Frontman Jon Bon Jovi says the band cut their teeth on being a live performance act - and that the true test of a musician's success is breaking through language barriers and connecting with the crowd at live shows.
He tells Sirius XM: "The live experience teaches you not only how to relate to your audience, but what it is that you wanna say to them. I cut my teeth as a performer. Even through our first two records, we didn't have big hit singles yet, but we had a reputation as a live band.
"When we would go to countries that didn't speak English we would go there and put the point across with our ability to engage an audience.
"After success comes from you having all these hits, try and go to the Soviet Union where nobody is allowed to even have a Western record and play those hits. They don't speak the language, they don't know the songs, you better be a good performer." Watch the video
here.
Pentatonix keep things classy. Dressed in black and shot against a black background, the video's editing cuts between individual shots of each member and their heads singing together. Think Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" but more festive.
"God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" appears on their holiday album, A Pentatonix Christmas, which is out now. Otherwise, Pentatonix have big things planned in December. The group's A Pentatonix Christmas Special will air on NBC on December 14th at 8pm ET. Watch the new video
here.
In the video, Meek hangs at a fancy abode, but the video wasn't shot at his place. Rick Ross generously lent his mansion for Meek and crew to use, and even makes an appearance in the video.
Ross interrupts Meek's banger to show off some of the eclectic goods he's acquired over the years. He points to a painting over the mantle, which was done on Cuban tobacco leaf, while in another shot he shows off a stack of old New York newspapers from 1913 he bought from an estate. Read more
here.
Busy schedules and cold feet kept Victoria Beckham and Melanie Chisholm from rejoining Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton and Melanie Brown to commemorate the milestone. That's how "GEM" (Geri-Emma-Mel) became a thing over the summer.
The trio have spent some time in the studio, and a song titled "Song for Her" leaked this week. It's not clear whether the three-fifths majority of the Spice Girls intend to release an album, an EP or just some promotional singles to coincide with appearances. The group sounds polished and charming as ever. Listen to "Song for Her"
here.
The premise of the tune is that celebrities have all the luxuries in life, so they need to help people with AIDS, or they will go to hell.Channing Tatum and Neil Patrick Harris appeared to be in charge of choreography, tap-battling on the soft white carpet.
Julia Roberts, the Killers, Halsey, and DJ Khaled filled out the ensemble. Toward the end, known AIDS-awareness activist Bono showed up as his MacPhisto character as a devilish antagonist. Watch it
here.
Cavalera, who previously admitted he was once so desperate for alcohol that he drank hand sanitiser, says he lost his way soon after his father's death and it wasn't long before he became hooked on prescription drugs.
Cavalera says: "I was taking too many of them on a daily basis and then drinking on top of it. It's a lethal combination, and then I added sleep medicines on top of all that. It's a miracle I am still alive. There's a lot of pressure that comes with fame. Record label pressure, fans pressure, and we don't have a manual or a guide to surviving this sh*t."
He continues: "I think for some musicians the pressure of fame gets to them. For me, it started with the death of my father. I became very sad and drinking was one way to deal with my sadness.
"The drugs - I just liked them. I liked the buzz of a pain killer. The energy it gave me." Read more
here.
Kings Of Leon have been confirmed as a headliner for 2017, following Phil Collins. Kings Of Leon will be joined by Pixies and Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats for the July 6 performance.
Drummer Nathan Followill says: "It's always a pleasure to party with our amazing fans at Hyde Park." Kings Of Leon released their seventh album WALLS last month, while Pixies are currently on a European tour in support of their new album Head Carrier. Read more
here.
Speaking to Hammer about the new song, The King Is Blind vocalist Steve Tovey says: "Throne Of Skulls is about the danger of demagogues and the cult of celebrity, and how the power, fame and influence-hungry will climb to power over the bones of those who have sinned for their own benefit.
"[It's] the skeletons of those that have normalised today's dog-eat-dog culture, where winner takes all at the complete disregard for the needs of others, or the balance and compassion needed. Where the quasi-fascist dictators rule and ruin the world, sat atop their throne of skulls; the remnants of those they've discarded and screwed over to get there.
"With Throne Of Skulls, we wanted to not only respect and venerate the legacy of the Speed Kills series, but release a standalone worthwhile addition to our own canon that bridges between our first and our upcoming second album, both musically and conceptually," Steve says.
"In keeping with the Speed Kills ethos, Throne Of Skulls allowed us to not only indulge and enjoy our heavy metal side, but sharpen the knives and trim the fat in line with our focus for album two; it's a lean, relentless, concentrated assault." Watch the video
here.
Considering Scotland's own rich, battle-studded history and glorious scenery, you wouldn't expect the tide of 'Heritage black metal' to be confined to the south of Hadrian's Wall. Former labelmates of Winterfylleth, Cnoc An Tursa have been using their Falkirk home as the source of sweeping grandeur associated with the movement for a decade now, and their 2013 debut album, The Giants Of Auld, was a stirring take on symphonic folk and black metal, bringing in strong Gaelic influences but reaching for the epic through sheer muscle and powerful, mid-paced grooves rather than overdoing the bombast.
Now the five-piece are returning to the fray with a new, album The Forty Five, due on February 17 via Apocalyptic Witchcraft and based around the Jacobite Uprising in 1745, waged by Charles Edward Stuart, better known as Bonnie Prince Charlie, to wrest the British throne from George II.
If this news stirs your beating heart, than raise your shield in triumph because we have an exclusive preview in the righteous form of a lyric video to the track The Yellow Locks Of Charlie, based on the traditional battle song by one Henry Scott Riddell. Featuring live footage, roving scans across scene-setting artwork and a questionable choice of font, The Yellow Locks Of Charlie is an eight-minute epic that will have chests swelling, spears thrusting and kilts flapping with foe-frightening intensity.
here.
Andre 3000 famously addressed his relationship with Badu in OutKast's "Ms. Jackson," which was written as an apology after their breakup, and more specifically about her mother. As an artist herself, she always respected the creativity in the song and especially from Andre who was a pioneer in southern hip-hop.
"It hit kind of a sore spot," she explained. 'I didn't wanna hear that, especially when I heard Big Boi's verse. When I heard Andre's verse, I felt very good because his verse was really, really inspiring' he just said how he felt and it was his honest feelings and I always respected that and listened to what he felt and appreciated it. I liked it but how did my momma feel? She bought her a Ms. Jackson license plate, she had the mug, she had the ink pen, the headband, everything, that's who loved it." Read more
here.
The frequent collaborator and president of West's GOOD Music label posted a photo on social media of the art work for West's My Beautiful Dark Fantasy, which came out six years ago this week and featured Pusha T on two tracks.
In the caption, the rapper called it "one of the greatest hip-hop albums ever," and thanked West for 'setting me up to be the solo artist I never saw myself as." Read more
here.
"Rise Now" is a song about coming out in all senses of the term. It's a song about affirming your own truth no matter how hard it is and no matter how afraid you are.
I started writing "Rise Now" when I was at Berklee College of Music. I was going through a lot of changes in my life. I was lost and disoriented. I was trying to define my sound and figure out who I wanted to be as an artist. People were constantly having an opinion about what my music should have or shouldn't have been. I remember feeling like an outsider because my music didn't fit in any genre. People were trying to lock me in a box and put a label on it. You'd think that in an artistic environment, there would be some sort of open-mindedness about being different. But I realized that like anywhere else, people just want you to fit and belong to one category.
As part of an assignment for a class there, I was asked to write a song about someone's story. I had a close friend struggling with coming out as a gay man. Because it's a subject that really resonates with me, I decided to write about his struggle. That's when it hit me. I was also going through the same process of coming out: I was trying to come forward as artist and own my music. I realized I was scared of people's reactions and couldn't say it out loud. Having been out and proud for seven years now, it never occurred to me I'd have to go through it again in another context. I finished the song for that assignment and kept that idea in mind.
Later when I decided to rework the song, I looked at the bigger picture. The song started to resonate on so many other levels, especially when I saw how people were reacting to it - identifying themselves, their own story and their personal struggle to the song. I decided to make it more universal so anyone could relate. Whether it was about race, gender, orientation, being bullied or just an internal conflict, I wanted "Rise Now" to be the hymn to anyone in need of a voice.
Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself
right here!
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