Innholdsfortegnelse for Sep-13-14 i Billboard Magazine

TAYLOR SWIFT IS IN A FAMILIAR PLACE: THE TOP OF the Billboard Hot 100. After debuting at No. 1 on the Sept. 6 chart, her new single “Shake It Off ” spends a second week on the throne. Following its huge rollout (see page 14), the song, from her fifth studio LP, 1989 (due Oct. 27 on Big Machine), rules the Digital Songs chart for another week as well, with 355,000 downloads sold (down 35 percent), according to Nielsen SoundScan. “Shake” drops in sales despite Swift’s performance at the MTV Video Music Awards on Aug. 24, which most likely helped the song from slipping even more, as a significant dip was expected after its huge first week (544,000 sold, the fourth-best debut frame ever). On Streaming Songs, “Shake” dips 2-4…

After successful partnerships with ranchero star Vicente Fernandez in 2010 and Pitbull in 2011 (the latter in a campaign valued at $10 million in media spend), Anheuser-Busch was seeking another iconic Latin act to pair with Bud Light. Marc Anthony and his 15-date Cambio de Piel U.S. tour was an obvious choice. But the partnership is just one aspect of AB’s expanded strategy to use music to reach Hispanics at national and local levels. In a new endeavor, the company is partnering with regional acts in a series of smaller but more frequent and targeted actions. The first was the launch of AB’s new Montejo Beer in the southwestern United States through an alliance with norteño act Los Tigres del Norte that includes radio spots and product placement in the…

“Your phone is going to become your payment method at live venues for sure,” says Ticketfly founder/co-CEO Andrew Dreskin. The San Francisco-based digital ticketing firm’s late- August acquisition of WillCall, an in-venue commerce app for iOS and Android, “puts us at the forefront” of cashless, or in his words, “frictionless” sales. Testing in seven music clubs, including San Francisco’s The Sub, concertgoers who purchase tickets through WillCall — which they connect to a credit or bank card — receive a push notification on their phones when they enter a venue, allowing them to open a BarTab, which closes automatically when they exit. “The total volume we’ve done in our pilot venues over the last two-and-a-half months has already trumped the volume we did in ticket sales in three years,” says…

Bob Pittman, chairman/CEO, Clear Channel Mode of transport: Private jet (that he owns and flew himself) Burning words: “I worship dissent. People say they want to get rid of chaos — why do you want to do that? ... Live with the wildness.” Desiree Barlow, director of artist services, Artist Nation Mode of transport: “Drove our Fire in Balance art piece and camp infrastructure in an overpacked, bogged-down truck for 20 fun-filled hours.”Burning words: “Hard work, commitment, diversity, contribution and love ... Together we create magic.” Jake Whetter, on-air personality; former Radio Disney host Mode of transport: “Flew to Sacramento [Calif.], rented an RV with friends.”Burning words: “Colorful. Dirty. Loud. Amazing.”Mitch Davis, owner, Dynamite Music; manager (Ryan Cabrera) Mode of transport: Flew to Reno, Nev.; rented an SUV Burning words:…

In early 2012, Stuart Murdoch of Belle and Sebastian raised $121,804 through Kickstarter to shoot his directorial debut, God Help the Girl. The film, a musical about an anorexic girl (Emily Browning) who breaks out of a hospital and forms a band, premiered at Sundance and opens in theaters on Sept. 5. In August, Murdoch made good on the $400-level pledge promise: a guided tour of film locations in Glasgow. “We hired a vintage bus from the 1950s and took people all over,” says Murdoch, 46. “We had about 24 people on the bus — from the States, Holland, Germany, Japan.” Murdoch found backers to pay for set visits, walk-on parts, a signed clapboard and prop guitars; four of the six people who paid $300 to play Scrabble with the…

THE PULSE OF MUSIC RIGHT NOW ON AUG. 24, RAPPER JEEZY, born Jay Jenkins, and five associates were arrested on felony gun charges after authorities found an AK-47 on his tour bus. The police were investigating the death of an attendee of Jeezy and Wiz Khalifa’s Under the Influence of Music Tour (Eric Johnson, 38), who was shot backstage at the tour’s Mountain View, Calif., stop. Jeezy wasn’t named as a suspect in the shooting and has proclaimed his innocence since posting the $1 million bail on Aug. 28. A few days before his arrest, the rapper, 36, sits in a steakhouse in Queens during a break from the tour to talk to Billboard. “You can be up in the streets and down the next,” he says. “You can’t let…

If there’s one thing Lee Brice has learned during the course of his career, it’s patience. In 2003, the country singer-songwriterproducer, who’s now 35, signed to Curb Records. But after the release of his debut album stalled, he tried a different approach: penning hits for Jason Aldean and Garth Brooks, whose 2007 single “More Than a Memory” became the first to debut at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. Three years later, Brice finally released his debut, Love Like Crazy; its title track set a record for the longest climb to Hot Country Songs’ top 10 (46 weeks). He landed his first No. 1 as an artist with “A Woman Like You,” from 2012’s Hard 2 Love. That set the stage for his latest triumph, the title track…

Muhammad Ali’s ring robe “Waylon and Muhammad were really good friends,” says Guernsey’s president Arlan Ettinger. The boxing icon gave Jennings this ring robe after his 1978 fight with Leon Spinks. Estimated price: $20,000 to $30,000 Ali at the baptism of Jennings’ son Shooter in 1979. Buddy Holly’s 1958 Ariel Cyclone Jennings, a close pal of Holly and a member of his post-Crickets band, was supposed to be on the ill-fated 1959 flight that took Holly’s life. Starting bid: $300,000 Hank Williams’ custom Nudie boots Jennings wore the country pioneer’s kicks one night to a Nashville studio, where the power went out and a tree fell on his car. “Last time I’ll try that,” said Jennings. Estimated price: $40,000 to $60,000.…

From Tampa, Fla. Age 24 Soundalikes With a voice as smooth as a sun-dried bone and riffs ripped from a Delta blues playbook, Booker sings like Ray LaMontagne and shreds with the intensity of Gary Clark Jr. Influences Booker’s “blues punk” mixes his young hardcore obsession with his later discovery of Blind Willie Johnson. “You listen to who they listened to, and you keep going further back until you arrive at the blues,” says Booker. “It’s like an evolutionary tree.” Co-signs Booker was recruited by Jack White as an opener on the strength of a self-released EP. ATO Records GM Jon Salter signed him after a YouTube clip convinced him to fly to Florida to see Booker play live. “You feel this energy around him,” says Salter. Rough patch Dealing…

Even before Madonna’s cone bra, fashion and music have long been in bed with each other (for more examples, see story, left). But the duo behind Opening Ceremony and Kenzo — Humberto Leon and Carol Lim, who first founded OC as a retail store in downtown New York in 2002 — has scaled those one-night stands into a fullblown love affair, and the feeling is mutual. Rihanna, Beyoncé, Miley Cyrus, Rita Ora, Iggy Azalea and Arcade Fire have all declared their affection by wearing OC and Kenzo clothes onand offstage. The pair, however, plays its position humbly. “It’s because we’re cultural nerds,” says Leon a few days before the start of New York Fashion Week, in which OC shows. (Kenzo, which they took over as co-creative directors in 2011, will…

WHY I WENT TO FERGUSON... ‘There needs to be an all-out revolution’ I AM A CHILD OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS movement. My parents met in 1969. They attended New York University together and protested the Vietnam War. My mother got into NYU thanks to a scholarship that was established in Dr. Martin Luther King’s name the year that he was murdered. Because my parents came of age in that era, their activism stayed with them throughout their lives. They named their children African names. They collected African art. And it completely informed who I am. That’s why I went to Ferguson. The American civil rights movement set the stage for the protests worldwide. It was the images of people being attacked by dogs, being sprayed by fire hoses for sitting…

PRODUCERS: Byron Gallimore, Tim McGraw LABEL: Big Machine RELEASE DATE: Sept. 16 THERE’S A REASON TIM MC GRAW has scored more than 50 top 10 hits on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart during the last 20 years: As a song interpreter — he rarely pens his own tunes — the superstar has an unerring sense for what kind of material suits his reedy Louisiana twang and tough-yet-vulnerable brand of country. On Sundown Heaven Town, McGraw mixes tunes that feed into country’s bottomless yearning for nostalgia (“Meanwhile Back at Mama’s,” featuring his wife, Faith Hill) with self-aware songs (“Sick of Me”). It’s a solid overall effort — especially in comparison to some of the featherweight fodder topping the country charts right now. McGraw’s not ceding any ground to country’s new generation, nor…

PRODUCER: Interpol LABEL: Matador RELEASE DATE: Sept. 9 CONSIDER INTERPOL INDIE ROCK’S overlords of sustained drama. Since debuting in 2002, the New York cool kids have built upon their penchant for big, spooky anthems shaded with opaque romanticism, intensifying their brooding aesthetic with each new album. It has been four years since the band’s eponymous fourth LP, and the question still lingers: How long can it maintain its sexiness in the bleak world it has fashioned for itself? With El Pintor (an anagram for Interpol), the group keeps the vibe alive, and given the circumstances, that’s no small feat. Mixed by Alan Moulder (Smashing Pumpkins, Nine Inch Nails), Interpol’s fifth set is its first since the departure of Carlos Dengler, a downtown dandy known for his ace bass skills and…

• PRODUCER: Karen O • LABEL: Cult Records • RELEASE DATE: Sept. 9 Despite her outsized personality, Karen O never truly dominates Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the New York alt-rock trio she fronts. It’s only with Crush Songs, a collection of acoustic home recordings made between 2006 and 2010, that she’s finally alone and unfiltered. It’s a funny way to make a solo debut: These lo-fisketches, most of which are less than two minutes long, show little of the bravado one expects from this fearsome post-punk sorceress. It’s fascinating to hear her ditch the bombast, but the LP is a curiosity piece — a record die-hards will cherish but rarely revisit. With some exceptions, like “Body,” where Karen O’s warble grows to a terrified scream, few of these fragments seem worthy…

NUMBERS: THE 2014 MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS The VMAs didn’t have a twerking Miley Cyrus or an ’N Sync reunion, but MTV’s Aug. 24 show spurred big sales gains for its performers, including the Video Vanguard Awardwinning Beyoncé, who performed a medley from her eponymous 2013 LP. 41 % Sales of VMA-related music (major VMA performer LPs and previously released songs performed on the show and not impacted by iTunes’ Complete My Album transactions) were up by 41 percent in the week ending Aug. 31, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Last year, the show fueled a 37 percent lift. 181% Sales of the tracks that Bey performed during the medley rose 155 percent (126,000 sold, up from 49,000 the previous week). The Beyoncé album gained by 181 percent (16,000, up from…

Billboard Artist 100 Trio Triumphs As Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj and Jessie J (above) soar 9-4 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Bang Bang,” and as Grande blasts onto the Billboard 200 at No. 1 with sophomore album My Everything, each of the three singers darts up the Billboard Artist 100. Grande logs a second week at the Artist 100 summit (7-1), with the majority (60 percent) of her chart points from album sales. My Everything arrives with 169,000 copies sold, while her debut set, 2013’s Yours Truly, vaults 71-40 on the Billboard 200 with an 84 percent surge to 7,000, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Digital song sales follow at 20 percent, led by the threesome’s “Bang Bang,” which gains by 54 percent to 244,000 sold. Grande, Minaj and Jessie…

ON SEPT. 2, HOURS AFTER Cee Lo Green pleaded no contest to a 2012 case alleging that he secretly slipped Ecstasy into a woman’s drink, the singer took to Twitter to blow off some steam. Among the topics he decided to tackle with virtual strangers: his definition of consensual sex. “People who have been raped REMEMBER!! If someone is passed out they’re not even WITH you! The WITH implies consent,” he wrote in a string of tweets that has since been deleted. (Green, 40, also deactivated his Twitter account, but restored it the next day minus the offending tweets.) He then compared the sexual assault crime to a home invasion. “When someone brakes [sic] on your home there is broken glass where is your plausible proof that anyone was raped.”…

In these digital times, when most people hear music through tiny, tinny earbuds, does the average music fan appreciate or even seek out a remastered album? It would appear so, judging from the slate of albums getting the remastering treatment at a young age — Oasis’ 1995 3.9 million-selling (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?, Shelby Lynne’s 2000 release I Am Shelby Lynne (which won her the best new artist Grammy) and Maroon 5’s catalog among them. And in a twist of 21st century irony, one set is a painstaking return to an old format: The Beatles in Mono, a Capitol/Apple box set with 14 vinyl LPs and a 108-page book that retails for $399.98 (an estimated $290 wholesale). To fulfill an initial order of more than 1 million Beatles LPs…

It’s interesting that the Hebrew word for suffering, (sevel), would share the same letters as the word for patience, (savlanut) — the former seems in abundance when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that has been escalating in Gaza during the summer months, while the other is sorely lacking. Instead, we’re left with reactions and emotional radicalism, all of which stand to derail a fragile coexistence, never mind the possibility of peace. My heart goes out to those Palestinian and Israeli families that have lost loved ones, and have had their lives altered forever by grief and sadness I couldn’t even imagine. But it’s extremism on both sides that’s the true villain in the peace process. On the Palestinian side, the extremists are terrorist groups like Hamas with its mission…

WHEN DANNY STRICK, 58, told his father in 2000 that he was leaving his position as the U.S. president of BMG Music Publishing to become a senior A&R executive at Madonna’s Maverick Records — a company that operated without corporate titles — he says with a smile that his dad, a Beverly Hills doctor, replied: “Are you having a midlife crisis or do you need a shrink?” “ Although Strick would distinguish himself at Maverick by, among other things, signing multiplatinum artist Michelle Branch, his pops presumably breathed a sigh of relief in 2004 when Strick headed to Sony/ATV Music Publishing, where, since 2007, he has been U.S. co-president with Jody Gerson, under large-living chairman Marty Bandier. The company has vaulted from fourth place to first in terms of market…

Take Me to the River documents recording sessions that paired veteran musicians with singers and rappers generations younger. And the film’s theatrical rollout, which starts Sept. 12, is making a similar multigenerational outreach, hitting 12 Recording Academy chapters in August and September and — optimistically — schools in 2015. Beyond the film’s theatrical run, producer Martin Shore, who was inspired to make the movie after the deaths of legendary Memphis musical personalities like Jim Dickinson and Willie Mitchell, is looking to launch a tour featuring several of its musicians — William Bell, Booker T. Jones, Frayser Boy, Al Kapone and others. Its educational aim is to ensure that the original artists are able to share their experiences with younger ones. “We try to live in the moment while giving some…

NOW YOU KNOW BANKS FULL NAME: Jillian Banks AGE: 26 FROM: Los Angeles SIGNED TO: Harvest SOUNDS LIKE: An afterhours indie-pop blend of Aaliyah, Fiona Apple and PJ Harvey FAN ARMY: 65,000 Twitter followers; 73,000 Instagram followers; 230,000 Facebook likes ME TIME: Banks unwinds with three-hour walks. “It just feels good to be alone with your brain,” she says. ELEVATE YOUR EARBUDS Tech company Normal is disrupting the customized headphones game. Earbuds fitted to one’s individual ear shape can cost thousands of dollars, but thanks to 3-D printing, the New York startup charges just $199. To get yours, visit its Manhattan offices, where you can be fitted in person, or use its mobile app. Just snap a picture of each ear with a quarter for scale and you’re done. nrml.com…

Sugar Problems For Suge Gunshot wounds aren’t the only affliction Marion “Suge” Knight is weathering. A source familiar with the situation says the 49-year-old Death Row Records co-founder, who was shot six times on Aug. 24 at a pre-MTV Video Music Awards party, is battling “advanced diabetes.” In 2010, Marc Brumer, an attorney who defended Knight after he was arrested for allegedly brandishing a gun, alluded to Knight’s insulin issues when he told the Los Angeles Times his client was a “businessman with diabetes” and “not a person who would flash a gun.” But if Knight is ailing, it’s hard to tell: He exited Los Angeles hotspot 1OAK on his own after the shooting. Kilmer Joins Slasher Film Slash tells Billboard that actor Val Kilmer has joined the cast of…

Stromae is one of Europe’s hottest young pop stars. “Papaoutai,” his EDM/world music smash about daddy issues, topped the charts in France and the artist’s native Belgium, and its music video has 180 millionplus YouTube views. Now, he’s taking on the United States with a 15-date tour launching Sept. 17. The 29-year-old runs down the unlikely classics that molded his unique sound. Inner City, “Good Life” “It’s a beautiful sound — ’90s cheesy, in a good way. In Europe, it’s like a religion: ‘You will dance to this.’ ” Buena Vista Social Club, “Chan Chan” “The only non-hiphop song I listened to as a teen. I’m from Belgium, so I couldn’t relate, but I actually did — it was all about the energy and the feeling.” Zaiko Langa Langa, “Dede…

1 STATEMENT ACCESSORY A Single Earring Take a cue from Janet Jackson, who donned a solo dangler on her Rhythm Nation 1814 album cover in 1989. The comeback trend was seen on the fall 2014 runway. “Let the piece take center stage by sweeping hair to the opposite side of the earring,” says New York-based celebrity stylist Alana Kelen. 2 IN CASE OF RAIN Waterproof Booties Amp up your slicker style with a pair of shoes built to withstand the unpredictable New York weather. Functionality is key, but break free from traditional wellies and spring for a pair like Miu Miu’s patent-leather heeled booties — the tread rubber sole is a plus for running between shows. 3 THE MUST-HAVE MAN BAG A Structured Tote Fashion Week calls for a sturdy…

HE’S THE MOST POLARIZING FIGURE IN MUSIC TODAY — A PROVEN HITMAKER WITH A VERY PUBLIC HISTORY OF VIOLENCE. IN JUNE, HE EMERGED FROM JAIL WITH A POSITIVE ATTITUDE, AND HIS SIXTH ALBUM, X, COMES OUT THIS MONTH. WHAT’S CHANGED? “MY MATURITY LEVEL HAS RISEN” “Not Everyone In The World Is Going To Like Me” ON AUG. 13, A HIGH-SPIRITED CHRIS Brown gave Billboard his first formal interview since leaving jail in June. Kicked back in front of a control board at Hollywood’s hot Chalice Recording Studios, a vintage-gear-stuffed space favored by young artists, the 25-year-old was taking a late-afternoon break from putting the finishing touches on his sixth studio album, X. But like much of his recent life, the day featured a major distraction from the music: Hours earlier,…

Was my life threatened in Ferguson? Oh, yeah. I had a cop telling me he was going to blow “my f—ing head off.” I was with poet Jessica Care Moore and activist professor Rosa Clemente. We got chased, and people next to me got tackled. The cops were tackling people like lions tackle gazelles. I didn’t get tackled, but I got stopped. They pointed guns at my group and they made us lay on the ground while they secured the area. And there was a black cop who got upset at the way the police were treating us. He said, “These people didn’t do anything. You have to let them go.” If he didn’t step up, I would have been arrested.…

CHARLI XCX “BREAK THE RULES” NEON GOLD/ATLANTIC RECORDS Charli XCX turned heads with guest spots on Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy” and Icona Pop’s “I Love It,” but her bratty star power deserves the full spotlight post-“Boom Clap.” “Break the Rules,” from her upcoming Sucker LP, is an anti-back-to-school synth-punk pep rally devoted to “getting high and getting wrecked,” driven by an incessant bass riff and a thumping break beat. —RYAN REED EMINEM FEATURING S IA “GUTS OVER FEAR” SHADY/INTERSCOPE “Sometimes I feel like all I ever do is find different ways to word the same old song,” Eminem gripes on “Guts Over Fear,” a perfunctory duet with Sia about the rapper’s lifelong struggle to please the public. Eminem may have repeated himself several times in his sprawling career, but Sia’s powerful…

PRODUCERS: No I.D., Ketrina “Taz” Askew, The Fisticuffs LABEL: Artium/Def Jam RELEASE DATE: Sept. 9 LYRICALLY AND CONCEPTUALLY, Jhene Aiko deals in the dark arts. Like her previous projects — 2011 mixtape Sailing Soul(s) and 2013 EP Sail Out, home to her signature hit “The Worst” — the 26-year-old singer’s major-label full-length debut, Souled Out, paints her as a deeply philosophical artiste who empathizes with flawed characters. The set’s meditative mood, Aiko’s trademark, could be construed as one-note, but it’s also a strength: The album plays like a love song on infinite loop, all dreamy echoes, twinkles and eeriness. Aiko has recorded and toured with Drake, and his moody alt-R&B explorations are an obvious inspiration. But unlike him, she mostly operates in the abstract, delivering lyrics as Twitterready mantras (“You…

REBECCA KANE, GM OF LONDON’S O2, confesses she’s amused and surprised — not that the entertainment complex she runs on the Greenwich peninsula has rewritten the live-music record book, but that her love of tap dancing, a history degree at Cambridge and a stint as a concert booker for a stately home have led to her job at the most successful music venue of its size in the world. Since 2009, the 20,000-seat O2 Arena has topped its class on Billboard’s yearend Boxscore charts. It repeats that achievement in the 2014 midyear recap, thanks to recent sellouts by stars like Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry and Drake. Kane, 38, manages the entire complex, which also houses the 2,700- capacity Indigo at the O2 and smaller venues (including a…

‘BUDAPEST ’ INVADES THE U.S. After Ryan Tedder named George Ezra’s “Budapest” his personal song of the summer (Billboard, Aug. 23), the folk-rock track is bubbling under at triple A radio. Sirius XM’s the Spectrum leads with nearly 300 plays to date, according to Nielsen BDS. The song was iTunes’ Free Single of the Week beginning Aug. 19, and previews the U.K. singer-songwriter’s debut Columbia LP, Wanted on Voyage. SHAW MAKES ‘CONTACT ’ Thanks to the reach of Reddit, popster Catey Shaw has another semi-viral hit on her hands with “Human Contact.” The singer’s bright video was shared on the site Aug. 28, triggering 220,000 global views on YouTube through Sept. 2. It follows her buzzy “Brooklyn Girls,” which has drawn 335,000 clicks. Both are from Shaw’s The Brooklyn EP…

AFTER BOSTON-BASED PRODUCER-SONGWRITER Maurice Starr’s first boy band, New Edition, hit No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Cool It Now” in 1985, he doubled down with another Beantown quintet: brothers Jonathan and Jordan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg and Danny Wood. Dubbed New Kids on the Block, the street-andsweet pop act’s second album, Hangin’ Tough, was a slow-burner that took 55 weeks to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200 — one of the longest climbs ever. It topped the chart on Sept. 9, 1989; the same week its title track crowned the Hot 100. The group did it again in 1990 with its Step by Step LP and single. As trends shifted to rap and grunge, however, NKOTB split in 1994 but returned in 2008 with the…

Drug-sniffing dogs, high-tech security cameras, cops and medical volunteers, all with the backdrop of a throbbing beat: The future of EDM festivals might look a lot like Electric Zoo 2014. After the 2013 edition was shut down due to cases of dehydration, hospitalizations and two fatal drug overdoses, the New York fest returned with extra caution during Labor Day weekend. Although a freak thunderstorm forced the cancellation of the festival’s final day, there were fewer arrests and no serious injuries. If this is the future of EDM fests, expect a few things: 1|TIGHTER SECURITY Electric Zoo 2014 boasted long lines and TSA-style checkpoints. Once inside, cops (both undercover and uniformed) were everywhere. Organizers also tested a program called “zoo keepers,” where med students roamed the crowds in case attendees needed…

CONSIDERING THAT CONCERT promoters make 15 percent or less of their money from ticket sales, ancillary revenue from parking, merchandise and concessions is critical. And early indications are that the advent of “cashless” technology — which enables live-event attendees to make on-site purchases without opening their wallets — is leading to more spending in those categories. “We have seen that consumers spend 20 percent more on average when they have cashless payment loaded up on their RFID [radio-frequency identification] wristbands or phones,” says Donnie Dinch, founder of WillCall, which developed a phone app for cashless transactions. It has been acquired by Ticketfly (see story, below). “The decision to go cashless is in line with how this new generation consumes,” says Jacob Smid, managing director of live events in North America…

ONCE A SUNSET STRIP SCENESTER of the highest order, nightlife no longer rules legendary Hollywood impresario/ producer Kim Fowley, 75, who is currently receiving treatment for an ongoing battle with cancer. But in a strange turn of events, he’s being cared for by Cherie Currie, former frontwoman for The Runaways, the band that introduced Joan Jett to the rock world, with whom Fowley shared a tumultuous relationship through the years. In late August, as his primary caregiver, Currie, 54, moved her former manager into her Los Angeles- area home. Putting aside previous legal battles over royalties, harsh verbal trades in the press and residual ill will from her days with the band (the two reconciled in 2008 when news of Fowley’s condition reached Currie), she opened her home and heart.…

SEVERAL DIVORCEES OF MUSIC MEN are finding independence on reality TV thanks to the trend of celebrity ex shows. VH1 has cornered this market, first featuring the world of sports spouses on Basketball Wives, then Hollywood Exes, a series following the former wives of actors, comedians and musicians. (In its third and most recent season, the exes of R. Kelly, Eddie Murphy, Prince and Travis Barker were featured.) Its common denominator: life in the shadow of a famous man. A spinoff, Atlanta Exes, premiered its debut season on Aug. 18 and drew 1.4 million viewers in the advertiser-coveted adults 18-49 demo and 2.3 million total viewers overall (according to VH1) with a cast that includes Usher’s infamous ex Tameka Raymond, 43; Ne-Yo’s ex-fiancee Monyetta Shaw, 32; and Christina Johnson, ex-wife…

IN ITS THIRD YEAR IN PHILADELPHIA, BUDWEISER MADE IN America became one of the first simultaneous multicity music events since Live Aid with the addition of a Los Angeles edition. Kanye West and Steve Aoki managed to headline both coasts within 24 hours of each other — Aoki even took a stage selfie in Los Angeles with Mayor Eric Garcetti and guest vocalist Bonnie McKee. As Jay Z excitedly tweeted, the two festivals recorded “no major incidents just GREAT music,” with 70,000 total fans during Los Angeles’ two days and 90,000 flocking to Philly (down from 120,000 in 2013). Kings of Leon, The National and SPOON rocked Philadelphia, while Los Angeles highlights included Imagine Dragons (their last before album No. 2, announced frontman Dan Reynolds) and John Mayer’s acoustic cover…

IF ANDY WARHOL HAD favored magic markers instead of silk screens and lived in a world where 15 seconds (not 15 minutes) of fame was the norm, he’d have a formidable rival in Donald Robertson. The cosmetics executive, whose self-appointed nickname is “Drawbertson,” has built a lucrative second career marketing his speedily drawn sketches of Kanye West, Rihanna and Warhol-esque Ritz Crackers dresses that he posts on social media. “You don’t want to be a fulltime artist — not fun,” says Robertson, 52, who lives with his wife, Kim Gieske, and five children in Larchmont, N.Y. “I’m able to paint half the time, and then I work with all these exciting brands the other half and the worlds totally overlap.” Robertson’s adventures in fashion as the roving creative director for…

For 10 years, Dylan Fest, Stones Fest and Petty Fest, collectively known as the Best Fest, have celebrated their titular artists with respectfully raucous covers concerts for charity, featuring acts like The Black Keys’ Patrick Carney, Norah Jones, Delta Spirit and Kesha. Proceeds to date — in the hundreds of thousands, according to co-founder Alex Levy — have historically gone to Sweet Relief, a Fullerton, Calif.-based nonprofit organization that provides financial assistance for musicians in need. This year, the Best Fest adds another honorary artist: George Harrison. George Fest, which will take over Los Angeles’ El Rey Theatre on Sept. 28, coincides with this month’s release of George Harrison: The Apple Years 1968-75. “We’re huge Beatles fans, huge George fans,” says Levy, who met George’s son Dhani through mutual friends…

“Everybody has seen that I make mistakes ... I rush in, I get swept up, I ignore the signs.” —JENNIFER LOPEZ The singer-actress discussing her love life with Elle U.K. “He tried to f—ing rip me off.” —APHEX TWIN The EDM pioneer talking to Pitchfork about Kanye West, who sampled his track “Avril 14th” for the 2010 song “Blame Game.” “The best part of breaking up is going on first dates ... OMG, I need a hot guy. Where are the hot guys here tonight?” —BRITNEY SPEARS The singer, who recently split with boyfriend David Lucado, during her Aug. 31 show at Las Vegas’ Planet Hollywood. “It kind of sterilizes you in a way. You’re sitting around the house watching TV just horny, looking at the women.” —ANDRE 3000 The…

1969 FRANÇOISE HARDY AT THE YSL SHOW IN PARIS The 25-year-old actress and music queen of the ye-ye girls — those Parisian pop naifs — was the first star to sit front row at a runway show. Her appearance at the couture presentation in Paris (left, in glasses) made all the dailies, thus ushering in the era of the boldfaced prized seatplacement spectacle. 2006 POSH SPICE CLOSES CAVALLI In 2006, Victoria Beckham had not yet fully realized her own fashion ambitions — an eponymous label would launch in 2008. But when Posh Spice closed out Roberto Cavalli’s men’s show in a white silk gown and gold stilettos, she put the world on notice that she meant business. 1973 BAKER VS. MINNELLI AT VERSAILLES The famous Battle of Versailles pitted five…

‘LAZY SUNDAY’ The first breakthrough Digital Short featured castmembers Andy Samberg and Chris Parnell rapping about their quest to smuggle cupcakes into a matinee of The Chronicles of Narnia. Recorded and edited in just two days, “Lazy Sunday” originally aired on Dec. 17, 2005. ANDY SAMBERG, castmember I started watching the show when I was 8 years old. When I started watching, it was people like Dana Carvey and Jon Lovitz and Phil Hartman, and then Mike Myers came in and obviously “Wayne’s World” was huge for me. And then the next wave that impacted me the most was [Adam] Sandler, [Chris] Farley, [David] Spade and Chris Rock. LORNE MICHAELS, executive producer I guarantee you that Andy wanted to be Sandler. COLIN JOST, writer-castmember “Lazy Sunday” was a huge hit.…

PRODUCERS: Max Martin, Benny Blanco, Shellback, others LABEL: Interscope RELEASE DATE: Sept. 2 MAROON 5’S UBIQUITY ON HIT radio isn’t limited to Maroon 5 records: Spend a couple of hours on a pop station and you’ll notice how many male singers are helium-voiced Adam Levinealikes. Having fought so hard for so long to get — and stay — where they are (the band started 20 years ago, under the name Kara’s Flowers), the group is leaving nothing to chance with its fifth studio LP. Many of the hitmakers who were onboard for 2012’s Overexposed are back (executive producer Max Martin, Benny Blanco, Ryan Tedder, Shellback), and other big names make drive-bys (Dr. Luke, Stargate, Sia, Rodney Jerkins, Fun’s Nate Ruess). While such a vast number of contributors — the album…

Cynically speaking, the best Tom Petty album to come out this year may be the one by prolific singer-songwriter-guitarist-producer Ryan Adams. Full of crunchy chords, undeniable melodies and high-flying harmonies, the self-titled set (out Sept. 9 on his own Pax-Am label through Capitol’s Blue Note) justifies the comparison. Adams, 39, is at a seeming high point in his personal life as well, giving up alcohol and drugs (pot being a frequent exception) and recently celebrating his fiveyear anniversary with wife Mandy Moore. These days, he spends more of his time as a producer (Jenny Lewis, Ethan Johns), which may explain the confidence with which he decided to shelve a completed album in favor of Ryan Adams, his 14th LP in 14 years. You tabled a record you spent $100,000 making…

• DIRECTOR: Alan Hicks • PRODUCERS: Quincy Jones, Paula DuPre Pesmen • DISTRIBUTOR: Radius • RELEASE DATES: Sept. 19 (Los Angeles), Oct. 3 (New York) A tender, affectionate tone permeates Keep On Keeping On, a travelogue told through the lives of two jazz musicians separated by seven decades in age, yet bound by their physical hardships. Director Alan Hicks set out to document the life of legendary 93-year-old trumpeter Clark Terry, and while he succeeds in exposing Terry’s talents, he finds a jolt of light in blind pianist Justin Kauflin. Kauflin, mentored by Terry, is at first just another student finding his voice, his life a stream of struggles (blindness is a deal-ender for touring bands). But he remains a presence in Terry’s life as the trumpeter faces down deadly…

SEAN SAADEH Senior vp programming BARCLAYS CENTER Brooklyn “The key is, do your research. Speak to colleagues about what shows they are doing. I spend a lot of time speaking to venue bookers, promoters, agents, managers and event producers [about] projects they are working on.” ROBIN KORN Executive vp strategic marketing MADISON SQUARE GARDEN New York “We rely heavily on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to not only share show information, but to offer our fans exclusive content regarding artists and our venues.” JAMES ALLEN GM PHONES 4U ARENA Manchester, England “Twitter is invaluable for us. It worked particularly well for the Prince shows that took place here in May — we were able to [employ] hashtags already in use to bring our posts into the conversation.” LEE ZEIDMAN President STAPLES…

WHAT DO ARIANA GRANDE AND SUSAN BOYLE have in common? If you guessed that Boyle was the original guest intended for Grande’s smash single “Problem,” you’d be wrong. As Grande’s new album, My Everything, debuts atop the Billboard 200 — her second No. 1 album in less than 12 months — she becomes the first woman to enter at No. 1 with her first two albums since Boyle did so in 2010. That year, the Britain’s Got Talent import achieved her second straight No. 1 debut with The Gift, which followed her mega-selling 2009 debut, I Dreamed a Dream. (Boyle was also the last woman to claim two different No. 1s in less than a year.) My Everything sold 169,000 copies in the week ending Aug. 31, giving Grande, 21,…