.

Day in Pop Report for 01/31/2013


Ron Jeremy Remains Unconscious After Two Emergency Surgeries
Ron Jeremy remained unconscious Wednesday night following two emergency surgeries earlier in the day for an aneurysm near his heart, according to his manager.

Jeremy's manager Mike Esterman told the Daily News that the surgeries "went smoothly" and Jeremy is "resting with complete privacy and no visitors" but also that "He is in the ICU and has not been conscious since surgery."

The 59-year-old actor drove himself to Cedars-Sinai hospital early Wednesday morning after experiencing severe chest pain.

Doctors discovered the aneurysm after examining him, placed him in the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital and then performed the surgeries.

"His instincts were correct to seek help at that moment," told the Daily News. Read their report here.

More on Ron Jeremy

Lady Gaga Challenged To A $1 Million Sing Off or Boxing Match?
Los Angeles singer/songwriter Alisa Apps has renewed her $1 million challenge to Lady Gaga to face her in a televised singing challenge.

Apps went a little further that challenging Gaga to a battle of the vocal ability, hinting at a desire to enter the boxing ring with Gaga by saying, "I will also be happy to step in the ring and physically knock this ugly monster out."

According to App's announcement, the singing battle would take place at New York's Madison Square Garden or London's O2 Arena, with each singer performing a series of songs.

Who would judge the winner was not spelled out but Apps did issue this statement: "I am very proud to be the first independent artist in the history of this world to have challenged a major label recording artist (Lady Gaga) to a televised sing-off.

"Over the past few months, thousands of people have contacted me via my email and social media sites expressing their anger about Lady Gaga glorifying suicide, drug use and in addition stealing from, and copying other artists.

"In effect, a large part of young Americans are demanding me to be their voice. It is for this reason that I have reinstated my challenge to Lady Gaga.

"Millions of people want me to stop her. Frankly, they want to see me to knock her out cold on live television. It is a fight that I very much want. Not only will I be happy to sing and perform but on behalf of America and the American people I will also be happy to step in the ring and physically knock this ugly monster out.

"She's running scared right now. So, if you see someone who knows her say, 'You're running scared from Alisa Apps. If you ain't got anything to hide then take the challenge. 'Lady Gaga I'm calling you out. Stop ducking me and let's fight."

Apps also posted a video about the challenge that you can watch here.

More on Lady Gaga - Lady Gaga Music - - Lady Gaga CDs, vinyl and rarities

Justin Timberlake To Perform At The Grammy Awards
(popmusiclife) Justin Timberlake has been added to the list of performers for the upcoming Grammy Awards.

Timberlake has returned to the music scene with a new single, "Suit & Tie", on the charts; a new album, "The 20/20 Experience", is due March 19.

The Grammy appearance marks the first time in four years that Timberlake will play the awards show, set for Sunday, February 10 and broadcast on CBS live at 8:00 PM ET/PT.

Previously announced performers for the 55th Annual Grammy Awards include current nominees Dierks Bentley and Miranda Lambert, The Black Keys, FUN., the Lumineers, Mumford & Sons, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Jack White, as well as Elton John and current nominee Ed Sheeran performing live together for the first time. more on this story

More on Justin Timberlake - Justin Timberlake Music - - Justin Timberlake CDs, vinyl and rarities

Justin Bieber Reveals Selena Gomez Breakup Details In New Song
(Radio.com) Justin Bieber released his new record Believe Acoustic. The album includes eight tracks from his Believe album and three new songs co-written by the Biebs himself.

One track that sets Believe Acoustic apart is the emotional "Nothing Like Us," a last minute addition which details his breakup with Selena Gomez.

The track oozes with heartbreak as Justin's falsetto vocals soar over the slow strokes of the piano. "Nothing can ever, ever replace you/Nothing can make me feel like you do/You know there's no one I can relate to/I know we won't find a love that's so true/There's nothing like us/There's nothing like you for me," he sings.

In an interview with Billboard, the cover boy briefly discusses the rumors swirling around his breakup with Selena.

"There's so many rumors. People say I call Selena every day and she won't pick up the phone or I'm chasing her down, and these are all fake stories," he said. "I'm not in the happiest place that I've ever been. I'm trying to get through what I'm going through. Like I said, I have my really close friends to cheer me up and keep me going." more on this story

More on Justin Bieber - Justin Bieber Music - - Justin Bieber CDs, vinyl and rarities

Miley Cyrus Teams Up With Tyler, The Creator
(Radio.com) Miley Cyrus has found an admirer and collaborator in an odd place. The former Hannah Montana star has connected with shock-rapper Tyler, The Creator for a song on her upcoming album.

Cyrus explained her newfound relationship with Tyler in an interview with Cosmopolitan.

"I wrote this song with Mary J. Blige, and Tyler, The Creator heard it and said, 'I am obsessed with this song, and I will guest on it if you promise me that you will keep it on the album,'" she said. "And he killed it!"

Cyrus also expressed her appreciation for Tyler's Odd Future colleague, Frank Ocean.

"Frank Ocean's record is so good," she said. "And I like that he came out and admitted he was gay, because that still affects people's careers. If you don't think it does, it f�ing does, and he did not care. I think it's going to make him even bigger." more on this story

More on Miley Cyrus - Miley Cyrus Music - - Miley Cyrus CDs, vinyl and rarities

Ray Charles' Children Win Court Battle
Ray Charles' children have won a court battle over the ownership of the copyright of approximately 60 songs from the late singer.

Charles children filed the case against the Ray Charles Foundation. Noise11.com reports that Charles had agreed to leave his works to the foundation to fund their charity activities and left his ten children $500,000 each provided they make no claims against the foundation.

Seven of the ten children did not abide by that and instead used copyright laws to give notice to Warner/Chappell Music that they would be terminating the longstanding agreement with the company in 2010, according to the report which meant the foundation would no longer receive money from the copyright.

They report that U.S. District Judge Audrey Collins found in favor of Charles' children, writing "The Foundation is not a grantee of the rights to be terminated or its successor. Congress did not even require the statutory heirs provide it with statutory notice of the termination, let alone give it a seat at the table during the termination process." Read the report for more details.

More on Ray Charles - Ray Charles Music - Ray Charles CDs, vinyl and rarities

Selena Gomez Asked Who She Would Kiss From One Direction
(Extra) "Extra's" Terri Seymour got to chat with Selena Gomez at the celebration of her Nylon magazine cover. Selena opened up about her future and who she would kiss from "One Direction."

Selena, who stars in "Spring Breakers" � out this March -- coming straight from the studio where she is recording her fourth album. She tells "Extra" she wants to do more films, "I had such a good time taking a year off and just focusing on movies and acting�I'm continuing to want to do more of that, but I'm having so much fun with music, I'm excited for everyone to hear it." Selena also admits she is growing up, "I'm getting a little bit older and I'm having fun kind of experimenting and experiencing life."

Selena still not sure though if she wants to move out of her family home, "I don't know, I love being at home, I love my family�love being able to see my mom whenever."

Terri also asked Selena about a recent radio interview that "One Direction" did where all of the band members said they would pick Selena to kiss.

Selena was surprised, "What, when did they say that?" Selena went on to say, "That's really nice, I love all of them, they're so sweet, they're really good guys."

Terri had to ask, "If you had to pick, who would you pick for a kiss?" Selena a bit embarrassed, "Oh no, Zayn!" then proceeded to chuckle. more on this story

More on Selena Gomez - Selena Gomez Music - - Selena Gomez CDs, vinyl and rarities

Mumford and Sons Documentaries To Air On TV
(Radio.com) Mumford & Sons have announced that the band's two new music documentaries, Mumford & Sons: The Road to Red Rocks and Big Easy Express, will debut on the Showtime cable network in February. It will be the worldwide television debut for both films.

Mumford & Sons: The Road to Red Rocks documents the British folk-rockers' sold-out two-night stand at Colorado's legendary Red Rocks amphitheater.

Shot by directing duo Fred & Nick, the doc comes complete with interviews with the band and more behind-the-scenes footage. It premieres on Friday, February 1, 8 p.m. ET/PT.

Big Easy Express follows Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and Old Crow Medicine Show's 2010 tour of America aboard a vintage train, traveling from Oakland, CA, to New Orleans, LA.

The film is directed by Emmet Malloy, best known for turning out The White Stripes: Under the Great Northern Lights. This doc makes its debut on Friday, February 8, 8 p.m. ET/PT, followed by an encore showing of Mumford & Sons: The Road to Red Rocks. more on this story

More on Mumford - Mumford Music - - Mumford CDs, vinyl and rarities

MGMT Taking Different Music Direction On New Album
(Radio.com) MGMT immersed themselves in classic electronic and dance music during the recording of the band's upcoming self-titled third album, tentatively slated for a June 2013 release.

"We're not trying to make music that everyone understands the first time they hear it," band member Ben Goldwasser told Rolling Stone about the upcoming full-length, the first since MGMT's divisive sophomore release, Congratulations.

Where the group's poppy debut, Oracular Spectacular, spawned such generation-defining singles as "Kids" and "Electric Feel," Congratulations was a much more sprawling and ambitious affair, even recalling conceptual rock icons Pink Floyd on epic (and underrated) songs like "Siberian Breaks."

"People thought we took too many drugs, which was not the case at all," Goldwasser explained regarding the muted reaction to MGMT's second album.

"We were less naive after Congratulations," offered bandmate Andrew VanWyngarden. more on this story

More on MGMT - MGMT Music - - MGMT CDs, vinyl and rarities

Justin Bieber Unplugs For Ellen
(popmusiclife) Justin Bieber stopped by Ellen this week to promote his new "Believe Acoustic" album.

The pop star delivered an acoustic performance of his hit, "Boyfriend", on the program.

The newly-released project features his "Believe" album redone plus some previously unreleased songs.

Bieber is still on the road for his "Believe" tour, and will be seen on Saturday Night Live as both host and performer on the show's February 9 episode. Watch the Ellen performance here.

More on Justin Bieber - Justin Bieber Music - - Justin Bieber CDs, vinyl and rarities

KJOQ Premiere New Depeche Mode Song Heaven
(Radio.com) Word spread Monday that Depeche Mode's first single titled "Heaven" from the forthcoming album Delta Machine would make its radio debut this morning.

In a surprise move, the song was world premiered Wednesday morning by KROQ Los Angeles morning show hosts Kevin & Bean.

Buzz on the new material has been strong with chief songwriter Martin Gore stating that the new album back to the band's glory days.

"It's got a bit of a feel of Violator on some of the songs and a feel of Songs of Faith and Devotion on other songs," said Gore. "It's a bit of a hybrid of those two for me."

Hailed for releasing multiple singles with B-sides for every album, the band is holding to their plan with "Heaven" which will ship with an additional track titled "All That's Mine."

The B-side is minimalist track boasts a decidedly fat yet sparse bass line, haring back to 1984′s Some Great Reward. Read more and stream the song here.

More on Depeche Mode - Depeche Mode Music - - Depeche Mode CDs, vinyl and rarities

Singled Out: The Rescues
Today Adrianne Gonzalez of The Rescues tells us about the track "Be My Cure," from their brand new album "Blah Blah Love And War". Here is the story:

"'Be My Cure' was not an easy song to write. Kyler and Rob must have rewritten it 3 times! The inspiration for this song was love as an addiction. How liberating and intoxicating love infatuation can be. They are 2 sides of the same coin, freedom and addiction, in this song. Lyrically it toes that line throughout the song, hopefully leaving the listener feeling kind of turned on, yet kind of terrified.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and learn more about the album right here!

More on Rescues - Rescues Music - - Rescues CDs, vinyl and rarities

Super Bowl Halftime A Big Score For Music Sales
(Nielsen) According to new research from Nielsen, which compared digital track purchases in the week after Super Bowl over the last couple of years with purchases the week before, one thing's for certain: being a halftime performer directly translates into high-performance music sales.

"Regardless of the performer's age or whether the songs are 'oldies but goodies' or new, a song featured during the Super Bowl halftime show can yield an exponential jump in sales, as music fans discover�or rediscover�an artist and their songs," said David Bakula, SVP of Client Insights at Nielsen.

Super Bowl XLVI (Feb. 5, 2012) � Madonna: Madonna, last year's Super Bowl headliner, performed popular hits and new tracks. The largest post-Super Bowl increase in digital track purchases came from "Like a Prayer" (2,437%) and "Music (feat. LMFAO)" (1,597%). Madonna also introduced a new track, "Give Me All Your Luvin," a collaboration with rappers Nicki Minaj.

The week after the game, consumers purchased more than 165,000 digital copies of the song, the second-most post-Super Bowl purchases among the songs performed, behind "I'm Sexy and I Know It (Madonna and LMFAO)" (170,000 digital tracks purchased).

Super Bowl XLV (Feb. 6, 2011) � Black Eyed Peas" The Black Eyed Peas performed during the 2011 Super Bowl halftime show, and then band members Fergie and will.i.am sang duets with Slash and Usher, respectively.

The week prior to the game, consumers purchased and downloaded close to 196,000 digital tracks of the combined eight songs performed by the band and its members. Purchases of those songs more than doubled in the week following the game (406,000).

The Black Eyed Peas songs with the largest increase in sales the week following Super Bowl 2011 were "Where Is The Love?" and "Pump It," as consumers purchased 11 and five times the amount purchased the week before the game, respectively.

Super Bowl XLIV (Feb. 7, 2010) � The Who: Classic rock band The Who performed five songs in 2010, and digital sales of all of them spiked in the week after the game.

The performance had a significant impact on digital sales as consumers quadrupled their post-Super Bowl purchases of each of those titles the week after the game: 12,000 digital purchases vs. 59,000, a 396 percent increase the week after the Super Bowl.

"Who Are You" garnered the biggest lift in digital track sales, as consumers purchased 15,000 digital tracks the week after the game, 586 percent more than the just over 2,100 digital tracks the week prior to the game. Check out the charts

More on Super Bowl - Super Bowl Music - - Super Bowl CDs, vinyl and rarities

Cissy Houston Opens Up To Oprah About Whitney's Death
(Radio.com) For the first time, Cissy Houston talked about the last moment she spoke with her daughter Whitney before her tragic death.

She told Oprah that Whitney had actually called her the day before to say she loved her and was going to come visit her. She says she had no idea it would be the last time she would talk to her daughter.

In her book, Remembering Whitney, she writes that she was devastated when her son, Gary, called to tell her on February 11 that Whitney had passed and even now says she remembers little of that day. "I was alone," she said. "I was a wreck, I was just a wreck."

In the book, Cissy writes of Whitney's decline and how she staged an intervention for her. "I went down there, and did what I had to do," she explained.

In 2009, Whitney talked about this intervention with Oprah saying Cissy gave her an ultimatum: go to rehab or retire from music.

In the Oprah interview from four years ago, Whitney also talked about her troubled marriage with husband, Bobby Brown, who Cissy says she knew was bad news from the beginning. She also explained that she wanted to help Whitney get out of the marriage sooner, but "she wasn't ready to get out."

Though Cissy has not spoken with Bobby since Whitney's death, she says she doesn't dislike him. Find out about that and more here.

More on Whitney Houston - Whitney Houston Music - Whitney Houston CDs, vinyl and rarities

Talib Kweli Announces New Album and Tour
Talib Kweli has announced an April 23rd release date for his new studio album, Prisoner of Conscious.

The album will feature guest appearances by Busta Rhymes, Curren$y, Kendrick Lamar, Melanie Fiona, Marsha Ambrosius, Miguel, Nelly, Ryan Leslie, Seu Jorge and more

Kweli will precede the album's release with the launch of a North American tour which is set to kick off on February 8th.

The tour will hit various markets across North American before wrapping up on April 13th in Chicago, Il. more on this story

More on Talib Kweli - Talib Kweli Music - - Talib Kweli CDs, vinyl and rarities

Nicole Kidman Discusses Motherhood On And Off The Screen
(Extra) "Extra's" Renee Bargh sat down with actress Nicole Kidman to talk about her role as a mother in the upcoming film "Stoker" and her role as a mother to her four children off screen.

Nicole plays Evelyn, the unstable mother to daughter India, played by fellow Australian Mia Wasikowska, in the psychological mystery thriller telling Renee she is a fan of fright films, "Yeah I love it I do, ever since I was a kid�I'm very intrigued by it�things that get under your skin, I'm attracted to."

Nicole experiencing motherhood for a second time with husband Keith Urban, raising a two-year-old and a four-year-old, she also has two older children with Tom Cruise.

Renee, "Are you strict at home, are you a disciplinarian?" Nicole, "Medium, I try to be strict, it's very hard with two. I try to be respectful, I try to respect them as little people because that's what they are, so I give them a voice and I listen to them and try to guide them."

Renee, "What do you think Keith will be like when they're teenagers?" Nicole, "He's pretty cool, he's actually probably stricter than me naturally, but with dating I think he'll be cool as long as the guy's incredibly decent and fits all the criteria."

Her children with Tom are teenagers, Connor, 18, is a DJ and 20-year-old Isabella lives in London, Nicole saying, "I think kids, everybody has their own path and when they find their path it's such a relief as a parent you know."

Kidman recently was a part of the Matt Damon Jimmy Kimmel takeover making headlines when she gave Jimmy a lap dance. Read about that here.

More on Nicole Kidman - Nicole Kidman DVDs and Blu-Rays

Patience Pays Off For Gary Allan Fans
(Radio.com) "If it's not right, you shouldn't put it out." So says Gary Allan, talking about the nearly three years between his last release and his brand-new album Set You Free, which recently hit stores.

And something must be "right," because this week, Set You Free debuted at Number One on the Billboard 200 album chart, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The first single from Set you Free, "Every Storm (Runs Out of Rain)," is Number One on the country singles chart this week as well.

As Gary explained in an interview with Pat and Tom from Sacramento station KNCI, this in some ways worked to his advantage. It also inadvertently led to him trying some new approaches to the recording process.

"We had a label head change," he explains � last year, the outgoing Luke Lewis was replaced by Mike Dungan, who is now Chairman & CEO of Universal Music Nashville Entertainment. So "I did the whole album kind of in the blurry zone" during that transition time, Gary says.

His reasons make good sense. "I heard one guy was getting phased out, so if I had given him my record, I'd [be] in the middle of a failed record right now. So I waited until he was gone." more on this story

More on Gary Allan - Gary Allan Music - - Gary Allan CDs, vinyl and rarities

Ben Harper and player Charlie Musselwhite Took John Lee Hooker's Advise
(Radio.com) If you were lucky enough to get advice from the late blues legend John Lee Hooker, you should probably follow that advice � even if it takes more than a decade. That's the lesson Ben Harper and harmonica player Charlie Musselwhite recently learned.

The duo just released their first joint effort, Get Up!, but they've been planning on working together since they did a session with Hooker for his 1997 album The Best Of Friends (recording a new version of "Burnin' Hell"). But once Hooker saw Harper and Musselwhite working together in the studio, he gave them some advice.

"John Lee said, 'You and Charlie have something special,'" Harper told Radio.com. "He chooses his words carefully, it stuck with me for sure."

The pair have intended to do an album for a long time (and Musselwhite cameoed on Harper's 2006 album Both Sides Of The Gun). Conflicting schedules delayed the project until finally, last year, they got together and cut Get Up! Musselwhite has played with many of the greats, from Hooker to Tom Waits (he plays on the latter's GRAMMY-nominated Bad As Me) but says he loved playing with Harper and his backing band.

"They're really great, I like their attitude," Musselwhite said of Harper and his band. "I like the way they play. Like, some guys know all this technique and they just play stupid. But these guys play with such taste, it's wonderful to play with them!" more on this story

More on Ben Harper - Ben Harper Music - - Ben Harper CDs, vinyl and rarities



Click here to read today's full Day in Rock report

tell a friend about this article

know of a news item we should cover?

antiMUSIC News featured on RockNews.info and Yahoo News

.


...end




advertisement