Day in Pop Report for 05/12/2015
The final season, which kicks off in Jan. 2016 with a planned shorter run of episodes, though no exact amount has been announced as of now, will include judges Jennifer Lopez, Keith Urban and Harry Connick, Jr., who have served as judges the last two seasons, along with the show's host Ryan Seacrest. American Idol premiered in 2002, and at its peak in 2006, drew more than 36 million viewers for its season finale. But, since then its viewership has slowly, but surely declined. According to Entertainment Weekly, this year the show is delivering a series-low with only 11.6 million viewers. Read more here.
Swift took to Instagram to unveil her co-stars and it's a whopper of a list. As Radio.com previously reported, it includes Hayley Williams of Paramore, Zendaya and Lily Aldridge. She's now confirmed that Kendrick Lamar will appear, which was the source of some speculation. And she's revealed that Lena Dunham, Ellie Goulding, Gigi Hadid and Hailee Steinfeld. Looks like a huge chunk of Swift's girl gang are starring. Where's HAIM at? Yet to be confirmed, but previously spotted on the video set, are models Cara Delevingne and Lily Donaldson. Swift is probably cueing up their Instagram character reveals as we speak. See the character cards Swift has revealed so far here.
"I'm gonna say something that you didn't say and it's gonna make her feel a way that you didn't make her feel," T.I. told Rap-Up about the song's steamy competition, which carries over the music video. The clip finds the pair competing for the affections for a slew of leggy, lingerie-clad dancers cavorting on a large rotating carousel featuring a variety of sets. Brown shows off his signature dance moves in between ogling the women, with T.I. attempting to engage in a dance battle toward the end to comedic effect. Check it out here.
The "Feel Right" video also features a cameo by Ronson's "Uptown Funk" co-writer Bruno Mars, who also co-directed the video with Cameron Thomas Duddy. Original Brady Bunch star Florence Henderson is also featured as she introduces the song at a school talent show, where Bryant Tardy leads the band in the song while miming to Mystikal's vocal rap. "Uptown Special" debuted at No. 5 on the US Billboard 200 upon its release in January, led by the success of the smash lead single, "Uptown Funk." The track recently scored the second-longest amount of weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with 14, tying six other songs for second place behind the chart record of 16 weeks held by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men's 1995 hit, "One Sweet Day." Watch the new video here.
A slight change in date comes on the heels of a ceremony earlier this year that was watched by 27 million viewers, with a combined 40 million when adding in A Very GRAMMY Christmas and Stevie Wonder: Songs in the Key of Life - An All-Star GRAMMY Tribute. At the 2015 ceremony, Beck took home the big GRAMMY for Album of the Year with Morning Phase, while Sam Smith's "Stay with Me" took home both Record and Song of the Year. Read more here.
The fiddler started playing at the age of 12 with his brothers George and Jerry under the moniker the Rose Swingsters before finding a career in 1949 when he joined Bob Wills' Texas Playboys. Gimble toured with the group for a decade, uniquely playing the five-star fiddle and the electric mandolin, save for the two years he went off on his own from 1951 to '53. It was then he had his first hit: Marty Robbins' 1953 debut No. 1 song "I'll Go on Alone." Gimble's own debut solo hit "One Fiddle, Two Fiddle" happened decades later, thanks in part to its feature in Clint Eastwood's 1982 film Honkytonk Man, where Gimble played Wills in a supporting role. He contributed to Merle Haggard's "Ramblin' Fever," George Strait's "What's Going on in Your World," Dolly Parton's album Jolene, Connie Smith, Willie Nelson, with whom he toured from 1979 to 1981, and Chet Akins' 1973 Superpickers. Read more here.
The first leg of the tour was originally announced last August and began on Nov. 8 in Youngstown, Ohio. The new dates run through Nov. 21 in Spokane, Wash. Before they continue their time on the road, Little Big Town will perform their latest single "Girl Crush" with Faith Hill at the Billboard Music Awards on May 17. See the dates here.
"The next album will be called The Storm," he says. "I just got the idea in my sleep like two weeks ago. I'm going to go for Gary Clark Jr., Lana Del Rey, Alanis Morissette, Jay Z, Collie Buddz. It might not have as many features as Special Effects, but I'll still be trying to elevate. The next thing you know, I'll be working with Rick Rubin, Trent Reznor, Madlib� I just want to do music with people that love music with no boundaries." A Tech N9ne/Lana Del Rey collaboration? "I love her voice and her topics. Sometimes her voice can sound really dark," he raves about the "Summertime Sadness" singer. "I want to get her on something really dark and creepy, but nice at the same time. That duality of dark and light. I love what she does and I'm a fan. I got turned on to her by some Mormons in Salt Lake City, Utah, some years back, who gave me one of her CDs. Those Mormons really knew what they were talking about." Breaking boundaries has been a priority over the course of Tech N9ne's storied career, which has found the Kansas City native building a fully independent empire with his Strange Music label, growing to the point that he was cited last year by Forbes as "Hip-Hop's Secret Mogul." "I've always wanted to do this, to fuse different artists together. That's why you had me and the Deftones a couple of albums ago, me and Five Finger Death Punch, me and Mint Condition on the R&B tip," he explains about his history of collaboration (and probably the first time Five Finger Death Punch and Mint Condition have been cited in the same sentence). "I wanna show people that we need each other. Togetherness is how we're going to prosper in life." Read more here.
The tour will include stops in many other major cities across the U.S., including San Diego, New York and Miami. It'll conclude with a Halloween show on Oct. 31 in Minneapolis, Minn. A press releases teases that more Zedd tour dates in addition to this September-October run will be announced later. Special guest announcements were also teased. See the dates here.
"This is one of my fave bangerz (tm?) on Grand Ro," says Ruess. "I wrote it with another artist in mind a few years back, and when Jeff and I started recording it then he strongly suggested I stop giving songs away and keep this one. So in his studio it sat and collected dust until he reminded me of it once we started working on the album. "Jeff did an incredible job on the orchestral arrangements, and Emile programmed the drums. The combination of the two remind me of something off of 'Sean Carter Vol 2', which is one of my favorite hip hop album ever. "Again, Josh Klinghoffer added an amazing guitar track. My favorite part though might be the 'eh' I drop in the middle of the last chorus. Look out for it!" Check out the new song here.
And, with the release of new single, "The Shade", the idea is this song, and maybe their next album, goes all the way, so to speak. When Haines sings repeatedly on the track that she "wants it all," it is hard not to think that there are many ways to interpret it. Haines and Metric will try to get it all when their next album is announced, which their YouTube release of this single promises to be soon. Until then, try not to let this one burn a hole in your web browser. Check out Metric's new single, "The Shade," here.
While the video is chock full of good dancing and great energy, it's tough to see past the overt product placement. The first scene featuring the headphones comes just two seconds into the video. And of the more than 120 edited scenes, approximately 55 feature someone wearing Beats headphones or ear buds. The song is one of 18 tracks found on the film's soundtrack. Read more and watch the video here.
Recorded in both Echo Park, Calif and New York City, Vikings was produced by Jake Sinclair who counts Taylor Swift, 5 Seconds of Summer, Fall Out Boy and P!nk among the artists he's worked with. The Danish threesome will likely test out the new material on audiences this summer as they set out to play a dozen U.S. festivals beginning May 15 in New Jersey, wrapping up in August 7 in Billings, MT. Check out the song here.
A two-hour special on the life of the country legend named Coat of Many Colors is soon coming to NBC. "This once-in-a-lifetime movie special takes us inside the tight-knit Parton family as they struggle to overcome devastating tragedy and discover the healing power of love, faith and a raggedy patchwork coat that helped make Dolly who she is today," says a statement describing the project. Those topics were discussed at length by Parton recently when she talked about maintaining a positive outlook throughout all of her obstacles. Read more here.
He posted a photo of the happy couple posing in front of a dead turkey, presumably shot by the pair on a hunting trip. Nothing says romance like stalking and killing your own dinner. Jokes aside, Farr, whom recently released his sophomore album, Suffer In Peace, spoke to Billboard (where you can also see the turkey photo) about going from heartache to happy, saying, 'Yes I'm a sucker for heartbreak songs. But, with every heartache you learn, and that coincides with my music career; which all the times and trials led me to find my best friend, a woman that truly makes me a better person. And I am now so very blessed and proud to call her my fianc�e." Read more here.
A fan named George G. has restored the tree to its former glory after one of the limbs was hacked off by someone eager to own a piece of rock history, Consequence of Sound reports. Impressively, he fixed the tree with just one flashlight to guide him in the pitch-black park. Working arduously from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m., George repaired the tree using adhesive, liquid screws, and a little bit of dirt to blend over his work. To show his process, he shared a video of the project. Read more here.
Keef sounds perfectly at home here, barking over the bass weight about guns, dogs and camaraderie. "Aye, boy yo dogs some yorkies/ Sh*tzu boy yo dogs some puppies," he spits. "My dogs, pitbulls they talk with Glocks and forties/ the cops grab me, ain't talkin' without my lawyer." There's no word yet on where this one will end up: it may be a loosie, or it may be a forthcoming leak off any number of yet-to-be-released Keef projects, including Thot Breaker, Mansion Musick, UFOverload 2 or Crashing Computers. Check it out here.
That doesn't mean he can't make hits anymore. Despite an old business model, Khaled still has the thickest rolodex in the game. The artists he's chosen for his latest attempt at conquering the summer charts aren't anything new from him--Big Sean, Chris Brown, Lil Wayne--but that still means the song is overflowing with star power. Brown takes hook duty, of course--"How many times I gotta tell that b-- to come over?" he asks over and over. Big Sean and Lil Wayne handle the verses, with both describing various nuances of modern dating. "Don't send me naked pictures, if I can't get naked with you," Wayne raps. Check it out here.
Probably not, but that hasn't stopped a book publisher in Iran from creating a book, titled Marital and Sexual Problems in Men, that features the Radiohead frontman's face within its pages at one point. A Twitter user actually took a picture of the book three years ago, but it's just now gaining more traction, Buzzfeed reports. Who are the others on the page? Could they, too, be victims of one company's willingness to toss peoples' faces into a book on couple problems just because they look like the type that might be having said problems? Read more here.
Now, the college dropout has a degree, earning an honorary doctoral degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago last week. West showed up for the ceremony, sporting a cap and gown and walking with his class. As CoS points out, West did attend both American Academy of Art and Chicago State University for brief periods before dropping out to pursue music. This ultimately turned into a success story for the rapper/producer/songwriter/fashion designer. Read more here.
Brown responded to the event with an Instagram post (now deleted) in which he referred to the incident as "crazy s-t," and now is offering up a bit of sympathy with a new Twitter post. Brown wrote on Twitter, "To The young woman that broke into my house, I appreciate the dedication as a fan. I pray she gets the help she needs. It's all love." Read more here.
This is a song about being young, doing bad things for the sake of experience and pure feeling, returning to this feeling and trying to understand why some things are right and some things are wrong, and then finally escaping from the places that hold you back. These can be physical places, but also spiritual or mental places as well. Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself as you watch the music video here and learn more about the band and their new album right here!
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