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Van Halen In the Studio with Producer John Shanks
January 25, 2011 – The new Van Halen album is on. The band is in the studio with producer John Shanks to record their first full album with original lead singer David Lee Roth since 1984, released the same year. MORE

The Day John Bonham Almost Kicked Sting's Ass
January 25, 2011 – Jason Bonham has interesting memories of his dad going backstage and meeting Sting. When the younger Bonham was 13 he convinced his dad to meet the Police. He told Spinner.com, the whole thing happened at a show promoting the band's second album “Reggatta de Blanc” MORE

Don Henley Working On Country Covers Album
January 24, 2011 – Don Henley is working on, only, his fourth solo album since 1982. The Eagles lead singer is in Nashville with producer/drummer Stan Lynch from Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers fame. MORE


Elton John Frustrated with Slow Movement in Gay Rights
January 24, 2011 – Elton John is not too happy with how gay rights is moving especially with California's gay marriage ban. The 63-year-old singer says, "In this country, we need more dialogue, We don't need any more stone throwing. We don't need any more vitriol. We need people to say, 'OK. I'm straight. You're gay. Let's get along. I'm Republican. You're Democratic. Let's work together.' I'm sick and tired of people being hateful to each other in this country." MORE

Aerosmith Working on New Album Despite American Idol
January 23, 2011 – Aerosmith's Tom Hamilton just gave the world an update on the band's new album.

The guitarist claims that all members, it seems including Steven Tyler who is busy with American Idol, have some time right now to start working on their latest project. Here is what he told AeroForceOne MORE

Clint Eastwood Suffers Blow To The Head and Joins Forces with Beyonce
January 22, 2011 – What the hell is Clint Eastwood thinking? The famous actor and director is trying to land the rights to “A Star is Born" and have Beyonce star as the lead. Expect lots of close-ups of the long-legged wonder. Is this the best Clint could do...really? MORE

Paul Simon Set to Release “So Beautiful or So What” In April
January 22, 2011 – Paul Simon says he's gone back to recording music much like he did in the early seventies by just sitting down with a guitar and seeing what happens. The new project, due in April, “So Beautiful or So What” MORE

Despite Facelift American Idol Loses 13%+ of Its Viewers
January 21, 2010 – American Idol is not the king it once was. Even though 26.1 million viewers watched Wednesday’s 10th season premiere it was still down 13% from last years opening show. Last night’s New Orleans episode was a bigger drop with the show losing 18% in the key demo 18-49. MORE

Robert Plant Reminds Us That Led Zeppelin is Dead
January 21, 2011 – A Led Zeppelin reunion sounds like a great idea until you talk to Robert Plant. The singer told Rolling Stones magazine that the famous O2 show in London in 2007 was amazing but “The preparations for it were fraught and intense, but the last rehearsal was really, really good, for all that it represented and all that we were trying to capture,” says Plant. MORE

 

 


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Where’s My Teeth? Jennifer Hudson Should Have Said ‘No’ to Cheating at Super Bowl
Feb. 5, 2009 – So many people are forgiving Jennifer Hudson for lip-synching at last Sunday’s Super Bowl. After all, she lived through the tragic loss of three family members being killed in October – something most people never get over.

Hudson has always come off like an underdog, a person, we could relate to. She has amazing talent but always lets other people say that. For a 27 year old she seems to understand that one’s reputation is someone else’s job. Unlike Beyonce or Celine Dion who seem completely self absorbed by their show-off celebrity status, Hudson was our girl.  Humble, quiet and brilliant. I have no doubt that she will triumph past her tragic loss and have a long career but Hudson will make mistakes and lip-synching the national anthem was one of them.

To her defence though, the Super Bowl has a long history of forcing performers to lip-synch. This year’s Musical Director, Rickey Minor, is also American Idol’s band leader who worked with Hudson when she was on the show in 2004. Minor was responsible for Whitney Houston’s awe-inspiring anthem at 1991’s Super Bowl XXV in Tampa, which, yes, was also lip-synched.

The off-the-record protocol for the NFL is that pre-game performers are pre-recorded and the halftime show is live. So, don’t worry, Springsteen was very much singing live. If he wasn’t that would really be news. In fact, some reports say the NFL has encouraged performers to cheat since 1993. Ashlee Simpson, are you hearing this? Pick up the phone now.

Everyone was so busy loving Jennifer’s comeback that they accepted headlines like, “Hudson Shines at Super Bowl” or “Hudson’s Voice of Perfection,” neither are true. Jennifer Hudson recorded that national anthem in a very controlled space of a recording studio with, maybe, ten people in the room and not the millions who watched.  So what exactly does “live” mean? This girl could have knocked it out of the park but decided not to sing at the Super Bowl any more than Madonna sings live when she dances a million miles an hour on stage.

Yo Yo Ma and Izhak Perlman were not live at Obama’s inauguration, blaming the chilly weather’s affect on their instruments and it can be argued that sometimes that weather can do, not so kind things to a voice. Interestingly, Aretha Franklin was asked to lip-synch at the inauguration but simply refused. She sounded amazing, well, once you got past that crazy hat. Some say it was Minor who asked the ‘Queen of Soul’ to cheat on Obama’s big day. I hoped she smacked Minor upside the head.

I don’t think I’m alone when I say that the national anthem is what, sometimes, makes the performer. Will they crack under pressure? Will they crack the glass with that crescendo? Or, in Whitney’s case, will they be high on crack?

It should be pointed out that Faith Hill also lip-synched her performance at the Super Bowl this year but I expected as much from her.

So many people are giving Hudson a “pass’ because of her family trauma and I can understand that. Singing in front of 100 million viewers after your soul’s been charred beyond recognition is hard and coupled with the pressure that it’s expected of you to lip-synch. When the dust settles I’m still disappointed. I expected more from her. This whole thing will disappear quickly though. We all want Jennifer to heal and to gain strength, lots of it so she can smack Rickey Minor upside the head if he ever asks her to comprimise her integrity again! – by John Beaudin

 

 
 
 
 
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Randy Meisner
Former Eagles member Randy Meisner tells the truth about his old band

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Retro Review: Linda Ronstadt - The Very Best of -Sept. 24, 2002 - In high school my best buddy John Scott could never understand how I, a rocker, preferred Barbra Streisand over Linda Ronstadt.

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Retro Review: Bruce Hornsby - Spirit Trail- Oct. 16, 1998 - No one could ever accuse Hornsby of not paying attention. Every lyric on 'Spirit Trail,' his sixth album, describes his unquenchable thirst to understand what were all doing here.

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