LONDON (Reuters) - British singer and former Wham! frontman George Michael announced what his spokeswoman called his last ever big-venue gigs on Wednesday.
The 44-year-old recording star said he would play two extra concerts at Earls Court in London on August 24 and 25 to mark the end of his "25 Live Tour," which started nearly two years ago in Barcelona.
The concerts will be called "The Final Two," which a statement on his Web site explained was a reference to his sell-out Wembley Stadium show in the same city in 1986 that brought down the curtain on Wham!.
Since then the artist has forged a successful solo career, and his overall global record sales are in excess of 100 million.
"He's not going to play any more big arenas," said a spokeswoman, when asked to clarify whether Michael planned to stop touring after the gigs.
"He will never do arena shows again from my understanding, so this is the final two shows of this kind that he will do," she added.
But the spokeswoman could not confirm a report on the BBC Web site that the singer planned to retire from touring altogether.
Michael, whose hits included "Careless Whisper" and "Last Christmas," told Reuters in 2005 that he planned to "disappear" from the world of pop altogether.
Reuters/Nielsen
Wednesday, 25 June 2008
Thursday, 19 June 2008
Jessica Alba - Albas Brother Coos About Beautiful Baby
LATEST: JESSICA ALBA's newborn daughter is "beautiful" reports the actress' brother Josh, who has visited mother and baby.
The actress gave birth to Honor Marie - her first child with husband Cash Warren - at Los Angeles' Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on Saturday (7Jun08).
She was allowed home on Monday (09Jun08) and has been visited by family members including Josh, 25.
He tells Usmagazine.com, "I'm ecstatic. I have seen her, and she is very beautiful."
When asked who the baby most resembles, he replies, "I can never tell with newborns. There are not really any features. I can't tell yet."
Josh adds his sister "is doing great" and Warren "is one of the happiest men alive right now".
See Also
Friday, 13 June 2008
P.Diddy and The Bad Boy Family
Artist: P.Diddy and The Bad Boy Family
Genre(s):
Rap: Hip-Hop
Discography:
The Saga Continues
Year: 2001
Tracks: 25
Lars Ulrich Talks New Metallica Album: 'It's More Like Some Of Our Earlier Records'
Sunday, 8 June 2008
Rhydian hoping to put X Factor behind him
'X Factor' runner-up Rhydian Roberts has said that he wants to put the talent show behind him.
The Welsh singer said he cried with disappointment after coming second, and added that he believes there was a "technical fault" on the voting lines.
Speaking to Real Radio Wales' breakfast show from a cottage in Oxfordshire, Rhydian said he was trying to distance himself from the press and wished winner Leon Jackson "the best of luck".
Referring to complaints from fans who say phone lines were jammed, Rhydian said: "How I see it is, it's obviously a technical fault on the night, and it might have affected all three competitors. I can't really complain."
Despite his disappointment, the 24-year-old from Sennybridge, mid Wales, said he believed his career could actually benefit from him not winning the ITV contest.
Commenting on Leon's victory, he said: "He's a talented boy and has his niche with swing music. I wish him the best of luck."
He denied reports that both he and his father believed the show was a fix, and said: "I can categorically say that I have not said any of that. I've stayed well clear - it's not what I believe. The only disappointing thing for us as a family was that they got my dad's age wrong. They said he was 60, so he's livid. He's only 58."
Rhydian said he didn't go to the after-show party because he was "absolutely drained". Instead, he went to see a performance by an orchestra with his family.
Rhydian, who said the interview was his first since Saturday's live final, said: "It's Leon's week and he should be celebrating and I don't want people coming up to me saying 'you were robbed', although it's nice. I didn't want to pull focus."
Rhydian, who is going on a two-week holiday to Mexico with his family on 27 December, added: "All I can say is I want to put that all behind me now - 'The X Factor'. My life is going to go on and I fully intend to record an album so watch this space and thanks so much to everybody."
More than 1,000 people have complained to UK regulator Ofcom, claiming they couldn't get through to vote for Rhydian during the final, but ITV have said Leon won fair and square.
The Welsh singer said he cried with disappointment after coming second, and added that he believes there was a "technical fault" on the voting lines.
Speaking to Real Radio Wales' breakfast show from a cottage in Oxfordshire, Rhydian said he was trying to distance himself from the press and wished winner Leon Jackson "the best of luck".
Referring to complaints from fans who say phone lines were jammed, Rhydian said: "How I see it is, it's obviously a technical fault on the night, and it might have affected all three competitors. I can't really complain."
Despite his disappointment, the 24-year-old from Sennybridge, mid Wales, said he believed his career could actually benefit from him not winning the ITV contest.
Commenting on Leon's victory, he said: "He's a talented boy and has his niche with swing music. I wish him the best of luck."
He denied reports that both he and his father believed the show was a fix, and said: "I can categorically say that I have not said any of that. I've stayed well clear - it's not what I believe. The only disappointing thing for us as a family was that they got my dad's age wrong. They said he was 60, so he's livid. He's only 58."
Rhydian said he didn't go to the after-show party because he was "absolutely drained". Instead, he went to see a performance by an orchestra with his family.
Rhydian, who said the interview was his first since Saturday's live final, said: "It's Leon's week and he should be celebrating and I don't want people coming up to me saying 'you were robbed', although it's nice. I didn't want to pull focus."
Rhydian, who is going on a two-week holiday to Mexico with his family on 27 December, added: "All I can say is I want to put that all behind me now - 'The X Factor'. My life is going to go on and I fully intend to record an album so watch this space and thanks so much to everybody."
More than 1,000 people have complained to UK regulator Ofcom, claiming they couldn't get through to vote for Rhydian during the final, but ITV have said Leon won fair and square.
Saturday, 7 June 2008
Vampire Weekend stays busy with summer dates
Afrobeat-influenced indie-rockers Vampire Weekend [ tickets ] will continue to support their debut album with a run of headlining gigs and festival appearances this summer.The New Yorkers will mount a brief run of headlining shows later this week, kicking off June 7 in Orlando, FL. In late June, the group will head overseas for the summer festival season, with various appearances throughout Europe. In July, the band returns home for a slate of domestic festival commitments, highlighted by a July 19 slot at Chicago's Pitchfork Music Festival. After another overseas run in August, the group comes back to the US in the fall for another short trek. All of the band's North American dates are included below.The complete overseas schedule can be found at the group's official website.Vampire Weekend's highly anticipated, self-titled debut album was released in January, moving over 27,000 copies during its first week and debuting at No. 17 on The Billboard 200 album chart. The album garnered much pre-release hype through word-of-mouth and Internet attention that the band had received. Earlier this year, the band became the first outfit ever to be photographed for the cover of Spin Magazine before releasing its debut, according to the publication."We recorded most of it ourselves in a couple of different locations," lead singer Ezra Koenig said of the band's debut in an interview with NME.com earlier this year. "In a friend's basement who had a good setup for recording drums ... we did a lot of it in the band's apartments."There's even some stuff on the album that we recorded almost a year ago at our drummer's parents' house in New Jersey, at this barn that they have, so they're really echoey drums."
My Morning Jacket
It's 4 a.m. on the last night of South by Southwest, and Jim James is belting out Rod Stewart's "You're in My Heart." A few hours earlier, the My Morning Jacket frontman dazzled an intimate crowd at an Austin church with a mostly solo acoustic set, and the full band's three other performances during the week were some of the most acclaimed of the industry confab. But of all the places James could be right now, it's a cozy terrace suite at Austin's famed Driskill Hotel, surrounded by a few close friends, a bucket of Miller Lites and an iPod, singing and analyzing songs into the wee hours. As he says the following week, "Music is everything."
That guiding principle has helped MMJ—James, "Two-Tone" Tommy (bass), Patrick Hallahan (drums), Bo Koster (keyboards) and Carl Broemel (guitar)—grow from humble roots in Louisville into the American rock band many feel is most likely to take it to the proverbial next level in the weeks and months to come. Like so many bands that have managed to achieve staying power in a fickle environment, MMJ has developed its touring base and recording career on separate, parallel paths.
Still, "Both are important to us," James says. "We treat them both as equals."
It is true that the best-laid marketing plans are no substitute for enthusiastic word-of-mouth, and the buzz around MMJ is at a fever pitch, both internally and among fans. The reason? Beyond MMJ's ever-building reputation for epic live performances, there's tremendous excitement surrounding the band's fifth album, "Evil Urges," due June 10 via ATO.
"We've always felt that whatever commercial success was realized would be a residual to appreciation for the music," band manager Mike Martinovich says. "It's never been the band's vision to chase opportunities; they'd run themselves ragged and fear losing touch with their original motivations. We'll leave the marketing plan to our friends at ATO and [PR firm] Girlie Action."
Even with live performances that send fans into orbit and critically acclaimed albums, MMJ has not yet achieved neither widespread arena-headlining status nor platinum success. But the band's camp and its many supporters in the music industry at large seem to cherish MMJ's dark horse status, believing that a band that takes a while to develop is building the solid foundation for a decades-long career.
And if MMJ seems to hang its hat on the concert stage, it never shortchanges studio time. "If you ask any artist today if they would rather sell millions of records or millions of tickets, they would choose to sell millions of tickets, and it seems My Morning Jacket is well on their way to that goal," says Scott Clayton, the band's agent at Creative Artists Agency. "Having said that, my feeling is that once the world hears 'Evil Urges,' it will be clear that this band is achieving great things artistically both in the studio and on the stage."
LIVE IS THE THING
As the group built its live performance legend, MMJ has shown time and again that it is more than comfortable on a wide range of concert stages, whether it's marathon performances at festivals like Bonnaroo or Lollapalooza, headlining theaters and ballrooms, or sharing bills with a diverse range of acts that includes Guided by Voices, Doves, Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam, Bob Dylan and John Prine.
"I wouldn't say there was a 'strategy' so much as the band is musically nimble and interested in playing with a variety of artists from different genres and generations," Martinovich says. "If there was any one overriding 'strategy' in the early going, it was to follow up a tour where the band opened for someone with a headline run to establish something of their own and not just hope that they were connecting with another audience."
Such a philosophy creates options and challenges for the band's agent. "Since January of 2002, Scott Clayton turned on a dime to work with the band and has had, until this day, an 'as long as it takes, no matter what' perspective that has only helped keep things on the right track," Martinovich says.
MMJ isn't adding any extra bells and whistles to its 2008 tour, which began May 22 in London and will run through New Year's Eve. But it's clear that demand is higher than ever. A June 20 show at New York's Radio City Music Hall sold out in 22 minutes, and observers are expecting big numbers for an Aug. 21 gig at Red Rocks outside Denver, with support from the Black Keys.
"The greatest thing about live music is that it's something you can't replicate," James says. "It's something very communal, and I think society is lacking that. People are so alienated and trapped in their little cubicles with their computers and texting devices. When you go to a big concert and you're in a room with a bunch of other humans, I think that's really healthy."
URGE TO RECORD
After self-producing its first three studio releases, including its 2003 ATO/RCA debut, "It Still Moves," the band turned to outside producers for "Z" in 2005 and "Evil Urges," with John Leckie and Joe Chiccarelli, respectively, helming the boards. "It Still Moves" has sold 197,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, while "Z" has shifted 212,000.
The result has been a true evolution of the band's sound. More adventurous than anything that has come before, the new songs explore falsetto singing ("Evil Urges"), soft rock with a modern twist ("Thank You Too"), disco beats (first single "Touch Me I'm Going to Scream Part 2") and gritty, Prince-tinged funk ("Highly Suspicious"), without skimping on the two-guitar jams ("Aluminum Park," "Remnants") and mellow balladry ("Librarian") of MMJ's past work.
"Joe and John are both two very different people and they work in very different ways, but they're both great policemen," James says. "We go into the studio with the songs done; they're thought-out and ready to go. Always some things end up happening to them while you're recording them that you didn't think would happen to them, but Joe and John, their ears are just fantastic."
These outside producers have brought discipline and constructive criticism to the recording process. "They'll scold us when we've done bad and they'll applaud us when we've done good," James says. "And that's what we really need. You can get all excited and think you've done a great take, but it could be way too fast. Or you could think it was really emotional but it was just kind of slow. It's good to have somebody outside of the band to hear that stuff."
See Also
That guiding principle has helped MMJ—James, "Two-Tone" Tommy (bass), Patrick Hallahan (drums), Bo Koster (keyboards) and Carl Broemel (guitar)—grow from humble roots in Louisville into the American rock band many feel is most likely to take it to the proverbial next level in the weeks and months to come. Like so many bands that have managed to achieve staying power in a fickle environment, MMJ has developed its touring base and recording career on separate, parallel paths.
Still, "Both are important to us," James says. "We treat them both as equals."
It is true that the best-laid marketing plans are no substitute for enthusiastic word-of-mouth, and the buzz around MMJ is at a fever pitch, both internally and among fans. The reason? Beyond MMJ's ever-building reputation for epic live performances, there's tremendous excitement surrounding the band's fifth album, "Evil Urges," due June 10 via ATO.
"We've always felt that whatever commercial success was realized would be a residual to appreciation for the music," band manager Mike Martinovich says. "It's never been the band's vision to chase opportunities; they'd run themselves ragged and fear losing touch with their original motivations. We'll leave the marketing plan to our friends at ATO and [PR firm] Girlie Action."
Even with live performances that send fans into orbit and critically acclaimed albums, MMJ has not yet achieved neither widespread arena-headlining status nor platinum success. But the band's camp and its many supporters in the music industry at large seem to cherish MMJ's dark horse status, believing that a band that takes a while to develop is building the solid foundation for a decades-long career.
And if MMJ seems to hang its hat on the concert stage, it never shortchanges studio time. "If you ask any artist today if they would rather sell millions of records or millions of tickets, they would choose to sell millions of tickets, and it seems My Morning Jacket is well on their way to that goal," says Scott Clayton, the band's agent at Creative Artists Agency. "Having said that, my feeling is that once the world hears 'Evil Urges,' it will be clear that this band is achieving great things artistically both in the studio and on the stage."
LIVE IS THE THING
As the group built its live performance legend, MMJ has shown time and again that it is more than comfortable on a wide range of concert stages, whether it's marathon performances at festivals like Bonnaroo or Lollapalooza, headlining theaters and ballrooms, or sharing bills with a diverse range of acts that includes Guided by Voices, Doves, Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam, Bob Dylan and John Prine.
"I wouldn't say there was a 'strategy' so much as the band is musically nimble and interested in playing with a variety of artists from different genres and generations," Martinovich says. "If there was any one overriding 'strategy' in the early going, it was to follow up a tour where the band opened for someone with a headline run to establish something of their own and not just hope that they were connecting with another audience."
Such a philosophy creates options and challenges for the band's agent. "Since January of 2002, Scott Clayton turned on a dime to work with the band and has had, until this day, an 'as long as it takes, no matter what' perspective that has only helped keep things on the right track," Martinovich says.
MMJ isn't adding any extra bells and whistles to its 2008 tour, which began May 22 in London and will run through New Year's Eve. But it's clear that demand is higher than ever. A June 20 show at New York's Radio City Music Hall sold out in 22 minutes, and observers are expecting big numbers for an Aug. 21 gig at Red Rocks outside Denver, with support from the Black Keys.
"The greatest thing about live music is that it's something you can't replicate," James says. "It's something very communal, and I think society is lacking that. People are so alienated and trapped in their little cubicles with their computers and texting devices. When you go to a big concert and you're in a room with a bunch of other humans, I think that's really healthy."
URGE TO RECORD
After self-producing its first three studio releases, including its 2003 ATO/RCA debut, "It Still Moves," the band turned to outside producers for "Z" in 2005 and "Evil Urges," with John Leckie and Joe Chiccarelli, respectively, helming the boards. "It Still Moves" has sold 197,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, while "Z" has shifted 212,000.
The result has been a true evolution of the band's sound. More adventurous than anything that has come before, the new songs explore falsetto singing ("Evil Urges"), soft rock with a modern twist ("Thank You Too"), disco beats (first single "Touch Me I'm Going to Scream Part 2") and gritty, Prince-tinged funk ("Highly Suspicious"), without skimping on the two-guitar jams ("Aluminum Park," "Remnants") and mellow balladry ("Librarian") of MMJ's past work.
"Joe and John are both two very different people and they work in very different ways, but they're both great policemen," James says. "We go into the studio with the songs done; they're thought-out and ready to go. Always some things end up happening to them while you're recording them that you didn't think would happen to them, but Joe and John, their ears are just fantastic."
These outside producers have brought discipline and constructive criticism to the recording process. "They'll scold us when we've done bad and they'll applaud us when we've done good," James says. "And that's what we really need. You can get all excited and think you've done a great take, but it could be way too fast. Or you could think it was really emotional but it was just kind of slow. It's good to have somebody outside of the band to hear that stuff."
See Also
Death Before Dishonor
Artist: Death Before Dishonor
Genre(s):
Alternative
Rock
Other
Discography:
Count Me In
Year: 2007
Tracks: 13
Friends Family Forever
Year: 2005
Tracks: 7
True Till Death
Year: 2003
Tracks: 10
Guttermouth
Artist: Guttermouth
Genre(s):
Punk
Rock: Punk-Rock
Pop: Pop-Rock
Discography:
Eat Your Face
Year: 2004
Tracks: 14
Gusto
Year: 2002
Tracks: 14
Gorgeous
Year: 1999
Tracks: 14
Covered With Ants
Year: 1999
Tracks: 11
Musical Monkey
Year: 1997
Tracks: 15
Teri Yakimoto
Year: 1996
Tracks: 15
Huntington Beach, CA-based punks Guttermouth formed in 1989, comprised of singer Mark "Hg" Adkins, guitarists Derek Davis and Scott Sheldon, bassist Stever Rapp (wHO replaced original bassist Clint Weinrich), and drummer Captain James T. Nunn. Debuting a twelvemonth subsequently with the single "Skunk," Guttermouth issued their debut LP, Full Length, in 1992, followed in 1994 by Friendly People, their number one endeavour for new label Nitro Records. Guttermouth resurfaced in 1996 with Teri Yakimoto, followed a twelvemonth subsequently by Musical Monkey; their number one concert LP, Live from the Pharmacy, appeared in 1998. Their sixth album, Gorgeous, was issued a year later, featuring new drummer Ty Smith; Covered with Ants followed in mid-2000, marking their first for Epitaph.
Guttermouth ar studio hounds; they returned to the punk rock setting in fall 2002 when the challenging Gusto was released, and came back for more than in 2004 with the scathing Rust Your Face (with guitar player Don Horne and ex-Slick Shoes bassist Kevin Clark at present on board). That same summer adage the going of drummer Smith to concentrate on his side project Bullets and Octane; the vocal band too reportedly got kicked off the Warped Tour in August. Adkins later clarified they left the circuit by alternative, sickened by the ignorant political comments spouted during various bands' sets. After departing Epitaph Records, the grouping was officially added to the Volcom Entertainment roster in late 2005. Busy since and then, Guttermouth contributed the runway "April 29th, 1992" to the Sublime testimonial album Eternally Free, and released their installment of the Beyond Warped Live Music Series in January 2006. The band's ten percent album, Shave the Planet, appeared that August, with Adkins, Sheldon, and Horne united by original bassist Weinrich and drummer Ryan Farrell.
High Court Upholds Porno Law
BBC announces Grange Hill will end
The BBC has announced that its school drama 'Grange Hill' is to end after 30 years.
At a launch for new and recurring dramas for CBBC today, it was announced the upcoming series of 'Grange Hill' would be the last.
Announcing the end of 'Grange Hill', Anne Gilchrist, Controller, CBBC, said: "Part of CBBC's reputation for reflecting contemporary Britain back to UK children has been built upon Phil Redmond's ['Grange Hill' creator] brilliantly realised idea and of course it's sad to say goodbye to such a much loved institution. The lives of children have changed a great deal since 'Grange Hill' began and we owe it to our audience to reflect this."
She continued: "We're actively seeking out new and exciting ways of bringing social realism to the CBBC audience through drama and other genres. Yesterday we announced two 'Newsround' Specials tackling divorce and knife crime and we will continue to make programmes about the ups and downs of contemporary Britain."
Jon East, Head of CBBC Drama, said: "For 30 years, Grange Hill has become a byword for realistic and contemporary children's drama. It's now time to apply what we've learned over the years to some of the new ideas we're exploring."
At a launch for new and recurring dramas for CBBC today, it was announced the upcoming series of 'Grange Hill' would be the last.
Announcing the end of 'Grange Hill', Anne Gilchrist, Controller, CBBC, said: "Part of CBBC's reputation for reflecting contemporary Britain back to UK children has been built upon Phil Redmond's ['Grange Hill' creator] brilliantly realised idea and of course it's sad to say goodbye to such a much loved institution. The lives of children have changed a great deal since 'Grange Hill' began and we owe it to our audience to reflect this."
She continued: "We're actively seeking out new and exciting ways of bringing social realism to the CBBC audience through drama and other genres. Yesterday we announced two 'Newsround' Specials tackling divorce and knife crime and we will continue to make programmes about the ups and downs of contemporary Britain."
Jon East, Head of CBBC Drama, said: "For 30 years, Grange Hill has become a byword for realistic and contemporary children's drama. It's now time to apply what we've learned over the years to some of the new ideas we're exploring."
Carrie Underwood - Underwood Outs Cruel Ex
CARRIE UNDERWOOD has named and shamed the boyfriend who was too embarrassed to be seen with her after a softball accident in a new magazine interview.
The pretty country star was left with a broken nose and two black eyes when the ball struck her squarely in the face - and her cruel boyfriend only made her feel worse.
She recalls, "I went on a date to the movies that night, and the guy wouldn't even take me out to eat after.
"The next day he told everyone he was embarrassed to be seen with me."
But Underwood has had the last laugh twice - snubbing the ex after she won American Idol and now naming him in an Instyle article.
She adds, "After Idol I went back home and signed autographs, and his younger siblings were there.
"They said, 'Do you remember Justin? He wanted us to give you his number.' Guess what? I did not call him."
See Also
Enslavement Of Beauty
Artist: Enslavement Of Beauty
Genre(s):
Rock
Metal
Discography:
Traces O' Red
Year: 2001
Tracks: 10
Megalomania
Year: 2001
Tracks: 14
Megalomani
Year: 2001
Tracks: 14
Megalomani
Year: 2001
Tracks: 12
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