Ryan Book

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  • Glenn Danzig Wears Misfits Skull Makeup for First Time in 35 Years

    A Misfits reunion might not be in the cards, but former frontman Glenn Danzig reuniting with his iconic makeup from that band happened for the first time in 35 years this weekend. The performer posted an image on Twitter of himself as the "Crimson Skull" persona, noting that it was the first time 1979 or 1980 that he had worn the makeup.

  • Joe Jackson, Murry Wilson, Marvin Gaye Sr. and Other Awful Music Parents

    Today marks the 50th anniversary of The Beach Boys' "Help Me Rhonda" reaching no. 1 on the Billboard charts. Although the song is of course a favorite of Boys fans, it's noted by more engaged followers of the group for its famous recording session. During the recording of the vocals, the father of Brian Wilson and the rest of the Wilson brothers, Murry Wilson, burst into the studio to lambast the group for what he perceived to be a lack of enthusiasm. The reel kept rolling as frontman Brian tried to calm his father down, and now copies of that version are coveted by those in-the-know. Murry was one of the most notorious parents in music history, working on his sons' behalf as a manager and coproducer, but ultimately making their lives worse because of it. He manipulated his children and reportedly hit Brian upside the head with a 2x4, causing the legendary musician to lose his hearing on that side of his head. Needless to say, many have blamed Brian's self-destructive habits and unhealthy obsession with music on Murry's callous handling. Here are five other notorious parents in the music industry.

  • 10 Years of YouTube: Most Watched Music Videos, from Taylor Swift to Justin Bieber

    It's the tenth birthday of YouTube and no media site should be more excited than Music Times. After all, of all the viral material that gets put on the world's busiest video site every day, so much of the service's biggest hitters are music videos. To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the site, we've gathered the most popular music video from every year of its existence, starting with Taylor Swift in 2015 and counting down to...who knows? Something throwback for sure.

  • Buying Neverland: Michael Jackson's Iconic Ranch for Sale...$100 Million

    If you're in the market for new house, have we got an unrealistic option for you: Michael Jackson's former home, the Neverland Ranch, has finally hit the market more than six years after the pop star's death. According to the Wall Street Journal's listing, the 2,700-acre property will only set you back $100 million.

  • Back of The Billboards: 'Gold' by B.B. King

    Society always celebrates the records that top the Billboard 200 album chart. Back of The Billboards is a Music Times weekly segment that looks at the opposite end: the new record that finished closest to the back of the Billboard 200 for the previous week. We hope to give a fighting chance to the bands you haven't heard of. This week we look at 'B.B. King: Gold,' one of the many compilations of the blues legend's work that has seen a resurgence in sales following his death two weeks ago.

  • Twenty One Pilots, Zedd, Jamie Foxx and Faith No More Debut in Albums Chart Top 10

    Twenty One Pilots had never sold more than 11,000 copies of an album in one week prior to the release of Blurryface last week, but that record didn't need streaming to top the Billboard 200. It also comes in at no. 1 on the albums chart, selling 134,000 copies (more than 91 percent of the album's Billboard 200 total came from actual album sales).

  • 1955 and 'The Ballad of Davy Crockett'...All 5 Versions that Charted

    On this date 60 years ago, a strange incident occurred on the popular songs chart: Four different versions of the same exact song, "The Ballad of Davy Crockett," came in the Hot 100. Thanks to the internet, it's easier for a wider variety of performers to exist and makes it less enticing for a record label to put five different versions of the same exact song. Imagine if Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Britney Spears and Shakira were all replicating each other constantly. Then again, the song in question was boosted by "the Crockett craze" generated by Disney's three-episode biopic on the legendary frontier fellow (some have called it the first miniseries). Let's take a look at the four different singles that managed to chart during the summer of '55.

  • 70 Years of John Fogerty: Ranking CCR Frontman's Best Songs by Decade

    Happy 70th birthday to John Fogerty, the vocalist and guitarist for Creedence Clearwater Revival and his own solo act. Although he's best known for his time as frontman for CCR, Fogerty has been working as a musician for the nearly 40 years since his first band folded. To celebrate his nearly 50 years in the music industry, we went back and chose what we thought his best piece of work from the past five decades. After you're done here, feel free to comment below (we know the picks for the Creedence years will be controversial) and then check out our similar feature on Eric Clapton and Bob Seger.

  • Weezer Announces Summer Tour, New Festival Stops in Ohio, Kentucky

    Weezer was one of the acts announced as part of the new NIFi Festival at the Kentucky Speedway, and you should expect the band to pop up at numerous and varying festival settings around the United States this summer as the band supports its new(ish) album 'Everything Will Be Alright in The End.'

  • Big Bang Announces Six-Date Arena Tour in U.S. to Support New Album 'Made'

    K-Pop act Big Bang is coming to the United States for what Billboard is calling a "massive" tour, although by now American fans know to take that with a grain of salt. Although this is a relatively huge run for a K-Pop act across the Pacific, the entire run will focus on major markets and consist of six shows. Still, hardcore fans will take whatever opportunity they can get to check out G-Dragon, Taeyang and co., especially right after Big Bang releases its new album 'Made' during September.

  • Wade Robson Molestation Complaint Against Michael Jackson Thrown Out

    The final decade-plus of Michael Jackson's life often found his incredible record as a performer overshadowed by more uncomfortable tidbits, such as the many allegations of inappropriate behavior around children. At least one of those cases has been kept out of court, if not entirely disproven, as Wade Robson's claims were dismissed by a Los Angeles Court.

  • Twenty One Pilots Top Billboard 200, Taylor Swift Recovers Big Time Post-Awards

    Yet another new performer to top the Billboard 200 as Twenty One Pilots takes the top spot with Blurryface, which sold more than 147,000 equivalent units. That makes the Columbus, OH-based alt group the seventh act to top the charts for the first time during 2015 (including bigger bands such as Kendrick Lamar and Imagine Dragons).
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