11 May 2008 at 4:22pm
AP - Joyce "Dottie" Rambo, an influential gospel singer and songwriter, died early Sunday when her tour bus ran off the highway and struck an embankment. She was 74.
Group urges U.S. to open cultural exchange with Cuba (Reuters)
11 May 2008 at 3:34pm
Reuters - Cuban pianist Chuchito Valdes would very much like for his famed jazz musician father to be allowed to perform again stateside.
Steve Miller Band celebrates 40 years with DVD set (Reuters)
11 May 2008 at 3:30pm
Reuters - As the Steve Miller Band marks the 40th anniversary of the release of its first two albums, it will release its first DVD, "Live From Chicago," a three-disc set due May 20.
The Wight stuff: UK island to host 4 music events (Reuters)
11 May 2008 at 1:39pm
Reuters - In 1970, it was described as "a psychedelic concentration camp." But this summer, the United Kingdom's Isle of Wight Festival tops a series of events that will turn the 150-square-mile island into the sold-out epicenter of the UK festival scene.
Umm Kulthum: The Voice of Egypt
11 May 2008 at 12:36pm
She had the musical chops of Ella Fitzgerald, the public persona of Eleanor Roosevelt, and the audience of Elvis Presley. More than 30 years after Umm Kulthum's death, Egyptians young and old still celebrate the voice of their country's greatest singer.
Neil Young gets new honor -- his own spider (Reuters)
11 May 2008 at 11:49am
Reuters - Iconic singer and songwriter Neil Young has had an honor bestowed upon him that is not received by many musicians -- his own spider.
Winehouse Runs from Stellar to Cellar (E! Online)
11 May 2008 at 9:46am
E! Online - We're starting to understand how people addicted to crack have trouble kicking the habit. Here's our drug: Every time we see a crazy picture of Amy Winehouse, we just can't keep from posting it.
Idol Ogre's Idol: Mom (E! Online)
11 May 2008 at 9:23am
E! Online - Judging by his personality, we suspected Simon Cowell was hatched in an alligator nest. But now that we see that his mom is obviously a sweetheart, it's clear Simon honed his reptilian chops in the music industry. Flee the dark side, Simon, and hug your mom more often!
Grand Ole Carrie! (E! Online)
11 May 2008 at 8:50am
E! Online - Adding another notch on her I'm-way-
Former 'Idol' winner Carrie Underwood joins Grand Ole Opry (AP)
11 May 2008 at 3:24am
AP - NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Carrie Underwood is the newest member of the Grand Ole Opry. The singer joined the cast of the long-running country music show Saturday. Garth Brooks handled her formal induction and Vince Gill sang a duet with her.
Vanessa Williams receives diploma from Syracuse (AP)
11 May 2008 at 12:45am
AP - Vanessa Williams has received her bachelor of fine arts degree from Syracuse University, nearly 25 years after she dropped out to become the first black Miss America.
Turkish soprano Gencer, who performed at La Scala, dies (AP)
10 May 2008 at 11:10pm
AP - ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Soprano Leyla Gencer, who made her career at Italy's famed La Scala opera house, has died in Milan, officials said Saturday. She was 80.
'Honeyboy' Edwards, Delta bluesman, outlasts them all (AP)
10 May 2008 at 9:08pm
AP - JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — With his 93rd birthday a month away, David "Honeyboy" Edwards admits it's getting hard to walk long distances.
Jenna Bush picks 'You Are So Beautiful' for dance with Dad (AP)
10 May 2008 at 7:52pm
AP - Jenna Bush picked "You Are So Beautiful," the ballad made famous by Joe Cocker, for the father-daughter dance with President Bush at her wedding reception Saturday night in Texas, the band leader said.
William Kapell Recordings Turn Up Down Under
10 May 2008 at 2:00pm
He was one of the most promising pianists of his generation when a 1953 plane crash ended his life at the age of 31. But thanks to an enterprising Australian music lover, a new two-CD set captures Kapell at the peak of his career.
Miley Cyrus' New Singing Partner (E! Online)
10 May 2008 at 10:46am
E! Online - Miley Cyrus is teaming up with?ready for this??John Travolta.
UK's Goldfrapp ambivalent about hip-hop, Madonna (Reuters)
10 May 2008 at 7:41am
Reuters - They are credited with influencing the fashion style of Madonna but British electronica band Goldfrapp don't have much time for the pop diva or other big acts they will be playing with this summer.
Langhorne Slim's Folk-Rock Live Wire
10 May 2008 at 7:06am
Langhorne Slim and his band The War Eagles mix folk and blues with reckless punk-rock energy. Now touring with a new self-titled album, the singer-songwriter performs and discusses his love for playing live.
Matt Mays: 'The Past'
9 May 2008 at 2:06pm
Matt Mays had an ambitious plan: write and produce a full-length, feature film and score the music for it. The movie, When the Angels Make Contact, would be a story of heartbreak and the universal search for meaning in an often lonely and dark world. The music would tell the story in song. Though he couldn't afford to finish the film, he did finish the album. Sharing the movie's title, it's a cinematic collection of beautifully dark, experimental rock pieces.
British Sea Power in Concert
9 May 2008 at 11:03am
The jagged pop and reverb-drenched rock of British Sea Power has earned the English band comparisons to the likes of the Cure and Joy Division. But British Sea Power has a style of its own — playful and profound, and marked by unmistakable instrumental skill. Hear the band perform a concert from WXPN and World Cafe Live in Philadelphia.
Passion in Portland: Oregon Chorus Sings 'Aida'
9 May 2008 at 10:31am
Thousands of Americans lead double lives, working by day and singing their hearts out at night as members of an operatic chorus. NPR's Ketzel Levine goes behind the scenes of the Portland Opera Chorus as it prepares for a production of Aida.
Will R. Kelly's Career Survive the Sex Trial?
9 May 2008 at 10:00am
The R&B artist is accused of videotaping himself having sex with an underage girl. It's taken years, however, for the trial to get off the ground.
Country Crooner Eddy Arnold Dies
9 May 2008 at 9:22am
Host Renee Montagne has a remembrance of singer Eddy Arnold. He died Thursday, days short of his 90th birthday. One of his most famous songs is Make the World Go Away.
Larry Vuckovich on Piano Jazz
9 May 2008 at 8:08am
The pianist hails from Yugoslavia, where he studied classically until Armed Forces Radio turned him into an ardent jazz fan. Vuckovich launched his jazz career in San Francisco in 1960, and has since carried his evocative and elegant music around the world.
Frank Sinatra's Life and Legacy
9 May 2008 at 8:01am
Record producer and Sinatra historian Charles Granada discusses his book Sessions With Sinatra: Frank Sinatra And The Art of Recording and the box set — Frank Sinatra: The Best of the Columbia Years 1943-1952 — he helped to create.
Coldplay Warms Up for the Road (E! Online)
9 May 2008 at 7:35am
E! Online - Looks like Chris Martin's ready to work on Apple and Moses' college fund.
Kate Nash: Sweetly Infectious Pop
9 May 2008 at 7:30am
Though still only 20, English singer-songwriter Kate Nash has already topped numerous European pop charts and attracted massive buzz in the U.S. Her debut album, Made of Bricks, is full of sweetly infectious pop music, propelled by Nash's thick accent and effervescent personality.
Alberta Cross: Gothic Country with Uplift
9 May 2008 at 7:13am
The U.K. duo's laidback gospel twang is shrouded in a misty fog that favors long shadows over bright sunshine, and trades the wide-eyed innocence of the '60s for a wearier worldview. "Lucy Rider" sounds a bit like Neil Young haunted by the ghosts of his own demons.
Democracy-Wary China Does 'American Idol'
9 May 2008 at 5:58am
A new documentary called Supergirls! shows how a Chinese TV-singing contest is more than a chance for aspiring singers to get famous — it's also brought one of the biggest spasms of voting and campaigning for votes modern China's ever seen.
Joaquin to (Johnny) Cash in on Record Deal? (E! Online)
9 May 2008 at 5:25am
E! Online - Joaquin Phoenix has walked the line, now he's walking the walk.
Uneasy in Love: Mozart's 'Cosi fan tutte'
8 May 2008 at 9:00pm
Deceptively complex, Cosí fan tutte is a comic farce that often leaves romantically inclined listeners more than a little bit queasy. The libretto springs plenty of jokes, but Mozart's music tells you to hold on to your heart — you never know which way the romantic winds might blow.
Emmanuel Jal: From Child Soldier to Rising Star
8 May 2008 at 11:10am
At 8 years old, Emmanuel Jal was carrying an AK-47 rifle as a child soldier in the Sudan People's Liberation Army. Taken from battle and adopted by a British aid worker, he is now a rising international music star. He discusses his experiences and music. Jal's new album is titled Warchild.
Emmanuel Jal: Behind the Warchild
6 May 2008 at 12:20pm
Mining his life as a child soldier in Sudan, the MC reveals his unique perspective on battle and 50 Cent In Issue 1052, Evan Serpick profiled Emmanuel Jal, an MC who grew up in Sudan and became a soldier in the country's vicious civil war at age seven. After escaping five years of battle and unimaginable atrocities, he trekked to Kenya, where he began to channel his emotions and experiences into rhymes. Jal, the subject of new documentary War Child, also spoke about African rap battles and his unique perspective on 50 Cent. Watch Jal's video for his album's title track "Warchild" and listen to two...
Meet the Guys Who Make "The Hills" Rock
2 May 2008 at 11:12am
The series' music gurus talk breaking bands, that inescapable theme song and whether Heidi's tunes will make the show Though The Hills is synonymous with Lauren and Heidi, it's Joe Cuello and Jon Ernst who really make the show worth watching. Cuello, MTV's Vice President of Music Integration, and Ernst, the series' Music Supervisor, spend each week expertly pairing songs with footage in order to convey love, loss and cheerful vacancy. Here, they talk to Rolling Stone about the show's patron saint Natasha Bedingfield, breaking new bands on the program and whether we can expect a Heidi Montag tune to pop up in an...
Damon Albarn's 'Gorillaz' musical journeys west (Yahoo! Music)
2 May 2008 at 9:00am
Yahoo! Music - Damon Albarn's circus opera is set to make its U.S. debut on May 22.
The Cure to release new single each month (Yahoo! Music)
2 May 2008 at 8:00am
Yahoo! Music - The Cure have announced that they will release a new single each month leading up to the release of their 13th studio album in September.
Government launches appeal to deny Snoop Dogg a U.K. visa (Yahoo! Music)
2 May 2008 at 8:00am
Yahoo! Music - The British Government has launched a second appeal to try to prevent Snoop Dogg from entering the U.K.
The 15 Greatest Music Moments on "The Hills"
2 May 2008 at 2:41am
LC and Heidi's breakup (set to "Apologize"), plus Frente, Sara Bareilles, James Blunt and more The Hills may be the show you love to hate (or hate to love), but there's nothing detestable about the show's soundtrack, which is meticulously selected by Joe Cuello and Jon Ernst, the music gurus who painstakingly combine footage of Lauren, Heidi and Co. with tracks from Carolina Liar, Ashlee Simpson and a thousand other bands you?ve probably never even heard of yet. Here's a countdown of the show's 15 most memorable music moments:
Jazz, Funk, Soul and Hip-Hop: The Best of the Roots
30 Apr 2008 at 9:22am
DO YOU WANT MORE?!!!??! [1995] As on their self-released 1993 debut, Organix, the Roots' first major-label album fuses jazzy live jams and rap. Original keyboardist Scott Storch's Rhodes organ and ?uestlove's funk drums blend seamlessly with verses from Black Thought and Malik B. [LISTEN] Key Track: "Swept Away" is a minor-key highlight, featuring silky vocals from Cassandra Wilson. ...
Summer Movie Preview 2008
30 Apr 2008 at 8:45am
Hollywood Pulls Out All the Action and Comedy Stops for Summer, But Here's a Preview That Asks the Burning Question: Is Any of It Any Damn Good? By Peter Travers That bullwhip Indiana Jones cracks looks like a limp noodle in the face of the summer's higher-tech hulks. Yet the smart money says that Harrison Ford's aging Indy will be king of the box office. I'm not so sure. Christian Bale's Dark Knight and Heath Ledger's Joker could give the old boy a run for it. Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man is killer good. And don't mess with Will Smith's Hancock, Pixar's animated Wall-E or the posters on my movie blog who so want...
