Noted “Tom Hiddleston as F. Scott Fitzgerald” enthusiast Meghan O’Keefe and I take on The Great Gatsby and debate each track on this epic soundtrack. How did Beyonce do on her cover of Amy Winehouse? How does Florence Welch compare to Lana Del Rey and Sia?
As Sunday evening’s festivities loom, our thoughts turn to a Grammy category that recognizes not an isolated song or collaboration, but the artists’ entire cohesive work: their album. Regardless of how well-crafted this year’s nominated LPs are, the contenders behind them all have big shoes to fill.
Nielsen SoundScan numbers are in and the final tallies have been arrived at, and so it seems that 2012′s biggest sellers are Gotye, Jack White and of course Adele. Is anybody surprised?
Taylor Swift put up a good fight late in the year, as did One Direction (who have two albums ranking in the top five) and Mumford & Sons. But once again none could top Adele, whose much beloved 2011 album 21 sold another 4.41 million copies this year to top year-end album sales for the second year in a row (just as she did on iTunes). The blustery Brit’s staying power is impressive, but we can’t imagine that there are enough people left of this earth of ours still sans 21 to enable her to keep this up for a third year. But perhaps she could put out a new album that might earn her another two years at the top?
Unlike Kendrick Lamar and fern fanatics, Jack White is not really feeling Lady Gaga these days. In an interview with Esquire UK, the banjo-wielding rock star went in on Pop Stars These Days and their eagerness to cater to fans, calling only the Mother Monster our by name:
“I don’t think she lives it because it’s all artifice,” says White of Gaga. “It’s all image with no meaning behind it. You can’t sink your teeth into it. It’s a sound bite. It’s very of this age, because that’s what people want.”
Color us not-exactly-surprised. This is pretty standard Rock Star-on-Pop Star complaint. White is a rock star who plays guitar and wears a lot of black and grits his teeth when he performs, and Lady Gaga gets carried around in giant eggs and wears meat dresses and, well, is really just something else. But alas, because the quote has been picked up and spun by news outlets far and wide, and because now we are all listening, White has decided he’s got more to say.
A music festival attendee’s worst nightmare is overcast in the sky that threatens to unleash a torrential downpour upon thousands of concertgoers. Unfortunately, we weren’t spared from the rain that descended upon Zilker Park on Saturday off and on for the entire day leading well into the night. But resilient music fans aren’t scared off easily, especially not by water falling from the clouds. The show must go on. And it did. Read more…
Along with 70,000 excited fans we’ve trekked down to Austin, TX (where it’s 80 degrees!) for this year’s Austin City Limits Music Festival to partake in the live shows by bands that run the gamut of Red Hot Chili Peppers to Florence + The Machine to The Roots to The Black Keys. It’s going to be a jam packed three days of rocking out and grooving at Zilker Park to an eclectic mix of sounds. Aside from our excitement to try Austin’s famous mouth-watering barbeque, we’re anticipating unforgettable moments that shall go down in music festival history. Read more…
Jack White was not a happy camper this weekend, performing for a sold-out and perhaps dull crowd in New York City at the Radio City Music Hall. After bickering with a shirtless man in the front row and complaining that, “Jesus Christ, is this an NPR convention?” (because you know how those NPR conventions can get, with all their shirtless goers and such), the former White Stripes frontman cut his set short and jumped-show. The audience stuck around hoping for a second act or encore, but were disappointed when the lights were turned on and ushers were sent in to explain that, “The show is over, we don’t know why.” Woomp woomp.
To the streets they poured, swarming around the backstage door where — rowdy like a Jack White incited mob wont be — they chanted things like “f*** Jack White!” and “Jack White kills puppies” and began tweeting angrily with the hashtag #JackWhiteDebacle. Some, according to the New York Observer, even returned the t-shirts and posters they had bought at the show. Read more…
2 Chainz‘s rap game takeover has been a long time coming. The Georgia rapper that had us all screaming, “2 Chaaaaainnnnz” was a coveted feature artist in the way Nicki Minaj was in 2009. Those days are long gone and the wait was certainly worth it. His debut album Based on a T.R.U. Story topped the charts for the No.1 spot on the Billboard 200. According to Nielsen SoundScan the album sold 147,000 copies. For a little perspective: that’s almost 20,000 more units sold than pop star Chris Brown‘s Fortune. Talk about coming out the gate swinging. Read more…
Each week here on VH1 Tuner, 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 VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown tomorrow morning when it airs on VH1 at 9 a.m. ET/PT.
Last week I saw Jack White perform live at Webster Hall (New York City), and throughout the concert one word came to mind (fittingly in all capital letters): FASCINATING.
In the age of social media and TMZ, where nothing is a secret anymore, how can one of today’s most respected/popular musicians—one who just scored a #1 album—manage to keep his mystique as alluring as a leprechaun riding bareback on a unicorn?
The Dos Equis man may claim to be the “most interesting person in the world,” but Jack White is currently the most fascinating man in music.
Here are 10 reasons why:
10. Divorce Party
When Jack White divorced his model/singer wife Karen Elson, not only did they do so amicably, but they threw a party to celebrate. Invitations were even made for the event billing it as a “humdinger.”
9. Ice, Ice Baby
While many musicians make public their sports allegiances, it’s not known if Jack White even likes sports. Nashville’s professional hockey team the Predators are currently still alive in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and now that he calls Nashville home, I wonder if Jack White ever goes to a game, wears a replica jersey, or checks the box-score in the morning paper? (I also wonder if he’s sad that his hometown Detroit Red Wings were knocked out by the Predators in the first round?)
With this year’s highly anticipated Coachella Festival just three days away, rival festival Lollapalooza just stole a bit of their thunder tonight by announcing the lineup for their 2012 festival, which will be held in Chicago’s Grant Park from August 3-5. This year’s festival will be headlined by a powerful array of rock royalty (Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Black Keys, Jack White), a historic reunion (the only scheduled North American tour date for Black Sabbath) and, for the first time ever, big-draw DJ acts (Avicii, Justice).
VH1 was able to exclusively ask Lollapalooza founder Perry Farrell (Jane’s Addiction) what kind of traits he looks for in his headlining acts, and he answered in typically awesome Farrell fashion:
We’ve got the complete Lollapalooza press release, which just hit the wires, for you below!
VH1 Presents Mixtape Festival: Train, NKOTB, TLC, The Script + more! Tickets on sale now at MixtapeFestival.com!
