Monthly Archives: November 2009

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 [...] Continue reading →

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 [...] Continue reading →

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 [...] Continue reading →

One of the best surprises at this year’s mtvU Woodie Awards was the victory by truly bizarre rapper Tech N9ne, who scored a victory when he took home the Left Field Woodie. While the Woodies look to celebrate independent music of all kinds, the Left Field Woodie recognizes the artists working at the extreme margins. [...] Continue reading →

“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 [...] Continue reading →

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 [...] Continue reading →

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 [...] Continue reading →

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 Continue reading →

We’ve already provided your Cyber Monday playlist (which features holiday commerce-friendly tunes from the likes of 50 Cent, My Morning Jacket, Continue reading →

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 – [...] Continue reading →

Every day a multitude of stars wanders through the halls of MTV News to talk about their latest projects and goof around with our intrepid correspondents. But sometimes we catch stars elsewhere, and that’s why we put together Spotted!, a daily compendium of stars in the wild.
Lil Mama got a bit of a bad rap [...] Continue reading →

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 [...] Continue reading →

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.

Continue reading →

The stage is typically a safe place for performers, as it tends to be the only time they are in the public eye on their own terms with a familiar group of people executing everything the right way. However, lately it seems like the mid-song spotlight has been pretty treacherous. Last week, Adam Lambert slipped [...] Continue reading →

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 [...] Continue reading →

Photo: Countess/Getty Images for Bad Boy EntertainmentLupe 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 [...] Continue reading →

Saying you’re disappointed in Susan Boyle’s debut album is kind of like complaining to your grandma about how lame you think her local weatherman is. You could do it, but what’s the point?
Susan Boyle was not meant for you. Despite racking up hundreds of millions of views on YouTube since April, the infamously dowdy [...] Continue reading →

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 [...] Continue reading →

The holiday season is upon us, which means that it’s time to put the Bob Dylan Christmas album on your iPod, hit up your local mall to fight with other shoppers and gorge yourself on marzipan snowmen. Everybody celebrates this period differently, but for Katy Perry, the Christmas season is about dressing up in a [...] Continue reading →

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 [...] Continue reading →

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 [...] Continue reading →

“The Twilight Saga: New Moon” brought in another boatload of money over the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend, and the cast certainly intends on bringing people back to the cinemas again and again. For the third week in a row, this week’s talk shows are littered with stars from the second film in the “Twilight” series. [...] Continue reading →

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 [...] Continue reading →

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 [...] Continue reading →

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 [...] Continue reading →

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 [...] Continue reading →

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 [...] Continue reading →

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 [...] Continue reading →

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 [...] Continue reading →

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’ [...] Continue reading →