Day in Pop Report for 06/20/2011
The West Goshen Township Police Department says officers found Dunn's 2007 Porsche 911 GT3 "off the road and in the woods." Both Dunn and his passenger "died as a result of injuries sustained in the accident." Cops will release more information on the passenger "pending positive identification." Cops say "speed may have been a contributing factor to the accident." An investigation into the crash is ongoing. As TMZ previously reported, Dunn tweeted a photo of himself drinking with friends hours before the accident. more on this story
A rep for Shaunie O'Neal tells TMZ ... the man making the sex tape claims, Robert Ross, set up a meeting with Shaunie back when she had split from Shaq ... and offered to sell her the tape. Ross claims the tape shows Shaq with other women while he was still with Shaunie. Ross claims Shaq would bring women to Ross' home and a security camera captured the action. Shaunie says she never saw any footage -- and can't confirm if it actually exists -- but says she turned Ross down flat because she "wanted nothing to do with it." As TMZ first reported, Ross claims he was later kidnapped and attacked by 7 gang members -- including the leader who was friends with Shaq -- who were after the tape. The 7 men are currently on trial for kidnapping and various other charges. more on this story
The 30-minute Channel Island Helicopter flights are set to take off June 24th and 25th -- exactly two years since Jackson died after a Propofol-induced cardiac arrest. During the flight, passengers are encouraged to honor the late entertainer by chucking his favorite flower -- a red rose -- out of the helicopter mid-flight ... over nearby Zaca Peak. A rep for the helicopter company tell us -- fans are super excited for the aerial tour ... saying they feel it will bring them "closer to heaven" ... and closer to Michael. more on this story
Dreams Come True features Taylor, who serves as bassist, vocalist and producer of Grizzly Bear, collaborating with George Lewis Jr. of Twin Shadow. Twin Shadow's critically acclaimed record Forget was recently released by Terrible Records and produced by Taylor. Taylor plans to tour in support of the album with a full band, dates to be announced shortly. Soon after finishing work on Forget Taylor and Lewis turned their attention to Dreams Come True. The pair wrote and recorded most of the material on Dreams Come True in a week and a half in a bedroom connected to what used to be Allaire Studios, where Grizzly Bear also recorded their lauded 2009 release Veckatimest. more on this story
The CD version of "Aerials" (which was originally released in March via digital download) will include the same songs available on the digital version, plus the added bonus of the radio edit of "Love Left Bleeding." The album was produced by Tom Gilroy.
Recorded at the Go Bananas Comedy Club in Cincinnati, OH in March, Johnagin's second album shows him growing by leaps and bounds. Johnagin quips about everything from drugs and drinking to babies and kissing on his new digital release. Johnagin finished second on NBC's Last Comic Standing and is keeping up his vigorous tour schedule. His TV credits include four appearances on "The Late Show" with David Letterman, a half-hour special on Comedy Central, Live at Gotham and John Oliver's New York Stand-up Show. Johnagin has also appeared on CMT's Comedy Stage and TBS's Very Funny Stand Up Show, as well as been a guest numerous times on the nationally syndicated radio programs The Bob and Tom Show and The Ron and Fez Show. more on this story
Their first tour in over a decade, the 120-minute set featured all of Sade's best known songs, including their recent Grammy-winning hit, "Soldier of Love."
(Billboard) Amy Winehouse canceled part of her European tour on Sunday, a day after the British singer was heavily booed for being late and displaying erratic behavior on stage during a concert in Serbia. more (Pop Dust) Lance Bass wants to start a reality TV show about boy bands. The details: It's definitely airing on VH1, says VH1. It'll assemble "the most talented guys [Bass] scouted" into bands along with actual boy band members, says Bass to Vulture. Who? Lance says A.J. Maclean from the Backstreet Boys, Joey Fatone from 'N Sync, Joe McIntyre from New Kids On The Block and... a surprising last pick here (Billboard) A photo of Tom Cruise playing the character Stacee Jaxx in the upcoming film adaptation of the Broadway hit "Rock of Ages" has been released, and it's a doozy. Check it out here Speaking of Boy bands, BBC had this bit of news from the UK: Take That top the album chart once more with their reunion hit Progress, the biggest-selling album of last year more (Billboard) Kara DioGuardi is about to make her Broadway stage debut as a merry murderess. The songwriter and former "American Idol" judge is the latest celebrity to step into the role of Roxie Hart in the Tony Award-winning revival of "Chicago." more (FMQB) Apparently 50 Cent is having a disagreement with his record label, Interscope, over the release of his new album, Black Magic. 50 wrote on Twitter: "I tried to be cool with my record company. I went to the meeting talk to everyone and sh*t feels like there moving in slow motion. I'm sorry to announce I will not be releasing a new album this year if we don't get on the same page." But he later pulled a fast one... more (Billboard) This week, the Roots will be involved with a series of special New York City shows: On June 20th and 21st, ?uestlove will present a super group comprised of himself, Booker T. Jones, Gary Bartz, Christian McBride and Eric Kranzo. more (Hollywood Reporter) Pop stars Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga were the big winners at Canada's MuchMusic Video Awards in Toronto Sunday. more
Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Loc (real name Anthony Smith) was arrested yesterday around 2:45 PM at an apartment complex in Burbank, CA. We're told he was taken in without incident and booked into jail a few hours later. He is currently being held on $50,000 -- and, as of this posting, has yet to be released. Loc achieved fame in the late 1980s with such legendary songs as "Funky Cold Medina" and "Wild Thing." more on this story
Following the premiere the video will air hourly on MTV, during video hours, and on VH-1's Best Morning Buzz Live. The video was directed by Chris Marrs Piliero and shot in Los Angeles. The "I Wanna Go" video comes on the heels of her Femme Fatale tour in Sacramento. more on this story
Ward's rep tells TMZ ... Micky was walking his dog Wednesday when a stray got approached and became aggressive. Micky says he tried to get in between the two animals ... when the stray turned him into a human chew toy. Micky suffered bites on his arm ... and a MAJOR wound to right index finger -- which was "almost taken off" in the attack. Ward went to the hospital for treatment and is expected remain there until Sunday. As for the dogs, Ward says he eventually shooed the stray away ... and HIS dog emerged from the incident unscathed. more on this story
The song is the opening salvo from his MCA Records album, Guitar Slinger, due out this fall. Gill co-wrote "Threaten Me With Heaven" with his wife, singer/songwriter Amy Grant, Dillon O'Brian and Will Owsley. "Since the song was recorded, my friend Will Owsley took his own life, so the song has a profound impact on me now," Gill laments. "In my lifetime, 'Go Rest High On That Mountain' has been the song that helped a lot of people through their grief. I think this one will in turn hopefully do the same thing. It's a powerful, powerful song. I feel like it's the crown jewel of the new record."
According to Walters, Michael's car was slowly approaching a stoplight near the Director's Guild of America when the bus was attempted to pass him ... and accidentally sideswiped Lohan's car. Walters got out of his car and checked on Lohan -- who said, "Of course you're here when I get hit by a bus ... we exchanged information and everything is fine." Walters says Lohan's car only appeared to have minor scratches and scrapes and Lohan was not injured. more on this story
Regarding Gaga, Morrissey said, "I've met her and she's terribly nice. I find that it isn't wise to attempt to judge people on their public persona, and even on the music they make. Because I've met so many people whose music I cannot stand, and they're very nice. At the same time, I've met people whose music I've loved, and they're not the person you've invested all this emotion in. And that's your fault � I mean my fault. Lady Gaga is terribly nice. And her name is very funny, I think. I don't think her music was ever designed to appeal to people like me. It's not my type of music." When asked about Lady Gaga's infamous meat dress, which was just handed off to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the staunch vegetarian admitted that he didn't completely follow her meaning. "Well, the meat dress was first done by [artist] Linder Sterling in Manchester in 1982, and she did it as a protest at men seeing female flesh as meat. I don't know whether that came across with Lady Gaga. I think people didn't question it too deeply � they simply saw it as 'today's loony idea.' But I like to assume that Gaga had the same notion. If it's a social and political statement, it's acceptable. If it isn't a social and political statement, I don't really see the point." more on this story
How do you know a song or artist is going to be good to parody? It's all gut feeling, really. Sometimes it's obvious, like when you're talking about a Michael Jackson or Madonna or Lady Gaga. If you're dealing with someone who's really at the forefront of the zeitgeist, someone who's really part of a big culture shift and is omnipresent on the airwaves, you know you're dealing with somebody who's a good target for a parody. There are no real set parameters when I do a parody, but I look for things that are really distinctive, and hopefully they will be really popular, as well. Do people suggest songs to you all the time? Yeah. That's sort of the bane of my existence. [Laughs] Every time I go outside, somebody has some idea for a parody they've been holding onto since the third grade, and they feel compelled to share it with me. I point out that it's my job to think of these things, and chances are, if they've thought about an idea for a parody, I've already thought of it. Alpocalypse is your 13th studio album. What keeps you going? It's what I enjoy doing. I've slowed down a bit. Back in the '80s, I was putting out an album almost every single year. Now, I have other stuff going on in my life. I'm touring more. I have a family life to consider, obviously. And I'm feeling a lot of internal pressure, meaning whenever I put out an album now, I want it to be more of an event. I really, honestly feel every album I've put out is the best album I've ever made. I always want to be topping the last one. So that's a lot of pressure. But that also means I can't be cranking out albums nonstop. I have to wait until I feel I have a really great collection of songs. Read the full interview
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