Lawsuit dropped, but Bieber baby claim lingers

Canadian singer Justin Bieber arrives on the red carpet for the 63rd Bambi media awards ceremony in Wiesbaden, November 10, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Alex Domanski

By Jill Serjeant

LOS ANGELES | Wed Nov 16, 2011 7:43pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The woman who claimed teen singer Justin Bieber fathered a baby with her has dropped her paternity lawsuit, but Mariah Yeater's lawyer said on Wednesday she is pursuing her claim out of court.

Yeater, 20, of southern California, had claimed in her lawsuit that she had sex backstage with the 17-year-old Canadian singer last year and that he was the father of her baby who was born in July. She was demanding child support.

Bieber has repeatedly denied the allegation, saying he never met Yeater but said last week he would take a paternity test. Sources close to Bieber said on Wednesday that arrangements were underway for the DNA test to take place soon.

Chicago attorney Jeffery Leving said on Wednesday that Yeater had dropped the lawsuit but had a new legal team and hoped to reach a private settlement with Bieber's lawyers.

"She believes Justin Bieber is the father," Leving told Chicago TV channel WGNtv on Wednesday. "Negotiations are going on right now with Bieber's counsel and we're trying to negotiate a private, secure DNA test with the same safeguards that would exist if there were a court order, but without a court order."

"This matter is not over," Leving said.

It was not clear why the paternity lawsuit was dropped but Leving said Yeater had received death threats and was being harassed by the media.

Bieber's spokesman Matthew Hiltzik called it "sad" that "someone would fabricate such a malicious, defamatory, and demonstrably false claim. We'll continue to consider all of our options to protect Justin."

The baby claims have threatened to tarnish Bieber's squeaky clean image and left Yeater open to a possible charge of statutory rape because Bieber was only 16 years-old at the time of the alleged encounter.

In her complaint, Yeater claimed the two had sex for 30 seconds in a backstage bathroom after she attended a Bieber concert in Los Angeles in October 2010.

Bieber, has been promoting his new Christmas album in Europe, was silent on Twitter on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

View the original article here

Lawsuit dropped, but Bieber baby claim lingers (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The woman who claimed teen singer Justin Bieber fathered a baby with her has dropped her paternity lawsuit, but Mariah Yeater's lawyer said on Wednesday she is pursuing her claim out of court.

Yeater, 20, of southern California, had claimed in her lawsuit that she had sex backstage with the 17-year-old Canadian singer last year and that he was the father of her baby who was born in July. She was demanding child support.

Bieber has repeatedly denied the allegation, saying he never met Yeater but said last week he would take a paternity test. Sources close to Bieber said on Wednesday that arrangements were underway for the DNA test to take place soon.

Chicago attorney Jeffery Leving said on Wednesday that Yeater had dropped the lawsuit but had a new legal team and hoped to reach a private settlement with Bieber's lawyers.

"She believes Justin Bieber is the father," Leving told Chicago TV channel WGNtv on Wednesday. "Negotiations are going on right now with Bieber's counsel and we're trying to negotiate a private, secure DNA test with the same safeguards that would exist if there were a court order, but without a court order."

"This matter is not over," Leving said.

It was not clear why the paternity lawsuit was dropped but Leving said Yeater had received death threats and was being harassed by the media.

Bieber's spokesman Matthew Hiltzik called it "sad" that "someone would fabricate such a malicious, defamatory, and demonstrably false claim. We'll continue to consider all of our options to protect Justin."

The baby claims have threatened to tarnish Bieber's squeaky clean image and left Yeater open to a possible charge of statutory rape because Bieber was only 16 years-old at the time of the alleged encounter.

In her complaint, Yeater claimed the two had sex for 30 seconds in a backstage bathroom after she attended a Bieber concert in Los Angeles in October 2010.

Bieber, has been promoting his new Christmas album in Europe, was silent on Twitter on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

View the original article here

Mirren to co-host Nobel Peace Prize Concert (AP)

OSLO, Norway – Organizers say British actress Helen Mirren will co-host this year's Nobel Peace Prize concert, featuring performances by Benin's Angelique Kidjo and other world artists.

The Dec. 11 concert is held a day after the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, which this year honors President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and women's right activist Leymah Gbowee — both of Liberia — and democracy activist Tawakkul Karman of Yemen.

The lineup of artists include Ahmed Fathi of Yemen and Liberian-born singer Miatta Fahnbulleh, as well as David Gray, Jill Scott, country duo Sugarland and World Youth Choir. Organizers said Friday that Mirren's co-host will be announced later.

The 2011 Nobel Peace Prize highlighted women's rights and women's efforts in building peace.

View the original article here

Singer Stevie B in Mass. court over child support (AP)

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – A Massachusetts judge has given singer Stevie B more time to dispute $400,000 in child support the state says he owes.

The singer, whose full name is Steven Bernard Hill, is best known for the 1990 hit "Because I Love You (The Postman Song)." He was arrested Sept. 30 after performing at the MassMutual Center in Springfield.

Hill appeared in court Friday. His attorney, Justin Nadeau, says they have until Jan. 17 to seek documents from the state. The hearing is continued until Feb. 23.

Hill told The Associated Press afterward it's "a very positive victory."

He disputes the amount that an Agawam (AG'-ah-wahm) woman claims he owes in support of their two daughters. He said earlier he's always been "a loyal, loving father." Hill lives in Las Vegas.

.

View the original article here

Gym Class Heroes grow up, get serious on new album

Tim William, Eric Roberts, Matt McGinley and Travis McCoy of the Gym Class Heroes arrive at the 2008 VH1 Hip Hop Honors event in New York, October 2, 2008.

Credit: Reuters/Eric Thayer

By Piya Sinha-Roy

LOS ANGELES | Thu Nov 17, 2011 7:39pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Gym Class Heroes has graduated from party life to adulthood on their latest album, "The Papercut Chronicles II," a follow-up to their first CD after three records of anthems to youth, rebellion and just plain having fun.

Lead singer Travie McCoy said the new album represents a sort of coming-of-age for the band with songs about moving ahead after lost loves and thinking more deeply about topics such as how a rock star life is not always glamorous.

"It's about...thinking about the bigger picture rather than the smaller things," McCoy told Reuters. "I'm 30. We've all grown up now, some of us have kids."

Along with McCoy, the New York band features drummer Matt McGinley, guitarist Disashi Lumumba-Kasongo and bassist Eric Roberts. They released their first official studio album, "The Papercut Chronicles" in 2005, and from it came one of the band's best-selling singles, "Cupid's Chokehold."

A second album in 2006, "As Cruel As School Children," delivered more hit singles including "Clothes Off!" and was followed "The Quilt" in 2008, with its single "Cookie Jar."

Recent years have found the band writing personal songs and some with themes around heartbreak and the isolation of pop stardom. McCoy said that to draw inspiration, the band returned to "Papercut Chronicles" and looked at how far they had come.

"Papercut Chronicles II" is the product of their musical soul searching and includes a fusion of sounds including hip-hop, rock and pop on tracks like "Solo Discotheque (Whiskey Bitness)," "Lazarus, Ze Gitan" and the upbeat "Stereo Hearts."

"We had a sense of urgency in the past records. We were young kids searching for a sound," said McCoy. "We wanted to recreate not the album, but that sense of hunger."

McCoy said the album became a personal diary, to some extent, as he sings of past romances and fighting his demons.

"'Live Goes On' defines me best, because people don't see that this life is not all glitz and glamour. There's a darker side," said McCoy.

ADAM LEVINE, RYAN TEDDER

The new album also features several collaborations such as on the lighthearted love song, "Stereo Hearts," featuring Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine. It currently sites in the top 5 on the Billboard singles chart.

One Republic's Ryan Tedder, who received Grammy nominations for writing and producing songs like Beyonce's "Halo" and Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love," created the inspirational tune "The Fighter" in which Tedder sings and McCoy raps.

While Levine and Tedder are high-profile collaborators, McCoy also works with lesser known artists such as Danish singer Oh Land, who supplies vocals on "Life Goes On."

"It's great to find people who might not be getting a lot of recognition but just have a ton of talent," said McCoy, "There's a cool resurgence of 'out there' music like The Speakers. There are lots of artists I'm digging right now, like The Weekend and James Blake."

Despite the band's popularity and charting single "Stereo Hearts," the album has not been received so warmly by critics.

Rolling Stone's Judy Rosen cited "dull, rock-rap tunes with hooks that would've sounded dated a decade ago."

Entertainment Weekly's Kyle Anderson also criticized the album's "revved-up aggro crunch and laughable lyrical raging against the machine," but praised some tracks where the band "jettison their limp rap-rock instincts and plunge into crossover pop like the haunting 'Life Goes On'."

But McCoy is focused on his fans, and he believes they will accept the album as "another Gym Class Heroes record," with the band's trademark fusion of different music styles.

"What we listen to is so diverse so when it comes to our albums, they tend to reflect our tastes, and our fans like that," said the rapper.

(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

View the original article here

Drake is one lonesome Hip-Hop lothario in "Take Care"

By Chris Willman

Wed Nov 16, 2011 11:43am EST

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Drake certainly didn't invent hip-hop solipsism. But the genre's newest superstar proves more intriguingly introspective than most on "Take Care," a solid sophomore effort that's destined to have hundreds of thousands of eager buyers also gazing into his navel this week.

The singer-rapper establishes his twin themes pretty effectively in his first two lines: "I think I killed everybody in the game last year, man, f--- it, I was on, though/And I thought I found the girl of my dreams at the strip club, mm-mm, I was wrong, though."

That's right: Money (and a debut album that sold almost a half-million copies in its first week last year) can't buy love. Lapdances, yes. Breaking news alert, right?

Generally speaking, it's best for artists who are into at least, say, the third or fourth year of their recording careers to write albums about how it's lonely at the top. And "Take Care" has its moments of predictably woe-is-fame, boo-hoo bravado.

But the strangely tender album title is a tip-off that Drake is willing to delve further into vulnerability than just about any of his contemporaries.

And not for the sake of being a ladies' man -- though that certainly seems to be a side effect -- but because he seems to be a legitimately candid late-night diarist. The closest comparison might be something like Kanye West's confessional "808s & Heartbreak," without that album's stultifying AutoTune, off-the-scale paranoia, or deficit of musical variety.

You do have to wade through some token introductory braggadocio to get to the good stuff.

"Shout-out to all my living tax-free/Nowadays it's six figures when they tax me," he announces in the opening cut, sparing us any details on how insta-millionaire playas feel about the 9-9-9 plan.

Once we've established that he is already a man of wealth (and taste; check out his references to Napa Valley restaurants), things get more interesting, as Drake details the differences between love and sex, only one of which he appears to have had a lot of during the past year.

The best track, "Marvin's Room," stands as the best drunk-dialing anthem since Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now," albeit a far more epic one. "I've had sex four times this week -- I'll explain," he tells the ex he's still in love with after getting home from the club. "Having a hard time adjusting to fame ..." Tell her about it.

The song gets stranger and woozier as it goes along, finally melting into a bizarro coda in which he uses an electronic filter to croon some truly deathless verses to The One That Got Away: "If you was in a pine box ... I'd just jump right in and fall asleep, because you are the death of me." What gal wouldn't swoon, hearing that on her voicemail in the morning?

Beneath all the B-words and N-words lurks the heart of a true romantic, which is why Drake has such unusual female-demo appeal (well, it's part of it).

The fact that he only seems to want to reveal his hopes and wounds under drunken duress helps keep the guys on board in a way they wouldn't with one of urban music's more uncloaked lotharios.

At times, "Take Care" comes close to being a concept album about workaholism.

"Headlines," the album's first single, is actually about deadlines.

"Money over everything, money on my mind/Then she wanna ask when it got so empty," he sings. "Tell her I apologize -- If they don't get it, they'll be over you/That new s--- that you got is overdue." When the girl in question can't wait around for him to finish his album, Drake laments: "I guess it really is me, myself, and all my millions."

Guest stars abound, of course, including Rihanna (on the subdued title track, as mellow a hip-hop single as you'll hear), Nicki Minaj (not so subdued on "Make Me Proud," Drake's ode to womanhood, just in case all those B-words had you thinking otherwise), Rick Ross, and, inevitably, Lil Wayne.

It's late in the game that Andre3000 steals the show with the oddest and funniest cameo. The OutKast co-frontman raps quietly about friends "that are married that don't want to go home/But we look up to them, they wish they were us/They want some new trim, we lust for some trust."

Soon he's talking about "sitting here sad as hell, listening to Adele," letting you picture him weeping, just like all those "Someone Like You"-loving office workers in last weekend's "SNL" sketch.

But, lest you think he's a softie, Andre300's parting words are: "Please be careful, b----es got the rabies."

If that kind of sexual conflictedness doesn't square with your brand of feminism, "Take Care" may not be for you.

But its bracing honesty on both ends of the scale may win some fans from the ranks of music lovers who don't go for hip-hop's more rank misogynists -- in tandem with the fact that Drake is one of the few singer-rappers around who doesn't make you wince when he's fulfilling either role.

His ride at the top could be short, but if he keeps up this deft a balance, you'd hate to bet against Drake someday graduating to making albums about how lonesome it is being a billionaire.

View the original article here

Star-studded sendoff at Heavy D funeral service (AP)

MOUNT VERNON, N.Y. – Heavy D was remembered with laughter and tears Friday during a star-studded funeral service that included Jay-Z and Will Smith, humorous anecdotes from longtime friend Diddy, and words of encouragement for the late rapper's family, delivered in a letter from President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama.

"We extend our heartfelt condolences at this difficult time. He will be remembered for his infectious optimism and many contributions to American music. Please know that you and your family will be in our thoughts and prayers," read the note from the Obamas, according to the Rev. Al Sharpton, who quoted from it during the service.

Xea Myers, Heavy D's 11-year-old daughter, also spoke briefly, telling the audience that her father was "still here, not in the flesh, but in the spirit."

Grace Baptist Church was filled to capacity for the two-and-half-hour service, which was also streamed live on the Web. It was so crowded, an overflow area was set up. Among those in attendance were Usher, Queen Latifah, Don King, Q-Tip, John Legend and Rosie Perez.

"Silently he's been influential in a lot of our careers," Usher said after the service. "His love still lives on."

A large photo of Heavy D sat next to his closed casket.

Heavy D died last week in Los Angeles at the age of 44. His family said the death was due to complications from pneumonia.

The self-proclaimed "Overweight Lover" was born in Jamaica but reared in Mount Vernon, which he dubbed "Money Earnin' Mount Vernon." It was also the home of Sean "Diddy" Combs. Diddy talked about how Heavy D helped give him his start in the music industry, and how their decades-long friendship continued up until Heavy D's death.

"He became my friend. He became my brother, and I'm not talking about friend-brother like we cavalierly use the word, I'm talking about a real friend, a real brother," Diddy said. "Somebody I shared my dreams and my secrets with, somebody that's been there for me at my lowest point, my darkest hour when nobody wanted to be beside me."

But he also told jokes as he recounted his "bromance" with the rapper, including a recent visit to Miami that was supposed to last for three days, but "turned into three weeks." He added that Heavy D got to know his chef "very well."

Sharpton also drew laughter when he noted that James Brown "made us black and proud; (Heavy D) made us fat and proud."

But singer Johnny Gill was tearful when he approached the altar, saying: "Just want to say to Heavy: Job well done." He later gave a powerful rendition the gospel hit "Never Would Have Made It." Heavy D's nieces were also teary-eyed as they sang the gospel standard "His Eye Is on the Sparrow." Yolanda Adams and Anthony Hamilton also performed.

Heavy D, whose real name was Dwight Myers, was influential in the development of rap as it grew into a phenomenon in the late 1980s and 1990s. His hits included "Now That We've Found Love" and "Nuttin' But Love"; much of his music marked the "New Jack Swing" era in urban music, and he stood out from the pack with his rhymes, typified by a positive vibe and a lightheartedness that endeared him to so many.

Salt, of Salt-N-Pepa, recalled touring with Heavy D & the Boyz, and said the rapper always told her: "I love you."

"He was a lifelong buddy to me," she said after the service. "Just now I realized how many lives he touched."

A fund has been set up to financially aid Heavy D's daughter; details were available on the website http://www.rememberheavyd.com.

___

Mesfin Fekadu covers entertainment for The Associated Press. Follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/musicmesfin

View the original article here

Google launches music service (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Google Inc has turned on the music at its new online store, aiming to wrest the lead from Apple Inc and Amazon.com Inc in audio entertainment distribution despite the absence of a major record label.

Google Music, with more 13 million songs, will be integrated with Android Market, the company's online store for smartphone apps and videos as it plays catch-up with its rivals. Apple, Amazon and Facebook have to varying degrees integrated music into their core online and mobile products.

Google Music will allow the Web search leader to do the same by letting consumers access music from various Internet-connected devices and easily share tracks with friends.

But analysts said the lack of soundtracks from Warner Music - a major label whose artists include Led Zeppelin and Prince, among others - will limit the appeal of Google Music.

"They've got to get that catalog filled pretty quickly," said Mike McGuire, an analyst at industry research firm Gartner. "It's a launch, but it's kind of like a work-in-progress."

Google Music was unveiled at a splashy event at the Mr. Brainwash Studios in Hollywood, California on Wednesday.

Google has negotiated U.S. deals with three of the four major music companies: Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group; Sony Corp's Sony Music Entertainment; and EMI. It has also signed deals with the increasingly influential independent label group Merlin and London-based Beggar's Banquet label group, home to the year's biggest selling artist, Adele.

Analysts say selling online music is unlikely to provide much of a lift to Google's revenue. But they say Google needs to be in the market to ensure that its Android-based mobile efforts can match offerings from competitors.

Android is the world's No. 1 smartphone operating system, powering about 200 million devices worldwide. But without a music service, Android-based smartphones and tablets may not be as attractive to consumers seeking a product that offers a seamless media experience.

And with music storage increasingly moving to remote Internet servers in "the cloud" rather than on the device itself, companies like Google and Apple have a way to keep users locked in to their respective mobile services, said BGC Partners analyst Colin Gillis.

"Everyone is using music and media as a jail. Ultimately, this stuff is going to be stored in the cloud and it becomes harder and harder to switch systems," he said.

To help jump-start the new music store, Google said it will offer one free song for consumers to download every day.

Google will also allow consumers to share purchased songs with friends on the Google+ social network. The feature will give users of Google+ a "free, full-play" of songs purchased by their friends.

"Recommendations from friends are the single most important way that people discover music and we think that this feature has the potential to really transform purchasing behavior," said Zahavah Levine, Google's director of content partnerships for Android, at Wednesday's event.

Music executives said that even though sales have struggled in recent years, music usage has never been more popular on different types of formats like social networks and mobile devices.

Facebook, the world's largest social network, unveiled a tab in September through which music services like Spotify, Rdio and MOG enable Facebook users to share music. Amazon has also long been a major music retailer and has a music locker service

Earlier this year, Google unveiled the Google Music beta, which allowed users to upload their music to Google servers, and access the music from multiple devices.

Shares of Google, which finished Wednesday's regular session at $611.47, were up 72 cents in after-hours trading.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine in Los Angeles, Yinka Adegoke in New York and Alexei Oreskovic in San Francisco; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Bernard Orr and Richard Chang)

View the original article here

Singer Adele "on the mend" after throat surgery

British singer Adele performs ''Someone Like You'' at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles, August 28, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Mario Anzuoni

LONDON | Wed Nov 16, 2011 5:27pm EST

LONDON (Reuters) - British singer Adele said she was "on the mend" after undergoing microsurgery in Boston to treat a benign polyp on her vocal cords.

The problems forced Adele, whose album "21" is the top seller in the United States and Britain this year, to cancel a string of appearances at concerts and awards ceremonies in recent weeks.

"I'm doing really well, on the mend, super happy, relaxed and very positive with it all," the 23-year-old said in a blog posting on her website.

"The operation was a success and I'm just chilling out now until I get the all clear from my doctors ... I best get back to practicing (sic) my mime show now."

Adele, who leads the field with four nominations at the American Music Awards to be held in Los Angeles on November 20, recently dismissed speculation in the media that she had throat cancer.

View the original article here

Seizures delay Rick Ross album release (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Island Def Jam has pushed back the release of Rick Ross' upcoming album, "God Forgives, I Don't" due in part to the rapper's recent seizures, according to Billboard.

The album was due to come out December 13, but an Island Def Jam rep told Billboard it will now street in the first or second quarter of 2012.

Ross suffered a pair of seizures in mid-October, the first one coming on a flight to Memphis that ended in an emergency landing. Ross tried to make the flight again later in the day, only to suffer another seizure.

That led to a few canceled appearances and missed opportunities while Ross looked after his well-being.

Ross has already released a single, "You the Boss," featuring Nicki Minaj.

View the original article here

Bonnie Pointer arrested during LA traffic stop (AP)

LOS ANGELES – Authorities say singer Patricia "Bonnie" Pointer of the Pointer Sisters has been arrested for investigation of possessing rock cocaine.

Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore says the 61-year-old singer was arrested Friday in South Los Angeles after the car she was riding in was pulled over for a mechanical malfunction.

Deputies say she was released after posting $10,000 bail.

In a statement issued through her manager Robert Watson, Pointer thanked the public for their support and prayers.

Watson declined comment on the arrest.

The Pointer Sisters grew up singing in church. Patricia and June formed a duo and were singing in clubs when Anita and Ruth joined them.

The sisters released their first album in 1973 and won a Grammy in 1974. Bonnie left in 1977 for a solo career.

She is due in court on Jan. 17.

View the original article here

Rapper Mac Miller straight to No.1 in indie victory (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Rapper Mac Miller became the first indie artist since 1995 to debut at the top of the Billboard Top 200 album charts on Wednesday, with his first album "Blue Slide Park."

Selling 144,000 copies in its first week according to Nielsen SoundScan, Miller's No. 1 debut beat out Michael Buble's "Christmas" album, which climbed to No. 2 on the chart from last week's No. 8 position.

Miller, 19, has quickly established a fan base of more than one million followers on Twitter and Facebook and recently appeared on the VH1 television series "Single Ladies."

Jon Garcia at AllHipHop.com praised Miller for the album's production, "and the fact that he doesn't do too much to mess up the groove." MTV's Rob Markman called the album a "homegrown compilation...from a youngster whose rap appeal stretches way beyond his native Pittsburgh borders."

The last time an independently distributed artist's debut album reached No. 1 was rap group Tha Dogg Pound's "Dogg Food" in 1995. Miller's album "Blue Slide Park" is a Rostrum Records release, independently distributed by INgrooves and Fontana Distribution.

"Rostrum and Mac are proof that a digitally-focused independent effort works in today's dynamic music marketplace, by engaging fans directly," Dave Zierler, executive vice president at INgrooves, said in a statement.

Miller and Buble are followed by the "Now 40" music compilation, entering the Billboard album chart at No. 3 this week, with "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1" soundtrack at No. 4, ahead of the film's release on Friday.

Adele's "21" holds steady at No. 5 after more than 35 weeks in the charts.

Justin Bieber's holiday album "Under The Mistletoe," which knocked Coldplay's "Mylo Xyloto" from the top position last week, fell to No. 6, while Susan Boyle's "Someone To Watch Over Me," fell to No. 7, edging out "Mylo Xyoloto" at No. 8.

On the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, Rihanna's "We Found Love" held onto the top spot, with LMFAO's "Sexy And I Know It" at No. 2.

Taylor Swift, who received the coveted entertainer of the year honor at last week's Country Music Awards, achieved two top ten debut singles this week, with "If This Was A Movie" at No. 3 and "Ours" at No. 5. A third single, "Superman," entered the chart at No. 13, after all three songs were released digitally for the first time last week.

(Editing by Jill Serjeant)

View the original article here

Gym Class Heroes grow up, get serious on new album (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Gym Class Heroes has graduated from party life to adulthood on their latest album, "The Papercut Chronicles II," a follow-up to their first CD after three records of anthems to youth, rebellion and just plain having fun.

Lead singer Travie McCoy said the new album represents a sort of coming-of-age for the band with songs about moving ahead after lost loves and thinking more deeply about topics such as how a rock star life is not always glamorous.

"It's about...thinking about the bigger picture rather than the smaller things," McCoy told Reuters. "I'm 30. We've all grown up now, some of us have kids."

Along with McCoy, the New York band features drummer Matt McGinley, guitarist Disashi Lumumba-Kasongo and bassist Eric Roberts. They released their first official studio album, "The Papercut Chronicles" in 2005, and from it came one of the band's best-selling singles, "Cupid's Chokehold."

A second album in 2006, "As Cruel As School Children," delivered more hit singles including "Clothes Off!" and was followed "The Quilt" in 2008, with its single "Cookie Jar."

Recent years have found the band writing personal songs and some with themes around heartbreak and the isolation of pop stardom. McCoy said that to draw inspiration, the band returned to "Papercut Chronicles" and looked at how far they had come.

"Papercut Chronicles II" is the product of their musical soul searching and includes a fusion of sounds including hip-hop, rock and pop on tracks like "Solo Discotheque (Whiskey Bitness)," "Lazarus, Ze Gitan" and the upbeat "Stereo Hearts."

"We had a sense of urgency in the past records. We were young kids searching for a sound," said McCoy. "We wanted to recreate not the album, but that sense of hunger."

McCoy said the album became a personal diary, to some extent, as he sings of past romances and fighting his demons.

"'Live Goes On' defines me best, because people don't see that this life is not all glitz and glamour. There's a darker side," said McCoy.

ADAM LEVINE, RYAN TEDDER

The new album also features several collaborations such as on the lighthearted love song, "Stereo Hearts," featuring Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine. It currently sites in the top 5 on the Billboard singles chart.

One Republic's Ryan Tedder, who received Grammy nominations for writing and producing songs like Beyonce's "Halo" and Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love," created the inspirational tune "The Fighter" in which Tedder sings and McCoy raps.

While Levine and Tedder are high-profile collaborators, McCoy also works with lesser known artists such as Danish singer Oh Land, who supplies vocals on "Life Goes On."

"It's great to find people who might not be getting a lot of recognition but just have a ton of talent," said McCoy, "There's a cool resurgence of 'out there' music like The Speakers. There are lots of artists I'm digging right now, like The Weekend and James Blake."

Despite the band's popularity and charting single "Stereo Hearts," the album has not been received so warmly by critics.

Rolling Stone's Judy Rosen cited "dull, rock-rap tunes with hooks that would've sounded dated a decade ago."

Entertainment Weekly's Kyle Anderson also criticized the album's "revved-up aggro crunch and laughable lyrical raging against the machine," but praised some tracks where the band "jettison their limp rap-rock instincts and plunge into crossover pop like the haunting 'Life Goes On'."

But McCoy is focused on his fans, and he believes they will accept the album as "another Gym Class Heroes record," with the band's trademark fusion of different music styles.

"What we listen to is so diverse so when it comes to our albums, they tend to reflect our tastes, and our fans like that," said the rapper.

(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

View the original article here

American Idol winner Ruben Studdard seeks divorce (AP)

COLUMBIANA, Ala. – American Idol winner Ruben Studdard is divorcing his wife of three years, saying they haven't lived together since last year.

Court records show Studdard filed a contested divorce last week in Shelby County, where he lives in suburban Birmingham. The complaint says he and Zuri Studdard split in October 2010, and she now lives in the Atlanta suburb of Smyrna, Ga.

The complaint cites a "complete incompatibility of temperament" for the divorce, and it asks a judge to enforce a prenuptial agreement that was signed before they wed in 2008.

Studdard was known as the "Velvet Teddy Bear" when he won the second season of American Idol in 2003. Studdard is playing host to a weekend-long event in Birmingham that begins Friday and includes a half-marathon Sunday.

View the original article here

MTV2 revives "Yo! MTV Raps" for one night only (Reuters)

NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) – For one night only, MTV2 is bringing back "Yo! MTV Raps!," the show that turned on a generation of MTV viewers to a mysterious new musical form called hip-hop.

The show, which originally aired from August 1988 through 1995, helped bring once little-known acts like Ice-T, N.W.A., A Tribe Called Quest and Public Enemy to households across America as hip-hop exploded in popularity. The return comes after the revival of such MTV shows as "Beavis and Butt-head" and "120 Minutes."

The show will return as a 30-minute retrospective called "Yo! MTV Raps Classic Cuts," and will on MTV2 immediately after the first-ever "Sucker Free Awards" on December 4.

The awards will air at 11 p.m., followed by the "Yo!" special at midnight. The special will feature the artists behind three hip-hop classics: A Tribe Called Quest's "Scenario," Geto Boys' "My Mind's Playing Tricks on Me," and Ice Cube's "It Was a Good Day." ("Good Day" just happens to mention "Yo! MTV Raps" by name.)

The special will feature former hosts Fab 5 Freddy, Ed Lover and Dr. Dre, and hip-hop stars from the past and present. They include A Tribe Called Quest's Q-Tip, Geto Boys' Scarface, and Ice Cube, in addition to well Wiz Khalifa, DJ Khaled, Questlove, Busta Rhymes, Mac Miller, Machine Gun Kelly, Young Jeezy, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Phife, Fat Joe, Common, Mike Epps, Ice T, Meek Mill, Tyga, and Naughty By Nature.

DJ Premier will remix the iconic "Yo! MTV Raps" theme song for the special.

"It's a great moment to be reconnected with Yo! and examine the music that had a role in introducing hip-hop to music lovers globally," Ed Lover said. "By looking back at these classic songs in hip-hop it becomes clear that hip-hop would inevitably transcend distance and generations."

"In this Classic Cuts special, people will go back to a seminal time in hip-hop which many have called the 'Golden Era' -- resulting in records that are as meaningful today as they were back then," said Fab 5 Freddy, the original host of the show. "In order to appreciate how far hip-hop has come, you have to pay respect to the songs and artists that helped catapult the genre from a small community of fans to world domination."

View the original article here

Rapper Mac Miller straight to No.1 in indie victory

By Piya Sinha-Roy

LOS ANGELES | Wed Nov 16, 2011 5:12pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Rapper Mac Miller became the first indie artist since 1995 to debut at the top of the Billboard Top 200 album charts on Wednesday, with his first album "Blue Slide Park."

Selling 144,000 copies in its first week according to Nielsen SoundScan, Miller's No. 1 debut beat out Michael Buble's "Christmas" album, which climbed to No. 2 on the chart from last week's No. 8 position.

Miller, 19, has quickly established a fan base of more than one million followers on Twitter and Facebook and recently appeared on the VH1 television series "Single Ladies."

Jon Garcia at AllHipHop.com praised Miller for the album's production, "and the fact that he doesn't do too much to mess up the groove." MTV's Rob Markman called the album a "homegrown compilation...from a youngster whose rap appeal stretches way beyond his native Pittsburgh borders."

The last time an independently distributed artist's debut album reached No. 1 was rap group Tha Dogg Pound's "Dogg Food" in 1995. Miller's album "Blue Slide Park" is a Rostrum Records release, independently distributed by INgrooves and Fontana Distribution.

"Rostrum and Mac are proof that a digitally-focused independent effort works in today's dynamic music marketplace, by engaging fans directly," Dave Zierler, executive vice president at INgrooves, said in a statement.

Miller and Buble are followed by the "Now 40" music compilation, entering the Billboard album chart at No. 3 this week, with "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1" soundtrack at No. 4, ahead of the film's release on Friday.

Adele's "21" holds steady at No. 5 after more than 35 weeks in the charts.

Justin Bieber's holiday album "Under The Mistletoe," which knocked Coldplay's "Mylo Xyloto" from the top position last week, fell to No. 6, while Susan Boyle's "Someone To Watch Over Me," fell to No. 7, edging out "Mylo Xyoloto" at No. 8.

On the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, Rihanna's "We Found Love" held onto the top spot, with LMFAO's "Sexy And I Know It" at No. 2.

Taylor Swift, who received the coveted entertainer of the year honor at last week's Country Music Awards, achieved two top ten debut singles this week, with "If This Was A Movie" at No. 3 and "Ours" at No. 5. A third single, "Superman," entered the chart at No. 13, after all three songs were released digitally for the first time last week.

(Editing by Jill Serjeant)

View the original article here

Early Beatles letter seeking drummer makes $55,000

LONDON | Wed Nov 16, 2011 8:25am EST

LONDON (Reuters) - A handwritten letter from Paul McCartney on August 12, 1960 inviting an unnamed drummer to audition for a place in the Beatles has sold at Christie's for 34,850 pounds ($55,000).

The document was discovered folded up in a book purchased at a car boot sale in Liverpool, birthplace of the Fab Four.

It had been expected to fetch 7-9,000 pounds at a rock and pop memorabilia sale at Christie's in London late on Tuesday.

Shortly after the letter was written, the newly formed Beatles travelled to Hamburg, Germany, to play a series of gigs as they set out on the road to superstardom.

According to online Beatles timelines, drummer Pete Best joined the Beatles on August 12. He was thrown out of the band two years later and replaced by Ringo Starr.

The auctioneer said the letter was one of the earliest examples of the band being referred to as the Beatles.

It was also important to pop historians because it suggested McCartney was seeking an alternative to Best until the last minute and knew more about the details of the Hamburg trip than previously thought.

The top lot of the sale, fetching 97,250 pounds, was a hand-written sign reading "BED PEACE" displayed during one of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's famous "bed-ins" for peace in 1969.

Overall the auction fetched around 480,000 pounds.

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)

View the original article here

Pockriss, writer of 'Itsy Bitsy' bikini song, dies (AP)

HARTFORD, Conn. – Paul Vance remembers calling his friend and fellow songwriter Lee Pockriss more than 50 years ago to share the lyrics of a song he had just written: "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini."

"Lee, I said, I have an idea," he recalled Friday. "He went crazy. By the time he got to my office he had 90 percent of the tune written."

The song, which was recorded by 16-year-old teen idol Brian Hyland, surged to No. 1 on the Billboard charts in August 1960 and has been pop culture staple ever since.

Pockriss, who wrote other hit songs for an eager, youthful post-World War II generation, died in Connecticut this week after a long illness. He was 87.

His wife, Sonja Pockriss, confirmed his death on Friday. She said he died at home in Bridgewater on Tuesday.

"Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" — about a shy young woman in a skimpy bathing suit — has been used in such movies as "Sister Act 2" and "Revenge of the Nerds II" and was more recently revived in a yogurt commercial.

Pockriss, who also worked in musical theater, co-wrote several songs with Vance, including "Catch a Falling Star" in 1957.

Vance, 82, said Pockriss did an excellent job on their collaborations.

"He was a very talented composer, a great composer, the opposite of me," he told The Associated Press on Friday. "He knew music inside out. I don't know one note of music."

Vance was erroneously reported as dead five years ago because of the death of an Ormond Beach, Fla., man who had falsely claimed to have written "Itsy Bitsy" under the name Paul Vance. The real Vance was able to prove that it was he, not Paul Van Valkenburgh, who had written the song.

Vance, who lives in Boca Raton, Fla., said Pockriss also worked in musical theater and wrote the music for the 1963 Broadway show "Tovarich," for which Vivien Leigh won the Tony Award for best actress in a musical.

Pockriss was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Jan. 20, 1924, his wife said.

He served as a cryptographer, writing in code to guide Army Air Force planes over the Pacific during World War II, she said. Pockriss studied musicology at New York University with the modernist composer Stefan Wolpe, she said.

Sonja Pockriss said her husband was versatile, broadening his formal education in music with an ability to improvise. That talent was in demand for live TV in the 1950s and `60s and helped him land gigs on top programs starring Jack Paar, Milton Berle and Martha Raye, she said.

"He ran from one studio to another," his wife said.

View the original article here

Judge dismisses case against Selena Gomez stalker

Actress and singer and host of the show Selena Gomez arrives on the red carpet at the MTV Europe Music Awards show in Belfast November 6, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Luke Macgregor

LOS ANGELES | Thu Nov 17, 2011 6:47pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A judge on Wednesday dismissed the case against an Illinois man who was accused of stalking actress and singer Selena Gomez earlier this year, a court official said.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Edmund Clarke Jr. ruled that Thomas Brodnicki, 46, "lacked specific intent" to cause Gomez fear, said District Attorney spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons.

She said prosecutors were now "evaluating our next step."

Brodnicki pleaded not guilty earlier this month to one felony charge alleging that he stalked the 19-year-old entertainer between July and October.

Another judge in the case earlier had granted a stay-away order against Brodnicki in October. Brodnicki allegedly told a psychiatrist he traveled to Los Angeles to see Gomez and had conversations with God about killing her, according to court documents.

Gomez is best known for her work on children's shows such as "Wizards of Waverly Place." She also is the girlfriend of teen singer Justin Bieber.

(Editing by Zorianna Kit)

View the original article here

Timely opera about student protest has US premiere (AP)

By MIKE SILVERMAN, For The Associated Press Mike Silverman, For The Associated Press – Thu Nov 17, 1:24 pm ET

NEW YORK – Just two nights after police broke up the Occupy Wall Street encampment in lower Manhattan, a new opera about student protest movements around the world had its U.S. premiere uptown at Lincoln Center.

And as if to underscore the connection, the performance at the Juilliard School on Wednesday drew a small group of demonstrators who stood behind police barricades holding signs and chanting "Off the stage, into the streets!"

The opera is "Kommilitonen!" with music by the British composer Peter Maxwell Davies and libretto by David Pountney, who also directed. In a program note, Pountney said they took student activism as their subject because, when they set to work back in 2008, it seemed the phenomenon had vanished.

Well, the world has certainly changed — even since the opera was first performed last March by the Royal Academy of Music in London, which co-commissioned it.

Headlines aside, "Kommilitonen!" is an earnest and engaging creation, an agitprop pageant that proves surprisingly entertaining. Moreover, the Juilliard Opera singers and orchestra, led by conductor Anne Manson, performed it with an enthusiasm and polish that had the 77-year-old composer beaming when he came out for his curtain call.

Pountney has woven together three separate stories, beginning with the White Rose movement, in which a small group of German students risked their lives to distribute propaganda protesting Nazi atrocities. The opera's name comes from a term they used in their final leaflet (shortly before they were captured and guillotined), which roughly translates as "Fellow students!"

The second story tells of James Meredith's crusade to become the first black student to register at the University of Mississippi in 1962 — an individual act of courage that helped galvanize years of civil rights struggle.

The third story, a counterpoint to show the excesses of youthful zeal, is set during China's Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and depicts the children of a local official who denounce their parents as politically impure.

The narratives unfold in alternating fashion throughout the first act in brief, brisk scenes. The second half begins on a somber, philosophical note with a resulting drop in energy, until the stories merge and the whole ensemble joins in a stirring anthem to end on an optimistic note.

Davies' lifetime of experience writing large-scale compositions shows in his expert use of the orchestra. The rhythmically varied, basically tonal score is filled with snatches of melody that hint at Chinese marches, American spirituals and German lieder — tunes that often melt into one another. In a compelling moment during the interrogation of the Chinese parents, a relentlessly upbeat chorus for the Red Guard plays against a string lament for the hapless victims.

Among the standouts in the young cast, baritone Will Liverman showed terrific presence and a solid voice as James Meredith, the most fully developed character; soprano Deanna Breiwick sang sweetly as Sophie Scholl, leader of the White Rose; and mezzo-soprano Wallis Giunta made the plight of the Chinese son painfully sympathetic.

There are two more performances this Friday evening and Sunday afternoon.

View the original article here

Drake is one lonesome Hip-Hop lothario in "Take Care" (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Drake certainly didn't invent hip-hop solipsism. But the genre's newest superstar proves more intriguingly introspective than most on "Take Care," a solid sophomore effort that's destined to have hundreds of thousands of eager buyers also gazing into his navel this week.

The singer-rapper establishes his twin themes pretty effectively in his first two lines: "I think I killed everybody in the game last year, man, f--- it, I was on, though/And I thought I found the girl of my dreams at the strip club, mm-mm, I was wrong, though."

That's right: Money (and a debut album that sold almost a half-million copies in its first week last year) can't buy love. Lapdances, yes. Breaking news alert, right?

Generally speaking, it's best for artists who are into at least, say, the third or fourth year of their recording careers to write albums about how it's lonely at the top. And "Take Care" has its moments of predictably woe-is-fame, boo-hoo bravado.

But the strangely tender album title is a tip-off that Drake is willing to delve further into vulnerability than just about any of his contemporaries.

And not for the sake of being a ladies' man -- though that certainly seems to be a side effect -- but because he seems to be a legitimately candid late-night diarist. The closest comparison might be something like Kanye West's confessional "808s & Heartbreak," without that album's stultifying AutoTune, off-the-scale paranoia, or deficit of musical variety.

You do have to wade through some token introductory braggadocio to get to the good stuff.

"Shout-out to all my living tax-free/Nowadays it's six figures when they tax me," he announces in the opening cut, sparing us any details on how insta-millionaire playas feel about the 9-9-9 plan.

Once we've established that he is already a man of wealth (and taste; check out his references to Napa Valley restaurants), things get more interesting, as Drake details the differences between love and sex, only one of which he appears to have had a lot of during the past year.

The best track, "Marvin's Room," stands as the best drunk-dialing anthem since Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now," albeit a far more epic one. "I've had sex four times this week -- I'll explain," he tells the ex he's still in love with after getting home from the club. "Having a hard time adjusting to fame ..." Tell her about it.

The song gets stranger and woozier as it goes along, finally melting into a bizarro coda in which he uses an electronic filter to croon some truly deathless verses to The One That Got Away: "If you was in a pine box ... I'd just jump right in and fall asleep, because you are the death of me." What gal wouldn't swoon, hearing that on her voicemail in the morning?

Beneath all the B-words and N-words lurks the heart of a true romantic, which is why Drake has such unusual female-demo appeal (well, it's part of it).

The fact that he only seems to want to reveal his hopes and wounds under drunken duress helps keep the guys on board in a way they wouldn't with one of urban music's more uncloaked lotharios.

At times, "Take Care" comes close to being a concept album about workaholism.

"Headlines," the album's first single, is actually about deadlines.

"Money over everything, money on my mind/Then she wanna ask when it got so empty," he sings. "Tell her I apologize -- If they don't get it, they'll be over you/That new s--- that you got is overdue." When the girl in question can't wait around for him to finish his album, Drake laments: "I guess it really is me, myself, and all my millions."

Guest stars abound, of course, including Rihanna (on the subdued title track, as mellow a hip-hop single as you'll hear), Nicki Minaj (not so subdued on "Make Me Proud," Drake's ode to womanhood, just in case all those B-words had you thinking otherwise), Rick Ross, and, inevitably, Lil Wayne.

It's late in the game that Andre3000 steals the show with the oddest and funniest cameo. The OutKast co-frontman raps quietly about friends "that are married that don't want to go home/But we look up to them, they wish they were us/They want some new trim, we lust for some trust."

Soon he's talking about "sitting here sad as hell, listening to Adele," letting you picture him weeping, just like all those "Someone Like You"-loving office workers in last weekend's "SNL" sketch.

But, lest you think he's a softie, Andre300's parting words are: "Please be careful, b es got the rabies."

If that kind of sexual conflictedness doesn't square with your brand of feminism, "Take Care" may not be for you.

But its bracing honesty on both ends of the scale may win some fans from the ranks of music lovers who don't go for hip-hop's more rank misogynists -- in tandem with the fact that Drake is one of the few singer-rappers around who doesn't make you wince when he's fulfilling either role.

His ride at the top could be short, but if he keeps up this deft a balance, you'd hate to bet against Drake someday graduating to making albums about how lonesome it is being a billionaire.

View the original article here

Judge dismisses case against Selena Gomez stalker (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A judge on Wednesday dismissed the case against an Illinois man who was accused of stalking actress and singer Selena Gomez earlier this year, a court official said.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Edmund Clarke Jr. ruled that Thomas Brodnicki, 46, "lacked specific intent" to cause Gomez fear, said District Attorney spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons.

She said prosecutors were now "evaluating our next step."

Brodnicki pleaded not guilty earlier this month to one felony charge alleging that he stalked the 19-year-old entertainer between July and October.

Another judge in the case earlier had granted a stay-away order against Brodnicki in October. Brodnicki allegedly told a psychiatrist he traveled to Los Angeles to see Gomez and had conversations with God about killing her, according to court documents.

Gomez is best known for her work on children's shows such as "Wizards of Waverly Place." She also is the girlfriend of teen singer Justin Bieber.

(Editing by Zorianna Kit)

View the original article here

Al Jarreau to perform in New Orleans for benefit (AP)

NEW ORLEANS – Grammy-winning jazz singer Al Jarreau will perform in New Orleans at a concert benefiting Xavier University, one of the nation's only historically black and Roman Catholic colleges.

This will be the fourth year a concert has been held for the Dr. Norman C. Francis Endowed Scholarship Fund, a program named after the university's president. The fund allows deserving students to earn a college degree regardless of their finances.

The concert is scheduled for Friday night. The first such concert was held three years ago to commemorate Francis' 40th anniversary as Xavier's president.

Besides Jarreau — who has won Grammy awards in jazz, pop and R&B — New Orleans native and 1980 Xavier graduate John Boutte is also scheduled to perform.

View the original article here

Official says Wagner not a suspect in Wood death (AP)

By ANTHONY McCARTNEY, AP Entertainment Writer Anthony Mccartney, Ap Entertainment Writer – Fri Nov 18, 11:41 pm ET

LOS ANGELES – Actor Robert Wagner is not a suspect in the 30-year-old drowning of his actress wife, Natalie Wood, and there is nothing to indicate a crime, even though the investigation has been re-opened, a sheriff's detective said Friday.

"Her death was an accident, an accidental drowning," said Sheriff's Lt. John Corina.

Officials would not say why they were taking another look at the case, although the captain of the boat where the couple had stayed blamed Wagner for Wood's death.

Natalie Wood's sister, Lana Wood, told CNN's Piers Morgan in an interview Friday that she doesn't believe her sister fell off the boat.

Lana Wood told Morgan that she has spoken several times with the boat's captain Dennis Davern and he has told her that Wagner was involved in her plunge into the sea on Nov. 29, 1981. But Lana Wood said she does not believe that whatever happened was deliberate.

"I don't think she fell, I don't know if she was pushed, I don't know whether there was an altercation and it happened accidentally but she shouldn't have died and that does stay with me and hurt," Lana Wood said.

"I would prefer to always believe that RJ (Wagner) would never do anything to hurt Natalie and that he loved her dearly, which he did, and I don't believe that whatever went on was deliberate. I've always cared about him. I always will care about him," she said.

Lana Wood wrote in a biography on her sister after her death, "What happened is that Natalie drank too much that night."

There have always been questions about Wood's death on Nov. 29, 1981, with renewed attention on the case as the anniversary neared. The case's re-opening and a public call for information are the first hint that the official account may need revision.

Within hours of the announcement, Corina said, several people emerged offering their recollections of what happened in the waters off Southern California's Santa Catalina Island.

But he quickly noted that nothing the agency has received so far has prompted it to change the view that there was no foul play.

Davern, said Friday on NBC's "Today" show that he lied to investigators about events on the yacht Splendour when he was interviewed after Wood's death.

Davern accused Wagner of having a fight with Wood before she went missing and delaying the search for her after she disappeared.

Wagner's family released a statement through a spokesman that said they trusted detectives to evaluate any new information and determine whether it came from "a credible source or sources other than those simply trying to profit from the 30-year anniversary of her tragic death."

It did not mention Davern by name, and noted that detectives hadn't contacted Wagner or his family.

On the show, Davern mentioned a book he co-wrote last year on Wood's death, but refused to say precisely why he blamed Wagner for the three-time Oscar nominee's death. Davern also denied that he was seeking to profit from interest in the case.

Vanity Fair and the television program "48 Hours Mystery" have teamed up and are including Wood's case for a television special airing this weekend.

Corina said his agency would talk to Davern at some point and other witnesses would likely be interviewed. He downplayed the role Davern's book or the anniversary would play on the investigation.

"We're not concerned with the anniversary date," Corina said. "It may have jarred some other people's memories."

Wood, who was 43 when she died, received three Academy Award nominations, for "Rebel Without a Cause," "Splendor in the Grass" and "Love with the Proper Stranger." She appeared in numerous other Hollywood classics, including "West Side Story."

Wood and Wagner were married twice, first in 1957 before divorcing six years later. They remarried in 1972. Her death during the Thanksgiving weekend in 1981 has long sparked tabloid speculation that foul play was involved.

Wood, Wagner and actor Christopher Walken and Davern spent time on Thanksgiving weekend 1981 both on Catalina Island and drinking on the yacht.

Wagner has dismissed any suggestion that the actress' death was anything more than an accident. In a 2008 autobiography, he recounted drinking with Wood and Walken at a restaurant and on the boat.

Wood went to the master cabin during an argument between the two men, Wagner said. The last time Wagner saw his wife, she was fixing her hair at a bathroom vanity and she shut the door, he wrote.

Despite various theories about what led Wood to the water, which she feared, he said, it was impossible to know what happened.

"Nobody knows," he wrote. "There are only two possibilities; either she was trying to get away from the argument, or she was trying to tie the dinghy. But the bottom line is that nobody knows exactly what happened."

Coroner's officials said at the time that she was "possibly attempting to board the dinghy and had fallen into the water, striking her face."

Wood was found wearing a flannel nightgown, socks and a red down jacket, and Davern identified her body for authorities, according to an autopsy report. Her body had superficial bruises, according to the report, but those were considered consistent with drowning.

Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said the agency hadn't been asked to do any additional investigation into Wood's case.

Wagner, star of the television series "Hart to Hart," wrote in his book that he blamed himself for his wife's death.

"Did I blame myself? If I had been there, I could have done something," he wrote. "But I wasn't there. I didn't see her."

___

Associated Press writer Alicia Rancilio contributed to this report.

View the original article here

Google launches music service

1 of 10. Jamie Rosenberg, director of Digital Content (Android) at Google, speaks at the launch of Google Music in Los Angeles November 16, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Mario Anzuoni

By Lisa Richwine and Alexei Oreskovic

LOS ANGELES | Thu Nov 17, 2011 7:09pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Google Inc has turned on the music at its new online store, aiming to wrest the lead from Apple Inc and Amazon.com Inc in audio entertainment distribution despite the absence of a major record label.

Google Music, with more 13 million songs, will be integrated with Android Market, the company's online store for smartphone apps and videos as it plays catch-up with its rivals. Apple, Amazon and Facebook have to varying degrees integrated music into their core online and mobile products.

Google Music will allow the Web search leader to do the same by letting consumers access music from various Internet-connected devices and easily share tracks with friends.

But analysts said the lack of soundtracks from Warner Music - a major label whose artists include Led Zeppelin and Prince, among others - will limit the appeal of Google Music.

"They've got to get that catalog filled pretty quickly," said Mike McGuire, an analyst at industry research firm Gartner. "It's a launch, but it's kind of like a work-in-progress."

Google Music was unveiled at a splashy event at the Mr. Brainwash Studios in Hollywood, California on Wednesday.

Google has negotiated U.S. deals with three of the four major music companies: Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group; Sony Corp's Sony Music Entertainment; and EMI. It has also signed deals with the increasingly influential independent label group Merlin and London-based Beggar's Banquet label group, home to the year's biggest selling artist, Adele.

Analysts say selling online music is unlikely to provide much of a lift to Google's revenue. But they say Google needs to be in the market to ensure that its Android-based mobile efforts can match offerings from competitors.

Android is the world's No. 1 smartphone operating system, powering about 200 million devices worldwide. But without a music service, Android-based smartphones and tablets may not be as attractive to consumers seeking a product that offers a seamless media experience.

And with music storage increasingly moving to remote Internet servers in "the cloud" rather than on the device itself, companies like Google and Apple have a way to keep users locked in to their respective mobile services, said BGC Partners analyst Colin Gillis.

"Everyone is using music and media as a jail. Ultimately, this stuff is going to be stored in the cloud and it becomes harder and harder to switch systems," he said.

To help jump-start the new music store, Google said it will offer one free song for consumers to download every day.

Google will also allow consumers to share purchased songs with friends on the Google+ social network. The feature will give users of Google+ a "free, full-play" of songs purchased by their friends.

"Recommendations from friends are the single most important way that people discover music and we think that this feature has the potential to really transform purchasing behavior," said Zahavah Levine, Google's director of content partnerships for Android, at Wednesday's event.

Music executives said that even though sales have struggled in recent years, music usage has never been more popular on different types of formats like social networks and mobile devices.

Facebook, the world's largest social network, unveiled a tab in September through which music services like Spotify, Rdio and MOG enable Facebook users to share music. Amazon has also long been a major music retailer and has a music locker service

Earlier this year, Google unveiled the Google Music beta, which allowed users to upload their music to Google servers, and access the music from multiple devices.

Shares of Google, which finished Wednesday's regular session at $611.47, were up 72 cents in after-hours trading.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine in Los Angeles, Yinka Adegoke in New York and Alexei Oreskovic in San Francisco; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Bernard Orr and Richard Chang)

View the original article here

MTV2 revives "Yo! MTV Raps" for one night only

By Tim Molloy

Thu Nov 17, 2011 1:45pm EST

NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) - For one night only, MTV2 is bringing back "Yo! MTV Raps!," the show that turned on a generation of MTV viewers to a mysterious new musical form called hip-hop.

The show, which originally aired from August 1988 through 1995, helped bring once little-known acts like Ice-T, N.W.A., A Tribe Called Quest and Public Enemy to households across America as hip-hop exploded in popularity. The return comes after the revival of such MTV shows as "Beavis and Butt-head" and "120 Minutes."

The show will return as a 30-minute retrospective called "Yo! MTV Raps Classic Cuts," and will on MTV2 immediately after the first-ever "Sucker Free Awards" on December 4.

The awards will air at 11 p.m., followed by the "Yo!" special at midnight. The special will feature the artists behind three hip-hop classics: A Tribe Called Quest's "Scenario," Geto Boys' "My Mind's Playing Tricks on Me," and Ice Cube's "It Was a Good Day." ("Good Day" just happens to mention "Yo! MTV Raps" by name.)

The special will feature former hosts Fab 5 Freddy, Ed Lover and Dr. Dre, and hip-hop stars from the past and present. They include A Tribe Called Quest's Q-Tip, Geto Boys' Scarface, and Ice Cube, in addition to well Wiz Khalifa, DJ Khaled, Questlove, Busta Rhymes, Mac Miller, Machine Gun Kelly, Young Jeezy, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Phife, Fat Joe, Common, Mike Epps, Ice T, Meek Mill, Tyga, and Naughty By Nature.

DJ Premier will remix the iconic "Yo! MTV Raps" theme song for the special.

"It's a great moment to be reconnected with Yo! and examine the music that had a role in introducing hip-hop to music lovers globally," Ed Lover said. "By looking back at these classic songs in hip-hop it becomes clear that hip-hop would inevitably transcend distance and generations."

"In this Classic Cuts special, people will go back to a seminal time in hip-hop which many have called the 'Golden Era' -- resulting in records that are as meaningful today as they were back then," said Fab 5 Freddy, the original host of the show. "In order to appreciate how far hip-hop has come, you have to pay respect to the songs and artists that helped catapult the genre from a small community of fans to world domination."

View the original article here

Early Beatles letter seeking drummer makes $55,000 (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) – A handwritten letter from Paul McCartney on August 12, 1960 inviting an unnamed drummer to audition for a place in the Beatles has sold at Christie's for 34,850 pounds ($55,000).

The document was discovered folded up in a book purchased at a car boot sale in Liverpool, birthplace of the Fab Four.

It had been expected to fetch 7-9,000 pounds at a rock and pop memorabilia sale at Christie's in London late on Tuesday.

Shortly after the letter was written, the newly formed Beatles travelled to Hamburg, Germany, to play a series of gigs as they set out on the road to superstardom.

According to online Beatles timelines, drummer Pete Best joined the Beatles on August 12. He was thrown out of the band two years later and replaced by Ringo Starr.

The auctioneer said the letter was one of the earliest examples of the band being referred to as the Beatles.

It was also important to pop historians because it suggested McCartney was seeking an alternative to Best until the last minute and knew more about the details of the Hamburg trip than previously thought.

The top lot of the sale, fetching 97,250 pounds, was a hand-written sign reading "BED PEACE" displayed during one of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's famous "bed-ins" for peace in 1969.

Overall the auction fetched around 480,000 pounds.

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)

View the original article here

Seizures delay Rick Ross album release

Rick Ross performs ''I'm On One'' at the 2011 BET Awards in Los Angeles, June 26, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Mario Anzuoni

By Lucas Shaw

Thu Nov 17, 2011 9:01pm EST

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Island Def Jam has pushed back the release of Rick Ross' upcoming album, "God Forgives, I Don't" due in part to the rapper's recent seizures, according to Billboard.

The album was due to come out December 13, but an Island Def Jam rep told Billboard it will now street in the first or second quarter of 2012.

Ross suffered a pair of seizures in mid-October, the first one coming on a flight to Memphis that ended in an emergency landing. Ross tried to make the flight again later in the day, only to suffer another seizure.

That led to a few canceled appearances and missed opportunities while Ross looked after his well-being.

Ross has already released a single, "You the Boss," featuring Nicki Minaj.

View the original article here

Mathew Knowles is back with new girl group (AP)

NEW YORK – Mathew Knowles says there's a lack of girl groups in the music industry today, so it's the right time to launch his latest project: a reality show on MTV that follows the development of the group From Above.

"Breaking From Above" premieres internationally this month and in December, and Knowles says it may be shown in the United States next spring.

"Most reality shows are about putting together groups, this is the opposite," he said in a recent interview. On the MTV show, he added two more women, for a total of seven competing for a spot in the British pop quintet. It airs over MTV affiliates in 160 countries, including the United Kingdom, Spain and Italy.

He says the group could be trimmed to a quartet or a trio.

The days of girl groups dominating the music scene are long gone. Knowles says it's a result of band mates not understanding the roles they play.

"If I'm the lead singer, I've got to know that, accept that, and all the members have got to accept it," he said. "Everybody's role has to be established at day one."

Knowles was the manager of Destiny's Child, which included his daughter Beyonce Knowles, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams. Originally a quartet, the trio stopped performing in 2005.

Destiny's Child won two Grammys, had multiple No. 1 hits and multiple multiplatinum albums. Knowles also managed the group members' solo efforts and oversaw most of Beyonce's solo career until they split professionally in March.

Knowles says before Destiny's Child signed a record deal in 1997, they had performed about 1,000 shows.

"When you look at reality shows, (the success) comes overnight, and it goes away overnight because there was never artist development," he said. "(With my new group) there's something here, but true success in this industry is about a six-year process."

His company, Music World Entertainment, offers boot camp training for artists who are looking to improve their skills. He had the members of Destiny's Child jogging and singing at the same time — to build their stamina — when they were 10 years old.

From Above will release their debut single, "Not the Same Girl," on Nov. 29. Their album, "Breaking From Above," will come out digitally Dec. 12.

"The initial launch is based on TV, and we've all learned the power in TV in selling music today," he said.

Knowles said he's been affiliated with seven girl groups, including the platinum-selling Trin-i-tee 5:7. Like Destiny's Child, the gospel duo has been downsized over the years.

"I guess I kind of have been known as the guy that shakes up girl groups," Knowles said with a laugh.

____

Online:

http://musicworldent.com/artists/fromabove

____

Mesfin Fekadu covers entertainment for The Associated Press. Follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/musicmesfin

View the original article here

Singer Adele "on the mend" after throat surgery (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) – British singer Adele said she was "on the mend" after undergoing microsurgery in Boston to treat a benign polyp on her vocal cords.

The problems forced Adele, whose album "21" is the top seller in the United States and Britain this year, to cancel a string of appearances at concerts and awards ceremonies in recent weeks.

"I'm doing really well, on the mend, super happy, relaxed and very positive with it all," the 23-year-old said in a blog posting on her website.

"The operation was a success and I'm just chilling out now until I get the all clear from my doctors ... I best get back to practicing (sic) my mime show now."

Adele, who leads the field with four nominations at the American Music Awards to be held in Los Angeles on November 20, recently dismissed speculation in the media that she had throat cancer.

View the original article here