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Avril Lavigne Celebrates A Decade In Music

Posted 12/20/11 12:57 pm EST by in anniversary, Music, Video

By Lauren Kearney

Avril Lavigne has come a long way from where she started. First bursting into the scene with "Complicated" back in 2002, Avril will soon be celebrating her 10 year anniversary in music, and as an artist she has evolved and grown while staying true to herself.

"Yeah, I’ve been doing this for a really long time, 10 years, professionally in music," she tells MTV News. "And I would always look back and just say always be true to yourself, do what you want and follow your gut. And that was what I did."

Avril never wanted to be like everybody else. She never gave in to the pop stereotypes or pressures about changing her music.

"As a creative person you have to be in tune with that and really have a sense of who you are and what you're going for because other people come in and tell you [that] you should do this and that so I always stayed focused on what it is that I wanted to do," she says.

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Today In History: The Beatles' 'Abbey Road' Was Released In 1969

Posted 9/26/11 11:25 am EST by in anniversary, Music

Beatles

Though Let It Be was their final release before officially disbanding, Abbey Road was the final proper record from the Beatles, and today is its 42nd birthday!

John Lennon, Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney and George Harrison recorded the bulk of Let It Be prior to beginning Abbey Road and it was a disaster. The tensions within the Beatles, which had long existed but began to boil over during the sessions for The Beatles (aka The White Album), had taken a toll on the band and they were unhappy with the results of the Let It Be sessions and temporality shelved the songs they recorded in January 1969.

Sensing that the band was on the verge of collapse, Paul McCartney contacted producer and composer George Martin – who is sometimes referred to as the "fifth Beatle" – to suggest that the group reconvene to record one last album free of the drama that had plagued the group. And that's exactly what they did, setting aside their personal problems to hit the studio in the late spring of 1969 to assemble the record Rolling Stone would later dub the 19th greatest album ever.

It's cover image, of Lennon, Starr, McCartney and Harrison crossing the street in front of EMI Studios on Abbey Road, has become one of the most iconic images in all of music. You know you had it on your dorm room wall too!

Love Abbey Road? Tell us about it in the comments.

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On Anniversary of Nevermind, Nirvana EMP Exhibit Hit With Fans, Grunge Icons

Posted 9/20/11 8:57 am EST by in anniversary

While Nirvana's landmark Nevermind album officially turns 20 this week, the celebration of all things Kurt and company has actually been going on in the band's adopted hometown since late April. That's when the "Nirvana: Taking Punk to the Masses" exhibit opened at Seattle's Experience Music Project.

The carefully curated compendium of all things Nirvana is a kind of holy grail for the band's biggest fans, but according to curator Jacob McMurray, it's also been a magnet for typically jaded locals who have grudgingly (or is it, sorry, grunge-ingly?) have dropped in and admitted that, yeah, it's pretty awesome.

"For me, it's been way more than I expected," McMurray said of the thousands who've wandered in to gawk at such iconic objects as the band's first recording contract and late singer Kurt Cobain's first smashed guitar. "Every time I go into the gallery, even if it's a Monday morning, it will be packed." McMurray said visitor range from die-hard Nirvanaheads to people who wander in with no knowledge of the band and leave with a desire to delve into the region's rich musical history.

At first, McMurray said he was worried about what the notoriously picky locals would make of the exhibit, which displays signposts of Nirvana's rise from obscurity amid a larger picture of the local and national music scene that helped spawn them. He knew he'd done okay when he was giving a tour to some DJ's from legendary hometown radio station KEXP and one of the jocks who was part of the scene that helped nurture the grunge explosion told him that she came in expecting to hate it and left totally digging it. "I felt like, 'my job is done,'" he said proudly.

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Metallica Return To The '80s With $6 Tickets To Anniversary Shows

Posted 7/28/11 1:00 pm EST by in anniversary, Metallica

Metallica

By Zachary Swickey

Heavy metal juggernauts Metallica have revealed they will celebrate 30 years of thrashing mayhem with a week-long residency at San Fransisco’s historic Fillmore Auditorium. Yes, a band that formerly went by the nickname “Alcoholica” not only survived the ‘80s and ‘90s, but today the group is as relevant as ever.

Of course, that’s something worth celebrating, so Metallica is truly giving back to the fans with the intimate residency that is going down December 5, 7, 9, and 10. The ticket prices are heading back to the ‘80s too, with single tickets priced at only $6 each or a four-pack for the clever price of $19.81 (to spell out it – the year the group was conceived). Making things more special, Metallica promises rare songs, varied set lists, and surprise guests (here’s hoping for Lou Reed). There is a catch, though – in an attempt to give back to the fans (rather than the scalpers), tickets are only available through a reservation system that is exclusively available to members of Metallica’s fan club.

If you’re not a So-Cal resident, Metallica also have another stateside “Big 4” show (with Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax) lined up for September 14 at Yankee Stadium after finally bringing the special metal bill to the West Coast earlier this year. Read More...

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Remaking ‘Lady Marmalade’ 10 Years Later

Posted 6/27/11 12:30 pm EST by in anniversary, Christina Aguilera, Katy Perry, Rihanna

Ten years ago this week, “Lady Marmalade” was celebrating its fifth and final week at the top of the Billboard Hot 100. The Missy Elliot-produced single appeared on the soundtrack to the Oscar-nominated film “Moulin Rouge!” and won Christina Aguilera, Pink, Lil Kim and Mya a Grammy for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. The smash video featured the sexy songbirds as lingerie-clad ladies of the night at a Paris brothel and took home the MTV VMA for Video of the Year. It was kind of a big deal.

The song lives on in the clubs, where we heard it this weekend while out celebrating NYC Pride and the passage of the groundbreaking same-sex marriage equality bill in New York. When the tune started booming over the sound system, everyone on the dance floor went bonkers. The crowd remembered every word; some even knew the choreography.

This got us thinking about who would fill Pink and the Queen Bee’s hooker boots today. Sure, hip-hop stars call on their friends in rhyming for first-rate mega-collaborations all the time, but it’s been a while since we’ve see an all-star pop star explosion of this magnitude. Can anyone hold a candle to Xtina and the gang? Read on for our ideas. Read More...

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