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Day in Pop Report for 02/16/2016


Today's Top Stories


Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, Mark Ronson Win Major Grammy Awards

While rock is the biggest selling genre of music in the U.S. year after year, the pop and rap heavy Grammy Awards were held on Monday night in Los Angeles with Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, Mark Ronson, Chris Stapleton, Little Big Town, and Kendrick Lamar coming away the big winners of the night.

Taylor Swift's move to pop from country paid off in a big way with Swift taking home the top honor of the evening with her "1989" album winning Album Of The Year. The title also won the Best Pop Vocal Album award.

The Record of the Year Grammy went to "Uptown Funk" from Mark Ronson (featuring Bruno Mars). The track also won the Grammy for the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.

Ed Sheeran was also a big winner at the event with his song "Thinking Out Loud" winning the Grammys for Best Song as well as Best Pop Solo Performance honor.

Chris Stapleton and Little Big Town dominated the country music categories with Stapleton winning the Best Country Album award with Traveller and also the Best Country Solo Performance for the title track.

Little Big Town's "Girl Crush" took home two Grammy Awards. The song won the Best Country Duo/Group Performance award and the Best Country Song Grammy.

Kendrick Lamar cleaned up in the Rap category by taking home Grammys for Best Rap Song, Best Rap Album, Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Collaboration.

Meghan Trainor won the Best New Artist Grammy. You can read the full list of nominees here.

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Lady Gaga Performs David Bowie Tribute At Grammys

(hennemusic) Lady Gaga performed a tribute to David Bowie at the Grammy Awards Monday night in Los Angeles and video of the performance has made its way online.

The pop star delivered an extensive medley of Bowie classics that included snippets of "Space Oddity," "Changes," "Ziggy Stardust," "Suffragette City," "Rebel, Rebel," "Fashion," "Fame," "Let's Dance," and "Heroes," with a quick reference to the Bowie/Queen hit "Under Pressure."

Gaga was joined by a backing band led by guitarist Nile Rodgers of Chic fame, who co-produced Bowie's 1983 album "Let's Dance." Gaga's outfits paid homage to Bowie's fashion styles, with images and outfits particularly reflecting the Ziggy Stardust and Thin White Duke eras.

Bowie passed away from cancer on January 10, just two days after his 69th birthday and the release of his final record "Blackstar." Read more and watch video of the tribute here.

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Kendrick Lamar Makes Clean Sweep Of Rap Awards At Grammys

While there are a lot of boastful rappers on the scene today, on Monday night at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles it was Kendrick Lamar who walked away the clear leader of the genre.

Lamar took home the Grammys in every single Rap category with his hit album "To Pimp A Butterfly" and his single "Alright" and his collaboration with Kendrick Lamar Featuring Bilal, Anna Wise & Thundercat "These Walls."

"To Pimp A Butterfly" won the Grammy for Best Rock Album while "Alright" took home the awards for Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance. "These Walls" won the Grammy for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.

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Drake, One Direction, Blake Shelton, More Read Mean Tweets

(Radio.com) What do Drake, Wiz Khalifa, Demi Lovato, Blake Shelton, Mumford & Sons, Megan Trainor, Little Big Town, and Ed Sheeran have in common? They all read incredibly insulting tweets in the latest round of "Mean Tweets" on Monday night's episode of Jimmy Kimmel live!

One Direction, Ricky Martin, Josh Grobin, Rita Ora, The Killers, James Taylor, Lionel Richie, Kelly Clarkson and Common are also included in the group of insulted musicians.

Kimmel's team released the segment just moments after the Grammys telecast ended, with several of the musicians just having won awards. "I can't stand this new Ed Sheeran," writes @WyzeeQue. "Like why TF are you happy on your records? You're a f-ing ginger for f--'s sake. Peace out."

"Drake looks like a ferret with a baby afro," tweets @TehKingPreme. Watch the full segment here.

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Britney Spears Goes Behind The Scenes Of Her Las Vegas Show

(Extra) Only "Extra's" Mario Lopez was with Britney Spears this weekend before she kicked off the revamped edition of her Las Vegas "Piece of Me" residency at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, and Britney had quite the challenge for him: Britney dared Mario do to a bungee jump that she performs in the show during "Toxic" - in full costume!

Of the revamped show Britney revealed, "I have a new album coming out soon, so it's just like a taste of what's to come. The new stuff isn't actually in it yet but there's a lot of surprises." She added, "There's a lot of new costume changes. There's a lot of new surprise songs in there from artists I really respect. There's a lot of prop changes and there's more to come this year that's gonna be changed."

Britney making headlines in August 2015 when she was caught on camera telling her "Piece of Me" audience "Frankly, men can suck my f---ing toe." The video going viral, and when asked Britney laughed telling Mario, "Men issues�I'm behind that now."

Her hit show, "Piece of Me," has been attended by Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, Selena Gomez and dozens of other stars, but Britney doesn't want to know when they are in the audience, "I'd rather not know because it makes me nervous. I really look up to those people."

Another celebrity fan of Britney's is Adele who recently told NPR "Britney is the queen." - When Mario told Britney she replied "I love her she's great. She's the f---ing queen!"

Britney has been posting some seriously flexible photos doing yoga on Instagram, but she says she's more into taking classes with everyday people now! "I like to go to class, I like to compete with people. I get on the treadmill and I try to run as fast as they do. So I like to be with a bunch of people and I go to classes."

At home Brit still mom to her two sons Sean Preston and Jayden James, telling Mario they're just like any other 9 and 10 year old kids, they're obsessed with Star Wars, Britney says "They're at the Star Wars movie right now. This is the second time they've seen it, they just keep going back and they love it. I'm not really interested in that but that's their thing."

Mario Lopez also got a backstage tour of Britney Spears' revamped Las Vegas show, "Piece of Me," at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. During the exclusive tour, Britney challenged Mario to do one of her bungee jump stunts from the show. Watch the video segments here.

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Dr. Dre To Star In Apple's First Scripted Series 'Vital Signs'

(Radio.com) Dr. Dre is a busy mogul these days, but he's getting ready to add one more project to his list. He'll be executive producing and starring in Apple's first scripted series Vital Signs (via The Hollywood Reporter).

Although word about Vital Signs remains incredibly hush-hush, insiders describe the show as a semi-autobiographical drama. The 30-minute program is rumored to contain lots of violence and sex.

Take, for example, the alleged orgy scene shot earlier this week on February 8th and 9th. Witnesses say it took place in the Bird Streets neighborhood of Los Angeles and that Dr. Dre's wife was on set observing. Read more here.

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Jay Sean Releases Video For 'Make My Love Go' Featuring Sean Paul

(TSM) Jay Sean has released a brand new video for the track "Make My Love Go" which features a guest appearance from Sean Paul and is the first release under Jay's new deal with Sony. We were sent the following details about the collaboration:

"Make My Love Go" marks the first time Jay Sean and Sean Paul have collaborated together since "Do You Remember" which sold over 3.5M singles worldwide and has over 50 million views on VEVO.

The "Make My Love Go" clip was directed by Naroop, a rising director out of London and edited by Emmy award winner, Adam Wood. Adam also edited Jay Sean's "Down" which has well over 100 million plays on VEVO. Watch the video here.

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Cameron Crowe Reveals Trailer For New Series 'Roadies'

(Radio.com) Not to be outdone by HBO's upcoming Vinyl series, Showtime will include a music-focused show in its programming schedule this summer. Titled Roadies, the project comes from Almost Famous director Cameron Crowe, and focuses on concert life behind the scenes. Interested viewers can not get an idea of what's coming thanks to the series' trailer.

The trailer begins with a title card featuring a Tom Petty quote. "I think the general public has no idea what roadies do. Bless 'em all. I just play the songs. They make the show happen," the opening reads, before Eddie Vedder's "Hard Sun" kicks things off musically.

Showing life behind the scenes before the crowd enters and the show begins, Roadies focuses on the people who make things happen for the bands and artists taking the stage every night. The pilot will feature indie band The Head and the Heart, and each episode will include a different band or artist.

Speaking to the Television Critics Association in January, Crowe said, "I love music and stories where music is a character. Over time I was struck by the fact that Almost Famous spoke loudly to people. It was a very personal story for me and I didn't expect it to touch people that way."

He added, "I wanted to revisit the world of writing about music but in a different and contemporary way ' [telling] authentic stories about people behind the curtain presenting music to people every day" (via Billboard). Watch the trailer here.

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Tim McGraw Says Fame Hasn't Been A Hindrance To His Kids

(Radio.com) Tim McGraw and Faith Hill have built sensational careers over the past 20 years and concurrently they've built a loving family. The pair are proud parents to Gracie (18), Maggie (17) and Audrey (14) and while raising girls can be tough, their stardom hasn't been a factor.

"We certainly don't feel like [fame] has been a hindrance to our kids," he told an industry crowd during Country Radio Seminar (quotes via People) this week, adding, "If they grow up and write a book, we might find out differently."

He went on to say, "Our kids know it's there. They've always been around it. It's just not anything that we've ever really discussed or dealt with. We haven't talked to our kids about us being famous, even when they were little. That's what we try to make it - not an issue." Read more here.

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Pete Doherty Plans Release Of New Solo Album?

(Gibson) The Libertines and Babyshambles frontman Pete Doherty will reportedly release his second solo album later this year, according to reports from UK media outlets.

Doherty, who recently finished an arena tour with The Libertines following their 2015 comeback, is expected to release the follow up to 2009 d�but Grace/ Wastelands at some point in 2016.

Exclaim reports that the album has the working title Flags Of The Old Regime and that a single will arrive in the spring. "Flags Of The Old Regime" is the name of an Amy Winehouse tribute single Doherty released in 2015 with proceeds going to the Amy Winehouse Foundation.

Doherty is also believed to be releasing a split single with PJ Harvey guitarist James Johnston for Record Store Day this year. Read more here.

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Chet Baker 'Born to Be Blue' Biopic Trailer Goes Online

(Radio.com) Miles Davis isn't the only famous jazzman to get the biopic treatment of late. Chet Baker will be the focus of an upcoming film, Born to Be Blue. Starring Ethan Hawke as the legendary trumpeter, the film follows Baker's comeback after becoming addicted to heroin in the 1950s and sustaining potentially career-ending injuries during a fight.

The trailer opens with black and white footage restaging the Chet Baker Quartet's Birdland debut. It's a night that had Baker share the bill with Miles Davis and Dizzie Gillespie.

"That seemingly auspicious start to the trailer takes a turn after Davis tells Baker to "come back when you've lived a little." He follows Davis' advice, but it all serves to undermine his musical career.

The trailer eventually segues into Hawke singing Baker's famed take on "My Funny Valentine." Born to Be Blue hits theaters March 25th. Watch the trailer here.

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Mark Ronson Shares Story Behind 'Uptown Funk'

(Radio.com) One of the absolutely unavoidable songs of 2015 was created thanks to an activity that producer Mark Ronson usually avoids: jamming in the studio. The guy has spent a good amount of time in studios: he's produced Amy Winehouse, Duran Duran and Adele, among others, but says that jamming "Could sometimes be a massive waste of time."

However, one day, he was in the studio jamming, and the results were well worth his time. He played bass, Bruno Mars was on drums, and fellow producer Jeff Bhasker played synthesizer. And from that session came the smash hit "Uptown Funk."

"It was just kind of weird," Ronson told Radio.com "It was just one of those times that the jamming wasn't stupid." For Ronson, it was his first hit under his own name, although he's scored many as a producer for other artiists. "Songs that are way less known like 'Bang Bang Bang' or even 'Valerie' a DJ would play it, and that's kind of the level of success that I was content with." Read more here.

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Justin Bieber Not Ready To Settle Down

(Radio.com) Justin Bieber appears on the new cover of GQ, where he talks about his transition from teen pop idol to adult pop star. Naturally, his love life came up in the conversation. Although rumors have been circulating that Bieber is dating Hailey Baldwin, he said they weren't together.

Bieber admitted that the two shared a very deep friendship. Baldwin is "someone I really love. We spend a lot of time together," he said. It sure sounds like it could be more than mere friendship, but Bieber insists he doesn't want to get involved with anyone seriously at the moment.

"I don't want to put anyone in a position where they feel like I'm only theirs, only to be hurt in the end," he explained. "Right now in my life, I don't want to be held down by anything. I already have a lot that I have to commit to. A lot of responsibilities. I don't want to feel like the girl I love is an added responsibility."

He continued, "I know that in the past I've hurt people and said things that I didn't mean to make them happy in the moment. So now I'm just more so looking at the future, making sure I'm not damaging them. What if Hailey ends up being the girl I'm gonna marry, right? If I rush into anything, if I damage her, then it's always gonna be damaged. It's really hard to fix wounds like that. It's so hard.' I just don't want to hurt her." Read more here.

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Gwen Stefani Streams New Single 'Make Me Like You'

(Radio.com) The Voice star and former No Doubt singer Gwen Stefani has released a new solo single titled "Make Me Like You," from her forthcoming album "This is What the Truth Feels Like".

Stefani will create a live music video for the track which will air in a 4-minute commercial break during tonight's Grammy Awards broadcast on CBS.

Gwen's new album This is What the Truth Feels Like will be released on March 18th everywhere, with a deluxe edition featuring four bonus tracks available exclusively through Target. Listen to the new track here.

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The 1975 Give Justin Bieber's 'Sorry' Unusual Makeover

(Radio.com) The 1975 appeared on BBC's Radio 1 Live Lounge to promote their single, "The Sound." However, the British band threw in something extra for fans: a smooth jazz cover of Justin Bieber's hit "Sorry."

Driven by electronic keyboard and saxophone, the Bieber cover gives Beliebers the elevator music of their dreams. "Elevator music" is not meant dismissively: The 1975 do their namesake decade proud with the intentionally corny instrumental approach to a pop hit. Plenty of contemporary artists have mined smooth jazz for its ironic, catchiness and easy listening value.

Recently the 1975 appeared on Saturday Night Live as they continue bringing their alt rock to the mainstream. Fans can watch their groovy Bieber cover here.

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Sam Hunt Discusses His Grammy Nominations

(Radio.com) A Grammy nomination is coveted by singers and songwriters. Sam Hunt is up for two trophies at tonight's ceremony: the all-genre Best New Artist and Best Country Album for his debut album Montevallo. However, Hunt admits when he woke to the news of his nominations back in December, he didn't fully appreciate what it meant.

"I was at a point at the time after a year of just slugging it out on the road and going full speed that I was pretty tired," he told Sounds Like Nashville. "I was sort of desensitized to some of the really cool things that happened towards the end of the year because I was worn out.

"But as I got to go home and spend some time with my family and be in a more quiet place and really reflect on the year and the Grammys, that's when all the things that led up to being nominated for a Grammy started to sink in. I think I have appreciated it more and more since hearing the news."Read more here.

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