• Beyonce, Jay Z Instagram [PHOTOS]: “XO” Singer Shares Christmas Pics During Holiday Season

    It looks like New York’s power couple – Beyonce and Jay Z – are having quite the Christmas. How do we know? Bey was kind enough to share with her followers … all 21.9 million of them … some photos of her enjoying the day. So, what are Jay and the “XO” singer doing? Well, not exactly sure but whatever they’re doing consists of a helicopter and some champagne!

  • Dave Matthews Band Instagram Christmas Wishes [PHOTO]: DMB Shares Holiday Greetings Following Frontman, Brian Calhoun Slap Fight [VIDEO]

    Looks like Dave Matthews Band is psyched for the Christmas holiday! And who can blame them? The famed jam band recently shared a Happy Holidays photo via their Instagram account, showing the crew smiling together and celebrating the very people their with. Unlike the video shown last week, which showed Matthews alongside his friend – and owner of Rockbridge Guitar Company – Brian Calhoun in an epic slap fight, the below pic is more loving.

  • Taylor Swift Sends Christmas Presents to Fans: 'Shake It Off' Singer Spreads Cheer for 'Swiftmas'

    Taylor Swift loves her fans. And to prove it this holiday season, the "Shake It Off" singer sent gifts to a lucky group of Tumblr followers, "Billboard" notes. This resulted in the social media phenomenon "Swiftmas." The presents were not too shabby, either. One fan received a camera, beauty products from Australia and $200 worth of gift cards.Rebecca Cox and Victor Vinson were two of the lucky fans. Swift even sent them handwritten notes about the gifts. Cox and Vinson have a Tumblr dedicated to Swift, which is how this whole thing came about, apparently. The singer followed them before her management team reached out."At 2 p.m. Rebecca messaged me screaming that Taylor Nation contacted us on Twitter, and they were basically asking for our addresses and our birth dates," Vinson said. "We figured either she's sending us packages, or they just want our information on file."The presents arrived a few days later, much to the delight of the fans — see below.

  • Best Original Holiday Songs That Fit an Artist's Style Perfectly: Mariah Carey, Joni Mitchell, Queen and More [LISTEN]

    I wonder if when Irving Berlin finished writing "White Christmas" he knew he had created a timeless classic. Holiday music has become its own little business, with artists often taking time out of their recording schedule to put together an album of covers and originals. It has become a bloated industry — every pop star and washed-up rock band has a holiday record. Sometimes they are really just mailing it in for a payday. Other times, though, they create something special. Mariah Carey, Tom Petty and Queen all have original Christmas tunes that fit right into their musical styles.You have to give props to those artists who dare to pen a Christmas tune. It is easy to just put a signature spin on something like "Blue Christmas" or "The Christmas Song." Those are already accepted by throngs of holiday shoppers who hear them every year. But what about Billy Squier thumping on "Christmas Is the Time to Say 'I Love You'"? Or Joni Mitchell's heartbreaking anthem "River"? You certainly hear those ones less than Frank Sinatra singing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" while you are driving to work in December.These tunes are significantly younger than most holiday standards, so perhaps one day they will be thought of as classics. Until then, we will just call them good songs.

  • Derrick Carter, Legendary House DJ, Speaks On Cultural Smudging In Dance Music

    Over the past week, the hip hop community has been embroiled in controversy and debate over "cultural misappropriation" or cultural smudging," notably directed at Iggy Azalea the new white chick on the block. Everyone from Azealia Banks (of course), to T.I., to Lupe Fiasco to Q-Tip have weighed in on the topic, 140 characters at a time on Twitter. Derrick Carter, one of the original house DJs from Chicago, is looking to start that dialogue in dance music. As reported by The Fader, Carter shared his thoughts on his personal Facebook about how dance music has become noticeably whiter since its days origins as a gay and black genre.

  • Bruce Springsteen Adds 1978 Cleveland Show to Concert Archives

    Bruce Springsteen fans rejoice. The boss is releasing the high quality version of his legendary concert in Cleveland on Aug. 9, 1978 at the Agora Theatre and Ballroom. Playing alongside his E Street Band, The Boss, delivered one of his most replayed live performances ever that was streamed on the radio, but never recorded and released officially.

  • Diplo and Skrillex Talk Jack Ü, MSG on NYE, NYC Club Scene and More

    Skrillex and Diplo are just a week away from the biggest show of their lives. On New Year's Eve, the duo, known as Jack Ü, will be headlining Madison Square Garden with the help of Rudimental, Yellow Claw and A$AP Ferg. The duo spoke with "Time Out" magazine in preparation of the show to speak about Jack Ü, the New York club scene and the aforementioned show at MSG.Even for a massive venue like Madison Square Garden, which can pack close to 20,000 people, Skrillex still holds the belief that it will "feel intimate and personal.""We don't have a real rock-star approach with security all around us. It'll be a party. We'll have lots of special guests come out," he says.Diplo adds, "You'll be hearing some of the Jack Ü songs we've done, live, for the first time. The artists we've cut the records with will be performing with us. Both of us take it very seriously; if you've ever seen us perform live, you'll know the production value is insane."He even invited the entire New York Knicks team to shoot warm-ups during their set. Unfortunately for Diplo, the team will be in Los Angeles for a game against the Los Angeles Clippers, but that is probably for the best since the team probably would miss most of those pre-game shots.Diplo gave an honest opinion on the EDM scene, proclaiming it "dead."

  • J. Cole '2014 Forest Hills Drive' Goes Gold in Second Week

    The holiday buying season has been kind to J. Cole. It has been so kind that he just received a large delivery of gold to his doorstep. That gold comes in the form of an RIAA-certified gold record, which reportedly is for his new, critically acclaimed album "2014 Forest Hills Drive."Last week, his album sold 371,000 copies and earned him the No. 1 spot on the charts, the third consecutive time he has done that. Second-week sales reportedly have dropped to 135,000, which is the fourth highest for the week and earns him his third gold record at more than 500,000 albums sold. The album sales include equivalents from album streams.

  • Questlove: 'Fear Of Getting Blackballed' Preventing Artists From Creating Protest Songs

    As the country erupts once more in protest over the death of Antonio Brown in Berkeley, Missouri, just two miles from Ferguson and potentially the non-indictment of a Houston police officer in the killing of an unarmed black man, Questlove shares his thoughts on why the music community has remained largely silent on the issue. In an interview with Billboard, Questlove suggested that artists are afraid of "being blackballed and not making a living. " He refers to the example of the Dixie Chicks in 2003 when Natalie Maines told an audience that she was ashamed George Bush was from Texas.

  • Avril Lavigne Dismisses Rehab Rumors: 'Hello Kitty' Singer Wishes Fans a Merry Christmas

    Rumors have been swirling recently about the health of Avril Lavigne and the supposed rehab stint she was undertaking. The "Hello Kitty" singer took to Twitter last night, Dec. 23, to let her fans know she was not in rehab and to wish them a Merry Christmas, via "Billboard." Rumors have persisted on social media and fan forums about Avril Lavigne's health problems and she has responded.The rehab RUMORS are hilarious! The only thing I'm addicted to right now is Bing Crosby. MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! and to all a goodnight! — Avril Lavigne (@AvrilLavigne) December 24, 2014The speculation stems from an undisclosed illness that Avril Lavigne has been suffering from, which she revealed in a DM to a fan account on Twitter. There had been rumors swirling about a possible pregnancy, leading her to be largely absent from the public eye, but she cleared up — sort of — why she has been distant as of late.
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