Usher is keeping busy these days – both in the recording studio and on a movie set.
On the musical end of things, the R&B singer has been working on his sixth studio album and recently revealed that it will be called “Monster.”
The Grammy winner, who is recording the follow-up to 2008′s “Here I Stand” in Las Vegas and Atlanta, has even brought in producer Jermaine Dupri for the project, according to People.
Eminem celebrated the U.S. release of his sixth studio album, “Relapse,” with a free show in his hometown of Detroit on Tuesday.
The 40-minute set at Motor City Hotel featured seven tracks off the new album, as well as the “8 Mile” hit “Lose Yourself.” For the latter track, the rapper brought several members of D12 up to the stage to accompany him.
According to Rolling Stone, Eminem also honoured his close friend Proof, who was shot and killed in 2006, with a shout-out. “I was a little bit nervous ’cause I don’t have my right-hand man tonight. I know you know who I’m talking about,” the rapper said, as the crowd chanted “Proof!”
Natalie Cole is recuperating following a successful kidney transplant.
The 59-year-old singer received the kidney from a deceased organ donor and was “resting comfortably” in a Los Angeles hospital, her spokeswoman said in a statement Wednesday.
The statement also confirmed that the singer has postponed a planned summer tour in order to recover.
“Terminator Salvation” showed off some serious box-office muscle in its debut, with early estimates suggesting the Christian Bale-starer took in more than $3 million domestically in midnight Wednesday screenings alone.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the movie played in 3,450 theatres Thursday, though data on total Thursday earnings won’t be available until Friday.
The pic is projected to fetch $70 million or more over its first five days in theatres. The big haul is expected thanks in part to the long Memorial Day weekend in the U.S., which traditionally bodes well for the box office.
Concerns over the A(H1N1) flu, also known as the swine flu, have forced the Jonas Brothers to push back their concerts this week at Arena Monterrey in Mexico.
The pop trio’s shows are being postponed “due to health precautions in the whole country as a consequence of the outbreak of the A(H1N1) flu,” read a statement on the venue’s ticketing website.
The group was scheduled to play an afternoon and an evening concert on May 17. The shows have been rescheduled for July 31, and tickets will be honoured for their original times (3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.).
Eclectic songstress Tori Amos is hitting the road this summer in support of the upcoming release of her tenth studio album, “Abnormally Attracted to Sin.”
The Sinful Attraction tour will hit 26 North American cities, starting with July 10 in Seattle and wrapping up Aug. 17 in Boston.
The itinerary includes two Canadian stops: Aug. 10 at Massey Hall in Toronto, and Aug. 11 at St. Denis Theatre in Montreal.
After a five-year hiatus, Blink-182 are coming back in a big way this summer.
The band has announced a nearly 50-date North American tour that kicks off July 25 in Las Vegas and runs through Oct. 3 in New Jersey. The trek includes eight Canadian cities: Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Quebec City, Montreal and Toronto.
And the band isn’t setting out on their own – the trio will be supported on various dates of their arena-and-amphitheatre tour by Weezer, Fall Out Boy, Panic at the Disco, All-American Rejects, Taking Back Sunday, Chester French and Asher Roth.
Neil Patrick Harris will help celebrate the best of the Broadway season as host of the 2009 Tony Awards.
Harris is known for his roles on such TV shows as “How I Met Your Mother” and “Doogie Howser, M.D.,” but the 35-year-old actor is also a stage veteran, having appeared in the Tony-winning drama “Proof” as well as revivals of “Cabaret” and “Assassins.”
“His love for Broadway and great knowledge of theater combined with his on-stage presence makes him the perfect person to guide us through what is sure to be a great night,” Tonys co-executive producer Ricky Kirshner said in a statement Thursday.
Alanis Morissette has landed a recurring role in the upcoming fifth season of the Showtime series “Weeds.”
The Canuck singer will play an obstetrician who treats the pregnant Nancy Botwin (played by Mary Louis Parker), whose exploits as a suburban-widow-turned-marijuana-dealer form the series’ premise.
Morissette will appear in at least seven of the season’s 13 episodes, which kick off on Showtime in the U.S. on June 8 and on Showcase in Canada this fall. She may also return for season six.
Eminem and Jimmy Kimmel plan to fly approximately 200 laid-off autoworkers to Los Angeles for a taping of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Friday.
“The auto workers, many of whom live and work in the Detroit area and are affected by the auto industry crisis, will come to Los Angeles to enjoy a rare talk and musical performance by Eminem,” ABC said in a statement.
Eminem, who is originally from Detroit, said he and late-night host Kimmel wanted to remind everyone about those affected by job losses in the Michigan city. Though his publicist, the rapper told the Detroit Free Press that the media has ignored the many people who have lost their jobs in the auto industry without getting big payouts.
Kings of Leon have joined the lineup for the 2009 MTV Movie Awards, the network revealed Wednesday.
The band, which is currently in the middle of a North American arena tour, will perform “Use Somebody,” the most recent single from their album “Only By The Night.”
Only one other performer, Eminem, has been confirmed to perform at the show so far.
Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda has teamed up with DC Shoes to create a signature sneaker that will help send budding artists to school.
Dubbed the Xander, it is actually the third shoe that Shinoda has designed for DC Shoes’ Remix series and his fourth overall for the footwear company.
Proceeds from the shoe will go toward the Michael K. Shinoda Endowed Scholarship, which benefits graphic design or illustration students entering the Art Center College of Design in California. Shinoda himself graduated from the school in 1998 with a bachelor’s degree in illustration.
Get ready for a hip-hop/R&B extravaganza, because Jay-Z and Ciara are joining forces for a summer tour.
“I will say it because the information has been leaked. Me and Jay-Z will be doing a 10-city tour run together! More details coming soon!” Ciara announced via Twitter on Monday.
Jay-Z’s representative confirmed the tour to Billboard.com, though she said it wouldn’t be a 10-city tour. However, she would not confirm the exact number of shows, and the full tour schedule has yet to be unveiled.
Depeche Mode was forced to issue a last-minute cancellation for a show in Athens, Greece on Tuesday after lead singer Dave Gahan fell ill and was rushed to the hospital.
“We regret today’s performance has to be canceled … David Gahan fell ill in his dressing room,” a concert organizer told the approximately 20,000 fans who had shown up for the concert at the Terra Vibe park.
Gahan, 47, was taken to a private clinic for treatment of “suspected gastroenteritis,” reported French news agency AFP.
Jack White is taking his other, other band, The Dead Weather, on the road this summer.
The new group, which also includes the Kills’ Alison Mosshart and members of Queens of the Stone Age and the Raconteurs, will tour North America in support of their upcoming debut album, “Horehound.”
The trek kicks off June 11 in Louisville, KY and wraps up with a stop at the Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival in San Francisco, CA, which runs from Aug. 28 to 30. The band will also appear at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Austin, TX in early October.
“Friday Night Lights” star Minka Kelly will discover the scary side of college after joining the cast of upcoming psychological thriller “The Roommate.”
As previously reported, the film stars Leighton Meester (“Gossip Girl”) as a college freshmen who becomes dangerously obsessed with her new roomie, Sara, to be played by Kelly.
The cast of the Screen Gems thriller is rounded out by Aly Michalka of the pop group Aly and AJ, Cam Gigandet (“Twilight”) and Matt Lanter (the new “90210″). Michalka will play an outgoing dormmate, Lanter will play Sara’s ex-boyfriend and Gigandet will play her current boyfriend, according to Variety.
Third Eye Blind are gearing up for a busy year with the release of not one, but two new albums.
“Ursa Major,” the band’s first full-length album since 2003′s “Out of the Vein,” will hit stores June 23, while a companion record, “Ursa Minor,” will be released sometime over the next year.
In an interview with Billboard, guitarist Tony Fredianelli revealed that completing the albums was a long labour of love for the band.
Keanu Reeves will get in touch with his inner beast for his latest project.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the actor is attached to star in Universal’s modern retelling of the classic novella “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.”
Tentatively titled “Jekyll,” the movie is being penned by “Revolutionary Road” scribe Justin Haythe, while Danish filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn is in negotiations to direct.
“Fast and Furious” star Vin Diesel is getting ready to break all sorts of road rules again as the star of Paramount Pictures’ “The Wheelman.”
According to Variety, the movie is a live-action adaptation of the Diesel-produced Ubisoft videogame “Wheelman,” which hit store shelves last month.
The game features the voice and visage of Diesel himself as the main character, an expert driver who emerges from retirement to help a woman from his past. His mission takes him to Barcelona, where he gets tangled up in the middle of a gang war.
The kids of “Degrassi: The Next Generation” are going to Tinseltown for the series’ first-ever movie.
Titled “Degrassi Goes Hollywood,” the movie follows the characters Manny (Cassie Steele) and Paige (Lauren Collins) from the popular Canadian series as they try to launch acting careers in L.A.
Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton and Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz will show up in cameo roles.
