Whitney Houston Dies Aged 48

Posted by Sam in Celebrity, Music

Whitney Houston Dies Aged 48 according to initial reports from the news wires.

Whitney Houston was the most successful soul singer of all time during the 1980′s and came from a musical family, including cousin Dione Warwick and Godmother Aretha Franklin.

She also became a successful actress with her well received film ‘The Bodyguard’ starring Kevin Costner. The soundtrack epitomized her power ballad style that she became best known for, showcasing her incredible voice.

There were some at the time who said that her main character in ‘The Bodyguard’, self obsessed and prima dona, was too close for comfort to the real Whitney Houston.

Her subsequent marriage to Bobby Brown ended in divorce, rumor of violence and drug abuse. Her voice obviously suffered as she tried to make a return to singing with a concert that fans complained was not the Whitney they remembered. Recently there were rumors that Whitney Houston had lost all the money from her multi-million record sales.

If the news reports turn out to be true then I think most people, including ourselves, would like to remember Whitney Houston as the very beautiful lady with the incredible voice and great songs. Leave your comments below.

Whitney Houston Videos

Photo: tm_10001

Google Music Store & Blackberry BBM Music Services Launched

Posted by Jo in Entertainment, Music

Google music store launched in the US this week close on the heals of the Blackberry BBM music service UK launch.

The Google music store allows anyone running the Google Android operating system to buy and stream music files to their device.

Most of the major music labels are getting behind Googles music store including EMI, Sony and Universal. These music labels in conjunction with other smaller independents have allowed Google to build up a library of over 10 million songs.

Google are also taking the opportunity to integrate their Google+ social service into the music store allowing friends to listen to your track for free as a one time play.

Prices for songs are similar to the Apple iTunes store starting at $0.69 and will feature some exclusive content from the likes of Coldplay.

A step that the struggling artist will appreciate is the music stores new artist hub which allows artists to create their own page to sell music through for a small fee and 30% commission on any sales.

Google Music Store Promo Ad

Meanwhile on the other side of the Atlantic the Blackberry BBM music service was launched in the UK with a monthly subscription model.

Blackberrys music service is built around their social networking system with each of your BBM music friends able to share 50 tracks with you via the cloud. Omnifone are partnering with RIM to provide the Blackberry BBM music service.

All in all the online music world is hotting up with all the big online companies vying for their share of the market. Google, Amazon, Spotify, RIM, Nokia, Pandora and many others are all after Apples dominant share.

With Google owning the largest portion of the mobile market in the same way that Microsoft did with Windows, who would bet against them?

REM Announce Split

Posted by Tracy in Entertainment, Music

REM have announced that they are to split up after 31 years together.

REM are most commonly associated with their frontman Michael Stipe but have, since 1996 when drummer Bill Berry left, included bassist Mike Mills and guitarist Peter Buck.

They have been one of the most successful bands of the modern era with 3 REM albums going quadruple platinum in the US alone.

They have released 15 albums together with the last one released in march 2011 called ‘Collapse Into Now’. They also hold 3 Grammy awards from their work in the early 1990′s.

A statement on the official REM website said:

“To our Fans and Friends: As R.E.M., and as lifelong friends and co-conspirators, we have decided to call it a day as a band. We walk away with a great sense of gratitude, of finality, and of astonishment at all we have accomplished. To anyone who ever felt touched by our music, our deepest thanks for listening.”

REM Songs & Music

Probably REM’s most famous songs come from their early 90′s period. Their outstanding hit ‘Losing My Religion’ capturing everybody’s attention across the world, catapulting them into music’s big league.

REM’s ‘Losing My Religion’ was the lead single off the ‘Out of Time’ album released in 1991, ‘Out of Time’ to sold over 12 million copies in the next 5 years.

The album also garnered 3 Grammy awards in 1992 including 2 for ‘Losing My Religion’. What’s the betting that we will see that song back in the charts very soon?

That same year REM released another album that would equal Out of Time’s success.

It was called ‘Automatic for the People’ and included another one of their most well known songs, ‘Everybody Hurts’. The album overall was a melancholy affair and REM attributed this to having to face turning 30.

In 1994 REM returned to a much more rockier style with the album ‘Monster’ and it was their most commercially successful record, although perhaps not their best loved.

The subsequent tour also brought about difficulties with Berry collapsing on stage, Mills having to have surgery and Stripe suffering from a hernia.

After Monster, REM have released another 6 albums including ‘Collapse into Now’ in 2011.

REM Band Member Statements

REM: Michael Stipe

“A wise man once said, “the skill in attending a party is knowing when it’s time to leave.” We built something extraordinary together. We did this thing. And now we’re going to walk away from it. I hope our fans realize this wasn’t an easy decision; but all things must end, and we wanted to do it right, to do it our way. We have to thank all the people who helped us be R.E.M. for these 31 years; our deepest gratitude to those who allowed us to do this. It’s been amazing.”

REM: Peter Buck

“One of the things that was always so great about being in R.E.M. was the fact that the records and the songs we wrote meant as much to our fans as they did to us. It was, and still is, important to us to do right by you. Being a part of your lives has been an unbelievable gift. Thank you. Mike, Michael, Bill, Bertis, and I walk away as great friends. I know I will be seeing them in the future, just as I know I will be seeing everyone who has followed us and supported us through the years. Even if it’s only in the vinyl aisle of your local record store, or standing at the back of the club: watching a group of 19 year olds trying to change the world.”

REM: Mike Mills

“During our last tour, and while making Collapse Into Now and putting together this greatest hits retrospective, we started asking ourselves, ‘what next’? Working through our music and memories from over three decades was a hell of a journey. We realized that these songs seemed to draw a natural line under the last 31 years of our working together. We have always been a band in the truest sense of the word. Brothers who truly love, and respect, each other. We feel kind of like pioneers in this–there’s no disharmony here, no falling-outs, no lawyers squaring-off. We’ve made this decision together, amicably and with each other’s best interests at heart. The time just feels right.”

I am sure it won’t be the last we hear of the now former REM band members…. but for REM…. it is goodnight.

Photo: turtlemom4bacon

Beyonce Pregnant: Announces Pregnancy at the VMA Awards

Posted by Tracy in Celebrity, Music

Beyonce Pregnant: Beyonce announces at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMA) with Jay-Z beaming in the background.

Beyonce told photographers on the red carpet that she had a surprise for them, pulling her dress tight over her stomach revealing a definite bump.

Beyonce pregnant !? You could hear the gasps.

Beyonce introduced her live performance with the words “I want you to feel the love that’s growing inside me”. She went on to finish her performance by throwing her mic to the ground and rubbing her belly.

Jay-Z was in the audience beaming a big smile for his wife as he was congratulated by his friend and fellow superstar Kanye West.

Beyonce and Jay-Z were married 3 years ago in New York and Beyonce revealed earlier this year that she had always planned to have a family at the age of 30. She will be 30 this year.

I guess that we shouldn’t expect anything less from Beyonce, a women who has gone on to create and live her dreams on such a massive worldwide scale.

Achieving another goal on the Beyonce list shouldn’t surprise us, although bringing up a family may just be the hardest thing to get right.

Lady Gaga was the other headline of the VMA night, dressing as a man for her performance and joined on stage by Queen guitarist Brain May. She picked up 2 awards for her ‘Born This Way’ video.

Katy Perry won the headline award of the night for her video ‘Firework’ gaining the video of the year award.

She was at the ceremony with her husband and comedian Russell Brand who had a serious message about seeking help with drug addiction. It was a reaction and tribute to the recently deceased singer Amy Winehouse.

Tony Bennett also paid tribute and gave a glimpse of their duet recorded shortly before Amy passed away. The  duet will be officially released later in the year.

Photo: Caro_Carlow

Kings of Leon Cancel US Tour

Posted by Jeff in Entertainment, Music

Kings of Leon have sparked rumours and concern among fans by cancelling their US tour.

Singer Caleb Followill walked off stage during a gig in Dallas, Texas with 3 songs still remaining in the set. He complained that he was unable to sing because of “dehydration and heat exhaustion”.

They then pulled out of a scheduled gig in Houston the following night and on Monday, released a statement after initially re-scheduling the Houston gig.

The statement from Kings of Leon said that they were cancelling the rest of their US tour and that they were “devastated” to give the news but that they “needed to take this break”. The cancelled shows will not now be re-scheduled.

The next official schedule has them returning to tour on September 21st in Vancouver, Canada.

Twitter has given lots of celebrities direct access to fans to tell their side of the story however, and for the other Kings of Leon band members, they have been using it todo just that.

Jared Followhill, Caleb’s brother and Kings of Leon bassist said that the Kings of Leon had internal sicknesses & problems beyond dehydration and heat exhaustion.

Their cousin and Kings of Leon drummer, Nathan Followhill, told how he was “ashamed and embarrassed by last night’s fiasco.”

Kings of Leon Quick History

The Kings of Leon have released 5 studio albums to date including the platinum selling ‘Only by the Night’. This album contained the massive selling ‘Sex on Fire’ and ‘Use Somebody’ that catapulted them to worldwide attention.

The Kings of Leon were formed in 1999 and have their origins in Nashville, Tennessee. They named the band after the brothers father (who was a travelling preacher) and grandfather, they were both called Leon.

The Kings of Leon first release was the Holy Roller Novocaine EP in 2003 and got high praise in the influential rolling stone magazine.

They have 2 Grammy‘s with best song in 2009 and 2010.

Photo: ceedub13

Spotify Free Streaming Music Service Launches in the US

Posted by Sam in Entertainment, Music

Spotify, the free music streaming service has finally launched in the US after protracted wrangling with the major US music companies.

Spotify was launched in 2008 as a legal alternative to music piracy with convenience at it’s heart. It was this convenience, coupled with a business model based on advertising rather than paid membership, that saw the service go viral and quickly claim millions of European users.

Since starting, the Spotify service has also added paid membership options with a premium service that allows music to be streamed to mobile phones, the advertising removed and early access to artists material.

It now has some 15 million songs in it’s library, 10 million users with around 1.5 million people using the paid membership service.

It is unclear whether the US version of Spotify will continue to support the free streaming music service past it’s initial beta period, as has happened in Europe. This would leave it with just the paid membership models to support it’s service.

It is thought that the free streaming music service was the point on which the US record companies were unhappy about. The fact that the service has now launched suggests that they have found a compromise…. with conditions attached.

One thing is sure and that is that Spotify will be difficult to ignore in the coming months, they have partnered up with some of the biggest US brands around such as Coca-Cola and Virgin Media. It is also rumoured that a tie-in with Facebook could be announced soon.

A hookup with the social networking site would give it a quick and easy way to rapidly expand it’s user base well beyond it’s current level.

With a current market valuation placed on it of about $1 billion, it will be under pressure to back that up with a rapid increase in it’s userbase.

With major companies such as Apple’s iCloud service being potential rivals it needs to cement it’s position as market leader.

Beyonce Closes Glastonbury in Style on the Pyramid Stage

Posted by Tracy in Entertainment, Music

Beyonce closed the Glastonbury festival in style tonight in front of a huge crowd on the main Pyramid stage.

Beyonce brought the 3 day event to a close tonight and became one of the few women who have headlined at the event.

After a dramatic change from the rainy weather earlier in the weekend, today was bright sunshine with people trying to find water rather than get away from it.

Beyonce arrival on stage was signalled by fireworks lighting up the sky and asked the throngs of people stretching out in front of her, “Glastonbury, are you ready?”

She opened her set with the song that thrust her solo career into the stratosphere around the world, ‘Crazy in Love’.

It was thought that her husband Jay-Z might join her on stage, that song would have been his opportunity as he performed on the record but it didn’t happen, perhaps he knew this was Beyonce’s moment.

All the big hits were there including a Destiny’s Child melody and some covers including ‘Sex on Fire’ and ‘Sweet Dreams’ by the Eurythmics.

There was even a moment when the crowd took over the singing of ‘Irreplaceable’, taking it from beginning to the end while Beyonce alternated between encouraging them, and staring wide eyed in disbelief as 100,000 odd people sang her song to her.

It will be a night that the audience will never forget and I suspect, one that Beyonce will never forget either.

Photo: brianfuller6385

U2 Rock the Glastonbury Pyramid Stage

Posted by Jeff in Entertainment, Music

U2 finally made it to Glastonbury for the first time to rock the main Pyramid Stage last night.

As anyone with any sense knows, the best route to a successful performance at a festival is to crank out your greatest hits for the audience to sign along too, U2 didn’t disappoint.

After missing out last year because of back surgery, Bono and the band played some songs from their seminal album ‘The Joshua Tree’  including ‘Where The Streets Have No Name’ and ‘With Or Without You’.

Other songs included ‘One’, ‘Elevation’ and ‘Beautiful Day’ as well as a rendition of the Coldplay favourite, ‘Yellow’. Coldplay will take to the Pyramid stage to perform themselves on Saturday. Beyonce will similarly headline on Sunday.

There was one slight hiccup for U2 when a huge inflatable tube was erected at the start of their set, emblazoned with the words “U Pay Your Tax 2″. The group Art Uncut were responsible and accuse U2 of dodging tax in their home country of Ireland.

Photo: jdn

Glastonbury Festival Gets Off To A Soggy Start

Posted by Clive in Entertainment, Music

The Glastonbury gates have opened and thousands of people have started to experience the traditional Glastonbury welcome, the mud.

The festival has started to let people onto the Worthy Farm site today and the camping fields are rapidly filling up, long queues are of vehicles are already lining the roads in the area.

As anyone who has been watching Wimbledon will know, the UK is having a showery June, and at Glastonbury that means only one thing, mud.

It will take more than queues and mud to dampen the spirits of the Glastonbury crowd though, wet weather is almost a rite of passage for many of them. The spirit and atmosphere of the place, combined with the great music, will always trump everything else.

U2, Beyonce and Coldplay are all headliners at the event but there are hundreds of other acts taking part as well.

Bands such as the Kaiser Chiefs, Elbow, The Chemical Brothers, Queens of the Stone Age, The Streets, Mumford & Sons, Primal Scream as well as singers such as Suzanne Vega, Imelda May, James Blake, Robyn, Jessie J and Cee Lo Green.

Old favourites Kool & The Gang will make an appearance and Morrissey continues his comeback after many years out of the music business.

We have also heard that ‘The Wombles’ will be making an appearance, hopefully they will be able to hang around afterwards to help clear up.

You can see the full line up here http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/line-up-poster/

Photo: worthyfm