11:00 AM EDT 04/25/2013
LL Cool J
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LL Cool J Wanted to 'Shake Things Up' with 'Accidental Racist'
Originally posted 04/09/2013 04:25PM
LL Cool J is glad you're talking about his controversial duet, "Accidental Racist," with Brad Paisley.
That means he's doing his job.
"Music is about ... connecting different people, and building bridges and breaking the rules," the rapper tells CNN. "If it's not compelling, and it's not complex and it's not interesting, then what are we doing it for? So I think that's the right move."
"I needed to do something that was going to be interesting like that, and shake things up, and jump out of the box," he said. "I'm really proud of it, and I hope the world hears it and enjoys it."
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Brad Paisley Defends Controversial 'Accidental Racist' Duet with LL Cool J
Originally posted 04/09/2013 08:15AM
If the song was intended to get people talking, it's been a staggering success.
But Brad Paisley's "Accidental Racist," a duet with LL Cool J on his new album Wheelhouse, out Tuesday, is also hugely controversial.
Styled as a conversation between a white Southerner and a black New Yorker, the song features the two singers having a charged debate about race – and features Paisley's character walking into a coffee shop wearing a shirt with a Confederate flag on it.
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Katy Perry: Grammy Dress Code Violator?
Originally posted 02/10/2013 09:15PM
A dress code at the Grammy Awards seems as likely to be enforced as a profanity ban for Quentin Tarantino movies. Still, the stars were ordered to cover up this year.
So, did they?
Jennifer Lopez and Kelly Rowland may have crossed a line with their outfits – Lopez in an Anthony Vaccarello dress with a high thigh slit, and Rowland in a Georges Chakra outfit that showed lots of skin.
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Taylor Swift, Rihanna and fun. Will Perform at Grammy Awards
Originally posted 01/09/2013 11:25AM
Taylor Swift, Mumford & Sons, the Black Keys, Rihanna and fun. are among the first acts announced for the 55th annual Grammy Awards next month.
All are nominees and will join rapper-actor host LL Cool J to kick off the show, which will be broadcast live on CBS on Feb. 10 at 8 p.m. from the Los Angeles STAPLES Center.
Six artists (including fun. and Mumford & Sons) have been nominated this year for six Grammys each. The Black Keys have five nominations while Rihanna and Swift have three each.
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NCIS: L.A. Actors' Mothers Guest Star on the Hit
Originally posted 09/28/2012 05:50PM
Without question, the Oct. 9 episode of NCIS: L.A. is the mother of all mysteries.
While the team tracks down a suspect in a casino, four women – portrayed by the lead actors' real-life mothers – are playing poker.
When executive producer Shane Brennan e-mailed the CBS drama’s stars with the idea, "I thought it was a joke," Chris O’Donnell says. "When I found out he was serious, I was excited to call my mom. I knew this would be the biggest deal for her."
It was a thrill for the actors as well. "It was fun getting to work and seeing her in hair and makeup," Eric Christian Olsen says of having his mother, Jeanne, on-set.
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Lea Michele, LL Cool J, Kevin Bacon & Others Stand Up to Cancer
Originally posted 08/30/2012 08:30AM
Hollywood is standing up to cancer.
On Friday, Sept. 7, Gwyneth Paltrow, Julia Roberts, Matt Damon, Michael Douglas, Jessica Biel, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Renner, Seth Rogen and Emma Stone will join even more stars from film, TV and sports to Stand Up to Cancer for a televised fundraising special.
Check out the exclusive clip of stars from Neil Patrick Harris to Jane Lynch promoting the event, which aims to raise funds and build public support for groundbreaking research in the fight against the disease.
Taylor Swift, Coldplay, Alicia Keys and Tim McGraw will also perform.
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LL Cool J Takes Down Intruder in His L.A. Home
Originally posted 08/22/2012 01:20PM
Mama said knock you out!
LL Cool J – whose real name is James Todd Smith – took down an intruder who broke into his Los Angeles home early Wednesday morning, KABC reports.
While sleeping upstairs, the NCIS: Los Angeles star heard suspicious noises downstairs around 2 a.m. Upon going down to investigate, the 44-year-old rapper-actor discovered his home had been broken into by an intruder.
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PEOPLE Critic Reviews Emotional Highs and Lows of Grammy Telecast
Originally posted 02/13/2012 04:00PM
The Grammys would have been (and were) a showcase for the glory that is Adele, but Whitney Houston's death 24 hours before the event turned the CBS special into a night of mourning and celebration cresting on big, pure emotions. That's what brought in an estimated 39 million viewers, the highest number for the broadcast since 1984 and the second highest ever.
LL Cool J, who handled the hosting duties without any perceptible wrinkling in his uncanny smoothness, opened with a simple prayer for Houston, "a woman who we loved … our fallen sister." This set up a clip of the six-time Grammy winner belting her signature hit "I Will Always Love You."
Grammy Awards Pay Tribute to Whitney Houston, Etta James
Originally posted 02/13/2012 02:30PM
On a night intended to pay homage to the biggest names in music today, two of the Grammy
Awards's biggest honorees were the megastars no longer in the room: Etta James and Whitney Houston.
After host LL Cool J opened Sunday's ceremony with a prayer for Houston, announcing "a death in our family," the audience rose in a standing ovation.
"When a truly great artist leaves us, their legacy lives on," Alicia Keys later told the stars gathered at Los Angeles's Staples Center, before joining Bonnie Raitt in a graceful cover of James's "A Sunday Kind of Love."
But the most moving tribute came from Jennifer Hudson, whose elegant but understated rendition of Houston's "I Will Always Love You" brought audience members to their feet once again.
Jennifer Hudson, LL Cool J Honor Whitney Houston at Grammy Awards
Originally posted 02/12/2012 08:25PM
It was a fitting way to honor the memory of Whitney Houston.
On a darkened stage – where Houston had performed on many times before – in front of an audience of artists who call her an unforgettable influence, on music's biggest night, the late R&B superstar was remembered with one of her most memorable hits, sung by Jennifer Hudson.
Hudson's poised, powerful and understated reading of the song brought audience members gathered at Los Angeles's Staples Center for Sunday's 54th Annual Grammy Awards to their feet Sunday night.
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