Eminem and Rihanna’s hit new song “The Monster” has been dominating the music charts. Soaring now at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, the duo decided to have a little celebration.
Eminem released a brief preview to the highly-anticipated music video yesterday, Dec. 13.
In the preview, Rihanna acts as a counselor of sorts, analyzing Eminem (who is playing the patient.) Eminem sits in a chair as he watches a series of words like “family” and “addiction” pop up on a television set. He slowly goes into some sort of trance as the sounds in the room begin to grow. It’s certainly a pretty sweet preview.
What do you think of the video?
“The Monster” appears on Eminem’s “The Marshall Mathers LP2.” The album hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in November.
Music’s bad girl P!nk accepted the award for Woman of the Year at Billboard’s annual Women in Music luncheon in New York City.
Check out highlights from the luncheon and P!nk’s acceptance speech here.
“I think today is going to be very inspiring. I’m excited about the whole thing, celebrating women,” said the honored pop star prior to the event.
Another fierce female walking the red carpet prior to the award luncheon was fellow music diva, Janelle Monáe.
“Oh I love P!nk,” she said. “You know over the years she’s been so fearless. I love her fearlessness-that’s what I admire. She just goes for it in her performances, in her messages in her music, everything. She goes for it.”
Monáe was being honored as well, being named Billboard’s 2013 rising star.
Of course, leave it to the candid P!nk to share her honest thoughts about receiving the honorable title.
“I have had an incredible year, it’s been insane. It’s been blessing after blessing after blessing. I have a really bad memory so I feel like at this point my whole life’s been awesome. I’m like Dory from “Nemo.” My husband tells me I only remember the bad shit but I think that’s changing. Because now honey boo boo boo, thanks to Billboard and Cover Girl my shit doesn’t stink,” said P!nk.
The 34-year-old musician kept it light while shifting to a more serious note during her speech.
“Honestly, if I can be serious, and I don’t really like to be, this is an incredible honor. I’m feeling really grateful. I’m feeling grateful that I’ve been able to participate in this game for as long as I have. I’m feeling grateful that I’ve been able to tell my stories. I don’t know that my mom and dad are that grateful, or Carey, but it’s been good for me. I’m grateful if I’ve kept one girl from felling different or ugly or un-empowered.”
Her speech was heartfelt and genuine leaving a powerful impact on the listeners. Towards the end of her speech, she offered up a message to young girls everywhere, further justifying why she indeed was named Woman of the Year.
“Here’s what I wish. I wish that girls embraced their power and their worth and their value in their youth, and not sell it or barter it for anything and have to buy it back later in life.”
The Madison, Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation consists of a group of non-believers, who aim to promote religious freedom. They are engaged in a campaign that will continue to advance the separation of the church and state through their use of fifty-five billboards. In order to bring broader visibility to their lack of religious faith, the billboards will be placed throughout the Sacramento Valley, California landscape with featured slogans and pictures of local residents. This campaign follows similar ones that have taken place in other major U.S. cities in recent years.
The messages are used as a vehicle of expression, in order to encourage other non-believers to “come out of the closet” and to be open about their atheism, especially during the holiday season. By doing so, the messages create widespread controversy, deeply impacting the hearts of “believers” throughout the country. The atheist billboards have become a part of the public debate between religious conservatives and atheist individuals, who prefer to set religion aside and out of the public life.
“The whole month of December is taken over in a celebration of the religious beliefs, in particular Christianity, and it’s just as if the whole month turns non-believers into outsiders,” stated Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Foundation. She also stressed that the campaign is not meant to insult Christmas or any other holidays, but to inspire individuals to ignore the religious undertones. According to Gaylor, the group sought out Sacramento-area members to share their views from their perspectives as non-believers. The response was so extremely positive that the organization had to build a contract with a second billboard company to meet the high demand.
“I believe in people, not gods,” reads a message from Liz Shoemaker, a Sacramento teacher. Another statement from Matt and Kimberly Martin, a Sacramento couple, reads, “Integrity and compassion require no gods.” These billboards portray residents against “softly colored backgrounds” that list their names and the communities in which they reside. Gaylor said, “We’re a free society, and it’s the free marketplace of ideas. It should be debated publicly. What’s wrong with open debate?” In fact, it would be unconstitutional under the First Amendment to prohibit freedom of expression, and conversely, the Amendment also protects the right to freedom of religion, or, in this case, lack thereof.
James Murphy, Monsignor of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento, agrees that people can do good without being religious and that atheists have a right to express their views on billboards and anywhere else. “I wish they weren’t up there…but I’m not going to fight their rights,” he said. Though, he did find it ironic that the billboards plan to be deployed after Thanksgiving, which is a holiday that shows a culture deeply rooted in religion. The billboards are set to go up in Sacramento on the day after Thanksgiving, yet there are other reports stating that they will be put up on Monday, December 2, 2013. The organization also plans to make their mark in Chicago as well. They plan on placing a large “A”, for atheism, in Chicago’s Daley Plaza, which is the site of an annual Christmas display.
Gaynor firmly believes that the campaign can show non-believers one significant point: that they do not have to hide their views in a polarized nation where atheists and agnostics often feel isolated. “Those of us who are free from religion, who work to keep dogma out of government, science, medicine, and education, have a lot to offer society,” she exclaimed. Bishop Jaime Soto, of Sacramento’s Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, states, “While I’m not happy about this kind of propaganda going out, particularly in this area, I am fairly certain that people still, when they look deep down in their soul and in their heart, there is this spark of faith.”
Have a John Mayer fan in your life? Not sure what to get them for Christmas? Well here’s an early Christmas gift idea, and it could be quite cheap too!
On Monday, Mayer took to his Instagram to announce a photo contest.
The soulful singer posted, “Submit pictures with #BKLOVESMAYER to enter a flyaway contest to JM’s show in Brooklyn on 12/17 courtesy of Citi Private Pass. Show us who/what you love! www.billboard.com/BKLovesMayer,” with the following photo.
The photo contest with Billboard magazine is in support of Mayer’s Fall 2013 tour with Citi. The inspiration for this contest is Mayer’s latest single, “Who You Love.”
From November 7 to November 26, fans have a chance to share a photo and explain who or what they love on Instagram with the hashtag #BKLovesMayer. The winner will be chosen in early December and will then be flown to Brooklyn, New York, meet the Grammy Award-winning Mayer and then get to see him in concert at the Barclays Center on December 17.
Mayer fans can also enter for a chance to win a signed copy of his latest album, Paradise Valley. Just visit the website billboard.com/bklovesmayer and go through the photos already posted by fans with the hashtag #BKLovesMayer. Once you have chosen your favorite two, put them side-by-side and post them to the websites gallery. Five winners will then be chosen to win a signed copy of Paradise Valley.
Fans of Mayer have already taken to their Instagram to post photos of who/what they love.
One woman posted a photo of her daughter saying, “I love my daughter who is traveling around the world to serve the least and the lost#BKLOVESMAYER#the worldrace#11n11”
Another fan loves the fact that Mayer and Katy Perry are a couple.
“My two favorite singers!!! #bklovesmayer #matchmadeinheaven”
While another fan posted she loves being a part of her family.
Katey Sagal, everyone’s favorite, sarcastic housewife from Married With Children, is also popular for her musical talents. Fans have waited almost a decade for material, but will be happy to hear that a new record is finally being released.
Sagal explained the reason for the lapse to Billboard, “Probably a lot of writers’ block, and a real busy schedule.”
http://t.co/xTKLHNKmsz
My record is now available for pre order at this amazon link!Release date Nov 11! Enjoy tweeties #SOAFX
The star of Sons Of Anarchy has been busy with her television commitments, and has even shared her musical abilities on the show. However, when questioned about her time away from releasing new music of her own, she did not blame her television involvement as the reason. She credits the creators of the show with allowing her character, Gemma Teller Morrow, to showcase her music skills.
“It’s really been awesome. Every season I sing at least one song in the soundtrack. My husband, who writes the show, and Bob, who does the music, came up with great covers for me to do,” Sagal said.
Sagal looked internally when explaining the real reason behind her break from releasing albums, though during that time she was still actively involved in other avenues of performing music. “I love to play music, and I was playing gigs and doing a lot of songs off my other records. I thought ‘I really need to have some new songs.’ I’ve been trying to write, but I realized that I like the process of recording song and finding songs. It kind of came out of necessity of wanting to get to it. I couldn’t wait on myself anymore,” she said.
Sagal has taken to Twitter to promote her new album, Covered, and also to keep her fans up-to-date on public appearances.
Although rapper Eminem dominated the Billboard charts this week with his ground-breaking new single, “The Monster,” he wasn’t the only artist on the record who made the history books. This time, it was actually the featured artist on the record who made the historic headlines when the song topped the charts. The featured artist is none other than Barbadian singer, Rihanna.
Rihanna ended up making it to the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the 25th time when the record landed in the No. 3 slot on the charts this week. According to Billboard.com, Rihanna is tied with Elvis Presley at number 25 on the the list for ‘The Most Hot 100 Top 10s.’
(image)
Ironically, “Monster” is Rihanna’s 25th record to top the charts. But, the accolades don’t stop there. The singer was also declared as the fastest female artist to reach 25 top 10s, out-running Madonna. Rihanna is also the second artist to garner 25 top 10s in a matter of just eight years. Her first chart topping record was “Pon De Replay,” which as released in 2005.“Monster” is calculated as Rihanna’s 45th record to actually make the Billboard Hot 100. She and Mariah Carey are tied with 45 Hot 100 entries.
Billboard editorial director, Bill Werde, took to Twitter to personally congratulate the “Love the Way You Lie” singer for such a notable accomplishment.
She re-tweeted his post, and took a moment to thank her fans, whom she affectionately refers to as the “Navy.” The “Where Have You Been” singer showed expressed her gratitude by thanking fans for helping her achieve such an incredible feat.
Navy thank you for pushing me and allowing me to keep breaking records and making histoRIH along with the greats! Jah just keeps blessing us
Lorde’s “Royals” is totally ruling the Billboard Hot 100 for a third week. Meanwhile, Ylvis’ “The Fox” darts to the Digital Songs top 10 and Justin Bieber and Eminem soar into the Hot 100’s top 20.
Our friends at Billboard broke down the Hot 100’s top 10 and more below.
“Royals” crowns the subscription services-based On-Demand Songs chart with 2.8 million on-demand U.S. streams, according to Nielsen BDS (up 1%). The activity helps keep the cut at its No. 3 peak to date on the overall Streaming Songs chart (8 million U.S. streams, up 5%).
“Royals” tops Digital Songs for a fourth week with 293,000 downloads sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It pushes closer to the Radio Songs chart’s summit, bulleting at No. 2 with an 11% gain to 158 million audience impressions, according to BDS.
Lorde’s breakthrough single battles against Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball,” which swings 3-2 with top Airplay Gainer honors.
The former two-week No. 1 rises 10-9 on Radio Songs. After taking a tiny dip to No. 2 last week, “Wrecking Ball” makes a comeback to the top. That victory marks for a fourth week atop Streaming Songs.
Cyrus’ latest album, “Bangerz” was released Oct. 4.
Miss Miley Cyrus debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with her hot new release “Bangerz.” So far, the album has sold 270,000 copies in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
“Bangerz” is Cyrus’ fifth No. 1 album (counting her soundtrack albums as the Disney character Hannah Montana.)
In 2006, Cyrus topped the list with the popular Disney Channel TV series’ very first soundtrack. She then went on to top the list again with its big-screen film adaptation soundtrack in 2009. Cyrus went on to reach No. 1s with the half-soundtrack/half-studio album “Hannah Montana 2/Meet Miley Cyrus” set in 2007, and then with her own “Breakout” studio album in 2008. Cyrus’ last studio album, 2010’s “Can’t Be Tamed,” debuted and peaked at No. 3 from a 102,000 start.
This week, “Bangerz” is one of seven debuting albums in the top 10.
Following in the No. 2 spot is Panic! at the Disco’s “Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die” with 84,000.
Check out Panic! at the Disco’s “This is Gospel” from their latest album.
It seems like James Blunt came out with his debut hit, “You’re Beautiful” and then then completely disappeared from the charts and music world entirely. While he’s made other albums, it seems the star hasn’t resonated with his fans quite like how he did with his original album.
But good news because Blunt is back. His newest album doesn’t come out for another three weeks, but if you’re just dying to listen, you’re certainly in luck. Our friends over at Billboard are streaming his fourth studio album, “Moon Landing” in its entirety today.
The album was produced by Tom Rothrock who has worked with artists from Beck to the Foo Fighters. Rothrock worked with Blunt on his multi-platinum selling 2004 debut album, “Back to Bedlam.”
In an interview he did with Billboard, Blunt said, “I have written it very much without an audience in mind.”
He went on to say, “In many ways this is, perhaps, the album that I would have recorded if my fast album ‘Back to Bedlam’ hadn’t sold in the way that it did.”
But regardless if fans like the new tunes or not, Blunt doesn’t seem to mind.
“It’s not about selling, he says. “It’s not about units. I do what I do because it means something to me,” said Blunt.
“Moon Landing” comes out on Nov. 5. Listen to the album here.
All kinds of billboards upset all kinds of people–that’s just the blessing and curse of advertising; however, there are some billboards out there that publicize their message over the line, or do they? A small community in Texas believes so, where an image of Jesus covered in tattoos has been placed in public view.
According to ABC News, a billboard of Jesus with his torso covered in tattoos has appeared along a West Lubbock, Texas, highway advertising the website JesusTattoo.org. This website, according to its about page, is owned by “a small group of people humbled by the love of Jesus. We are not a church. We are not selling anything. We encourage you to tell as many people as possible. That’s it.”
The terms stated on the tattooed Jesus’ torso include: “Outcast,” “Addicted,” and “Jealous.”
With West Lubbock, Texas, residing in the “Bible Belt” community, the billboard has sparked quite a lot of controversy with local religious and non-religious residents. The billboard has also received a lot of support as well, so the views of the town on the billboard’s content are mixed.
Some of the reactions from local residents of West Lubbock, Texas, are provided below:
“I don’t like the picture. I think it’s very derogatory.”
“I’m thinking more like it’s something that’s blasphemous, negative.”
“But you know, it’s a testament of our sin and nobody’s perfect.”
“I just think that if you want to express how you feel about God or anything, you can put that on your body.”
Everyone is talking buzzing about the 16-year-old New Zealand pop princess, Lorde. “Royals” has been fulfilling it’s namesake, rising to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for a second week.
Her debut full-length album “Pure Heroine” debuts on the Billboard 200 at No. 3. Needless to say, it’s been a pretty sweet time for the gal and her music.
But how are the other young divas of pop doing among the charts, like miss Miley? Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball” charges into the Radio Songs top 10.
Check out the song that seems to be jamming out of every stereo and radio station.
Here’s a rundown of the charts according to our friends over at Billboard.
“Royals” rises 2-1 on the subscription services-based On-Demand Songs ranking with 2.8 million on-demand U.S. streams, according to Nielsen BDS. The activity helps push the cut 5-3 on the overall Streaming Songs chart (7.6 million U.S. streams, up 24%).
Lorde: Topping Hot 100 ‘Feels Like Christmas’ / Ask Billboard
Reader Mailbag: All-Lorde Edition
“Royals” tops Digital Songs for a third week with 309,000 downloads sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. With its latest frame, the cut passes 2 million in download sales so far (2.16 million). The track also edges closer to the Radio Songs chart’s summit, lifting 4-2 with the survey’s biggest gain (up 12% to 143 million audience impressions, according to BDS).
“Royals” tops the Hot Rock Songs chart for a sixth week.
Lorde’s debut hit fends off Katy Perry’s former two-week Hot 100 No. 1 “Roar” for a second week (2-2). The latter track spends a third frame atop Radio Songs (167 million, down 1%), holds at No. 2 on Digital Songs (218,000, down 9%) and slips 4-5 on Streaming Songs (6.2 million, down 2%). “Roar,” meanwhile, extends records on two airplay charts: It holds atop Pop Songs and Adult Pop Songs with the highest weekly plays totals (16,065 and 5,309, respectively) in each list’s history, improving upon last week’s record-setting sums.
Socialite, Paris Hilton is at it again. She’s making more music. We learned that not long ago that the platinum blonde beauty has signed with Cash Money Records, teaming with Lil Wayne on her first single in seven years.
“I love dance music and I love hip hop, so I think bringing those together makes an amazing song,” said Hilton about her upcoming single.
Her first single will be called, “Good Time.” Hilton claims it’s, “very eclectic.”
Hilton stopped by the Billboard studios before the single’s Oct. 8 release and had a little chat with Billboard’s Andrew Hampp. She told him that the record will include collaborations other rappers like Snoop Dogg, Flo Rida as well as producer Afrojack.
Hilton has also made her way into DJ’ing. The blonde has landed gigs in Singapore to Hong Kong and upcoming stops in L.A., Russia and Equador. Expect to see Hilton spinning at other dance festivals.
I went to check out what fans thought about this set and comments were disabled for this video on YouTube.
“Thrift Shop” Macklemore & Ryan Lewis recently (as in two days ago, Thursday, Oct. 3) dropped a little something special for fans. No, we’re not talking about another hit single. The duo released a documentary.
The film follows the rapper-producer duo as they travel to different locations from London to Dublin on their very first, world tour. Throughout the documentary, you can see very intimate moments between the two as they embark on adventures no one could prepare the rookie pair for.
The 11-minute clip is courtesy of clothing brand Buffalo David Bitton, whose program, “Blank Check Series,” partners with creatives in different forums in order to tell stories through their platforms from print to video and everything in between. Bitton will provide a blank check to fund whatever the artist sees fit.
“We are thrilled to be working with Buffalo David Bitton on their creative ‘Blank Check Series,’” commented Macklemore & Ryan Lewis via press release Billboard recieved. “We immediately resonated with the idea behind the campaign. The partnership allows for us to bring the talented video crew and gear we’ve always wanted to have out on tour documenting the experience. Being our first arena tour, we are excited to bring the behind the scenes and our life on the road to our fans in a way that we’ve always hoped to.”
28-year-old pop sensation, Katy Perry is still beaming with the success of her new single, “Roar.” But what’s even more exciting is that the music superstar has recently announced what single will closely follow its mighty predecessor.
Perry was recently featured as the Billboard cover story. In the article, you get a pretty hefty breakdown of her album, “PRISM.” In the article she also declared the beautiful ballad, “Unconditionally” will serve as the forthcoming album’s second hit single.
The second single is due out on Tuesday, Oct. 22.
Perry was one of the many starlets that performed at the recent iHeartRadio festival in Las Vegas. While there, she told MTV that, “It’s a love song and it’s different from ‘Roar’ — it’s not eighth-notey.”
She also went on to talk about the universal appeal that she hopes the song will have with her fans.
“And I think it’s a universal love song that everyone’s going to be able to relate to no matter the age, no matter male or female. It’s my favorite song off the record,” said Perry.
“Roar” is still at No. 2 on this week’s Hot 100 chart, while album track and non-single “Dark Horse” (featuring Juicy J) debuted at No. 17 on the ranking.
County music supergroup, Lady Antebellum has been soaring with the May release of their album, “Golden.” And what’s even more exciting is that the Capitol Nashville group recently announced their newest single as, “Compass.”
“Sometimes in this amazing music industry that we live, breathe, and work in, a song comes into your life that you can’t ignore,” said Hillary Scott of Lady A.
Scott spoke with Billboard and went on to discuss the excitement that wells with “Compass.”
“From the minute we first heard it, we believed in the message and the overall feel of the song. We knew we could put our own little overall spin on it. We had to have the fans hear it – immediately. So, we got creative, sat together with our team and our label, and told them that this song is where we are right now, as a band and personally. We wanted it out, so thankfully, everyone worked with us and are excited about it too, ” said Scott.
YouTube users and Lady A fans sure are exciting about the recent announcement. One user said, “Love it!! Another great song form Lady A!!”
Another user said, “I love everything you do!!!”
Lady Antebellum is currently on tour. You can grab tickets here.
English singer/songwriter God, Roger Waters (yes, the same Roger of the badass rock band, Pink Floyd) is still influencing crowds. And no, I’m not talking about the impact he’s had on the thousands of fans gathering at his recent Wall Live tours either.
Waters will be entertaining fans in a different, much-less “Broadway spectacle ” manner as he was named the keynote Q&A speaker at the 10th Annual Billboard Touring Conference & Awards. The special event will take place Nov. 13-14 in New York.
Now that Waters is finishing up the last little bit of his Wall Live tour, he has some extra time to donate-and what better way to use his free time than to speak to large crowds?
Check out the trailer to his Live Wall tour.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggkNk47HoLk[/embed
Waters tour has become one of the most successful tours in history. It took home top honors at the 2012 Billboard Touring Awards as well as being a finalist in top Draw and top Boxscore.
Ray Waddell, Billboard’s executive director of content and programming, touring and live entertainment had nothing but pleasant things to say about the upcoming conference.
“Roger Waters is one of the most compelling subjects I’ve ever interviewed, and I am thrilled that he will be our keynote Q&A at the conference,” said Waddell.
“His impact on music and the live experience is undeniable, but his interests and opinions transcend the music industry. This is guaranteed to be a fascinating session,” said Waddell.
Waddell will be conducting the interview with Waters.
Whenever clicking on the television it inevitably seems that yet another reality talent series illuminates the set, simultaneously hypnotizing millions of viewers while discovering the next big thing. It seems though that Fox TV’s “American Ido” series has absolutely nothing really to worry about.
The hit musically-talented seeking series has successfully yielded back-to-back million-selling debut albums from its winners for the first time since 2008.
Phillip Phillips, the 2012 American Idol champ, sold yet another 4,000 copies of his debut set, “The World From the Side of the Moon” this week. The success of the recent sales brought the total sales up to 1.004 million according to Nielsen SoundScan.
The success of Phillips’ merits haven’t dwindled there, with his set resting at No. 87 on the Billboard 200 this week after a whopping 44 weeks on the chart.
The 2011 “idol” winner, Scotty McCreery reached 1 million in sales for his debut album, “Clear As Day.” Since its release date in October 2011, the album has sold 1.2 million copies.
The last two seasons that had back-to-back million-selling albums from its winners was 2007 and 2008 champs, Jordin Sparks and David Cook.
Phillips was named the 11th-season winner of “American Idol” on May 23, 2012.
They say hindsight is 20/20, and Katy Perry reveals to Billboard, in a new interview, that she learned that to be a fact concerning the interview she gave to Barbara Walters during the last ebbing weeks of her marriage to Russel Brand.
“I shouldn’t have done the interview,” Perry admitted about Walters’ Most Fascinating People of 2011 special, which aired that December. “I was playing Madison Square Garden that same night, and I knew that the end of my marriage was coming. I was just exhausted and stressed.”
The “Part of Me” star claims that the Queen of Media kicked her a little while she was already down, but notes that it wasn’t intentional on Barbara’s part.
“I’d prepped everyone that I was running late, but Barbara showed up at the original time anyway,” the “Roar” singer continued. “When I got there, I apologized immediately, but then she said to me, ‘You know, I’ve only ever waited for one other person this long, and you know who that person was? Judy Garland. You know how she turned out, right?’ I was like, ‘Oh, snap! Yes, bitch!’”
But Perry harbors no ill will to Barbara, in fact she still greatly admires her, “I think it’s the coolest thing that Barbara Walters shaded me,” Perry added. “I just couldn’t tell her as we were sitting down for a mega-interview, ‘Hey, my marriage is falling apart. Give me a break.’”
Walters of course brought up Perry’s husband and his troubled past in the interview, and asked if it was “a good marriage, a happy marriage?”
After a pause, a pink-haired Perry, managed to squeak out, “I think it’s lovely, so far.”
Russel Brand informed Perry he was leaving via text message, and filed for divorce from the star just weeks after her interview aired.
Walters went on to ask more questions about Perry’s whirlwind marriage to Brand. When Walters asked the “Roar” singer if Brand’s heroine addiction, that he was battling when they met, bothered her, she replied, “Um, it didn’t actually, because I knew about my father’s past [battling substance abuse]. “I knew that there is a capacity for change in anyone, I really believe that. I saw that Russell’s changed as well, so I believe that people can really…uh…turn out for the best.”
But when Walters asked if there was anything she wanted to reveal right then and there, she said, “No, let’s just talk about right here.”
Her interview with Billboard wasn’t only about a past interview, however. The Grammy winning star also talked to Billboard about how some of her songs from “Prism” take influence from Brand, such as the upcoming “Ghost,” in which she sings, “You sent a text, it’s like the wind changed your mind,” in reference to the devastating text message.
And the song “By the Grace of God,” she said, “is evident of how tough it really was at a certain point. I asked myself, ‘Do I want to endure? Should I continue living?’
“All the songs are real-life moments. I can only write autobiographically. I put all the evidence in the music. I tell my fans if they want to know the real truth about stuff, just listen to the songs.”
There is nothing blurry about Robin Thicke’s recent success. For the first time in his career, Thicke’s recent album release, “Blurred Lines,” has hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 Chart. After being released on July 30, the album has already sold 177,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
2013 has seemed to be Thicke’s best year, due in part to his smash hit, the album’s title track, “Blurred Lines,” which features T.I. and Pharrell. The song is still holding strong on the charts, spending it’s ninth week as No. 1. And it’s breaking some records too.
The song has earned the top Gainer award on all three charts: Radio, Digital, and Streaming Songs. “Blurred Lines” is in the lead of the Radio Songs chart for a fifth week, the Digital Songs chart for a ninth week, and is back to the top spot of the Streaming Songs chart this week. The song also earned the Hot 100’s top Airplay Gainer honor for the tenth consecutive week.
After 4.27 million downloads, the song is now the second best selling song of the year.
Thicke has also found success with the title track in the U.K., reaching No.1 in early June.
In April 2003, Thicke released his first album, “A Beautiful World.” It only spent one week on the Billboard charts at no. 152.
The title track has also gotten some flack. First for it’s original video, with ladies spending most of their time clad in only nude underwear and shoes or skates. Secondly, some said the song was about rape. One blogger spoke out in April, referring to the line, “I know you want it,” and saying, “Call me a cynic, but that phrase does not exactly encompass the notion of consent in sexual activity.”
If you’ve been living under a rock or spending your life as a hermit since late 2012, here’s the rated version of the video for “Blurred Lines,” the song of Summer 2013.
Miley Cyrus says she’s evolved from who she used to be as an artist, and she hates that she can’t magically make her older music disappear.
“Right now, when people go to iTunes and listen to my old music, it’s so irritating to me because I can’t just erase that stuff and start over,” the singer told Billboard. “My last record [‘Can’t Be Tamed’] I feel so disconnected from — I was 16 or 17 when I made it. When you’re in your 20s, you just don’t really know that person anymore.”
Of course, the same can be said for any young person, but it must be frustrating to grow up in the public eye and have all your phases and fads play out in front of millions. Now that she’s a little more grown up, her style has evolved into something a little racy.
“I didn’t make this song for the critics, but for the people living it,” she said. “I’m 20 years old and I want to talk to the people that are up all night with their friends. It’s based on a true story of a crazy night I had: When I heard the song for the first time, it captured exactly what I was living.”
As of now, the upcoming album doesn’t have a title, but Cyrus says she considers it to be a fresh start.
“I want to start as a new artist. I consider my upcoming album my first, really.”
Robin Thicke recently collaborated on a song with T.I. and Pharrell Williams, and while some people credit the song’s success to a creative sampling of the Marvin Gaye hit “Got To Give It Up”, it looks like it was a majorly good decision on his part no matter what.
The single, “Blurred Lines”, has become the fastest-selling single of the year, selling 190,000 copies the first week it was available.
”‘Blurred Lines’ thus easily becomes the biggest single in the U.K. for U.S. soulman Thicke, whose only previous showing was the No. 11 success ‘Lost Without U’ in 2007. It’s also the second chart-topper to feature Williams in three weeks, following his appearance on Daft Punk’s ‘Get Lucky,’ which dipped 2-3 on the new list,” said Billboard Magazine.
