Music News

Ariana Grande Claims Nos. 1, 2 & 3 on Billboard Hot 100, Is First Act to Achieve the Feat Since The Beatles in 1964

by Gary Trust

'7 Rings' reigns for a fourth week, 'Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored' debuts at No. 2 and 'Thank U, Next' rebounds to No. 3.

Ariana Grande becomes the first artist to hold the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 spots on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart simultaneously since The Beatles in 1964, as her new album Thank U, Next launches at No. 1 on the Billboard 200albums tally.

Investigation - James Brown's Death

Investigation Raises Questions About James Brown's Death

CNN story questions whether singer might have been murdered

By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff

In this 1987 file photo, soul singers James Brown and Aretha Franklin sing during a Home Box Office taping at the Taboo night club in Detroit.   (AP Photo/Rob Kozloff, File)

Natural causes. That's the official explanation for the death of soul icon James Brown in 2006 at the age of 73.

'American Pie' Song

'American Pie' isn't a song about Buddy Holly, Don McLean says: 'It's about America'

Matthew Leimkuehler, Des Moines Register 

Sixty years ago this Sunday, just after 1 a.m., a plane carrying three rock 'n' roll stars and an Iowa pilot crashed into a frozen field north of Clear Lake, Iowa.

The impact killed all four immediately, changing the course of music for decades to come.

Acoustic-Electric Hybrid Guitar

Fender's 'Acoustasonic' Is a True Acoustic-Electric Hybrid Guitar

Half electric, half acoustic, fully badass.

By Henry Robertson

FENDER

It’s rare today to find a guitar with totally unique functionality and design, especially one that isn’t a cheesy novelty. Fender is really offering something special with their new Acoustasonic, a hybrid electric/acoustic guitar several years in the making. This guitar is truly an acoustic and an electric, not just an acoustic with a preamp and pickup, nor just an electric with a Piezo pickup for an added "acoustic” tone. It’s a concept all its own and one we're excited about.

Music News

Rapper Sells 823 Albums, Tops Billboard Chart

A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie had 83M streams

By Rob Quinn

Rapper A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie performs at HOT 97 Summer Jam 2018 at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, June 10, 2018, in East Rutherford, New Jersey.   (Photo by Scott Roth/Invision/AP)

Scoring the Billboard No. 1 spot with album Hoodie SZN was a big moment for New York rapper A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie—and a new low for traditional album sales.

Rock Hall Inductees

'

We Can Stop Holding Our Breath' on Rock Hall

Def Leppard, Stevie Nicks, Janet Jackson to be inducted

Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac performs at the 2018 iHeartRadio Music Festival on Sept. 21, 2018.   (Photo by John Salangsang/Invision/AP)

Congratulations to Stevie Nicks. The rocker was announced Thursday as a 2019 inductee into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame following her first appearance as an individual nominee.

Music News

Album of the year: Kendrick Lamar, Janelle Monae, Drake among nominees

Cardi B arrives at the American Music Awards at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Oct. 9. (Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

And the nominees are…

Music News

Queen, Adam Lambert Plot North American ‘Rhapsody’ Tour

Band announces 23 dates for U.S., Canada following success of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ movie

By RYAN REED

Queen and Adam Lambert announced the "Rhapsody" North American tour for 2019.
Mairo Cinquetti/REX/Shutterstock

One month after the release of Bohemian Rhapsody, one of the highest-grossing music biopics of all-time, Queen capitalized on that momentum by plotting a North American tour with frontman Adam Lambert. The 23-date “Rhapsody” trek launches July 10th, 2019 in Vancouver, British Columbia and concludes August 23rd in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Essential Christmas Albums Ranked

This year's essential Christmas albums ranked, from 'Shatner Claus' to the irresistible JD McPherson

By RANDY LEWIS

Critically acclaimed, multi-platinum singer-songwriter John Legend has released his first Christmas album, "A Legendary Christmas." Pictured: John Legend with Chrissy Teigen, daughter Luna Simone Stephens and son Miles Theodore Stephens. (F. Scott Schafer)

The spirit of inspiration runs stronger than usual through this year’s batch of new holiday music collections, with fresh melodies and lyrics in some of the best. Veteran country singer-songwriter Rodney Crowell, Oklahoma recent arrival JD McPherson, the long-running Nashville, Tenn.-based genre-defying band the Mavericks and Texas’ barnstorming Old 97’s each have delivered Christmas albums built around inviting new songs that make them worthy additions to the favorites you might turn to year in and year out. Albums, listed alphabetically by artist, are ranked on a scale of one star (poor) to four stars (classic). Let the roundup begin:

Highest Paid Woman Musician

Katy Perry edges out former foe Taylor Swift to top Forbes' highest-paid women in music list

 Raechal Leone Shewfelt 
Katy Perry performs at Birmingham Arena on June 18, 2018, in Birmingham, England. (Photo: Joseph Okpako/WireImage)

Now that they’re friends, Katy Perry and Taylor Swift will want to pop the champagne together for this one.

The just-released Forbes list of the year’s highest-paid women in music features both artists.

Music News

Rolling Stones will launch stadium tour in 2019, including May 11 Rose Bowl date

By RANDY LEWIS

The Rolling Stones — Ron Wood, left, Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts and Keith Richards, photographed in Indio in 2016 — will bring their No Filter stadium our to 12 states in 2019. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

The Rolling Stones will bring their No Filter tour to the U.S. in 2019 for a 13-city stadium tour that will include stops May 11 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena and May 18 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara for the tour’s only scheduled California dates.

Music News

CMA Awards 2018: See the full list of winners

A. CYDNEY HAYES  

On Wednesday at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, country music’s brightest stars convened for the 52nd annual Country Music Association Awards. Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley — both CMA veterans themselves — reunited for the 11th consecutive year to host the event, and top nominees, including Chris Stapleton, Miranda Lambert, Jason Aldean, and Maren Morris, performed the year’s hit songs.

Keith Urban won the evening’s top honor, Entertainer of the Year, but Chris Stapleton swept the night, taking home prizes for Male Vocalist of the Year, Single of the Year, and Song of the Year, which he shared with his co-writer Mike Henderson.

Cassette Tapes Are Back

Cassette Tapes Are Back, Don't You Dare Call Them Obsolete

Everything old is new again.

By Jacqueline Detwiler

 GETTY IMAGES/HELENA WATSON

Steve Stepp knew audiotapes were going to come back before you did, and not just because he’s a man whose family company put its faith behind the machinery 50 years ago. Also because Pearl Jam called. It was 2008 or 2009, and the 20th anniversary of the album Ten was coming up. They wanted to release a collector’s edition that would include a CD, a cassette, a vinyl record, and a scrapbook.

New Spotify Features

Here are 6 New Features You Might Have Missed

HARRY GUINNESS 

Spotify has had a big year: they hit more than 80 million paid subscribers, launched a much-improved new free plan, and even IPO-ed. If you’ve been a Premium subscriber for a while, you might not have noticed a lot of the other small changes and features that got added. Here’s what’s new.

Music News

Missy Elliott, Mariah Carey, John Prine, More Nominated for Songwriters Hall of Fame

Eurythmics, Chrissie Hynde, Jimmy Cliff, ELO’s Jeff Lynne, more also up for induction

John Prine photo by Andrew Lipovsky/NBC; Mariah Carey photo by Kevin Mazur/AMA2018/Getty Images For dcp; Missy Elliott photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for American Express

This year’s nominations for the Songwriters Hall of Fame have been announced. Among the nominees are Missy Elliott, Mariah Carey, John Prine, the Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde, reggae legend Jimmy Cliff, ELO’s Jeff Lynne, and more, as the Associated Press reports. Missy’s inclusion marks the first time a female rapper has been nominated to the Songwriters Hall of Fame; last year, JAY-Z became the first rapper to be inducted.

Other artists and songwriters nominated this year include Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart of Eurythmics, and Cat Stevens. The final inductees will be announced in forthcoming months.

Gaga Breaks Music Record

Lady Gaga breaks music record as A Star is Born soundtrack debuts at No. 1

A Star Is Born (2018)

JOEY NOLFI 

Lady Gaga‘s star is shining brighter than ever as her latest album notches a major music milestone for women.

The soundtrack for A Star is Born — credited to performers Gaga and Bradley Cooper as lead artists — has debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, making Gaga the only woman to have five No. 1 albums this decade as its parent film finishes its sophomore weekend in wide theatrical release.

Music News

How Paul McCartney Landed First No. 1 Album in 36 Years

By Conor White

Paul McCartney is celebrating his first number-one album in nearly four decades.

"Egypt Station," released on September 7, sold 153,000 copies during its first week, including an impressive 147,000 in physical sales. And it's not the 76-year-old former Beatle's core Baby-Boomer fan base behind his latest success ー it's streamers.

Music News

Eminem Drops New Album ‘Kamikaze’

• Erin Nyren

Craig McDean

The rapper targets President Trump, the Grammys and the press on his tenth full-length release.

Eminem has dropped the follow-up to 2017’s “Revival.”

The rapper surprise-released his latest album, “Kamikaze,” on Thursday night (midnight on the east coast).

Best-Selling Album Ever

History's Best-Selling Album Is a Greatest Hits Collections

The Eagles have given Michael Jackson the boot

By Newser Editors and Wire Services

In this Jan. 15, 2014, file photo, Don Henley, left, and Glenn Frey of The Eagles perform on the "History of the Eagles" tour at the Forum in Los Angeles. The Eagles' greatest hits album has surpassed Michael Jackson's "Thriller" as the best-selling album of all-time.   (Photo by John Shearer/Invision/AP, File)

The Eagles' greatest hits album has moonwalked past Michael Jackson's Thriller to become history's best-selling album of all-time.

Queen of Soul Dies

Aretha Franklin, The 'Queen Of Soul,' Dies At 76

Ted Robbins.

Aretha Franklin, pictured in 1968, died Thursday. Known as the "Queen of Soul," she recorded 17 Top 10 singles.

Aretha Franklin, the "Queen of Soul," died Thursday in her home city of Detroit after battling pancreatic cancer of the neuroendocrine type. Her death was confirmed by her publicist, Gwendolyn Quinn. She was 76.