Grammy award winning singer and actress Whitney Houston, who has sold over 170 million albums worldwide, died today at age 48 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Though her publicist Kristen Foster confirmed the death, she did not reveal the cause. She was pronounced dead at 6:55 pm E.T. despite resuscitation efforts. A police spokesperson said there appears to be no obvious signs of criminal intent, though it will still be investigated. Her death comes on the eve before the Grammy Awards, where she dominated as one of the top pop/R&B singers for decades, starting in the mid 1980s.

Houston’s private life was often made public. She battled a drug addiction for years and had a tumultuous marriage with ex-husband Bobby Brown, with whom she has a daughter. She staged a comeback in 2009, though she didn’t achieve the success she experienced at her peak.

She recently filmed Sparkle with Jordin Sparks, which is set to arrive in theatres on Aug. 10. The film is a remake of the 1976 hit.

The social media world erupted with reactions to her death. Music producer Russell Simmons wrote he was “deeply saddened by the death of Whitney Houston.” Quincy Jones, said he was “absolutely heartbroken” and that “she was a true original and a talent beyond compare.”

Over the span of her career, the music legend won six Grammy Awards, two Emmy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards and 22 American Music awards. She also claims the first female album to debut at #1 on Billboard.

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

Angelina Jolie will be playing Maleficient in the upcoming live-action adaptation of Disney’s Sleeping Beauty.

“I haven’t acted in two years, and I haven’t done anything else since this [Land of Blood and Honey]. The next thing I am looking at is a Disney movie,” said Jolie at a press conference. She had previously told The Hollywood Reporter that her children want her to do the movie and call her “mom-elicent.”

“The best thing to find that balance is to do something that is just for children,” Jolie said Saturday. “You know, you find different ways to make things matter. When, for example, you do fun action movies, they are empowering for my daughters.”

Maleficent has gained momentum in recent weeks with Robert Stromberg brought on as director. Stromberg was the production designer on Avatar, Alice in Wonderland and Disney’s upcoming Oz the Great and Powerful.

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

The 54th Grammys are on tomorrow night and is hosted by none-other than hip-hop legend LL Cool J – and if you can’t be there, might as well stalk those who are via Twitter.

We pulled together a little list of musicians, music critics, comedians and other accounts that are essential to give an inside look at music’s biggest night. Check them out below:

THE MUSICIANS:
@AdamLevine: Maroon 5′s frontman and The Voice judge is performing with the freakin’ Beach Boys and Foster The People.
@BlobTower: Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon – a Twitterholic and up for two major awards.
@BrunoMars: He’d catch a grenade for you and he snagged a few nods.
@CoryMonteith: That Canadian dude from Glee tweets as much as sings.
@Deadmau5: Toronto’s DJ with a nod and a performance this weekend.
@Drake: Stay tuned for lonely thoughts at the after parties.
@JustinBieber: An up-and-coming tween sensation that has some potential.
@KanyeWest: He’s up for seven awards and he likes to talk. A lot.
@KatyPerry: She’s performing, up for a few awards – and she’s Katy Perry.
@LadyGaga: Mother Monster is performing, up for a few awards.
@LLCoolJ: Host for the evening; stay tuned for a snapshot or two from behind the scenes.
@TheLonelyIsland: Everyone’s favourite SNL-group headed by Andy Samberg.
@LupeFiasco: Nominated for Best Rap Performance.
@MileyCyrus: She will be in attendance.
@NickiMinaj: She’ll be performing, nods for her collab with Drake and Best New Artist.
@Questlove: The Roots’ drummer that is “your favourite twitterer’s music critic.”
@Rihanna: She likes to Tweet That Tweet – let’s see what she has to say about Chris Brown’s performance.
@Skrillex: 24-year-old producer is up for Best New Artist.
@TaylorSwift13: No doubt this nominee will be Instagraming all night long.
@WizardCud: Kid Cudi might not be as philosophical since quitting weed, but remains vocal.
@ZooeyDeschenel: Fresh from her SNL-hosting gig Saturday, she’ll be all adorkable at the award show.

THE MUSIC CRITICS:
@AlanCross: Canadian music-history icon will keep us confirmed.
@GerrickKennedy: Music writer for the Los Angeles Times likes to tweeter.
@JianGhomeshi: Canadian radio personality loves his music.
@RobSheff: Rolling Stone’s resident music critic – knows a thing or two about the industry.
@RyanSeacrest: This guy is so addicted to hosting things that he’ll likely tweet as if he is hosting the damn show.

THE COMEDIANS:
@JimmyFallon: The Late Night host that’s a fan of everything – especially music.
@NealBrennan: New York comedian that is worth following year-round.
@RobDelaney: He tweets like breathing – why aren’t you following him already?

THE OTHERS:
@TheGrammys: Pretty self-explanatory
@Fave: One of the official Grammy bloggers.
@KickKickSnare: An official blogger for the Grammys – been snapping a lot of candid pics of the parties thus far.
@RedCarpet: E! Channel’s official red carpet twitter account with photos and commentary for every major red carpet event.

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

Following Madonna’s stint at this year’s Super Bowl, a variety of artists have been pitched for next year’s prestigious halftime show – even famous parodist, Weird Al Yankovic.

“This is a serious case to be made,” writes spearheads Paul and Storm. “All the elements are there: lights, video, costume changes, general spectacle. And given a stadium-sized budget? It would be awesome in every sense of the word.”

In all seriousness, let’s look at the facts: he has been doing shows and putting out albums for three decades, 2013 will mark the 30th anniversary of his self-titled debut and he has parodied every major artist under the sun. Over his 30 year career, he’s left his mark on nearly every genre: Queen, Madonna, Nirvana, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus – just to name a few.

It would be a clean, entertaining, family-friendly show that meets all of the NFL standards.

You can sign the petition that currently holds 2,500 signatures and the #WeirdAlSuperBowl trend has started to surface across all those social media outlets. It’s time for change and we want it now.

Check out Weird Al’s substitute for Madonna and watch ‘Like A Surgeon’ below:

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

Actor-turned-rapper Childish Gambino has dropped the heavily anticipated clip for “Heartbeat” from his debut LP Camp.

“I thought the best way to convey the feeling that’s in the song was to be confused ourselves,” Glover told MTV about the Kyle Newacheck directed video. The two had previously worked together on an episode of Community back in 2009. ”I wouldn’t say it’s so much a video as much as it is just a mood.”

Whatever the case, it’s bringing back those Drive-like urges to buy a Scorpion jacket and driving gloves.

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

Beyonce and Jay-Z have released the first photos of their baby, Blue Ivy Carter via their personal Tumbler account, helloblueivy with the following message:

“We welcome you to share in our joy. Thank you for respecting our privacy at this time in our lives.
-The Carter Family.”

How hip of the hippest couple in hip-hop to go about this route rather than sell the photos to a glossy magazine. Behold, Blue Ivy Carter…

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

Ever since the first Twilight movie, Youtube has been over-saturated with thousands of fan tribute videos. If you google search “Breaking Dawn” you’ll most likely find girls hysterically crying over the movie trailers.

This crazy passionate group of fans has made it difficult for regular people to openly enjoy the movies because most of us are terrified of being labeled a “Twihard.” Don’t get me wrong, I love my Twilight movies but it’s more of a guilty pleasure than an unhealthy obsession.

Most fans take this franchise very seriously and that is what makes this musical Breaking Dawn parody so funny. Finally, there’s something Twilight related on Youtube we can laugh at. Hilly and Hannah Hindi are the women behind this full scale musical production. They are Sisters and go by the name “The Hillywood Show”.

The video below is very well done. It spoofs most of the big scenes in Breaking Dawn, including the wedding and Bella’s big night (if you know what I mean). It’s over ten minutes long and promises at least one LOL per song. Their soundtrack is made up of clever covers of Lady Gaga, Neyo and Pitbull with minor tweaks to some of the lyrics.

Take a few minutes to stop and watch this video, it’s worth your time. Also, make sure to keep watching through the credits to see an impressive list of passionate fans who made donations to help finance the film.

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

In her first televised interview since her throat surgery, Adele talks openly and honestly with Anderson Cooper in next Sunday’s episode of “60 Minutes”

She of course addresses the public hysteria over her weight.

“I’ve never seen magazine covers and thought ‘I need to look like this’,” she said.

She also told Anderson details of her laser surgery last year, that forced her to cancel her entire US tour.

“They put a laser down your throat, cut off the polyp and kind of laser your hemorrhage back together and fix it,” she said, adding that she couldn’t utter anything for all of November and December.

Adele found an iPhone app that helped her communicate (and at times swear, which she admits she loves doing) with those around her. To prove she’s feeling much better and that she’s still got it, she sang Anderson a little a capella.

Watch Adele sing here:

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

Brooklyn’s electronic pop group Chairlift took a break from touring this week to perform a special cover of Beyonce’s hit song ‘Party.’ The band stopped by an Australian radio station to take part in a segment called “Like A Version,” where they ask artists to make a famous pop-song their own.

In the video, standing in for J. Cole is Kool AD, one-third of the satirical hip-hop trio Das Racist. In his verse he raps about Drake and Common’s feud, Lenny Kravitz and even gives a shout out to Kanye West’s backup dancers.

I always thought Beyonce was the only one who could do her songs justice, however, after watching this video I’m pleasantly shocked. Chairlift has already wooed music fans critics alike with their second album “Something” but this performance should get everyone talking about them again.

Even if you love Beyonce’s original track, this version will have you questioning your loyalty or, at the very least, laughing.

I wish I could say we found this all on our own but, unfortunately, our friends over at CHARTattack are infinitely cooler than us and posted it first.

You can see the video below:

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

For her latest music video, British singer Ladyhawke looked to Faye Dunaway in the 1979 film “The Eyes of Laura Mars”.

Her ’70s inspired music video is the lead single off her upcoming album “Anxiety”. Like Faye, Ladyhawke plays a seductive fashion photographer who slowly shows off her creepy side.

As for the album, it’ll see the light of day March 19.

“I’ve made an album I’m really proud of, so I just can’t wait to start playing with the band again, and touring and having some fun. I can’t wait to get back into it,” Ladyhawke wrote on her website.

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

The girlfriend of Instagram co-founder Mike Kieger wanted to give him something special for Valentine’s Day.

Kaitlyn Tigger, a marketing director who knows nothing about coding, took a few programming classes so she could invent Lovestagram by this Valentine’s Day.

Like Instagram, Kaitlyn’s invention lets people send personalized photos to someone they love just in time for the special holiday. Any photo you take with the new app gets transformed into a colourful heart-shaped design.

Here’s an example of a few Lovestagrams:

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

Now that Katy’s got her personal life back on track, she’s about to have an even busier professional life with the release of her upcoming “Teenage Dream” deluxe edition album.

MTV writes ”Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection” will package a ton of remixes and three new bonus tracks.

Prior to its February 21 release date, Katy’s releasing “Part of Me” as her new single. We’ll be hearing a lot of it on the radio in the next few days. Here’s a sneak peek of the uplifting pop song:

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

Guess somebody’s not going to be whipping their hair back and forth anymore.

The 11-year-old singer who has a new song out now with Nicki Minaj, recently shaved her head, as you can see on her WhoSay page.

Hair seems to be a big thing for the  tween sensation. When she was last interviewed by MTV, she dished on her most regrettable hair choices, and an afro topped her list.

According to her Twitter page, the daughter of Will and Jada Pinkett Smith is currently on a trip to Costa Rica. With such hot temperatures in that South American country, it’s probably a good thing she got rid of all that hair.

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

Natalia discusses what’s new with Pharrell Williams and her thoughts on Karl Lagerfeld’s mean comments towards Adele’s weight. She also shows a roster of animals behaving like humans — driving cars, throwing birthday parties, reading books — and, wait until you see the new size of coffee available at Starbucks! We have the hilarious video from the gang at College Humor to share with you all.

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

Our friends over at CHARTattack posted the new video this morning saying:

“Ye and Jay’s 2011-defining hit “N****s in Paris” finally has a video, likely thrilling all of the Illuminati conspiracy theorists who were getting desperate for new material, as well as those eager to bring back the irritating trend of saying “That shit cray!” in totally unremarkable situations.

If you missed the Watch the Throne tour and its now-legendary encore, the hyperkinetic video documents one of the several times that the song is played during the end of the show, except with more CGI leopards and kaleidoscope effects. It’s directed by Kanye, so you can expect to feel poor as hell after watching.”

If you were lucky enough to see them live, you probably heard this song more than once. Like the concert, you’ll probably want to replay this video thirteen times.

Side note: it was nice to see Will Ferrel make an appearance in the video.

Watch it below:

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

Many actresses were coveting the role of a lifetime; Charlize Theron, Carey Mulligan, Blake Lively and basically any actress with blonde hair all wanted to play Princess Diana in the upcoming Biopic.

But producers have made their decision. Naomi Watts (“Eastern Promises”, “21 Grams”, “King Kong”) has been hired on to play the ill-fated princess in the new film titled “Caught in Flight”.

The British actress and mother of two released a statement expressing her gratitude towards the role.

“”It is such an honor to be able to play this iconic role. Princess Diana was loved across the world and I look forward to rising to the challenge of playing her on screen.”

As you may recall, Princess Diana died in 1997 at age 36 in a car crash while visiting Paris, France. The movie will reportedly focus on the last two years of her life and how finding true personal happiness for the first time allowed her to evolve into a major humanitarian.

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

Natalia dishes the latest news on the Juno Awards nominees, the upcoming Spiderman 3D film starring Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield and is Katy Perry hooking up with Tim Tebow? Watch today’s episode to find out.

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

Every Super Bowl we practically look for something to scandalize us, and this year M.I.A.’s finger flip is the new wardrobe malfunction. As if M.I.A. didn’t make her message clear enough while rapping the verse “I don’t give a sh**” she literally gave America the middle finger during last night’s halftime performance with Madonna. Many are calling it premeditated because she looked directly at the camera. Gasp!

Inevitably the move raised profound questions: Why does M.I.A. hate us? Does she actually want us to F-off or was this a publicity stunt? Was this her opportunity to make an obscure political statement?

Or — and I know this might sound crazy — maybe she was just swept up in the moment, as they say. Whatever the reason, many online commentators are questioning if she’ll ever be allowed to appear on live TV again.

Statements are being issued all over the place. In one corner, the NFL issued an apology for the “completely inappropriate gesture,” while NBC took a more diplomatic route, apologizing that their delay system failed to catch the spontaneous brush off — so not taking much responsibility at all.

Still, the people M.I.A. ought to be worried about are the concerned parents of America. Although her finger is no more scandalous than things you’d find on any prime time show, the Parents’ Television Council is calling it a cheap way to get attention. They claim the moment was a slap in the face and (cue ominous music) that “the nation — and the PTC — is watching.” Cue ominous music: dum, dum, dum.

There’s still no word on how next year’s performer plans to up MIA. Do you have any ideas? Let us know below. 

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

Holly Laurent took the two most talked about things, Lana Del Rey and “The Hunger Games” and mixed them together.

She wrote the lyrics about the highly anticipated film “The Hunger Games” and set it to the tune of LDR’s “Video Games”. It’s genius!

Holly hails from Chicago as member of the longstanding improv group The Reckoning. She tours the states quite heavily with Second City. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see her on “Saturday Night Live” in the next few years.

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

For those living under a rock — like, a big rock called America — The Junos are essentially the Canadian Grammys. The nominees for this year’s Junos, held in Ottawa, have been announced this morning.

We may have escaped from Celine Dion, but Nickelback still control our radio stations, unfortunately. So, it’s no surprise they’ve gotten a bunch of nods and are even slated to perform at the ceremony in April. Drake, Avril Lavigne, Dan Mangan and Feist lead the pack with 4 nods each.

Here’s a look at some nominations. Check out the official Juno website for the complete list.

JUNO FAN CHOICE AWARD
Arcade Fire
Avril Lavigne
City and Colour
Deadmau5
Drake
Ginette Reno
Hedley
Justin Bieber
Michael Bublé
Nickelback

ALBUM OF THE YEAR (SPONSORED BY MUSIC CANADA)
Avril Lavigne – Goodbye Lullabye
Drake Cash – Take Care
Justin Bieber – Under the Mistletoe
Michael Bublé – Christmas
Nickelback – Here And Now

SINGLE OF THE YEAR
City and Colour – Fragile Bird
Hedley – Invincible
Johnny Reid – Let’s Go Higher
Nickelback – When We Stand Together
The Sheepdogs – I Don’t Know

ARTIST OF THE YEAR
City and Colour
Deadmau5
Drake
Feist
Michael Bublé

GROUP OF THE YEAR
Arkells Arkells
Down With Webster
Hedley
Nickelback
Sam Roberts Band

Deadmau5 is looking like an early favourite for Artist Of The Year; after all, he did sell out the Rogers Center this summer (see below).

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance