Paula May Judge Idol Rival Show?- Huge Michael Jackson Deal- Beyonce and Lady Gaga Break Record- 50 Cent Bodyguard Bust- Idol Senator and more

Friends star David Schwimmer is to marry British photographer Zoe Buckman, his publicist has confirmed. more - more on this story

Lady Gaga Announces North American Monster Ball Arena Tour

Lady Gaga has announced her return to North America on the heels of her sold-out European tour. The 2010 North American leg of The Monster Ball Tour will begin on June 28th at Montreal's Bell Centre, taking her spectacular show to 31 top arenas and a host of new cities in the U.S. and Canada throughout the summer and fall.

In keeping with Lady Gaga's flair for the theatrical, as well as her innovative and creative spirit, the second leg of the tour promises to push the limits of the live concert experience, bringing fans a spectacle even more eye-popping than what they experienced during the thrilling first leg of The Monster Ball.

"It's still called Monster Ball, but it's more of a musical and less of a concert," Lady Gaga said in a February interview with KIIS-FM's Ryan Seacrest. "It has a New York theme, it's a story, and the story is that me and my friends are in New York and we're going to the Monster Ball, and we get lost." - more on this story

Sia Announces New Album and Tour

Sia is excited to announce Monkey Puzzle/Jive Records will release her new album, We Are Born, on June 8.

The record is the follow-up to her 2007 smash, Some People Have Real Problems, and was produced by Greg Kurstin (Kylie Minogue, Ke$ha, Lily Allen).

We Are Born also features contributions from Strokes guitarist Nick Valensi and Inara George from the bird and the bee. - tour dates

Da Nappy Headz's Notty Black Gets A Little Freaky Help From T-Pain

Notty Black, group member of Da Nappy Headz, released his debut solo single "Freaky Song" featuring T-Pain, on March 3rd via Phase One.

Notty Black finally has the opportunity to see some of the success of his former band mate, T-Pain. "Freaky Song" is a crossover song that is anticipated to be the Spring / Summer jam of 2010.

Notty Black was one-fifth of the rambunctious rap outfit Da Nappy Headz, which enjoyed moderate success in the early 2000's with regional anthems "Robbery" and "F.L.A". Notty Black has opened for T.I., T-Pain, Twista, & 8Ball & MGJ, and has recorded a feature on underground classic "Xpectations" by T-Pain. - more on this story

Gordon Voidwell Sets Release

Will Johnson and his alter-ego, Gordon Voidwell, is getting ready to release a single for "Ivy League Circus" through Cantora Records (MGMT, Bear Hands) on May 18th. The single's B-side includes a remix of the track by Boy Crisis.

Voidwell's brand new track, "Disco Afternoon," which has a hook that nods to the Hall & Oates classic, "Method of Modern Love." Voidwell originally included a snippet of the track on his Voided Checks mixtape , but due to popular demand he went back to his lab to complete the full version.

Both "Disco Afternoon" and "Ivy League" epitomize Voidwell's ability to embrace the void between seemingly opposite ideas – whether it's old and new, hip and dorky, or pop and indie. That void is the well from which Gordon drinks, and he invites you to do the same. - more on this story

Diamond District Releasing Ruff Beats

DMV trio Diamond District are proud to announce the release of a trifecta of beats from their celebrated album In The Ruff. The instrumental triple threat includes tracks "Streets Won't let Me Chill," "In the Ruff," and "Off the Late Night"

Released at the end of 2009 through Mello Music Group, In the Ruff garnered much praise and acclaim from the hip-hop community, making countless year-end lists. The album also brought an avalanche of well-deserved attention to the until-now underrated DMV hip-hop scene. The past meets the future on In The Ruff, where beats steeped in the boom-bap of yesteryear collide with dynamic verses from the DMV crew, giving fans the world over a taste of the D.C. flavor to savor.

To celebrate the triumph of In the Ruff, Diamond District are now dropping a special triple pack of instrumental beats featuring the tracks "Streets Won't let Me Chill," "In The Ruff" and "Off the Late Night." Combining an infectious drum pattern, a simple chord progression and an addictive hook, "The Streets Won't let Me Chill" instrumental lays the foundation for a backbeat driven street anthem. Stripped down to its instrumental form, "In the Ruff" reveals an essence of rawness that the DMV hip-hop scene is renown for, while the "Off The Late Night" instrumental gives beat junkies a generous fix of Diamond District's soul-infused sounds.

This special release of In the Ruff instrumental tracks is available now through Mello Music Group. -

Jason Derulo Scores Platinum Award

"In My Head," the latest single from Jason Derulo has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for having sold more than one million digital downloads. The track is the second single from the singer and songwriter's self-titled debut album, which debuted at No. 4 on the Digital Albums chart (selling 17,583 downloads in its first week) and No. 11 on the Billboard Top 200 Album chart.

Derulo, the first artist signed to Warner Bros. Records' joint venture with multi-platinum songwriter and producer J.R. Rotem's label Beluga Heights, wrote or co-wrote each track on the album, which was produced by Rotem, who has also worked with Rihanna, Leona Lewis, Rick Ross, and many others.

The Miami native has already seen his star ascend with the blockbuster success of "Whatcha Say," which quickly climbed to No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100, Rhythmic, and Pop charts and remained atop the Pop chart for four consecutive weeks, making Derulo one of two new artists who debuted in 2009 to go to No. 1 at all three formats with a debut single. "Whatcha Say," which climbed to No. 2 on the iTunes singles chart, has sold four million copies worldwide, including three million in the U.S., and has been certified double-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. - more on this story

TRUTHLiVE Offers Up Free EP Download

TRUTHLiVE continues to build anticipation for his upcoming debut album with the release of the pre-album EP, The UnLearning. The EP, now available for free download, has already created a worthy buzz of its own within hip-hop circles with leaked tracks "Tormented Genius," "Broken," "Shoot Me Down," and "Can't Hold Me Back" burning up speakers from coast to coast.

Available for the first time in its entirety, the EP finds TRUTHLiVE showcasing his lyrical dexterity and using the mic to broadcast his messages about self, society, struggles, success and other matters important to the versatile emcee. Production by Vitamin D, Tha Bizness, J Zone, The Architect, Plus Wun, The Are, Martin Slo and TRUTHLiVE himself help hip-hop's renaissance man on his journey of sonic self-exploration on The UnLearning, while Frank William Miller Jr. created the original artwork for the EP. Despite TRUTHLiVE's behind the scenes efforts as the founder and owner of one the premiere indie hip-hop labels, as a rapper TRUTHLiVE understands this EP will, for many, serve as an initial introduction. "On a national level I am basically starting from scratch in regards to mass exposure to my music," acknowledges TRUTHLiVE. "People are familiar with the label - Interdependent Media - and my involvement with the label, but they may not know my music. The Unlearning is an excellent precursor to Patience."

The UnLearning is available now for free download. TRUTHLiVE's full-length debut album, Patience, produced entirely by Jake One will be available April 20, 2010 via Interdependent Media. - Download The Unlearning EP

Smokey Teams Up With Flo Rida & Git Fresh To Tell Us What Girls Like

Miami-based artist Smokey has gone from local MC competition winner to superstar all in a few months. With his follow-up single "What Girls Like," featuring Flo Rida & Git Fresh, out now via SupaFli Entertainment and Phase One, Smokey is already major steps above his peers, having also collaborated with the likes of Juelz Santana and Jason DeRulo.

"What Girls Like" is a springtime smash in which Smokey outlines all the different things 'girls like' with help from Top 200 Billboard Chart regular Flo Rida. "What Girls Like," which broke on WPOW Power 96 Miami, has been a Top 20 song at the station for months and is quickly growing up the East Coast. Considered by many as Miami's next big artist, Smokey is poised to take the industry by storm in 2010.

Smokey's inventive wordplay and creative lyrics initially garnered him attention at local rhyming competitions in Miami. The only thing left for Smokey to do was to create a hit, and "What Girls Like" has proved to be the thing that his newfound fans were waiting for. "What Girls Like" debuted on the iTunes home page as 'What's Hot,' and also as 'New and Noteworthy' on the Pop and Hip-Hop home pages. The track received a swell of attention and catapulted to #89 on the iTunes Hip-Hop chart. -

Melissa Etheridge Scores Radio Hit with Fearless Love

Melissa Etheridge's new single, "Fearless Love," a bold and soaring declaration for living - and loving - to the fullest, has struck a momentous chord as it soars inside the Top 30 this week on the Hot AC chart, and rises to #10 on the Triple A chart.

"Fearless Love" is the title track from Fearless Love, Melissa's triumphant new album, arriving April 27th on Island Records.

The "Fearless Love" single and album were produced by John Shanks, whose first producer credit was Etheridge's Breakdown, her four-time Grammy-nominated album of 1999. Since then, Shanks has risen to the top ranks of rock and pop producers with credits including Sheryl Crow, Alanis Morissette and Bon Jovi, earning him a 2005 Producer of the Year Grammy Award. - more on this story

Bill Charlap and Renee Rosnes Team Up For New Album

Bill Charlap and Renee Rosnes, two of the premiere pianists in Jazz, and also husband and wife, have joined forces to record their first collaborative album, Double Portrait, which will be released June 8 on EMI's Blue Note Records.

The album is a sparkling set of four-hand piano duets that traverses many of the couple's musical touchstones including the great jazz composers (Wayne Shorter, Joe Henderson), Great American Songbook composers (George & Ira Gershwin, Howard Dietz & Arthur Schwartz), and one of Rosnes' own striking original compositions.

The depth of musical experience shared between Charlap and Rosnes is truly staggering. Charlap is a two-time Grammy Award nominee and the son of two renowned musicians (Broadway composer Moose Charlap and pop singer Sandy Stewart) who has performed with icons such as Tony Bennett, Phil Woods and Gerry Mulligan, and served as the musical director of The Blue Note 7. - more on this story