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| Taylor Swift Beats Ex-Boyfriend Joe Jonas On Billboard
March 4, 2009 at 12:59 pm
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| The Jonas Brothers' '3D' soundtrack comes in at #3; Lamb of God stomp in at #2.
By Gil Kaufman 
Taylor Swift's <i>Fearless</i>
Photo: Big Machine Records Talk about insult to injury. First, the Jonas Brothers' "3D Concert Experience" had to settle for second place at the box office. Then, on next week's Billboard 200, the movie's soundtrack CD will have to make do with being #3. Who will top the chart? Why, none other than Joe Jonas' ex, Taylor Swift, whose Fearless will notch its 11th (non-consecutive) week at #1 on sales of 73,200, according to figures provided by Nielsen SoundScan. With a nearly 20 percent increase in business, Swift proved unbeatable again. Richmond, Virginia, metallers Lamb of God thundered to an impressive #2 with their sixth studio album, Wrath, with sales of 67,600, for their best chart debut to date. The JoBros are the only other debut in the top 10, well behind at #3 with 49,700. That's a far cry from the #1 debut of their previous studio album, A Little Bit Longer, which sold more than 525,000 copies when it hit the charts in August. The soundtrack to Oscar-winning underdog flick "Slumdog Millionaire" finally saw the huge post-awards-show bump everyone expected, with an 18-place leap to #4 on sales of 44,100. We're not sure if that 109 percent increase from the previous week was helped by the remix of Best Original Song winner "Jai Ho" featuring the Pussycat Dolls' Nicole Scherzinger. The rest of the top 10 was rounded out by the usual suspects: Nickelback's Dark Horse (#5, 40,800), Beyoncé's I Am ... Sasha Fierce (#6, 35,400), Lady Gaga's Fame (#7, 32,500), the Fray's self-titled second album (#8, 31,300), Jamie Foxx's Intuition (#9, 30,800) and Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak (#10, 25,500). A couple of recent top 10 debuts have fallen hard, including Gap Band leader Charlie Wilson's Uncle Charlie (from #2 to #20), Lily Allen's It's Not Me, It's You (#16 to #27) and M. Ward's Hold Time, which dropped 28 spots to #59 in its second week, with sales of 10,000. Storming back up the charts for no discernible reason is the Christina Aguilera greatest-hits comp Keeps Gettin' Better, which rockets from #159 to #66 on 9,400 in sales, a nearly 150 percent increase from the week before. Hyped Somali rapper K'Naan's second album, Troubadour, which features cameos from Damian Marley, Maroon 5's Adam Levine, Mos Def and Metallica's Kirk Hammett, debuts at #32 on sales of 15,300. Joe Budden's Padded Room bounces in at #42 with 13,600 in sales, and Project Pat lands at #70 with 8,700 units moved of Real Recognize Real. Way, way down the list is the solo album from Cypress Hill's B-Real, Smoke & Mirrors, which sneaks in at #148 with 3,800 in sales. And for those keeping score, Guns N' Roses' disappointing comeback album, Chinese Democracy, sank to its lowest position to date, #137, with just 4,000 new sales, as the 13-plus-years-in-the-making CD appears to have stalled out just above the half-million-in-sales mark. The charts should finally get a shake-up, and a possible takedown of Swift before the three-month mark, when U2's hyped No Line on the Horizon hits next week. Related Artists |
| No Doubt Offer Entire Digital Back Catalog Free With Concert-Ticket Purchase
March 4, 2009 at 12:15 pm
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| It's 'a cool way to get people listening to our music,' said guitarist Tom Dumont.
By Gil Kaufman 
Gwen Stefani
Photo: Evan Agostini/ Getty Images The economy is hitting everyone hard, forcing music lovers to cut back and make some hard choices about which concerts they can afford to shell out for this summer. But No Doubt have come up with a plan aimed at making sure their fans are super-motivated to check out the reunited band when they kick off their first North American tour in more than five years in May. How does a free digital copy of the band's entire catalog sound? That's the plan No Doubt rolled out earlier this week, when they offered fans purchasing the top-price-level tickets for their shows online a crack at the full musical monty. There are some stipulations — like the deal only applies to tickets priced at $42.50 or more before extra fees, excluding lower price levels and lawn seats. But otherwise fans who sign up online when tickets go on sale on Saturday will get each and every digital song, beginning with the band's self-titled 1992 debut up through their 2003 The Singles 1992-2003 collection. That includes The Beacon Street Collection (1995), their 1995 breakthrough Tragic Kingdom, 2000's Return of Saturn, 2001's Rock Steady and the 2003 Everything in Time (B-sides, Rarities, Remixes), plus their cover of Adam and the Ants' "Stand and Deliver," the only new recording included in the set. That song will be performed for the first time ever on the band's May 11 appearance on the CW's "Gossip Girl." "Since the band is heading back to the road, we wanted to find a cool way to get people listening to our music and stoke them with a great deal at the same time," said No Doubt guitarist Tom Dumont in a statement announcing the deal for the 80 songs. "With this download, it's easy for fans to get psyched up to hear our music live once again, and that rocks." While No Doubt are not the first band to offer bonus music along with a ticket — Coldplay have announced plans to give away a free album during their summer tour, and Prince pioneered the stunt by including a copy of his then-new Musicology CD with tickets to his 2004 tour — their offer is certainly the most generous one from a major act to date. The download codes for the songs will be e-mailed to ticket buyers about a month before the date of the show for which they've purchased tickets and will be good for 30 days after the tour ends. The tour, with opening act Paramore, kicks off on May 2 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and is currently slated to run through August 1 in Irvine, California. Related Artists |
| Miley Cyrus Writes About Being Bullied In New Book
March 4, 2009 at 11:42 am
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| 'Miley Cyrus: Miles to Go' also chronicles her breakup with Nick Jonas.
By Jocelyn Vena 
Miley Cyrus' book <i>Miles to Go</i>
Photo: Disney Hyperion In Miley Cyrus' memoir, "Miley Cyrus: Miles to Go," the teen star describes in depth the bullying she received from the "the Anti-Miley Club" in her pre-teen years growing up in Tennessee, according to AccessHollywood.com. "The girls took it beyond normal bullying. These were big, tough girls," Cyrus says in the book, which hit stores on Tuesday. "I was scrawny and short. They were fully capable of doing me bodily harm." During one of those instances, the mean girls locked Miley in the bathroom during class. "They shoved me in. I was trapped. I banged on the door until my fists hurt. Nobody came," she writes. "I spent what felt like an hour in there, waiting for someone to rescue me, wondering how my life had gotten so messed up." Miley also describes how the girls escalated their bullying on the future star by confronting her and challenging her to a fight. "It seemed like Operation Make Miley Miserable was escalating to a new level. More like Operation Take Miley Down," she recalls. "Three girls strutted up and stood towering over me. My stomach churned. I clutched my grilled-cheese sandwich like it was the hand of my best friend. It pretty much was my best friend those days. I was done for. "They started cussing me and telling me to get up. I sat there, frozen. I didn't know what to do," she continues about the incident, which ended when the principal stepped in. "Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. I wasn't chicken. What could they do to me? I was surrounded by people. I stood up, still a foot shorter then they were, and said, 'What's your problem? What did I ever do to you?' " Her classmates also teased her about her family, telling her, "Your dad's a one-hit wonder. You'll never amount to anything — just like him." But it's not only the hard times in Tennessee that Miley shares in the book. She also talks about working hard to beat out her competitors, like "Gossip Girl" star Taylor Momsen, for the role of "Hannah Montana." "I didn't dare forget the struggle. There was a reason for it. I brought that girl with me, and she reminds me to be compassionate," she writes. "To not hold grudges. To be supportive. To be there for others when I know I'm needed." Cyrus, who describes ex-boyfriend Nick Jonas as "Prince Charming" in the book, still seems surprised that their relationship didn't last. "It felt like the whole world stopped. Nothing else mattered," she says about meeting him, adding that when they broke up it was "the hardest day ever." "Deep down, I know we weren't being our best selves," she says of their time together. "And that was what I wanted — and thought I deserved — in a relationship." While dealing with the pain of the breakup, Cyrus says she wrote the song "7 Things" so that she could "punish him, to get him back for hurting me," but the song ended up being "about forgiving, not forgetting." It's hard to imagine that our love is a story with an end," Miley writes. "But you know, at least I'm getting some really good songs out of it." Related Artists |
| Flo Rida Denies Dropping Chris Brown Song Over Rihanna Scandal
March 4, 2009 at 11:16 am
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| Rapper says 'Sweat' was cut from R.O.O.T.S. before alleged altercation took place.
By Gil Kaufman 
Flo Rida
Photo: Steve Granitz/WireImage Chris Brown has lost endorsement deals and some radio play due to the scandal surrounding his alleged altercation with girlfriend Rihanna on the eve of last month's Grammys. But according to Flo Rida, despite some reports, the publicity surrounding the alleged domestic dispute is not the reason he dropped a Brown collabo from his upcoming album, R.O.O.T.S. "The thing was, we have deadlines to meet and between his business and my business, things were — we had to turn an album, so I had to really get everything together," Rida told UsMagazine.com. A story surfaced last week that Rida had removed the song "Sweat" because of the fallout from the Brown scandal and that he had reportedly explained, "I recorded a great song with Chris. But I won't be releasing it now because of what's going on with him and Rihanna. It could have been my next #1." The "Right Round" hitmaker told Us that he never made that statement. "I think someone must have got it twisted," Rida said, explaining that the song wasn't the only one cut from his upcoming second album. "It's not just that record, there were other records that couldn't make the album that I wanted to make the album as well, but that was the process — this was way before me ever hearing anything about [Brown and Rihanna's alleged altercation]," he told the magazine. "This was way before, at least a month. I had been done with this record." Asked if he would work with Brown in the future, Rida said, "He's a talented artist, so I looked forward to working with him. And I thought it was a hot song." A spokesperson for Flo Rida confirmed that "Sweat" will not be on the album, due March 31. Brown is scheduled to be charged in the incident on Thursday in Los Angeles. He turned himself in on February 8 during the Grammys — where he and Rihanna were scheduled to perform — and was arrested and booked on suspicion of making criminal threats. The couple reportedly reconciled last weekend at a home owned by Diddy in Miami and were reportedly photographed arriving in Los Angeles together on Monday. Related Artists |
| Britney Spears Unveils Her Circus Stimulus Package
March 4, 2009 at 10:47 am
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| Brit's spectacular show steamrolls over the haters, and even converts a few, in Bigger Than the Sound.
By James Montgomery 
Britney Spears performs in New Orleans on Tuesday
Photo: Kevin Mazur/ Getty Images Britney Spears should probably be president at this point. She knows how to get things done. This was more than evident on Tuesday night at the New Orleans Arena, when Britney pulled back the flaps on her Circus tour, a two-hour spectacle of lights and sounds (and more lights and sounds), a dizzying mélange of epic dance numbers, bare midriffs, flames, wayward acrobatics, burlesque tassles, floating furniture and very little actual singing. Not as if that last part mattered. In fact, we could probably debate for hours about whether or not Britney actually sang a note during her show (and I'm sure we will in the comments below), but suffice it to say it didn't look like she did. At one point, she was placed in a box and sawed in half by that dude who used to be on "Saved by the Bell," and her vocals didn't even waver a note, surely a first in the world of performing — and, to be honest, it was almost better that way. To debate such a minor detail as singing would be missing the entire point of the evening. And of Britney Spears. Because for 120 amazing minutes on Tuesday, Britney positively killed it. She was in her element, holding the squealing masses in the palm of her hand, and she did not let up until the bitter end, when she was dressed as a sexy cop and bathed in a shower of sparks. Say what you want about her — and there's certainly plenty to say — but you can never again argue that she does not put on a total and complete show. Not after Circus, at least. This was Spears facing up to her detractors. This was her doing things the way she wanted: Singing be damned, let's dance. If Britney Spears fans couldn't care less about hearing her sing and would rather see her look amazing and dance all nasty, well, then the Circus tour is for Britney fans, and no one else. President Obama should take notes. Because Circus is Britney's stimulus package. I didn't realize this until hours after the show, as I sat in my hotel room watching CNN, but it makes sense. It's a metaphor that works on many levels (her outfits got a rise out of many, to say the least), but let's focus on just one: It's her bit of necessary evil, a somewhat troubling bit of musical legislation that, had she gone any other way but her own, had she listened to the naysayers, certainly wouldn't have worked. Where Obama made concessions to Republicans (tax cuts) to get his package passed, Britney steamrolled over the haters and just did things her way. There are no tax cuts on this tour, just lots of dancing and a few martial-arts sequences. And that's why Britney's stimulus package will succeed, while Obama's isn't looking so hot right now. And while that seems like a long — not to mention incredibly over-generalizing — way to go to make a relatively insane point (since when has that stopped me in the past?), allow me to continue onward for just a few more paragraphs. See, before I flew to New Orleans on Tuesday, I was sort of like the Bobby Jindal to Britney's package. I was ardently opposed to practically everything she had ever done. I thought she was short-sighted and somewhat irresponsible and would saddle our future generations with debt beyond their wildest contemplation. Now, after seeing her strut and sweat her way across the stage for two hours, after realizing just how brave the Circus is, I am completely changed. I am a supporter. I think it will work. At the very least, I will definitely accept funds from it. And you should too — not just because free money is good money. Trust me, it's not too late to jump on the Britney train. No one in the press box at the New Orleans Arena had made the leap yet, and there are millions out there just like them. Maybe you are one of them. I know I was. In tough times, we need decisive leaders, capable of taking action and making tough decisions. We need someone who is willing to go out on a limb, to shoulder the responsibility for ourselves and our future generations. We need Britney Spears. Related Videos Related Photos Related Artists | | |
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