Lily Allen has announced she may quit music. The 23-year-old singer revealed she will give up singing if her eagerly-anticipated second album, tentatively titled ‘Stuck on the Naughty Step’, is a flop.
Lily recently put the finishing touches to the follow up to 2006’s ‘Alright, Still’, and fears she “got away with something” because of the huge success of her first album.
The ‘Littlest Things’ singer said: “I left school at 15. I’m not a genius songwriter. I don’t think I’m really good at anything. I’m really scared about what people are going to say. I don’t know why. Some people will like it and some won’t. If people hate it, then I’ll just try something else.”
Lily said that if she does quit singing she would like to work behind the scenes role in the music industry, adding: “I’d really like to do A+R at a record company.”
Last month, Lily was in Los Angeles working on the album with producer Greg Kurstin, who produced two tracks on ‘Alright, Still’. She revealed possible song titles include ‘Everyone’s at it’ and ‘He Wasn’t There’.
Lily has also previewed possible tracks to be included on the LP on her MySpace internet page, including ‘I Don’t Know’ and ‘Guess Who Batman’. It was rumored earlier this week that Lily was set to record a duet with Lindsay Lohan. The album is due for release next year.
Britney Spears is reportedly working on a new album and there’s a Las Vegas twist on it as it is being said that Vegas kingpin George Maloof is behind it. Sources say that the album is being recorded at Maloof’s Palms Casion in Las Vegas and that former manager Larry Rudolph, who’s been back in the picture for a while, is producing the album. Maloof is trying his best to extend his arm into the music industry and is also behind Ali Lohan’s upcoming album. If he really wants to be part of the industry, supporting those two acts isn’t really the right way to do it.
According to reports, Coldplay’s new album ‘Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends’ has sold 125,000 copies during its first day out in the UK. With those numbers, the album is expected to take over the top spot on the UK album chart very easily. Why? To be honest, I’m not a big fan of the album. I think it sucks. There are even rumors that one of their songs, ‘Viva La Vida’ was actually copied off from an unknown UK band. Tsk. Add the fact that Chris Martin has gone diva on us, it just made me not like it more.
Jessica Simpson wants to sing country music for ‘the rest’ of her life. The 27-year-old singer – whose career rocketed after she appeared on MTV reality show ‘Newlyweds’ with now ex-husband Nick Lachey – loved making her debut country record so much she never intends to return to pop music.
She said: “I’m planning on making country music for the rest of my life, and I don’t want to go back to that other world.”
Jessica also revealed she has heard mixed reviews for the first single ‘Come On Over’, from the as-yet-untitled LP, but is determined not to give up.
She added: “A lot of people have listened to ‘Come On Over’ and told me, ‘I really wanted to hate it, but I like it. It’s a backhanded compliment, but I’m glad it’s that way and not the other way around! I take a lot of pride in my talent and in the record I was able to put together. I’m not giving up.”
Gary Barlow says Take That are workaholics.
The singer - who recently headed back into the studio with his bandmates Mark Owen, Jason Orange and Howard Donald to start on their new album - admits he couldn’t wait to get back to work after a short break.
Speaking at the Ivor Novello Awards in London, Gary said: “We are workaholics and we miss each other. We always planned to take three months off and we needed it because we played a lot of dates last year and, to be honest, it was like, ‘Come on guys, we are getting on a bit now.’ It was probably a few too many. But we are back in the swing of things and really enjoying being back.”
The ‘Patience’ singer predicts the new LP, the follow-up to hit comeback album ‘Beautiful World’, will be ready by December. He said: “We should be back by Christmas. We couldn’t stay away, although I haven’t written the songs yet. There should be a tour as well.”
Take That scooped the gong for Most Performed Work for their hit single ‘Shine’ at the prestigious ceremony held at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel.
Kylie Minogue recorded a vocal for Coldplay’s new album but it didn’t make the final cut. The Pop Princess’s effort was scrapped after frontman Chris Martin decided it didn’t fit the mood.
Kylie and Coldplay share a record label, Parlophone, but their sessions together for the rockers’ eagerly awaited fourth collection, Viva La Vida, were at times fraught.
Chris said: “Kylie is awesome. She’s like Girls Aloud rolled into one.” But he added: “I took apart the song she did with us, like a Corby trouser press.”
Whatever you say, Chris.
Courtney Love has reportedly scrapped her comeback album to work with a little known musician.
Love, the widow of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, is said to have ditched a host of material recorded with Linda Perry to collaborate with Micko Larkin, former guitarist with London indie band Larrikin Love.
Perry has previously written songs for Christina Aguilera, Pink and Avril Lavigne. The ditched LP would have been the first since 2004’s ‘America’s Sweetheart’ - which Perry also worked on - which received a disappointing critical and commercial response.
Larrikin Love split last year after making one album, ‘The Freedom Spark’, which was released in 2006.
Larkin is believed to have played guitar for Love on a number of occasions.
‘Celebrity Skin’ singer Love was admitted to hospital last week and diagnosed with Strep throat, a severe sore throat and swelling of the tonsils, but was later released.
‘Wizards of Waverly Place’ star, and reported Miley Cyrus replacement, Selena Gomez may be following in the musical footsteps of that other Disney star. The whole replacement thing may have its merit. Hollywood Records, Miley’s label, is reportedly close to signing Selena to a record deal. A source reveals that “Hollywood Records really wants Selena. Nothing’s signed yet, but they’re going after her in a strong way.” I smell a new rivalry brewing. Miley has a 4-album deal with the label and her sophomore CD ‘Breakout’ is set for a summer release. We have a new Hilary Duff-Lindsay Lohan type of thing.
Madonna kissed a female fan on stage last night after telling the audience she loves ‘Frenching the French’.
The pop superstar was playing a private concert to mark the launch of her latest album ‘Hard Candy’. Dressed head-to-toe in black, Madonna said to the crowd of 1,500: “Why do I have this relationship with France? I’m always drawn to working with French people - and Frenching French people. Viva la France!”
The singer – clutching an electric guitar – then kissed an unidentified woman.
The 30-minute set included a heavy metal version of her hit ‘Hung Up’, four tracks from her new album – including current single ‘4 Minutes’ – and her 2000 number one single ‘Music’.
Madonna admitted it was an ‘historical moment’ for her to be performing at the Olympia on the same stage as icons including Edith Piaf and Marlene Dietrich. It was the 49-year-old singer’s first show in Paris for 10 years and the second of three shows to mark the album’s launch.
Mark Ronson’s romance with underwear model Daisy Lowe has hit a rocky patch – as another pretty young lady is taking up the producer’s time.
Mark has been recording material with foxy singer Candie Payne and the pair’s close working relationship hasn’t gone down well with Daisy. Candie is a singer from Liverpool whose brother Sean is the drummer in The Zutons.
Mark has been collaborating with her on the follow-up to her debut album I Wish I Could Have Loved You More. A source told me: “When he works on a project he submerges himself in it completely. He’s concentrating all his attention on Candie and Daisy is feeling seriously left out.”
Mark, who performed a great set at Vauxhall Corsa Presents Bandstand Steered By Sunday Best in East London on Saturday, has helped craft top careers for Lily Allen and Amy Winehouse.
And after their success, at least Daisy knows Mark’s hard work won’t be in vain.
Madonna may have won with digital sales but the Queen of Pop’s new CD ‘Hard Candy’ just got a kick in the butt with disappointing sales predictions. People are saying that it’s only expected to sell between 275,000 to 300,000 copies in its first week of release. While it should put her in #1, it’s below what her last CD ‘Confessions’ sold with 350,000 and is also below Mariah Carey’s debut week for ‘E=MC2’ with 475,000. But there’s really no one to blame but Madonna herself. She’s barely done any TV promotion as compared to Mariah who was all over the place.
Ashlee Simpson’s album, Bittersweet World, is in stores today! Timbaland, Chad Hugo of The Neptunes, and Kenna are among the talented contributors that helped craft Ashlee’s third album. Ashlee wrote or cowrote every track on the album and the final product is a mix of ballads, radio-friendly anthems and dance floor ditties that will get your booty shaking.
Head over to iTunes to get the party started and buy Bittersweet World now.
Rihanna and Maroon 5 are teaming up for a remake of the song ‘If I Never See Your Face Again’ which will appear on re-releases of both big-name artisits. Rihanna and Maroon 5 front man Adam Levine spoke to MTV News about it with Rihanna saying “We’re both re-releasing our albums — mine’s out June 17. This is the only collaboration on my re-release, because I always wanted to work with Maroon 5. They’re one of my favorite bands. When they called me to do this record with them, I was so honored.” Adam then adds “The song was basically done, but we wanted to try something different, so we had her come in and do bits and pieces. It came together so quick. The only other collaboration I had done before was with Kanye, and it was the same way. It sounds cheesy, but if the magic is there, if the chemistry is there, you don’t even have to think about it.”
Just like with Mariah Carey, Madonna’s album has leaked onto the internet. Half of her album popped up in the cyber world over the weekend while the remaining half came out on Monday. While it’s disappointing that it was leaked out, I’m pretty relieved by what I heard. The songs aren’t straight up hip hop as some may be concerned due to the single choice of ‘4 Minutes (To Save the World) but rather stays true to Madonna’s core as a pop/dance artist. And just to let you know, Pharell’s songs completely blow Timbaland’s songs out of the water. I think she just chose her latest single because of Justin Timberlake’s possible appeal to other audiences.
Lily Allen’s new album demos are a window into her alarmingly bleak view of the world at the moment.
The songbird has swapped the sunny pop songs of first album Alright, Still for dark, troubling ditties focusing on the negative side of success. She picks over the bones of a painful break-up on one track and confronts feelings of paranoia on another.
Both are on her MySpace page.
Frank and shocking I Don’t Know is about the pressures of living life in the public eye. She sings: “I don’t know what’s right and what’s real any more.”
She adds: “I’m being taken over by the fear.”
And on the touchy subject of weight, she sings: “Everything’s cool as long as I’m getting thinner.”
Meanwhile, I Could Say is a venomous dig at an ex – Ed Simons from the Chemical Brothers, I wonder?
Lil evidently wants high-brow critical acclaim with her new-found serious side – and she’s likely to get it.
Adele has not had the best of luck with men – you only need to listen to her heartbreaking No1 album 19 to work that out.
So I was chuffed when the teen songstress finally found a fella — even if it was the daftly named Slinky Sunbeam from up-and-coming indie act The More Assured. They pair met earlier this year and had a whirlwind romance.
But now the larger-than-life singer has been dumpedfor a stick-thin model — ahead of the release of her single Cold Shoulder later this month.
Bassist Slinky — who I would love to see introduce himself with a straight face — is now dating the equally crazily named Burberry model Morwenna Lytton-Cobbold. They have been joined at the hip since hooking up at a London party last month.
And just when I thought the follow-up to Adele’s soulful debut album 19 was going to be an uplifting record about the joys of falling in love.
My source revealed: “Adele and Slinky met in February and really hit it off. They are both huge characters and had each other in stitches. It was really sweet. They started dating and Adele really thought the relationship was going somewhere. She was really into Slinky and it was great to see her so happy. She’d had a bit of a drought when it came to men, despite all her success. But then after about a month she headed off to America to do some gigs and promotions. She hoped Slinky would be waiting when she got back. But he didn’t hang around. He traded her in for a skinny model.”
I think young Slinky may have made a mistake here.
Adele is a brilliant lass. I love the way she doesn’t conform to showbiz stereotypes — and appears to own only one jumper.
But the real losers here are the children — for if Slinky and toff Morwenna have kids I doubt they’ll be called John or Jane…
The Counting Crows front man Adam Duritz is opening up about his mental illness and is admitting publicly that he has spent the last couple of years battling severe depression and an inability to connect with people. After years of not being able to figure out what was wrong, Duritz finally found a doctor who cleared up the issue and diagnosed him with a disassociative disorder which can distort reality for those who have it. Duritz is now quite open about his illness which is clear in the band’s new album ‘Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings’ – a double album inspired by his painful journey.
Justin Timberlake splashed out a whopping $50,000 on a necklace for stunning girlfriend Jessica Biel; to make up for all the time he’s spent with Madonna recently.
JT has been at the Queen of Pop’s beck and call over the past year while collaborating on her forthcoming album Hard Candy. And movie beauty Jessica has been a little put out by their close working relationship. As I revealed last week Justin has become so comfortable in Madge’s company he thinks nothing of dropping his trousers to receive a vitamin jab in his bottom.
So to make it up to Jessica he snapped up the sparkling white gold and emerald chain from top jeweller H Stern.
He also had advice on the gift from a woman who knows a bit about jewellery herself: Madge.
A source revealed: “Working on her album meant Justin hasn’t spent much time with Jessica lately and Madonna didn’t want to be the cause of problems between them. She suggested he buy her a gift, something expensive.”
Jess surely must have thought it was Justified too.
Jesse McCartney is out to show everyone that he’s all grown up with his new music video for his song ‘Leavin’. And let me tell you, ‘steamy’ can barely express my thoughts on it. The 20-year old shirtless young man was directed by Sanji, who most recently did American Idol alum Blake Lewis’ music video for ‘Break Anotha’. ‘Leavin’ is the first single off of Jesse’s upcoming third album ‘Departure’. It’s said to be his most personal solo record yet and is expected to be released on May 20. The video is already all over the net for everyone to see. But if you’re going to watch, be warned. It’s overly sexual.
Spice Girl Mel C’s wonderful new album ‘This Time’ is being released in the North America this April and she’s doing it on her own imprint, Red Girl. Sporty isn’t just the most talented Spice, she’s also the most business-minded. She says “And (after) having experience with a major label, it was nice to be able to do the exact opposite and own the copyright to my songs. I was very fortunate with the Spice Girls; financially, I was able to set up my own label and finance my own record.†She’s also planning a tour in the US and Canada in support of the album’s release.
Mariah Carey’s new single has dropped this week and not just that. The singer has also revealed the name of her new album as well as other new details about its release. Her new album is called “E=MC²â€, it will be out in stores on April 15th. The first single off of the album is ‘Touch My Body’ which was written and produced by Mariah, C. ‘Tricky’ Stewart and The Dream. It hit radios on February 12th. A video for the song, which is directed by Brett Ratner, will premiere soon.
Other guest producers on her album include Jermaine Dupri, DJ Toomp, Stargate, will.i.am, Bryan Michael Cox, Nate ‘Danjahandz’ Hills and James Poyser.
Mariah Carey’s new album is set to come out in stores on May 20 but there has been no new single to come off of it yet. It was first said that her new single would come out on Tuesday. However, Tuesday has come and gone and the lambs still have no new single to listen to. It looks like the premiere for the song has been pushed back another week – until next Tuesday, they say. What is up? First, there were delays on releasing her album and now there are delays on the single too. Is it that bad?
There are always two sides to every story. There is always a wrong way and a right way. The wrong way to do a comeback is to follow in the foot steps of pop wreck Britney Spears. The right way to do a comeback is to follow in the foot steps of Janet Jackson.
According to Mediabase, which monitors just how much airplay a song gets, Miss Jackson’s Rodney-Jerkins produced new single ‘Feedback’ is the most added song in American radio this week with the most spins. If that doesn’t get you excited for Janet’s new album, I don’t know what will.
Natasha Bedingfield has a new album which would be out next month and the second single off of it just has me falling in love with her all over again.
The song is called ‘Pocketful of Sunshine’ and it could easily be a companion to Natasha’s smash hit ‘Unwritten’. It’s sure to be another hit with music lovers because it can easily be classified as radio friendly. Natasha is one of the few artists making pure pop and she does it unapologetically. That’s just something that you can’t get enough of. It’s like a ray of pure sunshine. Natasha is sunshine.
Honestly, I love her. Something about her just makes me feel for her; she’s not annoying, she’s not creepy….I don’t know. So, I start this off by saying that I want her to succeed.
Unfortunately, her debut release Tattoo isn’t doing so well. Last year it was Taylor Hicks - he won the record for the weakest debut yet of an American Idol winner. Now, it look like Jordin may just take that title from him.
Is it Jordin that people aren’t smitten with? Or is it just that the American Idol fever is wearing off? Who can really say? I guess we’ll find out when American Idol returns to television with a new season in January.
It could be the lack of hype surrounding Tattoo. Or it could be that Jordin’s album was released among new albums from the likes of Alicia Keyes, Garth Brooks, and Josh Groban.
Whatever the case, will we see Sparks fly in the end? Or will she fizzle before she flames?
Kelly Clarkson is about to work her not-so-impressive songs much more as she and country legend Reba McEntire are reportedly going on tour together. The joint tour will kick off on January 17th in Dayton, Ohio and ends by February 16th in Kansas City, Missouri.
That’s 1 night, 1 band, 2 singers. Too bad everyone will have to sit through all the crappy songs from Kelly’s new album with a few sprinkles of her past hits but we’ve all got Reba to look out for.
Kelly has been a lifelong fan of Reba and even hired Reba’s husband as her new manager this year.
Britney Spears’ record label backed out of a diva battle on the charts by actually releasing her album early. But neither Celine Dion nor Alicia Keys are scared to get a little competition in.Both divas released new albums this week, and while there was no Kanye West and 50 Cent hype that went on around them, both are projected to sell very well. However, only one singer can take the top spot and it seems to be Alicia.
The R&B singer’s latest album is expected to move 550,000 copies while Celine’s ‘Taking Chances’, the Canadians’ first English-language album in 4 years, is expected to sell around 250,000. Congratulations to both for their respective success.
KT is jealous and hateful - Carrie Underwood is a wonderful artist who did co write 4 or more songs on her new album. She plays guitar and piano, and graduated from college with high honors. KT is jealous that Carrie won the Grammy because she wanted to win- pathetic. She also cashed in royalty checks from American Idol when Katherine Mcphee sang her stupid cherry tree song. So she is a hypocrite- because she took American Idol’s money- yet bashes the show. Wanker! Carrie has more class and talent than KT does in her hypocritical and jealous finger. And Carrie is not the only person KT has bashed. She bashed Katherine mcphee too- for singing her song, and several other artists. I hope that black horse poops on her cherry tree. Go CARRIE! Carrie has proved herself just recently too if K.T. is not paying enough attention before barking, Carrie just a week or two ago top the country charts in America now if the fans like her music and song why does this bitch have problems.
Even when she attempted to rep the block, Jennifer Lopez’s music career has been about as edgy as her famous booty. Auto-Tune and star power have buoyed her since 1999’s On the 6, but now J. Lo has turned away from the slick, minimalist future funk currently ruling the pop zeitgeist for chintzy production that screams 1990. Brave has two obsessions: love and cheesy strings. Dollops of orchestration are plopped onto all but two of twelve tracks, from the Latin freestyle-esque opener, “Stay Together†(“Heartbreaks are overrated, stay together, that’s the new trend,†insists the twice-divorced Lopez), to stubbornly undanceable midtempo duds like the synth-overloaded “The Way It Is†and “I Need Love,†on which Lopez convinces herself it’s time to quit partying and settle down. But the club, not love, is her salvation, as she proves on “Do It Well,†the only track that lets J. Lo do her thing: dance.
Britney Spears’ new CD ‘Blackout’ is expected to sell 350,000 copies in its first week of release in the US and is even expected to head to the top of the charts. However, that doesn’t mean that she would have the best-selling album.
The Eagles’ latest album, the double CD ‘Long Road Out of Eden’, is expected to sell over twice as much as Britney’s. The soft rock band is expected to sell 700,000 copies or more. What makes it even more exceptional is that their album is only available at Wal-Mart retailers.
Luckily for Britney, she’s still going to reign over the charts. Since the California rockers’ record is only being carried by one retailer, the disc is not eligible for the new Billboard Album chart. Britney will still claim the top spot but she still doesn’t have the most popular album in America.