Every day a multitude of stars wanders through the halls of MTV News to talk about their latest projects and goof around with our intrepid correspondents. But sometimes we catch stars elsewhere, and that's why we put together Spotted!, a daily compendium of stars in the wild.
American country music is obviously massive on American shores, but it very rarely makes the transition onto the international stage. Like most things in life in 2009, the rules are different for Taylor Swift. She is currently in England for two huge shows, one in London at Wembley Arena, the other in Manchester at the Manchester Evening News Arena. It makes sense, as now that she has conquered this country with album sales, awards and hosting gigs on "Saturday Night Live," she might as well cross the ocean. Though her first show isn't until Monday (November 23), she is already in London seeing the sights and doing some promotional work. She was spotted outside of her hotel in the English capital yesterday, and based on the fervor surrounding her presence, it looks like she will have conquered the U.K. by this time next week.
She didn't have Europe to herself, though, as Mariah Carey was in Paris promoting Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel. Meanwhile, a multitude of stars — including the Olsen sisters, Ashley Greene and People's Sexiest Man of the Year Johnny Depp — came out to the Museum of Modern Art in New York for the opening of the museum's tribute to Tim Burton. Click here for these photos as well as the entire "Spotted!" archive, which features over 350 candid shots of stars like Britney Spears, Madonna, the Jonas Brothers, Lady Gaga, Kanye West, Justin Timberlake, Katy Perry, Shakira, Adam Lambert and Rihanna!
Every day a multitude of stars wanders through the halls of MTV News to talk about their latest projects and goof around with our intrepid correspondents. But sometimes we catch stars elsewhere, and that's why we put together Spotted!, a daily compendium of stars in the wild.
The Jonas Brothers' tour through Europe hit a bit of a hiccup last week when Nick caught an upper respiratory infection, forcing the group to cancel a concert in Zurich, Switzerland. But the trio have bounced back and continue on the road through the continent, stopping yesterday in Madrid, Spain. They paid a visit to Santiago Bernabeu, the stadium where top world soccer team Real Madrid plays its games. The brothers kicked the ball around and, after receiving customized Real Madrid shirts from the team, got their picture taken in front of international soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo's locker.
The Jonas Brothers weren't the only stars indulging in their sports fandom yesterday, as the Black Eyed Peas hung out at the launch for Jump Footwear (for which Taboo designed a custom sneaker) and Mariah Carey was spotted outside her London hotel (she wasn't doing anything sports-related, though she was once linked with New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter). Click here for these photos as well as the entire "Spotted!" archive, featuring more than 350 candid shots of stars like Britney Spears, Beyoncé, Madonna, Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, Katy Perry, Adam Lambert, Shakira, Rihanna and 50 Cent!
Even though we're just on the other side of Halloween, the public has already shifted its focus to Christmas. Store displays have shifted, Starbucks has drinks that are eggnog flavored and a handful of lunatics are already considering their Christmas trees. Today marks the first big film release of the holiday season in "A Christmas Carol," the Robert Zemeckis-directed animated feature that stars Jim Carrey as Ebenezer Scrooge. (For more on "A Christmas Carol," be sure to check out all the in-depth coverage over at MTV Movies.) There are plenty more holiday-themed platters on the way, but "A Christmas Carol" is the biggest Christmas-related film to hit theaters this season.
But let's face it: Today is November 6, a full 49 days before Santa Claus comes down the chimney. There's no shame in not feeling any yuletide cheer yet, as we're still a few weeks from Thanksgiving. But maybe you never miss a Jim Carrey movie, or perhaps you want to support Zemeckis so that he has enough success to make a "Roger Rabbit" sequel. If that's the case, then we've got you covered, because there's plenty of Christmas music from some of your favorite stars.
Holiday music has crossed over into pop since the invention of radio, but now just about any pop star worth his or her salt puts out a holiday album at some point. This season, David Archuleta and Bob Dylan have both dropped Christmas albums, and there's a whole heaping back catalog of stuff you could work through no matter what your musical preference is. A fan of Beyoncé? Check out Destiny's Child's "8 Days of Christmas." Do you prefer psychedelic indie rock? The Flaming Lips' "Christmas at the Zoo" is probably for you. Want a little gallows humor with your gingerbread? Enjoy Weird Al" Yankovic's "Christmas at Ground Zero." Or if you just want to rock out, check out the Pogues and Kirsty MacColl blasting out "Fairytale of New York," probably the best Christmas song ever written.
But if you want to start simple, star with Mariah Carey, whose "All I Want for Christmas is You" has quickly become a holiday standard. Be sure to stay tuned for the rest of the video playlist for a treat at the end!
When you're a huge star, sometimes it may seem like every day is Halloween: the elaborate clothes, the constant need to perform, the surreal mix of flash bulbs and eerie silence. That didn't stop a bevy of musicians and actors from hopping into a costume and heading out to high-profile Halloween parties. Top prize goes to Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon, who showed up to the party at New York's M2 Ultra Lounge dressed as angels (likely a play on Carey's recent album title Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel).
Ice-T and his wife Coco took a different tactic when coming up with their couple-centric costume, as they decided to pose as a dominatrix and a gimp at the same party in New York. A few blocks away, the Heroes vs. Villains party at the Gramercy Park Hotel saw appearances from Cat de Luna (who came as Medusa) and Alexa Chung and Agyness Deyn, who partied as Wayne and Garth.
Over in Los Angeles, Heidi Klum hosted her annual Halloween party and arrived to the fete with husband Seal. They were both dressed as ravens, obviously because they appreciate Edgar Allen Poe, Joe Flacco and Raven-Symoné. Guests there included "Dollhouse" star Eliza Dushku and boyfriend Rick Fox, who appeared as zombie versions of Bonnie and Clyde. And Gavin Rossdale and Gwen Stefani didn't commit themselves to a party, preferring instead to take their kids trick-or-treating. The two kids were dressed as dinosaurs, while Stefani donned a cowgirl costume and Rossdale went as himself circa 1998.
Click here for the best of celebrity Halloween costumes, including Mariah Carey, Ashley Greene and Audrina Patridge!
Who had the best celebrity Halloween costume? Leave your thoughts in the comments!
Back in the late 1990s (when album sales were robust and a CDs actual release date was more important than its leak date), every Tuesday in November and December was a "Super Tuesday," usually featuring a handful of big-name releases all hitting stores at the same time. Artists competed for gargantuan first-week album sales and spots on "TRL." 10 years ago, November 2 was one of those massive Tuesdays, featuring a handful of big acts putting out new, high-profile records. Foo Fighters dropped There's Nothing Left to Lose (their most successful album and the winner of the Grammy for Best Rock Album in 2000). On the same day, Mariah Carey unleashed Rainbow, lead by the smash hit "Heartbreaker" (a collaboration with Jay-Z). Counting Crows busted out their third release This Desert Life, which picked up some traction when first single "Hanginaround" became something of a graduation anthem for high school seniors. Lil Wayne put out Tha Block is Hot, his watershed solo debut on Cash Money. Elsewhere in hip-hop, Flipmode Squad's Rah Digga released her underrated solo debut Dirty Harriet, while the Roots put out their excellent live album The Roots Come Alive.
But with all those names putting out albums on November 2, 1999, who played live on "TRL" that day? Rage Against the Machine, who performed in Times Square to celebrate the release of their third album The Battle of Los Angeles, their most accomplished, complex and mature album. Lead by the single "Guerrilla Radio," the band balanced the savagery of Tom Morello's guitar assault with the funky low end and Zack De La Rocha's pointed agit-prop rapping. The band broke up soon after but reunited a few years back, though The Battle of Los Angeles was the last original album they put out. But it still holds up, and it's amazing to think that a collective could be so well versed in politics but also know how to move a crowd so well. Check out the excellent video for "Guerrilla Radio."
If for some reason the stock market takes a huge leap one way or another (it's currently up 33 points today), all credit can be handed over to the band who inspired Mariah Carey's current single. Foreigner took the floor of the New York Stock Exchange to kick off today's trading day. Guitarist Mick Jones and singer Kelly Hansen did the honors.
The band has been experiencing a bit of a renaissance recently, as their classic tune "I Want to Know What Love Is" is serving as the current single from Carey's latest hit album Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel. The track is currently climbing the Billboard Hot 100, which makes it the second time it has ascended up that chart (Foreigner hit the top of said chart in 1984 with their original version). The band was on the floor of the NYSE as part of a promotion for their new album Can't Slow Down, which features one disc of new tracks and a second of remixed classics.
Every day a multitude of stars wanders through the halls of MTV News to talk about their latest projects and goof around with our intrepid correspondents. But sometimes we catch stars elsewhere, and that's why we put together Spotted!, a daily compendium of stars in the wild.
"Big in Japan" is usually a dismissive thing that people say in the music industry about artists who don't sell any records, the suggestion being that nobody knows them in their home country. Obviously, there are exceptions, and Mariah Carey is one of them. Her popularity in Japan is merely an extension of her worldwide ubiquity, and yesterday she touched town at the airport in Narita for the latest stop on her promotional tour of Asia in support of her new album Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel. The first single from said album, "Obsessed," is still floating just outside the Top 10 on the Billbaord Hot 100 after 14 weeks on the chart, and she just announced via Twitter that she has sold over 1 million copies of the single, which gives her a dozen for her career — more than any other female artist in history.
Carey wasn't the only star on the move yesterday, as actress and occasional Pete Yorn collaborator Scarlett Johansson showed up at the launch of Mango's Winter campaign and Mary J. Blige walked the carpet at the Stepping Out and Stepping Up event in New York. Click here for these photos plus the entire "Spotted!" archive, which features over 300 candid shots of Britney Spears, Madonna, Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, the Jonas Brothers, Justin Bieber, Adam Lambert, Shakira and Rihanna!
Every day a multitude of stars wanders through the halls of MTV News to talk about their latest projects and goof around with our intrepid correspondents. But sometimes we catch stars elsewhere, and that's why we put together Spotted!, a daily compendium of stars in the wild.
There are an awful lot of "American Idol" alums in the news at the moment. The first Adam Lambert music has emerged, Kris Allen's album cover has been revealed, Kelly Clarkson's tour is gaining rave reviews and Carrie Underwood and Jennifer Hudson are both getting Christmas specials. Not to be outdone, Jordin Sparks made a trip to London to drop in on the radio show "BBC One Live Lounge" to talk about touring with Britney Spears and her relationship with Simon Cowell. Though he doesn't have the "American Idol" judge's phone number, she did steal his car once. "I don't remember how that really worked out, but we were leaving dinner and there was a car sitting out there and it was Simon's driver," she said. "I was like, 'This is awesome!'"
Sparks wasn't the only star enjoying some international exposure yesterday. In support of her new album Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel, Mariah Carey attended a press conference in Seoul, South Korea. Meanwhile, Justin Timberlake continued his extended stay in Las Vegas (which might as well be its own sovereign nation) for more charity golf events. Click here for these photos plus the entire "Spotted!" archive, which features over 300 candid shots of Britney Spears, Madonna, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, the Backstreet Boys, the Jonas Brothers and the casts of "New Moon" and "Gossip Girl"!
By Nuzhat Naoreen
Jennifer Lopez has a new album coming out early next year called Love?, and like most artists, she has already put out a single to help promote it ("Fresh Out the Oven," featuring Pitbull). But unlike most of the music world, she has also given herself an alternate personality to go along with her new album.
Say hello to "Lola."
Who is Lola? As of right now, she's a silhouetted dancing figure with a Web site and a Twitter account.
Her first — and so far only — tweet was posted last Tuesday and doesn't provide too many answers: "Lola here. What's my deal? Well, wouldn't you like to know…"
The few words of text on the Web site don't help much either: "She was mysterious … she was like someone I'd never met."
No official word yet on how long Lola's sticking around, but if she's here to stay she'll certainly have some competition — and a lot to live up to. After all, J.Lo's just one of many divas to take on an alter ego. Beyoncé introduced the world to Sasha Fierce last year, while Mariah Carey often references her alter ego Mimi. Even rappers aren't immune to switching up their personas: T.I. split an album with his other character T.I.P. back in 2007. Each of those superstar artists have set quite a precedent, but if anybody can rise to the occasion, it's Lopez.
By James Dinh
I was only supposed to take pictures and talk to fans at Mariah Carey's mini-concert on "Today" this morning, but somehow ended up riding around New York on her bus with her. How did that happen? Let's rewind back to 7:10 a.m., when I arrived at the Rockefeller Plaza where Mimi was set to play.
Fans were already crammed near the front area of the stage when I met up with production assistant Joel Hanek. Shortly thereafter, Mimi hit the stage. Dressed in a long black leather coat and heels that must have been seven inches high.
The concert began with a bit of nostalgia as Mariah performed "Make It Happen," a classic from her second album. The "Today" hosts came out, gave out freebies and talked to the singer about her new album Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel.
After three more songs from her current album (including my personal favorite "H.A.T.E.U."), Joel and I followed the various other media outlets to the tour bus where we learned we were going to be given a few minutes with Mariah.
What?
I was going to interview her. Joel and I immediately started to brainstorm questions. When it came to be our turn, her publicist told us we'd have to hop on board and do the interview down the street.
Yes, I was in her tour bus. Read more...
