While we have been anxiously awaiting for the return of new music by Beyoncé, what we have received is a song for the soundtrack of "King Richard", an upcoming bio-pic on the story of how a determined Richard Williams (played by Will Smith) helped his daughters, Venus and Serena become two of the greatest players in tennis. After watching an early screening of the film, the singer was moved and inspired by their story, offering to contribute the song, "Be Alive" which she co-wrote and produced with Dixson. This power-ballad contains uplifting words of empowerment with a beautiful, emotional vocal that only Beyoncé can deliver. This is a wonderful treat until she decides to release a complete album.
MITSKI
It's been three years since Mitski broke out with her fifth studio album, "Be The Cowboy", a thrilling collection of art-pop that found it's way on several best albums of 2018 lists. Now the Japanese-American artist, born Mitsuki Laycock, has released a new single, "The Only Heartbreaker", a delicious slice of '80's inspired synth-pop that the performer has made sound simultaneously retro and fresh. This is the second song from her upcoming album, "Laurel Hell" (due out in February and once again produced by her longtime collaborator, Patrick Hyland) with most of the tracks written by Mitski not long after her last album release yet completed during the lockdown last year. Be sure to catch Mitski on the road as she plans for an extensive tour throughout North America and Europe to support the album shortly after it's release.
U2
And about three years have passed since we last heard from the Irish rock band, U2 however, there isn't an album arriving. It's a new song that's part of the soundtrack to the sequel of the 2016 animated film, "Sing" due out in theaters on Christmas day. And I'm sure you might be wondering why U2 is involved with this movie? It turns out that Bono, the lead vocalist of the band, will be lending his voice to a new character, Clay Calloway, a famous rock star lion who is now a recluse with the koala, Buster Moon (voiced by Matthew McConaughey) and his crew of singing animals trying to lure him out to help them with their quest to start a new show in a flashy theater. The song, "Your Song Saved My Life" is a moving ballad that I'm sure will play an important part of the story. Other classic U2 songs ("Where the Streets Have No Name", "I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For", "Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of") will find there way in to the movie, covered by the harmonizing critters in this CGI-animated jukebox musical.
U2are in the middle of a thirty anniversary tour in celebration of their 1987 album, "The Joshua Tree". This critically acclaimed record, produced by Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, reached number one in over twenty countries, won two Grammy Awards including Album of The Year, sold over twenty-five million copies and, most importantly, turned the band in to full-fledged rock superstars.
This number one flashback is "With or Without You", the first single from the album which stayed in this position for three weeks and became U2's first number one hit in the U.S. Bono wrote the lyrics that details his struggles with being a rock musician and a family man and how he can, ultimately, manage to be both. With his inspired vocals and The Edge's electrifying guitar work, the song builds to an intensity that makes this rock ballad soar to an incredible height. The follow-up single from "The Joshua Tree" , "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" also made it to top spot on the Billboard Hot 100.
When Apple announced the arrival of the latest IPhone and the introduction of the Apple watch last week,there was an additional surprise. The latest studio album from U2, "Songs of Innocence" has been given away for free to every person who has an ITunes account, which is roughly about 500 million people . While the news was met with some excitement, there has also been some critical backlash. The already-quite wealthy band has been accused of selling out for the all-mighty buck (U2 reportedly earned about 100 million for this stunt) to people feeling violated for having this album forced in to their ITunes libraries (Sharon Osbourne and rapper, Tyler the Creator have been particularly vocal) and simply that U2 has further damaged the fragile music industry by giving away music.
I can certainly understand these viewpoints and perhaps some of them may be valid but I also think the record business needs to desperately breakout of the dusty mindset of trying to hang on to doing business as usual. Regardless of what you think of this promotion or their new album, U2 has benefited greatly as their back catalog has seen a surge in sales directly because of this publicity.
As for the record itself, despite the presence of contemporary producers, Ryan Tedder, Paul Epworth and Danger Mouse, "Songs of Innocence" still feels very much like a typical U2 album. This isn't necessarily a good thing as the expectation of the band's first album in five years was particularly high. With that much time spent, this album should be exciting, challenging and modern, There are certainly moments to be found on this nostalgic look back to their early days and musical influences but overall, "Somgs of Innocence" doesn't exactly inspire these feelings. The hit-making producers add their touch to the group's sound but what they contribute make some of the songs feel warmed over instead of fresh. I may come across a bit harsh but I actually liked much of this record. The problem is that it just feels too safe for a band known for their gritty, rebellious rock-n-roll spirit.
Here are two tracks that I particularly like from my free copy of U2's newest work:
When I was growing up, rock & roll ruled the airwaves back in the '70's and '80's. That slowly began to change when rap and hip-hop began it's dominance in the 1990's and now EDM is the current craze among music lovers.
Let's be real; rock & roll will never die but it does have a little more difficulty getting noticed in this current musical climate. This post is dedicated to the classic rockers and the old school hair bands whose sounds still thrill while making you want to pull out that air guitar and keep on rockin':
Most of the conversation about this year's Oscar nominations for Best Original Song has been about the disqualification of the tune, "Alone Not Alone". I had found it a little suspect that a song from a film that nobody never heard of (let alone ever seen) managed to earn a nomination but the real news is that the rest of the selections are actually a solid collection of songs. It's been quite a while since music from a motion picture has received serious radio play but two of our nominees have been climbing up the Billboard charts. One of this year's big Grammy winners, Pharrell Williams has a top-ten hit with "Happy" from the animation sequel, "Despicable Me 2" while "Let It Go", the breakout song from another smash animated film, "Frozen" is also moving up the top-forty.
The other two notable songs include rock legends,U2 who received their second Oscar nomination for the moving ballad, "Ordinary Love" which closes out "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom". Karen O from the art-punk band Yeah Yeah Yeah co-wrote "The Moon Song" with the director of the film, "Her", Spike Jones. A version of the song is performed in the film by actors, Scarlett Johansson and Joaquin Phoenix and by the artist during the end-credits.
The best news is that all of these great artists will be on the Oscar telecast, March 2nd to perform their songs. And the nominees for Best Original Song are:
"Let It Go" from "Frozen" - Performed by Idina Menzel - (Music and lyric by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez)
"The Moon Song" from "Her" - Performed by Karen O - (Music by Karen O, Lyric by Karen O and Spike Jonze)
"Ordinary Love" from "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom" - Performed by U2 -(Music and Lyric by U2)
"Happy" from "Despicable Me 2" - Performed by Pharrell Williams - (Music and lyric by Pharrell Williams)
Mary Jane Blige was born in 1971 and raised in the Bronx, New York. She was the second of four children with her mother, Cora who was a nurse and her jazz musician father, Thomas who taught Mary how to sing.
After dropping out of high school at seventeen, Mary went to a mall in White Plains and recorded an Anita Baker song at a recording booth. The cassette was passed by a friend of Mary's mother to Jeff Redd, an artist with Uptown Records, a label known for hip-hop and r&b. Redd forwarded the tape to the president of the label, Andre Harrell and he arranged a meeting with Mary. He signed her to his label in 1989 and she became the label's first female artist.
At first, Mary was only used as a background vocalist for the established artists on Uptown which included her singing the hook on Father MC's 1990 hit, "I'll Do 4 U". In 1992, Mary finally began recording her debut album with an A&R executive with the label, Sean "Puffy" Combs.
The album, "What's The 411?" was released later that year and the first single, "You Remind Me" went straight to number one on the r&b charts. The next single, "Real Love" is the song that brought Mary to the attention of the general public where it not only topped the r&b charts but it went to number seven on the pop charts. There were three more hit singles released including Mary's remake of the 1975 Rufus & Chaka Khan classic, "Sweet Thing". The album would go on to sell over three million copies in the US alone. Because of this success, Sean Combs anointed Mary the "Queen of Hip-Hop Soul".
She has made numerous film and television appearances over the years including getting a role in the forthcoming film of the hit Broadway musical, "Rock Of Ages" and the lead in a film about the life of singer Nina Simone.
Mary J. Blige has recorded nine studio albums with her tenth due to be released later this year. She has won many awards during her career including nine Grammy Awards and has sold over fifty million records
Mary has been married to Martin Kendu Isaacs, a record executive who is now her manager, since 2003. She also received her GED in 2010.
This is Mary J.'s first big hit:
"Real Love" - Mary J. Blige ( 1992)
"BOY" - U2 (1980)
Fourteen year-old drummer, Larry Mullen, Jr. posted a note on his school notice board looking for musicians to form a band in Dublin, Ireland in 1976. Six young men answered the ad and Larry accepted them all. The group included Adam Clayton on bass, David Evans and his older brother, Dik on guitar and Paul Hewson on lead vocals/guitar. The boys knew they weren't great musicians but because of the popularity of many punk rock bands, they felt it wasn't necessary for success but two of the guys dropped out after the first few rehearsals anyway. The group settled on the name, "Feedback" and tried doing cover songs. but soon realized that they were better doing their own material.
By 1977, the band had changed it's name to "The Hype" and soon came to the idea of a four man group since they didn't need three guitarist which included singer, Paul Hewson. Dik Evans was amicably forced out of the band. Paul Hewson became professionally known as "Bono" which was shorten from the Latin phrase, "bonavox" which means "good voice" and David Evans took on the name, "The Edge" which Bono would call him, "Dave Edge" because he was on "the edge of things".
The group finally settled on the name "U2" and were shocked to win a St. Patrick's Day talent show in 1978. The prize was cash and studio time to record a demo. The band completed an EP called, "Three" in 1979 but it was only released in Ireland. It did get some radio airplay and later that year, U2 played their first concert outside of their home country in London but they didn't receive much attention.
U2 signed with Island Records in 1980 and later that year they released their first album, "Boy". The first single, "I Will Follow", written by Bono as a tribute to his mother who passed away when he was fourteen, brought U2 their first success in the United States where the song went to number twenty on the rock charts. It created some buzz for the band and U2 went on tour there where their performances were rough but well received.
The band's next album, "October" was released the following year and was less enthusiastically received. The songs were much more heavily spiritual which was due to Bono, The Edge and Mullen joining a Christian group that caused some conflict for them being involved in a rock band. They considered leaving the band but managed to work things out and U2 went to work on their next album, "War" which was released in 1983. The album became their first number one in Britain and went to number twelve in the US and the first single, "New Year's Day" became their first big pop success. The album also included one of their first political songs, "Sunday Bloody Sunday" which was about the 1972 incident where British soldiers killed unarmed Northern Irish protesters. "War" would go on to sell over eleven million copies around the globe.
U2 have released twelve studio albums to date, won twenty-two Grammy Awards out of thirty-four nominations, more than any other rock band and they have sold over one hundred and fifty million albums including twenty-five million alone of their 1987 classic, "The Joshua Tree (Remastered)". U2 were inducted in to The Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.
Have a listen to the first U2 single:
"I Will Follow" - U2 (1980)
Here is the music video of U2 with Mary J. Blige doing a duet of the band's song, "One":
"CAN'T TAKE ME HOME" - PINK (2000)
Alecia Moore was born in Doylestown, PA in 1979. She was inspired as a child by her father, Jim who sang and played guitar, to want to become a rock star. As a teenager, Alecia wrote poems and lyrics to help express her feelings and joined a band in high school called, Middleground. The group disbanded shortly after losing a contest but she later formed her own r&b group called Choice with two other female singers. They made a demo and it made it to L.A. Reid, the head of LaFace Records. He was impressed and signed Choice to the label in 1995.
Choice stayed with the label for a few years but not much developed and the group disbanded in 1998. L.A. Reid was still interested in Alecia and signed her as a solo artist. She changed her stage name to Pink, after the character, "Mr. Pink" from the 1992 Quentin Tarantino film, "Reservoir Dogs (15th Anniversary)".
Pink's debut album, "Can't Take Me Home" was released in 2000. The first single, "There You Go", written by Pink along with Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs and Kandi Burruss (of "The Real Housewives Of Atlanta" fame), peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 Charts. Her next song, "Most Girls" did even better, reaching number four on the charts. With this success, Pink was asked to open for N'Sync for the American leg of their tour and her album sold over five million copies around the world.
Pink was also asked to participate on a cover of the song, " Lady Marmalade" for the soundtrack for the 2001 film, "Moulin Rouge" along with Mya, Lil' Kim and Christina Aguilera. The track, which was produced by Missy Elliot, went to number one on the charts, won the MTV Video Award for "Video Of The Year" and the group received a Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration With Vocal.
Although Pink achieved the success she was seeking, she was not happy. She had no desire to became a pop star like Britney Spears and wanted to be taken seriously as a musician and have more control over her music. She met with Linda Perry of one of Pink's favorite bands, 4 Non Blondes and together they worked on Pink's next album.
That album, "Missundaztood" was almost not put out by the label because L.A. Reid thought it was too much of a radical departure from her last album and he was not sure it would sell. Luckily he came to his senses and it was released in 2001. The record's sound was much more pop/rock than the contemporary r&b/hip-hop of the first album. The first single, "Get The Party Started" went top five around the world. Three more hit singles were released and the album sold thirteen million copies worldwide.
Pink met motocross racer, Carey Hart and they married in 2006. After a brief separation in 2008, the couple reconciled and are about to become parents with the baby due later this year.
Here is the song that introduced this artist to the world:
.
of the general public where it not only topped the r&b charts but it went to number seven on the pop charts. There were three more hit singles released including Mary's remake of the 1975 Rufus & Chaka Khan classic, "
. The album would go on to sell over three million copies in the US alone. Because of this success, Sean Combs anointed Mary the "Queen of Hip-Hop Soul".
who passed away when he was fourteen, brought U2 their first success in the United States where the song went to number twenty on the rock charts. It created some buzz for the band and U2 went on tour there where their performances were rough but well received.
The album became their first number one in Britain and went to number twelve in the US and the first single, "
"
killed unarmed Northern Irish protesters. "War" would go on to sell over eleven million copies around the globe.
The first single, "
Her next song, "
With this success, Pink was asked to open for N'Sync for the American leg of their tour and her album sold over five million copies around the world.
and he was not sure it would sell. Luckily he came to his senses and it was released in 2001. The record's sound was much more pop/rock than the contemporary r&b/hip-hop of the first album. The first single, "
went top five around the world. Three more hit singles were released and the album sold thirteen million copies worldwide.
that featured two new songs, "
" that both became top ten hits.
