Hot Music Beat

Though reports have been going around that a reconciliation between Janet Jackson and Jermaine Dupri has gone down, the singer put them to rest when talking about her so-called ex on the radio. While fielding a question about the hip hop producer during a radio interview in Atlanta, Janet told the host “I’m not the type of girl that stay in touch with your ex like that.” After realizing that her phrasing could be misconstrued, Janet added that she and Jermaine are still good friends, saying “I love him to death. We’re still connected. We’re still good friends. We still talk.” To me, those two statements are so polar off each other. It makes you wonder.

Sting had some choice words for Simon Cowell and his show The X Factor, including the “appalling”, “bland” and “soulless”. The singer said “It’s a preposterous show, and you have judges who have no recognizable talent apart from self-promotion. Basically I was looking at televised karaoke where they conform to stereotypes. It is a soap opera which has nothing to do with music.” Simon shot back with a jab of his own followed by a joking invitation for the singer to appear on the show. Sting couldn’t take a joke and replied with “I wouldn’t get on The X Factor because I don’t sound like anyone they’re after. I sound like myself. I think they are basically aping pre-existing stereotypes of what singers should do and they’re not being themselves.”

In the upcoming issue of Rolling Stone magazine, Adam Lambert holds nothing back when discussing Gene Simmons’ stupid comments about his sexuality from earlier in the year. The American Idol runner up said “Gene Simmons spouted something, that he thought I’d ruined my career by coming out. He’s obnoxious, and what a hypocrite – all he talks about is his sex life. He was being a dick – and he’s not the greatest singer. I guess he’s a good businessman. I’ll give him that.” Well, Gene is kind of a diva. I wonder if the aging KISS rocker will bite his big tongue or come back with even more insults.

After partying it up at the Soho House in London this past weekend, Amy Winehouse was a little worse for wear. It’s been reported that the singer spent the next day at The London Clinic on doctor’s orders due to ingesting a mixture of incompatible substances. Apparently, Wino took cold medicine that did not mix with another medicine that she’s already taking. I guess Nyquil, Methadone and alcohol don’t exactly go well together. A friend said “Amy took over-the-counter stuff for a cold but it didn’t agree with medication she takes for her on-going recovery. A doctor came to the house and advised her to go the hospital to make sure she was all right.”

Taylor Swift is featured on the cover of the December 2009 issue of InStyle magazine which will hit stands on November 20th. WWD reports that something special is up with that particular cover of the country singer. They say “Readers who hold up the cover to their Web camera will see Swift spring to life surrounded by snowflakes in a 45-second video that ends when she signs her autograph across the screen. ‘We’re using this in an interesting way; it will bring the issue to life,’ noted managing editor Ariel Foxman.” That sounds like such a sweet treat for everyone indeed.

If you are part of the Twitter world, I’m sure you would have noticed something a little off with Britney Spears’ page. Obviously, someone was able to hack into the pop star’s page. I have to give some props to whoever did it because it is pretty funny, albeit sick too. The hacker not only has the singer offer herself up to Satan but also has her warn us of the new world order. I wonder how Britney reacted when she saw her page when she woke up. I’m pretty sure she would have worn a face that I would have paid to see.

It really seems like Aerosmith is really over and done for. Joe Perry’s Guitar Hero bus and another white bus were spotted outside of the band’s recording studio in Massachusetts earlier this week. Equipment was being moved out of the studio all day. The guitarist has spoken that whether or not lead singer Steven Tyler has quit or is just taking a bit of a vacation, the band will go on with their music. I don’t care if he has a big ego. It just won’t be Aerosmith if Steven isn’t involved. Maybe they should just sit this out and just make a comeback when they’re 100.

After attempting to write and produce a mockumentary about their relationship and release some sexy home videos of his ex-wife, Ojani Noa just got slapped with a lawsuit from Jennifer Lopez. The singer/actress has filed a multi-million dollar suit against her ex and another defendant, Ed Myer, for marketing the proposed feature. Should a mockumentary and the home videos get released, it is in clear violation of the settlement agreement that contained non-disparagement and non-disclosure clauses. Plus, it’s very tacky and such a douche bag move. JLo is suing both guys for no less than $10 million. I’m pretty sure that she’s going to win this one.

Beyonce is soon going to perform in Northern Africa for the first time and Islamic conservatives in Egypt are slamming her concert as an “insolent sex party” that threatens the country’s “social peace and stability” and encourages “vice and debauchery”. Some lawmakers are protesting the show, calling for a governmental ban on the singer’s so-called nudity concert. A Facebook campaign in support of the conservatives stand is actually at 10,000 members. The show will go on though. Beyonce will perform at the Red Sea Resort of Port Ghalib, 100 miles south of Cairo, and security will be tight to protect not only the singer but the fans as well.

Bruce Springsteen is looking to add “author” to his resume. The rock star is reportedly working on his autobiography which is allegedly composed of voluminous journals that the singer has meticulously kept over the years. Although the Boss has yet to sell the rights to them, insiders are saying that his life story has the potential to be the biggest rock music autobiography of all time and get up to $10 million for world rights. Who knew? Bruce is also said to be looking to hire a research assistant to help him compose the rock autobiography. I thought he kept journals, why would he need help getting things straight?

A lot of celebrities had pretty good costumes for their Halloween gigs or whatnot but my favorite has to be Kelly Clarkson when she dressed up as ‘Family Guy’ character Stewie Griffin during the singer’s Halloween Concert at the Family Arena last weekend in St. Charles, Missouri. The 27-year old original American Idol champ performed a few of her songs dressed up as the cartoon and danced around on stage, shaking her Stewie butt. It’s a complete riot to watch! Kelly even danced to Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ at one point. Kelly and ‘Family Guy’ ruled my Halloween world that’s for sure!

After being hyped to the extreme, the Michael Jackson documentary ‘This is It’ has shaped up to be a disappointment. The late singer’s film made $20.7 million over the Halloween weekend, which was much less than Sony had expected. Execs apparently thought that the initial talk of sold-out screenings during the pre-sale has kept fans from turning out to see the movie. I guess they were way off the mark when they calculated the public interest. Perhaps all the hype surrounding the King of Pop is dying down. It should serve as a lesson to all those money-hungry people who want to get a free ride off it.

In an unlikely pairing, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles will be presenting a special performance from the Bolshoi Ballet and Lady Gaga on November 14th. The production is called ‘Ballets Russes Italian Style (The Shortest Musical You Will Never See Again)’. It’s being overseen by renowned Italian performance artist Francesco Vezzoli and finds the dancers choreographed to the pop singer’s inventive music. The performance is also reportedly going to feature the debut of Lady Gaga’s ‘Speechless’ single off of her ‘Fame Monster’ album. That sounds like an epic! And I think that the title of the show suits it. I doubt we ever will see that type of thing again.

Robbie Williams has decided to pull out of his performance at the MTV European Music Awards, citing scheduling conflicts. Well there goes his comeback. What? Is the singer too busy relapsing? I doubt he has much else going on anyway. Not only is he nominated for an award but he needs to do something to counteract his insane X Factor performance. Snap out of it man! Or was he too embarrassed to go back on stage because of that? And I thought that he was serious about getting his music career back on track. The only thing that could probably save him now is a Take That reunion and that’s saying a lot.

I’m sure a lot of Lady Gaga fans are very excited for her newest release ‘The Fame Monster’ and I bet that excitement will grow exponentially once everyone finds out the details of the albums Deluxe Edition. On top of the 8 new studio recordings, it includes the original album ‘The Fame’ and ‘Book of Gaga’ – a highly stylized art book that comes in a custom slipcase documenting the singer’s rise into pop super stardom. It includes a lock of Lady Gaga’s hair, collectible puzzle, pictorials, a behind the scenes look at her creative process, pull out posters, themed fanzines, a paper doll collection, 3D glasses to view forthcoming visuals and personal notes from Lady Gaga. Wow!

I have some exciting new for all you Lady Gaga fans. Not only is the singer’s new single ‘Bad Romance’ already available on iTunes but a detailed track list for her album ‘The Fame Monster’ has been released. The list goes as ‘Bad Romance’, ‘Alejandro’, ‘Monster’, ‘Speechless’, ‘Dance in the Dark’, ‘Telephone’ featuring Beyonce’, ‘So Happy I Could Die’ and ‘Teeth’. Yes, Beyonce will be on one of the Princess of Pop’s tracks! Lady Gaga was recently filming a video for Beyonce’s ‘Video Phone’. I wonder if they filmed a video for ‘Telephone’ too. By the way, I’m having a slight chuckle at the titles of their songs.

John Mayer’s first single ‘Who Says’ off of his upcoming album doesn’t do much for me but the rumored second single is so much better. The song has recently surfaced and I really like it. Unlike the sparse and cutesy first single, ‘Heartbreak Warfare’ takes music lovers on much more of a sonic and emotional journey. The song may sound like a U2 rip off to most people but, let’s face it, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. What is it going on and going wrong with singers releasing duds for first singles these days? Shakira, Rihanna, John Mayer – who will be next?

Garth Brooks has been retired from the music scene since 2000 but the country singer has recently signed on with the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas to perform at the Danny Gans Theater beginning next year. The country star is expected to perform for 16 weeks shortly after New Year’s. Garth also recently had press conferences in both Nashville and Vegas to announce further details. If for some reason you don’t know who this guy is, Garth has sold over 220 million albums worldwide since his first album back in 1989 and currently lives in Oklahoma with his fellow country singer wife Trisha Yearwood.

AllGood Entertainment is now after Michael Jackson’s estate in the battle over profits from the upcoming movie ‘This is It’, along with revenues from the Sony catalog. The company is suing for over $300 million. AllGood previously filed a lawsuit against the King of Pop, AEG Live and Frank Dileo for $40 million when the singer was still alive. Now the company filed an amended suit which includes the estate of Michael with the original defendants still named in the amended suit. AllGood sued because it claims that Dileo acted as Michael’s agent and agreed to a Jackson family reunion concert that got torpedoed when the London concerts were booked.

In order to promote his new album ‘The Circle’, which is due out on November 10th, Jon Bon Jovi will only be appearing on TV shows owned by NBC Universal, dubbing him their “artist in residence”. The singer said “Of course you usually try to be out there everywhere, when a new album is coming out. So we have to sacrifice certain shows and relationships. We hope this doesn’t jeopardize any of them. But in a shrinking media environment, you have to kind of reinvent the wheel.” His appearances will include the Today show, The Tonight Show, The Jay Leno Show, Saturday Night Live and Inside the Actors Studio.