Hot Music Beat

Did you guys know that R Kelly is illiterate? According to a speech that the singer gave at the Midwest Music Festival in Chicago, the R&B star says he barely graduated from elementary school. R Kelly said “I don’t even read really and I’m not afraid to say that. The only reason I graduated from grammar school is because I had a great jump shot. I went to high school and [my teacher] told me, ‘You will be one of the greatest writers of all time. I believed. You [have to] believe it. You can’t believe [anything] if you’re hating.”

A clump of Elvis Presley’s hair is up for auction! The locks, which were cut off in 1958 when the King of Rock and Roll joined the Army, will be up for grabs on October 18th as part of an Elvis memorabilia collection in Chicago. Sources say that they expect the singer’s hair to go for around $12,000 at the sale. I don’t know about you but that’s just a little too creepy for me. However, it may be something to hold onto for those genetic engineering freaks out there just waiting for the science to progress and wanting their very own Elvis clone.

Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz recently went through another embarrassing moment because of his wife’s partying ways. First, there was the incident where Ashlee Simpson publicly berated the rock star’s ex-girlfriend Michelle Trachtenberg. Now, Ashlee reportedly instigated a fight with her husband this past Saturday. Pete just finished performing with his band at the Blink 182 concert in Chicago. Then, he went to celebrate the one year anniversary of his bar, Angels & Kings. Multiple sources are saying that Ashlee proceeded to get drunk and belligerent. A source said that while Pete was in the DJ booth, Ashlee “came up completely wasted and yells at him to leave. They fought, she told him he was horrible in front of a whole group of people and made him leave his own party early. So they make a scene and leave the bar.” I think someone needs to go to rehab.

It seems that the R&B group Earth, Wind and Fire and the legendary pop band Chicago have teamed up yet again as it does wonders for both their careers. The bassist of Earth, Wind and Fire, Verdine White, said the following about the new alliance: “The first time turned out really great. The second time was better, and this one’s over the top, because now everybody really gets it and people really dig it.” Actually, this one might prove to be a bit redundant since it’s the third time around and people might actually get bored of the idea. Actually, what am I saying? Given how much originiality is appreciated these days, they’ll probably have better success than they would’ve had each releasing a new record separately.