07:22 PM EDT 07/02/2009
Music News
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Ne-Yo Is Prepped for New Orleans Concert – And the Gumbo
Originally posted 07/02/2009 07:10AM
After spending the last four months in Prague where he was shooting the upcoming Tuskegee Airmen drama Red Tails alongside actors Terrence Howard and Cuba Gooding Jr., singer-songwriter Ne-Yo is ready to let loose and head down South.
Hitting the stage at the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans on Friday, Ne-Yo tells PEOPLE he's been prepping his moves. "I'm a little rusty right now; I can admit that! ... But it will not show by the time ya'll see me at Essence! Don't worry!" he assures his fans. Also on the Essence bill: Beyoncé, John Legend and Maxwell.
The star, who recently started rehearsals for his month-long European tour, added: "I've been off the radar while I was shooting [the film], but I'm getting my tour legs back. Performing music is in my blood. It's not like I’ll ever forget how to do it, but anything that you stop doing for a long enough period of time, you get a little rusty."
Permalink | Filed Under: Music News, Beyonce Knowles, Ne-Yo
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Michael Jackson Was Set To Wow Fans, Says Photographer
Originally posted 06/30/2009 03:15PM
The man who took the last shots of Michael Jackson rehearsing for his shows in London says there is no doubt the fit-looking singer was set to dazzle his fans.
"My first impression when I saw him hit that stage was it was the same old Michael I've photographed over the years," longtime rock photographer Kevin Mazur tells PEOPLE. "I was so thrilled to see him so happy, and so energetic and into it."
But two days after Mazur took the rehearsal shots at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, his subject was dead – an event that stunned the world and the man who had only just witnessed him dancing and leaping from a stage.
Permalink | Filed Under: Music News, Michael Jackson
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PHOTOS: Michael Jackson's Last Concert Rehearsal
Originally posted 06/29/2009 04:10PM
Photos from Michael Jackson's last performance, taken just two days before his death, have surfaced and show the King of Pop rehearsing for his upcoming London tour.
Jackson, dressed in several stage outfits and showing off his dance moves with backup dancers, was photographed at a rehearsal inside L.A.'s Staples Center on June 23 where "he had great energy," according to producer Ken Ehrlich, an executive at AEG, the company that was promoting the singer's tour.
Ehrlich, who watched the performance and met with Jackson, tells PEOPLE, "He was definitely in rehearsal mode [and] wasn't giving it full out. But vocally, he had started to really project. I thought he was in great form. He just seemed really healthy. He really looked good and he was very upbeat."
Permalink | Filed Under: Music News, Michael Jackson
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Lenny Kravitz: A 'Trip' to See Daughter Become a Rocker
Originally posted 06/28/2009 07:50AM
Twenty years ago Lenny Kravitz released his first big international hit, Let Love Rule. Around the same time, his daughter Zoë came into the world. Now she's following her famous dad into the world of rock 'n' roll with her band Elevator Fight.
"She's loving doing this music," Lenny Kravitz tells PEOPLE while promoting his latest tour to mark the 20th anniversary re-release of the record in London. "It's a trip to watch."
In terms of advice about the rock world, dad keeps it to himself. "I have nothing to do with it, which is brilliant," he says. "She is just doing her thing, and it's really good. And everyone's chasing them to sign them."
Permalink | Filed Under: Music News, Lenny Kravitz, Zoe Kravitz
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Five Things to Know About Singer Caitlin Crosby
Originally posted 06/24/2009 04:10PM
Strumming her guitar since she was a pre-teenager, singer Caitlin Crosby, 26, released her first pop-folk CD, Flawz, this week. Delivering sweet, raspy tunes about love, confidence and growing up in Hollywood, the petite blonde says she's really just a "big dork at heart."
Here are five other things to know about her:
She's dating Chuck actor Zachary Levi: "We met at church a few years ago," Crosby says. "He's so sweet and supportive. He's been to a million of my random ghetto club shows, and he bought me my amazing dream red Gibson guitar for my birthday." Crosby also reveals that her man is an amazing singer. "Zack came up and sang with me at a bar. We went back and forth on the bridge and did harmonies. It was really fun."
Permalink | Filed Under: Music News
Mel Gibson's Girlfriend Oksana Debuts New Video
Originally posted 06/22/2009 01:30PM
Oksana Grigorieva recently debuted her first single, and now the Russian-born singer and pianist (who is pregnant with boyfriend Mel Gibson's child) has released a video for her song "Say My Name."
The black-and-white video focuses on the Russian beauty, who is a classically trained pianist, as she belts out the slow, heartfelt tune.
"It is the first and one of the simplest songs on the album, but also one of the most intimate," says Grigorieva, whose forthcoming album is called Beautiful Heartache.
Grigorieva, 39, penned every song on the album except for "Say My Name," for which she collaborated on the lyrics with Gibson himself.
For more of Grigorieva's songs, visit Oksana.fm.
Permalink | Filed Under: Music NewsMel Gibson
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Susan Boyle Wows the Crowd at London Shows
Originally posted 06/22/2009 07:05AM
Susan Boyle was back before the footlights with the Britain's Got Talent roadshow Sunday, after missing a series of concerts.
The singer, 48, rested rather than performed around the U.K. late last week and into the weekend, but London fans received the full Boyle treatment at two shows at Wembley Arena Sunday. Audiences rewarded her with standing ovations after her signature pieces, "I Dreamed a Dream" and "Memory." "She did really well," her rep says.
Permalink | Filed Under: Music NewsSusan Boyle
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INSIDE STORY: What Lady Gaga Is Really Like
Originally posted 06/19/2009 09:45AM
In her latest music video for the single "Paparazzi," Lady Gaga plays, well, Lady Gaga: a star who shutterbugs love to follow.
So what's life like behind the cameras?
According to Kerry Rhodes, a safety for the New York Jets, who plays a policeman in the video, life pretty much imitates art. While he describes Gaga as "reserved," "focused" and "cool," he admits that the scene around her can be pretty crazy.
"The shoot was ridiculous!" he tells PEOPLE. "Everywhere you turned there was a dead body – not real! – a really big horse-looking dog, and a half-naked model, which was cool."
Permalink | Filed Under: Music NewsLady Gaga
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Susan Boyle Cancels Another Concert
Originally posted 06/19/2009 07:45AM
Susan Boyle canceled her Thursday performance in Liverpool – the second time she has missed a show on the current Britain's Got Talent tour, after she failed to appear on stage last weekend in Manchester.
"She had a rest day," says her rep of this latest cancellation, while a source adds that, contrary to some reports, Boyle was not pining for her cat at home. "She certainly wasn't shouting out for Pebbles," says her rep.
Permalink | Filed Under: Music NewsSusan Boyle
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Miley's Sister Brandi Cyrus Hits the Stage
Originally posted 06/18/2009 08:30AM
Move over Miley: There's a new Cyrus in the spotlight.
The Hannah Montana star's older sister, Brandi Cyrus, recently performed with her band Frank and Derol, which includes lead singer Codi Caraco and Secret Life of the American Teenager star Megan Park, who plays bass and sings. The trio made their big stage debut opening for another Cyrus of note – Brandi's dad Billy Ray – at Los Angeles's House of Blues on Sunday.
Not that this was a first gig for Brandi, 22. She's been a guitarist for Miley on tour and on Hannah Montana.
"I was really excited because the House of Blues is such a cool venue and we have been working so hard, rehearsing every day," says Park. "Honestly, I just couldn't wait to get up and do it again!"
Permalink | Filed Under: Music NewsMiley Cyrus
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