Real Music People

Seven months after Valentin Elizalde’s death, the slain banda star’s relatives are keeping the dynasty going with their own work.
On July 3, Universal Music Latino released “Mi Ultima Bohemia … En Vivo,” a collection of songs Elizalde recorded live at the grave of his father, “El Gallo” Elizalde.
The only survivor of the November shooting that killed the 27-year-old Elizalde was his cousin, producer/bandleader Fausto “El Tano” Castro Elizalde. The latter’s “Dedicado a Ti” with La Banda Guasavena has sold 21,000 copies in the United States since its April release, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Far from trying to take the band on its own path, “we want to continue with (Valentin’s) legacy, God willing, for many years with the band and keep doing shows and albums in his honor,” El Tano Elizalde said.
The late singer’s girlfriend, Natalie Fernandez, and archival footage of Elizalde appear in the video for the single “Solo Un Sueno.”
El Chico followed May 22 with his own album of songs, many of them previously recorded by his brother, on Universal Latino. With accompaniment by La Banda Guasavena, the album “De Un Elizalde Para Un Elizalde” has sold 9,000 copies stateside.
In contrast, Jesus “El Flaco” Elizalde’s “Corazon de Acero” on Fonovisa, which was released April 3, does not cover material from his late brother.
“Over time, what will make him stay or be successful is that he will be himself,” Fonovisa VP/general manager Alfonso Larriva said. An emphasis on tributes “will pigeonhole the artist … He’ll always be linked to the tragedy.”
“Corazon de Acero” has sold 6,000 copies in the States, more than El Flaco’s previous efforts combined.
La Tricolor radio network program director Napo Sanchez said Valentin Elizalde’s younger siblings previously focused on working Mexico’s Pacific Coast. But now there’s an effort “to internationalize them. Their careers are just barely starting.”

R&B star Rihanna has topped the UK charts for a ninth week with her single Umbrella, matching a record for the longest run at number one this decade. The Barbados singer held off Black Eyed Peas singer Fergie, who’s Big Girls Don’t Cry went up six to number two. Rihanna has equaled the run of Gnarls Barkley with the song Crazy last year.
The all-time record for consecutive weeks at the top of the singles chart is held by Bryan Adams with Everything I Do, which achieved 16 weeks in 1991. Records apart the success should be celebrated and she should aim higher with her next single whenever she plans to release one. Being from the land of Bob Marley, music is the way of life in the Caribbean whether it’s a cricket match or while partying they just love their music.

50 Cent’s new album, “Curtis,” has been pushed back another week, from September 4 to September 11, according to Interscope, which declined to give a reason for the move.

“Curtis” originally was slated for a June 26 release but was pushed back in late May.

Two singles from the project have met with little success on radio. “Amusement Park” peaked at No. 36 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and is No. 57 in its ninth week there, while “Straight to the Bank” peaked at No. 30 and has since fallen off the chart.

Another new song, “I Get Money,” debuted in early July at No. 75.

“Curtis,” which is the follow-up to 2005’s “The Massacre,” features production from Dr. Dre, Eminem and Timbaland, plus guest turns by Eminem, Akon, Justin Timberlake, Mary J. Blige, Robin Thicke and Nicole Scherzinger from the Pussycat Dolls.

Pop star Fergie was left red-faced after performing to an audience of only six at a village fair with 1990s girl group Wild Orchid. The singer - who has since performed at the world’s biggest arenas with pop group Black Eyed Peas - was left in tears by the terrible reaction her old band received. Did they interview the pigs to see if they liked the show? Pigs are quite musically inclined. And can do a pretty good piggy four step circle mud stomp. There should been at least a few hundred pigs out side listening to the group singing. If she just looked outside then she could well have found some solace by seeing those pigs that were present. But she should also be a happier person today, form the fact that there are now a few thousand people where ever she performs and this should really wash out that bad memory.

Singer/songwriter James Blunt is lobbying his favorite beer brand for a sponsorship deal. The You’re Beautiful singer is a huge fan of bottled brew Corona and is confident he’d be a great global ambassador for the company - in return for free drink. “I’ll drink anything. Absolutely anything. But I’m trying to get a sponsorship from Corona, so if I say ‘Corona’ enough times, maybe I can persuade Corona to help me out. Oh Yeah, even I love beer and if I were in his shoes I would already have contacted the beer makers and written a real nice rhyme or slogan or something or their choice to land the lead. Where ever he will tour the company has keep a nice chilled stock of the company’s beers for him to unwind. He can call over his friends for a beer party every night in each town he is and have a ball. He won’t have to spend a dime on his favourite beer too, great thinking pal.
Once more with feeling: ‘Corona’. Can you put ‘Corona’ in capitals, please?”

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.

R&B star Mya fears she’s following in her mother’s footsteps by dating serial cheaters. The singer reveals her mum, Theresa Harrison, stayed with Mya’s cheating father for 10 years after she first discovered her husband’s infidelities. Why Mya is sharing this, maybe it will help other women to drop a no good man and examine yourself to see if you are attracting certain type of men that do not fit your standards and change yourself. You know you cant change the man, no matter how much sex you give him, if he’s a trash with no moral values, that he may eventually bring you some sexual transmitted disease. You have to ascertain how much sex you are having and how much risk you want to take as a cost for the fun. Surely she too is having huge amounts of sex and fears that she may have already contracted a sexually transmitted disease so now she doesn’t wanna risk another partner.

I guess that I had good ground by saying that Courtney Love was hardly recognizable. It’s not just her choice of clothing, it really is just her.

It was only months ago that Courtney showed off her new slender frame that represented herself in a healthy manner but it seems that she hasn’t gone off whatever diet she had. What remains of Courtney performed for a packed crowd at Hiro Ballroom in Manhattan a few days ago.

The 43-year old rocked the show with a few new tracks that is reportedly for a new album without her band Hole. One of the songs was even entitled ‘How Dirty Girls Get Clean’.

I have a song for her. It’s called ‘How Courtney Turns to Bones’.

She’s busy performing concerts around the world. She’s loved and adored by many. Some even think she’s perfect. But on a recent sit down with Glamour magazine, Jennifer Lopez took time out to show that she is just human.

The singer who is beaming with confidence says that she has her moments and can be really insecure about herself sometimes. Apparently, she’s not the only one. She spoke about her conversation with Victoria Beckham. Victoria said to her ‘People would never guess you’re insecure. Are you? Because I know I am.’

Jennifer said that the way Victoria said it was as if she needed to hear someone say the same thing. Jennifer shared her affirmation to that statement too. She pretty much emphasized the fact that even the big stars feel the same way as everyone.

4500 fans ended up being disappointed when they found out that Amy Winehouse canceled her July 4 show in Liverpool. It doesn’t help when you find out that she was seen drinking out later that evening.

The ‘Rehab’ singer called off the concert due to a supposed illness. It’s not good to know that the supposed illness was a bad case of a hangover. Then she goes out that night to have some drinks at a London Pub with her hubby. She was also seen drinking the previous day.

I think Amy is over wanting to sing for a living. I think she wants to drink for a living.

After performing for a dozen years, Afroman got his first hit in 2001 with the marijuana anthem “Because I Got High.”

The novelty song appealed both to supporters of marijuana and those who were against its use, Afroman told The Associated Press in a recent telephone interview from his home in Hattiesburg.

“It was just a song that everybody could relate to,” he said.

The record was on a local label, getting some airplay for several years, said Sean Ross, vice president of music and programming at Edison Media Research, which surveys the radio industry. It found its way to mainstream radio after Afroman was signed to Universal Records.

“The right song finds its way and `Because I Got High’ was proof of that,” Ross said.

The song was featured in Kevin Smith’s movie “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” and on the soundtrack of “Disturbia,” starring Shia LaBeouf.

It has become a popular cell phone ring tone in recent years.

“I was just telling a story … kind of like a slap your knee around the campfire having a good time,” said Afroman, 32, whose real name is Joseph Foreman. “I was just having fun. It is a stew. It’s like a gumbo.”

Foreman said he’s working on his first film, a spoof of 1995’s “Waiting to Exhale.”

Rapper Foxy Brown has been MIA in the hit charts for several years now but she has an uncanny way of still being present in the headlines. More recently, she was in the headlines for beating someone with a bat.

This time, the news is something different. Foxy has gone missing and her family and friends are concerned. Apparently, no one has heard from her in over a week after she boarded a plane headed to London.

Her lawyer says that they’re all trying to find Foxy but is keeping an optimistic look at things. He says that she could just be getting some much needed rest or could be working on her album. Both things she could possibly get done in London.

So why the shut out?

As part of the Live Earth concert series, John Mayer let everyone in on what’s been going on in his head as he blogged about his thoughts on climate change.

A few days before the event, Mayer wrote the following:

“I hope that for all the cynicism that’s existed around this subject, we can all uncross our arms long enough to give this event a chance to impact the world in the way that I’m beginning to feel that it could. Now isn’t the time to dissect the rights and wrongs. (If you’re hoping Live Earth doesn’t work, you have a lot of soul-searching to do.)”

“Live Earth isn’t a show - it’s a showing, a presentation of an idea. Artists like us don’t just get together to each play 20 minute sets every weekend, you know. We’re also usually pretty sensitive about the order in which we take the stage, and I’ve got no problems with my 5:12 PM set time.”

He goes on to say that every single artist playing is just an opener for the true headliner – the power to change the world’s mind. Feel the power!

Sunday’s Concert for Diana didn’t end well for Elton John. When Sir Elton’s chauffeur-driven ride was stopped on his way to the after party, he busted out in a rage. All cars were barred 50 yards away for security reasons but he didn’t care. He chewed out a cop and screamed several frustrated and expletive-filled rants.

Sources are saying that the ‘Tiny Dancer’ singer was in an especially bad mood due to his being forced to cut his finale performance short due to some technical difficulties.

Pfft. Wasn’t he the only artist to perform on the stage twice that night? He should have felt thankful for actually being asked to do that. I’d have felt saturated with him.

The Grammy winner has signed up with Nashville-based Starstruck Entertainment and that Reba McEntire’s hubby, Starstruck CEO Narvel Blackstock, will step up as her personal manager. “Kelly is an incredible talent with an unlimited future,” Blackstock said in a statement. “We are thrilled to be working with her.” Blackstock, a former member of McEntire’s band before becoming her manager in 1988 and then her husband a year later, also reps “Nobody But Me” crooner Blake Shelton. I saw the Crossroads episode and I thought she and Reba sound just wonderful together!! Kelly, keep doing what your heart is telling you. To many people worry about what everyone else thinks that they loose the love they started off with. You are a beautiful and talented young lady!! Don’t change a darn thing!!!!! Clarkson will be at Giants Stadium in New Jersey this weekend, joining Bon Jovi, Dave Matthews Band, Kanye West, Smashing Pumpkins, Alicia Keys and many others for the U.S. installment of Live Earth.

Missy Elliot just celebrated her 36th birthday so I first want to wish a ‘Happy Birthday’ to Miss Misdemeanor. She celebrated at Hamptons nightclub DUNE where celebrities and friends like Queen Latifah, Samantha Cole and Rozondo ‘Chilli’ Thomas helped Missy get her groove on.

There was even some sort of red carpet event as people started arriving for the party so you know that it was pretty star-studded. And hey, the girl does have a lot of pull from producing lots of hits for a lot of hip-hop and R&B artists as well as recording hits of her own.

I just can’t believe that she’s only 36. I swear she had to be older than that!

Britney Spears’ shelved pop comeback has been given a boost by producer Sean Garret, who insists the Toxic singer’s next single, is “out of control.” A week after her publicist revealed record executives had pushed Spears’ comeback album back to 2008 - prompting reports early studio work was no good - Garrett, who has just completed sessions with Spears, insists the singer has created another pop masterpiece. He tells “I’ve got this one record I’ve been holding for 10 months that everyone has tried to buy, but I stayed with Britney on it. I guarantee it will shake up the world. Oh puhlease, if it was it would have been out by now – she’s lost it, that’s why she wants to get into movies again (she doesn’t get that if she was that good and that hot, she woulda been picked up by now). Some producers are just trying to good mouth about her so that her appeal in the fans and music companies it maintained. She already had a few glitches while performing stage shows in America and that didn’t help either.

Just when you think that they have absolutely nothing in common, she proves you wrong. Pictures of Alanis Morissette and Matthew McConaughey have surfaced all over the place and sparked rumors of a relationship. A relationship that no one saw coming.

But then again, those are just rumors right?

So how come Alanis and actor Woody Harrelson arrived together at the free Paul McCartney gig at Amoeba Records on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles on Wednesday?

Not seeing the connection? Woody is Matthew’s co-star in their new flick ‘Surfer Dude’. There’s the odd chance that Alanis met Woody through Matthew who could then be Alanis’ new man.

Gah! I need details!

US rock singer Lenny Kravitz has been revealed as the headline act for the Brazilian leg of Live Earth.
Other acts confirmed for the concert on Rio’s Copacabana Beach include Pharrell Williams and Macy Gray.
Eight cities will be holding concerts across 24 hours on 7 July to highlight climate change.
Madonna and Duran are playing the UK concert at Wembley Stadium, while the US leg will see The Police, Alicia Keys and the Smashing Pumpkins perform.
Brazil is the only country hosting a Live Earth concert that is entirely free and open to the public, and organisers are hoping to attract up to one million visitors.

Aside from the US acts, Rio will play host to a number of native performers, including singer Xuxa, reggae rock band O Rappa and rapper Marcelo D2.
Other countries hosting concerts include Germany, Japan, Australia, China and South Africa. Linkin Park and Rihanna are headlining the Japan concert, while UB40 and Joss Stone will be playing in China.
The Istanbul concert was recently scrapped because of a lack sponsorship and interest in the Turkish event.

Former US Vice-President Al Gore, who is one of those involved in organising the events, said he expected Live Earth to attract “an audience of billions”.

Bon Jovi deciding to go country for their latest album ‘Lost Highway’ proved to be the right choice. The record just jumped to the #1 spot on the US album chart’s for this week. This is the first #1 for the band in twenty years! The last time they reached the top was in 1988 with the ‘New Jersey’ album.

Other chart movers were the White Stripes whose ‘Icky Thump’ was deemed as the highest charting album and having the best sales week ever for the band. Brad Paisley’s ‘5th Gear’ debuted at #3 while other notable debuts came from Mandy Moore, Shop Boyz, Huet, Chrisette Michele and Lifehouse.

60-year old rock legend Iggy Pop helped Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers a glimpse at his future when he took the stage at the Glastonbury Festival.

Iggy & The Stooges killed the second day of the British music festival with songs from their new album ‘The Weirdness’. I’ll say.

The weirdness of having to see his sagging skin is enough to terrify me from a picture. I can’t imagine what the live concert goers felt after seeing that. Honestly, I respect the man for his music and continuing to rock it, but he needs to learn to put a shirt on.

Rihanna is certainly turning out to be the music industry’s ‘it’ girl. She rocked the red carpet for the 2007 BET Awards on Tuesday at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California.

Sporting a white form-fitting strapless dress and bouncy curls, the 19-year old R&B singer, along with Chris Brown, presented Jennifer Hudson with the Best Actress Award.

Speaking of Chris Brown, he recently made a remix of Rihanna’s uber catchy song ‘Umbrella’. He entitled it ‘Cinderella’ with the chorus going as ‘you can be my Cinderella ella ella ella ey ey ey’.

Apparently, he was one of many that couldn’t get the song out of his head.

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.

A tribute concert will be held for the late Diana, Princess of Wales on what would have been her 46th birthday. NBC presents ‘Concert for Diana’ which will have a primetime special airing on July 1 at 8 pm.

“We wanted to have this big concert … full of energy, full of the sort of fun and happiness which I know she would have wanted,” said Prince William. “And on her birthday as well, it’s got to be the best birthday present she ever had.”

The concert is a celebration by Diana’s sons Princes William and Harry to commemorate her life and achievements. It will be hosted by Matt Lauer with feature performers that reflect Diana’s and her sons’ tastes including Elton John, Duran Duran, Bryan Ferry, Joss Stone, Pharell Williams, Lily Allen, Kanye West, Rod Stewart, Natasha Bedingfield, The Feeling, James Morrison, Orson, Status Quo, Take That, Nelly Furtado, Diddy, Tom Jones, Will Young, Supertramp and Roger Hudson plus more.

Kate Moss and Pete Doherty want to recreate John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s infamous bed-in at Glastonbury this weekend.
The couple has decided to make the peace protest on the acoustic stages, part of the Babyshambles singer’s solo set at the legendary Somerset music festival.
A source told the Britain’s Newspaper Daily Star newspaper about the couple’s decision: ”Pete is playing the festival with Babyshambles and also taking on an acoustic set under his own steam. He asked Kate to join him and they both thought it would be nice to do something different - more of an installation that a straightforward performance. They’ve been writing a lot of poetry lately and feeling quite political. Like John and Yoko, they’re hoping to turn the relentless fascination with their relationship into something positive.”
John Lennon and Yoko Ono in 1969 made their legendary two-week-long duvet protest against the war in Vietnam during their honeymoon at the Amsterdam Hilton.
The 33-year-old supermodel and Pete are said to be equally frustrated about how little the recent G8 summit - a conference with representatives from the UK, the US, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, Russia and Germany - appeared to achieve in solving world issues.
The couple’s intention may be impeded by the red tape.
The source added: “The idea might have come a bit late in the day for this year’s festival.”

When you are a millionaire and have wealth exceeding that of your father, then probably you never need you father’s wealth. Every father hopes to leave their son some savings when they die. But when your son is multi-millionaire Rolling Stone singer Sir Mick Jagger it does not seem appropriate. Instead, Joe Jagger, who died in November last year at the age of 93, left almost everything to Mick’s younger brother Chris, 59, whose career as a musician has never hit the same heights. Despite not receiving a penny, Mick, 63 - who is worth a reported 215million pounds - was made executor of his father’s £253,000 estate. Well this should not be a dampener for Mr. Jagger as a worth 215 million pounds is enough to live out at least a hundred years and we hope Sir Mick Jagger does live more than his father did.

Victoria Beckham launched her new line of denim at Saks in NYC last week. Several die-hard Spice Girls fans were there to greet her. Yes. They still exist.

One fan hogged Posh though as he spent a long time asking about the rumored Spice Girls reunion, getting his picture taken with her and then emphatically saying that she was his favorite out of all the girls. Posh was eating it all up and soaked in the compliments.

But the moment Posh said goodbye to her supposed number one fan, the guy turned to the rest of the crowd and said he was just being nice and that Ginger was his real favorite.

I get why. For one thing, Ginger doesn’t have a penchant for shoving her boobs on whatever camera.

U2 is in the middle of a special songwriting and recording session with usual collaborators Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno. This takes place in Marocco and different sources have reported that the bind has a lot of plans and many ideas. Bono on the other hand stated on U2.com that there is no talk of an album yet as it is still not planned. He said that:

“We have no plans for the music yet. We’re just going to make it until we can’t not put it out!”

Different events are planed for U2 this Summer and this looks like a relaxation session before a full schedule. The Live Earth concerts and different June sessions plus their concert film “U23D” are all big projects. Fans will still have to wait a little more for the next U2 studio album.

After being seen carrying a kid around, rumors have been swirling that Christina Aguilera is pregnant. But with her visit to a maternity doctor on Thursday, could everyone’s favorite dirrty girl really be carrying a bun in the oven?

Christina and husband Jordan Bratman had their driver drop them off at New York’s Maternal Fetal Medicine Association – a place known for their expertise regarding high-risk pregnancies and state of the art ultrasounds. If it’s the ultrasounds she wants, I guess she’s really excited. If it’s info on high-risk pregnancies, we wish her the best.

After leaving the facility, the couple stopped to eat at Capitale on the Lower East Side. She may be eating for two you know. However, a rep for Christina refused to comment. So we’re still left to question… is she or isn’t she?

Now I have heard a lot of weird things in my life but I have never ever heard a high profile singer like Robbie William say anything as absurd as this. English singer Robbie William claims that he has special psychic powers that enable him to communicate with people who have died. In his web blog, the singer also claimed to have contacted late jazz legend Frank Sinatra. Firstly, can he or some who is close to him have him checked by a physiatrist? He might be feeling some power in his senses but it could also be his wild imaginations that are causing him to believe that he has the power to communicate with the dead. It looks more like he is preparing for a movie role or either connecting with his visualization of life after death. Williams also wrote that he liked visiting a Los Angeles cemetery with his father, Pete. It sounds really funny to me but we should also not underestimate the power of a man to connect with his inner self. I’m joking people just trying to figure his experience!