Paul McCartney will receive the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, reports CBC. The former Beatle, 67, is the third person to receive the honour for songwriting, administered by the U.S. Library of Congress.
“It is hard to think of another performer and composer who has had a more indelible and transformative effect on popular song and music of several different genres than Paul McCartney,” said James H. Billington, Librarian of Congress.
“As a great admirer of the Gershwins’ songs, I am highly honoured to be given the Gershwin Prize by such a great institution,” McCartney said.
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Gym Class Heroes rapper Travis McCoy will be releasing several different projects over the next year, according to Billboard.com.
With an upcoming solo project, McCoy is eager to escape the image of, “That dude who sings the song about his girlfriend,” in his group’s most popular song, Cupid’s Chokehold. “With this record, I feel like people are going to take me more seriously as a rapper and hopefully, as a singer as well.”
McCoy will also be releasing a documentary on MTV December 1st. “Travis McCoy’s Unbeaten Track,” will Chronicle the artist’s experiences while travelling with MTV’s Staying Alive foundation to South Africa, India and the Philippines. It will be accompanied by his charity single, One at a Time. “since it is a charity track, I wanted to keep the cheese factor to a bare minimum and make sure it’s sincere and from the heart,” said McCoy.
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The Museum of Contemporary Art holds a lot more than just priceless works. This weekend, the L.A. art gallery hosted a 30th anniversary gala attended by dozens of celebs, including Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Jessica Alba, Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale, and Pierce Brosnan.
Undoubtedly the biggest splash of the event was Lady Gaga, as usual. Performing in Franceso Vezzoli’s Ballets Russes Italian Style (The Shortest Musical You Will Never See Again), Lady Gaga played a pink piano covered in blue butterflies designed by artist Damien Hirst for the performance art piece.
Vezzoli is known for merging celebrity and fine art. His latest exhibition is called Greed: A New Frangrance by Francesco Vezzoli and plays with the strategy of launching a commercial fragrance like so many celebrities try.
Lady Gaga was a welcome guest at the event, donning an elaborate Japanese Geisha-like couture costume.
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In yet another case of The Music vs. Acitivision, No Doubt are filing a lawsuit against the makers of Band Hero.
The suit contends the game “transformed No Doubt band members into a virtual karaoke circus act,” and the use of the band members’ avatars far exceeded anything agreed upon in the contract, according to the Los Angeles Times. One aspect of the game allows players to manipulate their characters into singing songs by other artists, for example having lead singer Gwen Stefani sing “Honky Tonk Woman” by the Rolling Stones.
“While No Doubt are avid fans of the Rolling Stones and even have performed in concerts with the Rolling Stones, the Character Manipulation Feature results in an unauthorized performance by the Gwen Stefani avatar in a male voice boasting about having sex with prostitutes,” the complaint reads.
The complaint also claims Activision withheld information on the Character Manipulation Feature, and allegedly told the band after they had requested to the have the function disabled that it would be too expensive to do so.
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Bravado International Group is suing Dollar Days International, Alan Shrem and Kennedy-Shrem International for millions, claiming they are illegally using the names of Michael Jackson, the Rolling Stones, the Doors, Guns N’ Roses, Led Zeppelin and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, reports TMZ.
Bravado says they have the exclusive right to merchandise related to these artists, and the other companies have violated this right by selling shirts, watches, posters and other items. They are seeking $2 million per violation.
Billboard will now be including catalog releases when calculating the best-selling albums, which were previously decided based on record sales from the past 18 months, reports Perez Hilton. The Nov. 25 chart will be the first to reflect these changes.
Taylor Swift is the only artist who sold more albums this year than Michael Jackson. Rihanna previously held the record for digital songs, selling 9.9 million, but Swift, Jackson, Lady Gaga and the Black Eyed Peas have all broken that this year.
It’s difficult to say if Solange Knowles’ hip factor is real, or if it’s just the cause of hanging out with her uber-cool older sister. But she sure seems to be harnessing it nicely. O Friday, her cover of The Dirty Projectors’ “Stillness is the Move” surfaced on Pitchfork.com before being yanked by Universal at the label’s behest.
Unimpressed, Solange took to Twitter to voice her frustrations.
“So fucking crazy universal has been taking down a COVER I’m NOT selling or trying to publish. Never heard of that shit in my life! Not to mention Dirty Projectors, LOVED the cover& all parties are happy Doesn’t Lil Wayne a Universal artist rap over other folks records?”
Solange has certainly stepped up her media presence since her days as the Disney version of Beyonce.
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Entertainment, Hip Hop/Rap, Music, Pop, R&B, Television Tags:
Chris Brown,
Diane Sawyer,
music video,
Rihanna,
Russian Roulette,
Women of The Year
Rihanna’s triumphant return to the industry just got a little more risque with clips of her new video, “Russian Roulette” surfacing online. The video, directed by Anthony Mandler, depicts Rihanna undergoing a collage of violence, including images of her underwater riddled with bulletholes.
Mandler says it’s all a metaphor, but eyebrows are naturally being raised in the wake of the Chris Brown abuse scandal.
“I think that with this song and the meaning of this song and how loaded it all is, no pun intended, how much imagery and perhaps symbolism that is loaded in this song, the only way to do it was to do something that was visually challenging,” Mandler told MTV News.
The video premiered on 20/20, this following a series of public appearances from Rihanna who avoided the spotlight since the February incident. Rihanna appeared in a candid interview with Diane Sawyer, in which she revealed details of the attack and the affect it had on her life. Earlier this month, she was recognized by Glamour Magazine as the Woman of the Year.
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One of the best collections of sneakers belongs to the late DJ AM, and they are about to be auctioned off online for charity on eBay, according to People.
Before the DJ tragically passed away this summer, he’d accumulated in excess of 800 pairs of sneakers, including the rare pair of Eminem Air Jordans (one of 50 ever made).
The auction begins at 4:30 p.m. PST on Sunday, November 15. According to the auction site, 100 per cent of the proceeds will go toward the DJ AM Memorial Fund, which supports “organizations and projects committed to addressing issues of addiction and recovery.”
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Would you crawl back to Chris Brown?
In the lyrics to the R&B-singer’s song, “Crawl,” Brown seems to be calling for the return of his ex-girlfriend Rihanna, with whom he has apparently finally split in the aftermath on his assault on her in February,
“So we’ll crawl, until we can walk again,” Brown sings on the tune. “Then we’ll run, until we’re strong enough to jump/Then we’ll fly, until there is no wind/So let’s crawl, crawl, back to love.”
But, according to mtvnews.com, Brown told them that the song isn’t just about his own relationship. He said “Crawl” is more of a universal message dedicated to moving on past any type of heartache. The video debuted on “The Wendy Williams Show” on Friday (November 13).
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