MTV’s Musical March Madness has reached the Final Four … and voting is open in our matchups! By James Montgomery Thirty Seconds to Mars Photo: Ian Gavan/ Getty Images
MTV’s Musical March Madness has reached the Final Four … and voting is open in our matchups! By James Montgomery Tokio Hotel’s Tom and Bill Kaulitz Photo: MTV News
‘We’d prefer to lose,’ Phoenix say of their hopes for MTV’s Musical March Madness tournament. By James Montgomery MTV News’ James Montgomery and Phoenix Photo: MTV News
MTV’s Musical March Madness tournament tips off March 18, and Twenty One Pilots have been doing plenty of pushups. By James Montgomery Twenty One Pilots Photo: MTV News
‘If I Die Tomorrow,’ off FM’s May 22 release, Dirty Bass, is ‘a song about losing yourself.’ By Jocelyn Vena Far East Movement Photo: MTV News Ever wondered what it would sound like if the Far East Movement enlisted Tokio Hotel ‘s glammy, gothy lead singer Bill Kaulitz for a track? Well, wonder no more, because now we have “If I Die Tomorrow.” The collaboration, which dropped Friday (May 18), leans more on FM’s love for partying than Kaulitz’s love for rocking. While FM rap all about bumping trunks, killing bottles and going crazy in the club, Kaulitz, in full auto-tuned, falsetto mode, proclaims, “If I die tomorrow, that means we had the night of our lives/ If tomorrow never comes, then tonight we lose control.” “If I Die Tomorrow” is off FM’s new album, Dirty Bass, out May 22. When MTV News caught up with Far East Movement recently, Kev Nish told us that fans will see plenty of “unexpected collaborations” like this on the upcoming album. “When we first signed to Cherrytree [Records], we went on the website and see who’s on the roster … and we saw Tokio Hotel, and we were like ‘Yo, this band is wild,’ ” Nish said of working with the Musical March Madness winner and Tokio Hotel’s leading man. “We were on a bus watching them on the MTV Europe Awards, winning, and we were like, ‘We need to do a song with those dudes.’ “So we got in with Bill Kaulitz and we just wanted to do a song about losing yourself, about possibly losing your mind, because you might die the next day,” he added. The album also features Justin Bieber on the song “Live My Life.” The same day the album drops, the group also kicks off their tour with the kings of party rocking, LMFAO . What do you think of “If I Die Tomorrow”? Leave your review in the comments section! Related Artists Tokio Hotel Far East Movement
Singer Hayley Williams says band is working on ‘a pretty strange schedule.’ By Gil Kaufman Paramore’s Hayley Williams Photo: MTV Less than six months ago, Paramore said they were determined to have more fun while recording their fourth studio album . Well, so much for that. On Wednesday, singer Hayley Williams gave fans a long-awaited update on the band’s still-untitled effort, which, from the sounds of it, has not been much of a party so far. “I’ve never known what it’s like to be home for more than a few weeks at a time that absolutely nothing is going on,” wrote Williams in a lengthy post in which she decried how quickly time flies. “The only thing I could think about was if we could snap our fingers and make the 4th album happen so that the next time I looked up, we’d be back on a stage somewhere and not sitting around at home. But you can’t just make things like that happen. For something to be great, there has to be some kind of trial or some type of struggle that actually makes it special or valuable to you. Otherwise, anything could be easily taken for granted.” After promising fans last year that they would release new music despite the December 2010 departure of members Josh and Zac Farro, Paramore weren’t able to produce a full-length album. They did, however, launch a killer single, “Monster,” and a Singles Club that served up fresh tracks “Hello Cold World” and “Renegades.” The group, which made it to the Elite Eight in this year’s Musical March Madness , are hard at work on the follow-up to 2009’s Brand New Eyes . So far, they’ve finished at least one song, “Daydreaming,” for the album that is being produced by former Beck band member Justin Meldal-Johnsen. “There’s no reason to lie about it, the first few months of writing were ridiculously draining and a lot more of a pain than a pleasure,” Williams said. “It was supposed to be fun right? We made it all the way to this point to just struggle some more. So, you can probably imagine that when the flood gates burst this past January and inspiration started filling us up again, we were more than willing to let it take us wherever it wanted. We’ve written a lot of songs I never thought we would write. And we aren’t done yet! The writing will continue even as we enter the studio.” Williams reported that she, bassist Jeremy Davis and guitarist Taylor York went in to record the track a week-and-a-half ago excited, but unsure if the results would be something they could use. “At the end of our time in the studio, it was clear to us that this was definitely right!” she wrote. “In case you can’t tell, we’re working on a pretty strange schedule, by our standards. There has never been so much time and care put into a Paramore album. Usually, we are rushing to make a very strict deadline, which so far has just not been right for this record. We cannot assure you it will be out this year. What we can tell you is that from now on, when we go in to create this thing, whether for a day at a time or for a month, you will be kept more informed. It is a total joy to make our fans/family a part of what we do because we couldn’t do it without you anyway.” Related Videos Paramore: The Complete Interview Related Artists Paramore
WWE superstar gives props to band’s ‘in-your-face, time-to- fight music.’ Voting in round two ends Sunday at midnight! By James Montgomery, with reporting by Rob Markman John Cena Photo: MTV News Voting in the second-round of MTV’s Musical March Madness is entering the home stretch and, well, it’s not looking good for Metallica. After disposing of fellow titans Guns N’ Roses in round one , James Hetfield and company currently trail upset-minded Sum 41 by an “Unforgiven”-size margin … and appear headed for the void. Of course, there’s still plenty of time to change things — voting in all second-round matchups closes Sunday at midnight ET — and, as luck would have it, Metallica are getting support from a rather unlikely source: WWE superstar John Cena, who would like to strongly encourage you to vote for his favorite band. And we mean strongly. “If you don’t vote Metallica strong, you ain’t been around music. They’re my vote to take it,” Cena told MTV News. “Because, like I say, I use music for energy. I’m involved in a lot of physical activity, a lot of times when you’re tired, you need to find energy from somewhere, and music evokes emotion. And Metallica, I don’t care who you are, they play ‘Enter Sandman’ at Yankee Stadium, and it’s a wrap.” So no offense to Sum 41, but for Cena, there’s nothing quite like the surge of “Sandman.” And while he’s probably got his mind on other things (like his year-in-the-making match with the Rock at WrestleMania XXVIII), he’ll be pulling for Metallica to make a comeback and advance to the Sweet 16. Why? Vote for your favorite band, discuss and share on Facebook and Twitter in the MTV Musical March Madness interactive bracket! “[Their music] transcends race, creed, color, sex, age; it’s just hard-hitting, in-your-face, time-to- fight music,” he snarled. “That’s my type of stuff right there.” And who’s man enough to disagree with that? MTV’s 2012 Musical March Madness tournament has reached the second round. Voting runs until midnight ET on Sunday, March 25, and winners are determined by fan votes, so if your favorite act is still alive, it’ll be up to you to guide them to glory. You can rally the troops on Twitter using the hashtag #MMM or by downloading one of our custom badges — but get ready, it only gets more difficult from here on out. Related Videos Musical March Madness Heats Up! Related Photos MTV’s Musical March Madness 2012 Related Artists Metallica
Justin Tranter’s mom ‘thinks if I don’t win I’m going to get killed or something’; second-round voting is now open! By James Montgomery Semi Precious Weapons’ Justin Tranter Photo: Getty Images The underdogs definitely had their day in the first round of MTV’s Musical March Madness tournament, running roughshod over the heavily favored higher seeds and sending championship contenders like Mumford & Sons, the Foo Fighters and the Black Keys to early, unexpected exits . Vote for your favorite band, discuss and share on Facebook and Twitter in the MTV Musical March Madness interactive bracket! And 11th-seeded Semi Precious Weapons definitely got in on the action, giving #6 Fun. the boot in the opening round — no small feat considering they currently have the #1 song in the country . And that was very good news to frontman Justin Tranter’s mother, who is taking this year’s MMM really seriously. “My mom likes to text me about it; she’s very concerned,” Tranter told MTV News. “She doesn’t realize that it’s just for fun. She thinks if I don’t win, I’m going to get killed or something, like it’s the Hunger Games.” Hey, you never know. Still, Tranter said that he’s nearly as thrilled as his dear, sweet mother to have knocked off Fun., mostly because it speaks to the undying support SPW’s fanbase has bestowed upon them. “We haven’t released new music for about two years, we’ve played some shows here and there, but we haven’t really toured for about a year,” he said. “And, of course, Fun. are amazing, and they have the #1 song in the f—ing world right now, so we were like, ‘Oh, there’s no way we’re winning this round.’ But our fans are f—ing awesome, and they’re crazy. … They are so loyal and faithful and determined, it’s pretty amazing.” Vote for your favorite band, discuss and share on Facebook and Twitter in the MTV Musical March Madness interactive bracket! And from the looks of things, SPW’s tourney success might continue. They currently lead #3 Florence and the Machine by a solid margin in round two, and if they can hold on — polls close Sunday at midnight ET — they’ll march on to the Sweet 16, where MMM powerhouses (and 2010 champions ) Coheed and Cambria likely await. And though he’s cautious, Tranter believes that, thanks to his band’s fans, SPW have a pretty good chance at shocking the world once again. “We’re underdogs in the whole damn thing. … Coheed’s fans are no joke, and they don’t give a f—, so that one will be difficult even for our beautiful Weapons to win, but they’re sure as hell going to try,” he said. “[They] are so amazing, and [I hope they’ll] keep voting. Let’s win this f—ing thing, because why the hell not?” MTV’s 2012 Musical March Madness tournament has reached the second round. Voting runs until midnight ET on Sunday, March 25, and winners are determined by fan votes, so if your favorite act is still alive, it’ll be up to you to guide them to glory. You can rally the troops on Twitter using the hashtag #MMM or by downloading one of our custom badges — but get ready, it only gets more difficult from here on out. Related Videos Musical March Madness Heats Up! Related Photos MTV’s Musical March Madness 2012 Related Artists Semi Precious Weapons
Singer discusses being bullied as a child and her plan not to speak to the media ‘for a very long time’ on ‘Oprah’s Next Chapter.’ By Jocelyn Vena Lady Gaga talks with Oprah in “Oprah’s Next Chapter” Photo: Harpo/OWN Lady Gaga confessed she wants to have enough children to form a “soccer team” when she sat down with talk show maven Oprah Winfrey for “Oprah’s Next Chapter.” In the intimate chat, which took place at Gaga’s childhood home in New York City, the never-press-shy Gaga made another big announcement on the show. “Other than this interview, Oprah, I don’t intend to speak to anyone for a very long time. I have to shut out the noise,” Mother Monster told Winfrey, according to Gossip Cop . “The latest thing I do is I don’t read a damn thing. No press, no television. If my mom calls and says, ‘Did you hear about?’ I don’t want to know nothing about anything that is going on … I shut it all off.” Gaga’s mother was on hand for parts of the interview, sharing that in Gaga’s early days, her father thought she had a “screw loose” while she was performing at downtown New York nightclubs in her bra while lighting hairspray on fire. The superstar added that there’s one thing about her current act that her mother isn’t a big fan of. “She doesn’t like when I swear,” Gaga said, with her mother adding, “You’re effective without it.” Another part of the candid chat also focused on Gaga’s youth, during which she said she was frequently bullied. “There really is no difference between the bully and the victim,” she said. “I would like to do a psychological autopsy on as many bullies and victims as possible … How do we understand what breeds hatred, what breeds anger?” She added that despite all “all the praise you receive, something inside of you is scarred by those experiences … sometimes I feel worthless.” Parts of the special were also filmed at Harvard University last month. The singer and the talk show host were on hand at the prestigious college to launch Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation . “I just have one thing to say before we get started: We got Oprah! … Thank you from all of us — from my entire team, from my mother, from the bottom of the hearts of so many people who believe in what we’re doing today,” Gaga said at the launch. She explained that the foundation seeks to empower the youth of America, adding, “How can we inspire young people to know they have the power to be brave?” Related Videos MTV First: Lady Gaga Related Artists Lady Gaga
Foo Fighters, Mumford & Sons, Black Keys get bounced. Second-round voting is now under way in all Musical March Madness matchups! By James Montgomery Paramore’s Hayley Williams Photo: Getty Images After one week of MTV’s Musical March Madness , about the only sure thing is that there really is no sure thing. Because with one round in the books, we’re bidding adieu to three of our top-seeded bands — the Foo Fighters (bested by James Durbin), Mumford & Sons (shocked by F—ed Up) and the Black Keys (nipped by AWOLNATION) — upsets that prove no one is safe and assure us that, much like the actual NCAA tournament, everyone’s bracket is irrevocably broken (shout out to Mizzou and Duke … thanks, guys!). Vote for your favorite band, discuss and share on Facebook and Twitter in the MTV Musical March Madness interactive bracket! And though they survived, several other top-tier bands were taken down to the wire. In the West, third-seeded Blink-182 got by #14 Korn by a razor-thin margin, while #5 Linkin Park narrowly avoided an upset at the hands of #12 At the Drive-In. Over in the East, #2 Coldplay outlasted #15 Arctic Monkeys in a tightly contested thriller, and #3 Florence and the Machine needed a late rally to put away #14 Refused. But forget about style points: When it’s tournament time, all that matters is winning, and there are still 32 bands remaining in the quest for the MMM championship. And it’ll be up to you to guide them there: second-round voting is now under way in our interactive bracket and will run until Sunday, March 25, at midnight ET. Vote for your favorite band, discuss and share on Facebook and Twitter in the MTV Musical March Madness interactive bracket! So, whose dreams remain intact, and who was left to pick up the pieces? Let’s take a look back at all the first-round matchups! Midwest Upsets aplenty in the Midwest, as top seed the Black Keys were bounced on a last-second buzzer-beater by #16 AWOLNATION (total margin of victory: 41 votes), #2 Bon Iver and #3 Pearl Jam were upset by #15 Sum 41 and #14 Five Finger Death Punch, respectively, and #4 U2 were shown the door by #13 Modest Mouse (again … no one is safe). MMM powerhouses My Chemical Romance bucked the trend by blowing out #12 Death Cab for Cutie, though #6 Kid Rock got knocked off by #11 Chevelle in a close contest. Seventh-seeded Metallica outlasted a game Guns N’ Roses, but #8 Nickelback were edged out by #9 Rise Against! in a total barn-burner. And after all of that, there’s still plenty left to be decided. Here’s a look at our second-round matchups: #9 Rise Against! vs. #16 AWOLNATION #5 My Chemical Romance vs. #13 Modest Mouse #11 Chevelle vs. #14 Five Finger Death Punch #7 Metallica vs. #15 Sum 41 West More carnage in the West, as the top-seeded Foos got whooped by #16 James Durbin, #2 the Red Hot Chili Peppers went up in smoke against #15 Panic! at the Disco and #4 Maroon 5 got bounced by the late-surging Lana Del Rey. But in an epic battle, #1 Blink-182 was overpowered by #14 Korn (after more than 200,000 votes, they won by less than 800) and defending MMM champs Green Day showed true mettle by mauling #12 the Decemberists. Sixth-seeded Foster the People got bumped by #11 Adam Lambert, and #7 Van Halen were shown the door by #10 No Doubt. And look out for #8 Best Coast, who showed a surprising amount of power by blasting #9 Skrillex. Here’s who’s still left standing heading into round number two: #8 Best Coast vs. #16 James Durbin #5 Green Day vs. #12 Lana Del Rey #3 Blink-182 vs. #11 Adam Lambert #13 No Doubt vs. #15 Panic! at the Disco East Not nearly as brutal here, as #1 Mumford & Sons got waxed by #16 F—ed Up, while #2 Coldplay used a late rally to edge out #15 Arctic Monkeys, third-seeded Florence and the Machine survived #14 Refused and #4 Muse managed to move on after pasting #13 Gym Class Heroes. In a hotly debated (and borderline illegal ) showdown, #5 Arcade Fire were bested by #12 Tokio Hotel (there were 2.1 million votes cast in this one alone) and #6 Fun. fell to the mighty fanbase of #11 Semi Precious Weapons. Not surprisingly, #7 the Shins got smoked by #10 Coheed and Cambria, and #8 Radiohead withstood a late charge from #9 Bruce Springsteen to move on. So after all that carnage, here’s a look at our second-round matchups: #8 Radiohead vs. #16 F—ed Up #4 Muse vs. #12 Tokio Hotel #3 Florence and the Machine vs. #11 Semi Precious Weapons #2 Coldplay vs. #10 Coheed and Cambria Vote for your favorite band, discuss and share on Facebook and Twitter in the MTV Musical March Madness interactive bracket! South Say hello to the only #1 seed still standing: Evanescence, who dispatched of #16 the Alabama Shakes with shocking ease. Second-seeded Paramore throttled a ( fundamentally sound ) #15 Gotye, while #3 Kings of Leon continued their trend of MMM sucktitude by getting blasted by #14 Phoenix. Fourth seed Jack White did his part by beating back #13 Shinedown, and #5 Linkin Park survived #13 At the Drive-In. The always-dangerous 30 Seconds to Mars thumped #11 Sleigh Bells, but #7 Cage the Elephant fell victim to #10 Ke$ha and her epically toned pelvic muscles . And in a battle true to their late-rising fanbases,#9 Dave Matthews Band rode one final surge of voting to overcome #9 My Morning Jacket. Don’t get too excited just yet, DMB fans, because Evanescence is next. Here’s a look at our round-two tilts in the South: #1 Evanescence vs. #9 Dave Matthews Band #4 Jack White vs. #13 At the Drive-In #6 30 Seconds to Mars vs. #14 Phoenix #2 Paramore vs. #10 Ke$ha So, with one week in the books, 32 teams remain alive. But just who will reign supreme? Well, that’s all up to you: Voting is now live in all second-round matchups … so get cracking. MTV’s 2012 Musical March Madness Tournament heads to the second round beginning Monday (March 19). Voting runs until midnight ET on Sunday, March 25, and winners are determined by fan votes, so if your favorite act is still alive, it’ll be up to you to guide them to glory. You can rally the troops on Twitter using the hashtag #MMM or by downloading one of our custom badges — but get ready, it only gets more difficult from here on out. Related Videos Musical March Madness Returns! Related Photos MTV’s Musical March Madness 2012 Related Artists Paramore Evanescence
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