What were some of the best segments from our latest episode of Behind The Music, featuring LL Cool J?
Watch Clips From LL Cool J’s Behind The Music
With years of making girls swoon and being a hip hop style icon, LL Cool J has undoubtedly left his mark on the music world. But what happens when we get to peer deeper into his life?
10 Crucial Moments In Motorhead History
Clad head to toe in black denim, named after their singer’s favorite drug, quite possibly the loudest band on Earth, England’s Motörhead are rock n’roll’s ultimate outlaw gang. Like AC/DC or The Ramones, they write basically one song and that one song is better than most bands entire discographies. Helmed since 1975 by legendary bassist-singer-rogue Ian Fraser “Lemmy” Kilmister, their high speed hymns of oblivion have been inspiring hard rockers, metalheads and punks for nearly 40 years and the band has no intentions of slowing down. These are the 10 Most Crucial Moments in Motörhead History.
Watch the all-new episode of Behind The Music Remastered: Motörhead on VH1 Classic, premiering this Saturday, April 20 at 9P/8C.
15 Things We Learned From 50 Cent’s Behind The Music
Ten years have passed since 50 Cent encouraged us to party like it’s our birthday year-round. Can you do an upside down sit up yet? With impressive co-signs and a never-ending slew of public beefs, 50′s expanding resume has helped redefine the modern hip-hop era.
Behind The Song: How Toni Braxton’s First Marijuana Adventure Inspired “You’re Makin’ Me High”
Are you on a mobile device? Click here to watch Behind The Song: Toni Braxton, “You’re Makin’ Me High.”
After taking a week off, the 15th season of Behind The Music returns next Monday, October 29, with a brand new episode focused on the life and times of six-time Grammy winner Toni Braxton.
Despite having released two major label LPs —one solo, and one alongside her sisters as a member of The Braxtons— it wasn’t until Toni Braxton released “You’re Makin’ Me High” in the spring of 1996 that she became a household name. As she explains in the latest episode of Behind The Song, there were some fears at the time that recording a track like this would be perceived as a “buckwild” turn by the fans who got to know her while she was on the gospel circuit. While LaFace executives Babyface and L.A. Reid were completely comfortable with this career pivot, it turns out that those “buckwild” fears weren’t entirely unfounded.
“A week before [writing the song with Babyface and Bryce Wilson], I was introduced to marijuana, and I got high for the first time,” Braxton confesses in this VH1 exclusive clip. “In the bridge, I’m singing ‘I want to feel your heart and soul inside of me / Let’s make a deal you roll, I lick / And we can go flying into ecstasy’, I was talking about [smoking a joint].” The innuendo was innocent enough to confuse Toni’s sister Towanda, avoid major scrutiny at radio (the song eventually went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100), and, ultimately, score a Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.
Be sure to tune-in to Behind The Music: Toni Braxton on Monday, October 29 at 10 p.m. ET! Until then, how about (puff puff) passing some time watching some of our other episodes of Behind The Song, like Gym Class Heroes talking “Cupid’s Chokehold” or Ne-Yo breaking down the genesis of “Irreplaceable”?
Behind The Song: “Cupid’s Chokehold/Breakfast In America,” The Song That Made Gym Class Heroes A Household Name
Are you on a mobile device? Click here to watch Behind The Song: Gym Class Heroes, “Cupid’s Chokehold.”
Last Sunday, VH1′s Behind The Music put a spotlight on alternative/hip hop group Gym Class Heroes and their rapid rise to fame, their troubles with drugs and Travie McCoy‘s relationship with pop superstar Katy Perry all included; if you missed it, the full episode is now streaming here. For those of you who (like us!) who can’t get enough GCH in your lives, check out Behind The Song: “Cupid’s Chokehold/Breakfast In America,” the song that began the group on their ascent.
Gym Class Heroes’ breakout hit was inspired by a sample of 1979 Supertramp classic “Breakfast in America,” which was written by Roger Hodgson at the tender age of 18 as he dreamt of the California coast while living in his native home, England. As drummer Matt McGinley remembers it, “We were listening to ‘Breakfast in America’ and just sort of playing along to the chorus, and then when the chorus would finish, we would just jam. And that’s where we wrote our own verses.” Then, wanting to make sure it was good, Travie McCoy took the demo into the tattoo shop where he was working at the time and played it for the girls that came in. “I wanted to be that song that, upon first listen, every girl that hears it goes, ‘Aww, I wish my boyfriend would have done something like this for me.’” Needless to say, it worked. They called Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump in to re-record the hook, and then they sat back and watched as the song — and then their career — took off.
Behind The Music: Gym Class Heroes is now streaming online here. Read more…
Watch This Sneak Peak Of Behind The Music: Nicole Scherzinger
This Sunday at 9/8c on VH1, Behind The Music puts a spotlight on Nicole Scherzinger. Tune-in at 9/8c to get the story behind her rise to fame with the Pussycat Dolls, her struggle with an eating disorder and her love of Whitney Houston — “People don’t even know the story,” she teases. Catch a sneak peek of the show’s first act above!
“I used to tell myself that I must be an artist because I am f-ed up,” Scherzinger laughs, recalling her bumpy road to stardom. This first act finds Nicole back in the studio where she first auditioned for the Pussycat Dolls all those years ago, this time laying down vocals for her forthcoming sophomore solo album. Music — or as she calls it, “prescription music” — has long served as her “emotional outlet,” helping her through eating disorders and identity issues before propelling her to unthinkable heights with the Dolls.
Growing up in the Midwest with dark Polynesian, she always felt “less than.” And so she picked up a mic, honing her skills in school plays, at local fairs and as back-up singer for a rock band. Onstage she “felt accepted,” she says. “And that’s when I knew, I must not suck at this. We might have something going on here.”
“Oh man, i hope I don’t get in trouble for what I say,” she says in the end, so be sure to tune in when Behind The Music: Nicole Scherzinger airs on Sunday, October 7th at 9/8c.
Related: Behind The Song: “Jai Ho,” The Song That Set Nicole Scherzinger Solo
Behind The Song: “Jai Ho,” The Song That Set Nicole Scherzinger Solo
This Sunday, VH1′s Behind The Music goes long on The Pussycat Doll‘s Nicole Scherzinger. Before then, we went Behind The Song: “Jai Ho,” a song that she says, “was unique, it was different, it was tribal” — and, with a huge smile — “and it really felt like me!”
Scherzinger was still out on tour with the Pussycat Dolls when she was asked to help spin “Jai Ho,” the A.R. Rahman composed hit from Slumdog Millionaire, into something a little sexier. “Okay, you want me to take ‘Jai Ho’ from Slumdog Millionaire and you want me to turn it into a sexy pop song for the Pussycat Dolls,” she recalls, all the initial disbelieve still intact. And so, ducking into studios between tour stops and in spare moments, she got to work. “We still kept the deep roots to it, and then added some sprinkles around it,” she explains. “I was really honored to be a part of that whole project.”
But the feeling was not exactly mutual, and her fellow Dolls were less than pleased by her attempt to stake her own. Drama ensued, but Scherzinger wasn’t about to let that get in the way of her dreams: “I wanted to do my music, nothing was going to stop me.”
Be sure to tune-in when Behind The Music: Nicole Scherzinger premieres on Sunday, September 23 at 9/8c on VH1.
Watch Now: Carrie Underwood Goes VH1 Unplugged
If it’s starting to seem like we’ve got a thing for Carrie Underwood — well, we do. The girl can sing, and she truly blew us all away when she went VH1 Unplugged. Her set included all (“Good Girl,” “Blown Away”) and the favorites (“Do You Think About Me,” “Before He Cheats”), lot’s of attitude and of course that voice. We’ve already shared a sneak peek session by way of her tremendous cover of Coldplay‘s “Fix You” and these behind-the-scenes pictures snapped while she was here in NYC back in August. Today, we bring you the rest: watch the full episode online here, and then tune-in to VH1 tonight at 7PM to watch the show on air!
“Before He Cheats” is a sleek, slinky thing on record, with guitar riffs cutting sharp and drums crashing in warning. Carrie doesn’t need all that to say “not on me,” though, as she so proved when she played her bold hit stripped down for Unplugged. Looking a tiny bit rock in her little black dress and a lot country with her blonde mane blown out big, Carrie went in with only a trill of violin and an twang of guitar behind her. Really all this song needs is her voice, strong and kicking when she generously suggests “to think next time before you cheat.” It’s these chops that helped her win American Idol, and that have kept her winning in all the years since.
Go Behind The Scenes Of Carrie Underwood’s VH1 Unplugged Taping With Music Seen (PHOTOS)
We’re beyond excited for you guys to watch VH1 Unplugged: Carrie Underwood, when it premieres right here on VH1 Tuner at 4 p.m. ET tomorrow afternoon; you’ll also be able to catch the episode on VH1 tomorrow night when it airs at 7 p.m. ET. We’ve already given you a sneak peek of the amazing set –if you missed Carrie’s tremendous cover of Coldplay’s “Fix You,” you should stop what you’re doing and watch it right now– and now we want to take you behind-the-scenes of the taping that occurred here in NYC back in August as part of our ongoing series, Music Seen.
Our ace photographer Lauren Weissler trailed Carrie as she prepared for and performed her five-song Unplugged set here in New York City back in August. Carrie’s radiant beauty and majestic voice was on full display all day, and we hope these pics help satiate your appetite for VH1 Unplugged: Carrie Underwood until tomorrow!
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