Carpenters Pictures

News Ticker: Rihanna & Fall Out Boy, Delaney Bramlett and My Chemical Romance

Rihanna, Fall Out Boy, Enrique Iglesias and Lifehouse will take part in the NFL’s Pepsi Smash Super Bowl Bash, a two-night event at Tampa, Florida’s Ford Amphitheatre on January 29th and 30th. Actor Jerry O’ Connell will host the event, which will air live on VH1 three days before the Super Bowl on February 1st. Songwriter Delaney Bramlett, who co-wrote songs like Eric Clapton’s “Let It Rain” and the Carpenters’ hit “Superstar,” died December 27th as a result of complications following gall bladder surgery. He was 69. Bramlett was also a leading member of Delaney & Bonnie and Friends, which at points featured artists like Clapton, Duane and Gregg Allman, George Harrison and Dave Mason. My Chemical Romance have begun work on their follow-up to 2006’s Welcome to the Black Parade. According to bassist Mikey Way, the album’s sound is constantly changing: “So if, say, we wrote some songs that sound like Rick Springfield, a week later they’ve all turned into Children of Bodom songs,” Way said. As opposed to the band’s last three albums, the new disc likely won’t have a central concept.

Published: 2008-12-29 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Morning News Roundup

News Ticker: Lil Wayne, Ashlee Simpson, KISS

Lil Wayne’s much-anticipated Tha Carter III was leaked this weekend by a DJ who was seeking revenge on Weezy. Due to her newly unveiled pregnancy, Ashlee Simpson has postponed her just-announced summer tour. The fire at Universal Studios this weekend scorched many of the music division’s original masters. Thousands of original Decca, MCA and ABC recordings, featuring artists like Bing Crosby and the Carpenters, were destroyed. KISS’ Gene Simmons revealed that the band may continue touring even after he and Paul Stanley retire. To recruit new members, Simmons is considering a reality show a la Rock Star. [Photo: Getty]

Published: 2008-06-02 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Morning News Roundup

5 Seasonal Classics to Help Stephen Colbert Craft a Hit Holiday Special [Making Spirits Bright]

newVideoPlayer("/colbert.flv", 506, 423,""); Stephen Colbert brought a preview of his upcoming Comedy Central holiday special to Good Morning America today, revealing a glimpse at a stirring interfaith celebration uniting Catholics, Jews, unsightly turtleneck devotees and a raft of other persuasions. But the brief sample of Colbert prying Hanukkah secrets from Jon Stewart isn't quite enough to make anyone forget how far a holiday show really needs to go to achieve immortality. From the head-exploding ambition of the Star Wars Christmas Special to the suave, sweatered croonings of Solid Gold, there's a golden era of genre excellence that even a talent like Colbert will find himself stretching awfully far to approximate. Follow the jump for five seasonal landmarks worth the effort, and godspeed outdoing any one of them. newVideoPlayer("/davidson_winter_wonderland.flv", 506, 423,""); 1. John Davidson, A Solid Gold Christmas (1982) — It was the year Davidson was in the early downswing of his raconteurial powers. And who could fault him? With That's Incredible, a running guest spot on Hollywood Squares and two of his own Christmas specials behind him, among the few milestones left to check off was "Completely KILL on the Solid Gold Christmas show." And kill he did, bringing a never-before-told tale of wintertime glee and his silky baritone to a riveted TV audience. Colbert's own style seems to have already borrowed a bit from this clip, but if he really wants to own the holidays like Davidson, he's going to have to lose the irony. And fast. newVideoPlayer("/carpenters_xmas.flv", 506, 423,""); 2. Kristy McNicol, A Carpenters Christmas (1977) — Leave it to the era's most famous TV tomboy to upstage her own honey-voiced host, but Karen Carpenter was just a fraction of McNicol's competition in the climactic ensemble number "My New Year's Resolution." Harvey Korman? Puppets? The infamously precise Carpenters band? Amateurs all! If Colbert doesn't revive this number, then we

Published: 2008-11-18 Provider: Defamer Keywords: Making Spirits Bright, Comedy Central, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Top