Solange Knowles To Audition New Band

Solange Knowles is following big sister Beyonce's lead and recruiting a band of unknowns to join her on tour. Beyonce held auditions for a dance troupe to appear in her videos and perform live with her and now Solange is hoping to form her own band the same way. [...] Read more!

Published: 2008-02-27 Provider: StarPulse

Goo Goo Doll John Rzeznik Polishes His Image (But No Turds) on Tonight’s Debut of “The Next Great American Band”

Heads up, rock reality-show fans: We’ll be back Monday with our first report on the already controversial American Idol spinoff The Next Great American Band. In anticipation of tonight’s anticipated series premiere, we checked in with one of the judges, Goo Goo Doll John Rzeznik, who had an answer for anyone who thinks a reality show is a crappy way to discover talent. “I don’t think anybody formed a band to get on the show, and if they did they were eliminated,” he said. “You know these bands are real bands — they play out in their neck of the woods, they’re all doing gigs and practicing in the garage together. It’s like a showcase, everybody wants a record deal.” Rzeznik confirmed the show’s prize is “a record deal, some commotion and all that” and insisted the series is a great vehicle for artists in an age of record-industry decline. “Record companies don’t have the money to promote bands the way something like this could,” he added. While he insisted he won’t become a Simon Cowell (or Paula Abdul)-like figure on the show — his co-judges include Sheila E. and Australian Idol’s Ian “Dicko” Dickson — Rzeznik told Us Weekly that he wants to offer constructive criticism: “I’ve had my ass handed to me by critics a lot and you got to get tough about it … [but] I’m not a turd polisher, unfortunately.” When asked about nutty auditions, he replied, “My definition of crazy is probably different than yours, but you’re not going to see anybody like the kid that really couldn’t sing [on American Idol] that everybody votes for.” Sorry, Sanjaya! Looks like Rzeznik isn’t a gimmick guy. We wondered if anyone tried cartwheels or worse to get his attention during auditions and he waved it off with, “That don’t work on me … don’t pull that crap!” Sounds like John wants audiences to take this show seriously … we’ll see if

Published: 2007-10-20 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News

Velvet Revolver To Launch Audition Website

Velvet Revolver will hold online auditions to find a replacement for ex-frontman Scott Weiland. Just a week after rocker Slash revealed the band already had a singer in its sights, he has revealed the group is creating a website for hopefuls. [...] Read more!

Published: 2008-04-19 Provider: StarPulse

Velvet Revolver - Velvet Revolver To Launch Audition Website

VELVET REVOLVER will hold online auditions to find a replacement for ex-frontman SCOTT WEILAND. Just a week after rocker Slash revealed the band already had a singer in ...

Published: 2008-04-19 Provider: Contact Music

Crowded House set to regroup

Crowded House, one of Australia's most successful bands in the late 1980s and early 1990s, are reforming to record an album and ...

Published: 2007-01-24 Provider: USA Today

Rock Reality Show Recap: ‘Man Band’ Guys Prove They Have Trouble Holding Liquor or a Tune

Misson: Man Band tracks a reality show’s efforts to restore four former boy-banders to their chart-topping glory. RS’ Rock Reality Show Recaps track our efforts to be sympathetic to their cause. Here’s our second report: Thirty Mantastic Minutes in Five Sentences: We’re back at the House That Justin Timberlake Built, or the mansion of *NSYNC’s Chris Kirkpatrick, where Bryan Abrams from Color Me Badd leads things off by auditioning for Celebrity Fit Club for five minutes. Abrams wants to lose weight because he feels that in order to succeed in the entertainment industry, you need to have the total package, which evidently doesn’t include talent. We learn where Abrams acquired those extra pounds: beer, and lots of it. During a party that features women who are Rock of Love reject-caliber, Abrams, who had been sober for two months, gets so drunk that he begins telling partygoers he’s both “big and pimpin’.” The next morning, a hungover Abrams blows off his workout program, further proving that he’s in desperate need of a twelve-step program. The Rockin’ Struggle: The Man Band has two tasks this week: Write songs that will impress their producer, Grammy-winner Bryan Michael Cox, and come up with a band name. With Max Martin not around, our quartet struggles to compose a simple chorus; instead, they opt to joke about the word “dictaphone.” The band name meeting goes only slightly better, with Plan B and After Life among the more fitting choices. The Funniest (And/Or Most Honest) Moment: Bryan Michael Cox admits the only reason he’s producing the group is because if he can make the Man Band a success, it would “validate” his career. The Rockin’ Finale: The band’s manager Katie McNeil tells the gang that she’s booked them a halftime slot at an Orlando Magic game in three days, even though they have neither a song nor a band name. It sets the stage for the inevitable reality-show humiliation payoff: Post-Shaq Magic fans would boo Elvis during

Published: 2007-08-15 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock Reality Show Recaps

Keith Richards and Johnny Depp on Rolling Stone’s New Cover

As promised, here’s the Web debut of Rolling Stone’s new cover, featuring the rock & roll combo of Johnny Depp and Keith Richards. Come back tomorrow for an excerpt of our lively and hilarious Q&A with the Pirates of the Caribbean III stars. Chart Roundup: Michael Buble’s Call Me Irresponsible makes the quantum leap from #2 last week to #1 this week, as Bone Thugs-N-Harmony’s Strength & Loyalty enters the chart in the second spot. While we’re kinda creeped out by the image of 119,000 people rushing out for the new Bone Thugs album, we take solace in the fact that Bjork’s Volta came in at #9 and Elliot Smith’s posthumous New Moon came in at #24. Fergie gets introspective (boring) in her new video for “Big Girls Don’t Cry.” In the video, Fergie lies in bed with that guy from Heroes for what seems like an eternity, then performs with a back-up band that looks like it’s auditioning for Rock Star: Smashmouth. According to reports, Ike Turner was arrested and locked up last night in LA. While details are sketchy, we’re pretty sure the charges stem from an outstanding felony narcotics warrant and not the usual felony wife-beating warrant. Details for the Brad Delp memorial concert have been announced. Delp, the former lead singer of Boston, died in March. Among the bands performing are Cheap Trick, Sammy Hagar and two Delp acts: the remaining members of Boston, and his Beatles cover band Beatlejuice. What happens when you combine one of the greatest actors of our time with Duran Duran? You get the inimitable Bruce Campbell singing “Hungry Like a Wolf” in this incredible commercial for Old Spice. [via PopCandy] Christina Aguilera has received a rare thumbs-up from China’s censors to perform live in Shanghai. Last year, the Rolling Stones and Jay-Z both had to cancel concerts in China due to their “indecent lyrics.” We assume the Chinese Ministry of Culture

Published: 2007-05-16 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Daily News: In Brief

Rilo Kiley Admit to Becoming Amateur Pornographers for “Moneymaker” Video

Be careful which porn flicks you audition for — you might inadvertently wind up in a Rilo Kiley video. The band’s indie pinup of a frontwoman, Jenny Lewis, has revealed the casting process for the band’s provocative clip for “Moneymaker,” the first single from Under the Blacklight, out August 21. “We told people they were coming in and auditioning for a porno,” the singer recalls. “We sat them down and asked them about their experiences. … We met some really interesting, nice people.” The whole process allowed Lewis to indulge one of her new interests: exploring her own increasingly loose attitudes about sex and music. “As a woman, the older I get the more comfortable I feel writing about sex and singing about it,” she explains. “Now I feel comfortable enough where I can start writing about sex — not necessarily about my own experiences, but the sexual lives of others. And the somewhat deviant sexual lives of others.”

Published: 2007-07-18 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News

SXSW Day Two Wrap-Up: Lou Reed, Vampire Weekend, Black Mountain and More

Follow all of Rolling Stone’s ongoing SXSW coverage — photos, video, interviews and live reports — here. Before most bands rolled out of bed Thursday morning, Lou Reed delivered his SXSW keynote speech. Though Reed doesn’t always strive to be a crowd-pleaser, he was in a surprisingly sharing mood, earning laughs with lines like “I have a B.A. in dope, but a Ph. D in soul,” and by explaining how The Bourne Ultimatum is one of his favorite movies. In addition to discussing Berlin (”It’s about jealousy, and in that sense, it’s romantic”) and Julian Schnabel’s live document of the album, Reed ripped into the rise of MP3s — “Here’s your song reduced to a pin-drop,” “You have a lot available and it all sounds bad.” He also gave an impromptu spoken-word performance of “Rock Minuet,” praised the music of Dr. Dog and Holy Fuck, and left the door open for the possibility of full performances of Magic and Loss and Street Hassle, although he called the Berlin shows “not an audition” for playing other albums live. A few hours later in the afternoon, scads of Vampire Weekend fans lined up outside the Parish three hours before were scheduled to play, and those who got into the venue early had the pleasure of seeing Yeasayer — whose tweaked, psychedelic take on art-funk made us wish we had a blunt to blaze. The NPR party eventually wrapped with that anticipated Vampire Weekend performance, a loose-limbed take on their usual set, including “M79,” “A-Punk” and “Blake’s Got A New Face” among its finer moments. Kings of Leon’s Nathan Followill was in the house for much of the event, noting the physical similarities between VW’s Rostam Batmanglij and American Idol’s adorable David Archuleta. (Look again. They could be cousins.) It was worth getting to the Secretly Canadian/Jagjaguwar/Dead Oceans s

Published: 2008-03-14 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, SXSW

Diddy Seeks Personal Assistant Via VH1, John Oates Plots ‘Stache Cartoon, EMI Vying for Chrysalis and More

After the hit-and-miss success of Diddy’s Making the Band series, the rap mogul is hitting the reality TV circuit again in hopes of finding the next great rap troop girl group personal assistant. VH1 and Diddy are taking resumes/auditions via Mediabistro in hopes of finding twenty qualified PAs who will duke it out on cable TV for the opportunity to buy Diddy’s groceries, do his laundry and pack his luggage. John Oates, of Hall & Oates fame, is in the development stages of a cartoon that will star his iconic moustache. “My moustache has superpowers,” says Oates about the toon’s premise. A German soccer team needs Pete Doherty’s help. The KFC Uerdingen club wants Doherty, who’s a fan, to help save the financially strapped franchise by raising awareness and boosting ticket sales. In what may proof that EMI isn’t intentionally running itself out of business, the label is in talks to buy music publishing giant Chrysalis, which has David Bowie, and Blondie on its roster. Warner Music and Sony/ATV are also in on the bidding. Rapper Eminem has received an offer from Slim-Fast to become “potential S-F success story.” Following Em’s holiday weekend hospital run, it was rumored that the 5′7′’ Marshall Mathers had ballooned to over 200 pounds. [Photo: Getty]

Published: 2008-01-18 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Afternoon News Roundup

Scorsese Rolling Stones Doc Gets IMAX Release, Britney Spears’ Divorce Is Finalized, ‘Idol’ Audition Madness Begins

On September 21, Martin Scorsese’s Rolling Stones documentary Shine a Light will be released in both regular movie theaters and in IMAX. Light follows the band during their two shows at New York City’s Beacon Theater last fall. Britney Spears is officially divorced from Kevin Federline, though he may continue fighting for full custody of their two sons. Frank Zappa has been honored with his own street in Berlin, while Deadheads are prepping for the fifth annual Jerry Day to pay tribute to Jerry Garcia, who would have celebrated his sixty-fifth birthday tomorrow. Auditions for the seventh season of American Idol kicked off yesterday in San Diego, drawing 12,000 aspiring Aikens and Clarksons. Dashboard Confessional’s Chris Carrabba will embark on his first solo tour in five years this fall. Dates after the jump. Dashboard Confessional Tour Dates: 9/14 - Rochester, MI (O’Rena Athletic Complex) 9/28 - Baltimore (Rams Head Live!) 9/29 - Norfolk, VA (NorVa) 9/30 - Raleigh, NC (Meymanid Concert Hall) 10/2 - Atlanta (Center Stage) 10/3 - Nashville (Ryman Auditorium) 10/5 - Orlando, Fla. (House of Blues) 10/8 - Austin, Texas (La Zona Rosa) 10/9 - Houston (Warehouse Live) 10/10 - Dallas (Palladium) 10/12 - Las Vegas (House of Blues) 10/13 - Tempe, Ariz. (Marquee Theatre) 10/14 - San Diego, Calif. (SOMA) 10/16-17 - Los Angeles (Orpheum Theatre) 10/19 - San Francisco (Warfield) 10/20 - Portland, Ore. (Wonder Ballroom) 10/25 - Denver (Ogden Theatre) 10/26 - Kansas City, Mo. (Uptown Theater) 10/29-30 - Chicago (House of Blues) 11/1 - Toronto (Kool Haus) 11/2 - Pontiac, Mich. (Clutch Cargo’s) 11/3 - Columbus, Ohio (Newport Music Hall) 11/5-6 - New York (Webster Hall) 11/8-9 - Worcester, Mass. (Palladium) 11/10 - Atlantic City, N.J. (House of Blues) 11/12-13 - Philadelphia (Electric Factory) 11/14 - New York (Blender Theater at Gramercy) Photo: AFP/Bouys/Getty

Published: 2007-08-01 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Morning News Roundup

Pete and Kate Get Real, RIAA Targets NIN Fans, Bumbershoot Lineup Announced and more

Pete Doherty and Kate Moss offer a glimpse into their private life in what may or may not be their MTV reality show audition tape. The Shins, Wu-Tang, and Panic! are slated to perform at this year’s Bumbershoot festival in Seattle, Sept 1st - 3rd. For our comprehensive guide to the best music fests this spring and summer, check back here later this afternoon. 50 Cent will guest star on tonight’s episode of America’s Next Top Model. Or you can watch baseball. That whole “Keith Richards snorts his dead dad” thing isn’t true, according to Kurt Loder, who we think knows everything. In case you needed another reason to hate the RIAA: They’re going after Nine Inch Nails fans who downloaded music that was deliberately leaked by the band. Metallica have announced their 2007 European tour, including a performance in Stockholm. Full tour dates after the jump. Jun 28 Lisbon, POR Super Bock Super Rock Festival Jun 29 Bilbao, SPA Bilbao BBK Live Festival Jul 1 Werchter, BEL Rock Werchter Festival Jul 3 Athens, GRE Rockwave Festival Jul 5 Vienna, AUT Rotundenplatz Jul 8 London, UK Wembley Stadium Jul 10 Oslo, NOR Valle Hovin Stadion Jul 12 Stockholm, SWE Stadion Jul 13 Aarhus, DEN Vestereng Jul 15 Helsinki, FIN Olympic Stadium Jul 18 Moscow, RUS Luzhniki Stadium

Published: 2007-04-04 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Morning News Roundup