It was a big night in music last night at the American Music Awards. Beyoncé and John Legend won the Favorite Female and Male awards in the Soul/R&B category. Mrs. Carter also won the Favorite Album award for her latest album, Beyoncé.
The night’s big winners also included soulful newcomer Sam Smith for Favorite Male Artist – Pop/Rock and Katy Perry featuring Juicy J took home Single of the Year for “Dark Horse.” See the full list of winners below:
FAVORITE BAND, DUO OR GROUP – POP/ROCK Imagine Dragons WINNER: One Direction OneRepublic FAVORITE ALBUM – RAP/HIP-HOP WINNER: Iggy Azalea “The New Classic” Drake “Nothing Was The Same”
Eminem “The Marshall Mathers LP 2” FAVORITE ARTIST – LATIN Marc Anthony WINNER: Enrique Iglesias Romeo Santos FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – POP/ROCK John Legend WINNER: Sam Smith Pharrell Williams
NEW YORK — Jimmy Ruffin, the Motown singer whose hits include What Becomes of the Brokenhearted and Hold on to My Love, died Monday in a Las Vegas hospital. He was 78.
Philicia Ruffin and Jimmy Lee Ruffin Jr., the late singer’s children, confirmed Wednesday that Ruffin had died. There were no details about the cause of death.
Ruffin was the older brother of Temptations lead singer David Ruffin, who died in 1991 at age 50.
Jimmy Lee Ruffin was born on May 7, 1936, in Collinsville, Miss. He was signed to Berry Gordy‘s Motown Records and had a string of hits in the 1960s, including What Becomes of the Brokenhearted, which was a Top 10 pop hit. He had his second Top 10 hit, Hold on to My Love, in 1980.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
From JetMag.com: Like the late, great Whitney Houston so beautifully sang: We believe the children are our future. To that end, JET introduces you to Leah Flynn…a sweet, caring young violinist who wants to use her talents to improve the world around her.
Taking a break from her evening routine of violin lessons taught by her dad, seven-year-old, Leah Flynn energetically tells JET, “I want to go on national shows and play for millions of people so lots of children can see me play, then maybe they want to play an instrument!”
She’s ambitious and determined on her musical mission.
Practicing violin since she was five, Leah has performed in front of various audiences ranging from senior centers to churches located around her family’s Florida home. Her biggest audience thus far: during an appearance on the TV show, Good Day Orlando.
If you wonder what gives her the strength to show off her skills at a young age, her approach to overcoming nerves is simple, “All I do is take a deep breath and just focus on my violin while I’m playing.”
Leah’s music is more than a hobby, it’s a way of providing inspiration and a healing mechanism for the soul.
Growing up near the area where the devastating killing of Trayvon Martin took place and, most recently, watching from afar the unrest unfolding in Ferguson, Missouri, Leah confided something in her parents, Paula and Lennox Flynn.
She told them she wanted to offer those who suffered the soothing sound of violin strings. “Leah said, ‘Mommy, people are so sad and it’s not a good thing,” Paula Flynn recalls.
That conversation led to her father, a musician himself who started Leah on the piano, to teach her “Let There Be Peace On Earth,” so she could play for local residents. The pint-sized player hopes to perform for the Governor of Missouri and the people of Ferguson.
But while she waits for that opportunity, nothing is holding the energetic violinist back. She’s currently practicing Christmas carols to share with listening ears throughout the holiday season.
And JET wants to do our part to get her a national audience. Watch her performance of favorite song,”Let It Go” from the popular movie, “Frozen”. Enjoy and be sure to keep Miss Leah on your radar!
Skateboard P decided to use his platform for a good cause and created a conceptual campaign on equality. When you first see the branding for it–which shows an equal sign above Pharrell’s name and the Adidas logo next to it–you might think that just means Pharrell is Adidas, and you wouldn’t be too far off. Over the past year, P has been a walking billboard for the retailer wearing it everywhere, including his infamous Grammys outfit.
Stevie Wonder performed his 1976 album “Songs in the Key of Life” at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night. (Chad Batka for The New York Times )
“Yes! We did it!” Stevie Wonder exulted, and rightly so, about three hours into his concert at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night. He and a huge band, directed by the keyboardist Greg Phillinganes, had played his 1976 album, “Songs in the Key of Life,” from start to finish, 38 years later and every bit as vibrant.
Mr. Wonder’s voice was bright and true, snaking through the melismas that successive generations of singers have emulated and rising easily through every uplifting key change he had built into the songs. At 64 — he started young — Mr. Wonder showed that his lifelong melding of serious intentions, omnivorous musical sophistication and jubilant execution was utterly sure. He laughingly forgot a lyric, played the wrong harmonica for a moment, sang just enough sour notes to show that he’s human and suffered numerous microphone glitches. It was the first show of a tour. But the concert was a triumph: not a simple nostalgia trip but a return visit to songs and ideas that still matter.
“Songs in the Key of Life” was beloved from the moment it appeared. It won a Grammy as album of the year and is widely cited as a favorite by musicians and pop listeners. In interviews, Mr. Wonder has called it the album he is most happy with. But it’s also a long, sprawling experience: 21 tracks that originally filled two LPs and a four-song EP.
Its songs touch on social ills, individual joys, faith, love, war, music, birth, memories, fears and hopes. One title may sum it up: “Joy Inside My Tears,” a ballad that, when he got to it at Madison Square Garden, had Mr. Wonder pounding the top of his piano with his fist, singing the title again and again with gospelly insistence.
Along with the radio-friendly tracks the album is widely remembered for — “Sir Duke,” “Isn’t She Lovely,” “I Wish,” “Pastime Paradise” — it holds exploratory songs like “Contusion,” a jazz-rock instrumental in tricky shifting meters, and “Black Man,” an anti-racism history lesson in funk.
It also balances hurt and healing; its opening song, the beguiling “Love’s in Need of Love Today,” warns, “The force of evil plans to make you its possession” unless love can conquer hate. The album traverses styles; there are blues, soul, rock, funk, chamber pop, bossa nova, big-band salsa, jazzy ballads, even honky-tonk country (in “Ebony Eyes,” for which Mr. Wonder brought out what he called a “thumbtack piano,” an upright with thumbtacks in its hammers to make each note go plink).
What has held it together, then and now, is Mr. Wonder’s good intentions and boundless musicality. All over the album, he ingeniously meshes syncopated ascending and descending lines, as he did in the upbeat “Sir Duke,” the doleful “Pastime Paradise” and the kinetic “I Wish.”
Onstage, he let the best riffs stretch out, savoring the danceable constructions he had set in motion decades ago, as the audience members, many of whom were around for the original album release, stood and shimmied. Now and then, backup singers — including India.Arie, who came and went in multiple regal costumes — took over verses that Mr. Wonder had originally sung. But he was always there to chime back in on higher, more difficult variations.
Mr. Wonder was voluble between songs, joking about tabloid reports that he dismissed as rumors but also doing some preaching. He advocated more accessibility worldwide for the disabled, and he called for better gun control, pointing to a family in the audience that lost a daughter in the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. In what seemed like a scripted moment, he said: “I challenge America, I challenge the world, to let hatred go, to let racism go. To respect every single man as if they were your brother, every woman as if they were your sister, every single child as if they were your child.” He continued, “This is the only way we will win as a nation, as a world.”
For an encore, he played one song that wasn’t on “Songs in the Key of Life”: his hit “Superstition,” bolstered by the six-member horn section that was part of the band, which also included a string section and multiple percussionists, keyboardists and guitarists. It wasn’t too different from the rest of the concert: a great riff, a kinetic beat and a warning everyone could dance to, this one about dogma versus rationality. “Superstition ain’t the way!” the arena sang along.
The rest of the “Songs in the Key of Life” tour dates are:
11/9 – Verizon Center – Washington D.C.
11/11 – TD Garden – Boston, MA
11/14 – United Center – Chicago, IL
11/16 – Wells Fargo Center – Philadelphia, PA
11/20 – Palace Of Auburn Hills – Auburn Hills, MI
11/22 – Philips Arena – Atlanta, GA
11/25 – Air Canada Centre – Toronto, ON, CA
11/29 – MGM Grand Garden Arena – Las Vegas, NV
12/3 – KeyArena – Seattle, WA
12/5 – Oracle Arena – Oakland, CA
“It’s Showtime!” Pharrell Williams continued his incredible run of musical accomplishments on Tuesday, by being named to the Apollo Theater’s Board of Directors. The multi-talented producer joins a list of 32 that includes New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, Quincy Jones, John D. Dempsey of Estee Lauder, and many more.
Skateboard P made his debut on the famed stage on June 3, which was streamed live as part of a digital series, Unstaged. The project was directed by Spike Lee and sponsored by American Express, and seemed to open new doors for hollowed grounds. The global reach of Pharrell’s performance coincided with the technological upgrades that the venue is going through, as part of a $20 million dollar initiative for its 21st Century Apollo Campaign.
The singer/songwriter stated that he’s excited to preserve and expand upon the Apollo’s legacy in American culture. In other words, he’s “Happy.” article by @TheKidSkoob via theurbandaily.com
It’s been eight years since the “Godfather of Soul,” James Brown (pictured) passed away at age 73. Now after an uphill six-year effort by historian Jacob Morris, along with the National Black Theatre, a street behind the famed Harlem Apollo Theatre is finally being renamed James Brown Way to honor the musical icon, according to the New York Daily News.
The street that will bear the name of the legendary performer is located on 126th between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. and Frederick Douglass Blvds. According to Morris, he was also looking to have some fanfare attached to the renaming of the street, a ceremony of sorts that would truly pay homage to the caliber of performer Brown was, the archivist tells the New York Daily News, “I didn’t want to put the sign up until we could do a ceremony that’s of James Brown stature.”
The guest list of luminaries who will reportedly attend the November 22 street renaming will be none other than the Rev. Al Sharpton, who will be a keynote speaker and who also considered Brown a mentor and father figure. A few of Brown’s relatives will also be present for the eventful honor, including his daughter Deanna Brown Thomas.
Brown had a long history of playing at the Apollo, the venue where he made his explosive debut and honed his reputation for high energy, dynamic concerts. Two days after Brown’s passing from congestive heart failure on Christmas day in 2006, his body was transported in a gold coffin to the legendary theater and put on view, so that the public could visit and pay their respects to the soul showman. Brown Thomas told the New York Daily News, “It [the Apollo] is where the eyes of the world came to watch my father. If he was here he’d be thanking God for people loving him enough to put his name on that street.”
The ceremony will commence at 1 p.m. and will be followed by a 2 p.m. screening of “James Brown: The Man, The Music & The Message” at the National Black Theatre. article by Ruth Manuel-Logan via newsone.com
Chris Rock and Prince (AP Images/Invision) Chris Rock is returning to Saturday Night Live. The comedian and former SNL cast member will be back at Studio 8H to host the Nov. 1 episode, the show announced Tuesday. Rock was part of the main ensemble for three seasons, from 1990-93.
Joining him as the musical guest will be Prince, who released two albums, Plectrumelectrum and Art Official Age, earlier this month.
Rock marks the latest ex-SNL cast member to take hosting duties during the show’s 40th season. Sarah Silverman, who was a main player from 1993-94, and Bill Hader, who left in 2013, have both led episodes. Rock next stars in Top Five, a Toronto title that hits theaters Dec. 5. Jim Carrey, promoting Dumb and Dumber To, has been set as host for the Oct. 25 episode with musical guest Iggy Azalea. article by Philiana Ng via hollywoodreporter.com
First Daughters Sasha Obama and Malia Obama, Little League superstar Mo’ne Davis and Jaden Smith are included in Time Magazine’s “25 Most Influential Teens of 2014” list.
Davis (pictured above), is the first girl to earn a win and pitch a shutout game in Little League World Series history. The braided cutie is also the first Little League baseball player to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated as a Little League player.
The Obama girls are bright, opinionated and it is already very evident that they will one day be accomplished, strong, opinionated leaders in their own right, just like their famous mom and dad. Jaden Smith (pictured), the 16-year-old son of Hollywood A-listers, Will and Jada is an accomplishedactor in his own right and the kid already has quite a way with words. Known for his brow-raising Twitter postings, Jaden has managed to garner 5 million followers on the popular social medium.
The unranked list, which was released Monday morning, “analyzed social-media followings cultural accolades, business acumen and more” in order to highlight worthy candidates who influence society in a positive way. article by Ruth Manuel-Logan via newsone.com
It’s been 5 years since Michael Jackson died. Five. There have been constant tributes, celebrations and memorials since that shocking June 25th in 2009, when we collectively learned that one of the most undeniable musical forces ever to walk the Earth was no longer with us. So it’s not like there hasn’t been time to process the reality and finality of his passing – but for me (and I know I’m not alone), as every year passes, Michael’s death hits harder and harder.
I love that his music and legacy live on not only in his family and children, but also in every (and I do mean every) modern entertainer alive today. Usher, Justin Timberlake, Justin Bieber, Jason Derulo, NeYo, Bruno Mars, Chris Brown, Beyoncé… who among them doesn’t echo Michael in their movements, their singing, their showmanship? But when I hear the posthumous Jackson album “Xscape” from earlier this year – which, even though critically referred to as “B” level Michael, is better than most pop music currently out there – or a current song that sounds like it could have been a Michael song (see Timberlake’s “Take Back The Night”), the totality of his loss is all the more evident.
There is comfort in the fact that he existed at all and gave us a lifetime filled with thrilling, soul-stirring and oft-emulated art via dance and song. And according to the Orlando Sentinel, today, on what would have been Jackson’s 56th birthday, he is being remembered in different ways around the world.
Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas has launched the #MJWeAreOne campaign in conjunction with MichaelJackson.com.
Fans worldwide are urged to use Instagram by sharing videos — using the hashtag #MJWeAreOne — honoring MJ and sharing ideas of how to make the world a better place.
The MJ Global Party has fans celebrating Jackson’s birthday in live-time around the world using the hashtag #MJGBP2014. Check out the website here.
The fifth annual Michael Jackson Tribute Festival of the Arts is underway in Jackson’s birth home of Gary, Indiana. The three-day festival celebrates Jackson’s life and career while helping revitalize part of Gary.
So on this day, remember the King of Pop in your own way. Listen to your favorite MJ song. Watch your favorite Michael video for the thousandth time.
Below I’m posting one of my all-time favorite Jackson songs and videos, the John Singleton-directed “Remember The Time” and I know I’m going to shake my head (for the thousandth time) when Magic Johnson says “Behold, great Pharoah Ramses!”, laugh (for the thousandth time) when Eddie Murphy’s eyes bug out at Iman crushing on Michael, stare in awe (for the thousandth time) at the dance moves, and lose it (for the thousandth time) when Michael sings the “Rah dah /dah dah dah / What about us, girl?!” part because it is just so uniquely Michael, uniquely musical and uniquely inspiring.
