Real Music People

Timbaland got married on a private island in Aruba last weekend but don’t think that the rapper and mega producer went all out with the fancy stuff. Spies at the wedding site says that the music mogul’s wedding, which the hotel called the code name of ‘Heaven on Earth’, actually featured open mic karaoke and $50,000 worth of flowers. If you compare that to Mariah’s weddings, it’s practically peanuts. Oprah, Madonna, Missy Elliott, Beyonce, Jay-Z and Prince were said to be invited but there’s no official word on just who actually showed. What, Justin Timberlake wasn’t invited? I was kind of imagining him as the wedding singer.

Jay-Z and Beyonce could be teaming up for a duet this summer.

The married couple are rumored to appear on stage together at the O2 Wireless Festival in London, just one week after the rapper controversially headlines Glastonbury. A source said: “Jay-Z is planning a spectacle to end of spectacles. He knows all eyes will be on him when he headlines Glastonbury but he’s actually planning on whipping up something special for Wireless too. He’s been talking to Beyonce about getting her on stage.’

The hip-hop star, who teamed up with Beyonce for her worldwide smash hit ‘Crazy In Love’ and ’03 Bonnie and Clyde’, is also planning to fly in a huge string section and orchestra for the Hyde Park concert.

Since being announced as a Glastonbury headliner, Jay-Z has been criticized by rock royalty, including Oasis star Noel Gallagher, who insists a hip-hop act should not top the bill at the event.

Much like Justin Timberlake, Beyonce Knowles is focusing on her movie career right now. Variety is reporting that the former Destiny’s Child member has signed up for a new movie called ‘Obsessed’. The 26-year old singer turned actress will play the knockout wife of an asset manager to be played by Idris Elba from ‘The Wire’. ‘Heroes’ hottie Ali Larter will play a temp office worker who begins stalking Elba’s character. Steve Shill will take the director’s helm for the movie. Beyonce will start production for the movie this summer. Also, she’s producing and co-starring as Etta James in Cadillac Records.

Forbes has come out with their list of 2007’s 20 highest grossing female musicians. The results are pretty surprising.

1. Madonna - $72 million
2. Barbra Streisand - $60 million
3. Celine Dion - $45 million
4. Shakira - $38 million
5. Beyoncé - $27 million
6. Gwen Stefani - $26 million
7. Christina Aguilera - $20 million
8. Faith Hill - $19 million
9. Dixie Chicks - $18 million
10. Mariah Carey - $13 million
11. Hilary Duff - $12 million
12. Avril Lavigne - $12 million
13. Martina McBride - $12 million
14. Britney Spears - $8 million
15. Carrie Underwood - $7 million
16. Nelly Furtado - $7 million
17. Fergie - $6 million
18. Jennifer Lopez - $6 million
19. Sheryl Crow - $6 million
20. Norah Jones - $5.5 million

After a rollercoaster ride of emotions, rapper Kanye West finally buried his mother, Dr. Donda West, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma earlier this week.

The ceremony was held at the True Vine Ministry church which could hold up to 2,500 people. The funeral was attended by members of the music industry as reported by AccessHollywood.com. Beyonce and Jay-Z attended the services where John Legend and Anita Baker performed in honor of Donda.

Kanye reportedly broke down inside the church as he was giving his eulogy and talking about his mother. He said, he wanted her to not “rest in peace, but rest in paradise.”

Bobby Brown may be going through a career change by trying to make it in country but did you ever fathom that Beyonce could do that same?

In a surprising move, Beyonce put a sweet country twist to her massive hit ‘Irreplaceable’ and even brought in Sugarland country crusaders Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush at the 2007 American Music Awards.

Beyonce was also recognized with the International Artist Award of Excellence. It’s a huge achievement because not only is she the first female artist to ever receive it but she also joins a list of legends including Michael Jackson, Rod Stewart, Led Zeppelin, the Bee Gees and Aerosmith.

“Deja Vu” suffered from being a bit too familiar and a frenetic accompanying video that turned off more than a few fans. “Ring the Alarm,” tricked out with sirens and a video of Beyonce conjuring memories of Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct, failed to maintain attention for more than a few listens. However, “Irreplaceable” could change all that.

“Irreplaceable” was co-written by Ne-Yo and produced by StarGate, one of the most potent hitmaking teams of the year. They have collaborated on Ne-Yo’s own “So Sick” and Rihanna’s “Unfaithful,” to name just a pair of successful hits. “Irreplaceable,” with its instantly memorable melody and irresisible “to the left” hook should follow in those songs’ footsteps.

An element that makes “Irreplaceable” resonate deeper after hearing it multiple times is that the subject matter of female strength and independence is at the core of the entire B’Day enterprise. This song will remind many listeners of concepts central to Terry McMillan’s Waiting to Exhale which remains a cultural touchstone 14 years after its release. Look for “Irreplaceable” to help Beyonce regain her pop momentum just in time for her end of the year starring role in the film version of Dreamgirls.

Justin Timberlake’s sixth release from solo bow “FutureSex/LoveSounds” has earned props as the first time that six tracks from one release have hit the top 40 since Michael Jackson’s “Dangerous” more than 15 years ago. With Beyoncé now stripped onto “Until the End of Time,” it’s quite likely JT will score the tenacious set’s fourth No. 1—which has already catapulted into the top five at R&B.

The meandering song is clearly a tribute to Prince, with its soul-soaked guitar-driven shuffle and funkified production—think “I Would Die 4 U” on Xanax. While Timberlake’s vocals are smoothed out to near anonymity, as usual, he employs recognizable falsetto amid layers of appreciably creamy harmonies.

It’s Beyoncé, however, that really fuels the passion of the track, with her loosest vocal performance since “Listen” from “Dreamgirls”—and Timberlake is wise enough to sprawl her vocal across the song so that it commands the lead. The mantra here: unstoppable.

Beyonce takes a step away from being in the spotlight as she showed two different types of support. One was a friendly one and another a concerned one.

Beyonce showed up to the ‘Ms. Kelly’ album release party of her Destiny’s Child pal Kelly Rowland at club Homes in New York City. She went for simple style (as simple as she can get) in a pair of hip-hugging jeans and peep-toe shoes.

She also paid a visit to two people that got injured when pyrotechnics went awry at her concert in St. Louis Sunday night. The pyro meant for the stage accidentally spilled into the front row. She arrived at the hospital after the show and spent 45 minutes there making sure that the 2 injured concert-goers were fine.

Literally.

Beyonce Knowles first showed off her glam figure in a glitzy hip-hugging silver gown by Dolce & Gabbana at the 2007 BET Awards. The show was held at LA’s Shrine Auditorium on Tuesday.

Later on in the night, she performed a rendition of ‘Get Me Bodied’ wearing a gold space outfit which was later stripped off to show a $100,000 gold Balenciaga leggings and matching bra top.

The bootylicious singer won the awards for video of the year for ‘Irreplaceable’ and best female artist.

Beyonce caught a flight out of Nice airport and paparazzi caught her hand in hand with an unidentified little boy on Sunday. This was after her week-long ‘love boat’ vacation with her man Jay-Z.

The unidentified little boy has been vacationing with Beyonce and Jay. The thing is, it’s not her nephew Daniel. Has the hip-hop world’s power couple jumped in the Hollywood bandwagon of adoption? Or maybe he’s a friend’s kid that they’re practicing on for the future. Is this the start of a pregnancy rumor? A wedding rumor? Or is everything just a rumor?

Can you imagine that? Little Beyonce and Little Jay running circles around you. Creepy.