NEW JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE SONG LEAKED
A new Justin Timberlake track has been leaked. The song, titled “Take You Down,” hit the Internet last week. JT has said over and over again that he’s not ready to record a new album, but recently, the singer-turned-actor hit the studio for collaborations with other artists and did some recording for himself. The song is reportedly produced by the Neptunes. JT’s last album was 2006’s FutureSex/LoveSounds.
LADY GAGA TWEETS ALBUM RELEASE DATE
In case you missed the big announcement, as promised, Lady Gaga took to Twitter at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve to announce that her forthcoming album, Born This Way, will arrive in stores in May, while a new single will arrive in February. Along with the announcement, Gaga tweeted a new black-and-white photo in which she is nude from the waist down and wearing a jacket with the album’s title emblazoned in what look like bedazzled jewels.
JUSTIN BIEBER TALKS GOOD MUSIC
MTV News caught up with Justin Bieber at a charity event for an Atlanta radio station recently, where he said he doesn’t think of his music as a specific genre. The teen phenom explained, “Whatever comes out of my mouth is just what you guys are going to hear,” adding, “I don’t know, it’s not a specific type of music. Whatever music I write, I wouldn’t say I’m pop or R&B or country or anything: I would just say it’s just good music.” The 16-year-old has been working with a variety of artists, from Usher to Kanye West and Raekwon, and on future projects with Diddy, Lil Twist and Rascal Flatts, so the young man is certainly covering his musical bases.
BRUNO MARS STARTS NEW YEAR AT NUMBER ONE!
Bruno Mars starts 2011 with a number one hit as “Grenade” climbs one spot to the summit of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It marks his second straight number one hit off his Hooligan’s and Doo-Wops album. Katy Perry falls one spot to number two, while Ke$ha’s “We R Who We R” is up two notches to number three, Rihanna and Drake’s “What’s My Name?” is down a spot to number four, while P!nk’s “Raise Your Glass” falls one notch at number five.
RIHANNA TOPS SOCIAL 50
Rihanna begins 2011 at the top of Billboard’s new Social 50 chart. Justin Bieber is up one spot to number two, while Lady Gaga is up three spots to number three. The Black Eyed Peas are at number four and Eminem comes in at number five. Akon, Enrique Iglesias, Michael Jackson, Linkin Park and Katy Perry round out the top ten.
NEW 50 CENT FILM COMING IN APRIL
According to XXLMag.com, 50 Cent has announced that his newest film, Blood Out, will hit the big screen this spring. The mogul, who just inked a 200-million dollar deal for his production company, will star alongside Val Kilmer in the revenge flick. Expect the project to be out sometime in April.
JAY-Z, KANYE WEST ALBUM COMING SOON
Jay-Z and Kanye West rang in the New Year with good news. Shortly after performing a New Year’s Eve concert in Las Vegas, Yeezy told the crowd that their joint album, Watch The Throne, will be released in one week! The disc wasn’t expected to be done until February. We’ll keep you posted with further updates.
WINEHOUSE KEEPS DRINKING IN 2011
Amy Winehouse is starting off 2011 just like you might imagine — by drinking. According to the New York Post, the embattled singer-songwriter was seen drinking mojitos at a London bar after getting in a quick workout beforehand.
U2 LEND MAROON 5 THEIR PRIVATE PLANE
Sometimes, it’s good to have famous friends. According to Billboard, Maroon 5 were in a jam recently when they couldn’t get a flight to Trinidad for a gig there. Well apparently, U2 let the So-Cal rockers borrow the plane they’ve been using for their 360 tour to get the guys to the island. Frontman Adam Levine thanked the band via Twitter, writing that their jet was “kick ass.”
BLACKOUT AT BEP’S NYE SHOW
The Black Eyed Peas put on a New Year’s Eve show for Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich in the Caribbean, but it appears that things didn’t go quite as smoothly as they would have hoped. According to the New York Post, right as everyone screamed “Happy New Year,” the power cut off and “it was a long time” before things could get going again. This didn’t stop Fergie from getting the crowd going by chanting some of the words to their hit song “I Gotta Feeling.” There were many stars in attendance at the bash, including Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore, Salma Hayek, Ellen DeGeneres and more.
LIL WAYNE TO HEADLINE BAMBOOZLE FEST
According to his official website, Lil Wayne has just been added to a list of confirmed performers for the 2011 Bamboozle Music Festival. Weezy will join be other hip hop acts including Wiz Khalifa, Waka Flocka Flame and Bruno Mars on the lineup, as well as other artists from various genres of music. The annual even will be held in East Rutherford, New Jersey at the New Meadowlands Sports Complex from April 29th to May 1st, 2011. Visit TheBamboozle.com to learn more!
MORE ON GAGA’S COLLABORATION WITH POLAROID
Thursday is an important day for Lady Gaga. That’s when her collaboration with Polaroid, the Grey Label, will be revealed. Information about what it is exactly is still scarce, but if you head to Polaroid.com now, you can see a clock counting down to when all of our questions will be answered. Be sure to be glued to your computer at 6:30 PM Eastern on Thursday to find the answers.
RUSSELL POSTS A BAD PIC OF KATY
Could Katy Perry and Russell Brand just have had their first fight as husband and wife? According to British paper the Daily Telegraph, the comedian posted a pic of his bride sans makeup on his Twitter page, and it was almost immediately taken down, by what was a presumably angry Katy. Even though the picture is deleted, if you search hard enough, you can find it on various Internet sites.
KATY THINKS GUYS WILL COME TO HER SHOWS
It’s not just girls that are excited to see Katy Perry hit the road this year. According to ContactMusic.com, the pop star knows that it’s the ladies who are her bread and butter, but “a lot of girls are bringing their boyfriends along” and she thinks they “aren’t dragging their feet.” Katy is set to tour all over Europe beginning in mid-February.
PRINCE TEAMS UP WITH CYNDI LAUPER
Prince played a show at Madison Square Garden in New York City, and he had a special guest join him on stage. The pop icon performed a cover of Morris Day and the Time’s “Jungle Love,” and none other than Cyndi Lauper came out for a little duet. Check out some video of it at PerezHilton.com.
ALL ABOUT AUBREY
Aubrey O’Day took to Twitter to announce the name of the forthcoming Oxygen reality show she has been filming for months. The former Danity Kane member tweeted just after midnight on New Year’s Day that the show will be called All About Aubrey.
PARAMORE WORKING ON NEW SONG
It seems Paramore is working on a new album. In the wake of the news that Zac and Josh Farro have left the band, singer Hayley Williams tweeted that the group started work on a new song. The frontwoman says guitarist Taylor York sent her the first official demo for their next album on December 30th and she is “so hopeful and motivated for the future.” The band’s next album is the follow-up to 2009’s Brand New Eyes. Justin York and drummer Josh Freese have temporarily joined the band for an upcoming tour.
FERGIE’S NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION
It’s 2011, which means it’s time for people to do their New Year’s resolutions. Well Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas has a pretty interesting one — that she wants to tour with her group a little bit less (See Related Cut #4). As Fergie mentioned, she does have that one very big gig coming up. The BEP’s will be playing the Super Bowl halftime show on February 6th.
SOULJA BOY CREDITED ON “WHIP MY HAIR”
Soulja Boy recently tweeted that he helped write Willow Smith’s “Whip My Hair” single, but it turns out that this is only semi-true. RapRadar.com reports that the rapper has received “interpolation credit” for Will and Jada’s daughter using his line: “Hop out the bed turn my swag on.” Another check for SB!
FLORENCE HANGS WITH A GOSSIP GIRL
Florence Welch from Florence and the Machine made some Hollywood friends this holiday season. The red-headed singer was photographed partying with Blake Lively on New Year’s Eve in Las Vegas. Florence and the Machine have begun work on the follow-up to their GRAMMY nominated album, Lungs, but no word as to when we’ll hear new music.
WHEN YOU CAN SEE BILLIE JOE ON BROADWAY
Billie Joe Armstrong has begun his run on Broadway in the role of “St. Jimmy” in the American Idiot musical. The singer will be in 50 performances of the show, but the shows are not consecutive. Armstrong will star in the show January 1st through the 8th, January 18th to the 30th and February 10th through the 27th. Learn more at GreenDay.com.
FOO FIGHTERS ALBUM BEING MASTERED
It seems Foo Fighters are getting closer and closer to the release of their new album. The band wrote on Twitter yesterday to say that their album is currently being mastered. The record is the group’s seventh studio album and their follow-up to 2007’s Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace.
