Lenny Kravitz has joined the cast of ‘The Hunger Games,’ reports Billboard.

Suzanne Collins’ best-selling trilogy will also star Jennifer Lawrence in the main role as Katniss Everdeen.

The plot revolves around the ‘Hunger Games,’ which are an annual televised event where the post-apocalyptic Panem chooses one boy and one girl from each district to fight to the death. The ‘Hunger Games’ are used to demonstrate that even children are not beyond the reach of the Capitol’s power.

The actor-musician will play Cinna, the fashion stylist assigned to Lawrence’s character as she prepares to take part in the Hunger Games. His fashion designs will reportedly play an integral role in her performance in the Games.

“When I saw Lenny’s work in ‘Precious,’ I was just knocked out,” director Gary Ross said. “It was quiet and strong and understated and open-hearted: all qualities which define this character.”

Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth also star in the movie, which Lionsgate is set to release March 23.

Kravitz was nominated for an NAACP Image Award and an ensemble SAG Award for his role in ‘Precious.’ He also has appeared in ‘The Diving Bell and the Butterfly’ and ‘Zoolander.’ He is set to release his ninth studio album, ‘Black and White America,’ on Aug. 30.

This movie sounds very cool, and with such an impressive cast, it just became twice as cool.

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

Michael Jackson almost released a new song today, before Sony Records got in the way.

Earlier today, a demo for a track called “Another Day” featuring Jackson and Lenny Kravitz leaked online today. It didn’t take long before Sony and Jackson’s estate took notice and are demanding the 90-second snippet be pulled from the Internet.

Although the song doesn’t audibly feature Kravitz, it does resemble a verse from his song “Storm” off his 2004 album Baptism. After Jackson’s death, Kravitz wrote a letter to Spinner describing his experience working with the King of Pop as they prepared a number of studio tracks for release.

“I got to work with Michael on a track that has not been released and it was the most amazing experience I’ve had in the studio. He was funny. Very funny and we laughed the whole time.”

Kravitz posted a video today claiming he has no idea how the leak occurred and that the song is not complete.

Jackson’s manager, Frank DiLeo, told Rolling Stone that Jackson left behind hoards of unreleased material on hard drives, featuring collaborations with Ne-Yo, Akon and Will.i.am, as well tracks from the middle of his career that never saw the light of day.

“There are a couple of songs we recorded for the Bad album that we had to cut that are just sensational,” DiLeo told Rolling Stone.

DiLeo said some songs were still under construction.

“I said, ‘Produce them,’ ” DiLeo told Rolling Stone. “And he said, ‘Naw, I’m not ready for you to listen to them.’ ”

In July 2009, a short snippet of another Jackson song called “A Place With No Name” leaked online.

“Another Day” first appeared today on the Michael Jackson fan site MJStar, however the site has since had to pull the clip it originally posted.

Joe Jackson and the rest of the famly are currently trying to reclaim the estate from Jackson’s attorney John Branca and John McClain, who were named the executors of Jackson’s will in 2002, according to Rolling Stone. Though the legal battles will rage on, this could bode well for Jackson fans are more leaks and possibly even official releases will continue appearing.

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

Universal has announced that Lil Wayne’s long overdue rock album, Rebirth, will be released on December 15th.

The announcement comes just a few weeks after the release of his new mixtape, No Ceilings, and a week after the release of Weezer’s Raditude album, on which he makes an appearance on the song Can’t Stop Partying. He told Billboard.com that he plans to maintain the consistent rock vibe that he intended.

“I play guitar on 80 percent of the songs, and there’s a lot of rock influences and rock beats. I also have Travis Barker on the album.”

While working with two rock giants like Travis Barker and Rivers Cuomo should give Wayne the right idea, there is still no certainty about the outcome of this album. Based on the mild response generated by Prom Queen and Can’t Stop Partying, the anticipation will be filled with more curiousity than excitement.

But you can be certain that Weezy will stay true to his free-for-all roots. “I say what I want, how I want. That’s what this album is: a freedom album.”

The album reportedly includes appearances by Drake, members of Fallout boy and Lenny Kravitz, and may be released alongside the Young Money album, We Are Young Money.

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

Band Hero let's you be Taylor Swift without being interrupted by Kanye West!

After last week’s amazing DLC 3 pack of Gwar, Marilyn Manson, and The Misfits is there any better way to follow it up than offering a new game featuring Taylor Swift and Adam Levine?  Heck no!

On November 5th as a way to celebrate Band Hero being released, plastic instrument fans can either export 69 songs from Guitar Hero 5 into Band Hero or 61 songs (out of 64) into GH5 from Band Hero!

The songs that will not export from Band Hero to Guitar Hero 5 are as follows:

Jesse McCartney- “Beautiful Soul”
Aly & AJ- “Like Whoa”
Styx- “Mr. Roboto”
Hilary Duff- “So Yesterday”

Look on the bright side though you can make Kurt Cobain sing Taylor Swift!

The export runs you 400 Microsoft Points on Xbox 360, $4.99 on Playstation3, and 500 points on Wii.

November 12th is all about Lenny Kravitz as Guitar Hero commemorates the 20th anniversary of his 1989 debut album Let Love Rule. This three song track pack includes the title track “Let Love Rule,” “Lady” off his seventh studio album Baptism, and “Fly Away,” a song which I will assume you all know because it’s freakin’ “Fly Away”

On November 19th paint your faces and grab your tongue extensiosn because it’s time to rock out with the one and only KISS! This track pack includes their new single “Modern Day Delilah,” which has a ripping solo “I Was Made for Loving You,” their second Gold single and finally “Lick it Up,” which was the title track off their album which was also named… Lick it up.

It’s been awhile since Guitar Hero gave us anything for free and on November 24th they’re doing it SIX TIMES! The Neversoft Thanks The Fans Track Pack features: “Lemon Frosting” by Bunny Knutson, “RockNRola” by Nancy Fullforce, “From the Blue/Point of No Return/T.T.R.T.S” by An Endless Sporadic, “Love Holds It Down” by Dom Liberati, “You Really Like Me” by Davidicus and “Guilty Pleasures” by Tony Solis.

These may appear to be unknown bands to the casual player but I can tell you that I am super excited to play more An Endless Sporadic (from GH3 and GHWT DLC respectfully) and Guilty Pleasures sounds awesome as well.

For reasons unknown this track pack will only be available for Playstation3 and Xbox 360 as of this announcement.

We aren’t done quite yet though for the Wii fans out there that have been feeling not metal enough lately the 8 missing tracks from Metallica’s Death Magnetic will now be able to be downloaded as singles on your Nintendo Wii! This offer begins on November 24th so prepare to shred!

Lenny Kravitz Track Pack

Fly Away

Lady

Let Love Rule

KISS Track Pack

Lick it Up

I Was Made For Loving You

Modern Day Delilah

Neversoft Thanks The Fans Track Pack

Love Holds It Down

Lemon Frosting

You Really Like Me

RockNRola

Guilty Pleasures

From The Blue/Point of No Return/T.T.R.T.S

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

Lenny Kravitz has announced a make-up date for his cancelled show in Kitchener, Ont.

The gig, which was set to take place Thursday but was postponed when the singer fell ill, has now been rescheduled for Nov. 12.

Fans with tickets for the original show will be able to get into the rescheduled gig at Kitchener Memorial Auditorium.

Otherwise, ticketholders can get a refund at point of purchase.

Kravitz is touring behind his latest album, “It is Time for a Love Revolution,” which was released in February.

He will be in London, Ont., and Montreal this weekend, before heading west across the country.

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

Lenny Kravitz will be touring Canada in March, but he won’t be making any groupies happy: he’s given up sex!

In an interview with Maxim Magazine, Kravitz claims to have been celibate for the last three years, and plans to remain so until wed.

“[It's] just a promise I made until I get married. Where I’m at in life, the women have got to come with something else, not just the body, but the mind and spirit. It usually trips them out, but that’s the way it’s going to be. I’m looking at the big picture.”

Kravitz divorced actress Lisa Bonet in 1991. He is also rumoured to have at one time proposed to Nicole Kidman.

Kravitz’s new album will be released in February.

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

American rocker Lenny Kravitz brought fans to their feet at Canada’s biggest football event Sunday.

The 43-year-old singer rocked the game’s half-time show with a guitar-driven performance that left the Grey Cup crowd screaming for more.

Kravitz donned a black leather jacket and his trademark sunglasses while he belted out his popular cover of the Guess Who song, “American Woman” and the ’70s-inspired, “Are You Gonna Go My Way.

About 300 cheerleaders gathered around the stage, which was surrounded in white and rotating lights, TSN.ca reports.

The crowd was packed with contest winners and select ticket holders who watched the Saskatchewan Roughriders defeat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers by a score of 23-19.

“Canada, thank you,” TSN says Kravitz followed his three-song set with the shout-out to Canadian fans and a plug for his upcoming album, “It is Time for a Love Revolution.”

The rocker left the stage and the enthusiastic crowd with three words.

“Peace. Love. Revolution,” he said.

The audience would hear more from the musician after the performance.

“Tonight was amazing. I haven’t been to Canada in a while and what a welcome I got. An incredible crowd and event,” the stadium announcer read out loud in a statement from Kravitz.

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

Lenny Kravitz has announced that he will be heading up the halftime extravaganza at this year’s 95th annual Grey Cup game in Toronto on Nov. 25th.

His performance will likely include some songs off of his eighth album “Time For a Love Revolution” – which is set to be released in February. This will be Kravitz’s first album in three years.

Grey Cup fans will have four days of football themed celebrations to look forward to as there will be affairs hosted all around town in honour of the CFL event.

Let the games begin!

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance