Brad Paisley And LL Cool J Defend 'Accidental Racist'

Paisley recounted that he has no idea of the uproar their song caused in the press on Monday until LL called him up and advised him to check Twitter. more on this story

Beyonce and Nine Inch Nails To Headline Made in America Festival

(Radio.com) Beyonce and Nine Inch Nails will be headlining Jay-Z's second annual Made in America festival, to be held August 31st and September 1st at Philadelphia's Benjamin Franklin Parkway, the rap mogul announced Wednesday (April 10).

Jay passed up the traditional blog post or press release to announce the event's all-star lineup. Instead, he took to Spotify Wednesday afternoon to release a playlist of the artists to be featured at the Labor Day weekend event.

NIN and Bey were, respectively, the first and last artists revealed on the playlist, which was updated incrementally over the course of the 12 o'clock hour today.

Queens of the Stone Age, Phoenix, Wiz Khalifa, 2 Chainz, Macklemore, Kendrick Lamar, A$AP Rocky, Miguel, Deadmau5, Public Enemy, Imagine Dragons and The Gaslight Anthem are among the artists rounding out the lineup, with DJ Calvin Harris returning for his second year.

Jay headlined last year's inaugural event alongside Pearl Jam, while Rick Ross, Drake, Run-DMC, Passion Pit, Jill Scott, Skrillex, Odd Future, Rita Ora and many rounded out the two-day fest. more on this story

The Band Perry Nearly Beats Justin Timberlake

(Radio.com) The Band Perry's album Pioneer, released last week, has topped the Billboard country album charts this week and nearly beat Justin Timberlake for the top spot on the Billboard 200 Album chart.

According to Nielsen SoundScan, Pioneer racked up sales of 129,000, which was stronger than expected. This is likely thanks in part to their strong, high-profile performance of the single "DONE." during Sunday's Academy of Country Music Awards. The ACM broadcast earned 15.4 million viewers, its highest rating since 1998. Billboard, though, notes that the impact of their appearance at the ACMs might not be fully felt until next week, as the final day of the SoundScan tracking week was Sunday, the same night that the awards show took place.

Pioneer also landed in second place on the multi-genre Billboard 200 chart, hot on the heels of Justin Timberlake, who sold 139,000 copies of 20/20 Experience this past week. more on this story

Kelly Rowland Shares Details of Song With Destiny's Child Bandmates

(Radio.com) When Kelly Rowland first revealed that her forthcoming album Talk A Good Game will feature the ladies of Destiny's Child, she was clear that it is not a reunion song. Now she offers more details on the track that features the Destiny's Child singers but not Destiny's Child.

For Talk a Good Game, which is scheduled to hit stores June 4, she already has collaborations with Lil Wayne ("Ice") and Wiz Khalifa. But the album is not yet complete and she has more collaborations on deck.

"I actually have collaborated with my sisters Michelle and Beyoncé for this album," she told Radio.com. "It's a great record and our voices sound so great on this record, I am so excited for people to hear it."

The song, called "You Changed," was produced by Harmony Samuels (Chris Brown, Mary J. Blige) and written by Courtney Harrell (Chris Brown, Ne-Yo, Mary J. Blige). According to Rowland, the new song is a steps away from the sultry and steamy records like her current hit "Kisses Down Low."

"It is about a relationship that has gone awry and not in the best place," she said. "The way the record is written is genius. I tip my hat to Courtney Harrell. The way she is witty and sarcastic, lyrically, just made me so excited to sing it." more on this story

Postal Service Play First Show Since 2004

(Radio.com) Death Cab for Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard and electronic musician Jimmy Tamborello, collectively known as the Postal Service, convened in Reno, Nevada Tuesday night (April 9) for the band's first live show since an appearance at the Sasquatch music festival in 2004.

Joined onstage by former Rilo Kiley singer Jenny Lewis and Laura Burhenn of the Mynabirds, the Postal Service treated the crowd to a taut, 16-song set that covered most of the duo's revered and only full-length album, Give Up, which recently received the 10-year anniversary treatment with a deluxe double-CD reissue.

For the encore, the pair pulled out the 2001 song "(This is) The Dream of Evan and Chan," originally credited to Tamborello's musical collective Dntel and featuring Gibbard on vocals. The song is credited as the catalyst that inspired the artists to further collaborate, resulting in the Postal Service.

See fan footage of the band perform "We Will Become Silhouettes" and hit "Such Great Heights" here.

Kenny Rogers, Bobby Bare, Jack Clement For Country Hall Of Fame

(Radio.com) The Country Music Association announced yesterday that Kenny Rogers, Bobby Bare, and 'Cowboy' Jack Clement will be the newest members of the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Grand Ole Opry host and Hall of Fame member "Whisperin'" Bill Anderson presided over the announcement at a ceremony Wednesday morning in Nashville, along with the CMA president Steve Moore and Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum director Kyle Young.

Considered the highest honor in the genre, the Hall of Fame includes such legends as Hank Williams, Jimmie Rodgers, the Carter Family, Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, and Dolly Parton. Last year's inductees were Garth Brooks, Hargus "Pig" Robbins, and Connie Smith.

As Young noted during his introduction, all three of this year's honorees were born in the 1930s during the Great Depression and country music's formative years.

They have seen the genre grow and develop quite a bit since then, from the honky-tonk era through "the birth or rock and roll" and on up to "the rise of sophisticated pop country" today. more on this story

Woman Arrested For Assaulting Boyfriend For Singing 'Thrift Shop'

(Radio.com) No matter how much you think you might be sick of Macklemore and Ryan Lewis' "Thrift Shop," Samantha Malson is probably more sick of the ode to cheap clothes than you can even imagine.

Malson, a 23-year-old Colorado woman, was arrested late Saturday (April 6) after allegedly pushing and choking her boyfriend, 26-year-old Lars Hansen, after he would not stop singing the song, currently the No. 1 single in the United States.

In a phone call to the Longmont, Colorado, Police Department, Radio.com verified that Malson assaulted Hansen after he wouldn't stop singing the song. She "pushed and eventually choked" her boyfriend, and when asked by police to confirm her story, she "admitted to officers" that she assaulted him.

According to a police report obtained by The Smoking Gun, Malson and Hansen had been drinking (it was his birthday), and had been fighting over him apparently drinking all the alcohol in the house, or so Malson told cops. Though she asked him "25 times" to stop singing "Thrift Shop," Hansen apparently would not quit, prompting Malson to take matters into her own hands — literally. more on this story

LeAnn Rimes Opens Up About Her Weight

(Radio.com) In recent years, LeAnn Rimes has often appeared alarmingly thin. But as she says in an interview with U.K. magazine Fabulous, that wasn't intentional.

"I never tried to lose weight, and I never tried to gain it," explained LeAnn. "It depends on how stressed I am. I was eating a ton and couldn't put on weight!"

After going into rehab last year for stress and anxiety, LeAnn seems to be looking and feeling healthier now.

"I just wanted to figure out how to take care of myself," said LeAnn regarding rehab. "I learned that there's such beauty in imperfections, which is quite amazing. So much music comes from that place."

LeAnn is now a size 6 and is working hard to maintain her weight. Find out she is doing it here.

Adele The Cover Girl For Elle's Women In Music Issue

(Radio.com) Although 2011 was officially The Year of Adele, she's still going strong two years later on the cover of Elle's Women In Music Issue.

The annual edition of the magazine celebrates the female artists who have made their mark on the music world, and Adele has certainly done that. She took home six GRAMMYs in 2012 with 21 and additional one this year for Best Pop Solo Performance.

Last year, her already two-year-old record came in as the best-selling album two years in a row (the first album to earn that honor in the history of SoundScan) and basically saved the music industry.

We're already all in awe of all her 21 success and we didn't even mention that her recent Golden Globe and Oscar wins for her Bond theme "Skyfall," make her one Tony award away from earning the coveted EGOT.

On the cover of the mag's May issue, Adele dons a smoky eye and a vintage lace Alberta Ferretti dress. The photo shoot was held at L.A.'s EastWest Studios, where Frank Sinatra recorded his greatest hits, and the location was chosen to channel Adele's crooner style. During the shoot Adele even serenaded photographer Thomas Whiteside, who was celebrating his birthday. See the cover and read more here.

Bruno Mars Scores His Fifth No. 1 Single

Bruno Mars has scored his fifth No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 track after his latest single "When I Was Your Man" took the top spot this week.

The song comes from Mars' latest album, "Unorthodox Jukebox," and follows the album's first single "Locked Out Of Heaven," which was No. 1 for six consecutive weeks earlier this year.

"When I Was Your Man" was also Mars' sixth single to claim the No. 1 spot on Billboard's "Mainstream Top 40" radio airplay chart. That places Mars ahead of Justin Timberlake and Nelly as the solo male artist with the most No. 1's on the chart's 20-year history. You can watch a performance of the song from the Ellen DeGeneres Show here.

In other news, Mars has been tapped to open the 2013 Billboard Music Awards with a live performance. The show will air live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, May 19th (8:00-11:00 p.m., ET) on ABC.

Mindless Behavior Take Title Of Love Gurus

(Radio.com) The thing about boy bands is: they are expected to be experts in the arena of love. From New Kids on the Block to 'NSYNC and to One Direction — fans expect their boy bands to sing love songs and know all the secrets to the female heart. Even if they're not yet old enough to buy a lady a drink.

Mindless Behavior are covered with the label of love experts. Not only do they sing a great love song, including their hit singles "Valentine's Girl" and "Mrs. Right," but the press seems to constantly ask them to give romantic advice to their fans.

The guys are game, though. In an interview with Radio.com, they admitted to being more than happy to take the challenge of being love gurus.

"I think that's really cool, for me," Ray Ray said. "I really like to adapt to the love life thing because I think it's really important overall. I think it's really dope."

"I think it's really interesting, because there's not a lot of 16, 17 year old boys giving love advice to people all around the world," Princeton said. "Usually people our age are in high school , going through those regular problems and not knowing what to do about it. And we're out here, promoting the positive about it. It feels really good. We're glad that we're expressing it through an artistic way. We're not just talking about it, we're singing about it and performing through it." more on this story

Avicii Making Transition From Clubs To Stadiums

(Radio.com) Swedish DJ Avicii has been touring non-stop. He just wrapped up a much talked about performance at Ultra Music Festival where he debuted his new album and DJ'd with the likes of David Guetta, Calvin Harris and Tiesto.

Radio.com sat down with Avicii to find out what it's like to be on the road so much and how he keeps each set unique. "We're going through a lot of changes right now. We've been going so hard these past couple of years," he said.

Avicii explained that one of the reasons he keeps on the road is to help even out production costs. He currently travels with a giant 3D projected head which he DJ's from.

"The head is a big huge ordeal to travel around with. In order for that to be productive you need to really tour a lot," he explained. "We're focusing a lot on materials and creative stage designs. That's what we're figuring out right now."

As his audience increases and he plays larger venues, his set design is something he always keeps in mind. more on this story

Beck, the Avett Brothers and Feist Lead Newport Folk Festival Lineup

Organizers for the Newport Folk Festival have announced that this year's event will be headlined by Beck, the Avett Brothers and Feist.

The lineup will also include sets from The Lumineers, Jim James, Old Crow Medicine Show, Colin Meloy of The Decemberists, Amanda Palmer, The Mountain Goats, Father John Misty and more.

This year's Newport Folk Festival is set to take place July 26th, 27th and 28th at Fort Adams State Park in Newport, RI.

Josh Doyle To Perform At The Glastonbury Festival

Josh Doyle has announced that he will be performing at this year's Glastonbury Festival, which takes place June 26-June 30 in Pilton, Somerset, England.

This year the festival will also feature performances from The Rolling Stones, Mumford & Sons, Arctic Monkeys and more. Josh had this to say about playing at the event:

"It's a huge privilege for me and my band mates to be playing the Avalon Stage at the Glastonbury Festival this year. It's a great honor to be named among the likes of The Rolling Stones and Mumford & Sons at one of the most prestigious music festivals in the world."

Against Me! Singer's First Year as a Woman

(Radio.com) In May of 2012, Tom Gabel, lead singer of punk band Against Me!, shocked the music world by announcing that he was transgender and had started the process of becoming a woman, taking the name Laura Jane Grace.

One year later, and Grace has now opened up to woman's magazine Cosmopolitan for a first-person account of the experience aptly titled, "My First Year as a Woman."

What follows is a revealing and intimate profile, opening with the story of how Gabel first saw Madonna on TV at age 5 and wanted to be just like her when he grew up, even though he was a boy.

"I was always attracted to women. It was never a sexuality issue," Grace said of her high school experience as a guy. "I just knew that if I could make a wish to change into a woman myself, I would have made it 100 times every day. It became so stressful that I'd reach these points where I'd throw all my women's clothes in a dumpster and swear, 'Never again will I do this!'"

The piece goes on to detail how the singer first came out to his wife Heather, hormone therapy and the difficulty of explaining it all to his toddler-aged daughter, Evelyn, who still refers to him as "daddy." Grace even details her first experience wearing a skirt in public, and how empowering it was. more on this story

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