REMEMBERING MICHAEL JACKSON
Saturday (6/25) marks the two year anniversary of the shocking and sudden death of Michael Jackson. The biggest pop star in history left us at the age of 50, while he was preparing for a big comeback tour. His funeral took place at the Staples Center in L-A and was a star-studded and solemn affair featuring performances from John Mayer, Mariah Carey and Lionel Richie.
JUSTIN BIEBER ATTACKED IN NYC
Justin Bieber was tackled by an unidentified man during an appearance at Macy’s Herald Square in Manhattan. Bieber was at the New York store to debut his new perfume, Someday, and went outside to greet fans who hadn’t made it into the unveiling. According to People magazine, when the 17-year-old exited the doors, the man leaped over a metal barrier and knocked Justin to the ground. The man was taken from the scene by police. According to news reports, Bieber was uninjured but “shaken up.”
DAVID GUETTA ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM
David Guetta will release his next album, Nothing But The Beat, on August 30th. The “Where Them Girls At” producer will also be headlining this year’s Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas on Saturday and Electric Zoo in New York City on September 3rd. The next single from the album, “Little Bad Girl” featuring Ludacris and Taio Cruz, will be released on Tuesday.
ENRIQUE IGLESIAS PREMIERES “DIRTY DANCER” VIDEO
Enrique Iglesias premiered the music video for “Dirty Dancer” this week. The video features Usher and Lil Wayne in a club where girls “dirty dance” between performance shots of the artists. The song is Iglasias’ sixth single off his 2010 album, Euphoria.
GYM CLASS HEROES SHOOT NEW VIDEO
Gym Class Heroes have shot a video for their new single, “Stereo Hearts.” The song is the first single from their upcoming album, The Papercut Chronicles II. The clip features the band casually hanging out while their shadows get wild and loose. “Stereo Hearts” was produced by Bennie Blanco and features Maroon 5’s Adam Levine on the hook. McCoy told MTV News that it is a “fun love song at the end of the day, and it’s definitely got a summertime vibe… and having Adam bless us with his vocal stylings doesn’t hurt much.” McCoy continued says that Levine “destroyed it.”
ADELE TOPS HOT 100 FOR SEVENTH WEEK
Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” scores a seventh week at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song was downloaded another 188-thousand times last week and has shifted over 3.8-million copies, according the Nielsen Soundscan. Pitbull’s “Give Me Everything” featuring Ne-Yo, AfroJack and Nayer holds at number two, LMFAO’s “Party Rock Anthem” featuring Lauren Bennett and GoonRock remains at number three, while Katy Perry’s “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)” leaps 28 spots to number four. Her “E.T.” falls one spot to number five.
JUSTIN BIEBER ON THE VIEW
Justin Bieber made his third appearance on The View, yesterday. The 17-year-old joined the ladies for their “Hot Topics” table and competed in a Segway scooter race with Elisabeth Hasselbeck.
ADELE RESCHEDULES TOUR DATES
People all over North America were disappointed when Adele announced that she had to cancel all the remaining dates on her tour due to serious issues with her voice. But now they can all start getting excited again. It was just announced on the singer’s official website that all shows have been rescheduled, beginning August 9th in Vancouver, Canada, and there were even a few extra dates added to boot. Check it out at Adele.tv.
PWT’S ON THE TONIGHT SHOW
Tonight, the Plain White T’s are going to be on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. The guys just finished playing a bunch of festivals over in Europe and they told us that they’re always happy to come back to perform in the states (See Related Cut #13). Be sure to check out the PWT’s tonight on The Tonight Show at 11:35 PM Eastern on NBC.
COLDPLAY EP OUT THIS SUNDAY
Coldplay are set to release their Every Teardrop is a Waterfall digital EP on Sunday via iTunes. The release features their single as well as two new tracks – “Major Minus” and “Moving to Mars.” The band is yet to announce a release date for their sixth studio album.
P!NK BLASTS THE PAPARAZZI
P!nk gave an exclusive “first shot” of her daughter, Willow Sage, to People magazine, and the singer took to her blog to explain why she did it. On PinksPage.com, she wrote a scathing open letter about the paparazzi in the United States — how they’re worse than any other country in the world with the measures that they’ll go to get a picture — and that she did an official “first shot” so the photogs would stop “stalking” her and her husband, Corey Hart. She added that she’s donating “all of the money” they were paid for the pictures to charity. Read it all at PinksPage.com.
TWEET OF THE DAY
From Sara Bareilles (@SaraBareilles) on P!nk’s most recent blog where she blasts the paparazzi — “I heart @Pink. She’s always tells it like it is. Get ‘em gurl.”
KATY PERRY ON THE COVER OF ROLLING STONE
Katy Perry is on the cover of next month’s Rolling Stone magazine, and in the article inside, she speaks about a number of topics, including her body. The pop star said that she “started praying” for breasts when she was 11, and that it was answered “above and beyond.” She goes on to talk about kids making fun of her, calling her “Over-the-Shoulder Boulder Holder.” Apparently it wasn’t until she was about 19 that she realized that she didn’t have to be ashamed of her looks, and that she’s okay after all the teasing — she doesn’t have “any psychological pain because of it.” Read more at RollingStone.com.
GAGA WANTS PEOPLE TO GO TO JAPAN
Lady Gaga has some words for the people who want to help Japan recover from the damage the country suffered in the giant earthquake and tsunami not too long ago. She simply says that you should go visit. In an interview with the Associated Press, the pop star, who is in the capital city of Tokyo for a benefit concert, said that Japan is “very safe,” and that “it’s fine” to go there. Gaga’s next stop after Japan is Taiwan on July 1st.
CAROLINA LIAR TALKS GAGA/ADELE
For the past month or so, there has been quite a battle atop the Billboard 200 chart between Lady Gaga’s latest album, Born This Way, and Adele’s sophomore effort, 21. Everyone has their opinion on which they like more, and Carolina Liar frontman Chad Wolf is no different. He filled us in with his take (See Related Cut #15). 21 and Born This Way sit at numbers three and four on the chart this week.
SEAN KINGSTON LEAVES THE HOSPITAL!
According to TMZ, Sean Kingston has just been discharged from Jackson Memorial Hospital in Florida. After the singer suffered critical injuries following a bad jet-ski crash in Miami over Memorial Day weekend, it took him only three weeks to make a full recovery. Doctors predicted it would take him at least a month and a half to leave the facility. The news comes just two days after Sean posted a picture on his Twitter page and told fans that he was “feeling much better.” No further details are known at this time.
LADY A SING THE PRAISES OF TAYLOR SWIFT
Lady Antebellum have been enjoying a wild ride of both country and pop success since the release of their album, Need You Now. In an interview with CMT.com, the group talks crossing genres and sings the praises of another crossover success, their friend Taylor Swift. Lady A’s Dave Haywood said he and his bandmates, Charles Kelley and Hillary Scott, are huge fans of Taylor and her music. Dave said, “I appreciate how much she’s remained true to being country and staying on these country networks and country events . . . there’s always a little bit of gray area when you go towards the pop format, and I know she’s gotten flak for things, but she’s remained a Nashvillian who plays country music.”
SNOOP DOGG TO BE HONORED AT BMI URBAN AWARDS
We’ve just learned Snoop Dogg is scheduled to be honored as a BMI Icon at the 2011 BMI Urban Awards. The West Coast rap legend is being recognized for “unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers.” Since his 1992 debut, Doggystyle, the Dogfather continues to make new trends in hip-hop. The event takes place on August 26 at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood.
NICKI MINAJ, BRUNO ADDED TO BET AWARDS LINE-UP
According to BET.com, Nicki Minaj, Justin Bieber and Bruno Mars have officially joined the list of celebs that will appear at the 2011 BET Awards. In addition, Queen Latifah and Gladys Knight will reportedly attend the ceremony as well. Performers for the show include Beyonce, Rick Ross, DJ Khaled, Ace Hood, Mary J. Blige, Kelly Rowland, Jill Scott, Trey Songz Drake, Lil Wayne, Chris Brown and Alicia Keys. Be sure to tune in on June 26th at 8 PM Eastern when the ceremony airs live from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.
GAME RECRUITS CHRIS BROWN ON R.E.D. ALBUM
For anyone who doubts if Game’s R.E.D. Album will be a winner, all you gotta do is check out his new Chris Brown-assisted single, “Pot Of Gold.” You can download the cut on iTunes on June 28th and look out for the West Coast rapper’s forthcoming disc on August 23rd.
http://www.xclusiveszone.net/2011/06/game-ft-chris-brown-pot-of-gold-mastered/
JAMIE FOXX TO STAR IN NEW TARANTINO FILM
According to SingersRoom.com, Jamie Foxx has just landed a new role in a new film directed by Quentin Tarantino. The project is titled Django Unchained and the Oscar-winning actor will portray “a freed slave that works with bounty hunter to be played by Christoph Waltz.” Other actors attached to the project include Leonardo DiCapri and Calvin Candie. No further details are known at this time.
MINDLESS BEHAVIOR KICKS OFF NEW TOUR
We’ve just learned Mindless Behavior are scheduled to headline their first ever outing, which is being dubbed the Closer to My Dreams tour. The band, which consists of Prodigy, Roc Royal, Ray Ray and Princeton, will kick off their 16-date trek on July 7th in Los Angeles at the House of Blues and wrap it up on August 6th in Atlanta. On select dates, the boys will be joined by Tyga, Lil Twist, Trevante and Jawan Harris.
BUJU BANTON SENTENCED TO 10 YEARS IN PRISON
Billboard.com reports Buju Banton was recently sentenced to ten years in prison for conspiracy to possess cocaine with the intent to distribute. The reggae star was also found guilty of possession of a firearm and communicating to facilitate a drug trafficking offense.
KELLY ROWLAND FITNESS DVD?
We’ve just learned Kelly Rowland has shot her workout routine for a new fitness DVD. The “Motivation” singer got sweaty with trainer Jeanette Jenkins for the new workout, tape which will be available later this year. Visit ThatGrapeJuice.net for more!
2012 GRAMMY DATE REVEALED!
Wanna known when the 54th annual GRAMMY Awards will take place? According to Billboard.com, the biggest night in music will be held at The Staples Center in Los Angeles on February 12th. In addition, viewers can expect the GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live to air on November 30th.
DIDDY SETTLES LAWSUIT FOR NYC SHOOTING
According to the New York Post, Diddy has finally reached a settlement with three victims that were injured inside a New York City nightclub 12 years ago. This happened to be the same incident that actually led to Shyne getting arrested and serving time for weapons passion. Puff reportedly paid one woman 1.8-million dollars and also gave two other club goers a combined total of 550-thousand. As previously reported, Diddy was hosting a party that ended with Shyne firing his weapon and injuring several bystanders.
MISSY TALKS HEALTH PROBLEMS AFFECTING CAREER
In her upcoming episode of Vh1 Behind the Music, for the first time ever, Missy Elliot will talk about struggling with Graves Disease and being sexually abused as a child. The rapper said of her incurable aliment, “You live with it the rest of your life. I couldn’t write because my nervous system was so bad. I couldn’t even use a pen.” Viewers can expect the series to air new documentaries this August.
