USHER TO TOUR WITH AKON SOON
We’ve just learned Usher has not only announced the dates for the second leg of his OMG tour, but the crooner intends to bring Akon on as a supporting act. The trek kicks off in April and travels through major markets including Atlantic City, Chicago, Orlando, Los Angeles and more. Head over to his official website to learn more!
B.O.B. PERFORMS ON A PLANE
B.o.B. surprised passengers on a Delta Airlines flight to Los Angeles by performing his GRAMMY-nominated song, “Airplanes.” If only Eminem and Hayley Williams from Paramore were onboard too!
VIDEO LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGLZ36p8vas
CHRISTINA APOLOGIZES
By now, everyone knows that Christina Aguilera flubbed some of the words while singing the National Anthem before Super Bowl 45. Well the “Genie in a Bottle” singer came out with a statement, apologizing for her momentary memory lapse, saying, “I got so caught up in the moment of the song that I lost my place. I can only hope that everyone could feel my love for this country and that the true spirit of its anthem still came through.” Read more at MTV.com.
BRUNO IS READY FOR THE GRAMMY’S
The GRAMMY’s are this Sunday, and Bruno Mars is hoping to take home a trophy. The singer-songwriter, who is up for seven awards, told the L-A Times that he’s “crossing” his fingers, but that he already is “feeling like a winner” anyway. Read the whole interview at LATimes.com. The GRAMMY’s air Sunday night at 8 PM Eastern on CBS.
ELTON JOHN TALKS GAGA
Lady Gaga and Elton John teamed up to record a duet for the film Gnomeo & Juliet, and the “Tiny Dancer” singer has nothing but nice things to say about the pop star. According to WENN, John called Gaga a “phenomenal star,” and said that the two have actually “become friends.” Gnomeo & Juliet hits theaters on Friday.
GAGA IS EXCITED FOR “BORN THIS WAY”
Fans of Lady Gaga aren’t the only ones excited that her single “Born This Way” is coming out on Friday — the pop star herself is over the moon about it too. Gaga wrote on her Twitter page that she “can’t wait any longer” for the song to be released. Follow her at Twitter.com/LadyGaga.
“BornThisWayFriday” has been a trending topic on Twitter for more than a day now.
MORE KATY PERRY ON GLEE TONIGHT
During the Super Bowl episode of Glee, the students sang Katy Perry’s song “California Gurls,” and on tonight’s ep, Lea Michelle will be tackling another Perry hit. According to People, her character, “Rachel,” will be singing “Firework,” and you can listen to it before it airs at People.com.
KATY ON THE COVER OF ELLE MAGAZINE
Katy Perry is on the cover of the March issue of Elle magazine. According to PerezHilton.com, the pop star is seen wearing a “very bright jewel tone suit” by Gucci. Check out the cover on the gossip site now.
KATY TALKS “SMURFETTE”
Katy Perry is voicing “Smurfette” in the forthcoming Smurfs movie, and apparently, playing a cartoon character was the “natural” thing for her to do. Why? Well the pop star told the Associated Press that she feels “like a cartoon” the majority of the time anyway, so why not do it in a movie. She added that making the film was “really fun” for her.
JESSIE J IS NUMBER ONE IN THE U-K
Jessie J has just gotten her first number one hit in the U-K. According to ILikeMusic.com, the English pop star’s song “Price Tag,” which features B.o.B., is on the top of the singles chart across the pond. This is J’s second single — her first, “Do It Like a Dude,” peaked at number two.
NEW SONG FROM COLBIE CAILLAT
Colbie Caillat has just released her first single off of her yet-to-be-titled forthcoming album. It’s a song called “I Do” and you can download it on iTunes now.
MICHAEL FRANTI’S NEW SINGLE
Michael Franti has just released the next single off of his 2010 album, The Sound of Sunshine. It’s the tune “I’ll Be Waiting,” and the singer-songwriter has created a video for it and posted the clip on his official website so you can easily learn all the words to the song. Head to MichaelFranti.com and check it out now.
MADONNA TO BE SUED OVER DAUGHTER?
Is Madonna being sued by the birth parents of adopted daughter Mercy for breaking an agreement to let them visit with her? Well, if you believe British paper The Sun, she might be. It seems that relatives of Mercy are supposed to have “regular access” to her, but that Madge has made “no effort” to set up a reunion. If the paper is to be believed, Madonna could be facing a court case after Mercy’s biological family enlisted the help of a civil rights charity. Learn more at TheSun.co.uk.
T-PAIN AND CHRIS COLLABORATES
T-Pain and Chris Brown have joined forces once more to create a new song called “Bes Luv Song,” which will be included on the Auto-Tune singer’s upcoming album, rEVOLVEr. As previously reported, Pain is waiting for Drake to submit his guest vocals so that he can release his long-awaited LP later this year.
TIDBIT: Visit T-Pain’s Twitter page to hear his Chris Brown-assisted single.
CHRIS WANTS TO DO HALFTIME SHOW WITH GAGA
Chris Brown took to his Twitter page to suggest who should perform the half time show at next year’s Super Bowl game. Breezy wrote, “Me and Lady Gaga should do the halftime show next year. What [do] ya’ll think?” Interestingly enough, the crooner deleted the tweet shortly after posting it.
LIL WAYNE TO SPILL ON LIFE AFTER PRISON
We’ve just learned Lil Wayne will be sitting down with MTV News’ Sway Calloway for his first live interview since being released from Rikers Island. The rapper, who completed eight months on gun possession charges, will not only be discussing life after prison, but will also answer fans’ questions live. Immediately following the interview, fans will be able to check out the Hype Williams-directed video premiere of Weezy’s new single, “6 Foot 7 Foot” featuring Cory Gunz. MTV and MTV.com will air the special on Thursday at 8 PM Eastern.
DAWN DROPS NEW MIXTAPE
We recently posted links for a couple tracks off Dawn Richard’s new mixtape, A Prelude To #ATellTaleHeart. And now, the Diddy-Dirty Money member has posted the project on her personal blog, DawnRichardBlog.com, and it’s available as a free download. Be sure to check out the 15-track mixtape today!
Tracklist for A Prelude To #ATellTaleHeart
1. “Intro (The Fall)”
2. “Superman”
3. “Biggest Fan”
4. “Hey”
5. “Me Myself & Y”
6. “Broken Record”
7. “I Know” (ft. Kalenna)
8. “Let Love In”
9. “I’m Just Saying”
10. “Superhero (Accapella)”
11. “Runway”
12. “These Tears”
13. “Vibrate”
14. “Champion”
15. “Bulletproof”
MTV2 HONORS BLACK HISTORY MONTH
MTV2’s Sucker Free Countdown will kick off Black History Month with episodes celebrating some of hip hop’s biggest stars. Guest appearances will include music legends like Dipset, Slaughterhouse, Snoop Dogg and many others. Tune in every Sunday this month at 11 PM Eastern to learn more about some of the best rappers to ever do it!
LIL WAYNE’S I AM MUSIC II TOUR SELLING OUT FAST!
Word of advice: get your tickets for Lil Wayne’s upcoming I Am Music 2 tour with special guests Nicki Minaj, Rick Ross and Travis Barker before it’s too late! Fans already flocked to get their passes and select venues sold out in less than 30 minutes. The 24-city outing kicks off on March 18th in Buffalo, New York. For more information and remaining dates, visit Ticketmaster.com today!
Weezy’s 2009 trek grossed over 40-million dollars.
TAYLOR SWIFT AND COMPANY LAND IN SINGAPORE
Taylor Swift spent the weekend with a friend in L-A before hopping on a plane to begin her Speak Now World Tour on Saturday night. Taylor wrote on Twitter, “We’re in beautiful Singapore. Just went exploring. Now it’s time for room service and a Friends marathon.” Singapore’s Taylor fanatics gave her a welcoming arrival at the airport. Swift’s guitarist, Grant Mickelson, tweeted to them, “You RULED my world today! Thank you SO SO much for waiting on us to land! I can’t wait for the show!” The first show is tomorrow night. After Singapore, the tour travels to South Korea, Japan and the Philippines.
JENNIFER HUDSON TO PERFORM ON OPRAH
This Thursday, Jennifer Hudson is scheduled to perform on The Oprah Winfrey Show. The singer, who is currently promoting her upcoming I Remember Me effort, is expected to showcase the first single off the album, “Where You At.” If that’s not enough, J-Hud will also dish out details on her dramatic weight loss and how she’s coping with the recent deaths in her family.
Hudson’s sophomore LP arrives on March 22nd.
DRAKE’S DEBUT ALBUM IS GRAMMY NOMINATED
As the days wind down to the biggest night in music, Drake must feel good knowing his debut album, Thank Me Later, has been nominated for Best Rap Album at the GRAMMYs this year. The rapper recently told us the biggest advice Lil Wayne ever gave him when it came down to writing great material (See Related Cut #5). Be sure to tune in this Sunday for the 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards.
TREY SONGZ FACING 18-MILLION DOLLAR LAWSUIT!
According to AllHipHop.com, Trey Songz has been sued for allegedly not crediting the producers who contributed to creating his hit single, “Bottoms Up” featuring Nicki Minaj. Not only is the crooner and Atlantic Records named in the 18-million dollar suit, but Kodak has been mentioned for using the song during a commercial featuring Trey. Head over to the site to learn more!
COLDPLAY TO HEADLINE GLASTONBURY
Still no word as to when Coldplay will put out their new album but the band is set to play some pretty big shows this year. Chris Martin and the guys are headlining the U-K’s biggest festival, Glastonbury, on June 25th. U2 is rumored to headline the night before, but that date is yet to be confirmed.
Coldplay’s last album, Viva La Vida, came out in June 2008.
KINGS OF LEON READY TO PARTY AT GRAMMY AWARDS
Kings of Leon are up for two GRAMMYs this year for their song “Radioactive.” That means the boys will be heading to Los Angeles this week for the big show and it seems drummer Nathan Followill is excited. He wrote on Twitter, “Gotta love GRAMMY week. Ready to get my party on.”
