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Usher was in tears after losing two awards at the American Music Awards to Justin Bieber, including favorite entertainer of the year, the top AMA honor.
But Usher wasn't upset about his loss — far from it. Instead, he was welling with pride over the success of his young protege, Justin Bieber, who was the night's biggest winner with four awards and the youngest performer ever to capture the entertainer award.
"To see Justin take the award — having received that award before — it was like an out of body experience, you understand?" Usher said backstage. "It was emotional. I don't cry that often, but I did. Hopefully it gives an indication of how hard we worked to build a career that hopefully will flourish and blossom over the years."
Bieber, who is signed to Usher's label, had a perfect debut at the American Music Awards, winning all four awards he was nominated for: entertainer of the year, breakthrough artist of the year, favorite pop/rock male and favorite pop/rock album for "My World 2.0."
Bieber's debut album is one of the year's top-sellers, with almost two million sold, and he's got a new CD, "My Worlds Acoustic," out this week at Walmart. His ascension marks a phenomenal rise since first garnering attention via homemade videos on YouTube about three years ago.
"This means the world to me," said Bieber after winning breakthrough artist. "I come from the smallest town in the world, of like 30,000 people; I never thought this was possible."
Bieber bested mentor Usher and Eminem for two of his wins. Eminem, whose "Recovery" was a critical and commercial triumph, was nominated for five awards on the evening, tying him with Lady Antebellum, who also had a breakthrough year with their near triple-platinum album "Need You Now."
Neither were the night's big winners, but they came away from the night with something: Eminem got two awards, while the country trio won favorite country band, duo or group.
"Thanks for inviting us to the party," said Lady A's Charles Kelley after the win.
Other winners included Black Eyed Peas and Taylor Swift. But Sunday's ceremony at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles was as much a showcase for acts with new albums as it was a celebration of the biggest achievers of 2010. While some of the night's winners will likely be nominees when next week's Grammys are announced, the American Music Awards aren't so much a predictor of the Grammys is it is a party for the industry's mainstream acts.
Rihanna, with her hair dyed a ruby red, gave the show a colorful and sexy start, performing a medley of songs from her just released album "Loud," including the No. 1 hit "What's My Name," wearing a bustier and what seemed like a scarf wrapped around her backside.
"This is amazing!" said an exuberant Rihanna, who danced onstage later to receive her award — favorite soul/R&B female.
The Black Eyed Peas, winners for favorite pop/rock band, gave a levitating performance, singing from boxes atop the stage during part of their performance of their new single, "The Time." Kid Rock gave a stirring, acoustic performance of "Times Like These," his song lifting up his hometown of Detroit during its recent economic struggles, from his new CD, "Born Free."
A pregnant Pink was among the evening's performance highlights. Unlike recent performances marked by a high-wire act, she stayed close to the ground to perform her latest song, "Raise Your Glass," with a tightly choreographed, high-energy dance number.
Swift, last year's artist of the year, took home favorite country female. Sporting sleek blonde hair instead of her usual cascading curls, Swift said simply: "I just want to thank the fans."
Swift later performed her new single "Back to December," a song she also performed on the CMA Awards earlier in the month, but mixed things up by incorporating some of OneRepublic's "Apologize."
Ke$ha, perhaps trying to make up for the absent Lady Gaga, had the night's most bizarre performance: She performed her heavily Auto-Tuned hit "Take It Off" looking like something out of space, with beams of light for eyes and sporting a motorcycle helmet. She then stripped down to a mirrored outfit, segueing into the next song with a pack of male dancers dressed like her, complete with blond wigs and fishnet stockings. (AP)
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iTunes' top 10 selling singles and albums of the week ending Nov. 1, 2010:
Singles:
1. "We R Who We R," Ke$ha
2. "Like a G6," The Cataracs, Far East Movement, Dev
3. "Whip My Hair," Willow
4. "Only Girl (In the World)," Rihanna
5. "Just a Dream," Nelly
6. "Sparks Fly," Taylor Swift
7. "Bottoms Up (feat. Nicki Minaj)," Trey Songz
8. "Just the Way You Are," Bruno Mars
9. "Raise Your Glass," P!nk
10. "Monster," Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj, Kanye West, Jay-Z, Bon Iver
Albums:
1. "Speak Now," Taylor Swift
2. "Come Around Sundown," Kings of Leon
3. "Glee: The Music — The Rocky Horror Glee Show," Glee Cast
4. "Man On the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager," Kid Cudi
5. "The Incredible Machine," Sugarland
6. "Sigh No More," Mumford & Sons
7. "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy," Kanye West
8. "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," various artists
9. "I Am Not a Human Being," Lil Wayne
10. "Recovery," Eminem
(AP)
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Lil Wayne has thanked P. Diddy for visiting him in jail in a letter written in his prison cell.
The rapper, who is set to be released on Thursday (November 4) after serving a sentence for gun crime, wrote a letter to Billboard.com from Rikers Island, where he is currently being held.
In it Wayne answered questions about his time inside and thanked P. Diddy for being among those who have visited him while he has been incarcerated.
"All artists and friends were very supportive. Thank God I've gotten two visits a week since the day I walked in," he wrote. "I'd have to say the visit from Diddy was most surprising because there's a lot that you're required to go through and to think he did just to see me is more than cool. But again, everybody has been more than supportive. I never felt alone."
Wayne also said that following his release he will be "giving my musical attention to 'The Carter IV' and promoting 'I Am Not A Human Being'," though he added that he may not stop there.
"I may drop a mixtape! " he explained. "You know me!" (NME)
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Katy Perry and Gemma Arterton were among those honoured at the Cosmopolitan Ultimate Women Of The Year Awards 2010 last night (02.11.10).
The 'Firework' singer was named Ultimate International Music Star, while Gemma was given the Ultimate Film Actress accolade at the ceremony at London's Banqueting House in Whitehall.
Though the ceremony recognises the achievements of women, two men were also honoured.
'Glee' star Mark Salling was named Ultimate Hottie, while rapper Dizzee Rascal received the coveted Ultimate Man of the Year honour.
Speaking at the event, Dizzee said: "There's a lot of hotties here, Kelly Brook told me she was single, there's a lot going on!"
The 'Dance Wiv Me' rapper has earlier posed on the red carpet with 'Piranha 3D' actress, who also praised Dizzee for his dapper appearance.
She said: 'He does look good. He's very handsome too and very sweet and charming."
Plus-sized model Crystal Renn was named Ultimate Catwalk Queen, while 'Mad Men' actress Christina Hendricks was named Ultimate US TV Actress.
Taking home the Ultimate UK TV Actress gong was 'Doctor Who' star Karen Gillan, while 'Bad Boys' singer Alexandra Burke won Ultimate UK Music Star.
Girls Aloud star Nicola Roberts took home the Ultimate Fashionista title, and was joined at the star-studded ceremony by her bandmate Kimberley Walsh, who was one of the judges who selected the non=celebrity winners.
She was joined on the panel by Cosmopolitan's agony aunt, Irma Kurtz, businesswoman and TV star Karren Brady, radio presenter Reggie Yates and former Spice Girls singer Mel B.
Cosmopolitan's Editor Louise Court ' who headed the group of judges - said: ' have been honoured to once again celebrate the achievements of such deserving people. The women that have been recognised tonight are truly inspirational and all embody the 'fun and fearless' spirit of the magazine.'
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Josh Groban is a rare commodity in the music business: a safe bet.
Classically trained, celestially voiced, the kind of sweet-faced, well-mannered, personable young man who probably gets hand-knit sweaters as gifts from fans in lieu of panties, Groban is virtually immune to the vagaries of pop-music trends.
His most recent album, the 2007 Christmas record "Noel," sold 5 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and topped the Billboard 200. All told, he has sold almost 20 million albums in the United States.
Because his material appeals to adults whose taste and preferences are stable, Groban can depend on their loyalty. No one would have batted an eye had he released another collection of holiday tracks every couple of years, toured theaters and arenas, dropped in again on Oprah and "Today" and "Glee," headlined public-TV pledge drives and generally reaped the quiet but lucrative rewards of mainstream, middle-of-the-road success.
Instead, Groban, 29, decided to make some drastic changes. He split from his former manager, Brian Avnet, and signed to Q Prime, known for managing guitar extremists Metallica and Muse. He also parted with longtime producer David Foster and teamed with Rick Rubin, the bearded Zen master behind the Beastie Boys, Johnny Cash and Danzig.
On his new record, "Illuminations," due November 15 on Reprise, Groban co-wrote more of the material than he ever had on previous albums, and also recorded a song by an unlikely favorite: goth-rock cult star Nick Cave.
The new partners are especially head-scratching given that Groban's music is possibly the most un-rock stuff out there. With a voice ranging between tenor and baritone, Groban draws more comparisons to Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli than Eddie Vedder or James Hetfield. It's easy to imagine him singing on the radio in the 1940s; his music, which nods to Broadway, opera and European pop, typically finds its truest expression in the kind of swelling, inspirational ballads that accompany first dances at weddings.
Moreover, Groban's older audience still buys physical albums: His breakthrough song, "You Raise Me Up," has sold a relatively modest 977,000 downloads, despite being covered by artists around the world and by "American Idol" contestants who want to bludgeon the judges with their range.
"I was in such a cozy position," Groban says of the period after "Noel" blew up and soundtracked family Christmas dinners across the world. "I had the No. 1-selling album of the year and I could have just kept doing that. But then I started to have an itch." (reu)
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Gregory Isaacs, the Jamaican reggae singer whose smooth style earned him the nickname "Cool Ruler," has died. He was 59.
Isaacs' manager, Copeland Forbes, said the singer died Monday at his London home. Isaacs had been diagnosed with lung cancer a year ago, but continued performing until weeks before his death.
His wife Linda said Isaacs was "well-loved by everyone, his fans and his family, and he worked really hard to make sure he delivered the music they loved and enjoyed."
Born in a Kingston, Jamaica slum in 1951, Isaacs began recording in his teens, and went on to produce scores of albums .
With his sinuous baritone and romantic songs, Isaacs became a leading proponent of the mellow "Lovers Rock" style of reggae. He hit his stride in the mid-1970s with ballads like "Love is Overdue" and "All I Have Is Love."
Later that decade he teamed up with the Jamaican production duo of Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare for several hit songs including "Soon Forward" and "What A Feeling."
"Gregory's voice and writing ability was wicked. He was one of those soulful singers you could sit and listen to for hours," Dunbar said Monday.
Isaacs was best known internationally for the title song from his 1982 album "Night Nurse," a club favorite which later became a hit for Simply Red.
His career was stalled by a cocaine habit that landed him in jail on several occasions. Isaacs said ruefully in 2007 that he'd gone to "Cocaine High School ... the greatest college ever, but the most expensive school fee ever paid."
Drug abuse took a toll on his voice but he kept making music, releasing a well-received final album, "Brand New Me," in 2008.
Suggs, lead singer of reggae-influenced British band Madness, said the dapper, fedora-sporting Isaacs was "a great reggae artist and also one of the most sartorially elegant stars on the world stage." (AP)
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Cheryl Cole has confirmed that she is set to collaborate with Rihanna in 2011.
The X Factor judge and Girls Aloud singer told the Daily Mirror that the hook-up was "definitely" set to take place next year, although the details of the collaboration have not been revealed.
"I couldn't believe it when I heard Rihanna wanted to work with me," Cole said. "When I found out she wanted to collaborate, I got goosebumps all over. We're definitely doing something together next year."
She added: "I love that she's into tattoos, she's got one on her collar bone saying, 'Never a failure, always a lesson' – that's beautiful."
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The Walkman, the Sony cassette device that forever changed music listening before becoming outdated by digital MP3 players and iPods, has died. It was 31 years old. Sony announced Monday that it has ceased production of the classic, cassette tape Walkman in Japan, effectively sounding the death knell of the once iconic, now obsolete device.
The Walkman is survived by the Discman (still clinging to life) and ironic music listeners who think using a Walkman in this day-and-age is charmingly out-of-touch.
It will continue to be produced in China and distributed in the U.S., Europe and some Asian countries. Digital Walkmans are also being made with models that display lyrics and have improved digital noise-canceling technology.
Still, if you're looking to chisel a date in the Walkman's tombstone, then Oct. 25, 2010, is as good as any. For many, that it's taken this long is surprising: "They were still making those?" Perhaps Oct. 23, 2001, the day the iPod was launched, is the better date of expiration.
But none of the success of Apple's portable music players would have ever happened without the cassette Walkman. Some 220 million have been sold since the first model, the TPS-L2, debuted in July 1979. (It retailed for $200.) At the time, transistor radios were portable, but there was nothing widely available like the Walkman.
It was developed under the stewardship of Sony founders Akio Morita and Masaru Ibuka. Morita insisted the device not be focused on recording but playback, a relatively odd notion at the time.
Originally called the "Soundabout" in the U.S., the Walkman was an immediate sensation and a revolution in music listening.
Foremost, it was portable. Music no longer needed to be something that one experienced sitting in a room, but could be blasted on the bus, pumped while jogging on a beach or played softly while studying.
By turning the volume up, anyone could be tuned out.
The detached teenager with foam earphones slouched in the back seat or bobbing his head in the elevator became an indelible image of the `80s. (The first Walkman did have an orange "hot line" button to lower the music and increase the microphone so you could hear someone talking to you.)
Music, previously listened to in a room with shag carpeting and a stereo, was cast into the world, made a part of daily life. Pink Floyd could join a walk in the park, Public Enemy could soundtrack a commute.
More than portability, it fostered a personalization to music, a theme the iPod would also highlight in those early dancing silhouette ads. A big reason there's so much nostalgia for the Walkman today is because it eliminated any separation from music. It felt like an appendage, which is perhaps why some (with questionable fashion instincts) clipped theirs to their belt.
The Walkman was also the father of the mixtape, an offspring that nearly trumps the progenitor. For the first time, music was something you could make yours by arranging it and swapping it.
For those young and unfamiliar with this process, making a mixtape typically entailed gathering songs by the Cure and Depeche Mode, labeling the tape with care and awkwardly giving it to a love interest in homeroom.
The Walkman didn't disappear so much as it was improved upon. Sony continues to use it as a brand, but the company long ago ceded hipness and style to Apple. The iPod will likely one day befall a similar fate, and another generation will gasp in joined wistfulness.
When it comes to music and how we hear it, we're all romantics.
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Michael Jackson's sudden death sparked an outpouring of grief around the world, but fans also opened their wallets to make him this year's top-earning dead celebrity with $275 million, Forbes said on Monday.
Jackson raked in more than the combined total of the other 12 celebrities on the list, Forbes magazine said. He was ranked third on last year's list with $90 million.
Elvis Presley came in second, earning $60 million from admissions to his former home, Graceland, which is now a museum and tourist attraction in Memphis, Tennessee, a Cirque de Soleil show and more than 200 licensing and merchandise deals.
"Jackson's spot atop our top earning dead celebrities list should come as no surprise given the renewed fan interest in music, videos and all things Michael Jackson," said Forbes writer Lacey Rose.
Jackson was 50 when he died in his Los Angeles home on June 25 last year, shortly before a planned series of comeback concerts in London. The singer left behind three children and a debt of $500 million.
But his estate has generated millions since his death, mostly through record sales, the "This Is It" concert movie, licensing rights, deals to release new albums and a Cirque du Soleil stage show in Las Vegas.
"Thanks to a lucrative catalog, hit film and album sales, the late king of pop earned more in the last year than Lady Gaga, Madonna and Jay-Z, combined," said Rose.
Jackson's physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, is awaiting trial on a charge that he is responsible for the singer's death by administering a powerful anesthetic to help him sleep.
STEINBRENNER, LARSSON NEWCOMERS
"The Lord of the Rings" author J.R.R. Tolkien, whose trilogy of novels was made into films by director Peter Jackson, came in at No. 3 on the Forbes list with earnings of $50 million, while Charles Schulz, the creator of Charlie Brown and Snoopy, came in fourth with $33 million.
Former Beatle John Lennon, who would have turned 70 this year, was ranked No. 5 with an income of $17 million.
"Many of the deceased icons on our list offer the marketing community name recognition, broad cultural appeal and, unlike their living counterparts, an indelible image that can't be damaged by a rehab stint or tabloid story," Rose said.
Presley, Tolkien, Schulz and Lennon all appeared on last year's list, which was topped by fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent with $350 million after the sale of much of his estate. But Saint Laurent dropped off the list this year along with author Michael Crichton an artist Andy Warhol.
Along with Jackson, newcomers to this year's list included Yankees baseball team owner George Steinbrenner at No. 9 with $8 million, and Swedish author Stieg Larsson, who wrote the popular mystery Millennium Trilogy novels that began with "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," at No. 6 with $18 million.
A deceased celebrity needed to earn at least $5 million between October 1, 2009 and October 1, 2010 to make this year's list, Forbes said. The magazine spoke to agents, lawyers and other sources to estimate annual gross earnings.
The full list can be seen at www.forbes.com/deadcelebs.
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‘Jimmy Page by Jimmy Page’, a limited edition photographic autobiography from the Led Zeppelin guitarist, has sold out despite not being officially released yet.
The book – which cost £495 – is 512 pages long and features over 650 images of Page from throughout his career.
Selling out through pre-orders, the hefty book from Genesis Publications, is bound in leather and wrapped in silk and was compiled by Page himself, who also wrote the text.
A selection of pictures from the book, taken by photographers such as Kate Simon, Neal Preston, Ross Halfin and Pennie Smith will be on display on November 5-6 at Elms Lester Painting Rooms in Covent Garden, London. (NME)
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By his own admission, Jason Kay and his band Jamiroquai have been away for a long time. But four years after a hits collection completed his contractual obligations to Sony Music, which signed him in 1992, he's finally ready for his comeback.
Kay spent his hiatus training to become a helicopter pilot. It's the latest obsession for the self-confessed adrenaline junkie, along with a prized collection of automobiles at his 80-acre Buckinghamshire estate, located west of London.
But it hasn't all been thrill-seeking during the break. Kay applied the same rigor and passion to the recording of Jamiroquai's new album. "Rock Dust Light Star," which will be released worldwide outside of North America on November 1 on Mercury/Universal. Canada follows November 9, with a U.S. release date that's to be determined for 2011.
Recorded largely in his home studio, it's something of a back-to-basics affair, by his standards. In all, Kay spent almost two years and "half a million quid ($794,000)" making the album.
Two different singles will offer fans a preview of the album. Internationally, the fast-paced "White Knuckle Ride" -- featuring Kay showing off his piloting skills in the video -- started rolling out August 23, hitting No. 1 in Italy and also charting in the Netherlands and Switzerland.
"White Knuckle Ride" has been picking up specialist airplay in the United Kingdom, but the official single there is sun-kissed ballad "Blue Skies."
Jamiroquai has career album sales of 2.6 million in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and 4.4 million in the United Kingdom, according to the Official Charts Co. Hit singles included "Cosmic Girl" and the Grammy Award-winning "Virtual Insanity."
Once dubbed "the cat in the hat" -- he still wears a variety of elaborate headgear onstage -- Kay is also full of jittery enthusiasm about resuming touring, although he says things will be more "laid-back" than the hyperactive performances of old.
"At 40 years old you don't want to be doing stuff that you did when you were 19," he says. "You've got to grow with the music. Even I forget 'Cosmic Girl' was 13 years ago. A lot changes in that time." (BB)
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As Nelly Furtado prepares to survey the first decade of her recording career with the November 15 release of a hits package, the Canadian singer said she's "just over sort of halfway done" with her next studio album.
Tentatively titled "Lifestyle," the new album will be due out in 2011.
"I'm a little bit picky, so I'm kind of going through all kinds of material," Furtado told Billboard.com. "There's new material I'm writing and old material that's... very good and hasn't been re-approached."
Furtado predicted the set will be "eclectic" and influenced by the wide-ranging approach of her double-platinum 2000 debut, "Whoa, Nelly!," as well as the vocal work she did on her 2009 Spanish album "Mi Plan."
"I think that from singing the Spanish album I've learned a new confidence as a vocalist," Furtado explained. "And I think there's a little bit more of an alternative influence on this new album, kind of how my first album was definitely inspired and partially influenced by 'alternative' music."
Furtado has been recording primarily with Salaam Remi, who co-produced "Night is Young," the first single and one of three new tracks on forthcoming, "The Best of Nelly Furtado."
She also "experimented" with reggae with Stupid Genius and has worked with Passion Pit frontman Michael Angelakos.
The new album will also be Furtado's first to feature only English songs, she said.
The album is on hold right now, however, as Furtado focuses on "The Best of..." The disc will be released in a single-disc standard edition as well as a deluxe package that includes two CDs and a DVD; in addition to "Night is Young."
It also includes the unreleased songs "Stars" and "Girlfriend in the City," all of which were originally slated for the next album.
"I think it's a fun thing to celebrate," said Furtado, who will appear on the Latin Grammy Awards on November 11 in Las Vegas "I'm proud of the fact that ('Whoa, Nelly!') came out a full 10 years ago and you can still put it on and it sounds like something that's on the radio now.
"At the time we were just kind of making music we felt like listening to, which is what I've always done since." (reu)
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Struggling Liverpool has turned to Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson for a lift.
The Premier League soccer club says Dickinson piloted the team's plane to Napoli for Thursday's Europa League game against the Italian club. Dickinson is a licensed airline pilot.
The rocker told Liverpool's website that "Liverpool are an amazing club" and "I hope they do well."
Liverpool has won only a single Premier League game this season, and manager Roy Hodgson is resting Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres for the Napoli game.
British media couldn't help but make light of the club's struggles, with newspaper The Guardian quipping that "it said everything about the paucity of the squad (that) the most famous person on board was the pilot." (AP)
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U2 will likely follow its 2009 album "No Line on the Horizon" with a disc primarily produced by Danger Mouse, according to frontman Bono.
He told Australian newspaper The Age that U2 is preparing three new albums, with the Danger Mouse (real name: Brian Burton) project possibly arriving in early 2011.
"We have about 12 songs with him," Bono was quoted as saying. "At the moment that looks like the album we will put out next because it's just happening so easily."
Danger Mouse is best known for his work as one-half of pop-soul duo Gnarls Barkley, and for the illicit 2004 Jay-Z/Beatles mashup "The Grey Album."
Bono also revealed that the band is working on a club record of remixes; Will.i.am, David Guetta and Lady Gaga producer RedOne are all involved with the project.
A possible third album would feature the material that Bono and guitarist the Edge wrote for the upcoming Broadway musical "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark." "We haven't convinced the rest of the band to do that yet," Bono said.
U2 will bring its U2 360 tour to Australia in December before returning to North America in mid-May. "Spider-Man" previews are set to begin on November 14. (reu)
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Usher was in tears after losing two awards at the American Music Awards to Justin Bieber, including favorite entertainer of the year, the top AMA honor.
