Jessica Simpson’s venture into the world of country music has been successful thus far — if you believe the things you read in Us Weekly or hear on the radio. So just how successful is she? Well, just look at this “packed house” (yes, the interviewers actually called it that) of fans who came to see Jess in person. It’s amazing that no one was injured during the riot.
Video of the craziness, complete with Jess’s annoying baby voice and charming stories, after the jump.
And such is the life of celebrity DJs: Like the nightspots they spin at, their buzzworthiness has a short shelf life. Take DJ AM, who rocketed on the scene in 2003 when he was dating Nicole Richie. Since their split, he's entertained himself with celebrity trysts that include Mandy Moore, but without a starlet on his arm, his demand has plummeted. Gone are the five-figure fees from clubs in NYC, LA, the Hamptons, and international destinations; instead, corporate gigs, like this week's Palm Centro smartphone launch in out in Beverly Hills, are what's paying the bills. But AM, real name Adam Goldstein, isn't the outlier. CONTINUED »
After signing much-hyped nine-figure "360" deals with Jay-Z and Madonna, to handle all their album sales, touring, and merchandising, concert promoter-cum-all things music industry company Live Nation faces the fallout: Chairman Michael Cohl is being pushed out. He's negotiating the terms of his "resignation" now with CEO Michael Rapino. Not everybody thought lavishing more than a hundred million dollars on major artists was such a good idea, given the current industry climate.
Michael Jackson, 49, … is working on a new clothing line with Ed Hardy designer Christian Audigier. ‘It’s still in the developing stages, but it’s going to be big,’ an insider tells Life & Style. ‘This will be a major comeback for Michael.’”
The above is a lie, and it’s one we’ve heard before. By our calculations, ever since the release of his last reasonably solid record, 1991’s Dangerous, which moved over 14 million copies, Michael Jackson has been on the verge of a comeback 237,000 times; each one ushered in with all the theatrics of “Thriller” before sputtering out as quietly and wimpily as “The Girl Is Mine.”
Snoop Dogg's new "country" music video, an ode to Johnny Cash, is a team up with Willie Nelson. The song is called "My Medicine," and you do not need to stretch your imagination to know what Snoop is referring to. Watch the video here.
Is Lil' Wayne the record industry's last hope? After 2005's 50 Cent album release, The Massacre, you would've been hard pressed to find a record exec who would've predicted another album to move more than a million units in its first week. After all, since 50 Cent's record three years ago, even grandmothers got broadband Internet in their homes and figured out how to use iTunes; things were supposed to get worse for the industry. And, while anyone from Sony to Bad Boy will tell you they have, Lil' Wayne's Tha Carter III, shipping just over 1 million copies in the first week since its June 10 debut, represents an anomaly.
So how come it was Lil' Wayne, and not even the likes of world superstar and egomaniac Kanye West, who accomplished the impossible? CONTINUED »
Led Zeppelin's song "Stairway to Heaven" has, through record sales and royalties, earned an estimated $572 million. If you believe this math.
Depending on how you look at things, Amy Winehouse was either "loaded" by the $2 million cheque she received from Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, to perform at the art gallery opening of 25-year-old girlfriend Dasha Zhukova, or she was "loaded" on drugs as she arrived in Moscow completely inebriated, so much so that organizers began scrambling to find another singer before deciding it was too late. Finally, Winehouse finally sipped enough Coca-Cola to lumber to the stage, though it was there she threw her lighter into the crowd and used non-verbal communication to share that she wasn't wearing underwear.
And while it would be perfectly reasonable for Abramovich to be bitter over Winehouse's antics after ponying up so much cash, the reason one hires a celebrity act to perform at an event is to generate press. And Ms. Winehouse certainly earned her fee in that regard.
To be fair, at least she wasn't scheduled to go on at 2:45 a.m., then kept everyone waiting until 4:25 a.m. before taking the stage like some self-entitled acts.
Unlike, say, Nine Inch Nails, which has embraced every facet of the Internet and exploited it to great reviews and returns, the band Metallica carries a reputation for hating the web. Not only did they single-handedly ruin Napster by suing it into obliteration (slight exaggeration?), but they have refused to put their music on iTunes, effectively ignoring an entire youth fan base that more than happily downloads their tracks on BitTorrent.
Now, with a new album out, it's only appropriate that Metallica find a new reason to hate all those 1s and 0s floating around. CONTINUED »
Times Square's Virgin Records store will close, and the Union Square location isn't far behind. [Fox]
There have been those rumors about Michael Jackson taking up residency in Las Vegas, clearing tens of millions of dollars with a high-profile show a la Cher or Prince. But whether the gossip was simply made up or based in truth, the murmurs of a deal would always fizzle, owing in part to Jackson's inability to be a reliable performer, thus shortchanging any possibility his act could be insured.
And now, Britney Spears. She's been seen, very publicly, dining with George Maloof, the billionaire owner of, among other things, the Palms Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. All of which is helping fuel rumors that she is in talks for a Vegas house show, with sums of $10 million being floated around. [SBS]
Maloof, meanwhile, is also behind the insidious production of E!'s Living Lohan, a project that is less about celebrating a manager mama and her celebrity offspring than it is about promoting his corporate interests while ruining a Long Island family. His exploitation of Ms. Spears, then, shouldn't be anything less.
[Photo: WENN]
Someone at Def Jam finally figured out (or knew all along and were just trying to get the maximum amount of publicity first) that naming an album Nigger is pretty much setting yourself up for poor sales and major issues with retailers. So after all the hype, Nas’ newest album, which hits stores July 1st, will simply be called Nas. Nas said that he considers the album untitled.
Because what America needs right now is lower fuel prices, universal health care, and another music reality show, Billboard magazine is hoping to solve at least one of our nation's problems. The Nielsen Business Media trade is launching Billboard Next, reports The Hollywood Reporter, also, conveniently a Nielsen Business Media title. [THR] The show will have hopefuls upload their acts to the Next website, and whoever collects the most votes will get to appear on proper television. "Details of the prize are being kept under wraps," reads the report, which basically translates as, "Don't hope for anything more than a sidebar blurb in Billboard at some point in the future."
ZOMG! Madonna's Sticky & Sweet tickets for Madison Square Garden go on sale today. Quick, click the link before they're sold out! Err, too late. [TheGarden]
It was a big week for Mariah Carey — she lost her single status and her No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200. In her defense, there was really no competing with Madonna’s Hard Candy.
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