RIHANNA SCORES 10th NUMBER ONE SINGLE!
Rihanna’s “S&M” rises to the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, giving the singer her 10th number one and ownership of a pair of historic chart records. According to Billboard, Ri Ri logs the shortest span between a solo artist’s first and 10th number one hits in the chart’s 52-year history. It took Rihanna only four years, 11 months and two weeks to score 10 chart-toppers. At 23, she is the youngest artists in history with 10 number ones.
CEE-LO GREEN TALKS “FORGET YOU”
Cee-Lo Green taped his Vh1 Storytellers on Tuesday night at Sony Studios in Culver City, California. The soul crooner performed songs from his entire career from Goodie Mob classics like “Soul Food” to Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” and “Who’s Gonna Save My Soul” to his latest solo hit, “Forget You.” We caught up with Cee-Lo, who told us that song is about his frustration with his record label after they said they were not happy with his songs he had recorded for his latest album.
Vh1 Storytellers: Cee-Lo Green will air Friday, May 20th.
THE BLACK EYED PEAS TO OPEN MUSIC ACADEMY IN NYC
The Black Eyed Peas are opening a school where teenagers will learn video and music production using professional-quality equipment. According to The Associated Press, the group announced that their Peapod Foundation, together with the Adobe Foundation, will open a Peapod Adobe Youth Voices music and multimedia academy in lower Manhattan. The New York academy will offer classes to student’s ages 13 to 19 starting this July. The academy will be housed in a facility operated by Urban Arts Partnership, which runs after-school arts programs for teens who attend high-poverty schools. Students will be accepted into the academy based on recommendations from teachers and demonstrated interests in subject areas such as camera work, editing and graphic design.
KATY PERRY & FOOS TOP ITUNES CHART
Katy Perry tops this week’s iTunes singles chart with her Kanye West collaboration “E.T.” Rihanna’s “S&M” remix featuring Britney Spears comes in at number two, followed by the Black Eyed Peas’ “Just Can’t Get Enough,” “Lady Gaga’s “Judas” and Adele’s “Rolling In The Deep.” The Foo Fighters top the iTunes album chart with Wasting Light, followed by Adele’s 21, the compilation Songs for Japan, Alison Krauss & Union Station’s Paper Airplane and Mumford & Sons’ Sigh No More.
GAGA DOES NOT APPROVE WEIRD AL PARODY
According to PopDust.com, Lady Gaga did not approve Weird Al Yankovic’s parody of “Born This Way,” titled “Perform This Way.” The song, which can be heard on YouTube with a lyrics scroll, was supposed to be the first single from his upcoming album. It did not receive Lady Gaga’s approval so as of now, it will not be featured on the effort. In the parody, he pokes fun at all the strange costume choices Gaga has made over the years and compares her to Madonna. At the end of the clip, Weird Al states that all proceed from the song and video would have gone to the Human Rights Campaign. According to TMZ.com, Gaga has not even heard the song. They are reporting she is a fan of Yankovic’s and would not block him from doing a parody of one of her songs. We will keep you posted.
LISTEN! You can listen to Weird Al’s “Perform This Way” here: http://goo.gl/AcLpB
GAGA POSTS ANOTHER GAGAVISION
Lady Gaga has posted the latest installment of her Gagavision YouTube series online. Episode number 43 consists of some music from her forthcoming album Born This Way, and in a touching moment, the pop star reveals that the hardest part about writing the record was that she had to become “confident and secure” in herself. See the video on YouTube now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6Gs6d1-Sew
COULD “JUDAS” BE RELEASED ON EASTER?
Could we be seeing Lady Gaga’s new video for her song “Judas” in just a few days? NME is reporting that there are rumors floating around that the clip may debut on Easter Sunday. It would certainly keep consistent with the religious imagery that’s being portrayed in the video, with an actor playing Judas Iscariot and Gaga herself playing Mary Magdalene. We’ll keep you posted.
GAGA TALKS MADONNA COMPARISONS
Lady Gaga does not feel that she needs to apologize to people who think that her song “Born This Way” sounds similar to Madonna’s ‘80s hit “Express Yourself.” The pop star told NME magazine that she was “f***ing shell-shocked” by the comparisons, and that “if you put the songs next to each other, side by side, the only similarities are the chord progression.” She added that it doesn’t mean she’s a “plagiarist,” it just means she’s “f***ing smart.” Read more at NME.com.
GWEN STEFANI AUCTION TO BENEFIT JAPAN
As we previously reported, Gwen Stefani is holding an auction on eBay to benefit Save the Children’s Japan Earthquake-Tsunami Children in Emergency Fund. There are only a few more days to bid on great items like joining Stefani at an exclusive Harajuku-themed tea party at Royal/T in Los Angeles on June 7th. Other auction items include vintage L.A.M.B. clothing straight from Gwen’s own closet and limited-edition Harajuku Lovers t-shirts, signed and numbered by Stefani. The online auction ends on Monday.
Check out the auction items here: http://stores.ebay.com/Gwen-Stefani-Charity-Auction.
DEMI LOVATO GRATEFUL FOR SONNY
Demi Lovato has been opening up more and more since leaving a treatment facility to deal with her eating disorder and self-mutilation. On Tuesday, she announced she was leaving her Disney show, Sonny With a Chance, saying that “being in front of a camera would make me nervous.” Lovato instead wants to focus on music and was tweeting with producer Timbaland about their upcoming collaboration. She has been very active on Twitter, thanking fans for standing by her through her recent issues. Demi said she will be forever grateful for her experience on Sonny and encouraged fans to tune into the show’s spin-off called So Random, starring Tiffany Thornton.
WHAT’S IN CHRISTINA’S IPOD?
Rap-Up.com recently caught up with Christina Aguilera to find out what she is listening to these days. Aguilera, who is a mentor and vocal coach on the new NBC show The Voice, said she has been spinning Rihanna, Eminem, Kanye West, Adele, Cee-Lo Green, Bruno Mars, Far East Movement, Radiohead and Blake Shelton. She added that she likes listening to “Keep on Singin’ My Song” off her Stripped record saying, “It holds special meaning to me and the lyrics will always resonate.”
JESSIE J LAUNCHES JOURNALISM COMPEITION
Jessie J is launching a new writing competition along with British newspaper The Sun. Column Idol 2011 encourages youth to pursue careers in journalism by providing aspiring writers an opportunity to have their articles printed in The Sun. The British singer believes the contest provides an outlet for young people to have their voice heard stating, “Young people are always saying that they want to be heard. This is an opportunity for them to step up and do it.” The grand prize for six finalists is a writing workshop and tuition from the newspaper.
MIKE POSNER LOVES PAUL SIMON
Paul Simon’s new album, So Beautiful or So What, debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 chart, selling just under 70-thousand copies. We can be pretty sure that one of the people who bought the album was Mike Posner, because the singer told us that he couldn’t wait for it to drop (See Related Cut #3). Pick up So Beautiful or So What in stores now.
NATASHA BEDINGFIELD TO TOUR
Natasha Bedingfield is heading out on a summer tour. According to a press release, the trek will kick off June 5th takes the singer-songwriter to 29 cities before it wraps up on July 16th. Joining her will be Kate Voegele and up-and-coming singer-songwriter Andy Grammer. Get all the details and see all the dates at NatashaBedingfield.com.
NICKI MINAJ AND “THE LAPDANCE”
During Lil Wayne’s I Am Music II tour, Nicki Minaj has consistently delivered lap dances to fans and celebrities while performing her verse to Sean Kingston’s “No Letting Go.” The fem-cee started the tour kick-off by grinding on one of her male fans. As the show hit different cities, Nicki danced on Wayne’s lap, then on a female fan, then on NBA guard Chris Paul, and just last night (4/19), Nicki made the Phoenix Suns’ point guard, Steve Nash, smile. According to Minaj, she’s been waiting a long time to showcase her many talents (See Related Cut #5). In case you haven’t seen the footage, YouTube has video of Nicki’s infamous lap dances.
JAMIE FOXX TALKS BIGGEST MOMENT OF CAREER
While promoting his latest animated film, Rio, Jamie Foxx sat down with us to recall all of his accomplishments over the years. The man who has won an Oscar revealed why his hit song, “Blame It,” is one of his biggest feats to date (See Related Cut #6). His most recent single, “Fall For Your Type” featuring Drake, is sitting at the number 17 spot on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop chart.
DAWN RICHARD DEBUTS MINI-DOCU JOURNAL
Dawn Richard of Diddy-Dirty Money has released a mini-documentary journal titled Behind The Dream. To get a closer look at the personal life of the singer, head to DawnRichardBlog.com.
DIRECT LINK: Episode 1 — http://vimeo.com/22504539
DIRECT LINK: Episode 2 — http://vimeo.com/22587598
BLACK EYED PEAS ON MTV’S ABDC
The Black Eyed Peas will make a special appearance on this week’s episode of MTV’s Randy Jackson Presents America’s Best Dance Crew as the “Superstar of the Week.” Eight crews will showcase their choreography skills set to one of the smash hits from BEP. Catch the episode tonight at 10 PM Eastern on MTV.
FIRST PICTURE OF SWIFT AND HEDLUND’S NASHVILLE DATE
Star magazine claims they have the first photo of Taylor Swift and Garrett Hedlund on their April 1st date in Nashville. Sources told Us Weekly that Taylor and the Tron: Legacy actor had dinner together but didn’t stay out late. Star magazine has printed a semi-blurry photo of the two walking together in Nashville inside their latest issue.
http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/58538086.html
GLEE CAST COVERS TRAIN
Recently on the Today Show, Darren Criss & The Warblers, who of course are all from the cast of Glee, performed a cover of Train’s hit song “Hey, Soul Sister.” If you missed it, check out the full performance at Today.com.
A PREVIEW OF GLEE’S BORN THIS WAY EPISODE
Next Tuesday’s Glee is the one that hardcore fans have been waiting for — the 90-minute episode based on Lady Gaga’s hit song “Born This Way.” A new preview of the ep is online now, so head to FOX.com to check it out.
ADELE DROPS TO NUMBER TWO ON BILLBOARD CHART
Adele lost her spot at the top of the Billboard 200 chart to the Foo Fighters, but she still has nothing to be ashamed of. Her album, 21, is sitting in the number two spot, selling another 90-thousand, with her domestic total now reaching 1.1-million copies sold.
50 CENT SEEKS RELATIVES IN NEW VH1 SERIES
50 Cent has reportedly signed on to look for family members in a new Vh1 series called The Origin of Me. The mogul will return to South Carolina to seek his ancestors in Edgefield County, which was once known as one of the “most violent places in the South.” Fans can expect the show to premiere on May 23rd at 9 PM Eastern on Vh1.
KANYE WEST FOUNDATION CLOSES DOWN
The New York Times reports Kanye West has decided to shut down his charity program, the Kanye West Foundation. The organization, which raised money to help kids excel in school and music, closed after four years for unknown reasons. Yeezy has declined to comment.
THREE 6 MAFIA TO BE ON COOKING SHOW?
We’ve just learned Three 6 Mafia will appear in a new upcoming cooking series on Vh1. DJ Paul and Juicy J will compete against Heidi Montag of MTV’s The Hills, Real Housewives of New Jersey’s Danielle Staub, Jake Pavelka from The Bachelor, singer Ashley Dupre and The Sopranos’ Vincent Pastore to see who can successfully run a restaurant owned by The Dolce Group. Viewers can expect the reality show, Famous Food, to premiere this fall.
VH1: STORYTELLERS: KINGS OF LEON
Be sure to tune into Vh1 on May 13th for Vh1 Storytellers: Kings of Leon. The intimate show features songs from the band’s decade long career as well as the stories behind their music. The episode kicks off the 15th anniversary season of the show. Tune in May 13th at 11 PM Eastern on Vh1.
HEAR ELTON JOHN AND MATTHEW MORRISON’S DUET
Elton John teamed up with Glee’s Matthew Morrison to do a duet — a mash-up of Elton’s songs “Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters” and “Rocket Man.” The collaboration was announced last year but you can finally get the song now at Amazon.com. It’ll be on Morrison’s debut album, which hits shelves in May.
50 CENT JOINS NICOLE’S MUSIC VIDEO
MTV News reports 50 Cent helped former Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger shoot a video for her song “Right There,” which features his guest vocals. The video was directed by Paul Hunter and shot in L-A. Nicole said of the clip, “I wanted to kinda keep the video pretty simple because I wanted it iconic.” She added, “The way you get iconic pictures and memorable videos is just by keeping it simple.” There’s no word on when the clip will premiere.