Blog: My News Booth

TV presenter Vanessa Minnillo has officially taken the surname of her husband Nick Lachey. The 31-year-old, who tied the knot with Nick, 38, in the Caribbean in July, changed her name on her Twitter and Wikipedia pages to Vanessa Lachey. Vanessa's new Twitter bio now reads: "Host by day, Wifey by night, Wanna-be Mommy all the time." The couple are said to have married in a ceremony on a tropical island in front of 35 friends and family.

Country music legend Loretta Lynn was forced to cancel a concert in Durham, North Carolina this past weekend as she battles pneumonia in the hospital. Doctors said that the 76-year old singer “will continue to need rest” according to a statement on her official website. The statement continued “Loretta is doing well and is disappointed but feels confident she will be ready for upcoming November dates.” She has also already cancelled a performance scheduled for this coming Saturday night in Ashland, Kentucky. Tickets for the cancelled shows will be honored when the dates are rescheduled. Get well soon Loretta! Your [...]

Several music legends joined the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators this past Friday night. Folk legends Pete Seeger and Arlo Gutherie, accompanied by musician-grandson Tao Rodriguez Seeger, composer David Amram and bluesman Guy Davis marched with throngs of people in NYC’s Upper West Side while shouting verses of protest anthems. They marched peacefully for over 30 blocks as police watched from the sidelines. The musicians took turns to play their music for the crowd, giving protestors much needed energy. Mind you, Pete is 92 years old. To have joined many in standing up for what they believe in is amazing to [...]

Even if fans prefer more intimate concerts in order to be able to see their idols up close, there are artists who are afraid of concerts in small spaces. Chris Martin, lead singer of the band Coldplay, fears that fans can feel the smell of his sweat when he’s on stage. Chris Martin said in an interview that he’d rather play in a stadium than in a small space, because he does not want the audience to feel bad odors coming from the stage. "In a restricted space, people can smell you better, which is a bad thing," admitted Chris [...]

Lady Gaga might do a duet with the famous rockers from Kiss, wrote digitalspy.co.uk. Asked by LAWeekly.com reporters if he wants to work with Gaga, Paul Stanley, guitarist of the group, said: 'All that is possible. She's wonderful. " It’s not excluded that in future we’ll be listening to a Kiss-Lady Gaga duet, especially as the American artist admitted that she’s a fan of the worldwide famous group for their eccentric shows and makeup of its members. Kiss is currently in Los Angeles working on a new album. The disc, the band's 20th [...]

Tony Bennett released the video for 'The Lady Is A Tramp', which he sings with Lady GaGa. The clip was filmed in the studio several months ago. Prior to personally knowing Lady GaGa, the85 years old artist thought the singer of the hit 'Born This Way' is just another copycat singer. When he heard hersinging live jazz, Tony Bennett changed his mind and said instantaneously that Lady GaGa is one of the best voices in the world. The singer “ The Lady Is A Tramp” is included on the album 'Duets II', which Tony Bennett released in mid-September. Besides `The [...]

Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell has revealed that he can not read nor write music.Rocker Chris Cornell has taken piano lessons as a child, but because he did not continue, now he can not write music, informs Nme.com. The artist puts the blame upon his piano teacher who was "bad". "I learned to read music when I was 10 and took piano lessons. Unfortunately, I had no clear direction. I felt like at school. It was just another subject. I had a pretty bad piano teacher. I quickly learned to read music, but now I do not know anything. When I [...]

Nicki Minaj and Pitbull were on hand for the press conference for the 2011 American Music Awards nominations at JW Marriott Los Angeles at LA Live this past Tuesday. The 28-year old female rapper racked up two nominations, while Adele leads the pack with four nods, followed by Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Lil Wayne, Rihanna and Taylor Swift with three nods each. You can also vote for the 2011 Artist of the Year over at AMAVote.com, where you can choose between Adele, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Lil Wayne and Taylor Swift. The 2011 AMAs will air on November 20 on [...]

Rumors are going around that Chris Brown didn’t get to perform at the massive Michael Jackson tribute concert in Wales this past weekend because he was banned from the UK. The R&B singer says that his criminal record didn’t play a role as to why he wasn’t able to perform. His reps say that Chris was invited to perform in the show, “however, his previously booked domestic F.A.M.E. tour concert dates didn’t allow him to accept the honor and therefore he never planned to go to the UK. He was not banned.” The rep points out that Chris was performing [...]

Taylor Swift has been given the honor of being named as Billboard’s Woman of the Year. I’m not really surprised as no one else in the music business has as much star power, raw talent and personality as the country singer. In past years, the award has gone to the likes of Beyonce, Reba McEntire and Fergie, but the award is extra special for Taylor as she is the youngest in history to be given the honor. She will be honored formally at the 2011 Billboard Women in Music event in New York on December 2. Congratulations Taylor! You deserve [...]

Rihanna is featured on the cover of the November 2011 issue of British Vogue. In the accompanying interview, the 23-year old R&B singer, who wore Armani Prive on the cover, talked about her controversial videos, saying “That’s not me. That’s a part I play. You know, like it’s a piece of art… I just want to make music.” Rihanna also touched on growing up with a drug addicted parent, saying “I saw too much. I was way too mature for my age.” For more of the interview, as well as her amazing photo spread, make sure to pick up a [...]

Justin Bieber has revealed the official cover of his upcoming debut Christmas album, tentatively titled “Under the Mistletoe”, which hits stores on November 1. All I have to say is – are you kidding me? The photo looks nothing more than an enhance paparazzi shot with a horrible font over it. With all the money Justin makes, his record label could’ve paid a better album photo shoot to choose a front picture from. Needless to say, I hate it. But then again, when did I ever really like anything that the teen pop singer had to put out? What do [...]

Country music super group Rascal Flatts is the latest member of the Grand Ole Opry. The trio was surprised by the news during their performance on the Opry this past Tuesday. 29-year Opry member Vince Gill made an unscheduled appearance, interrupting singer Gary LeVox, bassist Jay DeMarcus and guitarist Joe Don Rooney in the middle of a performance. After starting with a joke about an unpaid golf debt, Vince extended an invitation to join the Opry. The band will formally be inducted on October 8th. Congratulations guys! You definitely deserve the honor. If you ask me, you guys should have [...]

British singer Adele is planning to take a break after the tremendous success she enjoyed with the album '21 'and she’s in no hurry to record a new album. Adele wants to take a break, informs contactmusic.com. She broke the charts worldwide with her second album. Despite this success, the production house managers do not put pressure on the young Adele, do not force her to return to the studio soon. 'I want to give her a little free time and I hope to begin to look over some things in November, without any [...]

Internationally renowned DJ David Guetta releases his first documentary this month which shows the artist's rise from the French underground house music pioneer of the 80s to the superstar he is today, who mixes at stadiums in front of tens of thousands of fans. The documentary "Nothing but the beat" is a Burn production with What A Music, Deviant Ventures and producers Partizans, known for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Be Kind Rewind. Partnership with the energy drink was found in the artist's mission, which is to inspire energy, creativity and ambition to fans by [...]

The fifth album by Katie Melua, 'Secret Symphony' will be released on the 14th of November 2011. The British-Georgian singer, Katie Melua, will release her future album, entitled "Secret Symphony", on November 14th, informed music-news.com. 'This material should have been my album of singles. I always wanted to do this, when you sing the songs of others, you reveal another side of you and your voice. You grow. However, Mike (Bratt) and I wrote some new songs, but the main idea was to find wonderful songs written by great composers, "said Katie Melua. [...]

The British band Florence and The Machine revealed the name of their future album. It will be entitled 'Ceremonials'. Florence and The Machine revealed the new album’s name: 'Ceremonials'. It will be released on Halloween, on October 31, announced Nme.com. On the iTunes Store page of the album you can find a list of songs like 'Spectrum', 'Never Let Me Go', 'Breaking Down', 'Lover To Lover' and 'No Light, No Light' which will be included on the upcoming album, along with the single "What the Water Gave Me”. The album was recorded at Abbey [...]

Bono is worried about the musical legacy of the band U2, whose singer he is, will leave behind. U2 singer fears the band will go into posterity as 'very good', not 'exceptional'. Bono is concerned that U2 will be remembered as a band 'very good', not 'exceptional', despite the global success the band had, announces contactmusic.com. Rockers from U2 have released a documentary film, "Down From The Sky”, which focuses attention on these efforts to deal with negative criticism the band has received for their sixth album," Rattle and Hum”. Although they became one of the [...]

Dr. Conrad Murray’s lawyers, who was accused of the murder of Michael Jackson, are about to declare that during the process that the artist drank intravenous drugs before his death. Michael Jackson is accused of drinking Propofol, Dr. Murray’s advocates trying thus to prove that the King of Pop was so addicted that he was able to resort to such an extreme measure, informs contactmusic.com. Process on the death of Michael Jackson will take place next week. Dr. Conrad Murray’s lawyers, who was accused of killing the artist involuntarily, who died of poisoning with Propofol, will claim that [...]

According to reports, Van Halen has left their record label of 35 years Warner Bros. An insider reveals that Columbia A&R executive Stephen Ferrera has been given the task of overseeing the next album from the rock band, which will hopefully be out some time in the next year and in fact be the first album featuring David Lee Roth since 1984. Another insider at the label says that “nothing has been signed yet, but Columbia has been in the lead for some time.” While I’m happy that these music legends are making another album, I can’t help but wonder [...]