Madonna was on top of the charts last week but this week, Mariah Carey has knocked her back down. The numbers are in and the Queen of Pop’s ‘Hard Candy’ has dropped from the top spot debut to #5 in the US album charts in a mere week whereas Mariah’s ‘E=MC2’, in its 4th week of release, is I #4 this week. Madonna’s first week sales were at 280,000 and week 2 brought in 81,000 units. Mariah’s sales for week 1 alone was at 463,000. Mariah is on her second single already though so Madonna better be coming out with hers very soon if she wants to win this diva battle.
Kid Rock loves himself some strippers but there is a group of people that he loves more – Boy Scouts. Stop your dirty thoughts. Troop 631 of the Oviedo Boy Scouts in Orlando, Florida had their $5,600 trailer stolen which was filled with $4,000 worth of camping gear. Kid Rock read about what happened while he was in town for his tour and told the troop that he would cut a check to help them make their summer camping trip to Tennessee. Hopefully, he didn’t pay them in all singles or he didn’t get one of those fun house buses for them to take.
You might have heard of this before – DMX was busted again this weekend at his home in Arizona. Sheriffs even say that the rapper barricaded himself in his bedroom when police arrived to get him. He was arrested in his home in Cave Creek on 7 misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty and 4 felony drug possession charges. During a search of the home, cops found a number or weapons and drugs as well as 5 pit bull puppies. According to Sheriff Arpaio, DMX attempted to lock himself in his bedroom at the time of the search warrant but eventually came out, made no further resistance and was booked.
The newlywed singer was due to perform in Dubai Festival City resort next Thursday (15.05.08) but has now pulled out of the show. She last performed in the Middle East country in 2004, after a rumoured concert in 2003 failed to take place.
‘Glamorous’ singer Fergie was due to perform in the resort the following day (16.05.08) as part of the ‘Divas in Dubai’ event, but her concert has also been postponed.
A spokesperson for the event said: “Mariah and Fergie are disappointed that they won’t be able to perform. They had scheduled this one special event in their calendars and were looking forward to performing for the Dubai fans.”
A statement issued by promoters said the event was cancelled due to “the extremely compressed time frame along with unforeseen logistical complications.”
Mariah has recently returned from honeymoon in Barbados with new husband Nick Cannon. The concert was scheduled to be her first performance since getting married last week.
Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl has posted an open letter urging metal overlords Metallica to make a “kick-ass” album.
Metallica are in the process of finishing off their new collection, the somewhat belated follow-up to 2003’s ‘St Anger’.
In the letter Grohl, a longtime fan of the trash metal pioneers, declares his love of the band and even admits his fondness of the disappointing ‘St Anger’ album.
He writes: “Hey, it’s Dave! Remember me? Yeah, I’m the guy that’s been listening to your band faithfully since 1983. I bought your first album ‘Kill ‘Em All’ from a mail order catalogue called Under The Rainbow, I think. Actually I can’t remember. It was 1983 for Christsakes! But that album changed my life and I’ve been listening to your albums ever since (even ‘St Anger’!).
“I can’t wait to hear the new shit, and no matter what you guys do I’ll always be first one at the shop waiting to hear it. I’m sure you’ll come out and blow everybody’s fuckin’ minds, because you’re fuckin’ METALLICA!
“Good luck. And don’t release it until it’s kick-ass.
Madonna has announced that she will launch her 27-date world tour in Cardiff, Wales
Ticket prices are going to be between $55 and $300
Madonna Tour Dates:
23-Aug - Cardiff, Millennium Stadium
26-Aug - Nice, Stade Charles Ehrmann
28-Aug - Berlin, Olympic Stadium
02-Sept - Amsterdam, Arena
04-Sept - Dusseldorf, LTU Arena
06-Sept - Rome, Olympic Stadium
09-Sept - Frankfurt, Commerzbank Arena
11-Sept - London, Wembley Stadium
20-Sept - Paris, Stade de France
03-Oct - E. Rutherford, Izod Center
06-Oct - New York City, Madison Square Garden
07-Oct - New York City, Madison Square Garden
15-Oct - Boston, TD BankNorth Garden
18-Oct - Toronto, Air Canada Centre
22-Oct - Montreal, Bell Centre
26-Oct - Chicago, United Center
30-Oct - Vancouver, BC Place Stadium
01-Nov - Oakland, Oracle Arena
04-Nov - San Diego, Petco Park
06-Nov - Los Angeles, Dodger Stadium
08-Nov - Las Vegas, MGM Grand Garden Arena
11-Nov - Denver, Pepsi Center
16-Nov - Houston, Minute Maid Park
19-Nov - Philadelphia, Wachovia Center
22-Nov - Atlantic City, Boardwalk Hall
24-Nov - Atlanta, Philips Arena
26-Nov - Miami, Dolphin Stadium
Pete Doherty walked out of Wormwood Scrubs prison in West London early Tuesday morning waving a certificate in the faces of reporters outside prison gates that claimed that he was drug free. Try not to laugh out loud. When asked if he got high in jail, he said “Well, I knew it was going to be a bit rough to start with, with the overcrowding and the medical facilities although they do their best - they are good, they can’t really cater for the average junkie…” So that’s a yes then. He also said he was buzzing to be free saying “I feel great — I’ve walked out and I don’t feel like I want to score. I want to go for a nice walk in the park instead.” This makes my eyes roll.
When you’re the star of the show, in the middle of performing a concert to a sold-out crowd, would you ever think that you’d almost get mugged? A bold thief tried to steal 50 Cent’s chain in Africa recently but the rapper jumped into the crowd to get back what was rightfully his. A video has popped up on the net where you can see a concertgoer jump onto the stage during the rapper’s set and yank the chain off his neck. An insider says that what folks couldn’t see on the video was that 50 jumped off the stage, followed the thief and punched the guy who tried to mug him.
Sir Paul McCartney has asked former chart rival Sir Mick Jagger for advice.
The Beatles legend - who is set to embark on a world tour later this year - has reportedly approached the Rolling Stones frontman for tips on surviving life on the road, now he is in his sixties.
A source revealed: “Paul is really good friends with Mick. Despite rumours of rivalry, they’ve been mates since they started out in the sixties. Mick has advised him to take a relaxing break before he embarks on the tour and then to try and factor one or two days more than usual between shows if possible. He said that it is the travelling that is the really tiring thing.”
The Rolling Stones completed a two-year world tour in August last year, when Mick was 64. Paul - who recently finalised his divorce from Heather Mills - turns 66 next month.
Kanye West is definitely a raging diva over the weekend. It started with his rant on Entertainment Weekly for their shitty review of his concert and then there’s that bit of technical malfunction at his concert in Houston on Friday night. The rapper actually ended up walking off the stage in a tantrum. The side screens that the venue had to show Kanye weren’t working and they weren’t the screens that were part of his show. Kanye told the venue to “Turn the fucking screens off” but when no one did anything, he stopped the show and said “If the shits not working just turn it off” before storming off. After around a minute, he came back on stage to finish the show.
Avril Lavigne hasn’t been known to be very caring of her fans but she still bothered to talk about her recent performance cancellation on her official blog. The singer and so-called songwriter said “I am at home right now taking it easy. I have been sick this whole tour, and now I have lost my voice. I have never canceled a show in my whole career and just had to for the first time ever. I am so sorry! I have been on the road for 60 days straight. I have had the flu 3 times and I never get sick, it just keeps going around. I think I am just run down.” She also talked about canceling other appearances like Jay Leno and Ryan Seacrest’s shows. Trust us Avril, whatever you have, whether the flu or a massive hangover, we would much rather you just stay home.
It’s a fallacy that only poor people get their stuff repossessed – just ask Lil Kim. New York’s CW11 news visited the rapper’s house along with a repo crew for a report focusing on the rising number of car repossessions. Apparently, Lil Kim hasn’t paid for her silver Bentley in months. When she was confronted by one of the repo men, she told them that her accountant would take care of it but her car still had to be taken away. The repo guy said that “She didn’t wanna cooperate. Basically, she told us to get off the property. We were hoping that she’d give us the keys, being that it’d be the right thing to do. It’s not her vehicle.” Too bad they weren’t there to negotiate. Cooperate or not, they’re going to take your car away.
Rumors are going around that Amy Winehouse is about to leave her current label after her next album so she can get her own label up and running. Wino was supposedly influenced to go into the label thing by Alex Haynes, the guy who she was rumored to have an affair with and is also her manager’s assistant. A source told UK’s Sun “For the first time in her career, Amy is beginning to have her head turned by the cash she can make.” The source also says that Wino wants to sign her friends Remi Nicole and Tyler James and have control over her own finances. If this is true, it will likely end in disaster. Amy can barely take care of herself. How will she take care of a business?
When Paula Abdul gets going when judging the contestants on American Idol, there’s absolutely no stopping her. The petite judge had a lot to say about the two songs that Jason Castro sung on the talent show on Tuesday night. It’s just too bad that he hadn’t gotten to perform his second song before Paula started judging him on it. Paula was in rare form that night as she blabbed on about Jason’s second song after only performing once. Simon, Randy and Ryan all tried to help Paula along but to no avail. She already dug her grave on that one.
Fans at the Bank Atlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida were evacuated from Bon Jovi’s concert this past Saturday night due to a bomb threat. Don’t worry – everyone and their mothers are completely fine. Several bomb-sniffing dogs were sent in to inspect the area after police received a phone call that threatened to blow up the arena with two bombs was received. After police determined that it was all a hoax, fans were let back into the arena at 9:30 to enjoy the show. And if it just happened that any concert-goers were from Fort Lauderdale, they might have been able to catch Richie Sambora play at a condominium too.
Metallica drummer Lars Ullrich has hinted that they’re thinking of doing what Radiohead popularized by giving away their material online for free. The famed drummer told Rolling Stone magazine that “We’re looking at how we can embrace everything. We want to be as free players as possible. We’ve been observing Radiohead and Trent Reznor (of Nine Inch Nails) and in 27 years or however long it takes for the next record, we’ll be looking forward to everything in terms of possibilities with the internet.” Considering their highly public with Napster, this is one shocking move. I’m sure those Napster people are having a really good laugh at this.
Get a taste of HARD CANDY during Myspace’s online listening party from 4/25-4/29! Head over to Madonna’s MySpace page to check it out and remember to add her as a friend to learn about more HARD CANDY goodies to com
Hard Cand will be available everywhere on 4/29
Naughty by Nature member, Treach, was given a ticket for driving with a suspended license after he was pulled over for driving the wrong way on a one-way street. The rapper was busted on Tuesday after police were called to the area because of a report that shots were fired. What’s the connection? Treach was wearing a bullet proof vest when he got popped. While he was pulled over in “the immediate area of the shooting incident” Newark PD isn’t pointing any fingers on him as they think that Treach is only “a potential witness at this time”. Here’s a tidbit – it’s not a crime to wear a bullet proof vest in New Jersey unless it’s worn during illegal activity.
Snoop Dogg may soon be allowed to head into the UK. The British government’s decision to ban the legally troubled rapper has just been overturned by an immigration appeals judge. How much trouble does a guy doing soap operas these days pose anyway? The overturning of the decision was due to the fact that it may not be Snoop who’s to blame for the trouble that led to his ban from the country. After reviewing tapes of the brawl that Snoop allegedly sparked at Heathrow airport, the judge ruled that the brawl was “precipitated by decisions made by British Airways staff and police.” The footage even shows that Snoop was pushed twice by an officer but never retaliated. The government agency trying to keep Snoop out of the country has until Wednesday to decide whether to appeal.
50 Cent is on the warpath yet again, but this time, he’s not after the likes of Ja Rule or Kanye West. The rapper is blasting Alicia Keys for her comments in Blender magazine that “Gangsta rap was a ploy to convince black people to kill each other.” 50 responds to that comment by saying “I don’t like people who don’t like me… that statement changes my perception of Alicia Keys totally. It’s just not really a bright comment.” For her part, Alicia has said that her comments to the magazine were taken out of context. I think she just got scared of all the rappers that may come after her.
Kanye West recently kicked off his new ‘Glow in the Dark’ tour and the first review is in! He not only took it to another level, he took it all the way to outer space. Actually, the Seattle Times reviewer says that “He not only took the concert experience to a new level, he took it to a new planet.” Okay. I’m officially jealous of whoever has caught the show and of whoever is holding tickets to see a show. I want to see it too! Is anyone holding on to an extra ticket and looking for a date? I’m free!
We have been duped by marketing once again kiddies! The Smoking Gun has unearthed police, court and corrections records that prove that multi-platinum selling musician Akon has been blowing a lot of smoke up our butts. There has been no conviction and he wasn’t locked up between 1999 and 2002. They say that Akon “’created a fictionalized back story that serves as the narrative anchor for his recorded tales of isolation, violence, woe, and regret. Akon has overdubbed his biography with the kind of grit and menace that he apparently believes music consumers desire from their hip-hop stars.” The Smoking Gun also expresses shock that the media failed to look into Akon’s claim before he got huge.
Madonna is to sign the most lucrative contracts of her career – playing two gigs in Dubai for $25MILLION.
The Queen Of Pop is finalising negotiations on a deal to finish her forthcoming world tour in the oil-rich Arab state in November. By my calculations, if one of the gigs – for which she will get $15million – runs to 90 minutes she will pocket a staggering $170.000 a minute.
That’s a pretty impressive pay day by any standards.
And if that wasn’t enough, she is also in talks to perform at a private party for a mystery punter while she is out there which will earn her another $10million.
Sources claim: “Madonna is about to break another record by playing the most lucrative concert of her whole career – or anyone’s career for that matter. The negotiations for the tour to stop in Dubai in November are being finalised and she will get $15million for the one show only. The figure is so big because of her new contract with Live Nation and the huge funds available from private promoters in Dubai.”
Madge signed to the company for $120million last autumn. The source added: “She is also close to agreeing to play at a private party in Dubai, the first in her career.”
If Madge sticks to her confession in a recent interview, she won’t be settling for a bottle of champers and a bunch of flowers in her dressing room as payment. She said she wouldn’t perform at a private bash for less than$10million. All in all it looks like Madge is on a nice little earner.
The deal will have top music figures queuing up for a piece of the action. How long before Sir Elton John is doing a residency?
Madge’s new bosses at Live Nation are keen for this not to be a one-off and are already in the process of brokering similar deals with other massive bands.
Millions of Pounds on offer for just one gig – shouldn’t be too hard to get them signed up.
Carrie Underwood performed her hit single ‘All-American Girl’ on stage during the 2008 CMT Music Awards at the Curb Events Center at Belmont University on Monday in Nashville, Tennessee. The 26-year old American Idol champ closed the entire show in a cute baby blue baby doll dress. Single, dating or in a pretty serious relationship, Carrie looks really good and sings really well. Earlier that night on the red carpet, Carrie rocked a purple one strap mini. It looks like she’s still playing on the cute side of her image. But it’s Carrie Underwood – she always going to be cute!
Well those are two names that you never thought you’d hear together in the same sentence. But it seems that it’s not at all impossible. Retired rapper Eminem has reportedly been approached to play Nelson Mandela’s upcoming 90th birthday party. I never knew Nelson was a hip hop fan. Reports are also saying that it’s a done deal but the rapper’s camp is saying they haven’t accepted the invite just yet. Let’s hope that there won’t be any talk about street cred. Em’s been arrested. Nelson spent 27 years in jail. Em clearly loses. But then again, he can issue a rap battle challenge and then all hell will break loose!
Rapper 50 Cent is reportedly in talks to star in an upcoming indie movie called ‘Spectacular Regret’. The movie’s plot interconnects the lives of four Los Angeles natives who are struggling to overcome past events. Gee, sounds a lot like ‘Crash’ doesn’t it? Anyway, the rapper is in negotiations to play a death row inmate who becomes a media sensation while facing imminent execution. What is with all these rappers wanting to become actors? Just because a couple of them found success because they actually have talent doesn’t mean everyone should have a go at it! Stick to your day jobs!
Times are getting tough for some of the music industry’s once hottest rappers. DMX has hit the college campus tour. The rapper performed at Indiana University last Wednesday night. Tickets were purchased for $25 through Lambda Chi Alpha. The concert was supposed to begin at 8:30PM but didn’t start until an hour later because DMX arrived late. Unfortunately for concertgoers, the concert shut down after just 3 songs because the organization told the University that the noise would be over by 9:30PM. When music was heard past that, police arrived to shut down the scene. That’s when things got bad. Profanities were yelled, students got maced – it just got really rowdy.
Stacy Ferguson, more famously known as Fergie, attends the ASCAP’s 25th Annual Pop Music Awards at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood on Wednesday. The singer’s hit ‘Big Girls Don’t Cry’ ended up in a tie with Gwen Stefani’s ‘The Sweet Escape’ for song of the year. Of that honor, Fergie said “To get any honor in that room is something very special. Songwriting is an expression of your soul, so to be honored as a writer feels like an approval of your soul.” Aww, how humble of her. Congratulations go out to both Fergie and Gwen for getting the honor.
You can find some of the craziest stuff going up on auction and not even the property of James Brown is exempt from that list. Tons of the music legend’s stuff will be sold by Christie’s in August. The auctioning off of the items has already drawn the ire of Brown’s kids and the supposed fourth wife Tomi Rae Hynie Brown but it still has to take place as a judge has ordered back in February that some of the gear be auctioned to pay legal bills and overdue estate taxes. According to reports, the late singer’s estate is in financial trouble and needs $1.6 million to pay just this year’s bills.
Sources have revealed that Madonna’s next single off of her upcoming album ‘Hard Candy’ will be ‘Give It to Me’. The song is a banger which was produced by Pharell. It is also being said that the Queen of Pop has already gone to work on the video already. Shooting apparently went down last Thursday in London. I wonder what the song sounds like and what the video will look like. Will she still look as glamorous as she did in the video for ‘4 Minutes (To Save the World) with Justin Timberlake? I wonder if Pharell will make a cameo appearance.
