Stevie Wonder will join the elite list of honorees chosen by the Library of Congress to receive its Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. Other notable past winners include Paul Simon. T-Pain garnered a respectable trophy himself at the BMI Urban Awards: "Songwriter of the Year." Winning a prize of a different sort is Ne-Yo. The singer/songwriter, whose Year of the Gentleman album hits stores next week, successfully won a lawsuit against a tour promoter who relieved him of opening act duties on a 2007 tour with R. Kelly. The settlement is reported to be more than $700,000.
Drama! Expect to see Akon in court soon over that fan-throwing incident from last year, but dance floor aficionados can now catch DJ Grooverider on the ones and twos. The English turntablist was arrested in Dubai in November and served just 10 months of his four-year sentence for possession of drugs and pornographic material. Robin Thicke had some choice words about VIBE magazine, saying the publication told him it didn’t put whites on the cover when he inquired about the coveted position. Danyel Smith, editor in chief, has invited Thicke to talk about reverse racism in the magazine’s October issue, which instead features a naked Ciara on the cover.
C’s predecessor, Janet Jackson, starts her global jaunt this month with her Rock Witchu Tour. Jackson recently said she’s uncertain of her future with her label, Island Def Jam, as her album’s promotion has stalled and her initial sales were disappointing by her standards. LL Cool J will be the opening act on some dates.
Christina Aguilera, a late addition to the MTV Video Music Awards’ performance roster along with Kanye West, will release her greatest hits collection, Keeps Gettin’ Better, exclusively with Target stores in November. The set includes two new songs, the title track and “Dynamite,” as well as re-recorded versions of “Genie In a Bottle” and “Beautiful.” Soon after, Aguilera’s fellow former Mouseketeers, Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake, are said to be working on a dance track duet for Spears’ 2009 album. Meanwhile, in an effort to create awareness about HIV/AIDS, Judge Jules has signed on to be an ambassador with Dance4Life, an organization whose goal is to stop the spread of the diseases among people under 25.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment