• 4/20: The Beatles, Louis Armstrong and Fabolous: History's Most Notable Marijuana Arrests

    Few industries have been as supportive of the 4/20 holiday as the music business, considering how often our performers (and fans) seem to enjoy the subtle joys of marijuana. If you were around for Record Store Day during 2013, you may have witnessed just how early music fans will both line up and light up. Arrests for marijuana possession are almost a non-news item at this point: Rap performers Migos and Nelly have both been incarcerated for that (and a few other charges) in the last few weeks. The reason why those stories fail to shock us? Although the Reagan administration has been criticized for its "war on drugs," it focused on much more potent drugs while society has eased off on its fear of pot. Some states even allow it to be bought, sold and smoked legally. Here are five cases of musicians who served as martyrs for the cause before we as a society began to relax, including The Beatles, Louis Armstrong and Fabolous.

  • Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction 2015: Green Day, Ringo Starr and Joan Jett Shine Live

    Ringo Starr. Lou Reed. Joan Jett and The Blackhearts. Green Day. Stevie Ray Vaughan. Bill Withers. The Paul Butterfield Blues Band. The "5" Royales. And those were just the acts being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Saturday night in Cleveland, not counting the many members of music royalty who made an appearance to both present and perform alongside their mentors and icons.

  • INTERVIEW: DJ AM Documentary Director Kevin Kerslake Talks 'As I AM' Ahead of Tribeca Film Festival Debut

    The story of DJ AM is one of tragedy and loss, while also being a tale of triumph and overcoming adversity. The world famous DJ grew to become one of the biggest names in show business during the 2000s as he electrified the nightlife business with his signature style of DJing that combined different styles of music, expert turntablism and showmanship that was unparalleled in his field. Outside of the DJ booth, DJ AM (real name Adam Goldstein) suffered from drug addition and grew up in tragic circumstances. This is all chronicled in a new documentary about Goldstein by veteran music video and documentarian, Kevin Kerslake. The film titled "As I AM" is being premiered tonight (April 17) at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City.

  • Wiz Khalifa's 'See You Again' and More: 5 No. 1 Soundtracks and The Singles That Powered Them

    This week's Billboard 200 featured the soundtrack to Furious 7 reaching no. 1 after four weeks on the charts. What's propelled the album to higher and higher sales every week? For one thing, the release of the film. More importantly however is the new metrics behind the Billboard 200, which now counts song streams and downloads toward "equivalent album sales." When an album has one song that really hits home with the population, that in turn helps the album that features it to move higher on the Billboard 200 charts. For Furious 7, that song is "See You Again," a track by Wiz Khalifa paying homage to deceased actor Paul Walker.

  • 9 Longest Streaks in Billboard 200 Top 5: Taylor Swift, Michael Jackson, Garth Brooks and More

    Taylor Swift and her album '1989' continued to make history last week as it became only the ninth album to ever spend each of its first 24 weeks in the Top 5 of the Billboard 200. That makes it the country/pop star's most consistent album to date in terms of chart placement. So what other hot acts have gotten to at least 24 weeks? Michael Jackson, Garth Brooks and the Backstreet Boys number among them.

  • Seth Glier Talks New Album 'If I Could Change One Thing,' Live Shows, Inspiration, Relationship With Autistic, Nonverbal Brother & More [EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW]

    Seth Glier, the 26-year-old Grammy-nominated musician, released his newest album If I Could Change One Thing on April 7, premiering it first on Music Times. The Massachusetts native and activist is promoting the album on a tour up and down the East Coast through July. We spoke with Glier ahead of his performance at New York City's Rockwood Music Hall about the inspiration behind his most recent album, his live show and what's next for him. Here's what he had to say:

  • Where Has Bob Dylan Not Played in 'Never Ending Tour'? Alaska and Africa Craving Some Attention

    Jack White has certainly found his way around but he's got nothing on Bob Dylan, the ultimate road warrior. The folk icon has been enrolled on his "Never Ending Tour" since 1988, and the statistics demonstrate just how far he's gone. As of a report from 2013, Dylan had played 2,500 shows in more than 800 cities and travelled more than 1,000,000 miles...enough to have travelled to the moon and back by bus...twice. With a travel log like that, it's even more interesting to check out where the performer hasn't been, versus where he actually played. We found some interesting anomalies since updating the numbers for the past two years. Alaska, Africa and India are craving some Dylan in their lives.

  • 'Chicago,' 'Cats,' 'The Lion King' and More: Broadway's 7 Longest Running Theater Productions

    This week marks several important dates for long-running Broadway productions, as Grease closed on this date during 1980 after 3,883 performances—at that point the record for longest running show in history in the New York theatre district—and just this week Mamma Mia! pulled the plug after getting to no. 8 all time with 5,582 total performances. So yes, the record has lengthened greatly since Grease first closed its doors. The following are the 7 longest-running Broadway plays in history, including Cats, Chicago, The Lion King and more:

  • Michael Jackson Hits Get Latin Twist: Tony Succar & Jean Rodriguez Talk 'Unity' Tribute Album, The King of Pop, Salsa Roots & More [EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW]

    Michael Jackson's hit songs take on a Latin flare in Tony Succar's Unity tribute album coming out tomorrow (April 14). The project began in 2011 when Succar launched a Kickstarter campaign after being inspired from a Latin Version of "Thriller" he recorded. Unity features eight other Latin artists alongside Succar, playing some of Jackson's most popular songs, such as "I Want You Back," "Man in the Mirror" and "Smooth Criminal," the lead single off of the album.

  • Mariah Carey's 5 Bestselling Albums: 'Daydream,' 'Emancipation of Mimi' and More

    Mariah Carey released 'The Emancipation of Mimi'—what many considered to be a comeback for the performer, who was one of the best-selling artists of the '90s—ten years ago on this day. It ended up becoming one of her bestselling releases, so Music Times has gathered up the bestselling of releases of Carey's career, including 'Daydream,' 'Emancipation' and more.
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