Adele Addresses Hiatus Reports and Is Returning To The Studio

(her blog post)

Whitney Houston Music Price Hike A Mistake

Whitney Houston fans were shocked when Sony Music increased the price of two of her albums on iTunes shortly after her death last weekend.

Now Sony has called the price hike a "mistake" and said they corrected it as soon as they discovered the error. "Whitney Houston product was mistakenly mispriced on the U.K. iTunes store on Sunday," Sony said in a statement. "When discovered, the mistake was immediately corrected. We apologize for any offense caused."

The New York Times reports that the increases occurred on iTunes in the UK early on Sunday with the price of the Houston compilation "The Ultimate Collection" increased 60 percent, from $7.85 to approximately $12.50, and "The Greatest Hits," was increased 25 percent, from approximately $12.50 to $15.67. Read the NYT report for more details

Madonna Makes Chart History

(popmusiclife) Madonna's new single, "Give Me All Your Luvin'" has landed in the top 10 at no. 10 in its second week on Billboard's Hot 100 chart.

The first single from Madonna's 12th studio album, "MDNA," due March 26, becomes her 38th Hot 100 top 10, pushing her further ahead of runners-up The Beatles (34).

Madonna first reached the chart's top 10 the week of June 16, 1984, when "Borderline" rose to its #10 peak position.

Have a look at the artists with the most top 10 songs in the Hot 100's 53-year history here.

Hear Usher's Climax

Usher has set a February 28 release date for his brand new single "Climax," but you can hear the track online right now.

Written by Usher Raymond along with co-writers Redd Stylez, Ariel Rechtshaid, and Diplo, who also produced the single, "Climax" is a genre-defying track and his first release since his recent chart-topping collaborations – "Without You" by David Guetta which held the #1 spot on the Pop charts and "Promise" with Romeo Santos which held the #1 spot on the Latin charts.

The song comes from Usher's seventh studio album will be released later this spring on RCA Records. Have a listen to the single here.

Shooter Jennings and Cody Canada & The Departed Tour

Shooter Jennings will be hitting the road for a coheadlining tour with Cody Canada & The Departed.

Shooter will be touring to promote his fifth studio album, Family Man which is being released by Entertainment One Music Group on March 13th, 2012.

The tour kicks off on March 19th in Austin, TX and will featured special guest Uncle Lucius. more on this story

Callaghan Releasing New Album Featuring Shawn Mullins

Callaghan has set a May 1, 2012 release date for her new album, Life In Full Colour, which was tracked in and around Atlanta with Shawn Mullins both producing and playing on the album.

A long-time Mullins fan, Callaghan contacted the Grammy nominated singer-songwriter in 2009 through MySpace, and Mullins agreed to a rare collaboration. An initial recording trip to Atlanta yielded three songs, prompting her life-changing decision to move to the USA in 2010 to finish the album.

Callaghan left her London digs and boarded a plane headed for the American South: the experience was the inspiration for the opening track and first single from the album, "Best Year." She now calls Atlanta, and the United States, home. more on this story

Delta Spirit Holding Pub Crawl For New Album

Rounder announced that Delta Spirit will give their fans a chance to preview their upcoming, self-titled release at a Brooklyn, NY First listen/Pub Crawl event on Saturday, February 25.

Beginning at 3pm, Delta Spirit will invade 3 bars in Williamsburg and Greenpoint to play select tracks from their new album. By the 3rd stop, fans will have heard the album for the first time in its entirety.

They will then finish up with an invite- only, intimate, live show at Public Assembly at 6:45pm (see details on how to win tickets to this show here)

Whitney Houston Hit Reenters The Top 10 Singled Chart

(popmusiclife) Whitney Houston's passing has boosted her music sales in such a big way that the late singer has returned to the US charts.

Billboard reports Whitney's 14 week no. 1 from 1992, "I Will Always Love You," re-enters the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart at #7.

The music industry website says the song's chart return was fueled by an enormous resurgence in digital sales (195,000, up 6723%, according to Nielsen SoundScan) and radio airplay (18 million audience impressions, up 915%, according to Nielsen BDS). more on this story

Lil Wayne Surprises Girlfriend With Ring On Valentine's Day

(TMZ) Lil Wayne pulled off the ultimate romantic gesture last night at a swanky Miami restaurant -- slipping his girlfriend a FAT ring hidden inside a dessert ... and then shouting to the restaurant, "SHE SAID YES!"

Sources at Barton G restaurant tell TMZ, Weezy secretly handed wait staff a ring with a giant yellow rock on it during his meal -- and asked them to slip it inside the restaurant's signature sundae.

Moments later, after the dessert was delivered to his table, we're told Lil Wayne jumped up and shouted to the entire restaurant -- "SHE SAID YES!!!"

Sources tell us, everyone inside the restaurant believed the rapper had just popped the question. Weezy even tweeted later in the night ... saying again, "She said yes!" ... prompting millions more to think he had just gotten engaged.

But Wayne later clarified, "I meant 'she said yes' to being my valentine!!! Hahahahahahaha! Y'all krazy!" Yes, we're the crazy ones. more on this story

Disco Biscuits' Conspirator Live Album and Tour Coming

(HW) Disco Biscuits' Conspirator will release Unlocked: Live From The Georgia Theater on April 10 and hit the road for cross country tour to support the release.

Conspirator features Aron Magner and Marc Brownstein (The Disco Biscuits keyboardist and bass player) as an outlet to channel their electronic mad scientist personae. Formed in 2004 with New York DJ/producer DJ Omen, Conspirator has taken on many forms through the years. With the recent addition of virtuoso guitarist Chris Michetti and a rotating cast of some of the country's best drummers – Darren Shearer (the New Deal), Mike Greenfield (Lotus), KJ Sawka (Pendulum) and Adam Deitch (Break Science, Pretty Lights) – Conspirator has reached another level.

2011 was a seminal year for the group with groundbreaking performances at the Ultra Music Festival, Nocturnal Festival, Electric Forest Festival and Camp Bisco 10 as well as sold out shows at the Gramercy Theatre in NYC, Pearl Street in Northampton, MA, the Fox Theater in Boulder and the Bluebird Theatre in Denver. As a full band, the music is hitting new highs and killing in the live show. With the addition of an arsenal of new material, more crowds across the nation have begun to embrace this remarkable outfit. more on this story

Keith Urban Pens Songs for Navy Seal Movie Act of Valor

Keith Urban's new song in the Navy Seal action-thriller Act of Valor is a first for the country star.

Urban's "For You," co-written by Urban and Monty Powell, marks the first time that Urban has written and recorded a song specifically for a motion picture, and it will be featured during the film's end credits.

"I loved the challenge of writing for a film," said Urban. "I've never done that before. After seeing Act Of Valor, my co-writer (Monty Powell) and I wanted to capture the essence of not only what these men and women do so extraordinarily, but how that relates to all of us. 'Valor' shows us what they are willing to give their all for, which made me wonder, 'what am I willing to give my life for?' 'For You' is intended to allow the listener to define who that is for them."

"For You" was co-produced by Dan Huff and Urban and was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee at Starstruck Studios. The song was engineered by Mark Dobson and Todd Tidwell, mixed by Mike Shipley at Animal House, and mastered by Brent Blackwood at Euphonic Masters. Grab a listen here.

Plug In Stereo, Every Avenue and We Are The In Crowd Tour

(WGM) Plug In Stereo has hit the road with Every Avenue and We Are The In Crowd for a North American tour.

The trek is currently underway and is set to conclude on March 24th in Pontiac, Michigan at The Crofoot Ballroom.

Plug In Stereo is supporting his latest EP, The Patience, which includes the smash hit single "Oh Darling" (Featuring Cady Groves). The song has surpassed 170,000 copies in digital sales. more on this story

Charlie Sheen Responds To WB Cease And Desist Letter

(TMZ) Charlie Sheen still has hard feelings for Warner Bros. -- CLEARLY. Charlie tells TMZ ... he's delighted the company that fired him has sent him a cease and desist letter, warning him and his new production company not to use photos of himself from "Two and a Half Men" for his new show, "Anger Management."

Here's what Charlie told us: "I"m thrilled. It insulates me from having to redundantly see myself in the idiotic bowling shirt.

Perhaps if Warner Bros. spent as much time and energy focusing on THEIR show, it wouldn't be such a steaming pile of ..." more on this story

More Tax Trouble For Nas

(TMZ) Nas is great at a lot of things ... rapping, feuding ... but paying taxes isn't one of them ... and now he's on the hook for another $339,000 he allegedly kept from Uncle Sam.

According to official documents obtained by TMZ, Nas never forked over $339,005.49 in federal income tax he owed for 2010 ... and now the U.S. government has obtained a lien on his property.

Being a tax scofflaw is nothing new for Nas ... according to public records, dude is also on the hook for more than $6 MILLION DOLLARS in back taxes from previous years. more on this story

Dierks Bentley Debut at No 1

Dierks Bentley debuts at No 1 on the Billboard's Country Albums chart with his sixth studio album Home.

Home No 1 debut marks Bentley's fourth career debut in the top spot on the Country Albums chart.

The new album's second single and title track also continues to climb the Top five at radio and has already spawned the chart-topper "Am I The Only One." more on this story

Frankie Avalon, The Tubes, Rick Springfield and Clint Eastwood Reissues

Real Gone Music has set a March 27, 2012 release date for its March 2012 releases featuring B.J. Thomas' The Complete Scepter Singles, Frankie Avalon's Muscle Beach Party: The United Artists Sessions, The Tubes' Young & Rich/Now, Rick Springfield's Beginnings, David Axelrod's Messiah, Wishbone Ash's Live Dates II and Clint Eastwood's Rawhide's Clint Eastwood Sings Cowboy Favorites.

From his 1966 recording of Hank Williams' "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" through his 1972 double-sided hit single "That's What Friends Are For"/"Happier Than the Morning Sun," B.J. Thomas enjoyed a string of hits rivaled by few artists of that time. And the fact that he did this on an indie label, Scepter, makes the achievement even more impressive. Various compilations of Thomas' Scepter sides have come and gone. But Real Gone's 44-track anthology is the first to offer A- and B-sides of every one of the artists' Scepter singles, including his 19 hits. Many of the B-sides never appeared on albums. DJ/journalist Michael Ragogna wrote the notes, which feature quotes from Thomas.

Frankie Avalon's late '50s/early '60s recordings practically define an era in pop music. But while there have been many reissues of his legendary Chancellor recordings, his later output has proven elusive. Frankie Avalon: Muscle Beach Party: The United Artists Sessions features 20 stereo tracks recorded in 1964 and '65. The set's centerpiece is Frankie's album Muscle Beach Party and Other Movie Songs, which features music from his films (notably a version of "Runnin' Wild," his spotlight solo in the Muscle Beach Party movie). In addition are his rare UA singles plus tracks from the soundtrack of I'll Take Sweden, a Bob Hope comedy in which he co-starred. The set features liners by Tom Pickles and photos. more on this story

Kevin Costner & Modern West Hitting The Road

Kevin Costner & Modern West are hitting the road for a North American tour that kicks off next month.

Costner co-founded the rock/country band after being encouraged by his wife, Christine, to reconnect with his music passion. In 2005, he teamed with songwriter John Coinman and bassist Blair Forward, band mates of their original group, Roving Boy, from the late 80's.

Other members of Modern West include Larry Cobb (drums), Park Chisolm (vocals & guitar), Teddy Morgan (lead guitar & producer). Bobby Yang, Roddy Chong and Luke Bulla will rotate fiddle performances. For the past 6 years, the band has been electrifying audiences across the globe with shows in Europe, Asia, Canada, South America, and the U.S. more on this story

Cee Lo Green To Meet His Biggest Fan at The Voice for Charity

(Charitybuzz) Cee Lo Green is hitting the auction block to give one lucky fan and a friend the chance to meet him at a taping of "The Voice" in April.

Proceeds from the auction benefit the RUSH Philanthropic Arts Foundation, founded in 1995 by brothers Russell, Danny and Joseph "Rev. Run" Simmons. The 501 (C) 3 organization is dedicated to providing disadvantaged urban youth with significant arts exposure and access to the arts.

Bidding is currently underway at Charitybuzz.com and is open through Tuesday, February 28 more on this story

Young The Giant For Glee Finale

Roadrunner sent over news that Young The Giant's hit single "Cough Syrup" will be featured in the opening scene of the winter finale of Glee.

Episode 314 entitled "On My Way" will air on February 21, 2012 - 8:00pm-9:00pm EST/PST on FOX where the New Directions go head to head with the Dalton Academy Warblers at Regionals.

Young The Giant just kicked off their sold out 2012 headline tour in San Francisco on February 9, 2012. more on this story

River City Extension's Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Your Anger Coming

River City Extension have set a June 5th release date for their sophomore album, "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Your Anger."

The band recorded the 14-track album with producer Brian Deck (Modest Mouse, Iron & Wine, Josh Ritter, Secret Machines, Gomez) at Engine Studios in Chicago.

The lyrically ambitious, stylistically adventurous "Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Your Anger" confronts thorny issues of personal and spiritual struggle in a manner that's both intimate and illuminating; songwriter and frontman Joe Michelini describes it as an album about resolution and forgiveness. "For the most part, these songs represent a dark period in my life when I really didn't like myself," he explains. "I was still young and still learning, and a lot of people were probably hurt by the person I was at the time. Half of this record is love songs, and half is 'I'm sorry that I f**ked up' songs -- I look at them as a stepping stone, a way to put some distance between myself and that part of my life, and to remind myself that I've chosen to do better." more on this story