MTV Newsroom ›

Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Amy Winehouse Invade V Fest In U.K.

Posted 8/24/09 10:51 am EST by in Concerts, Music


Over the weekend, around 80 bands descended on two different locations in England for this year's V Festival, one of the U.K.'s biggest annual musical traditions. Oasis were supposed to headline the closing night, but singer Liam Gallagher caught a case of viral laryngitis and couldn't perform. (Snow Patrol filled in for the band in the top slot, covering "Wonderwall" and "Champagne Supernova" in honor of their absent colleagues.) But the weekend really belonged to the ladies, as Taylor Swift, Katy Perry and the always-fashion-forward Lady Gaga turned in crowd-pleasing sets.

(Click here for more photos from V Fest, including shots of Katy Perry, Taylor Swift and more!)

The Killers, MGMT and Lily Allen also turned in memorable sets, but perhaps the weekend's biggest surprise came during the performance by the Specials. In the middle of their set, the veteran ska band brought out a very special guest to join them on two songs: Amy Winehouse. In her first U.K. performance in over a year, Winehouse backed the band up on "Ghost Town" and "You're Wondering Now" before ducking back out again. That wasn't the only appearance she made during the weekend, as she also introduced fellow British tabloid regular Pete Doherty before his set on Saturday. Though she wasn't necessarily in top form with the Specials, her performance was a far cry from her appearance at last year's V Fest (where she was roundly heckled) or her attempt at a comeback earlier this year in St. Lucia (where she cut off her set six songs in because of "technical difficulties"). The festival season is coming to a close both here and abroad, which is why MTV News will be getting our last licks in this weekend in San Francisco at the Outside Lands Festival.

Tags , , , , , , , , ,

Judas Priest Are Only Guilty Of Rocking: Wake-Up Video

Posted 8/24/09 9:00 am EST by in Music, Wake-Up Video


Today marks a great day for truth, justice and the right to bang your head to loud guitars. About every ten years or so, some group launches a jihad against metal that blames its sex and darkness for turning normal everyday kids into rampaging psychopaths hellbent on the destruction of all that is good and pure. One such incident happened in 1990, when a civil action was brought against the members of Judas Priest. The plaintiffs alleged that a subliminal message hidden in the song "Better By You, Better Than Me" (from their 1978 album Stained Class) caused two men — 20-year-old James Vance and 18-year-old Raymond Belknap — to commit suicide in 1985. (Belknap killed himself with a shotgun, but when Vance took the weapon, it slipped out of his hand and he survived the blast; he died of a painkiller overdose a few years later.) The parents of the two men put the band on trial, claiming that the message "do it" hidden deep within the track was what drove the two to their self-destruction. However, on August 24, 1990, a judge dismissed the suit and ended the trial, finding Rob Halford and the rest of the band innocent of any wrongdoing. Halford would later flippantly say that encouraging his fans to commit suicide would be counter-productive to him, and that if he did want to drive them to do anything, it would be to buy more records.

It wasn't the first time that Priest had been accosted by people who thought metal was evil. Back in 1985 (the same year as the initial subliminal message incident), Tipper Gore founded the Parents Music Resource Center, a group that attacked record labels for loose standards (they're responsible for the "Parental Advisory" warnings on albums). One of the songs that was on Gore's initial "Filthy Fifteen" list of offensive songs was Judas Priest's "Eat Me Alive," a song that was pretty blatantly about oral sex. (Other entries on the list included Prince's "Darling Nikki," Twisted Sister's "We're Not Gonna Take It" and Cyndi Lauper's "She Bop.") Since Priest's records were now at the mercy of the federal government, Halford did the only thing he knew how to do: He wrote the fantastically rocking anthem "Parental Guidance."

Tags , , , ,

Heidi Montag Uses Her 'Body Language' On Miss Universe Show

Posted 8/24/09 7:34 am EST by in Music, Television


In any given year, there isn't a whole lot of buzz surrounding the Miss Universe pageant. After all, does anybody really need to know that a bikini-clad woman from Croatia likes Julia Roberts movies? But the buzz for last night's show was much larger, not just because everybody was curious if Miss Venezuela would repeat (she did!) but because MTV reality star Heidi Montag would be making her live debut with a performance of her new single "Body Language," from her forthcoming album.

Following an introduction by pageant co-host Claudia Jordan, the Yaz-borrowing intro to "Body Language" kicked in and Montag stormed the stage wearing a black blazer and flesh-colored pants. She quickly doffed the jacket to reveal a flesh-colored top, creating an almost-nude effect not unlike Britney Spears' outfit at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards. Montag lip-synced the song and stayed in step with her backup dancers, all of whom had been furiously rehearsing in preparation for the show, which broadcast from the Bahamas. During the performance, the broadcast frequently cut away from Montag to show clips of various contestants in bathing suits on the beach, and when the camera was on Heidi, it was more than a little zoom-happy. Still, she got across the sexiness of the song despite a few dancing missteps.

By the time the song wrapped up, Montag was clearly out of breath but looked satisfied. We didn't get the chance to hear how her voice sounded live in person, but there will likely be more chances in the future. General sentiment was that the dancing was a little off, but it was honestly hard to tell considering the production and camera choices. Montag earned herself a passing grade, which means that the jury is still out on whether or not her music career will take off.

Tags , , ,

Nine Inch Nails Perform The Downward Spiral In Its Entirety At New York Show

Posted 8/24/09 12:21 am EST by in Concerts, Music


When Trent Reznor announced that he would be retiring Nine Inch Nails after a brief tour at the end of this summer, all he promised were beefed up setlists and "a few surprises." After the first two shows in New York — one each at the tiny Bowery Ballroom and the slightly less tiny Webster Hall — it's clear that Reznor wasn't kidding. After pulling out a few rarities at Saturday night's show (including the band's rarely-played cover of Joy Division's "Dead Souls"), the Nine Inch Nails frontman satisfied what appeared to be a long-held desire in front of about 1,400 diehards: He played his 1994 album The Downward Spiral in its entirety on Sunday night (August 23).

Though Reznor's debut Pretty Hate Machine had gotten him the initial attention he deserved, The Downward Spiral made him a star. That's pretty odd considering that record is an incredibly dense, harsh and at times violent descent into Reznor's warped mind. But the difficulty didn't stop it from becoming one of the best written-about and most beloved albums of the 1990s. To some people, it's simply the album that contained one of the dirtiest hit singles in history ("Closer," with its chorus of "I want to f--- you like an animal"), but to the fans who helped sell out Reznor's entire "Wave Goodbye" tour in minutes, it's a definitive statement from a brilliant artist.

Reznor and his able band plowed through the 14 tracks that make up The Downward Spiral with savagery and grace. The opener "Mr. Self Destruct" provided an initial jolt of adrenaline, but then the jazzy "Piggy" slowed things down. Following the one-two punch of "Heresy" (chorus: "God is dead and no one cares") and "March of the Pigs" and the crowd collectively realized what was happening, even the densest keyboard meandering (which makes up some of The Downward Spiral's latter half) was met with love and awe.
Read More...

Tags , , ,

Adam Lambert, Britney Spears, Joe Jonas And Woodstock: This Week's Deep Cuts

Posted 8/21/09 6:29 pm EST by in Deep Cuts


It's Friday afternoon here in the MTV Newsroom, which means it's time to pack up the video cameras, type up the last of the reports and prepare for this weekend's Nine Inch Nails shows in New York City. But it's also time to take a look back, which is why we dive headlong into this week's Deep Cuts.

» When we elect President Britney Spears in 2020, apparently we'll all get pie and hang out in Cabo. Honestly, is that any worse than President Palin would do?

» Joe Jonas will be so great a guest judge on "American Idol" that the producers will have no choice but to give him Paula Abdul's seat on a permanent basis.

» Queen guitarist Brian May has heard Adam Lambert's new song, and he's not afraid to voice his enthusiasm about it.

» Are Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson really dating? It goes back and forth every day, but you have some awfully strong opinions about it one way or another.
Read More...

Tags , , , , , , , ,

Red Hot Chili Peppers Ready To Head Back Into The Studio

Posted 8/21/09 5:53 pm EST by in Music


By Cara Alwill

There are certain bands which seem to have boundless energy and vigor, and rarely disappoint when challenged with creating new music. The Red Hot Chili Peppers are undoubtedly one of those bands.

After taking a two year break from making music together and getting involved in a host of side projects, the boys are back and ready to hit the ground running. "We've decided to write some songs," frontman Anthony Kiedis told Rolling Stone recently. "We imposed a two year hiatus, which we felt we needed, then we went back to the roundtable and the decision was, 'Let's do this.'"

The Los Angeles natives have always had a unique, always-morphing sound. Led by Flea's funky bass grooves and Anthony Kiedis' half-soul, half-punk vocals, the Chili Peppers have consistently delivered hit after groundbreaking hit, from "Knock Me Down" to "Give It Away" to "Aeroplane" to "By the Way." But now that the quartet has regrouped after spending time apart, where will that leave their sound?
Read More...

Tags

Aubrey O'Day Is A Better Bunny: The MTV Quote Of The Day

Posted 8/21/09 5:37 pm EST by in Music


"I think that my Playboy photos express very strongly my nature as a woman. They were classy, they depicted the parts of my body that I love, and I felt completely beautiful and secure and empowered by them. There's been so much speculation and competition between the two MTV girls, and I had heard that Spencer made a statement about it, but, I don't know, I think mine's still the winner."

-Former Danity Kane member Aubrey O'Day discussing how her Playboy pictorial stacked up against that of fellow MTV star Heidi Montag. Unlike Montag, O'Day got completely starkers for her shoot, and she suggests that if Montag goes back to Playboy again (a suggestion she is open to), then she should go the full monty. "You know you can take a million pretty pictures, every celebrity girl has taken a million pretty pictures," O'Day told MTV News. "But it's like: Which pictures are really going to stand out and be iconic, and which pictures are just pretty pictures that are here today, gone tomorrow?"

Tags , , ,

Jay-Z's 'Run This Town' Video: The Oh Snap! Poll

Posted 8/21/09 4:15 pm EST by in Oh Snap Poll


Yesterday, Jay-Z premiered his new video for "Run This Town," which features him, Kanye West and Rihanna in a post-apocalyptic city filled with crowds, cloaks and lots and lots of torches. It's the latest in a long line of classic clips for Jigga, who has previously dropped bombs like "99 Problems," "Show Me What You Got" and "Big Pimpin." It's all a part of the lead-up to Jigga's much-anticipated new album The Blueprint 3, which hits on September 11 and is already being earmarked (mostly by us) as one of the best albums of the year.

So it's clear MTV loves "Run This Town," but what does the public think? To find out, we hit the streets to ask a handful of people in Times Square (just a few floors down from the MTV News offices) to ask people what they thought of "Run This Town."

The results of this particular poll are almost criminally unscientific, but that doesn't take away from the fact that Jay-Z is responsible for the first-ever sweep in the history of the "Oh Snap! Poll." A full 100 percent of the people we talked to absolutely loved the clip, citing its epic look, impressive effects and the overall quality of the single. Several female respondents cited Jigga's hotness as a reason to love the video, while one guy even said it has driven him to buy the album even though he doesn't particularly like hip-hop. The people have spoken: Jigga has a hit on his hands, and the anticipation for The Blueprint 3 just got a little bit more intense.

Tags , , , ,

'Post Grad' Star Alexis Bledel Used To Love Ska

Posted 8/21/09 3:50 pm EST by in Music


Though most of the MTV crew is going ape for today's release of Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds," I have to admit that the movie I'm most looking forward to today is "Post Grad." It's got a number of things working for it. First, the trailer was accompanied by an excellent tune called "Show Me What I'm Looking For," by the woefully underrated band Carolina Liar. Secondly, it has a great support cast, like the underused Michael Keaton, the always-funny Jane Lynch and Zach Gilford of "Friday Night Lights."

But mostly it's because of Alexis Bledel, who is endlessly charming. A confession: I got the complete "Gilmore Girls" box set for Christmas one year, and then spent the next six months watching the whole series from top to bottom. Having grown up in a small town in Connecticut, I strangely felt like I related to that show, and I became a big fan of the rhythms of the performances and the snappiness of the writing. And Bledel holds the show together with her intelligence, poise and penchant for physical comedy.

Do you know why else she's great? She once starred in a video for ska-punk band Less Than Jake, who were one of my favorite bands growing up. (I was in a number of ska bands in middle and high school — I'm confessing an awful lot today, aren't I?) LTJ hailed from Jacksonville, Florida, and were an almost-quite-but-never-were group during the ska breakout in the late '90s. "She's Gonna Break Soon" is from their 2003 album Anthem and stars Bledel as the titular girl who will be breaking relatively soon. It's a great slice of teenage angst that seems like a great amuse-bouche for "Post Grad."

Tags , , ,

Jay-Z On Growing Up In Brooklyn With Notorious B.I.G.

Posted 8/21/09 3:01 pm EST by in Music


By Gigi Abrantes

Since he first dropped his debut album in 1996, Jay-Z became an instant classic on the hip-hop scene. Now that he is about to drop his 11th album The Blueprint 3, MTV News takes a look back at the history of one of the greatest artists in rap history with The J to Z of Jay-Z.

Throughout Jay-Z's career, he's made countless references to the Marcy Projects, which was the public housing area in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn that he called home. It was there that Jigga grew up, went to school, got into trouble and started developing his love for hip-hop. Back in 2000, Jay-Z took us on a tour of his old stomping ground in "The Diary of Jay-Z."

Throughout the course of this candid interview, Mr. Carter opened up and explained to MTV how it felt growing up in a place like Marcy. Despite the lack of direction and the sense that "no one cares whether you live or die," Jay-Z said that he goes back to his neighborhood to lead by example and to let the current residents see that he's a real person who managed to struggle upward.

Of course, Hova didn't grow up in a vacuum. In fact, he went to the same high school as another legend: The Notorious B.I.G. Growing up, he was simply a guy named Chris who Jay sometimes nodded at in the hallways, but as time went on and they both ended up in the industry, they had a level of understanding knowing that they had come from the same place (which is what makes "Brooklyn's Finest" so stunning). Jay-Z may be an international superstar today, but he never forgot where he came from.

Tags , , ,

Page 7 of 25« First...567891020...Last »
SPONSORS
AD:
©2012 Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved. MTV and all related titles and logos are trademarks of Viacom International Inc.