The gods have heard the prayers of musical festival attendees who begged for a weekend of music and booze on a beach. The Hangout Music Fest 2013 was the answer, and it’s delivering with its added legendary headliner. Read more…
Kanye West, Kings Of Leon And Mystery Act Headline 2013 Governors Ball With Performances By Nas, Miguel, The Lumineers
The Governors Ball Music Festival in New York City has absolutely nothing to do with the governor just in case you were wondering. And while the three day event of diverse acts is five months away, an official lineup announcement video dropped naming two of the three headliners. Kanye West and Kings of Leon are headlining the festival along with a mystery act that hasn’t been disclosed yet. A month before Kanye’s second-coming baby is born he’ll hit the stage at Randall’s Island. Read more…
Musicians Take To Twitter To Pay Respects To The Late Etta James
Following the tragic death of legendary artist Etta James today, the music world has expressed profound condolences, many coming in the form of heartfelt Tweets. You can see some of them below, a testament to Etta James’ pervasive influence, her inspirational impact on the music world, and the great loss that is felt by her passing.
Questlove of The Roots (@questlove)
Christina Perri, singer (@christinaperri)
Nathan Followill, drummer from Kings Of Leon
(@doctorfollowill)
Jessie J, singer (@jessiejofficial)
Kings Of Leon Return To The Road In Vancouver
Kings Of Leon defied rumors and returned to the road as planned last night, kicking off the Canadian leg of their 2011 tour in Vancouver. The band had cancelled the remainder of their American tour after lead singer Caleb Followill, complaining of heat and dehydration, abandoned the stage in Dallas on July 29. Last night’s show reportedly went off without a hitch. Bassist Jared Followill, who’d remarked in July (via Twitter), “There are problems in our band bigger than not drinking enough Gatorade,” was much more enthusiastic this time around, tweeting afterward, “The Kings are back in business. Business is good. Really good.” The Kings have eight more dates scheduled in Canada before heading to South Africa and Australia in November. They have not announced plans to reschedule their United States shows.
Kings of Leon Rock Vancouver in Comeback Show [Spin]
[Image: Getty Images]
Shearer’s Spotlight: Spitballing Some Ideas For Other Potential Big 4 Festivals
Each Friday here on the VH1 Blog, our VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown host Jim Shearer (@jimshearer on Twitter) will be sharing his Shearer?s Spotlight with us. Be sure to tune into the Top 20 Countdown tomorrow morning when it airs on VH1 at 9 a.m. ET/PT.
Next Wednesday, Sept. 14, the Big 4 Festival will descend upon Yankee Stadium in New York City. The participants will include the ?big four? bands (i.e., pillars, staples, torch bearers, etc.) of thrash metal music: Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax. Here are some other acts that could pull off a Big 4 Festival of their own:
1) Big 4 of Millennial Pop: Britney Spears, *NSYNC, Christina Aguilera, Backstreet Boys
This past summer, the Backstreet Boys created some buzz when they toured with their boy-band predecessors, New Kids On The Block, as NKOTBSB; but could you imagine the pandemonium they could create by teaming up with late ?90s peer/rival, *NSYNC? The reunions alone would sell tickets on this tour: Justin and *NSYNC, Justin and Britney, Britney and Christina, and three old Mouseketeers back together again.
Isaac Hanson To Kings Of Leon: Don’t Be Oasis
When Hanson‘s eldest member Isaac Hanson spoke to WENN on Friday night, he didn’t mince words about another band of brothers?the three Followills, who with their cousin Matthew comprise Kings of Leon. As rumors about the band’s strife continue to circulate after the band’s tour cancellation, Hanson encourages the Followills to work out their difficulties as soon as possible?and behind the scenes.
Read more…
Kings Of Leon’s Silence Only Fuels Caleb Followill Alcohol-Abuse Rumors
To hear Caleb Followill tell it, Kings of Leon‘s American tour has been cancelled so that he can rest his voice. To hear the rest of the band tell it?well, they’re not being specific, but they seemed angry with the outcome, judging from their reactions yesterday. The band’s management is being a bit more active in its pursuit of silence, making copyright claims on clips of Caleb’s meltdown [via @carr2n]. Their basis for the claims is the inclusion of the band’s music, which is why edits that include merely Caleb’s ad-libs have remained on YouTube, but the claims are suspiciously coincidental given the sheer volume of fan-shot Kings of Leon clips from other shows still available on the site.
As a na?ve attempt to protect Caleb Followill’s privacy (and reputation), this is all sensible?perhaps standard operating procedure prior to the Internet. As a social media strategy, however, this is the worst possible course of action for the band and for Caleb. Fans are curious folks, and as long as an audience wants the story, people will try to get it (and in so doing, will have control over it). In the absence of hard evidence (or sometimes even in spite of it), speculation and circumstantial evidence will exist as fact in practice.
Kings Of Leon Cancel American Tour After Lead Singer Caleb Abandons Stage In Dallas
What happens in Kings of Leon doesn’t stay in Kings of Leon. After lead singer Caleb Followill‘s “meltdown” prevented him from completing the band’s set in Dallas on Friday night, the band postponed the next night’s show in Houston. Now the whole American tour has been called off, with no possibility of rescheduling. The band’s publicist cites Followill’s “vocal issues and exhaustion.”
At the Dallas show, Caleb complained frequently about the heat, dehydration, desire for alcohol, and need to vomit. He said that his voice was “100 percent gone,” then disappeared backstage, promising to return. He didn’t return.
Caleb’s bandmate cousins are less happy to stand by the official statement that “heat exhaustion and dehydration” were the culprit. Drummer Nathan Followill and bassist Jared Followill characterized things a bit differently on Twitter.
Cousin drama! We hope if Caleb is struggling, that he can get well, with the support of the rest of the band. The interpersonal dynamics of the band seem a bit too testy for that at the moment, though.
Kings of Leon Cancel Entire U.S. Tour After Dallas ‘Fiasco’ [Billboard]
VH1′s Top 100 Videos of 2011 … So Far, Part II: #50-11
Yesterday, we introduced you to the upper reaches of our Top 100 Videos of 2011 … So Far list, serving up the #100-51 videos that you’ve been clicking on most so far this year. Although a hefty portion, consider that first installment just an appetizer for today’s first course and tomorrow’s main entree. Going a bit deeper into the list, we now give you #50-11, inching closer and closer to #1.
Get More: Train, Hey, Soul Sister, Music Videos
50. Train, “Hey, Soul Sister”
49. Goo Goo Dolls, “Notbroken”
48. Jennifer Lopez, “Love Don’t Cost a Thing”
47. Jennifer Hudson, “Where You At”
46. Beyonce, “Run The World (Girls)”
45. My Chemical Romance, “SING”
44. Adam Lambert, “If I Had You”
43. Fitz and The Tantrums, “Money Grabber”
42. Kid Rock ft. Sheryl Crow, “Collide”
41. Bruno Mars, “Just The Way You Are”
VH1′s Top 100 Videos of 2011 … So Far
As we parallel park into July and officially hit the curb of this year’s halfway point, it’s time to take a quick look back at what the past six months have taught us. Not conventional life lessons, however; we’re talking about stuff that’s a little bit less intense and also involves YOU! That’s right, in the first installment of our Top 100 Videos of 2011… So Far, we’re spilling the beans on the #100-51 most clicked-and-viewed videos on VH1.com. You’ll see that this pi?ata-like list of content contains tasty treats and slippery surprises alike! We’ve got brand-new videos that just recently launched, some VH1 Classic leaning clips (hey there, Megadeth), repeat offenders, and of course, effervescent, essential vids from the music video cannon. So take a look at the first fifty videos below and don’t forget to come back later this week as we continue on our quest to discover what artist snags the #1 spot!
100. Jack Johnson, “From The Clouds”
99. Chris Brown, “Deuces”
98. Ke$ha, “Tik Tok”
97. Bruno Mars, “The Other Side”
96. Beyonc?, “Video Phone (Extended Remix)”
95. Usher, “OMG”
94. B.o.B, “Airplanes”
93. Taylor Swift, “Mine”
92. Sara Bareilles, “King Of Anything”
91. John Legend & The Roots, “Wake Up Everybody”
MUST-SEE VIDEOS
MUST-SEE PHOTOS
THE VH1 TUNER TEAM
VH1 Presents Mixtape Festival: Train, NKOTB, TLC, The Script + more! Tickets on sale now at MixtapeFestival.com!
