Blair Herter and Abbie Heppe talk to John Drake from Harmonix about the Rock Band Lounge the company set up for fans of the franchise at PAX East 2010 . So rock and/or roll, baby. Watch Larger Version | Watch HD Version Rock Band – Harmonix Music Systems – Rock music – Ion Television – Music
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X-Play Interviews Harmonix’s John Drake
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Veteran DJ/producer has Cee-Lo, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ryan Tedder lined up for next LP, Pop Killer. By Akshay Bhansali Madonna Photo: PictureGroup/ Evan Agostini When MTV News caught up with British DJ and producer Paul Oakenfold last weekend in Miami, he was right where we expected him to be: poolside at the Raleigh Hotel, both a fan and an artist amid the many revelers and dance-music industry types making their annual pilgrimage to the Winter Music Conference. Even for a dance-music icon, Oakenfold has seen and done it all: He’s toured around the world and worked with U2, Madonna, Justin Timberlake, New Order and dozens of other stars. He’s scored films and video games; he’s held club residencies in England, Spain and now Las Vegas. Still, with such a rich past, it was pleasing to hear Oakenfold say how exciting dance music is these days. “The great thing about Madonna, when I produced ‘Celebration,’ she understood that the way forward was through electronic music,” Oakenfold said. “Hats off to her for realizing that. With the rock singers, we’ve always been involved in some respect, because a lot of rock records have been remixed and done really well in Europe and the rest of the world. It’s more the urban world now is knocking on the DJ’s door.” For proof of the latter statement, look no further than the work of French DJ/Producer David Guetta, 1634864 who’s recently worked with the Black Eyed Peas (“I Gotta Feeling”), Akon (“Sexy Chick”), Kid Cudi (“Memories”), and Kelly Rowland (“When Love Takes Over”). For Oakenfold, it’s all par for the course. Over the years he’s worked on songs with Nelly Furtado, Pharrell Williams, Ice Cube and even the late, legendary writer Hunter S. Thompson. And he’s got a similar team of A-listers on his forthcoming album, Pop Killer. “I have some interesting people, actually,” he said. “From the Red Hot Chili Peppers to Ryan Tedder, the lead singer of OneRepublic, and Cee-Lo, who’s in Gnarls Barkley.” Not appearing on the album but certainly another notable name that the producer worked with is the late actress Brittany Murphy , whose Oakenfold-helmed dance hit “Faster Kill Pussycat” (from the producer’s 2006 Lively Mind LP) was a showcase for the actress’ largely overlooked talent as a singer. “That song did really well,” Oakenfold said. “It’s a shame, because she was not only a wonderful person but a fantastic vocalist. She was very open to embracing someone else’s material, and she was the first actress I had worked with in terms of directing and producing a piece of music. She was very open-minded. The world never got to hear how good of a singer she really was.” Related Videos Sights And Sounds From Winter Music Conference 2010 Related Artists Madonna Paul Oakenfold
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Paul Oakenfold On Working With Madonna, Brittany Murphy
‘Unfortunately, it did become a reality,’ he says of the Raymond v. Raymond track. By Shaheem Reid, with reporting by Sway Calloway Usher Photo: MTV News Usher said his hit song “Papers” was a case of life imitating art, not the other way around. Speaking with MTV News last week, the singer talked about the song that kicked off his Raymond v. Raymond LP on the radio earlier this year. “I think people would have immediately alluded to the fact I was talking about my wife when I made that record — and now my ex-wife,” he said. “When the song was recorded, I wasn’t divorced. It was some reality in the contrast of trying to make it all work, having to balance a career and having a normal life. Coming in at 6 in the morning and arguing was a reality when you have those type of relationships. I felt that in a way, the story did touch on certain things at the time. I didn’t know how realistic it would become. I didn’t know I would become divorced. I did know it spoke on the contrast between trying to balance this world of being married and having this responsibility that’s like a marriage at the same time. The song spoke to that place. Unfortunately, it did become a reality.” In October, Usher’s ex-wife, Tameka Foster, told People magazine that “Papers” was just “entertainment” and “people shouldn’t take it literally.” “For you, I gave my heart and turned my back against the world/ ‘Cause you were my girl, girl, girl,” Usher sings on the chorus. “I done damn near lost my mama, I done been through so much drama/ I done turned into the man I never thought I’d be/ I’m ready to sign them papers.” The track is produced by Zaytoven and written by Sean Garrett. “Let’s say I wrote a record for Usher three or four months ago where I really didn’t have any idea of what he was going through personally. I work really hard at creating records I feel that’s gonna fit like a glove to an artist,” Garrett explained back in June. “Me and Usher have a close relationship; I tend to sort of assist certain artists in giving them a direction, where I think they need to go in their next move. I felt that was the direction we needed to go. I felt that was the question everyone wanted to know: Was [his relationship] good or was it bad? Was it right? Are you happy or you’re not?” Raymond v. Raymond drops Tuesday. Are you excited for Usher’s new album? Are you surprised that “Papers” was written before Usher’s marriage ended? Let us know in the comments! Related Videos MTV News Extended Play: Usher Related Artists Usher
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Usher Says ‘Papers’ Was Recorded Before His Marriage Ended
‘I’ve never cried so hard in 24 years, from pure joy and unconditional love,’ Gaga tweets. By James Montgomery Lady Gaga Photo: Jun Sato/ WireImage When MTV News spoke to director Ryan James Yezak earlier this month, he told us all about the making of his totally excellent “Telephone” tribute vid and then, in passing, mentioned that he was also working on a special birthday present for his muse, Lady Gaga . Yezak was asking for “Happy Birthday” messages from his fellow Gaga enthusiasts, which he hoped to edit together into one singing, strutting birthday card for Lady G. At the time, it seemed like a pretty nice — if not slightly fanatical — gesture, but that was about it. Only on Sunday — her actual birthday — Gaga watched the video then tweeted about it , writing, “I’ve never cried so hard in 24 years, from pure joy and unconditional love. Tears still streaming.” And suddenly, Yezak’s birthday video became a very big thing. Which is good, because he clearly spent an inordinate amount of time working on it. He received submissions from nearly 150 of Gaga’s biggest fans from all around the world (England, Malaysia, Germany, Brazil, Spain and Italy, to name just a few), then edited them together into one epic, nine-plus-minute message, filled with a whole lot of tears, some outrageous costumes and genuinely touching messages too. In the clip, Gaga fans thank her for inspiring them, for giving them courage to be themselves and, in the case of one fan, giving him the strength to come out of the closet. There is also plenty of singing and dancing, a whole lot of makeup and even a few special birthday wishes. It’s a pretty touching thing and it’s no wonder Gaga was moved when she saw it. And as for Yezak, well, he still can’t believe that Gaga saw the video, writing in an e-mail to MTV News that the whole experience has been “pretty amazing,” and writing on his Twitter account that “anything is possible.” Related Artists Lady Gaga
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Lady Gaga Brought To Tears By Fans’ Birthday Video
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‘We’ve got to start translating the songs and explaining the songs,’ Billie Joe Armstrong tells MTV News. By James Montgomery, with reporting by Sway Calloway Green Day Photo: MTV News In the new issue of Kerrang! magazine, Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong got fans salivating when he let it slip that the band was already working on songs for the follow-up to 2009’s 21st Century Breakdown. “We did some demos in Berlin, some in Stockholm, some just outside of Glasgow and some in Amsterdam,” Armstrong told the magazine. “We wanted to get [the songs] down in some early form.” From the sound of things, GD were looking to get something out sooner rather than later, a far cry from the two-plus years they spent working on Breakdown. And, naturally, we were excited by the news. So when we spoke to the guys at the Broadway premiere of their “American Idiot” musical , we asked them about the status of the new album — which, as they put it, is shaping up to be a “back-to-basics” sort of affair. “It’s just been songwriting right now. Instead of doing it later on, we decided to start doing stuff now. … It’s all back to the basics again. Just getting in a room together and start jamming,” Armstrong said. “We set up all of our old gear, which was like an experiment. We set up all of our equipment from 1992, and we sat in a room. We got in, and I was like, ‘Come on, guys, we’re getting back in!’ and I [start playing] and go, ‘This sounds like sh–!’ Everything sounded so bad.” “Me and [drummer] Tre [Cool] were looking at Billie going, ‘Really, you’ve got to pull out that POS amp?’ ” bassist Mike Dirnt laughed. “I mean, it really sounded like crap.” So maybe the new Green Day album won’t be a return to their punk past. Or perhaps it will. As Armstrong pointed out, the finished album is still a ways off, and it’s too early to see how it’s going to turn out. “It’s still really early,” he laughed. “We’ve got to start translating the songs and explaining the songs, and the next step will be arguing about the songs.” Are you excited for new music from Green Day? Let us know in the comments below! Related Artists Green Day
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Green Day Say New Album Is ‘Back To The Basics’
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‘Most fun I’ve ever had in ever,’ she tweets about performing the cover. By Kyle Anderson Haley Williams Photo: Jeff Kravitz/ FilmMagic Paramore singer Hayley Williams has one of the most entertaining Twitter feeds of any musician on the Internet. She regularly tweets her reviews of movies she has seen (she recently saw and loved “Hot Tub Time Machine”), rants about UFC events and exchanges inside jokes with her own band members, Nashville friends and boyfriend Chad Gilbert of New Found Glory. Though she drops the occasional Twitpic, her Twitter has been mostly a word-based experience. Until now. Over the weekend, Williams posted a video to her Twitter feed . “Feel a bit crazy posting this … but you asked for it!” the 21-year-old frontwoman wrote. “My apologies to Miss Gaga. Love, your friend, Lady Haha.” The link revealed a video of Williams sitting at a piano, adusting her hair and then singing and playing Gaga’s “Bad Romance.” Williams gave Gaga’s hit a nice little remix, making the solo piano version into a cabaret shuffle. She seemed to take extra pleasure in the “Ooh la la” portions of the tune, rolling the R’s and belting out the notes. The video came as a result of a tweet she sent only a few hours before . “Playing ‘Bad Romance’ on the piano and pretending to be Lady Gaga,” she wrote. “Why haven’t I ever done this before? Most fun I’ve ever had in ever.” Williams is just the latest star from the rock world to take on a Lady Gaga song . She joins the ranks of Chris Daughtry, Weezer, Maximo Park, We the Kings and, of course, Eric Cartman of “South Park” fame. Could “Bad Romance” sneak into Paramore sets in the future? We’ll find out when the group kicks off the latest stretch of tour dates on April 26 in Knoxville, Tennessee. What Lady Gaga song would you like to see Paramore cover? Let us know in the comments! Related Artists Paramore Lady Gaga
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Paramore’s Hayley Williams Sings Lady Gaga’s ‘Bad Romance’ On Twitter
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Is Beyonce pregnant? According to Mediatakeout, you better believe it! The real question: should we actually believe a report by Mediatakeout ? The site claims intel from “a ROCK SOLID source” that legendary singer and her hip hop mogul husband Jay Z are expecting their first child together. Beyonce is supposedly “doing fine and resting (for now), but she’s expected to continue working throughout her pregnancy.” Jay Z? He’s happy, too! Anyone buy it? “No baby,” one source responded. Another: “Not true.” So, is Beyonce pregnant or what? Speculation about the two starting a family began brewing in January when Beyonc
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Lady Gaga made a remarkable record where she became the first artist to surmount one billion online video views according to Visible Measures, a video analytics company. The company is conducting a monthly top 10 webisodes chart that organizes a list of video called the “100 Million Club.” It contains all the web videos which have reached beyond 100 million views. Lady Gaga has maintained her name on the chart; however, she’s making a remarkable change and placed herself in a club all her own. Most importantly, she became the first artist with one billion views online. In the 65-video 100 Million Club, Gaga’s music videos conquer three spots among those slots. These music videos are Poker Face with 374,606,128 views, Just Dance with 272,941,674 views and Bad Romance with 360,020,327 views. Gaga is such an artist with creative edge among other performers. She uses her edge as an advantage to take over Vevo and YouTube. Almost one-fourth of Vevo viewers are mesmerize with Gaga’s amazing talent. She delivers interesting music with great creative coordination in all of her costumes. Lady Gaga, born as Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, is an American recording artist. She started her career by performing in the rock music scene of New York City’s Lower East Side. On August 19, 2008, her debut album “The Fame” was released, which received a lot of positive feedbacks. Gaga is all over the internet and people have their eyes on her and waiting for more spectacular performances. Lady Gaga: First Artist to Reach One Billion Online Video Views is a post from: Daily World Buzz Continue reading
‘They are the rock stars of the scene,’ he says of the former. By Akshay Bhansali DJ Tiesto Photo: Denise Truscello/ WireImage This week, Tijs Verwest, known around the world as DJ Ti
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imageshack Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta who we popularly know as Lady Gaga is being sued by her ex-flame, producer and business partner, for $35 million, claiming that he was pushed away after their failed romance. Songwriter-producer Rob Fusari’s lawsuit contends that he metamorphosed Germanotta into “Lady Gaga” and switched her rock riffs with dance beats to make her songs international commercial hits. Fusari co-wrote and produced four songs on Lady Gaga’s debut album “The Fame,” including the hit “Paparazzi.” “We have no comment,” Lady Gaga’s publicist told CNN on Thursday night. One of the world’s hottest recording acts of Lady Gaga won two Grammy’s this year for her debut album. Robert Meloni, Fusari’s lawyer, borrowed a line from William Congreve’s tragic play “The Mourning Bride” to set the stage for his arguments. “Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned,” Meloni said. Lady Gaga was the woman despised when Fusari ended their romance, according to the suit. “All business is personal. When those personal relationships evolve into romantic entanglements, any corresponding business relationship usually follows the same trajectory so that when one crashes, they all burn. That is what happened here,” the lawsuit said. The story starts with 20-year-old Germanotta riding a bus from Manhattan to Fusari’s studio in Parsippany, New Jersey, to work on music in the spring of 2006. “Fusari was expecting someone a little more grunge-rocker than the young Italian girl ‘guidette’ that arrived at his doorstep and was worried that he had made a mistake,” the court papers said. “Fusari then asked her to play one of her songs on the studio piano and within seconds, realized that Germanotta had star potential. The trick would be coaxing it out of her.” While Fusari thought Germanotta’s songs were brilliant, they lacked commercial appeal, the suit said. “He pushed her to explore different musical genres,” it said. “Over the course of the next several months, Germanotta commuted from New York to Jersey seven days a week, radically reshaping her approach. They put their focus on writing music and finding a sound for her.” Fusari takes credit for convincing her “to abandon rock riffs and add dance beats. He demonstrated how the sound of a drum machine would not hurt the integrity of her music.” The suit claims Fusari created her stage name by accident. A text message intended to read “Radio Ga Ga,” named after the Queen Song, was changed by spell check on his cell phone to “Lady Ga Ga,” it said. “Germanotta loved it and ‘Lady Gaga’ was born.” Their romance blossomed as they were “working intensely in such close emotional quarters,” it said. Germanotta and her father soon signed a contract with Fusari giving him a 20 percent share of her career, the suit said. The romance died down after Lady Gaga gained and then lost a record deal with Island Def Jam, it said. “The couple was now constantly bickering as Germanotta became more and more verbally abusive towards Fusari,” the suit said. “Fusari wanted to return their relationship to a purely professional level, so in January 2007, he ended their romantic involvement.” After Lady Gaga got a new recording contract in May 2007 with Interscope, she stopped answering Fusari’s phone calls, it said. Lady Gaga Facing Lawsuit Charges for $35M is a post from: Daily World Buzz Continue reading
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