JUSTIN BIEBER CLIMBS BACK TO NUMBER ONE
Just one week after Justin Bieber’s mentor, Usher, topped the charts, the 16-year-old singer will climb back to the top of the Billboard album chart next week with his second album, My World 2.0. After falling down to number two to make room for the chart debut of Usher’s Raymond v Raymond, Bieber reclaimed the number one spot, selling over 102-thousand copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. That gives the “Baby” singer a three-week total of more than 675-thousand copies. Usher’s 92-thousand copies shifted was enough to keep the self-titled debut solo album from former Guns ‘N Roses guitarist Slash, who will bow at number three, selling over 60-thousand copies of his self-titled album. The rest of the top 10 is largely unchanged, with this year’s top-selling album, Lady Antebellum’s Need You Now, at number four, Now 33 at number five, Monica’s Still Standing at number six, Lady Gaga’s The Fame at number seven, Bieber’s My World at number eight and Erykah Badu’s New Amerykah Part Two: Return of the Ankh at number nine. The live CD from Madonna’s Sticky & Sweet Tour will enter the chart at number 10.
TRAIN & JACK JOHNSON TOP iTUNES CHART
Train once again have the top downloaded song on iTunes as “Hey, Soul Sister” held off B.o.B’s “Nothin’ On You” featuring Bruno Mars. Rihanna’s “Rude Boy” comes in at number three, while “Break Your Heart” from Taio Cruz and Ludacris follows. Jason Derulo rises to number five with “In My Head.” Jack Johnson’s To The Sea album, which will be released in June, tops the album chart on pre-order sales alone. Slash’s long-awaiting self-titled debut is at number two, while Usher is at number three with Raymond v Raymond. Justin Bieber’s My World 2.0 and the Lady Antebellum’s Need You Now round out the top five albums on iTunes. <JC>
PHILLY PHANATIC GOES GAGA
The “Philly Phanatic” is the long-time mascot of the defending National League Champion Philadelphia Phillies. The “Phanatic” has been known to pull out a few pop culture references when entertaining tens of thousands of fans at the games. During the Phillies’ home-opener on Monday, the “Phanatic” dressed up as Lady Gaga, donning the red outfit she wore at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. The “Phanatic” danced to “Bad Romance” as it blasted out of the speakers at Philly’s Citizens Bank Park, and tried to woo Washington Nationals third base coach Pat Listache. The Gaga Dance worked as the home-town Phillies beat the Nationals 7 to 4.
http://www.the700level.com/2010/04/lady-gaga-phanatic-is-scary.html
GAGA GETS A TEMPORARY TAT
Lady Gaga was seen going around Japan sporting some interesting ink on her arm. According to PerezHilton.com, the pop star got a temporary tattoo on her left arm in Katakana script. When translated into English, the tat reads “I Love Little Monsters,” which is, of course, what Gaga calls her fans. See a picture of the ink on the gossip site now.
PREVIEW B.O.B’S DEBUT ALBUM BEFORE IT DROPS
B.o.B wants all of his fans to know that his upcoming debut album, B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray, has more to offer than just his smash hit, “Nothing On You.” The Grand Hustle newcomer has provided 30-second snippets of all the songs on his project. Head over to YouTube now for your first listen and pick up the effort when it comes out on April 27th.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_me-jtDJWM
Tracklist for The Adventures of Bobby Ray:
1. “Don’t Let Me Fall”
2. “Nothin’ on You” (feat. Bruno Mars)
3. “Past My Shades” (feat. Lupe Fiasco)
4. “Airplanes” (feat. Hayley Williams of Paramore)
5. “Bet I” (feat. T.I. & Playboy Tre)
6. “Ghost in the Machine”
7. “The Kids” (feat. Janelle Monáe)
8. “Magic” (feat. Rivers Cuomo)
9. “Fame”
10. “Lovelier Than You”
11. “5th Dimension” (feat. Ricco Barrino)
12. “Airplanes, Part II” feat. Eminem & Hayley Williams of Paramore
IS MADONNA’S DAUGHTER GOING TO FAME SCHOOL?
Could Madonna’s daughter Lourdes be headed to a prestigious New York City school? According to the New York Daily News, the Queen of Pop’s eldest child is said to have auditioned to attend LaGuardia High School, made famous after appearing in the movie Fame. Madge’s longtime publicist, Liz Rosenberg, wouldn’t comment directly on the situation, saying only that they do indeed live in New York at the moment, but that Madonna “didn’t tell” her anything about it.
P!NK GETS MINOR INJURY ON MOTORCYCLE
When you’re married to a motorcycle driver, injuries definitely can happen — just ask P!nk. The pop star wrote on her Twitter account that she “burnt” her legs on the pipes of husband Carey Hart’s motorcycle, and that “burns are no fun.” It apparently didn’t hurt the “So What” singer too badly though, as she tweeted later in the day that she went to yoga.
DAVID COOK TALKS NEW ALBUM
EW.com recently caught up with David Cook to ask him a few questions about his sophomore effort that he’s been working on. The former American Idol said that the follow-up to his self-titled debut will feature some collaborations, possibly with Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic, and described the choruses on most of the songs on the effort as being “massive.” Read the whole interview now at Music-Mix.EW.com.
TAYLOR SWIFT ACM PERFORMANCE DETAILS
Taylor Swift will perform at the Academy of Country Music Awards show this weekend with help from a 16-voice a cappella group called the Tritones. Taylor discovered the group on YouTube performing one of her songs, and she loved it so much she asked them to record with her. The show airs Sunday night on CBS.
SOULJA BOY IMPROVES LYRICALLY?
According to BET.com, Soulja Boy revealed that on his next album, which is called Dre but formally titled The DeAndre Way, he’s grown from a lyrical standpoint. The rapper believes that this time around “my lyrics are better, my lyrics are on another level. My beats are on another level. I’m richer. I look better and I’m more successful, it’s an upgrade.” The album is slated for a July 28th release.
AKON THINKS CHRISTINA IS COPYING GAGA
How does Akon feel about Christina Aguilera borrowing from Lady Gaga’s style? During a recent interview with Vibe, the hitmaker points out that Christina “always had her cool little look and way about how she went about things. But soon as Gaga came out everything switched up. Christina stepped out of her own shell to become something different.” Akon believes that “Christina is really talented. She has unlimited range when it comes to singing. Her voice is out of here,” however “she just needs to believe in herself more.” As far as Aguilera’s new “Not Myself Tonight” single, the “Smack That” singer prefers the “old Christina Aguilera” more than “the new one.” Head over to Vibe.com to read more.
AMY WINEHOUSE ALBUM UPDATE!
Could we be seeing the release of Amy Winehouse’s new album sometime in the near future? Producer Mark Ronson told British paper The Sun that “there’ll be something to hear quite soon.” He’s of course referring to the still untitled follow-up to the embattled singer’s 2006 effort, Back to Black. The DJ wouldn’t really elaborate besides saying “there’s something good coming.”
CIARA LEAKS “RIDE”
Rap-Up.com has grabbed the freshly released song from Ciara’s approaching Basic Instinct album. On her first single, “Ride,” the Atlanta-native teamed with Ludacris for the third time. The Tricky Stewart and The Dream-written and produced record is just a taste of what Ci Ci is cooking up on her fourth studio album. The project is slated to hit stores later this summer, with the video for “Ride” set to debut in coming weeks.
http://limelinx.com/files/fef5f59b217e5a05a6b5d94c9da905d2
BRET MICHAELS STILL IN HOSPITAL
Bret Michaels is still hospitalized following his emergency appendectomy on Monday. According to People.com, the 47-year-old Poison singer ran a fever overnight, which could be a sign of infection. Due to his health, Bret has had to postpone some shows on his current solo tour so stay up to date with his status at BretMichaels.com.
KANYE WEST INSPIRED LULLABIES?
Want to put your kids asleep to the sweet sounds of Kanye West? Well if so, you’re in luck! Rockabye Baby Records, which takes popular music and turns it into instrumental lullabies, has done just that the rapper’s tracks. Fans can now rock their kids to sleep to renditions of Ye’s classic songs like “Gold Digger,” “Good Life,” “Hey Mama” and “Good Morning.” To find out more info, head to RockAByeBabyMusic.com.
The recording company is best known for their lullaby renditions from bands like The Beatles and Metallica.
50 CENT TO PERFORM AT L-A’S CLUB NOKIA
50 Cent is scheduled to perform at the popular Club Nokia in Los Angeles on Friday, June 4th. In addition, fans can expect the mogul to be joined by fellow G-Unit rapper, Lloyd Banks. Ticket prices for the event range from $19.50 to 85 dollars and can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com as well as at the Staples Center Box Office.
In 2009, Club Nokia was awarded Best New Major Concert Venue at the 20th Annual Pollstar Concert Industry Awards and this year, it got the award for Nightclub of the Year at the event.
REASONS TO BE EXCITED ABOUT MUSIC: MGMT
Rolling Stone thinks we should all still be excited about music and in their latest issue, they’ve compiled 40 reasons why. Number 17 is New York duo MGMT. The band discusses their new album Congratulations and how it’s a return to their psychedelic roots and a departure from their massively popular 2007 album Oracular Spectacular. Read more at RollingStone.com now.
COACHELLA SET TIMES REVEALED!
The annual Coachella festival gets underway in the desert of Indio, California this weekend and the set times have finally been announced. All festivals present scheduling conflicts so who will you have to choose between this year? Well MGMT is playing at the same time as Muse, while Pavement will play one of their first U-S reunion gigs during Thom Yorke’s set. Jay-Z will take the stage at the same time as Public Image Ltd. and Phoenix will be rocking out around the same time as Sly Stone. Learn more at Coachella.com.
MUSIC FROM AMERICAN IDIOT MUSICAL ON MTV’S THE LEAK
Green Day’s American Idiot musical officially opens on Broadway next week, but the cast is knee deep in doing promotion for the show now. Fans who can’t make it all the way to the Big Apple can hear the official cast recording from the show now at MTV’s The Leak. Just head to MTV.com now to hear the theatrical interpretation of the band’s 2004 album. American Idiot opens on Broadway on Tuesday.
NAS ISSUES STATEMENT ON CONTEMPT CHARGES
Do you remember when contempt charges were files against Nas regarding his custody battle? Well, we’ve just learned the charges were withdrawn by Judge David Cunningham III and the rapper has reportedly paid the full balance of child support owed for his newborn son. Kelis’ ex-husband said in a statement, “All I want to do is make music and raise my kids. Nothing else matters.” In addition, the emcee is expected to pay his former wife’s hefty attorneys’ fees and over 40-thousand dollars in spousal support.
CHRIS BROWN PROMOTES VIRGINIA CENSUS
TMZ reports Chris Brown appeared at a Census rally yesterday in Richmond, Virginia and admitted that he wasn’t sure what the Census was all about. The singer stated in an interview, “I was unaware of it in the beginning too, I was like, ‘I’m not too sure what the Census is.” Head over to TMZ to watch the footage now.
EMINEM SCRAPS RELAPSE 2 AND PREPS RECOVERY
After confirming on Twitter that he wouldn’t be releasing a Relapse 2 album, Eminem has issued a statement explaining why. Slim Shady revealed that he “originally planned for Relapse 2 to come out last year, but as [he] kept recording and working with new producers, the idea of a sequel to Relapse started to make less and less sense.” The rap phenom is now going to record “a completely new album” called Recovery and the material on the new disc is expected to be “very different from Relapse.” The seventh studio project will receive production contributions from Just Blaze, Khalil, Jim Jonsin and Boi-1da. The disc drops on June 22nd.
To date, Eminem has sold over 78-million albums worldwide.
