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Adele holds her awards for Best New Artist and Best Pop Vocal Album for "Chasing Pavements" at the 51st annual Grammy Awards, 2009.PIC: MARIO ANZUONI/ REUTERS
Reuters reports that British soul singer Adele and flamboyant pop singer Lady Gaga have helped the U.S. music industry stage a modest comeback after a decade of decline.
According to data released on July 6, 2011 by tracking firm Nielsen SoundScan, overall album sales rose 3.6 percent to 221.5 million units during the first half of 2011, the first increase since 2004. READ MORE
Justin Bieber. Pic: TED ALJIBE/ AFP
Justin Bieber became the first male to exceed ten million followers on Twitter on May 29 but that doesn’t mean all of his fans are celebrating.
While he celebrated the milestone by thanking his fans and tweeting: “#10MillionBeliebers I love u…changing my life everyday. I’m from a town of 30,000…so u guys are 333 times my town! CRAZY! #NeverSayNever.” Some of of his fans were venting their frustration on the social network.
“@justinbieber its 1 in a 10 MILLION chance for you to notice me..not just 1 in a million, 1 in TEN MILLION..but i’ll still hope<3,” tweeted a follower called “@JBisBieberful” soon after the singer’s fan count ticked over 10 million.
Lady Gaga has also been picking up fans like there is no tomorrow since the release of her latest album Born This Way. She became the first microblogger to exceed 10 million fans just over two weeks ago and has already passed the 10.5 million followers mark.
Britney Spears recently tipped over the 8 million fan mark, joining US President Barack Obama, Yao Chen, Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga as the only microbloggers with more than 8 million fans.
Lady Gaga. Pic: ©BANG
US talk show host David Letterman ‘upset’ Lady Gaga when she made a scarcely clothed appearance on his show on May 24. The pop star got so upset on the show that she swallowed his “list of rumors” by the end of the interview.
Letterman began the interview by questioning her about her outfit “What are you wearing? I mean, what aren’t you wearing?,” he asked and Lady Gaga calmly replied: “I only liked the jacket, so I decided that’s all I would wear.”
But then Letterman harped on about Gaga’s famous pantlessness saying “I’ve never thought to myself that I’m just gonna wear my underpants”, she shot back: “Why not? I’m sure you’d look nice. You’d be surprised,” adding a few anecdotes of her variety show time together with her co-star Lady Starlight, when they used to wear matching bikinis singing pop songs: “It’s amazing what will happen if you take your clothes off,” she quipped.
But after applauding Letterman’s stylist (orange tie with stripes), the conversation took a different turn, with the talk-master checking off various rumors off his list. Following a story of Gaga supposedly making her own jerky out of the famous beef dress, or using flyfishing for relaxation, the star had enough, grabbed Letterman’s notes, and ate them up.
Shakira during the press conference at Soccer City, Johannesburg. PHOTO: ANTONIO MUCHAVE
Colombian-born singer Shakira has become the latest recording artist to accumulate over 30 million friends on Facebook. She passed the 30 million mark on May 26 and in a show of gratitude uploaded a video on Facebook thanking her fans for making her one of only a handful of musicians to gain over 30 million friends on the social networking site.
Shakira also attracted attention on Twitter when she pushed talk show host Oprah out of tenth place on Twitter’s “top ten most followed” charts this week.
According to AFP, Eminem became the first person to hit the 30 million friend mark in March. aND he currently has more Facebook friends (37,279,306) than any other person, living or dead. As of May 27 other musicians with over 30 million friends include Lady Gaga (35,451,406), Rihanna (34,269,822) and Michael Jackson (33,651,096).
Shakira’s Facebook page can be found at http://www.facebook.com/shakira
Lady Gaga’s Little Monsters, her pet name for her devoted fans, are rejoicing again with the advance release of her latest single, “The Edge of Glory.” The single was released on iTunes, but you can stream an audio version of the track on the star’s VEVO channel.
The new release follows Gaga’s May 5th premiere of her Fellini-inspired video for “Judas,” where she portrays Mary Magdalene riding in a motorcycle pack with Jesus Christ and his apostles in what she has described as a “modern-day Jerusalem.”
“Like [the] first single ‘Born This Way,’ ‘The Edge of Glory’ leans upon sunny electronica that ramps up during its anthemic chorus,” describes Billboard, “and while ‘Glory’ also glorifies risk-taking, it’s focused on romance rather than individual inspiration.”
“The song’s production harks back to late ’80s, early ’90s adult-contemporary pop, when big choruses [were] the norm,” writes MTV US.
“Edge of Glory” is the third single from her forthcoming LP Born This Way. “Judas” has reached the top ten in singles charts in some 18 countries. The album’s title track, “Born This Way,” which dropped on February 11, peaked at number one in 17 countries and is the fastest-selling single in iTunes history, selling more than 1 million copies in five days.
Gaga promises to unveil another track, “Hair,” from her upcoming album next Monday, May 16.
Lady Gaga PICTURE: AFP PHOTO/Francois Guillot
The much anticipated second single from Lady Gaga is here, Judas.
This is her second single from her album Born This Way, which will be released next month.
The song has already sparked outcry from religious groups. With lyrics like
When he comes to me, I am ready/ I’ll wash his feet with my hair if he needs/ Forgive him when his tongue lies through his brain/ Even after three times, he betrays me/ I’ll bring him down, a king with no crown…”
it’s no surprise.
Listen to the track, what do you think?
Alexander McQueen at the 2004 British Fashion awards & Lady Gaga at Brit Awards ceremony, 2010. Pic: MATT DUNHAM & LUKE MaCGREGOR/ REUTERS
Lady Gaga says she didn’t write her latest hit song, “Born This Way,” but rather the late British fashion designer Alexander McQueen did so when he channeled it through her from beyond the grave.
Gaga told Harper’s Bazaar magazine in a recent interview that McQueen, who committed suicide by hanging on February 11, 2010, “planned the whole thing: Right after he died, I wrote ‘Born This Way.’ I think he’s up in heaven with fashion strings in his hands, marionetting away, planning this whole thing.”
Lady Gaga. Pic: DONALD KRAVITZ/ GETTY
The hit television musical series Glee announced that it will devote an episode to Lady Gaga’s music, extending the show from 30 to 90 minutes.
The storyline will involve Mr. Schuester teaching the New Directions glee club “a valuable lesson about self-acceptance and embracing what makes you unique through the music of Lady Gaga.” Gaga’s recent single “Born This Way” will be sung on the show to illustrate the theme. The cast performed “Poker Face” in a previous episode last year as well as an excerpt from “Telephone”
Several artists have not allowed Glee to interpret their music, including Bjork and Kings of Leon, which set off a feud with the show’s creator Ryan Murphy who has since explained he understands.
The Lady Gaga episode is scheduled to air on April 26 in the US.
For more info go to http://www.fox.com/glee
Lady Gaga
Happy Birthday Gaga!
The pop sensation, born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, celebrated her 25th birthday on Monday and jumped on stage at her surprise birthday party where she performed with the restuarant’s Mariachi band.
