pop music

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Is Kim Jong Un Dating a Pop Star?

Spotted with singer of 'Excellent Horse-Like Lady'

(Newser) - Celebrity gossip all the way from Pyongyang: A woman spotted with supreme leader Kim Jong Un recently isn't his sister, as earlier reports suggested. Instead, she has been identified as a pop star his late father once refused to let him see, the Daily Mail reports. Hyon Song Wol,...

Pop Music Getting Sadder, More Complex

New songs tend toward minor scales and mixed emotions

(Newser) - Pop music is getting sadder, slower, and more sophisticated, according to a new study published in a psychology journal. Researchers analyzed Top 40 hits in Billboard from the mid-60's through 2010 and discovered that popular tunes have increasingly been written in "minor modes"—which associate with darker...

Monkees&#39; Davy Jones Dead at 66

 Monkees' 
 Davy Jones 
 Dead at 66 
obituary
Feb 29, 2012 12:59 PM CST

Monkees' Davy Jones Dead at 66

Singer suffered fatal heart attack

(Newser) - Monkees frontman Davy Jones died of a heart attack this morning in Florida at the age of 66. Jones had the heart attack in his home, and was taken to Martin Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, a spokesman tells TMZ . He gave what turned out to be his...

5 Habits That Are Really Addictions

Pop tunes, salty snacks, and tanning? All addictive

(Newser) - Drugs, sex, alcohol—such addictions belong to other people, right? Not so, says Cracked , which lists five everyday addictions:
  • Pop music. Scientists have predicted pop hits by performing MRI scans on people listening to unreleased tunes. Future hits lit up pleasure centers in the brain; dopamine was released when melodies
...

Hear New Gaga Tunes... Only on FarmVille

Singer's 'GagaVille' farm will release exclusive tracks

(Newser) - Gaga for Gaga? It’s time to start a virtual farm. Lady Gaga is releasing exclusive new tracks from her album via a special “GagaVille” estate in FarmVille, the AP reports. Players of the online game must accomplish certain tasks to hear one new song per day between May...

Walker Brothers Singer John Walker Dead at 67
 1960s Singer 
 John Walker 
 Dead at 67 
obituary
May 9, 2011 6:17 AM CDT

1960s Singer John Walker Dead at 67

Walker Brothers guitarist was hitmaker in Britain

(Newser) - John Walker, a founding member of 1960s pop trio the Walker Brothers, died Saturday in Los Angeles after battling liver cancer, the Guardian reports. He was 67. The American singer, songwriter, and guitarist helped the UK-based band score big hits, including “Make It Easy on Yourself” and “The...

As Americans Get More Self-Centered, So Do Lyrics

Study finds increasingly narcissistic words in top 10 hits

(Newser) - Today’s hit songs aren’t about “us”—they’re just about “me,” a study finds. Researchers examined Billboard’s top 10 songs in the US each year from 1980 to 2007, and found that “popular music lyrics now include more words related to a...

Surprise: Britney's New Album Is Innovative

Though she probably had little to do with its edginess, critics say

(Newser) - Britney Spears’ new record is actually pretty innovative for a pop album—though Britney herself may have little to do with that.
  • Femme Fatale is “the rare dance-pop album that never flags, each track preposterously overstuffed with hooks and sensations,” writes Jody Rosen in Slate . Spears is “
...

Did 'Friday' Really Make Rebecca Black a Millionaire?

Forbes was wrong about the singer's payday, writes Annie Lowrey

(Newser) - Thanks to a song that’s inspired unrestrained hatred, Rebecca Black has been proclaimed a millionaire by no less an authority than Forbes —but that’s unlikely, writes Annie Lowrey in Slate after a quick analysis. For one thing, "Friday" has sold 30,000 copies, Billboard says; Forbes...

Rebecca Black's 'Friday' Song Proves Love-Hate World of the Internet: Meghan Daum
 Rebecca Black 
 Proves New 
 Rules of Fame 
meghan daum
Mar 24, 2011 3:23 PM CDT

Rebecca Black Proves New Rules of Fame

Meghan Daum: To be really popular, you have to be really unpopular

(Newser) - With Friday, 13-year-old Rebecca Black has a top 20 song on iTunes and a video that’s reached 35 million views—but what she’s most noted for is widespread derision. “We don't hate you because you're famous. You're famous because we hate you,” reads one of the...

Radiohead's 'Genius' Again on Display in King of Limbs

Album comes out a day in advance

(Newser) - Radiohead’s new album, The King of Limbs, has appeared a day early—and the reviews are already pouring in. Here’s what critics have to say:
  • “The angst has gone,” writes Lucy Jones in the Telegraph . “There’s none of the anger of Hail to The
...

Can an Almost-30 Britney Really Make a Comeback?
Can an Almost-30 Britney
Really Make a Comeback?
OPINION
Jan 13, 2011 10:26 AM CST

Can an Almost-30 Britney Really Make a Comeback?

The pop starlet needs to wise up and offer some introspection

(Newser) - Britney Spears, and of course her handlers, seem to think she’s ready for a full-on comeback—and judging by the success of new single "Hold It Against Me," she's giving it a good go. But is a Britney comeback possible in the new world of pop, where...

Zimbabwe Bars Band for Video Mocking Robert Mugabe

Freshlyground turns ruler into a chicken

(Newser) - A South African pop group has been banned from performing in Zimbabwe—for making a music video in which Robert Mugabe turns into a chicken. The group Freshlyground made the video for Chicken to Change in collaboration with the satirical South African website ZA News, reports AllAfrica . Freshlyground was scheduled...

La Roux: Lady Gaga, But Better

 La Roux: 
 Lady Gaga, 
 But Better 
on the verge
Apr 23, 2010 12:26 PM CDT

La Roux: Lady Gaga, But Better

The duo is making waves in the US, so pay attention

(Newser) - If you want to get into the whole Lady Gaga thing but you’re just too darn intellectual, try La Roux. The British electropop duo is “the Thinking Person’s Lady Gaga,” according to Adrian Chen, because singer Eleanor Jackson has many similarities (Gaga wears inappropriate hats; Jackson’...

Gaga Copying Me: Grace Jones
 Gaga Copying Me: Grace Jones 
Apr 19, 2010 8:31 AM CDT

Gaga Copying Me: Grace Jones

Fellow diva calls out Gaga for dressing just like her

(Newser) - Diva-fight alert: Grace Jones is making headlines for ragging on “copycat” Lady Gaga in Saturday’s Guardian . The 61-year-old supermodel/pop star/Bond girl turned down Gaga’s request for a collaboration because “I’d just prefer to work with someone who is more original and someone who is not...

How Lady Gaga Became Lady Gaga

 How Lady Gaga 
 Became 
 Lady Gaga 
in case you missed it
Apr 3, 2010 7:04 PM CDT

How Lady Gaga Became Lady Gaga

From high school drama kid to the world's biggest pop star

(Newser) - Lots of people—including, most recently, her ex-boyfriend via a lawsuit —take credit for making Lady Gaga who she is today, including Lady Gaga. In New York , Vanessa Grigoriadis recalls her first meeting with the soon-to-be-huge musician one year ago, where she found herself surprised that Gaga refused to...

Give Brendan Fraser a Round of Applause
 Give Brendan Fraser 
 a Round of Applause 
viral video
Jan 25, 2010 3:38 PM CST

Give Brendan Fraser a Round of Applause

Actor's Golden Globes reactions + Gwen Stefani song = Genius

(Newser) - Brendan Fraser seems to have a good sense of humor about the world watching an endless loop of his awkward laughing and clapping at the Golden Globes, which is good—it will probably spin out into increasingly involved viral video mashups. Here's one, flagged by Videogum , that sets Fraser's spasmodic...

Meet Lady Gaga, Puppet of the Occult
 Meet Lady Gaga, 
 Puppet of the Occult 
conspiracy theories
Jan 10, 2010 11:22 AM CST

Meet Lady Gaga, Puppet of the Occult

At least 10 signs show she's not what she seems

(Newser) - Lady Gaga: The next Madonna, or a “puppet of the Illuminati”? If you read the Vigilant Citizen blog, she’s the latter. LA Weekly boils down a three-part series analyzing Gaga to a helpful top 10 list of reasons the pop star is really a puppet of occult...

Meet Ke$ha: The New Britney Spears
 Meet Ke$ha: The New 
 Britney Spears 
OPINION
Jan 7, 2010 9:57 AM CST

Meet Ke$ha: The New Britney Spears

And, by the way, it's pronounced 'Kesh-a'—not 'Kee-sha'

(Newser) - Who the heck is Ke$ha? She’s the decade’s first No. 1 artist on Billboard’s Hot 100, and just had the biggest-selling week of all time, for a female, on iTunes. There's a good chance you've heard the catchy if not lyrically impressive song "TiK ToK", but...

Animal Collective's Rise Is Well Deserved

They brilliantly mix 'accessible' and 'avant-garde'

(Newser) - The rise of Animal Collective in 2009 is often attributed to concessions to accessibility, Jonah Weiner writes. “Going by the blurbs alone, you might assume that, in a few years, Animal Collective will complete its career-long metamorphosis into ABBA.” But that’s just not the case. The quirky...

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