of jam bands, mainstream rock, '90s alternative and pure pop. In 2002, they dropped their fourth album Hard Candy, which featured the lead single "American Girls," a big-hooked blast of pop that sounded like summertime but evoked the ache of the changing of seasons. It's a wholly underrated song that deserves a second listen.

Photo:Furlong/Getty

After a long weekend of Thanksgiving feasts (and leftovers), we’re ready to reveal the Readers’ Rock List: Food Songs. Our readers were most thankful for endless meadows of fruit as the Beatles’ legendary “Strawberry Fields Forever” beat out culinary classics by Led Zeppelin, Beck and the Presidents of the United States of America:

1. The Beatles – “Strawberry Fields Forever”
2. Warrant – “Cherry Pie”
3. U2 – “Crumbs From Your Table”
4. The White Stripes – “Ball and Biscuit”
5. Rufus Wainwright – “Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk”
6. Beck – “Milk and Honey”
7. Labelle – “Lady Marmalade”
8. The Beatles – “Savoy Truffle”
9. R.E.M. – “Orange Crush”
10. The Beach Boys – “Vegetables”
11. The Presidents of the United States of America – “Peaches”
12. Led Zeppelin – “Custard Pie”
13. Smashing Pumpkins – “Mayonnaise”
14. Kelis – “Milkshake”
15. Led Zeppelin – “The Lemon Song”

As evidenced by 1994’s Murder Was the Case, the only thing better than a new Snoop Dogg album is a new Snoop Dogg album and movie. For his upcoming LP Malice N Wonderland, the Doggfather has gone cinematic once again with a new short film, and Rolling Stone has your exclusive sneak preview of the trailer, which features cameos by Soulja Boy, Murs, Diplo and Breaking artist Mayer Hawthorne.

With a plot similar to Snoop’s own 2001 horror vehicle Bones, Wonderland finds the D-O-double-G starring as Malice, a sort of Batman-with-corn rows character who attempts to reassemble his old crew of troublemakers to help overthrow the dictator of Wonderland, played Hawthorne James. Judging by the trailer, there’s lots of blood, T&A, crime, guns and music, all the necessary ingredients for making a pitch-perfect mini-movie based on a rap album. (See also: 50 Cent’s Before I Self Destruct.) Adding clout and credibility to the cast is Best Actor Academy Award winner Jamie Foxx, who evidently plays the role of “Guy Who Announces Stuff to Crowd,” making good on all that post-Ray Oscar promise. Rapper/actor Xzibit also makes an appearance.

Malice N Wonderland the album is due out next Tuesday, December 8th, and the video for single “I Wanna Rock” debuted Thanksgiving Day on MTV. The Malice film will premiere in early 2010, so keep refreshing your Netflix queues.

Related Stories:

• Snoop On New Variety Show: “Ain’t No Party Like a Snoop Dogg Party”
• Snoop Dogg Partners With MTV for Talk Show, New Album, “Rock Band”
• Snoop Dogg Resurrects Rick James’ Style for Pimpin’ New Video, Bitch

Season 5 finalist Bucky Covington recently traveled to Vanderbilt Childrens Hospital and Ronald McDonald House to bring pre-holiday cheer to sick children. At Vanderbilt Childrens Hospital, Bucky performed Christmas carols and his country hits. Many of the children jumped in and played toy drums, tambourines, and maracas along to the music. After the show, Bucky visited with the children, their families, and hospital employees.

Seeing all of the childrens faces light up was an early Christmas gift to me, Bucky said. All of these children are going through trying times and have long days. Im incredibly thankful for the opportunity to give them a nice break in the day and bring a little holiday cheer.

After his trip to Vanderbilt Childrens Hospital, Bucky traveled to the Ronald McDonald House, a non-profit organization that provides essential resources and a home away from home for families of critically ill children receiving inpatient or outpatient medical care at Nashville area hospitals. Bucky assisted in preparing and serving up a special birthday lunch for one of the young children currently undergoing treatment at Vanderbilt. He also participated in a game of balloon toss and got the whole house to sing Happy Birthday.

Two weeks ago, Bucky released an all new EP entitled Live From Rockingham. Read more about the EP.

Photo: Devaney/WireImage

Adam Lambert has finally admitted he was a little rattled by the big reaction to his controversial performance at last Sunday night’s American Music Awards. In a series of tweets posted today on his official Twitter, the American Idol runner-up vowed to ditch some of his spectacle in favor of more attention on his songs. “Goin in a new direction now. Focus back on the music,” he wrote.

“Don’t worry friends: I’m still gonna be me. Always. W/o apologies. Just gonna experiment differently w how I present myself,” he added, concluding, “I’m learning” before thanking fans for their supportive notes over what was “a looong week.” He added his relatively stripped-down performance of “Whataya Want From Me” will air on Ellen DeGeneres’ show tomorrow.

Adam Lambert shocks, Taylor Swift soars: see the 2009 AMAs in photos.

Lambert’s week in the spotlight launched with a racy performance of “For Your Entertainment” at the AMAs, which featured the singer simulating oral sex with a male dancer and making out with his male keyboardist. Some of his performance was edited for the West Coast rebroadcast of the show, but backstage Lambert stood by his performance, telling Rolling Stone any cuts to his song would be “discrimination.” “My goal was not to piss people off, it was to promote freedom of expression and artistic freedom,” he said.

Infamous crotch-rock moments, from Lambert’s AMAs to “Dick in a Box.”

Of the 14 million who viewed the AMAs on ABC, only 1,500 phoned in complaints to the network, but ABC nixed Lambert’s scheduled appearance on Good Morning America, calling the singer unpredictable in a live setting. Lambert instead played two songs on CBS’ The Early Show, and submitted to an interview during which he stopped short of apologizing to anyone offended by his performance. Arguing the AMAs featured many instances of Rated R content, Lambert said, “I think it’s up to the parents to discern what their child is watching on television. Lady Gaga smashing whiskey bottles, Janet Jackson grabbing a male dancer’s crotch, Eminem talking about how Slim Shady has 17 rapes under his belt — there was a lot of very adult material on the AMAs this year and I know I wasn’t the only one.”

Related Stories:

• Adam Lambert Argues “I’m Not a Babysitter” on “The Early Show”
• “Full-Frontal Glambgasm”: Rob Sheffield on Adam Lambert’s AMAs
• Adam Lambert Breaks Down AMAs “Controversy” as Stars React to His Wild Night

Photo: Countess/Getty Images for Bad Boy Entertainment
Lupe Fiasco celebrated Thanksgiving by unleashing his new mixtape Enemy of the State: A Love Story as a free download. Enemy, the precursor to Fiasco’s next album Lasers, finds Lupe taking on a pair of Jay-Z tracks, a Lil Wayne cut and, most notably, Radiohead’s Kid A song “The National Anthem.” With its menacing bassline and moments of hovering Ondes Martenot, Fiasco goes into full The Cool mode to keep pace with the unorthodox sample. Grab a listen to the song, and the entire mixtape, over on Nah Right.

This isn’t the first time Lupe has metered his cadence to the music of Yorke: Fiasco, along with fellow CRS members Kanye West and Pharrell, used the Radiohead frontman’s “The Eraser” as the sample for the rap supergroup’s “Us Placers,” a song Rolling Stone placed on our Top 100 Songs of 2007 list.

Vote for the best music of 2009 in our Readers Poll right now!

Enemy of the State also features Lupe rapping over backbeats from Slaughterhouse, Timbaland and Clipse, who previously sampled Lupe’s “Dumb It Down” on their own Road to Til the Casket Drops mix tape.

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• Lupe Fiasco Celebrates “Lupepalooza”
• Lupe Fiasco Discusses Collaborations, Retirement and the Housing Market
• Video for Lupe/Kanye/Pharrell/Yorke Collabo Gets Unofficially Kidz-Bopped

Phish have become known for performing unexpected and diverse covers in their two decade-plus career, taking on everything from entire albums — like the Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street at this year’s Festival 8 — to songs by artists like Talking Heads, the Velvet Underground, Ween and countless more. This past weekend, Phish added another, more contemporary group to their arsenal, performing TV on the Radio’s Dear Science single “Golden Age” for the crowd at Albany, New York’s Times Union Center on November 27th.

Look back at two decades of Phish, in photos.

Up top is just a snippet of Phish’s rendition of “Golden Age,” which the band thoroughly jammed out, more than doubling the length of TVotR’s original. To listen to “Golden Age” in its entirety, head over to the Live Phish page for the MP3. This isn’t the first time the reunited Phish has given phans a look into what current bands occupy Trey Anastasio’s home stereo: As Rolling Stone previously reported, MGMT’s Oracular Spectacular was among the possible albums — and ultimately one of the finalists — to be played in its entirety at Festival 8.

Phish wrap up their autumn tour this week with three sold-out concerts at New York’s Madison Square Garden and a trek-ending gig in Charlottesville, Virginia. After that, the reunited band will close out 2009 with a four-night stand at Miami, Florida’s American Airlines Arena, culminating with a concert on New Year’s Eve.

Related Stories:

• Phish to Celebrate New Year’s Eve with Four Miami Concerts
• Phish Follow Halloween Show With First-Ever Acoustic Set At Fest 8
• Phish Cover the Rolling Stones’ “Exile on Main Street” at Festival 8

The Thanksgiving holiday weekend is not just about gluttony and football (though it is mostly about that). For many, it's the official opening of the Christmas shopping season. In fact, the day after Thanksgiving has become known as "Black Friday" because of the crowds, traffic and stress caused by the huge sales that retailers roll out at the beginning of the shopping season. In recent years, the Monday after Thanksgiving has been designated as "Cyber Monday," where online retailers introduce their best deals for the season and often offer deals on shipping (the logic being that everybody has gone back to work but is still thinking about Christmas shopping in front of their computers at the office).

While you're clicking around looking for the best sales from your favorite online stores (as well as online-only sales from traditional brick-and-mortar outlets), you're going to need a little bit of music to simulate the shopping experience. One of the benefits of doing your shopping online is that you don't have to put up with the terrible Christmas music pumped deep into your skull while you pick through sale tables. With that in mind, MTV Newsroom presents the official 2009 Cyber Monday video playlist, featuring commerce-friendly hits like 50 Cent's "Window Shopper," Birdman's "Money to Blow" and N.A.S.A.'s "Gifted." There are also cheeky nods to online shopping like the Smiths' "Shoplifters of the World Unite," Hard-Fi's "Cash Machine" and Mary J. Blige's "It's a Wrap." And just in case you really want to feel like you're elbowing other shoppers at Macy's, we've even included one requisite awful Christmas song (in this case, it's Kenny G's "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"). So break out your list, have your credit card information ready and get your Cyber Monday started with De La Soul's "Shopping Bags (She Got From You)."

The Michael Jackson concert rehearsal documentary This Is It is approaching the end of its theatrical run, but fans will only have to wait two months to bring the King of Pop to their home theater — the film’s DVD and Blu-ray will be released on January 26th, 2010. The bonuses on the This Is It DVD include an hour of additional footage not seen in theaters, two making-of documentaries and featurettes about the costuming, dancer auditions and memories of Jackson, Variety reports. And for those who wanted to give the gift of This Is It this holiday season, there’s also good news: Pre-orders for the DVD and Blu-ray will begin December 24th.

Read our opening night review of This Is It.

As Rolling Stone previously reported, This Is It’s run in multiplexes was extended after theater owners afraid that a quick DVD release would diminish ticket sales put pressure on Sony to delay the DVD. The film has grossed around $70 million domestically and over $200 million worldwide. Instead of tying in the DVD release to the big Christmas sales, Sony will instead hitch This Is It to the surge of sales that follows the Grammy Awards, which will be broadcast five days after the disc hits stores, on January 31st, Variety reports.

Look back at Michael Jackson’s most memorable moments.

In case you needed more of a reason to put a Blu-ray player on your gift list this holiday season, the This Is It Blu-ray will house another 30 minutes of footage not available on the standard DVD, plus the “Smooth Criminal” vignette that was filmed for Jackson’s planned London O2 concerts. Portions of the “Smooth Criminal” video, which featured old school gangster clips of Humphrey Bogart and other black-and-white criminals, were shown in This Is It.

See photos from Jackson’s This Is It rehearsals.

As Rolling Stone reported, MTV locked up the rights for the television broadcast of This Is It starting in 2011.

Related Stories:

• Jackson’s “This Is It” Doc Grosses $200 Million Worldwide
• Michael Jackson’s Final Dreams Come to Life as “This Is It” Film Premieres
• Jackson’s “This Is It” DVD Pushed to 2010, Doc Dominates Theaters

Photo: Kravitz/FilmMagic

Guns n’ Roses‘ Chinese Democracy world tour continues to take shape as Axl Rose’s long-dormant official Website was updated this weekend to reveal that Gn’R will embark of a trek of South America from March 10th to April 10th, 2010. As Rolling Stone previously reported, Gn’R will finally set out on tour to promote their year-old Chinese Democracy with a four-date tour of Southeast Asia that kicks off just 12 days from now, December 11th, in Taipei, Taiwan.

Look back at classic shots of Gn’R, onstage and off.

No official dates for the South American tour have been revealed yet, but the MyGNR and Here Today Gone to Hell forums have collected a bunch of Ticketmaster and promoter information that lays the groundwork for the potential tour. As it stands now, Guns n’ Roses are expected to perform four shows in four different cities in Brazil, two concerts at Buenos Aires, Argentina’s Estádio Monumental de Nunez and one gig apiece in Peru, Chile and Venezuela. When the Chinese Democracy world tour officially comes to South America, it’ll be Guns n’ Roses’ first concert on the continent since the Rock in Rio show in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on January 15th, 2001.

Guns n’ Roses early days: photos from Reckless Road.

Guns n’ Roses previously announced plans to also invade North America, however it’s in the form of a 13-date Canadian tour that launches January 13th, 2010 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. So far, no plans for a U.S. tour have been revealed, but a summer of Axl headlining music festivals seems like a real possibility now. Until then, check out the Canadian dates below:

Guns n’ Roses Canadian tour dates
Jan. 13 – Winnipeg, MB @ MTS Centre
Jan. 16 – Calgary, AB @ Pengrowth Saddledome
Jan. 17 – Edmonton, AB @ Rexall Place
Jan. 19 – Saskatoon, SK @ Credit Union Centre
Jan. 20 – Regina, SK @ Brandt Centre
Jan. 24 – Hamilton, ON @ Copps Coliseum
Jan. 25 – London, ON @ John Labatt Centre
Jan. 27 – Montreal, PQ @ Bell Centre
Jan. 28 – Toronto, ON @ Air Canada Centre
Jan. 31 – Ottawa, ON @ Scotiabank Place
Feb. 1 – Quebec City, PQ @ Colisee Pepsi
Feb. 3 – Moncton, NB @ Moncton Coliseum
Feb. 4 – Halifax, NS @ Metro Centre

Related Stories:

• The Making of Appetite for Destruction
• Axl Rose: The Lost Years

T.I.'s Urban Legend — which hit the streets on this day in 2004 — was the rapper's third full-length outing. But it might as well have been his debut, because while Tip showed promise on his first two albums (2001's I'm Serious and 2003's Trap Muzik), Urban Legend established him as a truly great MC and the kind of player who could really change the game and become a superstar.

He certainly lived up to said potential. Following the breakout success of Urban Legend (which sold over one million copies on the back of the singles "Bring Em Out" and "U Don't Know Me"), Tip went on an unprecedented creative roll, knocking out a series of memorable guest spots (including the Destiny's Child hit "Soldier," Justin Timberlake's "My Love" and remixes of Kanye West's "Drive Slow" and Fat Joe's "Make It Rain") and cranking out three instant classic albums in as many years (2006's King, 2007's T.I. vs. T.I.P. and 2008's Paper Trail, all of which hit the top spot on the Billboard album chart).

In fact, the only thing that has slowed Tip's momentum is the fact that he has been incarcerated for the better part of 2009. Still, he has managed to stay in the public eye, dropping the single "Hell of a Life" and continuing to enjoy the fruits of the singles from Paper Trail (including the Rihanna-assisted "Live Your Life"). Tip is scheduled to be released from prison in March of 2010, when he will no doubt have plenty to write about. Until then, we can continue to enjoy his past work — including his Swizz Beatz-produced breakout single "Bring Em Out."

Photo: Dowling/Getty

• ABC will feature a Chris Brown interview on 20/20 and Good Morning America timed to the release of his new album, Graffiti. The 20/20 segment will air on December 11th, the AP reports. The New York Post says GMA has changed its plan and will not let Brown perform live. The show came under fire after canceling an appearance by Adam Lambert after his “unpredictable” AMAs performance.

• Blur’s Damon Albarn tells The Guardian (via Twentyfourbit) the next Gorillaz record, Plastic Beach, features cameos by Snoop Dogg, Lou Reed, Barry Gibb, Bobby Womack, Mos Def and the Horrors.
• Blabbermouth reports Ronnie James Dio is suffering from stomach cancer. The singer’s wife confirmed the news on his official site: “We are starting treatment immediately at the Mayo Clinic. After he kills this dragon, Ronnie will be back on stage, where he belongs, doing what he loves best, performing for his fans.”
• Four Aces singer Al Alberts has died at 87 of complications from kidney failure, the BBC reports. Alberts, born Al Albertini, featured prominently on the group’s hits “Love is a Many Splendored Thing” and “Three Coins in the Fountain.”

Live Streaming by Ustream

Tonight’s Kiss concert is playing live on the Web thanks to Ustream. Tune in at 9 p.m. PT for the show, and check out our other Kiss features here:

• Sparks Fly and Blood Spews as Kiss Alive 35 Tour Hits Cleveland
• Red Hot Chili Peppers, LL Cool J, Kiss Lead 2010 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominees
• Kiss Cap Explosive “Letterman” Gig By Licking the Host
• The Kiss Merchandising Machine: Kollectibles from M&M’s to Mr. Potato Heads

Jamie Tworkowski was a music-loving surf kid with a winning smile when he stumbled into the salvation business — he tried to help an addicted, suicidal teen, blogged about the experience and whipped up a batch of T-shirts featuring a phrase he’d penned (”To Write Love on Her Arms”). An old pal, Switchfoot singer Jon Foreman, wore one of the tees at a concert and before he knew it, Tworkowski was the leader of a teen-angst movement on MySpace, where his organization TWLOHA, has the largest audience of any nonprofit.

Read our full story from the current issue, plus watch video from our photo shoot, where TWLOHA devotees flocked to be near Tworkowski:

• Surfer to Savior

Photo: Furniss/WireImage.com

We’re eating light lunches at the office today in preparation for tomorrow’s Thanksgiving feast, so this four-day weekend’s Rock List will be dedicated to Food Songs. Tell us your favorite songs with an edible title, and on Monday after the long weekend, we’ll reveal the readers’ list of Food Songs. Check below for an appetizer of some of our picks:

• The Rolling Stones – “Brown Sugar”
• Led Zeppelin – “Custard Pie”
• Kelis – “Milkshake”
• Prince – “Cream”
• The Beatles – “Strawberry Fields Forever”

Rolling Stone recently had a kind of stream-of-consciousness backstage chat with the Dead Weather where Jack White and Co. tackled topics ranging from time travel and geography to the art of picking band names and avoiding being sued (for instance, White insists, the Arctic Monkeys added the “Arctic” to sidestep the legal wrath of the Monkees). We also quizzed the band on who would win in a supergroup slugfest, the Dead Weather or Them Crooked Vultures. Watch White’s response in the video above.

Check out hot live shots of the Dead Weather.

White also spilled some details about the next Dead Weather album, which the band hopes to finish recording in time for their tour of Australia in March 2010. “We’ll probably be having a new album by that time, if we’re lucky. We have a lot of songs cooking right now, we’ve been playing a few of them live, and I’m sure by March the entire 20 or 25 songs will be onstage by then,” White tells Rolling Stone. “We can’t tell you that much about it except that it’s gonna be really expansive, and I use that word loosely in a scientific sense, meaning that I’m just using it to distract you.”

Check out supergroups from Cream to Them Crooked Vultures.

Related Stories:

• Jack White Says Expect a New Dead Weather Disc in Early 2010
• Jack White Turned Down Slash’s Request to Sing on Solo Album
• Jack White Can’t Stop Dancing in Dead Weather’s Second “I Cut Like a Buffalo” Video

To mark the release of The Live Anthology, a multi-CD boxed set covering 30 years of road work with his band the Heartbreakers, Tom Petty spoke to Rolling Stone for nearly six hours over two days — including his 59th birthday, October 20th — about his rock & roll life. Those conversations, at the Heartbreakers’ rehearsal space in a warehouse in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley and at Petty’s home in Malibu overlooking the Pacific Ocean, ran the length of rock itself, including the day in 1961 that the young Gainesville, Florida native met Elvis Presley (Petty forgot to bring a record for the King to sign); Petty’s trials and adventures as a long-haired garage-band kid in redneck territory; his rough late-Seventies tours with the Heartbreakers; the musically rich encounters, on stage and in the studio, with Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Carl Perkins and Elvis Costello, among many others; and a sneak preview of Petty’s next record with the Heartbreakers.

Looking like a Confederate general with his pointed sandy-blond beard, Petty reflected on his 40 years in music with a laconic wit, deep Southern drawl and constant amazement. “It has been a great journey,” he said at the very end of the second interview. Here, in these outtakes from the published story from the current issue, are a few more reasons why:

• Tom Petty Looks Back