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B-Sides Report for 01/14/2016



David Bowie and Notorious B.I.G. Mashed Up With 'Biggie Stardust'

(Radio.com) DJ Terry Urban is known for creating some of the coolest mash-ups around. He had a hit last year by blending The Notorious B.I.G. and R&B sensation FKA Twigs' music for a project called FKA Biggie.

Urban dips into Biggie's music again to make a mash-up paying homage to the late David Bowie. Terry Urban's new amalgamation is called "Biggie Stardust."

The track, which was released on Soundcloud, lays a Biggie verse lifted from "Dead Wrong" over Bowie's "Moonage Daydream." While the two songs don't seem like they would pair well together, the mash-up is well executed.

Check out Terry Urban's "Biggie Stardust" here.

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Luke Bryan Announces U.S. Stadium Tour Dates

(Radio.com) Luke Bryan announced a string of stadium tour dates via a live stream from his home on Wednesday. He chatted with fans in the intimate setting of his "Luke Bryan" mobile app.

The county music star told fans that the summer stadium dates would include special guests and that he may even let them request setlists through the app.

"I'm crazy excited about this year," Bryan said. "It's going to be bigger and better. I'm most excited that we have Dustin Lynch back out to provide me comedy. The fact I could get Little Big Town to tour with me for a whole year, I'm super excited." See the dates here.

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14 Music Videos Now Have Over One Billion YouTube Views

(Radio.com) A billion views on YouTube used to mean something. Now 14 music videos have hit the mark and there is a crowded field of clips that are inching closer to the coveted milestone.

According to Billboard, the video for "Lean On" by Major Lazer and DJ Snake hit one billion views last week. It marks the 14th clip to have been viewed over one billion times, joining the likes of Taylor Swift's "Blank Space" and "Shake It Off," Katy Perry's "Roar," Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth's "See You Again," and the number one viewed video on YouTube: Psy's "Gangnam Style."

Billboard also reports that only two clips had passed one billion views a year ago and now a dozen more have joined the most-viewed clips within the past 12 months. It looks like the number could easily double over the next year.

The next clip in line is "Love the Way You Lie." Eminem and Rihanna's 2010 hit needs just under three hundred thousand views to hit one billion. Meanwhile Shakira's "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)," Maroon 5's "Sugar," Ed Sheeran's "Thinking Out Loud," Psy's "Gentleman," and Ellie Goulding's "Love Me Like You Do" are all less than one million views from the coveted spot.

Adele's "Hello" is also speeding up the tally and could be the next clip to hit the coveted position. It has been viewed over 952 million times since its release three months ago. See the complete list of videos with at least one billion views here.

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Imagine Dragons Announce One-Night-Only Special Movie Theater Event

(Radio.com) Imagine Dragons fans who couldn't catch the band on their Smoke + Mirrors Tour will have a chance to witness that concert for the first time. The band will be making their big screen debut on March 2nd, when fans and moviegoers alike can purchase tickets to a one-night-only special cinematic showing of Smoke + Mirrors.

Filmed in front of 15,000 fans in Toronto, the concert captures several of the band's big hits, including "Demons," "I Bet My Life" and "Radioactive," alongside songs they play live less often like "Shots" and "Gold" and the never before played "Thief."

The band discussed the concert and the hard work that went into it. "We put more blood, sweet and lasers into planning Smoke + Mirrors Tour than any performance we've given to date, and it's something we'll always remember." Read more here.

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Run D.M.C., Jefferson Airplane Lead Lifetime Achievement Grammys

(Radio.com) The Recording Academy has announced the recipients of this year's Special Merit Awards. Lifetime Achievement Award honorees for 2016 are Ruth Brown, Celia Cruz, Earth, Wind & Fire, Herbie Hancock, Jefferson Airplane, Linda Ronstadt, and RUN DMC.

"Each year, The Academy has the distinct privilege of honoring those who have greatly contributed to our industry and cultural heritage, and this year we have a gifted and brilliant group of honorees," said Neil Portnow, President/CEO of The Recording Academy in a prepared statement.

Portnow continues, "Their exceptional accomplishments, contributions, and artistry will continue to influence and inspire generations to come." Read more here.

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Josh Farro's Rift With Former Paramore Bandmate Hayley Williams Over

(Radio.com) Paramore has undergone major changes in the past six years. Not only did guitarist Josh Farro and drummer Zac Farro leave the band in 2010, but bassist Jeremy Davis recently left in December.

Things weren't exactly friendly between Josh and the remaining members of the group when he first left. Posting a blog that explained his decision, he confessed that things had become too "manufactured" and he was tired of taking a backseat to lead singer Hayley Williams because the label wanted to push her image front and center (according to NME).

It's taken some time, but Josh and Hayley are finally on speaking terms again, according to Farro. Opening up to NME, Josh discussed his departure from the band and the riff it caused.

"We don't hang out every day but definitely we'll see each other around and we're totally cool now," he said. "We bump into each other and chat like old friends. It's a good feeling to know that you're on good terms with someone you had a bad breakup with, so all's well now." Read more here.

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Tori Kelly Performs 'Girl Crush' With Karen Fairchild

(Radio.com) Tori Kelly is full of surprises. Last night (Jan. 12), she played an impromptu show at Nashville's High Watt. During the performance, she kicked into Little Big Town's "Girl Crush."

After receiving the verbal approval of the crowd, Kelly did one better by bringing out the foursome's Karen Fairchild to make it a duet and video of the performance has been posted online.

"This girl," Fairchild captioned her picture from the show with Kelly. "Unbelievable talent!!!! She is the real deal. So blown away by her!!!" Watch the video here.

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Preview Of Spike Lee's Michael Jackson Documentary Goes Online

(Radio.com) A preview clip of Spike Lee's SHOWTIME documentary, Michael Jackson's Journey From Motown to Off The Wall has been released. The film premieres on Friday, February 5 at 9 p.m ET/PT on SHOWTIME.

The doc takes us from his humble beginnings at Motown throughout his career, leading up to his 1979 classic, Off The Wall. Artists like The Weeknd, David Byrne, Questlove, give commentary of the "King of Pop" influences on their lives and careers.

It includes rare concert footage of Michael performing 'Don't Stop Til You Get Enough," which was his first number one single in the U.S. and internationally as a solo artist, and earned him his first GRAMMY Award. Watch the preview here.

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Thomas Rhett Announces Fitness Boot Camps

(Radio.com) Thomas Rhett wants you to get fit. The singer will be hosting five boot camps around the country to promote his I Feel Good health initiative, a partnership with Snap Fitness.

'I jumped at the chance to work with Snap on this campaign - being in good shape is a big part of being able to get on stage night after night and do what I love," shares Thomas Rhett.

"It's cool that I get to share my interest in fitness directly with fans and kind of give them a look into how you can make it a priority no matter what your lifestyle is like."

See the dates and cities for Rhett's boot camps here.

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Steven Tyler, Kip Moore, Darius Rucker Front and Center For CMA Series

(Gibson) To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the CMA Awards this year, the CMA's are once again teaming up with "Front and Center" for a new season of CMA Songwriters Series. The show features country artists in performance together with some of Nashville's most famous songwriters.

The new five-episode season of "Front and Center" will contain performances by Kip Moore, Darius Rucker, Ronnie Dunn, Brett Eldredge, and Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler who is making a foray in to the world of country music with his upcoming first solo album, and the single "Love is Your Name."

The episode with Kip Moore is taped at the Iridium in New York City - the jazz club where Les Paul used to have a weekly engagement for almost fifteen years towards the end of his life. Moore, along with songwriters Brett James and Jaren Johnston, treat the audience to acoustic versions of Moore's "Beer Money" and "Hey Pretty Girl" from his debut album, as well as "I'm to Blame" from his latest release Wild Ones.

The episodes with Dunn, Eldredge, and Rucker are all filmed at Marathon Music Works in Nashville, while Steven Tyler's performance is taped at the Melrose Ballroom in New York City. Read more here.

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Keith Urban Talks To Ellen About His Late Father

(Radio.com) Keith Urban stopped by The Ellen DeGeneres Show to talk about a slew of topics, including the influence of his late father, Robert, who passed away in December.

"Our record collection was all American country music," the Australian singer told the host. "That's really what pointed me in the direction of Nashville."

Urban also talked about his recently announced RipCORD world tour and gushed over the tour's opener, Maren Morris. "You guys are going to hear about here, she's incredible," he said. Watch it here.

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Taylor Swift And Harry Potter Connection Found?

(Radio.com) It was only a matter of time before one of the world's biggest pop phenomenons intersected with one of the biggest literary phenomenons. Fans have finally made the improbable connection between Taylor Swift and the Harry Potter books.

In one passage from the series, Instagram user @thesorcerersphone found the curmudgeonly Uncle Vernon reciting words that appear to be Taylor Swift lyrics: "Shake 'em off� shake 'em off."

Of course, Taylor herself famously sang "Shake it off�shake it off." However, the piece de resistance of this meme is a photoshopped image of Richard Griffiths, who played Uncle Vernon in the films, dancing in the Swift video. Read more here.

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Brett Eldredge Explains His Flower Bombing

(Radio.com) Brett Eldredge is at it again. The "Drunk on Your Love" singer took to the streets of Nashville to flower bomb random strangers. We first saw him do this earlier this month in Charleston, and now he's explaining his inspiration.

"I was walking around New York once and I saw some guy give somebody on the street some flowers," Eldredge told Sounds Like Nashville. "So I'm walking around in South Carolina where I was shooting my music video for 'Drunk On Your Love' and I said I'm just going to go out and hand random people some flowers and it was the coolest thing."

"You never know what somebody is going through or what's going on in their world," he added. 'Maybe they're doing great, but they can be doing even better if you just hand them a flower. Just flower bomb them." Read more here.

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One Direction's Liam Payne Going Hip Hop?

(Radio.com) Like former One Direction member Zayn Malik, Liam Payne has aspirations for a solo career. Or at least an album. During 1D's hiatus, Payne has been hard at work in the studio developing his own sound, which may be a little less pop and a little more hip-hop.

Over the weekend, Payne was hard at work in the studio collaborating with none other than Juicy J and producer TM 88 of 808 Mafia fame. Juicy J shared a photo of the session on Instagram, captioning it only by tagging Payne and TM 88, and including several fire emojis next to their handles.

Billboard reports that a source involved in the recording session confirmed that Payne is rapping along with singing, and they're trying out a variety of beats and sounds to define his personal musical style. See the post here.

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